The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has told civilians living south of Lebanon's Litani river to head north of the river immediately ahead of "military action" against Hezbollah in the area.

"For your own protection, you must vacate your homes immediately," warns the IDF.

In a statement, it says anyone located near "Hezbollah operatives, facilities, or weapon is putting their life at risk".

"Any building or home utilized by Hezbollah for military purposes is a legitimate target and may be engaged," the statement says.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Hazmieh

Image source, Alice Cuddy/BBC

I’m in Hazmieh - on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital Beirut - where a hotel was struck overnight.

The Comfort Hotel sustained serious damage to its first and second floors, and witnesses say the receptionist was seriously injured and taken to hospital.

A clean-up effort was under way this morning as locals looked on in shock. "We woke up to an explosion and dust," one man who had been staying at the hotel says. "We don't know anything. We don't know what happened... This area is normally secure."

Magay Chebli, who owns the hotel with her husband, says she received a call at about 4am, telling her the hotel had been hit in an Israeli strike.

She says displaced people had been among those staying at the hotel, and that they had tried to take in only families.

"I wish you were here before and you saw how they [the families] were coming out with their diapers and milk. We don't have terrorists here. We hate them," she says.

The BBC has asked the Israeli military about the strike and what the target was. Magay says she no longer feels safe anywhere in Lebanon but will not leave.

"Who do I trust? Should I trust Hezbollah or Israel? I don't trust anyone," she says.

As the cleanup happened at the hotel in Hazmieh, explosions from Israeli strikes this morning could be heard in the southern suburbs of Dahieh.

Image source, Alice Cuddy/BBC

Jessica Parker
Reporting from Cyprus

We’ve spotted what we believe to be a Greek frigate just outside the Cypriot port of Limassol.

It’s one of two medium-sized warships sent by Athens to support Cyprus after a drone hit a British air base on the Mediterranean island.

Greek, French and British military assets are being deployed to help with counter-drone operations.

But British destroyer HMS Dragon has yet to leave Portsmouth and will likely take the best part of a week to get here.

There has been an attempted drone attack on a major oil refinery in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi defence ministry says.

The attack was attempted on Ras Tanura oil refinery - thought to be the biggest in Saudi Arabia.

"Initial estimates indicate that the attack was carried out by a drone and did not result in any damage," the defence ministry says.

The refinery was previously hit by an Iranian attack - as the satellite image below, taken on Monday, shows.

Image source, Vantor

Jon Donnison
Reporting from Metula

From the small Israeli town of Metula right on the border with Lebanon, you can hear what sounds like a full-on gun battle just a kilometre (0.6 miles) or so away.

For 10 minutes heavy bursts of machine gun fire echoed across the valley, interspersed with what sounded like artillery fire. The Israeli army says it is trying to push Hezbollah fighters - supported by Iran - back from the south of Lebanon.

Dozens of Lebanese villages were flattened in the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2024. Many of the group’s underground bunkers have been destroyed.

But Hezbollah are clearly still there and putting up a fight.

Image source, EPA

As Israel announces new "broad scale" attacks across Tehran, saying it's targeting regime infrastructure, the BBC has been in touch with locals living in the Iranian capital.

Two men messaged us on Tuesday evening, describing their fear and confusion.

"I can still hear the explosions," writes one man in his 30s. "I’m not sure if they’re just in my ears now or actually still happening at this point. I’m tired.

"Not happy anymore [at the possibility of regime change], no. Just tired. And confused as to what might happen."

Another man in his 20s writes: "I counted 30 explosions today [Tuesday]. It’s getting worse and worse every day. Today smoke filled the air inside our house.

"What do you think will be the end of this? When will it end? I just want prosperity. And peace, for all of us.

"It’s scary. Really scary. I don’t know which officials live nearby. I hope it doesn’t backfire on us and our lives because of them."

The son of late Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly survived attacks on Iran, say two Iranian sources speaking to Reuters news agency.

Mojtaba Khamenei is the second eldest child of Ali Khamenei - who was killed in an Israeli attack on Saturday - and seen as a potential next supreme leader of Iran.

Iranian state media has been reporting that a funeral ceremony for Ali Khamenei is due to be held today, and our chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet has more on who could lead Iran next.

We've just received an update from Kuwait's armed forces, who say they are dealing with a wave of missiles and drones.

In a post on X, Kuwait's army say they will confront and intercept them.

Following a report from Reuters news agency that the airspace above Cyprus' Larnaca airport was closed, the Cypriot government has clarified that this is not the case.

Instead, a government spokesperson says that two flights were "requested to remain in holding patterns for a short period of time" after the "possible suspicious object" was spotted.

"The captain of one of the two flights chose to return to Athens, while the second flight landed normally a short time later," adds the spokesperson.

"The airspace continues to operate normally.”

Guy Hedgecoe
Reporting from Madrid

Image source, RONALD WITTEK/EPA/Shutterstock

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has responded to threats made by Donald Trump to cut off trade between Spain and the US over Madrid’s opposition to the bombing of Iran.

