Aoife Walsh
Live page editor

Israel's military chief on Wednesday told its troops to prepare for a possible ground incursion against Hezbollah in Lebanon, as the US and France were reportedly working on ceasefire proposals.

Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said the latest Israeli air strikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon could pave the way for troops to “enter enemy territory”, in a speech that appeared to be the plainest indication yet that a ground incursion may be imminent.

It came after Israel said it shot down the first missile launched by Hezbollah to reach Tel Aviv. There were no reports of damage or casualties.

In a video message, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah was being hit harder "with blows it never imagined". He also reiterated his vow to return Israelis evacuated from near the northern border to their homes.

More than 600 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes since Monday, the Lebanese health ministry says.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said an "all-out war" in the region was possible, but that an "opportunity" was still "in play to have a settlement".

Biden later met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the UN General Assembly in New York for talks on negotiating a truce between Israel and Hezbollah, the White House said. Several media reports said that senior US officials are attempting to broker a short-term pause in fighting between the two sides.

We're pausing our live coverage shortly, but you can read more about the latest developments in the region here.

US President Joe Biden has met French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the White House says.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, it said in a statement.

Image source, Reuters

Previously-sporadic fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated on 8 October 2023 – the day after the unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen that triggered the war in Gaza.

There was another significant escalation on 17 and 18 September, when 39 people were killed and thousands wounded after pagers and walkie-talkies used by members of Hezbollah exploded.

Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, blamed Israel for the attacks and said they had "crossed all red lines". Israel neither confirmed nor denied being behind the blasts.

Hezbollah suffered another setback on 20 September, when at least 16 members, including top military commanders Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahbi, were killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut's southern suburbs. Those killed also included children and other civilians.

Two days later, the group sought revenge for Aqil's death by firing longer-range weapons deep inside Israel, sending thousands of Israelis to bomb shelters and damaging homes near the city of Haifa.

Read more: What is Hezbollah and why is Israel attacking Lebanon?

The UK government will send £5m to to Lebanon to support humanitarian aid response efforts, the foreign office has announced.

It has also reopened its "register your presence" portal, which Britons in Lebanon can fill in to notify the government of their location.

Development minister Anneliese Dodds said the funds would go to the UN's children's agency, Unicef, to "support civilians who have been displaced and are facing a humanitarian emergency".

"We need to see an immediate ceasefire from both sides to prevent further civilian casualties and ensure that displaced people can return to their homes," she added.

Peter Gillibrand
BBC Newsbeat

I’ve been speaking to 25-year-old Rashad, a British Lebanese man who fled here during the conflict between Israel and Lebanon in 2006.

His dad, Wassef, went back to Lebanon four months ago to take care of his 84-year-old grandmother who was in a village called Kfar Tebnit in the south.

They are now both in Beirut.

“I’m constantly holding my breath because I’m just so overwhelmed and just trying to keep going,” Rashad tells me. “It’s difficult. It’s not like a distant thing [for our family].”

We add his dad Wassef to the call, who says he misses Rashad. Rashad tells his dad: “We’re all really worried”.

Wassef shares that the family of a childhood friend “was killed days ago”.

“The severity and intensity of the bombing in the last four days," Wassef adds. "It’s scary. Many people still under the rubble. People are treated on the streets and hospitals are at full capacity."

Image source, Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron has told the UN that there "must not be war in Lebanon" and that he is dispatching his foreign minister there at the end of the week.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Macron called on Israel to cease its "escalation" and for Hezbollah to stop firing rockets into Israel.

At France's request, the UN security council will hold an emergency session on the conflict later.

Why a ground incursion may favour Hezbollahpublished at 20:47 British Summer Time 25 September

20:47 BST 25 September

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

The last time Israel went to war with Hezbollah, in 2006, it hoped to crush its enemy with airpower alone. When that didn’t work, it had to send in ground forces and the two sides fought each other to a standstill over 34 days.

All the indications are that the Israeli high command has now reached the same conclusion, namely that absent Hezbollah giving up, which it’s showing no sign of doing, then it will take boots on the ground to secure Israel’s northern border. So if that happens, then what will Israeli ground forces be facing?

