Caitlin Cassidy

500 Australians and their close relatives are to board two chartered flights from Beirut on Saturday, amid increased government efforts to deport citizens after Israel’s ground incursion into southern Lebanon.

The first flight was expected to depart the Lebanese capital and land in Cyprus at 11.30am local time (6.30pm AEST). From there there are two Qantas flights to Sydney on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Guardian Australia understands there are still seats available for the flights as of Saturday afternoon (Australian time).

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said the government’s message to Australians in Lebanon was “not to wait” and said it could not guarantee everyone would be evacuated.

Hello and welcome to our ongoing live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East. Here’s a recap of the latest developments.

Israel launched new airstrikes Beirut A series of loud explosions and heavy smoke were reported overnight in the south of the capital in the early hours of Saturday morning. The Israeli army had earlier demanded the evacuation of the southern suburbs of Beirut.

The attacks, part of a wider assault that has driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese from their homes, followed heavy bombing on Thursday night and were said to be targeted. Hashim Safideen, A potential candidate for conversion Hasan Nasrallah As the leader of Hezbollah. His fate is still unclear.

Separately, Hezbollah said it continued to engage in clashes with Israeli soldiers near Lebanon’s southern border, adding that Israeli soldiers had tried to push back. Adayse village.

In other news:

• Hamas-affiliated media reported on Saturday that the head of the group’s armed wing was killed along with three family members. An Israeli attack on a Palestinian refugee camp in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. Al-Qassam named the commander of the brigade as Sayyid Attala. Israel did not immediately comment on the attack.

• At least four hospitals in Lebanon have announced they have stopped working amid Israeli bombardment. Prime Minister of Lebanon Najib MikadiIt urged the international community to pressure Israel to “allow rescue and relief teams to go to the bombed areas and move them.”

• Israel cut off a major road near Lebanon’s Masna border with Syria, which has been used by hundreds of thousands of people to escape Israeli bombardment in recent days. Israel has accused Hezbollah of using the border crossing with Syria to bring in weapons. According to the Lebanese government, more than 300,000 people – most of them Syrians – have crossed into Syria from Lebanon in the past 10 days.

• More than 2,000 people have been killed in nearly a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.According to Lebanese government statistics. Most have been killed in the past two weeks.

• At least 41,802 people have been killed and 96,844 wounded in Israeli military attacks on Gaza since last October, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. In its latest update on Friday. Thousands of people may have died in the rubble, the ministry said.

• On Friday, 29 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip. According to doctors. Israeli attacks continued across Gaza on Friday, including in the city of Deir al-Bala, where an Israeli attack on a house killed at least four people, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. The army launched firebombs at homes in the Nuseirat refugee camp, while Israeli warplanes struck several sites in the southern city of Khan Younis, “resulting in further casualties and injuries”, Wafa reported.

• Israel’s northern regions were targeted by Hezbollah rockets throughout Friday. The Israel Defense Forces said Hezbollah fired about 100 rockets into Israel on Friday.

• Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza would re-emerge strong with new leaders. In a rare public sermon before tens of thousands of people in Tehran on Friday, Khamenei backed a “legal and legitimate” ballistic missile attack on Israel this week that Iran said was in retaliation for the death of Hezbollah’s secretary-general. Hassan Nasrallah, and the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh.

• US President Joe Biden has said that it is not known whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is abiding by the peace agreement. To influence the outcome of the 2024 US presidential election in the Middle East. Biden previously urged Israel against attacking Iran’s oil facilities.

• Israeli soldiers carried out a wide range of attacks in Hebron province in the occupied West Bank on Friday morning. More than 24 people, including “minors,” have been detained as a result, according to the Palestinian News Agency. Most of those arrested were said to have been taken from Beit Umar. Human rights groups and international organizations have alleged widespread abuse of detainees held by Israel during raids in the occupied West Bank.

• Funerals were held on Friday for some of the 18 people killed in an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank. Among the dead, according to Palestinian reports, was a family of four, including two children. Spokesman for the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmood Abbas, He described the attack as a “heinous crime” and “massacre”. The UN Human Rights Office condemned the attack. HamasWeapons Division, The Al–To distribute the brigades, One of its commanders confirmed. Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, Seven other militants were killed in the Israeli attack.

• US forces launched strikes on 15 targets in Houthi rebel-held Yemen on Friday. The US military confirmed. Media in Yemen reported a new round of airstrikes near the capital Sanaa and the airport in the port of Hodeidah, and continued Israeli attacks in Gaza and Lebanon. US officials said the strikes targeted weapons systems, bases and other equipment belonging to an Iran-backed group. The Guardian understands that the UK was not involved in Friday’s airstrikes.

• The last UK-government chartered flight for British nationals to leave Lebanon will depart Beirut on Sunday. More than 250 British nationals have left Lebanon on government-chartered planes, the UK Foreign Office said on Friday. A South Korean A military transport plane evacuated 97 civilians and family members on Friday.