• Israeli air strikes target central Beirut with Lebanon’s Health Ministry saying at least five people were killed.
• Earlier, it said at least 45 were killed and 85 wounded in Israeli attacks across the country in the last 24 hours.
• Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets at Israel, most of which landed in open areas in the western Galilee region.
• The son-in-law of assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli raid in Damascus today, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.
• The World Health Organization chief has warned that Lebanon’s health system was struggling to keep up, after Israel escalated airstrikes and launched ground raids into the country.
• Israel has barred the UN chief from entering the country.
• Jordan’s Foreign Minister warned Israel and Iran that the country will ‘defend itself with all its capabilities against any threat’ after Iranian missiles fired at Israel breached the kingdom’s airspace.

The Gulf Cooperation Council has affirmed its support for Lebanon at this ‘critical stage’ following a meeting in Doha, Qatar.

The council also stressed the need for United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 to be implemented and called on all parties to exercise self-restraint.

The head of Hezbollah’s media office, Mohammad Afif, says the group has enough fighters, weapons and ammunition to push back against Israel.

The death toll in the Israeli strike on Lebanon’s capital Beirut has gone up to five, officials say.

Eight people are injured and are being treated in hospital, the ministry added.

The attack took place in the Bashoura neighbourhood of Beirut.

The Israel Defence Forces has ordered urgent evacuations in Beirut.

Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic spokesman said anyone near specific buildings in three neighbourhoods in the southern suburbs of the city should leave immediately.

The Lebanese health ministry says two people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a medical facility in the Bachoura area of central Beirut on Wednesday night.

Eleven people were injured, the ministry said in a statement posted on X

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Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he was not allowing Antonio Guterres to enter the country for his failure to ‘unequivocally condemn’ Iran’s huge missile attack on Israel.

Shortly after Iran’s attack, Guterres condemned the escalation of violence in the region, but made no mention of Iran.

A Lebanese security source tells Reuters that an Israeli strike hit within Beirut’s city limits, not far from downtown. Witnesses in the center of the Lebanese capital heard a massive blast.

Some initial images from the Bashura neighborhood show significant damage to a building, with a fire burning on the third floor.

The strike comes shortly after the IDF announced it was carrying out a “targeted” attack in Beirut.

The Lebanese health ministry said late Wednesday that 46 people were killed and 85 others injured by ‘enemy Israeli strikes’ across the country over the past 24 hours.

Lebanon’s disaster management agency said earlier that 1,928 people have been killed since Israel and Hezbollah began trading cross-border fire after the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023.

The World Health Organization chief has warned that Lebanon’s health system was struggling to keep up, after Israel escalated airstrikes and launched ground raids into the country.

‘The death toll in Lebanon is rising, and hospitals are overwhelmed with the influx of injured patients,’ warned on X.

‘The health system has been weakened by successive crises and is struggling to cope with the immense needs,’ he said, adding that WHO was scaling up its response.

More than 1,000 people have died since last week, in fighting that has included Israeli strikes on Beirut and its southern suburbs.

He stressed that WHO had been working closely with the Lebanese health ministry but stressed ‘more help is needed’.

Tedros insisted though that ‘the violence must end to prevent more loss and suffering. Any further escalation of the conflict will have catastrophic consequences for the region. The best medicine is peace.’

The son-in-law of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed last week in a massive Israeli strike in Beirut, was also killed in an Israeli raid in Damascus today, an NGO said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said:

Israel launched three air raids on Beirut’s southern suburbs just before midnight Wednesday, a source close to Hezbollah said, the third wave of Israeli strikes against the pro-Iranian militant group in the past 24 hours.

AFP journalists just outside the Lebanese capital could hear the explosions, which were audible kilometres away.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, after accusing Israel of ‘looking for war’.

Najib Mikati said around 1.2 million people across Lebanon have been displaced by Israeli attacks.

Adding that the ‘most important thing’ now was arranging shelter and food for displaced people across the country.

A charter plane carrying British citizens from Lebanon has just touched down in Birmingham.

The plane touched down shortly before 8.40pm, having departed from Beirut and stopped off in Bucharest, Romania, on its journey.

The foreign secretary David Lammy said today that further flights were planned tomorrow and over the coming days to help British citizens leave Lebanon.

Iranian armed forces have the ‘necessary deterrence’ in the event of a possible Israeli retaliation on its nuclear sites, the head of Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) has said.

Mohammad Eslami, downplayed the possibility of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites by saying that ‘Israel has always made such threats’.

The family of an Israeli solder who was killed during the fighting in Lebanon earlier today have released the heartbreaking final video he shared with them.

Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster was killed along with seven others when Hezbollah militants sprang a surprise assault on them near the village of Adaisseh.

In the video the smiling 22-year-old assures his family he and his soldiers are well-prepared for the mission at hand against Hezbollah.

The soldier added that this as a ‘historic opportunity’ that he is proud to take on so that his ‘little nieces and nephews’ aren’t forced to deal with the same burden when they grow up.

‘You are always with me in my heart. Until victory! I love you all,’ he ends the video.

Joe Biden, the US president, has said he does not support an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites as Israel vowed to respond to Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday.

“The answer is no,” he said in response to the question.

