the bombardment marks a widely anticipated reprisal for the strike on its consulate in syria two weeks ago. president biden reaffirms the us's �*ironclad' commitment israel's security as more britishjets are sent to the region. and these are live pictures from tel aviv after what was the first time iran had ever launched a direct military assault on israel. hello. i'm geeta. thank you forjoining us. the israeli military says iran launched over 300 missiles and drones towards israel in what was an expected, but unprecedented response to a deadly israeli air strike that destroyed an iranian diplomatic compound in syria earlier this month. the idf says almost all of them were shot down and has described the attack as being "foiled".

the attack marks the first time iran had ever launched a direct military assault on israel. we will be live injerusalem shortly. but first, let's bring you up to date with the latest. take a look at this video. air raid sirens wail what you can hear is the air raid sirens injerusalem. what you can see is israel's air defence system, the iron dome, in operation — flashes in thejerusalem sky as drones and missiles are shot down. a coalition of israel's allies, including the us and uk, has helped bring down some iranian drones and misiles before they reached israeli territory. this is footage of that happening overjordan. similarly, this video is from the skies over damascus in syria.

you can see objects being hit in the sky. and, again, in the skies over iraq, more drones and missiles being intercepted as they travelled towards israel. so here's what we know so far. iran has attacked israel with around 300 drones and missiles. there were significant explosions in the sky over israel, caused by those interceptions from the iron dome. us presidentjoe biden has spoken with prime minister benjamin netanyahu and condemned the attacks by iran. he says the us shot down some iranian drones that were headed towards israel. uk coalition forces were also involved in defensive operations. mr biden says he will host a meeting of g7 leaders later to coordinate a "united diplomatic response" to the attack. israel's defence forces say one girl has been injured so far and that light damage was caused to a military base —

the idf�*s spokesman says the 10—year—old girl who was injured by shrapnel from falling debris. iran has warned israel and the us that any idf response would be met with further retaliation. hezbollah in lebanon and houthi fighters in yemen — both iranian proxy groups — have also fired rockets at israel. we will hear from our correspondent, hugo bachega, in israel in a moment. but first, here's daniel hagari, an idf spokesperson, giving an update a little earlier. tonight, run launch a large scale co—ordinated attack on israel. the regime fired a massive swarm, over 200 drones, crews missiles and ballistic missiles towards the state of israel. together with our allies and partners across the region, we are operating. at this very moment to defend israel from iran's attack.

so far we have intercepted a vast majority of incoming missiles by israeli assistance. so far we have intercepted and are continuing to intercepted and are continuing to intercept dozens of attack drones as well as cruise missiles and melissa missiles —— ballistic missiles. a number of iranian missiles fell in sale insight —— fell inside israeli territory, causing minor damage to a military base with no casualties, only one little girl has been hurt, and we hope she will be well. the errani and attack is ongoing —— iranians attack. 0ur errani and attack is ongoing —— iranians attack. our plans are in the air. light, widescale attack by iran is a major escalation. together, with our allies and partners, we are operating at full force to defend the state of israel and the people of israel. we will

continue to fulfil this mission. that was a short time ago. it is reported at the moment that hamas rejected, as i put it, a truce proposal with the talks obviously that have been attempted to be ongoing for a ceasefire in the gaza scenario, the release of hostages. but it has been reported at the moment that that is still not making any progress despite the events of the last few hours. let's take a look now at some of the major international reaction. president biden rushed to the situation room in washington to keep across the developments. the white house published a photo from the situation room on x. you can see the president surrounded by some of his top security officials. as you would expect. defense secretary lloyd austin, secretary of state antony blinken, amongst others. president biden has spoken over the phone

with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to say he condemns the attacks in the strongest possible terms. in a statement, president biden said: the uk prime minister rishi sunak was also quick to release a statement overnight:

the united nations secretary—general antonio gutterres released a statement, saying: the un security council will be holding an emergency meeting later on sunday at the request of israel. for more on what israel's response is going to be, and what the white house is saying to israel, our correspondent in washington, will vernon.

that is right. all focus, all eyes now on what happens next. in a statement released a short time ago, joe biden, the president, said that he would be convening g and leaders co—ordinate what he called a united diplomatic response. in another statement we received from lloyd austin, he: iran to de—escalate tensions. this was an unprecedented large—scale attack on america's most important ally in the middle east, directly onto its territory by iran. so the israelis will almost certainly be looking to retaliate, and i think pressure will now grow on the biden administration over what exactly to do about that, whether the israelis should be reined in somehow, the level of support that the us should offer the israelis in that situation stop of course we still don't have the full picture of the extent of this

iranians assault. the damage and localities certainly for now look minimal. it is also not clear what the extent of the weapons, the kind of weapons that were used, whether ballistic cruise missiles were involved or whether it was just drones. so lots of questions, but i think whatever the conclusion is, america, israel, otherallies, they will be urged to proceed with caution to ensure they don't get somehow dragged into an escalator very tit—for—tat conflict with iran that could trigger a wider regional war. we heard a bit earlierfrom the iranian revolution regard after the attack began, warning the us not to support israel in any retaliation, saying that would elicit a fierce response from iran's armed forces. and what is just reporting possibly

