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Explosions have erupted in the Lebanese capital Beirut after Israel threatened “imminent strikes” on Hezbollah’s financial sites.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said on Sunday evening it was planning to attack a “large number” of locations used by the group’s al Qard al Hassan unit, which is used to pay its operatives and help buy arms.

The first warnings affected southern Beirut and the eastern Bekaa valley but according to a senior Israeli intelligence official, strikes are likely “all over Lebanon”. One was seen near the city’s Rafic Al Hariri International Airport.

Images released by the IDF – and verified by Sky News – show a building collapsing after being hit by an Israeli strike.

This same building was one of a number identified by Israeli forces as a target just hours earlier.

The same building was identified by the IDF in a warning posted online asking for civilians to evacuate the area. Pic: IDF
Image:
The same building was identified by the IDF in a warning posted online asking for civilians to evacuate the area. Pic: IDF

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari warned civilians: “Anyone who will be near the sites used to finance Hezbollah’s terrorist activity is required to stay away from them immediately.”

It came just hours after Israel claimed it struck Hezbollah’s intelligence quarters in Beirut.

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“The IAF (Israeli Air Force) conducted an intelligence-based strike on a command centre of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters and an underground weapons workshop in Beirut,” the IDF said earlier on Sunday.

Flames and smoke rise form Israeli airstrikes on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Flames and smoke rise after airstrikes on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut. Pic: AP Photo/Hussein Malla

“Additionally, the IAF… struck and eliminated the terrorist Al-Haj Abbas Salama in the area of Tebnine, a senior commander in Hezbollah’s southern front, and terrorists Rada Abbas Awada and Ahmad Ali Hussein.”

The IDF claimed it took “numerous steps” to “mitigate the risk of harming civilians” in both instances.

Smoke rises near Beirut's Rafic Al Hariri International Airport after an explosion on Sunday. Pic: Reuters
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Smoke rises near Beirut’s Rafic Al Hariri International Airport after an explosion on Sunday. Pic: Reuters

In response 160 rockets were fired over the Lebanese border into the north of Israel over the course of Sunday, the Israeli military added.

There have been tensions at the border – between the Israeli military and Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces – since the 7 October Hamas attacks last year.

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Northern Gaza hospitals under Israeli siege

The conflict escalated earlier this month when Iran sent missiles directly into Israel, with the region still awaiting Israel’s response.

US officials are now investigating a possible leak of two top-secret intelligence documents around Israel’s response.

According to Sky’s partner network NBC News, the alleged leak revealed US intelligence agencies tracking possible retaliation options by Israel.

Smoke billows over the Israeli-Lebanese border. Pic: Reuters
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Smoke billows over the Israeli-Lebanese border on Sunday. Pic: Reuters

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Separately over the weekend, the Lebanese army said three of its soldiers were killed by Israeli strikes in the south of the country.

The army is not affiliated with Hezbollah, which is considered a proscribed terrorist group by most Western nations.

Israel did not comment on the reports but has previously said its fight is with Hezbollah – and not the Lebanese state – despite repeated skirmishes between the two sets of soldiers at the border over the past year.

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Moment IDF blow ‘Hezbollah tunnels’ with explosives

Sunday also saw UN forces in Lebanon accuse Israel of “deliberately demolishing” an observation tower and perimeter fence of one of its positions in the border town of Marwahin.

It warned: “Yet again, we remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times.”

‘At least 87’ killed in single Gaza attack

Meanwhile in Gaza, at least 87 people are reported to have been killed in one of the deadliest attacks on the territory in months, according to Hamas-run health authorities there.

The airstrikes on the northern town of Beit Lahiya late on Saturday also left 40 others injured, the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry said.

Aftermath of Israeli strikes in Beit Lahiya. Pic: Reuters
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Aftermath of Israeli strikes in Beit Lahiya. Pic: Reuters

Beit Lahiya was one of the first parts of Gaza to be targeted following the 7 October massacre last year.

