Lebanon thought there was a ceasefire - then Israel unleashed deadly blitz

The guns were supposed to have fallen silent.

It was, after all, just hours after US President Donald Trump had announced that a two-week ceasefire had been agreed to halt the war in the Middle East.

But just as the region was breathing a sigh of relief, Israeli jets conducted a 10-minute blitz across Lebanon - a massive aerial attack that killed at least 203 people and wounded more than 1,000 others, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

Local and Western condemnation was swift and widespread, but no criticism came from the US against its ally in this war.

Iran said this was "a grave violation" of the ceasefire deal and has asked the US to halt the Israeli "aggression".

Lebanese officials say more than 1,700 people have been killed since Israel launched its latest campaign in Lebanon last month. Israel has said its operations are aimed at weakening Hezbollah and achieving what it calls remaining military objectives.

The war began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February - prompting retaliation from Tehran against US allies in the Gulf, and from Iran's proxies - Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen - against Israel.

In response, Israel began striking Hezbollah and even ordered its troops to occupy large parts of Lebanon.

• Follow our live coverage
• What we know about the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran
• How Pakistan helped secure a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran
• Israel carries out large wave of air strikes across Lebanon

The two-week pause in the fighting was announced by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif - who has been serving as mediator between the warring parties. Sharif said the US and its allies "have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere".

Pakistan is due to host the parties on Friday - with a US 15-point plan and an Iranian 10-point set of counter-proposals seemingly on the table as starting points for the negotiations.

Iran's plan insists on a cessation of hostilities on all fronts, "including against the resistance of Lebanon" - a reference to its Shia ally in Lebanon.

But the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ceasefire did not include Lebanon.

Donald Trump also said Lebanon was not part of the deal "because of Hezbollah". According to him the war in Lebanon is "a separate skirmish".

It was around 14:00 in Beirut (11:00 GMT) when the skies over Lebanon darkened.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that within 10 minutes it had "completed the largest co-ordinated strike across Lebanon since the start of Operation Roaring Lion" - the codename for the Israeli operation against Iran.

It said it had targeted "100+ Hezbollah headquarters, military arrays, & command-and-control centers in Beirut, Beqaa and southern Lebanon".

Densely populated parts of central Beirut were hit in strikes described by officials as among the heaviest since Hezbollah joined the conflict in early March.

And it was not just the traditional Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh that was hit in the Lebanese capital - the city centre was also hit.

Casualties were reported in the Beqqa valley, in Nabatieh, in Sidon and the Tyre regions of the country.

Hezbollah may have been taken by surprise - their only response appeared to have been with rockets fired towards Israel hours later.

On Thursday, Israel continued its attacks, saying it had killed "70+ terrorists".

The IDF also said it had "ELIMINATED: Ali Yusuf Harshi, the personal secretary to Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem in Beirut".

There has been no confirmation. The BBC is unable to verify the claims.

On a crisp and sunny morning, there is a heaviness in the air in Beirut. Usually the streets are buzzing with traffic but the country is observing a day of national mourning. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said civilians were targeted - the casualties were "martyrs and wounded". President Joseph Aoun described it as a "massacre".

At some locations search and recovery operations are still under way.

There is nothing left of the 10-storey residential building that was attacked in Tallet el Khayat, a well-to-do neighbourhood of western Beirut, one of the many locations hit. The air strike happened without warning and would have caught everyone by surprise, as this is not an area that has been targeted.

Civil defence teams are now combing through buildings here and across the country, but there is little hope for people who still have loved ones missing.

Ziad Samir Itani, who was leading the civil defence team, said this was "new to Beirut". Teams were exhausted, after more than six weeks of constant attacks by Israel.

"I have 22 years experience. For us, this is something like normal, but for other people, is not normal," Itani said, adding, "I'm sad, like everybody".

Even though Israel says it targeted Hezbollah, it knew that this would inevitably lead to a high number of casualties.

It is difficult to see what the long-term Israeli strategy is. Even Israeli military officials acknowledge what has been known in Lebanon for a long time: that Hezbollah will not be disarmed by force. The attacks may give Israel some military gain, but this is likely to be limited.

In Lebanon, opponents and supporters of Hezbollah are coming together in anger, united in the view that what happened here was unacceptable and unjustifiable.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told the BBC's Today programme the US had to choose whether it wanted war or peace.

The minister said Iran would "provide security for safe passage" through the Strait of Hormuz - the strategic waterway whose blockage has sent oil and gas prices spiralling - but reopening will only happen "after the United States actually withdraw this aggression" - an apparent reference to Israel's attacks on Lebanon.