Iran-Israel live updates: Latest news from the Middle East as conflict continues to escalate with bombs falling on Beirut and a drone attack on Tel Aviv

Here is a live stream of Beirut’s skyline which shows smoke billowing in the air following an Israeli airstrike earlier this morning.

Watcht the footage below:

Sirens have sounded in the town of Shtula, northern Israel.

The alert follows some 25 rockets being launched from Lebanon at the Upper Galilee region earlier today.

The Times of Israel reports there are no immediate reports of casualties.

These are the devastating scenes in Beirut this morning after an overnight airstrike killed at least six people.

A building in the district of Bachoura, close to the Lebanese parliament, was struck during the bombing.

According to reports, the building may have been targeted because it acts as a headquarters for a medical centre affiliated to Hezbollah.

The UK government has chartered a ‘limited number’ of flights to support British nationals trying to leave Lebanon, the Foreign Office said today.

It comes after more than 150 UK citizens and dependents left Beirut on the first chartered flight yesterday which landed in Birmingham last night.

To meet the demand for the charter flight on Wednesday, additional flights will depart from Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport from Thursday. The flights will continue for as long as the security situation allows.

Read the full story here:

Watch our stream below for live footage showing the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut which killed at least six people:

Airlines across the world have responded to the escalating conflict in the Middle East have suspended flights to avoid travelling over the affected air space.

Reuters news agency has put together a guide showing what action carriers have taken as they adjust their services:

• Aegean Airlines – The Greek airline cancelled flights to and from Beirut until October 31 and to and from Tel Aviv until October 6.
• Air France-KLM Air – France on September 30 suspended Paris-Tel Aviv and Paris-Beirut flights until October 8. KLM extended the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until the end of this year at least, the carrier said on October 1. The Franco-Dutch group’s low-cost unit Transavia cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until March 31, 2025, and flights to Amman and Beirut until November 3.
• Air India – The Indian flag carrier suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.
• Cathay Pacific – Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until March 27, 2025.
• Delta – The U.S. carrier paused flights between New York and Tel Aviv through December 31.
• Easyjet – The UK budget airline stopped flying to and from Tel Aviv in April and will resume flights on March 30, 2025, a spokesperson said.
• Emirates – UAE’s state-owned airline cancelled flights between Dubai and Beirut until October 8.
• IAG-owned British Airways cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv through October 7, the airline said in an e-mailed comment.
• Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling cancelled operations to Tel Aviv until January 12, 2025, while flights to Amman were cancelled until further notice.
• Lufthansa The German airline group suspended flights to Tel Aviv until October 31 while flights to Tehran have been suspended through October 26. Flights to Beirut will be suspended until November 30. It said it will avoid Iranian, Iraqi and Jordanian airspace up to and including October 2 amid an escalation of an armed conflict in the Middle East, suspending flights to and from Amman and Erbil.
• Ryanair – Europe’s biggest budget airline cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until October 26.
• Qatar Airways – The Qatari airline temporarily suspended flights to and from Beirut until further notice.
• United Airlines – The Chicago-based airline suspended flights to Tel Aviv for the foreseeable future due to security reasons.

US President Joe Biden has implored Israel to forego strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in retribution for Tehran’s missile attack on the Jewish state earlier this week amid fears of all-out war in the Middle East.

Speaking after a conference call between G7 leaders yesterday evening, Biden said the US supported Israel’s right to defend itself from Iranian aggression but declared ‘the answer is no’ when it came to the prospect of targeting Iran’s nuclear programme.

He said all G7 countries – the United States, Canada, Britain, Italy, France, Germany and Japan – agreed that Israel ‘has a right to respond… but they should respond proportionally’, adding the US would impose more sanctions to further target Iran’s ailing economy.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they have carried out a drone attack on Tel Aviv today.

In a statement, the Iranian-backed group said they ‘carried out a military operation targeting a vital target in the Jaffa (Tel Aviv) area in occupied Palestine with a number of Jaffa drones’.

The operation achieved its goals successfully as the drones reached their targets without the enemy being able to confront or shoot them down.

The Israeli authorities have not directly confirmed the attack but the military said it intercepted ‘a suspicious aerial target’ off central Israel overnight, without giving further details.

On Wednesday, the Houthis claimed to have fired cruise missiles at Israel, following Iran’s mass bombardment of the country the night before.

Last week, the rebels said they fired a missile at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, prompting Israeli air strikes on Yemen including the vital port of Hodeida.

The Houthis, who have controlled large swathes of war-torn Yemen for a decade, are part of Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’ against Israel and the United States.

Israel bombed Beirut early on Thursday, killing at least six people, after its forces suffered their deadliest day on the Lebanese front in a year of clashes with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Israel said it had conducted a precise air strike on the Lebanese capital. Witnesses reported hearing a massive blast, and a security source said it targeted a building in the district of Bachoura near parliament, the closest an Israeli strike has come to the central downtown district of Beirut.

At least six people were killed and seven wounded, Lebanese health officials said. Photographs show a heavily damaged building with its first floor on fire.

‘Another sleepless night in Beirut. Counting the blasts shaking the city. No warning sirens. Not knowing what’s next. Only that uncertainty lies ahead. Anxiety and fear are omnipresent,’ U. special co-ordinator in Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said on X on Thursday.

Three missiles also hit the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed last week, and loud blasts were heard, Lebanese security officials said.

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East as Israel continues its offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah and the Iranian-backed Houthis launch a drone attack in Tel Aviv.

At least six people have been killed after a building was bombed in central Beirut – the first Israeli airstrike in the heart of the Lebanese capital.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthis have entered the conflict as members released a statement indicating a drone attack had been carried out on targets in Tel Aviv.

We will bring you the latest on the unfolding situation in the Middle East with the most up to date news and analysis from the region.