Israel disputed the figures when they first emerged, which increased from 10 to 60, 73, and then 87. The Gaza health ministry does not differentiate between civilians and Hamas fighters in its death and injury numbers.

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Israeli military objectives ‘switching’ in Gaza

Israel ‘switching objectives’ in Gaza

The assault on Beit Lahiya comes around two weeks on from a major strike nearby in Jabalia – home to one of Gaza’s largest refugee camps.

The IDF says it has ordered people to evacuate the area and the rest of Gaza’s north – including staff and patients in hospitals where it claims Hamas fighters are hiding – something the group denies.

An Israeli airstrike hit several houses and killed at least 73 people, according to Hamas-run media outlets.
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Medics working in Beit Lahiya over the weekend


More than 5,000 people have now left Jabalia via formal routes but hospital medics are refusing to heed evacuation orders there – with many warning they are designed so Israel can control northern Gaza when the current conflict ends. Israel denies this and claims to be trying to protect civilians.

According to Sky’s military analyst Sean Bell, Israel’s renewed focus on the north of Gaza – where it began its campaign in 2023 – suggests it has “switched its objectives” to “destroying Hamas’s ability to fight entirely”.

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‘The capital is under attack’: Russian drones launched over Kyiv after Moscow targeted

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'The capital is under attack': Russian drones launched over Kyiv after Moscow targeted

Russia has launched a “massive” drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital overnight, after Moscow itself was targeted.

Amid flailing peace talks, the Kremlin’s nightly attacks on Ukraine continued.

Ukraine war – follow the latest updates

A large-scale Russian attack through the night into Sunday injured at least 11 in Kyiv and killed three people in towns surrounding the capital.

There were attacks elsewhere as well, including drone strikes in Mykolaiv, where a residential building was hit.

An apartment building destroyed after a Russian attack in Mykolaiv.
Pic: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Image:
An apartment building destroyed after a Russian attack in Mykolaiv. Pic: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

‘Massive’ attack

In Kyiv, the city’s administration warned “the night will be difficult”, as people were urged to remain in shelters.

The city’s mayor Vitaliy Klitschko described it as a “massive” attack.

He said: “Explosions in the city. Air defence forces are working. The capital is under attack by enemy UAVs. Do not neglect your safety! Stay in shelters!”

It came after at least 15 people were injured in attacks the night prior.

Russia claimed it also faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday, and that it intercepted and destroyed around 100 of them near Moscow and across Russia’s central and southern regions.

A municipality worker cleans up after a Russian drone strike on Kyiv.
Pic: Reuters
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A municipality worker cleans up after a Russian drone strike on Kyiv. Pic: Reuters

Russia ‘dragging out the war’

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continued a prisoner exchange, marking a rare moment of cooperation in the war.

Amid the most recent attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his calls for sanctions on Russia.

Russia “fills each day with horror and murder” and is “simply dragging out the war”, he said.

A resident looks at an apartment building that was damaged in a Russian drone strike.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
A resident looks at an apartment building that was damaged in a Russian drone strike. Pic: Reuters

“All of this demands a response – a strong response from the United States, from Europe, and from everyone in the world who wants this war to end,” Mr Zelenskyy added.

Every day “gives new grounds for sanctions against Russia”, he said, and each day without pressure proves the “war will continue”.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is ready for “any form of diplomacy that delivers real results”.

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Nine of Gazan doctor’s 10 children killed in Israeli strike on Khan Younis

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Nine of Gazan doctor's 10 children killed in Israeli strike on Khan Younis

Nine of a doctor’s 10 children have been killed in an Israeli missile strike on their home in Gaza, which also left her surviving son badly injured and her husband in a critical condition.

Warning: This article contains details of child deaths

Alaa Al Najjar, a paediatrician at Al Tahrir Clinic in the Nasser Medical Complex, was at work during the attack on her home, south of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, on Friday.

Graphic footage shared by the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence shows the bodies of at least seven small children being pulled from the rubble.