from the danielle briefing at the moment, 300 projectiles were fired overnight and 99% of them were intercepted. mr netanyahu will be coming under pressure obviously from all sides, as you say. there is one report being reported by axial news agency saying that mr biden told mr netanyahu that the us will oppose any israeli counter—attacks against iran, that is axial citing a senior white house official. presuming that is not confirmed by any other source as yet, but is unlikely to be the white house position? —— but is it likely. white house position? -- but is it likel . ., white house position? -- but is it likel . . , white house position? -- but is it likel . ., , ., white house position? -- but is it likel. ., ,., . likely. that is one source, not confirmed- — likely. that is one source, not confirmed. at _ likely. that is one source, not confirmed. at that _ likely. that is one source, not confirmed. at that stage, - likely. that is one source, notj confirmed. at that stage, that likely. that is one source, not i confirmed. at that stage, that is speculation. as i say, president biden, in this statement so far, is just talking about a diplomatic response, isn't he? there is no indication there of the extent of

support there were us might offer to iran. but i think, as we saw in the statement, america is ready to support israel, have been many statements over the last few days from mr biden, from other us officials saying that american support for israeli security is ironclad, mr biden use that word again tonight in his statement. it has actually been not a bad result actually for mr biden. he said in that statement that no us forces of facilities where it in the iranian assault today, and that is a good thing because it means that america is less likely to be somehow forced into any sort of direct military confrontation with acro one. of course that was number number—i nightmare scenario for officials here in washington, leading up to this attack, and this is one of the reasons why there were repeated warnings from the white house from

other us officials in the last few days, urging ukraine, sorry, urging iran to call off or perhaps water down their plans for attacking israel. precisely because they wanted it to act as a deterrent, right, they wanted to de—escalate the tensions and ensure that this didn't somehow snowball into something that was then out of their control. �* ., , ., , , ., , control. and, obviously, it was signposted _ control. and, obviously, it was signposted that _ control. and, obviously, it was signposted that some - control. and, obviously, it was signposted that some sort - control. and, obviously, it was signposted that some sort of. control. and, obviously, it was - signposted that some sort of iranian action was potentially likely to happen, with various military meetings in the region. we still don't have the full details in terms of exactly what the us involvement was. ., ., �* ~ ., ., was. no, we don't. we heard in a statement _ was. no, we don't. we heard in a statement from _ was. no, we don't. we heard in a statement from president - was. no, we don't. we heard in a statement from president bidenl statement from president biden following his phone call with the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, tonight, that us aircraft missile defence destroyers that were sent to the region in advance helped

israel repel this assault. he added the israelis shot down almost all the israelis shot down almost all the missiles and drones launched at it. so we know that there was significant involvement from the us military in the effort to repel those missiles and drones, other allies of course were involved as well. but we don't know the exact details of it. the numbers, the statistics, but we know the us was clearly heavily involved in that operation. let's speak to our middle east correspondent, hugo bachega, injerusalem. the really big question that everyone is asking at the moment is how we'll israel respond? what are all the different spokespeople saying? all the different spokespeople sa in: ? , , all the different spokespeople sa in? , j~' saying? yes, it is almost 815 in the mornin: saying? yes, it is almost 815 in the morning here _ saying? yes, it is almost 815 in the morning here and _ saying? yes, it is almost 815 in the morning here and the _ saying? yes, it is almost 815 in the morning here and the country - saying? yes, it is almost 815 in the morning here and the country is i morning here and the country is waking up after a very long night, and there was a meeting of the war cabinet overnight to discuss the

iranian attack and perhaps to discuss the possibility of a response because israeli authorities have been saying that any kind of direct attack from iran would be met with an israeli response. so we don't know what is going to happen next. i think there are some diplomatic efforts under way to de—escalate the situation. we heard from wheel in washington, there was a phone call between president biden and prime minister ardern netanyahu overnight —— prime minister netanyahu, again, president biden offering america's support. but it suggested he told mr netanyahu that the us doesn't support the idea of an israeli retaliation because is that these could lead to another major escalation in this and that

could lead to a wider regional conflict. we have seen the iranians have been using their proxies across the region to attack israel, those attacks overnight came not only from acro one, but also from yemen, from iraq, but i think the key point here is that this was an unprecedented attack for the first time ever, iran launched an attack, a direct attack on israeli territory. so this is a very dangerous moment here but i think there have been some efforts already to try to de—escalate tensions and perhaps the americans are telling the israelis that they do not support the idea of an israeli retaliation. we report that israel has reopened it is both and i don't know if it has been confirmed another round of attempts at truth negotiations, a piece negotiated by the hostages in gaza has not worked. in terms of the

different signals and pressures on netanyahu, obviously he is going to come under pressure presumably politically from different sides in terms of his response.— politically from different sides in terms of his response. exactly so the prime — terms of his response. exactly so the prime minister _ terms of his response. exactly so the prime minister has _ terms of his response. exactly so the prime minister has been - terms of his response. exactly so l the prime minister has been under terms of his response. exactly so i the prime minister has been under a lot of pressure already from his international partners because of the situation in gaza, the huge humanitarian crisis, the high number of civilian casualties in gaza, so been a lot of pressure for the prime minister to de—escalate the military campaign, the israeli military campaign, the israeli military campaign against hamas in gaza and there has been a lot of internal pressure from the families of the hostages who remain in captivity in gaza, they've been urging the government to try to deal with hamas to guarantee the release of these hostages but the minister has also faced pressure from his own allies, hardline allies in his coalition who

