We can now bring you footage of the flooding at AFC Telford United’s Seah Stadium in Shropshire.

The club posted videos on X of flooded changing rooms and offices as it urged supporters to help the clear up.

Dozens of flood warnings are in place across England today after torrential downpours resulted in the closure of a motorway, railways left underwater and schools to close.

Here’s the main takeaways on what has happened today:

• The M5 motorway was shut in both directions early on Friday after heavy flooding in Gloucestershire with cars stranded on the carriageway as firefighters rescued drivers. The road has now fully reopened
• Rail services in Shropshire have been severely disrupted after Wellington station was flooded while tracks in Oxfordshire between Banbury and Bicester North were also deluged
• Firefighters in Northamptonshire revealed they rescued 35 people from a caravan park hit by rising floods in one eight weather related incidents in just over 24 hours
• Schools across Bedfordshire and the West Midlands have closed for the day after flooding on nearby roads were deemed impassable
• Sporting fixtures have been delayed or abandoned with two cricket matches in Durham and Leicestershire suspending play for the entire day because of severe rain

Here are the latest pictures we can show you after England was hit by heavy rain overnight resulting in floods across the country.

The M5 has reopened in both directions after heavy flooding resulted in motorway closures earlier today.

We reported how drivers were left stranded in their cars as firefighters were deployed to rescue them.

Passengers travelling between London and Peterborough on the East Coast Main Line have been warned to expect longer journeys as a result of flooding.

Rail operator London North Eastern Railway said heavy track flooding meant trains were running at reduced speed on all lines which may result in delays.

Our floods story is currently leading the MailOnline website.

Read more for details on the train station left looking like a Venice canal, drivers trapped in their cars on a busy motorway and campers trapped from rising flood waters at a caravan park.

First it was the rain…now here comes the wind.

The Met Office has this morning issued a yellow warning across Wales and South West England for strong winds on Sunday between 9am and midnight.

Forecasters say the worst affected areas could see gusts of up to 60mph with temperatures set to get colder this weekend after heavy downpours this week.

Firefighters in Northamptonshire rescued 35 people from rising flood waters at a caravan park in Yarwell last night.

In a statement, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said it helped people to safety at around 7.30pm during an evacuation of the park.

It was one of eight weather related incidents in the county which included the rescue of two people and two dogs from a boat at Islip Mill at 10am on Thursday.

Flood warnings will remain in place on Friday despite rain clearing because of rising river levels.

Already saturated areas of the country received more torrential rain overnight and in the early hours with central parts of England the worst affected.

According to the BBC, Woburn in Bedfordhsire has recorded its wettest month ever in the town with four times as much rainfall than usual for the time of year.

While other locations in Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Herefordshire have had three times their monthly rain in the last few days.

Cricket matches in Durham and Leicestershire have been abandoned this morning following heavy rainfall.

The second days of Durham’s last County Championship match against Kent and Leicestershire’s match with Derbyshire were called off before the scheduled 10:30am start.

This week sees the final round of domestic matches in the summer but play has been limited because the downpours this week.

On Thursday, an amber rain warning was issued across large parts of central England before heavy downpours fell overnight to bring flash floods across the country.

Here’s a list of some of the areas worst affected by the floods:

The M5 motorway was shut in both directions this morning as a result of heavy flooding but the southbound carriageway has since reopened. Tewkesbury Borough Council in Gloucestershire has been handing out sandbags to residents to help protect their homes against flooding.

Trains going through Shropshire were blocked by flooding at Wellington station while the pitch at AFC Telford’s Seah Stadium in Shropshire was left underwater.

Schools in Birmingham have closed for the day with six flood warnings in force across the region. Police rescued a BMW driver from the Hall Green area after the car was nearly completely submerged.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for West Midlands Ambulance Service warned drivers not to travel unless it was ‘absolutely necessary’.

Schools have also shut in Bedford with road closures in place as well as Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. The A421 in Bedfordshire is closed in both directions between the A6 (Bedford) & M1 J13 (Brogborough) due to flooding.

Firefighters in Leicestershire were called to three water rescues in the county last night with several road closures in place because of flooding

Last night, North Northamptonshire Council warned of “significant rainfall overnight” which is expected to increase the risk of flooding in areas where water levels are already high.

It also added that everyone evacuated from the flooded Billing Aquadrome holiday park (pictured on Wednesday) on Tuesday night has been provided with alternative temporary accommodation by West Northamptonshire Council.

