Israeli military warns people to evacuate another 24 villages in south Lebanon

Air strikes have hit Beirut (AP)

The Israeli military has warned people to evacuate another 24 villages across southern Lebanon.

The warning on Wednesday came days after the military launched what it said were limited ground operations near the border to combat the Hezbollah militant group.

The villages are in a UN-declared buffer zone established after Israel and Hezbollah fought their last war in 2006.

The Middle East is moving closer to a long-feared regional war the day after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel.

Israel said it intercepted many of the missiles fired by Iran, and officials in Washington said US destroyers had assisted in Israel’s defence.

A long-feared wider regional conflict is brewing (AP)

Iran said most of its missiles hit their targets. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed late on Tuesday to retaliate against Iran, which he said “made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it”.

An Iranian commander threatened wider strikes on infrastructure if Israel retaliates against Iran’s territory.

The barrage of missiles from Iran has sparked fears of a wider war (AP)

The United Nations Security Council has called an emergency meeting for Wednesday to address the spiralling conflict.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since October 8, the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on October 7 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage.

Israel declared war on the militant group in the Gaza Strip in response.

More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.

Air strikes caused devastation in Beirut (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on Iran and Hezbollah to stop their attacks on Israel and says Tehran is risking a wider regional conflagration.

Mr Scholz issued a statement on Wednesday strongly condemning Iran’s missile barrage against Israel the previous evening.

He said that “with this, Iran is risking setting the whole region on fire — that must be prevented under all circumstances. Hezbollah and Iran must cease their attacks on Israel immediately”.

The Chancellor added that Germany will continue to push for a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, which he said must lead toward full implementation of a UN Security Council resolution that calls for Hezbollah to withdraw from the area near the Israeli border.

Mr Scholz said that would “clear the way for people to return to the north of Israel and at the same time open a prospect of consolidating Lebanon’s statehood”.