are against the idea of making any kind of concessions to hamas, they believe that the warrant gaza must continue until hamas is destroyed. now we have got this new development here, a massive iranian attack and i'm pretty sure that some members of his cabinet would be defending the idea of an israeli retaliation. to briefly mention the latest on those ceasefire negotiations because hamas, after almost a week after those negotiations happened and that a ceasefire proposal was made,, said it is sticking with its initial position that any kind of ceasefire in gaza should be permanent, that is really trips should leave gaza and that residents should return to northern parts of the territory, so essentially rejecting the proposal that was put forward by mediators in cairo almost a week ago and i think

this is going to be obviously a very bad news for the families of the hostages who are waiting to see them released. you hostages who are waiting to see them released. ., ., , ., ., released. you are there, you have been there — released. you are there, you have been there through _ released. you are there, you have been there through this _ released. you are there, you have been there through this overnight | been there through this overnight attack. when you listen to the airwaves and see what people are writing and try to sense the murdered israel at the moment, this is the first time this has happened. what are people feeling on the ground, are they frightened, do they want retaliation, everyone watching is terrified of this escalating. yes, so this attack did not come as a surprise because for days the americans had been warning that an array response was a matter of when, not if, so for days we had a lot of speculation about the possibility of this iranian response. there was

obviously a lot of anxiety here, a lot of concern, but there was no panic and we only had indications that an attack was imminentjust hours before the attack happened when the israeli authorities announced some measures limiting public gatherings, also cancelling school activities, and the airspace was closed, the airport was closed as well and then we had those details that the iranians had launched drones and missiles and the country was going to be under attack so it was not really a surprise, the country was waiting for that to happen, there been warnings from israeli authorities as well and here in jerusalem israeli authorities as well and here injerusalem we had the aerator late at around two o'clock in the morning and almost instantly we had loud explosions indicating that air defence systems had been activated. again, the israeli authorities saying the 99% of the missiles and

drones that were fired by iran were intercepted, so extremely successful defence by the israelis after this unprecedented attack by the iranians. in unprecedented attack by the iranians. , ., ., , ., , iranians. in terms of the options are by israel— iranians. in terms of the options are by israel now, _ iranians. in terms of the options are by israel now, if— iranians. in terms of the options are by israel now, if they - iranians. in terms of the options are by israel now, if they were l iranians. in terms of the options| are by israel now, if they were to retaliate for this, what is the chance of them, ultimately yahoo feeling he doesn't want or has two hit a run on its own territory now? —— netanyahu. i hit a run on its own territory now? -- netanyahm— -- netanyahu. i think this is the main fear _ -- netanyahu. i think this is the main fear here _ -- netanyahu. i think this is the main fear here because - -- netanyahu. i think this is the | main fear here because following -- netanyahu. i think this is the i main fear here because following a direct attack by the iranians targeting israeli territory, that the israelis may try to do something similar, in other words, the israelis may try to do something similar, in otherwords, try the israelis may try to do something similar, in other words, try to hit targets inside the iranians territory. so again, this is a very dangerous moment in these long—running tensions between israel and iran and again, i think there

has been some activity behind—the—scenes to perhaps try to contain any kind of possible israeli response to try to prevent another major escalation in this crisis. wood figures like benny gantz be supportive of that kind of action, with the government hang together with the government hang together with that sort of action if the us explicitly and publicly said that they would not support that? i am re they would not support that? i am pretty sure _ they would not support that? i am pretty sure that — they would not support that? i am pretty sure that there _ they would not support that? i —n pretty sure that there would be hardline allies of prime minister benjamin netanyahu who are saying that iran poses a threat to israel and that after this massive attack the israelis should response. but again, ithink the israelis should response. but again, i think by the messages and statements that have come out of washington following these attacks, the americans are again reinforcing their position, reaffirming their support for israel, but i think it

is very important to highlight those reports suggesting that president biden told prime minister netanyahu that the us would not support an israeli retaliation because obviously the fear here is that this could lead to open confrontation between the israelis and the iranians. ., p. ., iranians. 0k, hugo bachega in jerusalem. — iranians. 0k, hugo bachega in jerusalem, for _ iranians. 0k, hugo bachega in jerusalem, for now, _ iranians. ok, hugo bachega in jerusalem, for now, thank- iranians. 0k, hugo bachega in jerusalem, for now, thank you iranians. 0k, hugo bachega in . jerusalem, for now, thank you for jerusalem, for now, thank you for bring us up—to—date after the momentous night in israel. jordan is reopening its space and according to state television we know israel has opened its airspace in the last hour or so. my colleague, helena humphrey, has been speaking to aaron david miller — a former us diplomat, now a senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. firstly, watching all of this unfolds tonight, i wonder, how do