Prior to last week’s exploding pager attacks, Hezbollah was conservatively estimated to have around 20,000 active fighters. That number may sound low and certainly they have been no match for Israeli air power. But Hezbollah has at least three factors going in its favour:

1. Its forces are battle-hardened, having spent the last few years fighting in Syria against an insurgency.
2. They know the terrain intimately. They’ve spent 18 years preparing for this, predicting where best to ambush an invading Israeli force
3. They are fanatically motivated. Fighting Israel is their entire raison d’etre and many are unafraid to "become martyrs", ie to die fighting Israel

The Pentagon says an Israeli ground operation in Lebanon doesn't appear to be "imminent".

"In terms of a ground incursion or a ground invasion, that is really for the Israelis to speak to. We certainly don't want to see any action taken that could lead to further escalation in the region," spokesperson Sabrina Singh tells reporters.

Singh adds that the US wants "to see a diplomatic resolution and a solution to prevent an all-out war".

She also says that the US military isn't providing intelligence to support to Israel for its operations in Lebanon.

Image source, Chloe Lewin

Britons have told the BBC they are struggling to get out of Lebanon, as Sir Keir Starmer repeats his call for UK nationals to leave.

Chloe Lewin, a 24-year-old freelance journalist from London, said she was due to get a flight out of Lebanon on Friday.

"Keir Starmer’s telling everyone to get out but we can’t. You can't get out this week because they're [flights] all full and every time you get to the last page of the booking, it just crashes and it says you can't book a flight.

"And then people I know who have had flights, they're all getting cancelled. My friends were meant to leave this morning on Egyptair - that got cancelled, so they can't get out."

Isabella Eda Baker said she was too scared to go to the airport in Beirut and decided to head to Tripoli in the north of the country and then continue by boat to Turkey.

"I'm now in Tripoli at a friend's house. We are hoping the boat will leave at 6 or 7pm," said the student.

"I'm with a Spanish and Swiss friend. I’m going to stay with family in Turkey before we work out what to do next."

Read more: Britons 'stuck' in Lebanon as PM says 'leave now'

Israel has hit more than 2,000 targets in Lebanon since launching air strikes there, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said.

"Over the past three days we have struck more than 2,000 terrorist targets in Lebanon, including several hundred today," military spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari tells a media briefing.

It's been another day of intense cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Here are the latest developments:

Preparing for possibility of boots on the ground: Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi has told troops that extensive air strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon are preparing the ground for them to “enter enemy territory”.

Cross-border fire continues: The Lebanese health ministry said Israeli strikes have killed at least 51 people and injured 220 today. Earlier, Israel said it had intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Hezbollah towards Tel Aviv - the first such rocket to target the city.

People flee southern Lebanon: More than 90,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Monday, the UN said. An aid worker told the BBC roads have been blocked by large numbers fleeing the area. Israel maintains it wants the safe return of around 70,000 Israelis displaced in the north of the country after nearly a year of cross-border fighting, sparked by the war in Gaza.

International concern: US President Joe Biden warned an "all out war" in the Middle East is possible, but said there is still an "opportunity" to settle the conflict. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned British nationals in Lebanon to leave immediately.

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent, in northern Israel

Image source, Paul Adams / BBC

The Israeli army was keen this morning to show us what life has been like in northern Israel over the past 12 months.

We were shown around Qiryat Shmona, Israel’s northernmost city, by soldiers tasked with organising security in the city. Normally a bustling community of 24,000, only an estimated 3,000 remain. The rest have long gone, living away from the border in hotels, kibbutzim or with relatives.

Image source, Paul Adams / BBC

Most of Qiryat Shmona’s streets are completely deserted. As long as people are living here, municipal services continue to function. Local buses are still running, with virtually no passengers. We were shown houses and cars hit by rockets over the past year.

In one wrecked home, charred books, all in Russian, lined the blackened shelves of the owner’s study.

For the soldiers accompanying us, Israel’s recent escalation in Lebanon - which is no more than two miles away - is simple to explain.

Israel, they say, will do whatever it takes to push Hezbollah back from the border and return Israeli civilians to their homes. But they acknowledge this could take time.

Image source, Paul Adams / BBC

As we get ready to leave Qiryat Shmona, a familiar sequence plays out overhead. The sound of rockets being launched across the border, followed by the wail of sirens and the sight of Israel’s Iron Dome interceptor rockets streaking into the clear blue sky.

Tiny orange flashes as the incoming rockets are hit, deafening explosions and then, when it’s all over, innocent puffs of white smoke where the interceptions took place.

Camilla Costa
Visual journalist

As we reported earlier, Israeli military said it has hit 280 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon today. Lebanon is one of the world’s most densely populated countries, with approximately 568 people per km².

