BEIRUT — Israel carried out a series of massive airstrikes overnight, hitting suburbs of Beirut and cutting off the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria for tens of thousands of people fleeing Israeli bombardment.

The blasts in Beirut’s southern suburbs sent huge plumes of smoke and flames into the night sky and shook buildings kilometers (miles) away in the Lebanese capital. The Israeli military did not comment on what the intended target was, and there was no information yet available on casualties. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported there were more than 10 consecutive airstrikes in the area.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military said that Hezbollah had launched about 100 rockets into Israel on Friday, as fighting continued between Israel and the militant group.

The Israeli military also said Friday that a strike in Beirut the day before killed Mohammed Rashid Skafi, the head of Hezbollah’s communications division. The military said in a statement that Skafi was “a senior Hezbollah terrorist who was responsible for the communications unit since 2000” and was “closely affiliated” with high-up Hezbollah officials.

Thursday’s strike along the Lebanon-Syria border, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Beirut, led to the closure of the road near the busy Masnaa Border Crossing.

Israel said it had targeted the crossing because it was being used by Hezbollah to transport military equipment across the border. It said fighter jets had struck a tunnel used to smuggle weapons from Iran and other proxies into Lebanon.

Hezbollah is believed to have received much of its weaponry from Iran via Syria. The group has a presence on both sides of the border, a region where it has been fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.

Associated Press video footage showed two huge craters on each side of the road. People got out of cars, unable to pass the site of the strike, carrying bags of their possessions as they crossed on foot.

Tens of thousands of people fleeing war in Lebanon have crossed into Syria over the past two weeks.

The new wave of strikes came after Israel warned people to evacuate communities in southern Lebanon, including but also beyond an area that the United Nations declared a buffer zone after Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006.

Israel launched a ground incursion into Lebanon on Tuesday and its forces have been clashing with Hezbollah militants in a narrow strip along the border. A series of attacks before the incursion killed some of the group’s key members, including longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived Friday in Beirut for meetings with Lebanese officials. He warned that if Israeli carries out an attack on Iran, Tehran would retaliate in a harsh way.

Araghchi’s visit to Beirut came three days after Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel, the latest in a series of rapidly escalating attacks that threaten to push the Middle East closer to a regionwide war.

“If the Israeli entity takes any step or measure against us, our retaliation will be stronger than the previous one,” Araghchi said after meeting Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Iran is Hezbollah’s main backer and has sent weapons and billions of dollars to the group over the years.

In the Iranian capital, Tehran, the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led Friday prayers and delivered a speech where he praised the country’s recent missile strike on Israel and said Iran was prepared to conduct more strikes if needed.

He spoke to thousands of people at the capital’s main prayer site, the Mosalla mosque, which was decorated with a huge Palestinian flag.

The strike at the main border crossing was the first time it has been cut since the beginning of the war. Lebanese General Security recorded 256,614 Syrian citizens and 82,264 Lebanese citizens crossing into Syrian territory between Sept. 23 — when the Israel launched a heavy bombardment of southern and eastern Lebanon — and Sept. 30.

There are half a dozen border crossings between the two countries and most of them remain open. Lebanon’s minister of public works said all border crossings between Lebanon and Syria work under the supervision of the state.

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

Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it carried out a strike Thursday in Tulkarem, a militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank, in coordination with the Shin Bet internal security service.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said 18 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a refugee camp there.

Violence has flared across the Israeli-occupied territory since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October 2023. Tulkarem and other northern cities have seen some of the worst violence.

Israel declared war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip in response to their Oct. 7 attack. More than 41,000 Palestinians have since been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials. Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in that time, most of them since Sept. 23, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Israel’s military said Friday that militants in Gaza fired two rockets into Israeli territory, the first time Israel has seen rocket fire from Gaza in about a month.

The military said one of the rockets was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system and the other fell in an open area near a kibbutz across the border from Gaza.

The number of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel has slowed considerably since the start of the war.

Every day since fleeing her home in Dahiyeh under a hail of Israeli missiles last Friday, Dareen Tabbara has risked coming back to feed the 25 cats she was forced to leave behind. 

The cats are crammed into the small pet shop she opened just four years ago with all her savings, some still shivering from the relentless sound of air strikes.