you think prime minister benjamin who will be reacting to this, greeting all this —— netanyahu. assuming that drone crews and ballistic missiles strikes don't cause significant damage and casualties, i'm not sure when they will conclude, i think the israelis are going to respond. and with or without casualties. i think the israeli logic is going to be we're going to get a new iranian revolutionary guard senior personnel wherever we can find them. and if we have to strike them again, we cannot create a situation where iran is going to strike us again with this sort of massive barrage of missiles. whether the israelis reading the iranians correctly or not is unclear. the israelis wanted to restore deterrents about the truth is that they've missed red 7 october

in terms of hamas? motivation and its capacity, they miss what it where they did take out six other irgc personnel and not thinking the iranians would respond with this sort of dramatic escalation. i think there will be an israeli response, probably against iranian conventional military facilities in, whether or not they will take us all “p whether or not they will take us all up an escalatory letter, whether or not it will involve hezbollah, getting involved in a very serious way that goes beyond what happened in december 2006, hezbollah's inventory of high trajectory weapons is massive so really on the cast, i'm not predicting this but we certainly could get to where the middle east has ever been before which is a major regional or, and

one additional point, i think gaza has now become tragically, with respect to the humanitarian situation there, any prospect of the release of hostages, and any sense of security and stability, gaza has become a secondary consideration particularly if the israelis strike iran within the next couple of days. all of this kind makes it very complicated for prime minister benjamin netanyahu but ijust wonder what you think this means for his position at a time when we know he has been in battle the home. he has, never underestimate _ has been in battle the home. he has, never underestimate this _ has been in battle the home. he has, never underestimate this guy, - has been in battle the home. he has, never underestimate this guy, he - has been in battle the home. he has, never underestimate this guy, he has been given another prolonged lease on political liability. benny gantz

will not leave the government now that israel stands on the cusp of perhaps a significant escalation. with iran and hezbollah. the israeli public i suspect will react and support whatever retaliatory strikes the war cabinet decides and the united states with all the tensions and anger and frustrations that the biden administration has with a prime minister, a lot of that is going to disappear and united states, i think it building already in the us congress, where you are going to have with the exception of progressives, you will have a wall—to—wall support, democrats and republicans, standing with and behind israel. so i think if the israelis, if they retaliate, which again leads to an iranian counterstrike and we are off to a real regional confrontation, i think

much of the last six months is going to be subordinated to this new reality. i to be subordinated to this new reali . ., ., ., ., ., reality. i want to ask if we are at this critical _ reality. i want to ask if we are at this critical threshold, _ reality. i want to ask if we are at this critical threshold, is - reality. i want to ask if we are at this critical threshold, is there i this critical threshold, is there any way that you think that things can still go back, that that threshold is not necessarily breached? ii threshold is not necessarily breached?— threshold is not necessarily breached? , ., , , breached? if the israelis respond and the iranians _ breached? if the israelis respond and the iranians decide _ breached? if the israelis respond and the iranians decide that - breached? if the israelis respond and the iranians decide that they| and the iranians decide that they don't want to call israel's bluff and retaliate and restrain hezbollah, maybe you can put this backin hezbollah, maybe you can put this back in the box. but a very dangerous precedent has now been set. i think once that precedent is out—of—the—box, once you have the situation where the iranians have crossed the red line and by attacking israel and the israelis are going to respond by directly striking iranian territory, even if you get a period of temporary quiet, i think something quite significant is happening. i heard and are also

on cnn and man saying, and there were two republicans, one former member of the house and one, to remark former members of the house, basically said that bolton was right, that the israelis and the americans and the sony arabs in the region are going to deal with the main source of the problem, that is tehran and bolton was recommending the israelis attack at least their nuclear facilities. briefly, you are a former state department official. what does that mean for the united states tonight? sorry, i missed that. you have held positions including in the state department, what do you think all of this means for the united states tonight? i think that there was no way out of the israeli—palestinian

confrontation in gaza. the us was in a strategic cul—de—sac, and now i think you've got a bigger problem, which is the prospects of a major regional confrontation which could result in spiking oil prices, plunging financial markets and something the middle east has never experienced before, and the us, unlike gaza or ukraine, the us could actually, on this one, get drawn into the fight. all right. former us state department official, aaron david millar, as always, greatly appreciate your insights. thank you for being with us. my my colleague helena humphrey with a conversation in the last couple of hours. ijust want conversation in the last couple of hours. i just want to show you the flight radar picture in the region at the moment. as you can see, it is much reduced from where it might normally be, common authorising course given the close of our size

overnight, but it is starting to reopen. jordan has reopened its airspace, the israeli airspace also opened up according to their airports. but we know that this attack, this unprecedented attack directly from iran onto israel affected of course a number of countries and their airspaces, and it is also being reported that a number of the neighbouring arab countries helped in shooting down some of those missile attacks, jordan included, obviously help from the us and uk also, of course that tells us quite a lot politically about where things are and how things have changed with the relations between some of the arab states and israel, but of course those tensions still very much on

