Israel strikes Lebanon as region braces for response to Iran

Israel is clashing with Hezbollah and waging an extensive bombing campaign in Lebanon as it weighs its response to Iran’s attack earlier this week. Follow for live updates.

• Hezbollah has lost contact with Hashem Safieddine, a possible successor to its late leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to a Lebanese security source. An Israeli strike targeted Safieddine on Friday. • Israel carried out fresh airstrikes Saturday on the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that has seen daily attacks as part of an extensive Israeli bombing campaign. More than 1,400 people have died and over 1 million have been displaced in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry. • Hezbollah reported new clashes with Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, where Israel is mounting a ground offensive. In northern Lebanon, a leader of Hamas’ military wing in the country was killed in a rare Israeli airstrike near Tripoli. • Israel has not given the US assurances it won’t target Iranian nuclear sites, a top State Department official told CNN, as the region braces for Israel’s response to this week’s Iranian missile barrage. A CNN team in Beirut heard the sound of rumbling and distant blasts in the southern part of the capital about 30 minutes after the Israeli military issued more evacuation warnings late Saturday. Big red flashes and a ball of flames could be seen erupting in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the team reported. There was also the persistent buzzing of drones, as has become common in recent weeks.