Biden also told reporters that there would be more sanctions imposed on Iran and said he would speak ‘relatively soon’ with the Israeli leader, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Jordan’s top diplomat Ayman Safadihas warned Israel and Iran that the country will ‘defend itself with all its capabilities against any threat’ after Iranian missiles fired at Israel breached the kingdom’s airspace.

‘Jordan will not be anyone’s battlefield,’ Safadi said in a phone call with his British counterpart David Lammy, according to a ministry statement.

The country would ‘defend itself with all its capabilities against any threat to its security, its stability and the safety of its citizens’, he added, saying ‘Jordan has clearly informed Iran and Israel of this stance’.

The Jordanian Public Security Directorate has said its air force and air defences had intercepted missiles and drones during the fighting.

Safadi called for ceasefire agreements in both Gaza and Lebanon to ‘stop this dangerous escalation’ in the Middle East.

The Israeli military has claimed most landed in open areas in the western Galilee region.

Two missiles landed in northern Upper Galilee, again falling in an open area.

All these rockers were launched in three batches within a timeframe of less than two hours.

The latest attacks bring the total number of rockets launched from Lebanon to Israel today to 240.

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that two RAF Typhoon fighter jets and a Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker ‘played their part’ in defending Israel – but did not engage any targets.

Defence Secretary John Healey has been at Royal Air Force Akrotiri in Cyprus today, where he was asked why.

He said:

Following on from the deaths of eight Israelis PM Benjamin Netanyahu has taken to X to send his condolences to the familes.

In a post to X, Netanyahu says: ‘We are in the middle of a tough war against Iran’s axis of evil, which seeks to destroy us. This will not happen – because we will stand together, and with God’s help – we will win together.’

He ends his message saying Israel will return abductees in the south, return residents to the north and will ‘guarantee the eternity of Israel’.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to flee Lebanon days before he was killed in an Israeli strike and is now deeply worried about Israeli infiltration of senior government ranks in Tehran, three Iranian sources say.

Khamenei sent a message with an envoy to beseech the Hezbollah secretary general to leave for Iran, citing intelligence reports that suggested Israel had operatives within Hezbollah and was planning to kill him, a senior Iranian official told Reuter.

The messenger, the official says, was a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan, who was with Nasrallah in his bunker when it was hit by Israeli bombs and was also killed.

The US State Department has said it organised a flight out of Beirut today to allow Americans to escape the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Spokesperson Matthew Miller said around 7,000 US citizens had registered with the government to receive information about leaving the country, although not all of those are looking for assistance to leave.

Today’s flight from Beirut had a capacity of around 300 and carried around 100 Americans and their family members.

The head of the Israeli military, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, has said the Israel Defence Forces have ‘the ability to reach and attack any point in the Middle East’.

More than 240 rockets have been launched from Lebanon at northern Israel today, according to the military.

Some two hours ago, a barrage of 70 rockets was fired at the Western Galilee, impacting open areas, according to the IDF.

Two more rockets were fired at Avivim this evening, also hitting open areas, the IDF says.

The IDF says that 30 more rockets were fired at the Western Galilee half an hour ago, which all struck open areas.

One person sustained minor injuries as a result of glass shards from an impact or falling shrapnel during the attacks on the Western Galilee, medics say. There are no other reports of injuries.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN has told a Security Council meeting that the strikes on Israel were a direct response to ‘repeated acts of aggression against Iran’.

Amir Saeed Iravani terms the strikes as ‘self defence’, as Israel has become a ‘serious threat’ to international security, going on to call for them to immediately cease the war on Gaza and halt attacks on Lebanon.

Qatar’s emir met Iran’s president in Doha where the discussions focused on Gaza and Lebanon, the two officials said in a joint briefing.

The Emir of Qatar said:

President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted Wednesday that Iran is ‘not looking for war’ but pledged a stronger response if Israel retaliates for its missile attack.

‘If it (Israel) wants to react, we will have a stronger response, this is what the Islamic Republic is committed to,’ Pezeshkian told a press conference in Qatar, adding: ‘We are not looking for war, it is Israel that forces us to react.’

President Biden has confirmed that the US would not support strikes from Israel on Iran’s nuclear sites.

This comes as reports have suggested that Israel was considering attacking such sites following the strike from Iran last night.

Speaking before boarding Air Force One, the president added that he is in discussions with Israeli officials about options, but ‘the response must be proportionate’

.

Sirens warning people to get to safe spaces have been heard sounding out across northern Israel.

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN has slammed the world for watching ‘in silence’ as Iran ‘funded and directed attacks against us [Israel]’.

He said the following before the United Nations Security Council meeting held today at the UN headquarters in New York.

Three people have been killed and three others wounded in an Israeli strike on a neighbourhood in western Damascus, Syrian state media reports.

The armed wing of Hamas have claimed responsibility for a shooting and stabbing attack that killed seven people in Israeli commercial hub Tel Aviv yesterday.

‘The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades takes responsibility for the heroic Jaffa operation carried out by the fighters from the (occupied West Bank) city of Hebron,’ the group said in a statement, referring to the attack that took place near the Tel Aviv light rail station in Jaffa on Tuesday.

Two terrorists began their attack just moments before Iran began raining missiles down.