display between israel and iran as we have seen with this absolutely seismic moment there between those two nations because iran has never actually attached directly israel. well, what about the direction —— reaction in iran and further in the region? there have been celebrations across iran following the attacks on israel. thousands took to the streets with flags, fireworks and chanting. the attack marks the first time iran had ever launched a direct military assault on israel despite decades of attacks and exchanges with israel conducted via iran's regional proxies. said shehata is from bbc arabic. he told me more about reaction in the region to iran's actions. saudi arabia foreign ministry expressed deep concern about what is happening and called for restraint because the region cannot afford another war and damage and dangers

on people. 0ption foreign minister issued a statement saying —— the egyptian foreign minister issued a statement calling for the parties to be restrained and to de—escalate the tension. it is not good for anyone. both countries are doing that. on the other side, there is celebration in acro one and lebanon, —— iran. it isa in acro one and lebanon, —— iran. it is a reaction more or less so far in addition to closing the airspaces over the region which affect travel, passengers and the economy, many things. it is concerning for countries, for people and a call for restraint for this not to happen anymore. restraint for this not to happen an more. �* ., restraint for this not to happen an more. ~ ., . ., anymore. and how influence do those neighbouring — anymore. and how influence do those neighbouring governments _ anymore. and how influence do those neighbouring governments have - anymore. and how influence do those neighbouring governments have on i neighbouring governments have on both sides to pressure them to de—escalate?

both sides to pressure them to tie-escalate?— both sides to pressure them to de-escalate? . ., , ., ., de-escalate? the countries have a stron: de-escalate? the countries have a strong relations _ de-escalate? the countries have a strong relations between - de-escalate? the countries have a strong relations between saudi - strong relations between saudi arabia and iran. saudi arabia can play a role in convincing iran in order to not escalate more. 0nce play a role in convincing iran in order to not escalate more. once the mission is done, it will be more strikes. so far i think it is the end for the iranian strikes and it is now on the side of israel whether they respond or not. there are response of ms dr biden calling for mr biden —— mr netanyahu not to counter—attack. you need to support israel. so it might work in favour of israel to retaliate because if they retaliate, iran will strike. if israel does not retaliate and follow

biden's advice, it might win because there is a call for g7 meetings with mr biden and security council meeting. try to show in the media that iran is a threat, we need to support israel and israel has to defend itself. ithink support israel and israel has to defend itself. i think israel, for the sake of israel, i think they should follow the advice of mr biden. i think this would be best for the peace in the region not to counter—attack. the damage from these drawings and missiles was not much, —— drones. 0nly these drawings and missiles was not much, —— drones. only one injury. the damage is not much. so even iran tries to maximise the victory and attack again, the damage was not there because the israeli air defences as allies managed to destroy most of them before they reached israel. it is more or less a win—win case. iran retaliate

according to the declaration from iran and at the same time israel was not damaged. so in this case a win—win scenario. if it does escalate, i think it will be fine. aha, escalate, i think it will be fine. a very, very, very tense two hours. i think you have some pictures from tehran of some celebrations apparently that took place after this strike. i mean... those pictures there that we have had from tehran. just how significant is it that iran has struck israel on its own territory for the first time? it is, for propaganda, it is economic problems and pressure on iran, more sanctions on iran, so iran tries to maximise the wind. at the same time, it is a strike so it didn't happen

before, so from iran soil to attack israel is the first time to happen. it might work as a deterrence for israel not to do they have done in syria two weeks ago. it could work as a deterrent that might help the two tensions because iran showed its ability to reach israel from its oil and is not afraid to do that. so it shows it has the guts to defy america in the western allies, but at the same time, the damage was limited. you try to show the restraints because the senior leaders in damascus, and many are killing, so in this case, the uranium —— iranian are trying to show they are strong, but israel should i think according to the american advice, should accept that and let it go in order to win at a

diplomatic level. but the change and you cannot attack israel directly. that is from the propaganda media level, it is ok, but the reality was the damage was not there so israel is not affected much. the schools were closed, activities, but nothing much happened to israel. but i think it will help ease the relationship between iran and israel and not be the solution for the conflict between them. this will help to use the informatics racks in order to help their situation in the middle east and gaza. just help their situation in the middle east and gaza.— help their situation in the middle east and gaza. just to update you, we now know. _ east and gaza. just to update you, we now know, according _ east and gaza. just to update you, we now know, according to - east and gaza. just to update you, we now know, according to the - we now know, according to the israeli military, that iran wants more than 300 drones and missiles at israel overnight, 99% were shot down according to the israeli military

saying armed forces remain fully functioning and are discussing follow—up options. there was a televised briefing earlier and daniel hagari said iran's actions were very grave and said pushed the region towards escalation. of course we know that many countries around the world are pushing for a deescalation. earlier, we spoke to benjamin radd, a seniorfellow at the burkle center for international relations at ucla. he started giving us his take on whether israel can be persuaded not to retaliate. in the conversationjoe biden had with benjamin netanyahu, he pushed him to accept the outcome of the last 12 hours as a win for israel, meaning that iran largely failed to succeed to materially impact israel's security in any way, very minimal destructions,

casualties limited to that one incident your correspondent mentioned. if that's the fact it's difficult to see how it is successful for iran and, therefore, the motivation to retaliate is not there. i believe that this will help stay the situation from inflaming any further, but of course that could change if iran continues to launch further attacks in the next few hours or days. we are obviously seeing different lines coming out and the general call for calm, one report on axios saying joe biden is not wanting to have israel move against iran any further. is it possible to read the signals at the moment out of the white house in terms of their position on what they are doing? absolutely, i think netanyahu firmly understands that if israel chooses detectors further and respond to iran directly by attacking installations, facilities even if they are military and not civilian.