There are possibly more cats than people left in Dahiyeh now. In just two weeks, Israel has dramatically escalated its campaign against Hizbollah, launching regular devastating strikes in the densely populated area where the Iran-backed militant group has a controlling presence but where – up until the past few days – hundreds of thousands of civilians lived. Most have fled.

“There’s not another soul around,” said Tabbara, her tattooed hands gently clutching the cats as she stood in the doorway of her once-meticulous shop, now a dust-covered mess of litter boxes and cat food. “I have to come and check in on them. They’re just as scared as we are.”

Beirut’s southern suburbs, which include Dahiyeh, are often characterised as a “Hizbollah stronghold”, a term that belies the area’s history and diverse social fabric. While the predominantly Shia area is home to many of the militant group’s members, supporters and offices — including those of its social welfare and civil institutions — it is also home to those who have no love for them either.

On a visit to Dahiyeh this week organised by Hizbollah, which typically tightly controls journalists’ movements in the area, the Financial Times saw a community changed: once bustling with the hum of traffic, its shops and cafés perennially full, Dahiyeh’s warren of side streets are now deserted.

It was clear many residents had left in a hurry: newly washed laundry hung across balconies while produce rotted outside corner stores. Dahiyeh’s streets were littered with shattered glass, corrugated iron and debris, the Lebanese army and Hizbollah checkpoints abandoned. Treadmills hung out of pane glass windows of a gym, recently blown out by the impact of a nearby strike.

“I left everything when they started bombing, so I came back to finish packing up,” said one man who stood alone on his street, stacking boxes of condensed milk, instant coffee and dried goods to take with him. “I don’t know when I’ll see our homes again.”

The area has been a particular focus of Israel’s relentless air strikes in the past two weeks: an estimated 380 buildings have been damaged or destroyed since September 20, according to satellite-based radar measurements.

Over the past week, Israel’s army has issued 15 evacuation orders in Beirut — akin to those issued in Gaza, ahead of major offensives — telling residents to leave the 500-metre radius of places they claim are adjacent to Hizbollah facilities.

The first of these, last Friday, sent residents fleeing in panic as Israeli bombs flattened at least six residential buildings and killed Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Last night it carried out one of its heaviest bombardments so far, targeting Nasrallah’s heir apparent Hashem Safieddine.

Madi Ghosn, who was at home close to where the 2,000lb bombs landed, remembers a thud so intense that he initially thought the strikes had hit his building. He scrambled to his car, which he had already filled with items for his family “just in case”.

“As soon as they hit on Friday night, I turned on the car and we left immediately,” Ghosn said, who had come to check on his home and pick up toys for his children. With nowhere else to go, Ghosn moved his family to a shelter nearer the outskirts of Dahiyeh that he considers “safer”.

The IDF said it is targeting missile depots that Hizbollah, which started firing rockets into Israel after Hamas’s October 7 attack last year, hides among civilians. Hizbollah denies this, as do residents of the area the FT spoke to on Wednesday. To prove its point, the militant group took dozens of journalists on a tour of four areas that had been hit by Israeli strikes.

All of the targeted buildings the FT saw were in residential neighbourhoods, some on commercial streets. One was an office building of a Hizbollah-allied TV station Al Sirat, which Israel said was being used to store weapons — a claim Hizbollah denies. 

Enormous craters were filled with the debris of apartment blocks decimated in recent strikes. One block was still on fire.

“There are no missiles here, there isn’t anything here,” Ghosn said, adding that he doubted that Hizbollah would risk killing its own people by storing weapons inside apartment complexes. “We’re civilians, we have nothing to do with anything. If there are missiles, come and show us where they are.”

Speaking near one of the mounds of rubble, Hizbollah’s media chief Mohammad Afif said the war with Israel would be fought “in rounds”. “If you have defeated us in this round, it is only the first,” he said to cheers.

Around him, party operatives and supporters broke out into cries of “Labbayk ya Nasrallah”, a vow of fealty to their martyred leader. Those men are typical of the Hizbollah base that lives and works in Dahiyeh.

But they are not the only demographic. Before Lebanon’s civil war started in 1975, the area — once known for its tree-lined streets and forests — was home to Christians and Muslims, Lebanese as well as Palestinian refugees forced to flee their homes in 1948.

Lebanon’s ex-president Michel Aoun, a Christian who became a political ally of Hizbollah, grew up in Dahiyeh’s Haret Hreik neighbourhood. A church is still standing down the street from where Nasrallah was killed.