West Midlands Police have urged drivers to stay safe while driving through floods following the rescue of a BMW driver in the Hall Green area of Birmingham on Thursday.

A photograph shows he vehicle had become almost completely submerged by floodwater.

The force confirmed there were no injuries following the incident.

The Met Office has forecast sunshine and showers later today with temperatures turning colder after outbreaks of heavy rain across southern England.

Here is the forecast summary over the next five days:

Morning heavy rain clearing central and southern parts of the UK. Then a bright day for many, with sunny spells and scattered showers. A colder feeling day than of late, especially in the south with a brisk northerly wind.

Showers tending to become confined to the northwest through the evening and overnight. Many areas dry, with prolonged clear spells. A chilly night to come, with a patchy frost possible.

Most places dry with sunny spells. A scattering of showers across northwestern parts, most frequent across Scotland. A rather cold feeling day for many with winds easing.

• Outlook for Sunday to Tuesday

Wet and windy weather slowly moving northeastwards across the UK through Sunday and into Monday, mainly affecting England and Wales. Gradually turning drier and brighter on Tuesday from the west.

Non-league football club AFC Telford United have urged supporters to help clear up flooding that had deluged the pitch to leave it unplayable.

The Southern League Premier Central club, which plays in the seventh tier of English football, said the offices and changing rooms had been overwhelmed by water and sludge following last night’s rainfall.

In a series of posts on X, the club said it was looking to receive any help from supporters and residents.

Schools across England have remained shut this morning after ‘unprecedented’ rainfall made it too difficult for staff and pupils to get in.

It comes just days after schools were forced to close when a month’s worth of rain in one morning has submerged parts of London and the Home Counties, causing widespread travel disruption and damage to properties.

These schools in Bedford and Birmingham were among many to post messages on their social media accounts to say the doors would not open today.

Here is a list of school closures in England today:

• Marston Vale Middle School, Stewartby
• Sharnbrook Academy, Sharnbrook
• Lincroft Academy, Oakley
• Hockliffe Lower School, Leighton Buzzard

• Bournville School, Birmingham
• St Laurence Church Junior School, Northfield
• Victoria School, Northfield
• Longwill School for Deaf Children

We have an update on the M5 motorway where drivers were left stranded after heavy rain resulted in multiple closures.

The northbound carriageway between J16 and J14 remains closed but the southbound lanes between J14 and J15 have now reopened.

Firefighters have now rescued three people from their vehicles.

National Highways official Steven Basterfield described Friday’s downpours to the BBC as ‘exceptional’ and said around 6,000 metres of water per minute is being removed from the motorway.

More than 60 flood warnings, which mean flooding is expected, are currently in place across England with the biggest threat in central areas.

Ten of those are for areas near the River Great Ouse, a waterway which flows from Northamptonshire through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.

Five warnings are also in place alongside the River Esk which runs through North Yorkshire and the River Avon which stretches between Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset and Bristol.

Travellers are set for major disruption today with roads and railways deluged by flash floods after more torrential rain swept across the country overnight and in the early hours.

Many rural roads will be underwater this morning but motorways and A-roads have also been shut.

Here’s the current picture of roads and railways closed because of flooding

The M5 in Gloucestershire (pictured) was shut northbound between J16 and J14 and southbound between J14 and J15 this morning as emergency services tried to clear the deluge.

The A421 in Bedfordshire is closed in both directions between the A6 (Bedford) & M1 J13 (Brogborough) due to flooding.

Flooding at Wellington station has disrupted rail services between Birmingham and Shrewsbury and Birmingham and Holyhead

Heavy flood has blocked all Chiltern Railway routes between Banbury and Bicester North.

Further torrential rain across Britain caused more travel chaos today as flooding left train lines underwater and drivers stranded on submerged motorways.

Trains going through Shropshire were blocked by flooding at Wellington station, which was left looking more like a Venice canal after heavy rain deluged the tracks.

Flooding also blocked services to and from Aberystwyth in West Wales, as well as on the Chiltern Main Line in Oxfordshire between Banbury and Bicester North.

A yellow rain warning persists for large parts of England and Wales before the wet weather finally eases into the afternoon.

Areas affected by the now expired amber warning – including Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and the West Midlands – were struck by flash floods as the Met Office warned the regions could see 30-40mm of rainfall within three hours.

Meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said northern and central parts of England and Wales had been hit the hardest.

He said travellers should take into account the heavy rainfall when setting out on journeys on Friday.

There will continue to be localised flooding. A lot of these areas have been hit by rain in the past few weeks which means the ground is already saturated.