they do that without the backing of the nine steps in that objective. do you think biden will have been as clear is that? absolutely, and all accounts indicate that biden made it clear that his position and netanyahu firmly understood and his conversation between the american secretary of defence and the israeli defence minister indicated the understanding was made clear to the israelis both by the defence ministers. and is it clear what the israeli position is? at this moment, no, not necessarily, but for the moment, what israel can enjoy is it has received a lot of international support that had been waning and drifting away from its favour in the last few weeks as criticism over its conduct of the war in gaza had been mounting. israel is enjoying a military victory in the sense that it managed to deflect and prevent any serious injuries or casualties from taking

place, and also, diplomatic support, not only from regional allies and allies like you know sense but we see across europe and the arab world. there is a lot of focus on hezbollah and we have seen the proxies acting as well overnight. what's your reading as to that situation? could that still flare up? again, those proxies have been conducting their operations going back to november. some of them even before then, we know hezbollah has been active on the northern frontier for quite a while, the united state was successful in using its carrier groups and assets in the region to intercept those attacks coming notjust from iran, but also from lebanon, yemen, syria and iraq. so long as there is a coalition to prevent it from escalating, i don't see it going any further yet. it is unprecedented to have a direct strike from iran into israel. there is bound to be some political pressure on mr netanyahu

to respond in kind. that's what biden specifically addressed when he told the prime minister, he said, "look, israel managed to come out of this relatively unscathed. "iran fell to convert any of its objectives, "it created more support for israel internationally that it had before "today and it also emboldened other arab allies to, "again, see iran as a critical threat in the region "and one that could escalate tensions rather than "calm them down." it's difficult to see how this is not a win for israel and that would motivate benjamin netanyahu to not escalate the situation. will the us go as far as saying that if he does not follow that particular track that the us is going to properly withdraw support from israel because they have not done that until now? the senate minority leader in the united states has now called

on congress to convene and pass an aid package budget that would provide increased military funding and assistance to israel. it's difficult to see how something like that would pass both houses of the us congress if netanyahu openly defied what the american president was asking to do and excluded further. if netanyahu wants to rely on continued us assistance in the form of additional or supplement to aid packages, that he would be wise to heed whatjoe biden is telling him. we're getting lots of information and wires coming in, one report saying that the israeli defence minister said we've repelled the first major wave of aerial attacks but the confrontation is not yet being over. would you expect any israeli action within the next few hours, or do you think you think it will be further in future and whether they will be what pressure to pause before they take any further action? in the next two hours, we can't expect israeli responses, it is very

unlikely given what president biden indicated and given the failure of iran's missiles and drones to achieve their objective that israel would lodge any kind of counter—attack into iran. i would lodge any kind of counter-attack into iran. i think ou said counter-attack into iran. i think you said it _ counter-attack into iran. i think you said it in — counter-attack into iran. i think you said it in a _ counter-attack into iran. i think you said it in a video _ counter-attack into iran. i think you said it in a video statementj you said it in a video statement according to reuters, they said israel's repelled the first wave of the confrontation is not yet over what that suggest?— the confrontation is not yet over what that suggest? even though iran's mission _ what that suggest? even though iran's mission to _ what that suggest? even though iran's mission to the _ what that suggest? even though iran's mission to the united - what that suggest? even though . iran's mission to the united nations is by and large done, there is no statement or indication from proxy groups that they will not continue escalating the situation further is that israel still find itself in a defensive posture as it waits to see what could happen next from the other groups that are acting separate from iran.- separate from iran. reuters reporting — separate from iran. reuters reporting benjamin - separate from iran. reuters i reporting benjamin netanyahu separate from iran. reuters - reporting benjamin netanyahu says separate from iran. reuters _ reporting benjamin netanyahu says on x we intercepted and repelled together, we shall win. how much influence now do the other

neighbouring nations in the region have on trying to de—escalate the situation especially in terms of putting pressure on israel? irate situation especially in terms of putting pressure on israel? we see iran find yourself— putting pressure on israel? we see iran find yourself somewhat - putting pressure on israel? we see | iran find yourself somewhat isolated now diplomatically, we know the jordanian government assisted by essentially shooting down any drones that were flying through its airspace, there was indication that certain arab states are named have supported the process here and the operation to prevent these strands and missiles from reaching their target destination so at this moment iran really find itself isolated regionally from its arab neighbours and potential allies so it is difficult to see iran having any better position and anything that would gain by continuing to escalate further. ., , ., , , further. finally, obviously if the us and uk _ further. finally, obviously if the us and uk and _ further. finally, obviously if the us and uk and as _ further. finally, obviously if the us and uk and as you _ further. finally, obviously if the us and uk and as you said - further. finally, obviously if the| us and uk and as you said other nations have militarily supported the defence of israel here, that very, very clearly and tangibly puts

