Cross-border fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah has continued to escalate. Here’s a quick summary of what happened today:

• Overnight, Lebanon-based Hezbollah launched 150 projectiles into Israel, according to the Israeli military, with some reaching further south than any attack from Lebanon since 8 October 2023
• Israel carried out air strikes in southern Lebanon, which it said destroyed thousands of Hezbollah's rocket launchers
• Three people were reported killed in Lebanon, with Hezbollah confirming two of its fighters died
• Hezbollah held a funeral in Beirut for one of its senior commanders Ibrahim Aqil, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in the city on Friday
• One of the group's leaders said Hezbollah had opened a new chapter and more Israeli residents would be pushed from their homes
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to take whatever action necessary to return around 60,000 people evacuated from the north, while Israel's military chief said Hezbollah would keep getting hit until they can get home

We'll be pausing our live coverage shortly, but you can read more about Israel and Hezbollah being urged to step back from "catastrophe" in the region.

This page was edited by Sean Seddon and Adam Durbin, with reporting from Hugo Bachega, Orla Guerin and Nafiseh Kohnavard in Beirut, and Mallory Moench and Jessica Rawnsley in London.

Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, Beirut

"We are not scared. Yes we have lost great leaders but that won’t stop us from our goal to help Palestinians in Gaza," Fatima told me earlier at the funeral of the two senior Hezbollah commanders in Beirut.

The ceremony was held only a few streets away from the location in Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold of the armed group in Lebanon's capital, hit last Friday by Israeli jets.

The strike was a big blow to Hezbollah, one that came right after two days of pager and walkie-talkie blasts that killed 37 and wounded more than 3,000 people - many of them fighters.

But in today’s ceremony it was as if the group and its supporters wanted to send a message showing that despite all this, they are still standing.

That Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s deputy, Naim Qassem, gave a speech in the funeral was notable. Especially given that in the immediate aftermath of Israel’s airstrike, there were rumours that he might also have been killed.

Qassem's presence was also interpreted as the Hezbollah leadership’s efforts to lift the morale of their followers.

But sadness and anger could clearly be seen in people’s faces.

We saw some young men with their hands amputated and eyes wrapped with bandages due to pager and walkie-talkie blasts, while many were carrying their pictures of loved ones killed in recent attacks.

"We have significantly harmed Hezbollah and we will continue and deepen the blow," Maj Gen Ori Gordin, commanding officer of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the north has said.

"We are at a point of change. Alongside the defensive mission, we are in a high state of readiness for further offensive plans against Hezbollah," he told heads of local authorities in Northern Israel, in remarks released by the IDF.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US Reporter

More from Israeli President Isaac Herzog now, who has said Hezbollah commanders killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut on Friday are believed to have been planning on attack reminiscent of the 7 October attack by Hamas.

Speaking to CBS - the BBC's US partner - on Sunday morning, Herzog said that the Hezbollah commanders "developed this school of thought, of swarming into Israel, to try take hostages".

Herzog declined to provide more details, saying that he "can't go into all the information" but that Israel "assumes" the men were planning an attack.

"You see this today, they took up a barrage of attacks on Israel cities," he added. "Why would any decent nation accept it? We're almost a year in a kind of vicious cycle. We want to get out of this vicious cycle."

Additionally, Herzog said that Israeli officials are investigating an incident in which IDF were filmed throwing the bodies of three dead Palestinians off a rooftop during a raid in the occupied West Bank.

"We are a nation of the rule of law, and we will of course take all necessary action. We will condemn it and use all the legal steps that need to be taken," he said. "We are studying it, because we are a serious army and a serious people."

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor

Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah - with air strikes, assassinations and the audacious weaponization of pagers and radios - is designed to change the balance of power in the border war, forcing Hezbollah to stop firing into Israel.

Without question, Israel has inflicted severe blows on its enemy in Lebanon, which limit its capacity to go on the offensive.

But they will not be enough to make it to comply. Fighting Israel is deep in Hezbollah’s DNA.

Hezbollah's arsenal is largely intact, its attacks continue and its leader Hasan Nasrallah has promised retaliation.

Israel’s next steps might include a ground offensive, sending troops and tanks into Lebanon. It has reinforced units on the border, and well informed former generals assess there is a strong chance it might happen.

The rapid escalation, driven by the Israelis since the pager attack, is why Israel’s allies as well as its enemies are preparing for the worst.

Nothing has happened in the last few days to slow down the slide into a much bigger war. The US, and UK, among many others, insist that only diplomacy can cool this crisis.

But without a ceasefire in Gaza, their hands are tied – and it’s not clear who is listening to them.

Away from Lebanon, Israeli soldiers stormed the Al Jazeera bureau in the occupied West Bank early on Sunday morning.

IDF troops confiscated the news organisation's equipment and ordered it to shut down its operations for 45 days.

