Middle East LIVE: Hezbollah insider's chilling warning as attack on Israel only the start

Hamas has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal with Israel, Reuters reports.

Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al-Aqsa TV on Sunday that a deal is not imminent.

The group is still demanding that a deal be reached with its July 2 proposal.

British Airways and Wizz have suspended flights to Israel due to the ongoing hostility.

All flights from London to Tel Aviv have been cancelled.

Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah has said his group's attacks on Israel were delayed due to Israeli and US military mobilisation.

He said they have not targeted civilian areas and have instead opted to try and strike military sites close to Tel Aviv.

Jordan's foreign ministry spokesperson Sufain Qudah has warned that the "aggression" from Israel in Gaza is risking a regional war.

He said: “We are striking Hezbollah with surprising, crushing blows... This is another step towards changing the situation in the north and safely returning our residents to their homes. And, I repeat, this is not the final word."

Hamas has issued a statement of support for Hezbollah's “strong and focused” retaliatory attack" this morning.

The besieged Palestinian group said it was a “slap in the face” for Israel.

Hamas said Hezbollah rockets send a message that Israel’s “terrorism and crimes against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples will not pass without a response, and will not achieve its goals and aggressive plans”.

Hamas added that the US is “fully responsible” for any repercussions from Israel.

Leaders of regional councils across northern Israel have said they are cutting off contact with the Israeli government.

Northern Israel has been repeatedly targeted by Hezbollah attacks, sparking anger among local leaders that Israel is neglecting them.

A joint statement from Mateh Asher Regional Council head Moshe Davidovich, Metula Mayor David Azoulay, and Upper Galilee Regional Council head Giora Zaltz read: "We haven’t interested you for 10-and-a-half months, and from now on, you don’t interest us. Don’t call, don’t come, don’t send messages. We have managed alone until now, we will manage."

Tens of thousands of Israeli citizens in northern Israel have been displaced amid the escalating conflict.

Israel has not let up on its strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon despite the Lebanese militant group confirming that its action were "complete".

Footage has been shared on Lebanese TV and social media showing an explosion in Lebanon after an Israeli air strike.

Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel’s pre-emptive strikes against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah “is not the end of the story”.

Israel’s prime minister confirmed that its air defences, including the Iron Dome defence, had intercepted all rockets and drones launched against the country.

British Airways (BA) has suspended all flights between London and Tel Aviv following last night's exchange of air strikes and rockets between Israel and Hezbollah.

A BA said: “We’ve been continually monitoring the situation in the Middle East and have taken the operational decision to suspend our flights to and from Tel Aviv up to and including Wednesday, 28 August.

“Safety is always our top priority, and we’re contacting customers to advise them of their travel options.”

Air France said it was suspending Beirut flights scheduled for Sunday and Monday.

Meanwhile, Royal Jordanian Airlines and the UAE’s Etihad Airways both cancelled services to and from the Lebanese capital.

Shelley Barkan, an English teacher in the northern Israeli town of Shlomi, has told the BBC that she was woken "very early" this morning by the sound of sirens, "one after the other".

She said: "It was like fireworks going on in the sky above us in both directions."

Ms Barkan said that while the sound of sirens are not new, today felt different because of the feeling "that maybe the war is coming".

She added: "Life in Israel is not so great at the moment."

The IDF has published a video of more Israeli strikes inside Lebanon. The Israelis crossed the border again in the past couple hours to take out "real-time threats".

The statement read: " We are still operating to thwart real-time threats.

"IDF fighter jets have just struck additional Hezbollah launchers in several areas in southern Lebanon and a terrorist cell operating in the area of Khiam in southern Lebanon."

The Houthi movement has praised attacks by Hezbollah on Israel earlier today.

Like Hezbollah, the Houthis are also backed by Iran.

A statement from the militants said: “We congratulate Hezbollah and its secretary-general on the great and courageous attack carried out by the resistance this morning against the Israeli enemy."

The Houthis have launched rockets, missiles and drones at commercial vessels during Israel’s war on Gaza, saying they are showing solidarity with Palestinians.

The IDF claimed that Hezbollah had intended to fire around 6,000 rockets into Israel, attacking Tel Aviv among other sites.

However, the pre-emptive Israeli strikes meant that the Lebanese militant group only launched 320 rockets into the country.

A Lebanese analyst with close ties to Hezbollah has issued a chilling warning in an interview with Sky News this morning.