all those countries in the frame here clearly, practically involved and that politically changes things for the us, doesn't it? yes and that politically changes things for the us, doesn't it?— and that politically changes things for the us, doesn't it? yes and no. what can one _ for the us, doesn't it? yes and no. what can one expect _ for the us, doesn't it? yes and no. what can one expect would - for the us, doesn't it? yes and no. j what can one expect would happen that if you have united states, united kingdom and other regional allies participating in basically what is not so much the defence of israel by preventing iran from escalating father, iran really has no dog in this fight, if you will, it is understood that he run was retaliating as a result of israel's strikes into damascus last week that killed the high—ranking iranian military official who was meeting with the leader of the palestinian islamichhad and fora with the leader of the palestinian islamichhad and for a writer a spring and other regional and great powers into the conflict serves it not at all. given iran's defences are much weaker than israel's. benjamin radd from the burkle center

for international relations. jordan as israel have opened their airspace now after the overnight attacks. —— and israel. let's take a look at the us military reaction. joe buccino is a former spokesperson for us central command. my colleague, helena humphrey, spoke with him a little earlier for his analysis of the attacks and the us military position. they had to retaliate and iran does not want this, they do not want israel to attack into a run, so this is, if you think about it, in terms of may be strategic terms, it is like turn one was the israeli strike into damascus, there had to be attentive, this is turn to. what will really matter here is what is

turn three, what is israel go through next because i believe iron dome, david's sling will shoot down these rockets at all these drains, i don't think anything will get through, so far nothing has got through. iran has signalled we are done, we will put a cap on this, so now it is up to israel what is going to be turn three.— now it is up to israel what is going to be turn three. exactly. as you've outlined is — to be turn three. exactly. as you've outlined is about _ to be turn three. exactly. as you've outlined is about who _ to be turn three. exactly. as you've outlined is about who ends - to be turn three. exactly. as you've outlined is about who ends up - to be turn three. exactly. as you've l outlined is about who ends up having the last word in a shallow conflict which has now become an over conflict. do you think israel will be satisfied to leave it at turn three? ., ~' be satisfied to leave it at turn three? ., ~ ., ,~ be satisfied to leave it at turn three? ., 4' . , . . , three? no. i think netanyahu has been looking _ three? no. i think netanyahu has been looking for— three? no. i think netanyahu has been looking for reasons - three? no. i think netanyahu has been looking for reasons to - three? no. i think netanyahu has. been looking for reasons to engage directly with iran and look at this today and this evening from netanyahu is my perspective, his entire character and persona as he

is the protector, the one man who could affect israel, they live in this incredibly dangerous neighbourhood with hamas to their worst, lebanese has a lot to the north, iran always accurate, now iran firing directly into israel —— lebanese hezbollah. so he is going to want to strike into iran to open up to want to strike into iran to open up this war, make it a wider regional war, up this war, make it a wider regionalwar, he up this war, make it a wider regional war, he has always wanted that. now it is a matter of candi us state department, can president biden, can we doubt that emotions here and can we talk that down? and in your experience as communications director of centcom, how can that be achieved? we are seeing an over war stock can this be contained as a war of words, can you put the genie back in the bottle and diplomacy prevail? it can. it is really a matter of

aligning some agreement with netanyahu in terms of, look, he still needs funds and still needs a hadrian's wall with hamas. he still meets american support for his war with hamas and we know these two men, biden and netanyahu have many otherfor men, biden and netanyahu have many other for decades, men, biden and netanyahu have many otherfor decades, biden men, biden and netanyahu have many other for decades, biden generally does really well with historically, as his entire adult life, he does really well with that interpersonal diplomacy, on the phone, face—to—face, it has not worked with netanyahu since this war started with hamas, but that's really what we've got to rely on here is that relationship that they built over decades, the relationship of trust. let's go back to that then because you are talking about the relationship between president biden, between netanyahu, which has been increasingly fraught of late, so in your assessment, do you think

there is the possibility for president biden to go back to that threat that he made about conditioning literary aid, for example, in terms of how that war is prosecuted in gaza and then linking it to what we could see in terms of a reprisal on iran, saying you still need us support, here is how washington would prefer to see this play out? i washington would prefer to see this -la out? ., �* ~ ., ., washington would prefer to see this -la out? ~ ., ., , washington would prefer to see this -la out? ., �* ~ ., ., play out? i don't know if now is a aood play out? i don't know if now is a good time _ play out? i don't know if now is a good time for — play out? i don't know if now is a good time for president - play out? i don't know if now is a good time for president biden i play out? i don't know if now is a good time for president biden to | good time for president biden to threaten netanyahu after this terror on the streets, you know, tel aviv, there are rockets overheard in tel aviv. 0bviously they would be terrifying, you could imagine rockets and drones here where you are and dc. you know, ithink rockets and drones here where you are and dc. you know, i think that there is potentially an off—ramp here for everybody and that would be, i mentioned term one, two and three. a turn three that is face

