Iran defiant as Israel ramps up airstrikes against Hezbollah and Hamas
Iran's supreme leader has insisted Hezbollah and Hamas cannot be defeated, as ITV News' International Editor Emma Murphy reports from Lebanon
A series of airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday night were aimed at Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters, Israeli military says
Another strike cut off the main border crossing from Lebanon into Syria
Further evacuation orders have been issued by Israel for other parts of southern Lebanon – indicating a widening of the country's offensive
Iran's foreign minister landed at Beirut airport, just hours after airstrikes on its perimeter
More UK chartered evacuation flights expected to leave Lebanon on Friday
Israel has carried out a series of massive airstrikes, hitting the suburbs of Beirut and cutting off the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria for tens of thousands of people fleeing Israeli bombardment.
On Friday, the Israeli military said the overnight strikes in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital were aimed at Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters.
Sources said the target was Hashem Safieddine, the most likely candidate to replace slain Hezbollah leadder Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel has not confirmed that, but it claimed to have killed another Hezbollah commander, communications chief Mohammed Rashid Sakafi.
A separate Israeli airstrike on Thursday night led to the closure of the road near the busy Masnaa Border Crossing, through which tens of thousands have fled into Syria in recent weeks.
It came day after an Israeli military spokesperson said Lebanon's Hezbollah has been trying to transport military equipment through the border crossing.
In the wake of the latest airstrikes, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei made a defiant speech in Tehran.
Addressing Friday prayers in a rare sermon, he said Israel needed to be punished for its "outrageous crimes" and that Hezbollah and Hamas would not be defeated.
His speech coincided with a visit by Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi to Beirut, where he echoed Khamenei's defiant tone and insisted Iran would retaliate to any further attacks against it by Israel.
Later, Israel's military said that Hezbollah had launched about 100 rockets into Israel on Friday, as fighting continued between Israel and the militant group.
It also confirmed that militants in Gaza fired two rockets into Israeli territory, the first time Israel has seen rocket fire from Gaza in about a month.
Also on Friday, Israel extended an evacuation order in southern Lebanon, signalling that it may widen its ground invasion launched earlier this week against Hezbollah.
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) warned residents of several specified buildings in the southern Beirut suburb of Bourj el Barajneh to evacuate.
And it urged people to leave Nabatieh, a provincial capital, and villages and towns north of the Litani River.
These areas are north of a UN-declared buffer zone, which was put in place after the 2006 war.
Israel's military claimed it had killed "approximately 250" Hezbollah militants since the ground invasion began.
ITV News International Editor Emma Murphy reports from Beirut following a night of intense airstrikes to the south of the capital
Israel has also continued its strikes on the West Bank and Gaza in recent days.
An Israeli airstrike on the West Bank killed a family of four, including two young children, relatives told The Associated Press on Friday.
The strike, which hit the Tulkarem refugee camp late on Thursday, destroyed a popular cafe., killing at least 18 Palestinians, according to the territory's Health Ministry.
It was the deadliest strike in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war nearly a year ago.
The Israeli military said the strike killed several militants, including Hamas' leader in the camp, whom it accused of taking part in multiple attacks against Israeli civilians and planning an imminent attack on Israel on the anniversary of October 7.
Israel has also continued its strikes on Gaza in recent days.
On Thursday, 99 new deaths and 169 injuries were reported across the past 24 hours after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
More than 41,000 people have been killed in the besieged territory since Israel declared war on Hamas in response to their October 7 attack, according to Palestinian health officials. They say just over of those who died were women and children.
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Governments around the world are now scrambling to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon, which has endured repeated airstrikes from Israel over the past few weeks.
More than 250 British nationals have left Lebanon on flights chartered by UK government, the Foreign Office said as David Lammy urged any remaining UK citizens who want to leave to register immediately.The UK has chartered a flight to leave Beirut on Sunday amid ongoing tensions in the region.There are no more scheduled flights “due to a decrease in demand” although this will be kept under “constant” review, the Foreign Office said in a statement on Friday.The government said it had added the extra capacity “due to high demand for places on commercial flights” and had “enabled more than 250 additional people to leave in the last week”.Foreign Secretary Mr Lammy said: “The situation in Lebanon remains volatile, so I am glad that we have helped the many people who have heeded our advice to leave the country immediately.“With demand falling, and the security situation deteriorating, there is no guarantee other options to leave quickly will become available. I urge anyone who wants to leave to register now.”
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