The amber warning is in place until 6am and the wider yellow warning will be lifted at 9am. We’re expecting it to then ease up and become a bit drier.

But rivers often take time to respond so we’re expecting disruption to continue in central and southern parts throughout the morning. Those planning to travel on Friday should factor this into their journey times.

Wellington station in Shropshire has flooded after heavy overnight rain.

National Rail say West Midlands Railway services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham and Transport for Wales routes between Holyhead and Birmingham will be disrupted as a result.

As of 8am, the Environment Agency had 67 flood warnings in place across England, meaning flooding is expected, and 122 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible.

Recent flooding in areas including Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire have brought widespread travel disruption and damage to properties.

Flooding has been reported this morning in Birmingham and Leicester.

The rain is expected to clear during Friday leaving conditions much colder on Saturday.

Firefighters are working to rescue drivers stranded on the M5 this morning after flooding resulted in multiple closures on the motorway.

The road remains shut on the northbound carriageway between junctions 16 (Almondsbury) and 14 (Falfield)

The southbound stretch between junctions 14 and 15 is also closed.

National Highways say drivers face delays of up to 45 minutes currently with three miles of tailbacks.

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage as heavy downpours result in a fresh round of flash floods across England.

In Gloucestershire, the M5 motorway has been closed in both directions between junctions 16 and 14 leaving drivers stranded on the carriageway.

While roads in Birmingham and Leicester are also underwater with dozens of flooding warnings in place across the country.

Stick with our coverage as we bring you the latest picture across the worst affected areas.

Plain-clothes police officers have arrived at the address of BAC Consulting, a Budapest-based company accused of manufacturing the pagers which exploded in Lebanon, witnesses have told Sky News.

Individuals who apparently identified themselves as police officers reportedly asked not to be filmed when they attended the head office in the Hungarian capital.

It comes after Gold Apollo, a a Taiwan-based company, said the pagers were manufactured in Budapest by an entity called BAC Consulting Kft under a brand licensing deal before being delivered to Lebanon.

An executive of BAC Consulting Kft confirmed to NBC in a phonecall that the company worked with Gold Apollo but said ‘I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediary’, before hanging up.

Almost 3,000 people were injured and at least 12 killed in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday when pagers belonging to members of Hezbollah exploded in a shocking, co-ordinated attack of unprecedented scope and scale.

The crippling security breach is believed to be the result of a shady operation stretching from Hungary to Taiwan that was masterminded by Israel’s foreign spy agency.

It is alleged that Mossad, working in collaboration with elements of Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF), managed to infiltrate the supply chain and plant a small quantity of high explosives within the communication devices before they were delivered to Lebanon some time this spring.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza would be the best way to stop violence from spreading in the Middle East.

Mr Blinken’s visit to Cairo marks the 10th trip to the region since the start of the war that was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.

His visit aimed to salvage stalled negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the conflict.

Speaking at a joint press conference alongside Egyptian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Mr Blinken said

We discussed the importance of getting this deal across the finish line, something we’ll continue to pursue with our Qatari counterparts. We all know that a ceasefire is the best chance to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to address risks to regional stability.

Violence has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the war broke out in Gaza, with Israel conducting large-scale raids in recent weeks.

Twelve people are dead and nearly 3,000 others wounded after thousands of pagers simultaneously exploded in the Middle East on Tuesday.

The coordinated attack targeted the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, and saw the small devices go off at around 15:30 local time across Lebanon and Syria.

It’s thought the pagers – used because they were harder to track than smartphones – were booby-trapped by Israeli intelligence personnel with explosives that were triggered when a message was received.

Close to 3,000 people were injured across Lebanon yesterday when pagers exploded in an apparently co-ordinated attack carried out against Hezbollah.

The country’s health minister Firass Abiad says 750 were injured in the south of Lebanon, and around 1,750 in the Beirut area.

While the UK-based watchdog Syrian Observatory of Human Rights has confirmed explosions in Syria’s capital Damascus.

Here’s a map showing where blasts were recorded on Tuesday.

These pictures captured by a Reuters photographer show it’s business as ususal for these Lebanese street vendors ias they open up their wares the morning after a deadly pager attack.

The traders were pictured opening up their carts in Sidon, Lebanon’s third-largest city where some pagers exploded on Tueday.

Antony Blinken has denied the US had any knowledge or involvement in the Lebanon pager blasts.

Speaking at a press conference alongsidehis Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty in Cairo, Mr Blinken said:

Broadly speaking, we have been very clear and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could escalate the conflict we are trying to resolve in Gaza.