The capital, Beirut, concentrates over 40% of the country’s population and it’s one of the areas that has been most heavily hit by Israeli strikes in the past few days.

Another area heavily hit is the south of Lebanon, in the governorates of Lebanon South and Nabatiyeh, which house 18% of Lebanese citizens. Thousands have been fleeing the south to Beirut since the attack began.

Image source, Reuters

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Hezbollah in Lebanon is being hit harder "with blows it never imagined", as he repeated his vow to return Israelis evacuated from near the northern border to their homes.

In a video message, Netanyahu says that he "can't go into detail about everything we do", but adds that the military is determined to "return our residents in the north safely to their homes".

Israel signals invasion may be imminent as it seeks to achieve war goalpublished at 18:00 British Summer Time 25 September

18:00 BST 25 September

Daniel De Simone
Reporting from Jerusalem

The remarks by Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi are the plainest indication yet from a senior figure that a ground invasion into Lebanon may be imminent.

After referring to a possible incursion, he was then much blunter in his language, telling soldiers their military boots will enter enemy territory and destroy them.

Since early last week, when Israel set its war goal of returning home around 70,000 Israelis displaced in the north of the country by Hezbollah rocket fire, the group has been hit by extensive air strikes and the unprecedented pager and walkie-talkie explosions.

More than 500 people have been killed in air strikes on Lebanon this week, according to the government there.

But the goal has not been achieved: rockets continue to enter Israel, and today for the first time ever Hezbollah fired a missile at Tel Aviv - a clear sign the group is not backing down.

Many think that air strikes, no matter how extensive, will not be enough to weaken and destroy Hezbollah in the way that Israel’s leadership needs for the war goal to be achieved.

Now the military’s chief seems to be saying he agrees, telling troops today that what happens during a ground invasion is what "will allow us to safely return the residents of the north afterward".

It appears the military see a ground incursion as fundamental to achieving their stated goal.

Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

Image source, Nafiseh Kohnavard / BBC

“We fled under fire” says 72-year-old Ali from the village of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.

“Don’t know how we reached Beirut," he says. He has fled with his wife, two daughters and three grandchildren. It has taken them about 18 hours to get here.

But as they arrive at a school that is being used as shelter for displaced people, they find there is no space for them.

They are not alone. There are many families in the courtyard of the school who were told they can’t stay here. Some people don’t have a car and came on the back of trucks. To move them elsewhere, emergency teams have to use ambulances.

These teams themselves have been working round the clock to respond to hundreds of thousands of displaced people as well as calls to Beirut’s suburb Dahieh, which has been hit a few times by Israeli strikes this week. They all look overwhelmed.

On our way to this school, I saw families sitting on the sidewalks with their suitcases and any belongings they could bring – including cattle, and a picnic gas stove.

US President Joe Biden has warned of the possibility of an "all out war" in the Middle East, but said there was still an "opportunity" to settle the conflict.

"An all-out war is possible," Biden told ABC's the View programme.

"What I think is, also, the opportunity is still in play to have a settlement that could fundamentally change the whole region."

Image source, PA Media

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has expressed concern over the "almost hour-on-hour" escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as he reiterated calls for a ceasefire.

In a sit-down interview with BBC Political Editor Chris Mason, Starmer was pushed on the UK's plans to deploy 700 troops to Cyprus to prepare for the possible evacuation of British nationals from Lebanon.

Starmer refused to provide further detail about the evacuation plans, but said: "We've put contingency measures in place.

"But here in New York, in the UN General Assembly and being very, very clear, this is a dangerous situation now, and all parties need to pull back from the brink to de escalate."

He added that the conflict "needs to be sorted out by diplomatic means".

"But I am very concerned about the increasing escalation, which is not just day-on-day, but almost hour-on-hour at the moment," Starmer said.

The US and France are working on ceasefire proposals to resolve the escalating fighting in Lebanon, Israeli sources are quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

The proposal includes a truce in the north to allow for a diplomatic solution, one of the officials says.

However, no significant progress has been made so far, the officials add.

Israel's latest strikes on Lebanon are in preparation for the possible entry of troops, an army chief says.

"You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah," Herzi Halevi told troops.

"Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves.

"Today, we will continue, we are not stopping; we keep striking and hitting them everywhere. The goal is very clear—to safely return the residents of the north."

He adds that to "achieve that", the military is "preparing the process of a maneuver, which means your military boots, your maneuvering boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts".