this is bbc news, the headlines... sirens wail. iran strikes at israel, with an unprecedented attack involving more than 300 drones and missiles. almost all them were intercepted before they landed. the us, britain and jordan, were among the countries involved in israel's defence. a member of israel's war cabinet — benny gantz — warns israel will retaliate. the us warns it doesn't want the crisis to escalate into a wider war, but says it's up to israel how to respond. it says it won't take part in any attack on iran.

in tehran, supporters of the iranian government celebrate the attack. iran warns israel not to retaliate and says it has no intention of prolonging operations. this is the scene live injerusalem. benjamin netanyahu's war cabinet has met as the region is at a dangerous crossroads. those are our main headlines on our main story. israel is warning that it will retaliate after iran fired a huge barrage of drones and missiles at israel. more political reaction. let's head to downing street. it's been a few hours, but rishi sunak has been talking about the uk's involvement. tell is more about what he said. the messaue tell is more about what he said. the message out — tell is more about what he said. tue: message out of tell is more about what he said. tte: message out of downing street has been consistent throughout the day.

he has condemned the attack, called it reckless, but also urged calm and restraint, similar to other allies, that has been the message from the us also. part of it is this huge concern that there is the risk of escalation in a region already going through a volatile war. it has been confirmed by downing street that it was part of what it called an international co—ordinated effort in defending israel, and he recently gave us a few more details out of downing street of exactly how the uk participated in that operation. last night, iran launched a _ in that operation. last night, iran launched a barrage _ in that operation. last night, iran launched a barrage of _ in that operation. last night, iran launched a barrage of missiles i in that operation. last night, iranl launched a barrage of missiles and attack_ launched a barrage of missiles and attack drones across the middle east towards _ attack drones across the middle east towards israel. this was dangerous and unnecessary escalation which i have confirmed in —— condemned in the strongest terms. thanks to international effort in which uk

also participated, almost all of these — also participated, almost all of these missiles were intercepted, saving _ these missiles were intercepted, saving lives notjust in israel but also neighbouring countries like jordan— also neighbouring countries like jordan as — also neighbouring countries like jordan as well. the raf sent additional planes to the region as part of— additional planes to the region as part of our— additional planes to the region as part of our existing operations. i can confirm _ part of our existing operations. i can confirm our planes shot down a number_ can confirm our planes shot down a number of— can confirm our planes shot down a number of iranians attack drones and i want _ number of iranians attack drones and i want to— number of iranians attack drones and i want to pay— number of iranians attack drones and i want to pay tribute to the bravery and professionalism of our pilots flying _ and professionalism of our pilots flying into the face of danger to civilians — flying into the face of danger to civilians. . . , flying into the face of danger to civilians. ., ., , , flying into the face of danger to civilians. ., , ,, .,~ civilians. that was rishi sunak. take us through _ civilians. that was rishi sunak. take us through the _ civilians. that was rishi sunak. take us through the other- civilians. that was rishi sunak. i take us through the other political action there has been today. the labour leader _ action there has been today. tt;s: labour leader sir keir action there has been today. tt9 labour leader sir keir starmer as well as his shadow cabinet have echoed prime minister's words about calm and restraint. but it's also important to pick out what rishi sunak said. he confirmed raf planes did intercept iranians attack drones. he did not confirm how many. and while labour and the liberal democrats have backed that action,

they have also said that iran's attack was reckless and unprecedented, but it is unclear what steps downing street took to get to that decision. the liberal democrats are calling for a parliamentary vote, saying they do not want to do away with the precedent of parliament approving military action, even if it has taken place. yvette cooper, shadow home secretary, has said she expects the prime minister to make a statement to the house of commons tomorrow. while all parties are echoing that same message of calm, restraint, de—escalation, they still want to know how downing street came to that decision. the details of that emergency meeting that the prime minister said he chaired on friday, and of course they want to make sure the president is respected. es, make sure the president is resnected-_ make sure the president is resected. : :, :, , respected. a quick one on the g7 call. respected. a quick one on the g7 call- where _ respected. a quick one on the g7 call. where are _ respected. a quick one on the g7 call. where are we _ respected. a quick one on the g7 call. where are we with - respected. a quick one on the g7 call. where are we with that? -

respected. a quick one on the g7| call. where are we with that? we know the call with joe call. where are we with that? we know the call withjoe biden and other world leaders... we know the call with joe biden and other world leaders. . ._ know the call with joe biden and other world leaders... we know the talks are taking _ other world leaders... we know the talks are taking place _ other world leaders... we know the talks are taking place now - other world leaders... we know the talks are taking place now and - other world leaders... we know the talks are taking place now and rishi sunak is engaged in those talks right now behind me. we don't have the details, they have not come out yet, but in some ways, we have already been telegraphed be overarching goal. we keep hearing the word diplomacy, because while israel is talking about a strong response, exacting a price out of iran for this unprecedented attack, saying it could have caused more damage than it did even though it was largely intercepted, allies of israel really don't want to see this into the eight escalate into a regional war. especially when you see what is going on in gaza. you can expect about they will be discussing how to make sure those tensions do not escalate further. thank you very much. if we get more from that call, we will return to

you. earlier kasra aarabi — director of islamic revolutionary guard corps research at united against nuclear iran — gave me his thoughts on the latest developments. this was a very well choreographed attack by the islamic revolutionary guard corps, the iranian regime's paramilitary organisation, and its purpose serves the regime's propaganda needs to mobilise its internal, small but radical constituency and also its proxy networks, as well as the pro—palestinian constituencies and islamist extremist constituencies across the world. as well as that, beyond that propaganda purpose, it's also to push the boundaries of the red lines, push the boundaries of red lines, see how much it can get away with. despite the fact that this