It is imperative all parties refrain from any actions that could escalate the conflict.

The Middle East is on the brink after a mass attack on Hezbollah saw thousands of its militants’ pagers explode – just hours after Israel’s prime minister vowed to step up military action against Lebanon.

While Israel has not confirmed that it was behind the pager blasts – which left some 2,800 Hezbollah members and civilians injured and nine dead in Lebanon and Syria – several security sources have blamed the IDF and Mossad spy agency for the attack.

Hostile rhetoric on both sides was building even before the blasts amid ongoing cross-border fire between Lebanon and Israel over the past year, as Hezbollah continues to pummel Israel in a show of support to its allies Hamas in Gaza.

Israel is pushing the whole Middle East to the brink of regional conflict by maintaining a dangerous escalation on several fronts, Jordan’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

In remarks after an Islamic and Arab ministerial contact group meeting in Amman to lobby for a Gaza ceasefire, Ayman Safadi said peace would not prevail without a two-state solution.

Good afternoon, we are providing live updates and reaction to the deadly pager bomb explosions in Lebanon yesterday which targeted Hezbollah terrorists.

Israel has been blamed for the attack by compromising pagers with lithium batteries in an audacious operation masterminded by Mossad, Israel’s security services and the IDF

Here’s what has happened today:

• Lebanon’s health minister has provided an update on the bomb attack and said two children were among at least 12 killed
• Iran has accused Israel of ‘mass murder’ while Russia, Egypt and Turkey has shown support to Lebanon following the pager bomb attack yesterday
• A Taiwanese company said it authorised its brand on the that pagers that exploded but insisted the devices were manufactured in the Hungarian capital Budapest
• Security sources say Israeli military and intelligence personnel managed to access 5,000 pagers ‘at production level’ and insert a small amount of high explosives months before they were imported to Lebanon
• A US security official today said that the attack was planned for a later date as part of an ‘all-out offensive’ against Hezbollah, but Israel chose to detonate the devices early amid concerns the Lebanese group had become aware of the plan
• Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will give a speech on Thursday, the group said in a statement on Wednesday

Firass Abiad said some of the injured have been moved to Iran and Syria and that more of he wounded may have to leave the country to receive specialist treatment.

Abiad said 750 were injured in the south of Lebanon, while there was around 1,750 casualties in the Beirut area.

Around 100 hospitals in Lebanon have admitted patients.

‘After checking with all the hospitals’, the toll was revised to ’12 dead including two children’, Abiad told a news conference.

The dead included a girl and a boy as well as four health workers from private hospitals in Beirut’s southern suburbs who had pagers, he said.

Some cases in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley were transferred to Syria, while other cases would be evacuated to Iran, he added.

‘A little less than 300 patients are in critical condition’ with some suffering from face injuries and brain haemorrhaging, Abiad said.

The wounded who arrived at the emergency room were not all young men. We saw children and elderly people.

Firass Abiad, Lebanon’s health minister, has told a press conference 12 people have been killed, including an eight-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy.

Healthcare workers were also among those killed when pagers exploded across the country yesterday.

These pictures show relatives mourning the death of a 10-year-old girl who was among the victims when pagers exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday.

The AFP news agency captured images during the funeral for Fatima Abdallah in the village of Saraain in the Bekaa valley.

At least nine people were killed when pagers detonated across the country while 2,750 were injured – 300 critically.

A Lebanese journalist who once worked for the BBC has described yesterday’s pager bomb explosions as a ‘national traumatic event’.

Kim Ghattas was returning to her home in Beirut from a funeral when the blasts were triggered.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Ghattas, who now writes for The Atlantic after spending two decades at the BBC, said she felt ’emotion after emotion and trauma after trauma’.

It was really a scene of chaos across the city because people didn’t instantly understand what was happening.

We first thought it was one large explosion in the south of Beirut, it then became clear there were simultaneous small explosions everywhere.

Then we started seeing CCTV from inside shops and supermarkets of these small explosions targeting people doing their groceries or paying at the checkout.

Then for hours on end [we heard] the wail of sirens. The internal security forces were asking people to get off the streets because traffic was overwhelming the city. It was really a national traumatic event.

The IDF has attacked a building where members of Hezbollah were based last night, it has emerged this morning

In a tweet posted on X, the IDF shared footage of the airstrikes and said:

Last night, IDF forces identified a number of terrorists from the terrorist organization Hezbollah while they were operating in a military structure in the Majdal Salem area of ​​southern Lebanon.