A volley of shots was unleashed before anguished screams were heard and more shots rang out. The suspects then turned around and began advancing along the other side of the platform where bodies were later seen piling up in a separate clip.

Terrifying footage taken from the cockpit of a plane flying over the Middle East captured the moment a barrage of Iranian missiles soared across the night sky on Tuesday evening, as Tehran fired projectiles aimed at Israel.

Read our full story here:

If you are just joining us, it is almost 7:30pm in Tel Aviv and Beirut.

Here is everything you need to know from the last few hours:

The United States is also considering its response options to Iran’s attack on Israel last night, the US Deputy Secretary of State warned today.

Kurt Campbell said the Middle East situation was ‘a moment of real peril’ but added optimistically that there was ‘also some possibility’.

He also expressed weariness about an extended or substantial set of ground operations in Lebanon, warning the issues of escalation were very real.

Most actors do not seek a wider, escalating conflict, he said, calling for ‘great care in whatever we do with respect to Iran’.

Israel’s army chief says Iran fired about 200 missiles in an updated figure, up from 181.

‘Iran launched approximately 200 missiles at the state of Israel yesterday,’ Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a statement.

Iranian state TV had earlier said 200 missiles were fired at Israel.

Paramedics were among those killed in Israeli attacks on a southern Lebanese town today, the state-run National News Agency reported today.

The NNA claimed that an Israeli attack in Aitaroun left ‘six of the town’s residents and paramedics’ dead.

It added that one person was also still missing.

‘A search operation is underway to retrieve his body,’ it reported.

The agency described the attack as a ‘massacre’, claiming that a clinic and the town’s Islamic Health Authority centre had been ‘completely destroyed’.

Ambulances attending the scene were ‘exposed to a raid’ by an Israeli drone, it added.

Israel has not responded to the claims.

Smoke rises from a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, today

People stand at a damaged area following an overnight Israeli military strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, today

Israeli troops shown operating in southern Lebanon today

Smoke rises from a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike on October 2

Smoke rises after Israeli attack on Khiam and Kafr Kila regions in southern Lebanon today

Five of the seven Israeli soldiers reported to have been wounded in Lebanon arrived for treatment at Beilinson Hospital this morning, the clinic said.

Two were reported to be in ‘moderate-severe’ condition, and two are in ‘moderate’ condition, as reported by Haaretz.

Twenty-two year old Eitan Oster was a squad commander in Israel’s Egoz Unit

Family and friends of Captain Eitan Oster speak of their loss at his graveside

A funeral was organised today at Mount Hertzl military cemetery

Family and friends of Captain Eitan Oster react during his funeral service

1.2 million people have now been displaced by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, according to Lebanese caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati.

Mikati renewed calls for a ceasefire in a statement.

Earlier today he said the army was ready to ‘immediately’ move to enforce UN Resolution 1701, demilitarising southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks with guided rockets in the Lebanese border town of Maroun el-Ras.

Forces from Israel’s 36th Armoured Division entered Lebanon today, the IDF announced earlier.

Israel said that the division would be joining targeted raids alongside the Air Force and 282nd Artillery Brigade.

Lebanon’s prime minister announced today the country was ready to deploy its army south of the Litani River to ‘immediately’ enforce UN Resolution 1701.

What is UN Resolution 1701?

The resolution ended the 2006 Lebanon War under the condition all Israeli forces would withdraw to be replaced by Lebanese and UNIFIL peacekeepers.

It also called for the disarmament of armed groups including Hezbollah, stipulating only UNIFIL and the Lebanese military could station armed forces south of the Litani River, some 20 miles from the border.

Hezbollah and other armed groups in southern Lebanon have not withdrawn, per the agreement.

The group had agreed to disarm south of the river, but not to pull out of southern Lebanon altogether.

The Lebanese government also called on Palestinians in refugee camps in the area to disarm.

A Fatah representative reportedly rejected the demand, claiming the resolution was illegal.

The 15 parties present voted unanimously for the resolution in 2006. None voted against and none abstained.

Israel is bound not to directly intervene to displace armed forces from the region, however.

As soon as 2007, Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin had criticised the UN for ‘doing nothing to prevent’ Hezbollah’s presence in the region.

Resolution 1701 is still considered the brightest prospect for long-term stability between Israel and Lebanon.

But while there was relative calm for nearly two decades, Resolution 1701’s terms were never fully enforced.

The IDF has named seven soldiers killed in combat in Lebanon.

They are:

Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22-years-old from Modi’in, was named earlier.

Seven soldiers were also reported to have been wounded in clashes.

Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in conflict with Lebanon, the IDF reported this afternoon.

The figure did not include the Egoz Unit soldier reported to have died earlier today.

UN peacekeepers will remain in Lebanon despite a request from Israel for them to relocate, chief Antonio Guterres told the UN Security Council today.

Guterres insisted that the safety and security of all UN personnel must be ensured in his address.

Earlier today, Israel’s foreign minister announced that Guterres was a ‘persona non grata’ and banned him from Israel, slamming his response to Iran’s attack last night.

Forces from Israel’s 36th Armoured Division have entered Lebanon, the IDF announced today.

Israel announced earlier that the division would be joining targeted raids alongside the Air Force and 282nd Artillery Brigade.

