Israel strikes Hezbollah intelligence HQ in Beirut amid evacuation orders as WW3 fears deepen

The strike comes after Israeli and Lebanese troops reportedly exchanged fire for the first time since Israel crossed the border and brought the fight to Hezbollah

Israel said it has struck Hezbollah's intelligence HQ, deepening fears at the conflict in the Middle East will only continue to spiral out of control.

Officials said in a statement today that the strike hit the building in the heart of the Lebanese capital Beirut, as it told people to evacuate from areas north of a UN-imposed buffer zone. Fighter jets targeted the building belonging to what Israel said were terror operatives working with Hezbollah, according to the state military.

They "struck targets belonging to Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Beirut, including terror operatives belonging to the unit, intelligence-gathering means, command centres and additional terrorist infrastructure". The Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported three air strikes in the capital's southern suburbs, and cited a source close to Hezbollah that told the AFP the strikes appeared to have targeted an evacuated building housing the group's media relations offices.

The Israel Defence forces (IDF) has since, separately, warned Lebanese people living in 20 villages and the city of Nabatiyeh, all north of the UN buffer zone, which stretches along the Litani river in southern Lebanon. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Avichay Adraee, a spokesperson for the Israeli army, urged people to "save your lives" and evacuate homes before heading north of the Awali River.

He said: "For your own safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and head north of the Awali River. Save your lives." The latest strike and evacuation notice follows another day of escalation in Lebanon, with Israel continuing to pummel Beirut as evacuations of foreign nationals continue.

Earlier today, Lebanon confirmed that its forces had returned fire on Israeli soldiers in the first such exchange of the blossoming conflict. The Lebanese army said today that soldiers returned fire at Israeli fighters after a soldier was killed in a strike when an army installation in Bint Jbeil, a Lebanese border town, was targeted.

The army said in a post on X that troops "returned fire at the sources of fire". Hezbollah and Israel have fought one another - until now - without intervention from the Lebanese army, which is a separate entity to the much larger militant group. At present, it does not appear the exchange will lead to any further fighting or escalation.