In closing a circle from the air, fighter jets attacked the structure where the terrorists were operating. In addition, fighter jets attacked the organization’s military buildings in five different areas in the south Lebanon.

Concerns over a wider conflict in the Middle East have prompted international airlines to suspend flights to the region or to avoid affected air space.

Below are some of the airlines that have adjusted services to and from the region:

• Air Algérie – The Algerian airline suspended flights to and from Lebanon until further notice.
• Air France said it was suspending services to Beirut and Tel Aviv up to and including September 19.
• Air India – The Indian flag carrier suspended scheduled flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.
• Cathay Pacific – Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until March 27, 2025.
• Delta – The US carrier paused flights between New York and Tel Aviv through to October 31.
• EasyJet– The UK budget airline stopped flying to and from Tel Aviv in April and will resume flights on March 30, 2025, a spokesperson said.
• LOT Polish Airlines – Poland’s national flag carrier suspended flights to Lebanon until further notice.
• Lufthansa – The German airline group said it was suspending all connections to and from Tel Aviv and Tehran up to and including September 19.
• Ryanair – Europe’s biggest budget airline cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until October 26, citing ‘operational restrictions’.
• United Airlines – The Chicago-based airline suspended flights to Tel Aviv for the foreseeable future due to security reasons.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Cairo rejects any attempts at escalation in the region and supports Lebanon following the pager blasts, the Egyptian presidency said on Wednesday.

At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday.

The President affirmed Egypt’s rejection of attempts to escalate the conflict and expand its scope regionally, pointing out the need for all parties to act responsibly, and reaffirming Egypt’s support for Lebanon

Blinken is visiting Egypt hoping to advance efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and strengthen ties with Cairo.

We’re getting some reaction from nations to the deadly pager attack in Lebanon.

Iran has accused Israel of ‘mass murder’ today after devices belonging to Tehran-aligned Hezbollah exploded.

Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement he ‘condemned the terrorist act of the Zionist regime… as an example of mass murder’.

The Iranian Red Crescent said on Wednesday it had dispatched ‘rescue teams and eye surgeons’ to Lebanon to treat the wounded.

There was no immediate comment from Israel

Elsewhere, Russia said it strongly condemned the deadly attack and called for ‘all parties involved to exercise restraint’.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said:

We strongly condemn the unprecedented attack on friendly Lebanon and its citizens, which constitutes a flagrant violation of its sovereignty and a serious challenge to international law through the use of unconventional weapons.

Israeli and US sources have reportedly claimed the explosions carried out in Lebanon were triggered earlier than initially planned.

Media outlets Axios and Al-Monitor say insiders told them the detonations were intended to be the opening move in an “all-out” offensive against Hezbollah.

However, the attack was brought forward after Israel had grown concerned in recent days that Hezbollah had caught wind of the plan.

Video footage from inside a Beirut supermarket appears to show the moment Israel sent out its deadly message.

A Hezbollah attacker was seen confusedly lifting his shirt up at a supermarket after getting a message on his pager, which lit up.

He stared at it for a second before it detonated, collapsing him in an instant as supermarket workers and fellow shoppers panicked and fled.

The hundreds of pagers (not pictured) that exploded on Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria had apparently been acquired by the militant group Hezbollah after the group’s leader ordered members in February to stop using mobile phones, warning they could be tracked by Israeli intelligence.

The pagers exploded simultaneously, killing at least nine people, including members of Hezbollah, and wounding more than 2,000, including the Iranian ambassador

A Hezbollah official told the Associated Press the pagers were a new brand, but declined to say how long they had been in use.

Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said it authorised its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, but they were manufactured by a company based in Budapest.

The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary’s capital, according to a statement by Gold Apollo.

It said: “According to the co-operation agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC.”

Gold Apollo chairman Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists on Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract.

The AR-924 pager, advertised as being “rugged”, contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo’s website before it was apparently taken down on Tuesday.

It could receive text messages of up to 100 characters.

A pager bomb attack that left roughly 2,800 Hezbollah members and civilians injured and nine dead in Lebanon and Syria yesterday was authored by Israel’s Mossad spy agency and the IDF, several security sources claim.

The Lebanese group earlier this year ordered thousands of pagers to conduct communications after leader Hassan Nasrallah declared smartphones would be more susceptible to cyber attacks by Israeli forces.