Kassem Kassir said: "This is an initial response, but the battle is not over.

"No one can determine the course of the confrontation, Nasrallah [the Hezbollah leader] will speak today, we are all waiting."

This comes after a Hezbollah official also told Sky News that the fault for this morning's attack was with Israel.

The official said: "We restored the rules of deterrence, they attacked Lebanon in depth and we did the same to the entity. The fault lies with the one who started."

IDF has taken out even more Hezbollah rocket launchers in the past hour, according to an IDF post on Telegram.

They said that the recent strikes in several areas in southern Lebanon were aimed at "removing threats".

The IDF added that they struck a "terrorist cell operating in the area of Khiam in southern Lebanon".

A cabinet minister in the UK has said the government is “very concerned” after the exchange of airstrikes and rocket launches between Israel and Hezbollah earlier this morning.

Pat McFadden, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, warned that a “major regional war” in the Middle East was on the horzion if the two sides did not de-escalate the situation.

He told Sky News: "Even as this unfolds, the UK government and the international community would urge all parties not to escalate further and to avoid a major regional war. That is the real danger facing the area.

"We hope this doesn’t turn out to be that and we hope that afterwards we can de-escalate the situation."

A new video shows Israel's Iron Dome taking out several Hezbollah rockets that attempted to strike military targets inside Israel.

The footage was filmed in western Israel after Hezbollah launched more than 320 rockets across the Lebanese border

Israeli military spokesperson Lieut-Col Nadav Shoshani saisd that Hezbollah's barrage of attacks this morning caused "very little damage".

Hezbollah launched more than 320 rockets across the border into Israel this morning.

The IDF spokesman said: “We’re still in a situation assessment of the aftermath of the attack. There is still some fire happening. But I can tell you there was a little damage, very little damage.”

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has confirmed that its Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, will speak about the attacks and the next phase of its response in a speech later today.

Photographs are emerging of an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon.

Smoke can be seen billowing from the site where an Israeli fighter launched a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah targets.

Hezbollah dismissed Israeli claims that its airstrikes "disrupted the attack". They said these claims "are baseless and contradict the facts on the ground”.

Israel's foreign minister has insisted that Israel "does not seek a full-scale war but will act according to development on the ground".

Israel Katz said that the country is "acting to protect its citizens and territory" against what it calls an "axis of evil" led by Iran.

Meanwhile, Mr Katz has written to dozens of foreign ministers around the world urging support for Israel against Hezbollah, Iran, and its proxies.

The IDF has claimed that its pre-emptive strikes “struck and destroyed” thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers in south Lebanon earlier this morning.

The strikes, which Israeli claims were in "self-defence," deployed 100 IDF fighter jets and attacked 40 Hezbollah launch pads.

White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett has said that US President Joe Biden is “closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon”.

In a brief statement, Mr Savett revealed that President Biden has been “engaged with his national security team throughout the evening” and has directed senior US officials to be “communicating continuously with their Israeli counterpart".

He added: “We will keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself and we will keep working for regional stability."

Hezbollah has issued a statemenet confirming that "the first phase" of its retaliation to the killing of its top commander top commander Fuad Shuk was "complete".

The Lebanese militant group said it had hit 11 Israeli military sites, fired more than 320 rockets and sent drones flying into northern Israel in the early hours of Sunday morning.

However, it said that a second phase would be unleashed against Israel, adding "these military operations will take some time to complete".

They continued: "We will take revenge on the criminals.

"The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon is now and at this moment at the highest level of readiness, and will stand strong and watchful against any Zionist transgression or aggression, especially if civilians are harmed, the punishment will be severe and very harsh."

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has declared a 48-hour state of emergency across Israel

This declaration gives the Israel Defense Forces powers to issue restrictions on civilian movement.

Mr Gallant also shared a photograph of himself, alongside Benjamin Netanyahu, in the situation room in the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv where they watched the Israeli air strikes take place.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke ahead of an emergency national security cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv.

He said: "We are determined to do everything to protect our country, return the residents of the north safely to their homes and continue to uphold a simple rule: whoever hurts us - we hurt them."

Mr Netanyahu said the Israeli military had acted "proactively to remove the threat" after detecting preparations by Hezbollah to attack Israel.

Welcome to the live blog covering the early morning exchange of strikes between Israel and Hezbollah. We will provide updates on the latest reactions and developments to the Middle East crisis.