Video footage broadcast on Al Jazeera showed armed and masked soldiers entering the premises in Ramallah:

Image source, Al Jazeera

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that the order to close followed a legal opinion and intelligence assessment that the offices were being used "to incite terror" and "support terrorist activities", adding that the channel endangers Israel's security.

Al Jazeera said in a statement that it "vehemently condemns" the "draconian actions" and "unfounded allegations presented by Israeli authorities to justify these illegal raids".

The Qatar-based broadcaster said the raid "is not only an attack on Al Jazeera but an affront to press freedom and the very principles of journalism".

The Foreign Press Association said it was "deeply troubled" by the move and that closing news channels "signals a shift away from democratic values".

Image source, Getty Images

The head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has described its operations against Hezbollah as a message to anyone in the Middle East "looking to harm our citizens".

"Hezbollah will keep getting hit until it understands that we will return our citizens to their homes safely," IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi says.

For context, about 60,000 people have been evacuated from northern Israel because of near-daily attacks Hezbollah. Israel made returning them to their homes a war goal last week.

"We are well prepared for next stages planned in the coming days," Halevi adds in a media briefing a little while ago.

His statement follows an intense night of cross-border strikes between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Lebanese armed group launched 150 rockets into Israel, according to the IDF, damaging homes.

Israel carried out air strikes on targets in southern Lebanon, where three people were reported killed. The IDF says it destroyed thousands of Hezbollah's rocket launchers.

Lisa Lambert
BBC News, Washington

Image source, Reuters

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is concerned that the situation in Lebanon could become a military conflict on the same level as the war between Israel and Hamas.

In an interview recorded on Thursday with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Guterres said that last week's pager explosions could be seen as a pre-emptive strike in a major military operation.

"The fact that these things existed means that there is a potential for much stronger escalation, and that is what concerns me - the possibility of transforming Lebanon into another Gaza, which I think would be a devastating tragedy for the world," he said.

He also expressed pessimism about the current negotiations for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

"Neither the government of Israel nor Hamas really want a ceasefire," he said. "That for me is obvious. And what is on the table is quite reasonable and both sides should be in a position to accept."

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

At a time when Israeli government officials continue to maintain a studied silence about who was behind the explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah in Lebanon this week, President Isaac Herzog has appeared to deny that Israel was involved.

“I reject out of hand any connection to this or that source of operation,” he told Sky News. Pressed to elaborate, he continued to sound ambiguous.

“I did not allude to anything,” he said, “except saying that there are many enemies of Hezbollah out there.”

No-one, in Israel or anywhere else, is in any doubt that Israel’s intelligence services were behind the attacks, which left thousands of Hezbollah members maimed, blinded or killed.

"Israel is not interested to be at war with Lebanon," Herzog said.

He said that Lebanon had been "hijacked by a terror organisation" - referencing militia and political group Hezbollah - and had been "armed to its teeth by the Iranian empire of evil".

Asked whether Israel had decided to abandon restraint in the wake of pager and walkie-talkie explosions and an Israeli air strike in Beirut, Herzog said: “We do not want war. We absolutely did not seek this war."

He continued: “Israel is fighting for its wellbeing, for its existence, its citizens, and that’s what we are doing."

Orla Guerin
Reporting from Beirut

Among the grief and anger, there was a message of defiance at Ibrahim Aqil's funeral. There have been chants of "death to America" from the crowd.

Sheikh Nadeem Qassem told mourners that Israel had failed in all its aims and the resistance (Hezbollah) had continued firing for the last three days.

He said Hezbollah had opened a new chapter - and more Israeli residents would be pushed out from their homes in northern Israel.

The funeral procession was led by a Hezbollah scout troop, and marching band.

Huge crowds lined the streets and followed the coffin as it was driven on an elevated platform, on a pick-up truck.

Aqil was wanted by the US because of his links and seniority within Hezbollah, a group that has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK, US and other countries.

Image source, Goktay Koraltan/BBC

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US Reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The US government has told Israel that it believes that a military escalation along the Lebanese border would be contrary to its interests, according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby.

Speaking to ABC's "This Week" programme on Sunday morning, Kirby said that the recent uptick in fighting serves to "underscore for us how important it is to try find a diplomatic solution."

"Nobody's probably understood how hard that's going to be," he said. "But that doesn't mean we're going to give up on it."

Kirby added that is telling Israeli officials they they "don't believe that escalating this military conflict is in their best interest" and that it would not help the IDF achieve its stated objective of bringing Israelis back to their homes in the country's north.

In a separate interview with Fox on Sunday, Kirby said that diplomacy is "the best way to get families back up there".

Video verified by the BBC shows rockets, launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon, hitting and setting alight residential buildings and cars in Kiryat Bialik in Israel. Some people were injured.

In Lebanon, three people have been killed in Israeli strikes, the health ministry says. Separately, Hezbollah says two of its fighters have been killed.