In a televised address on Wednesday morning, Sánchez says that the government’s position could be summarised with the words “no to war”.

He calls for the “errors of the past” not to be repeated, referring to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which he says had not achieved its goals, creating insecurity and making life worse for many people.

Sánchez says that the attacks on Iran could have a similar economic impact for millions of ordinary people, and the government is looking at measures to counter this.

Yesterday Trump pledged to “cut off all ties” with Spain and described the country as “terrible” after Sánchez refused to allow the US to use its military bases to attack Iran. Madrid had labelled the attacks an “unjustified and dangerous military intervention”.

Image source, Getty Images

Cyprus says this morning that a "possible suspicious object" has been detected in the skies near Lebanon.

"For precautionary reasons, all appropriate measures have been taken by the competent authorities to investigate the incident," says a government spokesman.

Reuters is reporting that the airspace above Larnaca airport has been closed, citing a Cypriot government source.

Image source, Reuters

Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has accused Donald Trump of "bombing the negotiating table out of spite", in a new post on social media.

"When complex nuclear negotiations are treated like a real estate transaction, and when big lies cloud realities, unrealistic expectations can never be met," he says. "The outcome? Bombing the negotiation table out of spite."

Trump "betrayed diplomacy and Americans who elected him", he adds.

Wyre Davies
Reporting from Beirut

Loud explosions could be heard across Beirut last night.

Here in the capital, a hotel appeared to have taken a direct hit in Hazmieh, a part of the city away from the Hezbollah strongholds in southern suburbs where previous Israeli airstrikes appear to have been concentrated.

In another sign that Israel’s bombing campaign is escalating, in the eastern Bekaa Valley at least four people were killed when buildings in the city of Baalbek were hit – many other people were injured said local rescue services.

And in the south, along Lebanon’s border with Israel thousands of people are fleeing their homes as Israel issues urgent evacuation orders for dozens of towns and villages.

These are areas from which Hezbollah is reportedly launching rockets towards northern Israel, targeting – it says – an Israeli naval base in Haifa.

A large explosion has been reported in eastern Tehran, according to Iranian state media and an AFP news agency reporter in the city.

It comes as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announces its air force has begun "broad scale strikes" on regime targets in the city.

Image source, Reuters

We're getting new pictures from Lebanon, where Israel has resumed airstrikes.

Israel says it is targeting sites linked to Iranian-backed group Hezbollah. The Israeli military again this morning warned civilians in southern parts of the capital Beirut to evacuate.

Local health officials say dozens of people have been killed in Lebanon since the Israeli attacks began.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Iranian state media reports that a funeral ceremony is to be held in Tehran for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today.

Khamenei was killed when US-Israeli attacks began on Saturday. The ceremony is reported to begin at 18:30 GMT and will last three days before the funeral procession, according to state media.

The New York Times reports, citing Iranian officials, that Khamenei's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has emerged as the frontrunner to become the new supreme leader - with the decision potentially coming as early as this morning.

Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz has announced that any successor that continues "the plan to destroy Israel, to threaten the United States" and "suppress the Iranian people" will be an "an unequivocal target for elimination".

The Sri Lankan navy and air force have been sent to rescue Iranian sailors, who sent a distress call after their ship began sinking near the island, the Sri Lankan authorities say.

The foreign minister, Vijitha Herath, told parliament that a distress signal from the vessel Iris Dena was received at dawn. There were reportedly 180 people on board.

Herath said 30 injured sailors on board had been transported to a hospital in the Sri Lankan port of Galle.

The cause of the sinking is not known. An opposition MP asked whether the ship had been bombed as part of the US-Israeli attacks against Iran - there has been no official response.

Image source, Reuters

Qatar has been targeted by two Iranian ballistic missiles, says its defence ministry.

One of these missiles was intercepted by Qatar's air defence systems, and the other struck the US air base at Al Udeid - the biggest American base in the region.

There have been no casualties, says Qatar.

Israel has hit dozens of military targets across Tehran, the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee has announced.

The strikes targeted Basij headquarters - a paramilitary force linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards - in addition to missile launch pads and defence systems, as well as "the supply and logistics directorate affiliated with the regime's ground forces".

He adds that the IDF will continue to "intensify their strikes" on the Iranian regime's infrastructure.

Since the US-Israeli attacks began on Saturday, Iran has launched a series of attacks on US bases and allies across the region.

Images authenticated by BBC Verify show the US consulate building in Dubai in flames after being hit by a drone on Tuesday evening.

One video, filmed from a junction metres away from the consulate, shows what appears to be a drone slamming into the consulate, while another shows fire burning inside the compound and black smoke billowing into the sky.

Speaking to reporters last night, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed a drone had struck a "parking lot" next to the to the consulate's chancellery building.

"All personnel are accounted for," said Rubio, adding: "We've been very fortunate, obviously, but our embassies and our diplomatic facilities are under direct attack from a terrorist regime."