The division includes soldiers from the 188th Armoured Brigade and the 6th Infantry Brigade.

The 188th Armoured Brigade is made up of three Armoured Battalions, using Merkava Mark 4 tanks, an engineer battalion, a logistics battalion, a reconnaissance company and the 358th signals company.

Israeli soldiers in their Merkava tank during maneuvers at an undisclosed location along the border with Lebanon, in Israel, 26 October 2023

A 38-year-old Gazan, the only known fatality in Iran’s missile attack against Israel, was buried on Wednesday.

Sameh Khadr Hassan Al-Asali had been staying in a Palestinian security forces compound in the occupied West Bank when he was killed by falling missile debris during Tuesday’s attack, which Israel said was largely thwarted by its air defence systems.

Security forces personnel carried the body draped in the red, green, white and black Palestinian flag. The crowd of about 200 mourners was made up of fellow Gazans staying in Jericho and local people.

A large section of the rocket lay on the ground where it fell outside the compound.

Mourners carry the body of Sameh al-Asali, 38, during his funeral in Jericho

Officers of the Palestinian National forces carry the body of Sameh al-Asali

Sameh was killed by falling missile debris during Tuesday’s attack

Around 700 workers from Gaza have been staying in Jericho, in the Jordan Valley, since the start of the war in Gaza almost a year ago.

Unlike Israelis, who went into bomb shelters after warning sirens sounded across the country, many Palestinians in the West Bank went out to watch the missiles and observe the explosions as they were intercepted by the Israeli air defence.

Video footage taken from a CCTV camera showed a large metal tube falling out of the sky and landing on a man walking across a street, apparently killing him instantly.

Israel’s Home Front Command eased restrictions on gatherings in northern Israel, bringing in new measures in effect for the rest of the week.

Updated guidelines said gatherings of up to 50 people would now be allowed in open areas, and up to 250 in closed buildings.

Hezbollah launched 100 rockets into northern Israel this morning, according to the IDF. Israelis in affected areas were urged to shelter.

The IDF reported that it had intercepted rockets fired by Yemeni Houthi rebels.

No immediate reports of casualties or damage were available.

New restrictions are in effect until 8pm on October 5.

British military jets did not shoot down ballistic missiles fired at Israel from Iran last night, the BBC reported this afternoon.

The broadcaster added that HMS Duncan, a Royal Navy destroyer operating in the region, also did not fire any Sea Viper missiles.

The US said earlier that two naval destroyers had been used to shoot down Iranian missiles, as British and Jordanian forces were reported to have lent support.

John Healey, the British Defence Secretary, said earlier that UK forces had ‘played their part’ in defending Israel from Iranian attacks.

The Ministry of Defence has not yet clarified how.

Germany’s interior minister has expressed anger over anti-Israel street rallies that celebrated Iran’s large-scale missile attack on its sworn enemy the previous night.

Nancy Faeser warned that police would crack down on demonstrations in support of Iran-backed Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Dozens took to the streets of Berlin in joy shortly after Tehran late Tuesday launched a direct attack on Israel, firing what it said were 200 missiles and sending civilians rushing into shelters.

‘I am filled with consternation and angry that such a form of violence is being celebrated,’ Faeser told journalists. ‘Any act that glorifies and supports Hamas or Hezbollah in Germany is punishable, even on the streets.’

Bild daily reported that dozens took to the streets of Berlin in joy, many wearing Palestinian scarves and some waving Lebanese flags, and shouting ‘resistance’ and ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is Greatest).

Hezbollah said it had detonated a bomb targeting Israeli troops on border this afternoon as clashes continue in Lebanon.

It recorded casualties near the village of Yaroun.

If you are just joining us, it has just gone 3:30pm in Tel Aviv and Beirut.

Clashes between Hezbollah and Israel have continued today, with the IDF announcing infantry and armoured support for its ‘raids’ into Lebanon.

Focus continues to fall on how and whether Israel will respond to Iran’s missile strike last night, as Tehran warns further escalation could follow.

Two blasts near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen on Wednesday were likely caused by hand grenades, a Danish police spokesperson told a press conference.

Danish police said that they could not be sure that the Israeli embassy was the target of the attack, as they revealed they had apprehended two Swedish men.

Turkey has suspended flights from Istanbul to Iran, Iraq and Jordan due to escalating tensions in the region, TRT Haber reports.

Flights were cancelled last night, amid Iran’s bombardment of Israel, through today, it claimed.

Iran’s armed forces joint chief of staff warned today that Iran is prepared to repeat its missile attack on Israel with ‘higher magnitude’ and ‘multiplied intensity’ if Israel retaliates.

‘If the Zionist regime (Israel), that has gone insane, is not contained by America and Europe and intends to continue such crimes, or do anything against our sovereignty or territorial integrity, [Tuesday’s] operation will be repeated with much higher magnitude and we will hit all their infrastructure,” General Mohammad Bagheri said.

‘Iran has avoided targeting Israeli civilians although it is “completely feasible”, he added.

New Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said earlier today: ‘If the Zionist regime does not stop its crimes, it will face harsher reactions.’

Israel is said to be planning a ‘significant retaliation’ against Iran that could involve attacks on the country’s oil production facilities and other strategic infrastructure.