After the outbreak of war, Christians began selling up and moving out, replaced by Shia Muslim families fleeing Israel’s occupation in south Lebanon and Christian militias in Beirut. 

With them came fledgling Shia militias, including one that grew into Hizbollah. The group eventually established its headquarters in Haret Hreik and became Lebanon’s dominant political and military force. 

After large parts of Dahiyeh were destroyed by Israeli bombardment in 1996 and later 2006, residents — most with Hizbollah’s help — were forced to rebuild chaotically, densely packing in more buildings than before. “Every 10 years we have to come and rebuild our homes again,” Ghosn said.

Dahiyeh also became home to thousands of Syrian refugees who moved in after the 2011 civil war and found safety and kinship in the area and its Palestinian refugee camps — even those who come from areas in Syria where Hizbollah would commit atrocities. 

Until recently the suburbs continued to reflect the full breadth of Lebanese society, from teenagers flirting on narrow rooftops and families out strolling after Sunday lunches to Palestinian Marxists debating Kafka at their favourite haunts.

This included many, among them Shia, who do not like or agree with Hizbollah’s role in Lebanon even if they have to coexist.

“People don’t have to agree with Hizbollah to live in Dahiyeh; they may just follow certain rules and otherwise live their lives,” Sarah Parkinson, a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University, said. “To freeze it — concretise it as a ‘Hizbollah stronghold’ — erases what is incredibly salient history.”

As Israel continues to hit Dahiyeh, the thousands who fled have started to lose count of the attacks. They simply want to return home.

“We’re risking our lives as much as we can because there’s no alternative,” Tabbara, the pet shop owner, said. “I just want this war to end soon,” she added, showing the tattoo on her wrist with a single English word: “Hope.”

Cartography by Jana Tauschinski

IF you receive a state pension then you’re eligible for a cash gift from the Government this winter.

The annual £10 festive bonus is paid every year to millions of people on benefits and is designed to help with the extra costs of Christmas.

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While £10 doesn’t get you far these days, it’s worth having – better in your pocket than theirs after all – and with the increased cost of energy bills since October 1, it all helps.

Plus, the bonus won’t affect your pension credit or any other benefits and it’s tax-free.

Payment is automatic and you should receive the money into your bank account just before Christmas Day.

Introduced in 1972, the festive bonus is still a welcome extra in 2024, with the cost of living being so high.

Who is eligible?

To be eligible this year you have to be in receipt of the state pension during the qualifying week of December 1-8.

You must also live in one of the following countries:

• The UK
• The Channel Islands
• The Isle of Man
• Gibraltar
• Switzerland
• Any European Economic Area (EEA) country

If you don’t claim state pension or have deferred it then you will not receive the cash bonus.

How do I get the Christmas bonus?

If you’re eligible for the £10 bonus then payment is automatic and it goes directly into the same bank account as your pension payments.

It will show up as ‘DWP XB’ on your bank statement so check your statement to make sure you received it.

If you don’t receive a payment but believe you should have done then contact the Pension Service – the address and phone number are on the Government website gov.uk. 

Who else can get the bonus?

The £10 cash bonus is currently paid to those on a range of benefits. These are:

• Adult Disability Payment
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Attendance Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Child Disability Payment
• Constant Attendance Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
• Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (once the main phase of the benefit is entered after the first 13 weeks of claim)
• Disability Living Allowance
• Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate
• Industrial Death Benefit (for widows or widowers)
• Mobility Supplement
• Pension Credit – the guarantee element
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected)
• Unemployability Supplement or Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
• War Disablement Pension at State Pension age
• War Widow’s Pension
• Widowed Mother’s Allowance
• Widowed Parent’s Allowance
• Widow’s Pension

What other help is available for pensioners this Christmas?

A winter fuel payment, which is worth up to £300, will be paid to some people receiving the state pension this winter, though not all.

The payment is now means-tested so if you receive pension credit you’re eligible for the one-off annual payment, but if you don’t then you will no longer qualify.

If you’re on pension credit and aged 75 or older, you will also be eligible for a free TV licence.

To check your eligibility for pension credit take a look at the Government website. 

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories

A SEASIDE town in the north of England could be set to benefit from two huge investment projects.

Morecambe in Lancashire was named one of the worst coastal towns in the UK by the Telegraph.

