Hezbollah leader’s killing escalates war with Israel

Hezbollah has confirmed the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah, as fears grow of the conflict at the Israel-Lebanon border growing into a wider war. Follow for live news updates.

• Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has further inflamed tensions in the Middle East and intensified the war at its border with Lebanon. The Iran-backed militant group says it will continue to fight, even as a growing number of senior Hezbollah figures have been killed. • US officials, who are still pressing for a ceasefire, see the possibility of a limited Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon, but stress that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not appear to have made a decision yet. • Israel continues to launch airstrikes on what it says are Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, killing at least 45 people and wounding dozens of others Sunday, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The bombardment has destroyed homes and civilian infrastructure, displacing tens of thousands. • Hezbollah, meanwhile, is firing rockets into northern Israel, where one of Netanyahu’s war aims is to return residents who have been forced from their homes by recent fighting. Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu is bringing a former rival, Gideon Sa’ar, into the government as a minister without portfolio, he announced Sunday evening. Analysts say the move is intended to shore up his domestic power base.