The military said that its chief of staff, the head of Shin Bet and the head of Mossad all met at the Kirya in Tel Aviv today, likely to discuss a response.

‘The Chief of Staff, the Rabbi of the Shin Bet and the Rabbi of the Mossad assessing the current situation in Kirya’ the IDF posted on Twitter/X

The IDF announced today that Capt. Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22 from Modi’in, was killed in combat in Lebanon.

He was a team commander in the elite Egoz Unit, it added.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US and ‘some European countries’ were responsible for instability in the Middle East in his first comments since launching a salvo of 181 missiles at Israel last night.

Khamenei said at a meeting in Tehran that ‘if they leave this region, these wars and clashes will disappear from this region completely’.

‘They are the source of war and instability and with the help of god, they will be gone.’

The US said earlier that two naval destroyers had been used to shoot down Iranian missiles, as British and Jordanian forces lent support.

Ali Khamenei greeting the crowd during a ceremony in Tehran today

Germany’s foreign ministry has urged its citizens to leave Iran, saying the situation there was volatile and could change at any time.

Several Israeli Air Force bases were damaged in last night’s attack from Iran, the IDF said today.

There was no significant damage to infrastructure, they added.

Some 181 missiles fell on Israel last night amid the IDF’s ‘raids’ into Lebanon.

Iran said its attacks were avenging the deaths of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in July, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last Friday, and Iranian Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan in the same strike.

Copenhagen police arrested three people in relation to two blasts early Wednesday near the Israeli embassy in the Danish capital.

‘Two men were arrested on a train at Copenhagen Central Station,’ police said in a post to X.

#In addition, earlier in the day we arrested a man elsewhere in Copenhagen.’

Italy will call G7 leaders together later today to discuss the escalating crisis in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she would host a call after Iran launched a salvo of some 181 missiles into Israel last night.

Israel is now engaged in direct conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, reporting casualties.

Yemeni Houthi rebels continue to launch drones and rockets towards Israel, leaving thousands seeking shelter.

Meloni told her cabinet she had ‘deep concern’ about the developments.

Italy said earlier this week it was ready to send troops to the UN to help establish a Palestinian state recognised by Israel in a bid to cool tensions, Anadolu Agency reports.

‘Unfortunately, the risk of escalating tension appears to be constant at this time. Today, we are working harder than ever for a ceasefire in both Lebanon and Gaza,’ Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.

Giorgia Meloni speaks during the General Debate of the 79th United Nations General Assembly session in New York, 24 September 2024

An injured Palestinian man hugs his sister after surviving an early morning Israeli airstrike that destroyed their house, in Khan Younis

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that at least 51 people died as a result of Israeli strikes in areas of Khan Younis at dawn

More than 41,600 Palestinians and over 1,400 Israelis have been killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry

A man carries the shrouded body of a child killed in overnight Israeli bombardment, at the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City

Women react as they mourn for victims killed in overnight Israeli bombardment, at the Ahli Arab hospital

The Israeli military reports that some 40 rockets have been fired into the Galilee from Lebanon in the past hour.

Some of them were intercepted, it said.

No casualties have yet been reported.

Smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Yaron on October 2

Damage at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in Hadat today

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, today

Iran’s opposition in exile issued a stark condemnation of the Iranian regime this morning, after some 181 missiles were launched at Israel last night.

‘The missile attacks carried out by the Iranian regime made it clear again that the head of the snake of terrorism and warmongering in that part of the world is the religious dictatorship ruling Iran,’ Mrs Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said at the EPP Group meeting at the council of Europe today.

‘Warmongering and exporting terrorism are the other side of the coin of suppression, killings and executions in Iran, and is part of the regime’s strategy for survival.’

‘This is why we have been insisting for years that the recognition of the alternative and the establishment of a democratic republic are necessary for peace and security in the region and the world,’ she said.

A photo of Maryam Rajavi, leader of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, is displayed during a protest against the regime, in New York last month

Mrs Rajavi also highlighted the wave of executions in Iran, saying, ‘The Iranian regime’s killing machine is operating at full force.

‘The number of executions has reached 223, including eight women, in the two months since Pezeshkian took office as the regime’s president.

‘On the verge of the World Day against the Death Penalty, I urge the Council of Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly that are committed to human rights, to support the international campaign to halt executions in Iran.’

An elite special forces soldier was reportedly killed in border clashes with Hezbollah today.

Al Mayadeen cited Israeli sources in reporting that an Egoz Unit soldier had been killed in confrontations on the northern border.

The Egoz Unit is an elite IDF commando unit specialising in anti-guerilla warfare and special reconnaissance.

Hezbollah is ‘only in the first round’ following clashes with Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, the militant group’s media chief Mohammad Afif said on Wednesday.

‘Today, our fighters clashed with the enemy in Adaisseh and Maroun al-Ras,’ he said in a statement today.

‘What happened in “Maska Fa’am” is only the beginning. We confirm that the resistance is fine, and the command and control system and military capabilities are also fine.

‘We are waiting for the course of the resistance’s operations and it is acting wisely and calmly. The resistance is at the highest levels of readiness.’

The Israeli military has announced new restrictions on public gatherings and closed beaches following Hezbollah rocket fire.

