As it happened Israel-Iran conflict updates: IDF tells more Lebanese towns to evacuate amid ground invasion; Hamas head killed in West Bank strike

Thanks for reading our live blog. We’ll end our rolling updates here for now, but if any major news breaks soon, our moment-by-moment coverage will be back.

To conclude, here’s a look back at today’s major stories:

• The Middle East is still nervously awaiting Israel’s response after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Iran “will pay” for launching almost 200 missiles at Israel on Tuesday in response to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
• In Beirut today, the Israeli military heavily bombed southern suburbs that are Hezbollah strongholds. Some media outlets reported the strikes targeted head of Hezbollah’s executive affairs, Hashem Safieddine, who is the presumed heir to the militant group’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah. The fate of Safieddine is not yet clear.
• In southern Lebanon, more than 70 towns are now under evacuation orders, including the provincial capital Nabatieh, as Israel intensifies its ground incursion.
• In eastern Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike has cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said today.
• US President Joe Biden said he believes all-out war can be avoided.
• An evacuation flight with 500 Australians aboard is expected to leave Beirut for Cyprus tomorrow.

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The situation in the Middle East continues to escalate after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Iran “will pay” for launching almost 200 missiles at Israel on Tuesday in response to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

More than 1200 people have been killed in Lebanon since mid-September and at least a million people are displaced by Israel’s ground incursion and bombing campaign against Hezbollah, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The escalating violence in Lebanon has opened a second front in the war between Israel and Iran-backed militants that began nearly a year ago with Hamas’ October 7 attack from Gaza into Israel.

Local officials said at least 99 Palestinians were killed in Gaza within 24 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, marking one of the highest daily death tolls of the past three months, The New York Times reported. The enclave’s health authorities said the total death toll has surpassed 41,000.

Here are the latest updates on the growing conflict:

• The Israeli military heavily bombed the Lebanese capital of Beirut early Friday. Some media outlets reported the strikes targeted head of Hezbollah’s executive affairs, Hashem Safieddine, who is the presumed heir to the militant group’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah. The fate of Safieddine is not yet clear.
• At least one Israeli strike early on Friday hit close to the perimeter of Beirut’s international airport.
• More than 70 towns in southern Lebanon are now under evacuation orders by the Israeli military after the residents of another 20 towns, including the provincial capital Nabatieh, were urged to leave on Friday as Israel intensifies its ground incursion.
• The United Nations described the situation in Lebanon as “truly catastrophic”. More than 1 million people are now thought to have been displaced since Israel began its assault on Hezbollah on September 23.
• An Israeli airstrike last night near the centre of the Beirut killed nine people, including first responders from a Hezbollah-linked health organisation. At least 97 medical and emergency workers have been killed, the majority of them in the last 10 days, the UN said.
• The price of oil has surged after US President Joe Biden said the US was discussing possible Israeli strikes targeting Iranian oil facilities.
• The Biden administration said it backed Israel’s ground and air attacks on Hezbollah for now. Biden said he believes all-out war can be avoided.
• An Israeli strike on a cafe within a refugee camp in the West Bank killed 18 Palestinians. The IDF said Hamas’ leader in the area was killed in the attack.
• There are 2338 Australians attempting to leave Lebanon. Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts said there are 500 seats available for Australians on two flight outs of Lebanon bound for Cyprus this weekend.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has just landed in Beirut, according to Lebanese state media.

A Reuters live broadcast showed an Iranian-flagged plane landing at Beirut airport today, just hours after airstrikes hit outside the airport perimeter overnight.

Araqchi is set to meet Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, who is a close ally of Iran-backed Hezbollah, according to his schedule.

Reuters

A few photographs are filtering in from the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Israeli airstrikes hit again overnight.

It is now almost 9.30am in Lebanon and the morning light is starting to show the full extent of the damage:

Beirut is now waking up to the smell of smoke once again after Israel bombed the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold.

The strikes reportedly targeted the head of Hezbollah’s executive affairs, Hashem Safieddine, who is the presumed heir to the militant group’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah. But this hasn’t yet been confirmed by the Israeli military or Hezbollah.

The IDF just said on Telegram it had spotted more than 20 rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon shortly after 7am. All were intercepted or fell into open areas, it said.

Meanwhile, internally displaced Lebanese citizens took shelter overnight as the fighting continues on the ground in Lebanon’s south. Here are a few recent photos of those who had to flee:

US President Joe Biden said he did not believe there is going to be an “all-out war” in the Middle East, a region that has been on edge amid Israel’s assaults in Gaza and Lebanon and escalation of the US ally’s tensions with Iran.

Asked on Friday (AEST) how confident he was that such a war can be averted, he paused and told reporters: “How confident are you it’s not going to rain? Look, I don’t believe there is going to be an all-out war. I think we can avoid it.”

He added: “But there is a lot to do yet, a lot to do yet.”

When asked if he would send American troops to help Israel, he responded: “We have already helped Israel. We are going to protect Israel.”

Reuters