The key facts as David Lammy calls for 'immediate ceasefire' between Israel and Hezbollah
Israel launched air strikes in Lebanon as Hezbollah leader said pager and walkie-talkie attacks 'crossed all red lines'.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has called for an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and Hezbollah following a “worrying escalation”.
The Israeli military launched air strikes in southern Lebanon in the wake of deadly pager and walkie-talkie attacks that Hezbollah said "crossed all red lines".
The attacks, that killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, are widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, although Israeli president Isaac Herzog said he “rejects out of hand any connection” to the operation against Hezbollah.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Lammy said ongoing hostilities are in “nobody’s interest” as he advised British nationals in Lebanon to “leave now”.
He said: “We have never lost sight of the end goal: an irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution. I believe in the right of Israel to be safe and secure. I also believe in the justness of the Palestinian cause.
“It is only once Palestinians and Israelis have the same fundamental rights – sovereignty, security and dignity in their own independent, recognised states – that we can achieve a just and lasting peace for all.
“In recent days, we have seen worrying escalation between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah. This is in nobody’s interest. Our message to all parties is clear: we need an immediate ceasefire from both sides so that we can get to a political settlement. So that Israelis and Lebanese civilians can return to their homes and live in peace and security.
“And to British nationals still in Lebanon, let me be very clear: for your own safety, leave now.”
Read a full breakdown of the key updates or click below to skip to each section:
> Hezbollah chief denounces Israeli attacks
> Pensioner arrested over 'plot to assassinate Netanyahu'
> Pager and walkie-talkie attacks 'the 9/11 of Hezbollah'
> Middle East is 'closest to regional war since 1970s'
> How did the pagers and walkie-talkies explode?
> Raw anger and real fear on the streets of Lebanon
Hezbollah chief denounces Israeli attacks as warplane sonic booms rattle Beirut
Deadly Israeli attacks that blew up Hezbollah radios and pagers crossed all red lines, the leader of the heavily armed Lebanese movement said on Thursday, in a speech broadcast as sonic booms from Israeli warplanes shook buildings in Beirut.
"There is no doubt that we have been subjected to a major security and military blow that is unprecedented in the history of the resistance and unprecedented in the history of Lebanon," Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in his TV address, filmed at an undisclosed location.
The Lebanese army said on Thursday it was blowing up pagers and suspicious telecom devices in controlled blasts in different areas. It called on citizens to report any suspicious devices.
Pensioner arrested over 'Iran-backed plot to assassinate Netanyahu'
An Israeli man has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in a plot to assassinate prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu or other senior officials after being recruited by Iran, Israel’s internal security service has said.
The suspect – who was arrested in August – is a 73-year-old businessman with links to Turkey who had been smuggled into Iran for two meetings to discuss assassinating either Mr Netanyahu, defence minister Yoav Gallant or the head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, it was alleged in a joint statement from the Israeli police and Shin Bet.
Pager and walkie-talkie attacks 'the 9/11 of Hezbollah'
The waves of remotely triggered explosions that hit pagers and walkie-talkies carried by Hezbollah members in grocery stores, on streets and at a funeral procession this week made for an eerie and shocking spectacle.
Analysts said Hezbollah will be able to regroup militarily and find communications workarounds after the attack, but the psychological effects will likely run deep.
Retired Lebanese army Gen. Elias Hanna described the attacks as the “Pearl Harbour or 9/11 of Hezbollah.”
Middle East is the 'closest to regional war since 1970s'
The Middle East is the closest it has been to regional war in 50 years, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UK has warned.
Prince Khalid bin Bandar al Saud told Sky News's The World with Yalda Hakim that the situation on the ground is only getting worse and it is time to put in "renewed efforts" to stop fighting in places like Gaza.
"I'd like to say I was optimistic, but it is difficult to see where that optimism would come from," he said when asked his reaction to the conflict. “The situation on the ground is getting worse and worse... I think this is the closest we've been to a regional war since 1973."
How did pagers and walkie-talkies explode and what do we know about the attacks?
A small amount of explosives were planted inside a new batch of 5,000 pagers ordered by Hezbollah for its members, according to a senior Lebanese security source who spoke to the Reuters news agency. Israel’s intelligence services were responsible, the source said.
“The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It’s very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner,” the source said.
Another security source told Reuters that up to 3g of explosives had been hidden in the new pagers and had gone “undetected” by Hezbollah for months. The source said 3,000 of the pagers had exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives.
Raw anger and real fear on streets of Lebanon after deadly pager and radio explosions
There's raw anger and real fear on the streets of Lebanon after two days of multiple explosions involving communication devices.
Less than 24 hours after the country was plunged into a major emergency with more than a dozen killed and nearly three thousand casualties being admitted to 90 hospitals, there was panic and deaths again.
Thousands had gathered in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to attend funerals for four people killed during the pager explosions just one day earlier - among them a young boy. But barely had the funerals begun and as mourners were just beginning to pay their condolences, we heard the sound of an explosion a short distance away followed by shouts and screams.