The announcement on Tuesday limits public gatherings to 30 people and includes Jerusalem. It also comes a day before the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, when large crowds typically gather to pray at the Western Wall in the holy city.

The changes are in effect until October 5. Their extension could affect memorial events planned to honor victims of Hamas’ October 7 attack.

While the official memorials will be filmed without an audience, possibly to minimize interruptions and protests, an alternative ceremony was expected to attract more than 40,000 people to a park in Tel Aviv.

School remains closed in northern Israel, and the new guidelines only allow classes to take place in the center if the school has adequate bomb shelters.

While it’s unclear how many of Iran’s missiles actually penetrated Israel’s defences last night, the scale of the strike proved to be one of the biggest tests ever faced by the country’s hi-tech Iron Dome network.

Here, MailOnline looks at whether the defence system was able to withstand Iran’s attack, and how the system works:

Hezbollah said that its fighters were clashing with Israeli forces in the border town of Marous al Ras on Tuesday.

It came as Israel announced it was deploying ground troops and armour to support its ‘raids’ into Lebanon.

Hezbollah claimed to have pushed Israeli troops back near the town of Adaisseh earlier today, adding that it had launched a salvo of missiles at northern Israel.

The group told Al Jazeera today that it has enough fighters, weapons and ammunition to push back the Israeli advance.

The IDF has ordered the evacuation of 24 more villages in southern Lebanon, bringing the total to 51, per Al Jazeera reports.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz took the decision to ban UN secretary Antonio Gueterres from the country, declaring him a persona non grata, slamming his statement following Iran’s missile attack last night.

‘Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil.

‘This is an anti-Israel Secretary-General who lends support to terrorists, rapists, and murderers,’ said Foreign Minister Israel Katz in a statement.

The fifth victim of last night’s terror attack in Jaffa has been named as Moldovan-Israel Nadia Sokolenco, 40.

Four of the seven victims of the attack have so far been named.

These were: Revital Bronstein, 24, Ilia Nozadze, 42, Shahar Goldman, 30, and Inbar Segev Vigder, 33.

Two are yet to be publicly identified.

The Greek foreign ministry reported this morning a Greek citizen was among those killed.

The Kremlin on Wednesday said the situation in the Middle East was developing in an alarming direction and called on all sides to exercise restraint.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia had contacts with all sides in the region and said Moscow condemned any action that caused the death of civilians.

But he made no mention of Russia’s on-going invasion of Ukraine, which has left thousands of civilians dead and millions displaced.

‘This situation is developing according to the most alarming scenario,’ Peskov said.

‘We call for restraint by all sides against the backdrop of what is happening. And of course, we condemn any actions which lead to the deaths of civilians.’

Asked what Moscow would do next and whether it would support Iran in the event of Tehran entering a full-scale conflict with Israel, Peskov said:

‘We have contacts with all sides in this conflict, we continue to have these contacts and call on all sides for restraint.’

Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday called for a decisive strike to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities in the wake of the massive missile barrage fired by Tehran at Israel.

‘We must act now to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, its central energy facilities, and to fatally cripple this terrorist regime,’ Bennett wrote on X just hours after the attack on Israel on Tuesday.

‘We have the justification. We have the tools. Now that Hezbollah and Hamas are paralysed, Iran stands exposed,’ wrote Bennett.

In a separate statement, Israel’s main opposition leader Yair Lapid said Iran should pay a ‘significant and heavy price’ for the attack.

‘Tehran knows that Israel is coming. The response needs to be tough and it should send an unequivocal message to the terror axis in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Gaza and in Iran itself,’ said Lapid, who also briefly served as premier in 2022.

Iran has been accused of seeking to develop atomic weapons, though the Islamic republic insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.

Israel is widely known to have nuclear weapons but has never admitted so.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (C) attends a cabinet meeting (File)

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and 18 wounded in clashes with Hezbollah in Lebanon this morning, according to Israeli media.

Hezbollah claims to have carried out several attacks on Israeli forces today after the IDF announced it was deploying infantry and armour to Lebanon.

Imran Khan, reporting from Hasbaiyya, Lebanon for Al Jazeera, said that Israeli forces had entered Odaisseh but were ‘repelled in ground fighting’.

‘It was an ambush that forced the Israelis back. Hezbollah also bombed the Shtula settlement, where Israeli forces are staging on the border, and hit a large infantry force in the Misgav Am settlement with missiles and artillery.’

MailOnline has not been able to verify the claims.

Israeli artillery shells the village of Odaisseh in southern Lebanon yesterday

The Israeli military has begun measuring out the homes of the Palestinian terrorists who carried out a deadly attack in Jaffa last night, ahead of a potential demolition.

The IDF said it had mapped houses in Hebron, West Bank overnight after two men, armed with a firearm and a knife, attacked Israelis on the Tel Aviv light rail and a nearby road in Jaffa yesterday evening.

Seven people were killed and 16 wounded in the attack, including an off-duty IDF soldier.

Israeli media identified two of the victims as Israeli citizens Shahar Goldman, 30, and Inbar Segev Vigder, 33.

The military announced it had also detained several suspects for questioning.

They were said to have been believed to have helped the terrorists purchase the assault rifle used in the attack.

