Middle East crisis : reports of fresh clashes in southern Lebanon; IDF launches strikes on Beirut

Reports of fresh clashes in southern Lebanon

Air raid alerts have been issued for several locations in northern Israel, with sirens sounding in a number of towns in the Upper Galilee.

The IDF has issued new warnings for residents in southern Lebanon, saying heavy fighting was taking place against Hezbollah.

Images coming into the newsroom show Israeli mobile artillery units firing from northern Israel towards Lebanon.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday called on Iran and Hezbollah to immediately end their attacks on Israel and warned that Iran risks inflaming the entire region.

Reuters reports Scholz said “Iran is risking setting the entire region on fire – this must be prevented at all costs. Hezbollah and Iran must immediately cease their attacks on Israel.”

He added that Germany would continue to work with its partners towards a ceasefire.

Israel has vowed to retaliate after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at targets across Israel. The Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed by an Israeli strike on Beirut on Friday.

Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, which the IDF says are targeting Hezbollah, have killed about 1,000 people and wounded 6,000 more in the past couple of weeks, with one million people said to be displaced from their homes. Israel has ordered residents of more than 20 villages in the south of Lebanon to flee their homes in order to save their lives.

Authorities in Gaza report that over 40,000 people have been killed there by the Israeli military campaign against Hamas over the last year.

Yemen’s Houthis in a statement have said they will not hesitate in broadening their operations against Israel. Reuters reports they also threatened US and UK shipping interests on account of the nations’ “continuous” support of Israel. The Houthis claim to have targeted a military post deep inside Israel with rocket fire.

Security and defence editor at Sky News, Deborah Haynes, has reported “There seems to be a lot more firing – Israeli outgoing rounds, Hezbollah incoming rockets” in the north of Israel where she is positioned, and she just posted a video of her and her team having to run for cover.