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The report, which was published last year, ranked Morecambe as the 5th worst seaside town in the country, saying it could be “so much more than it is”.

And that could very much be the case, with two huge development projects potentially on the horizon.

The Lancashire-based seaside town was already set to benefit from the arrival of the second incarnation of the Eden Project, which is due to open by 2028.

Developers hope Eden Project Morecambe will be able to replicate the success of the Eden Project in Cornwall.

The huge £100million attraction will feature a “hyper-real forest” with large installations and immersive theatre.

It will have three huge shell-shaped pavilions that will overlook Morecambe Bay and a “Bay Glade” with a well-being landscape and a Natural Observatory for research and education.

There will also be an exhibition area and meeting point for guests named the Bay Hall as well as play areas, restaurants, cafes and a gift shop.

Talks are also underway to regenerate Frontierland – an abandoned theme park in Morecambe that closed in 2000.

The site where Frontierland sits has been left bare for the last 24 years but the local council are hoping to bring it back to its former glory.

According to the BBC, the Frontierland site was discussed at the latest Eden community conversation event, which was hosted by the local authority.

City council officer, Jonathan Noad revealed that around “35 regional and national developers” were coming to the town to discuss the abandoned theme park.

However, Jonathan added that the developers would “need to up-their-gears and put their ideas to us” as they look to start the procurement process.

Lancaster City Council acquired the land in 2021 and invited interested parties to submit development plans for it.

The city council official added: “We’ve also got the rest of central Morecambe to look at.

“Work will also look at Morecambe environments and what the public realm needs to look like to attract visitors.”

The authority hopes a developer will propose an “exciting idea” which can transform the site in the next 18 months.

The Eden Project and the possible redevelopment of Frontierland isn’t the only thing that’s drawing tourists to Morecambe.

Last year, one of the town’s most famous residents, heavyweight boxing champ Tyson Fury, increased the number of visitors to the town, with his Netflix series At Home With the Furys.

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In episode one of the series, Fury explains why he has never moved away from the town, saying the view of the bay, where he can often be seen running, is one of the main attractions.

He said: “I’ve often tampered with the idea of living abroad and living in Monaco and America, but there’s always something that keeps me here in Morecambe Bay.

“I believe it’s probably the sea air calling to me, ‘don’t go! Stay!’

“Every time I jog down the front, I look at the bay and the view and I think, ‘Wow, no matter where I go in the world, I will never get that anywhere else’.”

Before the regeneration takes place, visitors have plenty to see, with places like Happy Mount Park, the Eric Morecambe Statue and The Smugglers Den pub all rated highly on TripAdvisor.

The beach itself receives a lot of praise too, with one reviewer writing: “This bay is beautiful and very extensive so there is plenty of coastline to walk along.

“There were lots of people swimming out into the sea. The beach had large rocks then sand and was full of character. Well worth a visit on a nice day.”

Meanwhile, this seaside town in England – with sandy beaches, donkey rides & the best B&B in the world.

And this other holiday location is getting a huge new tourist attraction.

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A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News.

Leading the week

Parliament returns next week after a conference season which saw the UK’s main parties trying to cement their post-election identities: the Lib Dems and Reform vying for the role of alternative opposition, the Conservatives waiting to discover who’ll lead them into the next election, and Labour struggling to focus on the business of governing amid the background noise of scandals, policy disputes, and unhappy MPs. But party politics may need to take a back seat when MPs return to Westminster on Monday (October 7) as escalating tensions in the Middle East threaten to overshadow the scheduled business.

Monday’s agenda in the House of Commons (DWP questions and a debate on Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS) is likely to be superseded by post-recess ministerial statements, with Keir Starmer’s relationship reset in Brussels, David Lammy’s diplomatic discussions on Ukraine and the Middle East, and efforts to remove British citizens from Lebanon likely to merit an update to MPs.

Starmer will be hoping to tout his early achievements ahead of Labour’s 100^th day in office on Saturday (October 12), so we may be treated to some orchestrated cheering from the backbenches during PMQs on Wednesday (October 9) as the prime minister talks up policy work on energy and business investment. The party’s most significant 100-day pledge, an overhaul of employment rights, is still pending, so look out for details on those plans before the week is out.

The identity of Starmer’s future PMQs sparring partner will be a little clearer next week after votes on Wednesday and Thursday (October 10) to whittle down the four Tory contenders to a final two.