At least seven people were injured in a shooting Tuesday night

Healthcare professionals are deployed to the scene after an attack in Jaffa

Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett has called for a decisive strike to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities in the wake of the massive missile barrage.

‘We must act now to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, its central energy facilities, and to fatally cripple this terrorist regime,’ Bennett wrote on X just hours after the attack on Israel on Tuesday.

‘We have the justification. We have the tools. Now that Hezbollah and Hamas are paralysed, Iran stands exposed,’ wrote Bennett.

In a separate statement, Israel’s main opposition leader Yair Lapid said Iran should pay a ‘significant and heavy price’ for the attack.

Nine in ten people in Lebanon are unable to find the basic necessities for survival, according to a new report by the International Rescue Committee.

The IRC, a UK-based charity, found that nearly half of those in dire need of aid are children, with some one million people displaced by the conflict already.

A survey of families ‘relocated’ by the conflict revealed 82 per cent of people struggled accessing food.

Cash support, shelter materials, hygiene supplies and clean drinking water were also in short supply.

The ailing Lebanese government has urgently set up refuge in Beirut to house those displaced by the war.

But many have been left sleeping on the streets, with makeshift shelters quickly becoming overcrowded.

A displaced girl sleeps on the pavement in downtown Beirut on October 1

Juan Gabriel Wells, the IRC Country Director in Lebanon, said: ‘We are witnessing alarming gaps in health care, with critical shortages of medication and limited access to services affecting the elderly, children and those with chronic conditions.

‘One of the people we are now supporting, who had to flee his home in the south and is now staying in an overcrowded collective shelter in Beirut, told us how his family weren’t able to bring anything with them as they rushed to get out of harm’s way.

‘He told us that his daughter and her newborn baby also had to flee immediately, without receiving any medical care after delivery.

IRC teams of nurses, doctors and social workers continue to work with the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health and primary health care centres to help the civilian population.

Civilians stranded in Beirut amid Israel’s incursion into Lebanon have said they risk dying from cold weather or disease, unable to find proper shelter.

Shelters have become overcrowded with one million people reported to have been displaced by the ongoing conflict.

Many have fled back into war-torn Syria to avoid Israel’s bombardment of southern Lebanon and the suburbs of Beirut.

‘We were forced to leave our villages and homes and come to Beirut, but there are no available houses or schools, all are overcrowded,’ one Lebanese man told BBC Arabic.

‘If we survive the bombings, we risk dying from the cold weather and diseases. We can’t afford medicine should we fall ill. Many suffer on the streets.’

Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported this morning that Israeli aircraft had targeted the southern suburbs of the capital with a strike this morning.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since September 17, nearly one quarter women and children, per health officials.

Firefighters work as smoke billows at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburb of Hadath area on October 2

Rescuers check the destruction at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburb of Shayyah on October 2

Earlier, we brought the news that a Jewish charity in the UK has reported a spike in antisemitic incidents in the UK.

Last night, the Daily Mail exclusively reported that the same charity – the Community Security Trust – is mounting its ‘largest ever’ security operation.

This is in conjunction with police amid fears that Iranian-funded terror groups will target British Jews around the anniversary of the Hamas-led massacre of Israel, and the High Holy Holidays – which begin today (October 2).

Read the full story below:

Four houses in Metula, northern Israel were hit by rockets from Lebanon amid clashes with Hezbollah this morning, Israeli army radio reported.

Dozens of rockets continue to land in Israel from Lebanon, backed by fire from Houthi rebels from Yemen.

No casualties have been reported.

Sirens continue to sound in several areas in the Galilee, northern Israel, close to the border with Lebanon.

Smoke billowing after shelling from Lebanon hit the Israeli town of Metula in northern Israel today

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have been ramping up for months amid bitter cross-border fighting, and are now coming to a head with the region facing the prospect of a full-scale war.

Here, MailOnline delves into the reason Israel and Hezbollah are at war:

Sirens sounded across northern Israel this morning as the IDF claimed as many as 100 rockets had been fired into the country.

Warnings to shelter were issued to communities around Haifa and Western Galilee, near the border with Lebanon.

Earlier today, Yemeni Houthis claimed they had fired a rocket barrage deep inside Israel.

The Israeli military claimed ten rockets had been fired at the suburbs of Haifa, with some intercepted and others landing in other open areas.

No casualties have been reported.

A school damaged by ballistic missiles fired from Iran, in Gedera, Israel today

The Houthis in Yemen claimed successful strikes into Israel this morning, that they said were intended ‘in support of both the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples’.

‘The missiles successfully hit their targets’, military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement.

‘We will not hesitate to widen our operations against the Israeli enemy or those backing them until the war on Gaza and Lebanon is halted and siege laid to Gaza is lifted.’

Houthi rebels claimed earlier this morning to have targeted military posts deep inside Israel with three-winged Quds-5 rockets.

Israel has not yet commented.

The Houthis sent drones to attack Israeli military sites yesterday as Israel launched ‘raids’ into Lebanon.

Brigadier Yahya Saree said attacks into Israel had been successful (File)

Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz has threatened Iran with retaliation following its ‘brutal’ missile attack.

In a post on social media, responding to several Western leaders expressing their support for Israel – including US Vice President Kamala Harris, Katz said:

The death toll from the shooting and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv last night has risen to seven after one of the victims succumbed to his wounds overnight, hospital sources said on Wednesday.