Footage show fires caused by Hezbollah rockets in northern Israelpublished at 15:47 British Summer Time 22 September

15:47 BST 22 September

By Benedict Garman and Emma Pengelly

We've analysed several videos and photographs of the aftermath of Hezbollah strikes in northern Israel, which show fires and smoke rising from Khartsit Street in Kiryat Bialik in the Haifa district.

One, filmed from the dashcam of a parked car, reveals the exact moment of an impact - and includes a timestamp reading today's date and 06:28 local time (04:28 BST).

While timestamps on videos can be inaccurate, this timing would align with the light and position of the sun in other videos as well.

Khartsit Street is covered by Google Street View, so after identifying the location by matching buildings and street furniture to satellite imagery, we were able to mirror the exact perspectives of several videos from ground level as well, giving us complete confidence in where and when they were captured.

We've also verified videos circulating of impacts in Moreshet. One was filmed from a position on the 784 road just north of the settlement, showing two fires burning there.

Another video filmed in the settlement, which you can see a screengrab from below, shows smoke rising from burning buildings and destroyed cars.

Orla Guerin
Reporting from Beirut

Hezbollah deputy secretary general Sheikh Nadeem Qassem is saying in his speech at Aqil's funeral that the group was in shock because of attacks this week blamed on Israel, but has recovered.

As a reminder, earlier this week pagers and walkie-talkies used by the group's members exploded, killing 39 people and wounding thousands in Lebanon. That was before an air strike killed Aqil and other Hezbollah members, along with 29 civilians, on Friday.

Israel has only taken responsibility for the air strike, but it's widely assumed to be behind the other attacks as well.

Qassem said Israel was trying to break the group's resistance and connection with Gaza, as Hezbollah is allied with Hamas, but said it didn't work.

Image source, US Government

Ibrahim Aqil was a high ranking Hezbollah commander who was killed in Israel's strike on Lebanon's capital Beirut on Friday.

He led the Radwan Force, a special forces unit tasked with cross-border attacks on Israel.

Aqil, who was in his 60s, joined Hezbollah soon after its formation in the 1980s and climbed up the ranks.

The US government previously offered a multi-million dollar reward for information leading to his capture over his role in the 1983 bombings of the US embassy in Beirut, which killed 63 people. He also oversaw an attack on the US Marine Corps barracks which killed 241 US personnel.

Hezbollah described him as one of its "great jihadist leaders".

Aqil was injured in the pager explosions on Tuesday and had been discharged from hospital earlier on Friday, before being killed in the Israeli strike on a meeting of Hezbollah commanders.

Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, Beirut

Today's Hezbollah funeral is being held in a big square called Shura, which means "council".

Hundreds of Hezbollah supporters have gathered here carrying the assassinated commander's picture, as well as the Palestinian, Lebanese, Iranian and Hezbollah flags.

A song about “being martyred on the way of Jerusalem" is being played.

This is much larger than the funeral that was held for Fuad Shukr, the group’s second-in-command, who was assassinated by an Israeli airstrike in Dahieh in July.

It is being held while the search and rescue mission continues not too far from here in which Ibrahim Aqil was killed.

An Israeli strike levelled part of an eight storey building, killing several senior Hezbollah figures.

There are still people under the rubble, the government here says.

Orla Guerin
Reporting from Beirut

The deputy secretary general of Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Qassem, has arrived and is seated in the front row.

Many Shia clerics in white turbans are in attendance.

Fighters in combat uniforms and red berets are standing to attention opposite the brass band, holding the yellow and green flag of Hezbollah.

Orla Guerin
Reporting from Beirut

Careful preparations have been made for the funeral of the Hezbollah military commander Ibrahim Aqil, with rows of plastic chairs set out in front of a red carpet.

The ceremony will take place in a square in the southern suburb of Dahieh in Beirut, the heartland of Hezbollah.

Shia clerics are already seated in the front row. Many men have come to mourn, dressed all in black, with yellow Hezbollah sashes around their necks.

A brass band in white uniforms is in position. Aqil, a veteran military commander, was the target of Friday’s Israeli airstrike which killed 45 people, 29 of them civilians.

Aqil’s loss is a body blow for the armed group, after a series of humiliating Israeli attacks blowing up pagers and walkie talkies.

Image source, Reuters

We’re about to bring you some reporting from the funeral of a senior Hezbollah commander, Ibrahim Aqil. He was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday.

That strike marked an escalation in the current phase of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, which began on 8 October. Here's how this week has played out:

• On Tuesday, 12 people were killed and thousands wounded after pagers used by Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon
• On Wednesday, walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah also exploded, killing 27 people and wounding hundreds
• Hezbollah blamed Israel for the attacks. While Israel declined to comment, it is widely assumed to be responsible
• On Friday, Israel said it conducted an air strike in the neighbourhood of Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut
• Hezbollah said Aqil was killed in the strike. The IDF says it killed several senior figures within the group
• Lebanon’s health ministry said 45 people, including three children, were killed in that strike - close to where today's funeral is being held