Rescuers can be seen battling fires and searching through a collapsed building, shouting out when they locate a body, before bringing the children out one by one and wrapping their remains in body bags.

In the footage, Dr Al Najjar’s husband, Hamdi Al Najjar, who is also a doctor, is put on to a stretcher and then carried to an ambulance.

The oldest of their children was only 12 years old, according to Dr Muneer Alboursh, the director general of Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas.

Rescuers removing the children's bodies from the rubble. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
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Nine children were killed in the strike. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence

“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he wrote in a social media post.

“In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted – Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”

Rescuers placing the children's bodies in a van. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
Image:
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence

British doctors describe ‘horrific’ and ‘unimaginable’ attack

Two British doctors working at Nasser Hospital described the attack as “horrific” and “unimaginable” for Dr Al Najjar.

Speaking in a video diary on Friday night, Dr Graeme Groom said his last patient of the day was Dr Al Najjar’s 11-year-old son, who was badly injured and “seemed much younger as we lifted him on to the operating table”.

Hamdi Al Najjar, Dr Al Najjar's husband who is also a doctor, being taken into hospital. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
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Hamdi Al Najjar, Dr Al Najjar’s husband who is also a doctor, was taken to hospital. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence

The strike “may or may not have been aimed at his father”, Dr Groom said, adding that the man had been left “very badly injured”.

Dr Victoria Rose said the family “lived opposite a petrol station, so I don’t know whether the bomb set off some massive fire”.

Rescuers unload the children's bodies. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
Image:
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence

‘No political or military connections’

Dr Groom added: “It is unimaginable for that poor woman, both of them are doctors here.

“The father was a physician at Nasser Hospital. He had no political and no military connections. He doesn’t seem to be prominent on social media, and yet his poor wife is the only uninjured one, who has the prospect of losing her husband.”

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Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies

He said it was “a particularly sad day”, while Dr Rose added: “That is life in Gaza. That is the way it goes in Gaza.”

Sky News has approached the Israeli Defence Forces for comment.

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Dad wrongly pronounced dead in Israeli bombing killed in airstrike

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Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began when the militant group stormed across the border into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251 others.

Israel’s military response has flattened large areas of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.

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UN’s Antonio Guterres condemns ‘teaspoon’ of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes

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UN's Antonio Guterres condemns 'teaspoon' of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes

The head of the UN has said Israel has only authorised for Gaza what amounts to a “teaspoon” of aid after at least 60 people died in overnight airstrikes.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Friday the supplies approved so far “amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” adding “the needs are massive and the obstacles are staggering”.

He warned that more people will die unless there is “rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access”.

A woman walks amidst rubble at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.
Pic: Reuters
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A woman at the site of an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters

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Gaza: ‘Loads of children with huge burns’

Israel says around 300 aid trucks have been allowed through since it lifted an 11-week blockade on Monday, but according to Mr Guterres, only about a third have been transported to warehouses within Gaza due to insecurity.

The IDF said 107 vehicles carrying flour, food, medical equipment and drugs were allowed through on Thursday.

Many of Gaza’s two million residents are at high risk of famine, experts have warned.

Meanwhile, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight.

More on Gaza

Ten people died in the southern city of Khan Younis, and deaths were also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.

Palestinians carry a body at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, northern Gaza .
Pic: Reuters
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A body is carried out of rubble after an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters

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‘Almost everyone depends on aid’ in Gaza

The latest strikes came a day after two Israeli embassy workers were killed in Washington.

The suspect, named as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois, told police he “did it for Gaza”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of fuelling antisemitism following the shootings.

The leaders of the UK, France and Canada are “on the wrong side of humanity and (…) history”, he said, after they threatened “concrete action” against Israel this week if it continues its “egregious” military operations in Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu also accused Sir Keir, Mr Macron and Mr Carney of siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.

Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip May 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
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Palestinians search for casualties in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters

But UK government minister Luke Pollard told Sky News on Friday morning he “doesn’t recognise” Mr Netanyahu’s accusation.

Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said he was recalling negotiators from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others.

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The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

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