Israeli military and intelligence personnel managed to access 5,000 pagers, produced in Budapest by BAC Consulting KFT, ‘at the production level’ and insert a small amount of high explosives months before they were imported to Lebanon, according to several security sources who spoke to Reuters.

This graphic produced for the Daily Mail newspaper shows how the pager bomb attack was carried out in Lebanon yesterday.

Israeli security services and its military are said to have filled the hand-held ordered by Hezbollah with one or two ounces of explosive material along with a detonating switch prior to their delivery.

A Hezbollah official said the new pagers that its members were carrying had lithium batteries.

Lithium batteries, when overheated, can smoke, melt and even catch on fire.

Rechargeable lithium batteries are used in consumer products ranging from phones and laptops to electric cars. Lithium battery fires can burn up to 590C.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (pictured) will give a speech on Thursday, the group said in a statement on Wednesday.

Nasrallah is credited as one of the most powerful Shia figures in the Middle East who has left a lasting impact on Lebanon and its role in the Arab-Israel conflict.

Under his stewardship, Hezbollah has grown from a local armed movement to the largest political party in Lebanon’s recent history.

In 2018, Hezbollah won ore than 340,000 preferential votes, the most for any party in Lebanon since the country’s independence in 1943

In October 2021, Nasrallah said Hezbollah had 100,000 fighters, making it among the most powerful non-national armed organisations worldwide.

The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between Lebanon and Israel.

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing near-daily for more than 11 months against the backdrop of war between Israel and Hezbollah’s ally Hamas in Gaza.

The clashes have killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border.

On Tuesday, Israel said that halting Hezbollah’s attacks in the north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official war goal.

Israel has killed Hamas militants in the past with booby trapped cellphones and it’s widely believed to have been behind the Stuxnet computer virus attack on Iran’s nuclear programme in 2010.

Both Hezbollah and Lebanon’s government have squarely blamed Israel for the attack. Though Israel has not yet commented on the matter, allies including the United States sought to distance themselves from the attack.

Hezbollah said in a statement:

‘We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression,’ adding that Israel ‘will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression’.

In a second statement, the terror group added

After examining all the facts, current data, and available information about the sinful attack that took place this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that targeted civilians too.

Prominent Hezbollah politician Ali Ammar spoke to the Associated Press after his son, Mahdi, was killed.

This is a new Israeli aggression against Lebanon. The resistance will retaliate in a suitable way at the suitable time.

Lebanon’s prime minister Najib Mikati condemned ‘criminal Israeli aggression’ and called the attack ‘a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty’.

Here’s a quick rundown of the attacks carried out on Hezbollah terrorists yesterday:

• More than 300 people were rushed to hospital in a critical condition after pagers used by proscribed terror group Hezbollah detonated over a period of an hour yesterday afternoon.
• The detonators activated at around 3.30pm local time (1.45pm UK time) on Tuesday after receiving a message that purported to be from Hezbollah’s top brass.
• Widespread panic and chaotic scenes were seen across Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon, while in neighbouring Syria 14 people were injured by the blasts, according to Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
• Victims were seen writhing in agony with hideous injuries to their faces, abdomens and even their groins in harrowing images and videos shared to social media and published on Lebanese networks.
• Among those reportedly killed were two girls, aged eight aged eight and ten, and the son of a Lebanese MP. Iran said its ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, also sustained injuries to his face and hand.
• Both Hezbollah and Lebanon’s government have squarely blamed Israel for the attack. Though Israel has not yet commented on the matter, allies including the United States sought to distance themselves from the attack.

Firstly, let’s bring you our current top story on the MailOnline website which reports Israel was involved in the deadly pager bomb attack

by Perkin Amalaraj and Sam Greenhill

Israeli spies were behind the pager bomb attack that killed nine, including two young girls, and left more than 2,750 people wounded across Lebanon.

The New York Times reported that Hezbollah’s pagers were compromised in a joint operation between Mossad, Israel’s shadowy intelligence agency, and the IDF.

The security service and military are said to have filled the pagers ordered by Hezbollah with one or two ounces of explosive material along with a detonating switch prior to their delivery.

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the pager bomb attack which targeted Hezbollah terrorists across Lebanon and Syria.

At least nine people were killed and 2,750 wounded, 300 critically, following a series of detonations of the hand-held devices on Tuesday afternoon.

Hezbollah immediately blamed Israel and vowed to exact revenge while the New York Times reported the pagers (pictured above) were compromised in a joint operation between Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, and the IDF.

We will bring you all the developments and reaction throughout the day as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah threaten to intensify further as both sides edge closer to war.