New of the attack broke as Iran’s missile barrage unfolded.

‘The injured person came to us in a critical condition, suffering from multi-system damage, and after doctors fought for his life, they had to pronounce him dead a short while ago,’ a statement from Tel Aviv’s Ichilov medical centre said.

On Tuesday, Israeli police said six people were killed and 17 others wounded in the attack, which took place near Tel Aviv’s light rail station in Jaffa.

Police said the two assailants, who were in their 20s, were residents of the occupied West Bank, and that one of the attackers was shot dead and the other was seriously wounded.

Israeli media identified two of the victims as Israeli citizens Shahar Goldman, 30, and Inbar Segev Vigder, 33.

Israeli operation leader said Iran should suffer a ‘tough’ response that sends ‘a clear message to the entire axis’ after strikes pounded Israel last night.

Yair Lapid wrote on Twitter/X that ‘in Tehran, they know that Israel will come’.

‘Along with a military response, we must develop an overall regional political strategy that turns military success into strategic change, and we must not forget for one moment the urgent need to return the abductees home.’

Israel is said to be planning a ‘significant retaliation’ against Iran that could involve attacks on the country’s oil production facilities and other strategic infrastructure.

Axios cited unnamed officials in saying an attack could follow ‘within days’, after some 181 rockets struck Israel overnight.

The officials said this could include strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities if Tehran attacks again.

Israel’s opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid (File)

Israeli strikes killed at least 32 people in southern Gaza overnight as the military renewed ground operations in Khan Yunis, Palestinian medical officials said today.

The European Hospital in Khan Yunis said it received the bodies after heavy Israeli strikes and ground operations rocked the beleaguered city.

It said the dead include several women and children, with dozens wounded.

Israel meanwhile continued striking the suburbs of Beirut into Wednesday, while defending against a Houthi rocket barrage fired from Yemen.

Houthi rebels claimed to have targeted military posts deep inside Israel with three-winged Quds-5 rockets this morning.

Yahya Saree, the group’s military spokesman, said US and UK support for Israel puts their interests ‘under fire’.

There were no immediate reports of damage of casualties.

Palestinians inspect the site of Israeli strikes on houses, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 2

Danish police said on Wednesday they were investigating two blasts that went off near the Israeli embassy in the capital Copenhagen.

No-one was hurt in the explosions, which occurred overnight in the ‘immediate proximity’ to the Israeli embassy, police spokesman Jakob Hansen told reporters.

Read our full story here:

Israel has ordered the evacuation of Lebanese villages in the south as it presses on with its ground invasion.

Avichay Adraee, spokesperson for the Israeli army, told people in 24 communes to ‘evacuate their homes immediately’.

‘Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, installations, and combat equipment is putting his life at risk.

‘Any house used by Hezbollah for its military needs is expected to be targeted,’ he said on Twitter/X.

Israel maintains its war is not with civilians, but has urged residents to flee in order to avoid getting caught in crossfire.

Some one million people have so far been displaced by the conflict in Lebanon, many travelling back into war-torn Syria for lack of safer options.

The ailing Lebanese government has tried to provide shelters for civilians in the capital of Beirut, which has also come under Israeli fire.

The evacuation order comes a day after a similar call was made after the military announced the launch of ground operations.

Smoke billows after an Israeli Air Force air strike on a village in southern Lebanon, as seen from Jish, northern Israel, October 2

An Israeli Apache helicopter fires a missile towards southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel this morning

Artillery is fired by the Israeli Army into Lebanon, as seen from Jish this morning

Israeli forces are believed to have suffered casualties amid a renewed press into Lebanon this morning.

Some 20 ambulances were reported to be stationed in northern Israel to receive soldiers being evacuated from the frontlines in Lebanon.

Israel continued to pound southern Lebanon with rockets this morning, claiming intense clashes with Hezbollah soldiers at the border.

Infantry and armoured units were expected to join the cross-border raids today, so far defined mostly by small commando raids.

Israel revealed yesterday its special forces had been working in Lebanon for months, targeting Hezbollah strongholds and destroying Iranian weapons.

Israel maintains that its military operations in Lebanon will be swift – but continues to face pressure from world leaders to de-escalate.

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live blog covering the ongoing conflict between Israel, Hezbollah and Iran on October 2. Here’s what you need to know this morning:

Amid the mounting tensions in the Middle East, a Jewish charity said it has recorded more than 5,500 antisemitic incidents in the UK in the year since the Hamas attacks on Israel.

The Community Security Trust (CST) said the 5,583 incidents recorded between October 7 2023 and September 30 is the highest total of any 12-month period.

The figure is three times that of the previous 12-month period, which saw 1,830 incidents recorded in total.

The charity, which monitors antisemitism and provides security for the Jewish community in Britain, said most incidents took the form of abusive behaviour (4,583), while others involved threats (401) or assault (302).

One incident of what it described as extreme violence was recorded.

The majority of incidents were recorded in London (3,167), while 729 were recorded in Manchester and 642 in West Yorkshire.

There were 1,400 incidents in October 2023 alone, the charity said, and more than 200 have been recorded every month since then.

Reporting by PA