This is the terrifying moment a BBC reporter was forced to take cover as Hezbollah targeted Israel’s border with rockets.
The BBC News crew had filmed on the Israeli side of the border, close to where clashes have been reported between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, before the gunfire started.
After hearing several bursts of small arms fire and grenades from the Israeli army from across the border, the team of at least four could be seen moving away from the area as they made their way to safety.
Lucy Williamson, wearing protective headgear and a press vest, was filmed reporting from an empty road when sirens began to sound.
“And now you can hear the sirens going off, telling us to leave the area,” she said as she and her crew urgently took cover.
BBC correspondent Lucy Williamson and her film crew took cover after gunshots and sirens were heard across the Israel-Lebanon border
Williamson could be seen delivering her report from the ground while surrounded by bushes as the explosions erupted in the distance
The crew rushed back to their vehicle after assessing the area and deeming it safe to travel through
In the tense footage, loud bangs and screams could be heard as the team climbed up a rocky path and threw themselves to the ground as chaos unfolded around them.
A series of explosions erupted as the team remained on the ground.
“We just heard a series of very loud explosions, what sounds like rockets landing nearby, and some small arms fire across the border,” Williamson said as she poked her head out of a bush.
“It looks like the Israeli army is entering a location, and this was the response.”
After assessing the area, the team decided they were ‘good to go’ and left their cover spots before returning to their vehicle parked on the side of the road.
The air raid sirens sounded in southern Israel were the first in about two months, the IDF said.
“Almost a year after October 7, Hamas continues to threaten our citizens with its terrorism and we will continue to operate against them,” the report said.
It comes as Israel has intensified its attacks on Lebanon, with the latest Israeli bombings overnight razing buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Israel launched its heaviest airstrikes yet on Beirut, reportedly killing dozens across Lebanon over the past day.
An Israeli military spokesman said Israeli forces have killed about 250 Hezbollah fighters, including a number of battalion and company commanders, since the start of a ground operation in Lebanon.
Last night a huge explosion broke out in the southern suburbs of Beirut, just north of the airport, believed to be an Israeli attack on Hezbollah’s heir apparent.
A man takes cover as smoke rises in the background after an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, October 4, 2024
Civil Defense members rescue injured people from the rubble of a building after Israeli strikes hit the Jaber family home in Deir Al Balah, Gaza, on October 4, 2024
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the military was still assessing damage caused by airstrikes in southern Beirut on Thursday evening, which he said targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Dahiyeh.
The overnight strikes in Beirut also reportedly targeted Hashem Safieddine – an attempt to root out Hezbollah’s heir apparent after former chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed a week ago.
It is unclear whether Saffieddine was present at the scene of the attack.
The intense bombardment came after the IDF issued another evacuation order for communities across southern Lebanon.
Lebanese citizens were ordered to leave Nabatieh, a provincial capital, and other communities north of the Litani River, which formed the northern edge of the border zone established by the U.N. Security Council after the 2006 war in a bipartisan resolution. accuse others. violate.
Israel also carried out one of the deadliest attacks on the West Bank in decades overnight, reportedly killing at least 18 people in the Tulkarm refugee camp, Palestinian health authorities claim.
The IDF said the attack killed Hamas leader Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, whom he accused of taking part in numerous attacks.
Israel announced this week that its forces had begun “ground attacks” in parts of southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, after days of heavy bombardment of areas across the country where the group holds sway.
At least nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in clashes with militants over the past three days as IDF units scoured villages in southern Lebanon to seal off tunnels and eradicate Hezbollah positions.
Hezbollah Executive Council leader Hashim Safieddine expected to become head of organization after Nasrallah’s death – but Israel targets him with attacks
Flames rise after Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon
Flames and smoke rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon
Smoke rises over the southern outskirts of Beirut and surrounding areas, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, October 4, 2024
Hezbollah, meanwhile, claims it fought Israeli forces on the border, detonating two explosive devices against advancing soldiers and ambushed an IDF massing near the village of Adaisseh.
The militant group also said it continued its rocket fire across the border, with sirens warning of incoming fire in northern Israel early this morning.
The IDF ground operation was supported by nearly 24-hour airstrikes in southern and eastern Lebanon, Syria and in Beirut, which suffered a constant barrage overnight.
The escalating attacks by Israel come as reprisals for Iran’s wave of ballistic missiles fired into the country on Tuesday intensify, with the United States saying Israel targeting Iranian oil facilities is on the table.
The US has called for de-escalation and said this week it was also weighing options on the table for a response.
And Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beirut today, where he will discuss with Lebanese officials the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel has said it would respond to Iran’s attacks but is not seeking all-out war.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, more than a thousand people have been killed in the Israeli bombings in Lebanon.
Hundreds of thousands more have been forced to flee their homes in a country already mired in economic and political crisis.
The Lebanese Red Cross said an Israeli attack also injured four of its paramedics and killed a Lebanese army soldier as they evacuated injured people from the south.
It said the convoy near the village of Taybeh, which was accompanied by Lebanese troops, was targeted on Thursday despite coordinating its movements with UN peacekeepers.