saving for both israel and iran, i don't know exactly what that looks like but think about something that where we signal through qatar to iran that this is chancery, we are putting a cap on it, then we're good, some sort of turn three that does not strike inside iran that allows netanyahu to send message to save face, allows mullahs in tehran to save face and we call it good. i dojust want to to save face and we call it good. i do just want to ask, in terms of broader regional contagion, how much of a concern is that? it is broader regional contagion, how much of a concern is that?— of a concern is that? it is an enormous — of a concern is that? it is an enormous concern - of a concern is that? it is an enormous concern right - of a concern is that? it is an | enormous concern right now of a concern is that? it is an - enormous concern right now because you could have the youth is marked, they may want to demonstrate their value to any right 0ut —— houthis. they may want to start their attacks back up in the red seed, lebanese hezbollah may want to take advantage but the real threat of dialect

israel here, a bigger threat than hamas and his missiles from iran, is lebanese hezbollah with thousands and thousands are rockets there on the border. this is all a tinderbox right now. this is, that's what i mean, this turn three is really going to matter, it's going to matter in the coming days and it could matterfor the matter in the coming days and it could matter for the coming matter in the coming days and it could matterfor the coming decades. it could be something where there is courageous restraint on behalf of netanyahu and it could save some sort of real catastrophe here. that's what i hope for. joe buccino, former spokesperson _ that's what i hope for. joe buccino, former spokesperson for _ that's what i hope for. joe buccino, former spokesperson for us - that's what i hope for. joe buccino, j former spokesperson for us central command speaking to helena humphrey in washington in the last few hours. i want to remind you of the images that we had overnight with that strike. these are the pictures of the skies above israel and you are looking at the israeli air defence

system, the iron dome, in operation as thejerusalem sky sees the flashes of drones and missiles fired from the run shutdown. a coalition of israels allies, including the us and uk has helped shoot down some iranian drones and misiles before they reached israeli territory. this is footage of that happening overjordan. this video is from the skies over damascus in syria. you can see objects being hit in the sky. again, in the skies over iraq. more drones and missiles being intercepted as they travelled towards israel. let me show you the live picture at the moment in tel aviv as israel wakes up this sunday morning after the most dramatic of nights. the first time the country has faced a direct hit from iran and a global

chorus, really, of condemnation from us, uk, western allies, japan, the eu, concern for many others, some celebrations in tehran, we hear, and are focused now on whether israel will strike back or whether it can be persuaded to move towards a deescalation now amidst fears obviously that this whole situation could cause enormous further tensions and violence across the region. we will bring you more analysis of all the latest and renew the latest update in a few minutes. i am due to motherfor the. —— geeta guru—murthy. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there.

you might remember that friday had been the warmest day of the year. temperatures reached 21.5 degrees celsius in greater london at both northolt and also at st james's park. but that figure didn't last very long. it was beaten on saturday. we've got temperatures up to 21.8 degrees celsius at rydell in essex. that now is the highest temperature recorded so far this year. we've got a big drop in temperatures on the way, though, across england and wales. and in some places those temperatures will be dropping by around seven degrees celsius. you will notice the change as cooler air that we have had across scotland and northern ireland works southwards. now over the next few hours we've got a few showers around. they tend to become confined to northern and western areas of scotland. otherwise, the skies are clearing. it's going to be a cold start to sunday morning with temperatures for quite a few places down at around four degrees celsius. might be chilly, but there will be plenty of early morning sunshine, clear, blue, sunny skies in many cases. but there will be some coastal showers in western scotland. and through the day, showers become extensive. scotland, northern ireland and a few getting into parts of western england and wales. some of the showers will be heavy with some hail mixed in and those temperatures, yes, will be coming down

15 degrees in london, seven degrees lower than the temperatures we had on saturday, but actually smack bang on average for this time of the year. now for monday, low pressure is going to be moving southwards and eastwards across the uk. it's going to be a day where we'll see a band of heavy rain move south and eastwards, followed by showers. it's a windy day with gusts of wind reaching around 40—50 miles an hour, quite widely, but 60 in places. and those strong, gusty winds will blow in frequent showers. again, some of them will have hail mixed in. if anything, temperatures a little bit below average, but factor in the strength of the wind. while i think it will start to feel a little on the chilly side. tuesday and wednesday still see some showers or maybe a few longer spells of rain diving in from the north—west. temperatures probably quite close to average, really. so tuesday, a showery day against some of the showers with hail. the heaviest downpours and most frequent downpours for parts of scotland, northern ireland and the far north of england. temperatures around 11—13 degrees celsius or so. and really, we keep those rather showery weather conditions. i think through wednesday and thursday, there's a trend to seeing something a bit drier

as we get towards friday and into the following weekend as well. bye for now.

live from london, this is bbc news. air raid sirens wail israel shoots down

hundreds of missiles and drones as iran launches an unprecedented attack. the retaliatory action comes two weeks after israel's strike on its consulate in syria two weeks ago. president biden reaffirms the us�*s ironclad commitment to israel's security as more britishjets are sent to the region. in the last hour, israel and jordan reopen their air spaces after closing it late on saturday. and this is the scene live in tel aviv: it was the first time iran had ever launched a direct military assault on israel. hello. i'm geeta guru—murthy. thank you forjoining us. the israeli military says iran launched over 300 missiles and drones towards israel, in what was an expected, but unprecedented response to a deadly israeli air strike that destroyed an iranian diplomatic compound in syria earlier this month.