was, as i said, a well choreographed symbolic attack, it's still unprecedented in nature, and we should expect an israeli retaliation. in terms of your analysis, i hear what you're saying about propaganda. i suppose the question is how far iran wanted to go, wants to go, because a lot of analysts pointing to the fact that this was well telegraphed in terms of what they were going to do. you even had iranian representatives saying the response had concluded before the drones even arrived in the region. so does that say to you that they wanted to give the impression of a tough response but not have that wider escalated war? yes, because the irgc, the islamic revolutionary guard corps, neither has the military doctrine nor the capabilities for a direct, full—scale conflict with israel. the irgc operates asymmetrically. it is effectively a militant organisation, so it doesn't have the capability to take on israel. this was a symbolic attack. it serves the regime's

propaganda purposes, but still unprecedented in nature and strategically reckless. the key thing here now is, when israel retaliates, because israel will retaliate, us support for israel. because if the iranian regime perceives a lack of us support for the israeli retaliation, we will see a continuation of escalation, particularly in the next ten months before a potential new administration in the white house. in terms of how israel responds, what are the most dangerous options from tehran's point of view in terms of forcing their hand? i think the regime in iran believes that the us, for example, has zero appetite for direct confrontation, it has zero appetite for imposing direct consequences on the regime, despite the escalation that we've seen since october 7th. and that includes, by the way,

more than 170 proxy attacks on us forces, including the killings of three us soldiers. now, that calculus has to be changed, so these targets have to be inside of iran. and we are talking about military intelligence assets, irgc military intelligence bases, senior irgc commanders who are spearheading these militant operations as well as potentially the nuclear sites. again, going back to that ten—month time frame. there is a lot of chatter inside the regime amongst the supreme leader's circle, amongst irgc commanders, that the next ten months may be the best time to weaponise their nuclear programme because they believe the biden administration does not seek to impose direct consequences on the regime in tehran. simple question, why didn't iran, as they have so many times in the past, simply use proxies to carry out an

attack question?— attack question? there is a lot of tou . h talk attack question? there is a lot of tough talk but — attack question? there is a lot of tough talk but zero _ attack question? there is a lot of tough talk but zero action - attack question? there is a lot of tough talk but zero action to - attack question? there is a lot of| tough talk but zero action to back it up, so they were under pressure to act and they were under pressure to act and they were under pressure to mobilise their core constituency. it's a limited constituency, because the overwhelming majority of iranians have been explicitly calling for regime change and have even supported israeli strikes against irg seek commanders. this was to respond directly, push the boundaries of the red lines, if the regime in iran genuinely wanted to land a blow to israel, it would have used its proxies, who have been circled —— and circled the israeli state and could have said a more direct strike. this was serving the

propaganda and pushing the red lines. very reckless. does propaganda and pushing the red lines. very reckless.— lines. very reckless. does this su: est lines. very reckless. does this suggest a _ lines. very reckless. does this suggest a weakness _ lines. very reckless. does this suggest a weakness in - lines. very reckless. does this suggest a weakness in the - lines. very reckless. does this l suggest a weakness in the biden administration? in the run—up to this, you talk about it being telegraphed, but it was reported, back channels were used washington to suggest ifjoe biden was able to bring in a ceasefire and force israel to have a ceasefire, these attacks would not have happened. he was not able to do that, so does that underline the weakness there of washington's influence on israel? t washington's influence on israel? i don't see it that way. weakness iran perceives ofjoe biden is that he has appetite to impose direct consequences on iran. iran since october 7th has been escalating on all fronts, ii7 proxy attacks on a spearheaded by a commander killed by israel two weeks ago, including the killings of three us soldiers, and the us still has not responded to

the us still has not responded to the iranians regime directly and has not shown appetite to do so. they believe they have the next ten months and that they are the best opportunity to escalate the nuclear portfolio and also the irgc is the single biggest back putin's war in ukraine and those drones fired last night are the same drones being fired on ukrainian civilians. in the next ten months, if we don't see firm us support for an israeli retaliation, expect escalation in the region, in ukraine and irgc terrorism in europe. let's get more from bbc verify — they've been looking at more of the images and videos from overnight. let's cross to our reporter merlyn thomas. for the first time, iran has carried out direct strikes against israel.

overnight, hundreds of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles were launched against israel. israel say 99% were intercepted and one child was injured with shrapnel. we verified various videos and this one is filmed from near a mosque in jerusalem. in this next video, missiles or drones are heading to targets in israel and aired defence is our intercepting them. this is a still from a video i showed you and we have matched that with a publicly available image from the outskirts ofjerusalem. israel has said some ofjerusalem. israel has said some of the ballistic missiles were not intercepted and hidden airbase here and it caused minimal damage. —— it hit and airbase. this is a satellite image of the airbase from last year and we have several videos of the airbase being hit utmost footage was taken in the dark and we're working on verifying these. israel this footage of fighterjet returning to an airbase to emphasise it continues

to be operational. we couldn't verify if this was filmed today and we do not know which of iran's listing missiles hit the airbase but iranian state television has shown this. —— ballistic missiles. that type of missile has a range of 2000 kilometres and this map shows you just how far that weapon can reach. we have also seen videos from iran of missiles in flight, like this video sent to bbc persian, they have checked the file data to establish it was filmed in southern iran. at moments of heightened tension, misinformation has been circulating. iranians state television footage shows a fire from cheese like, —— from chile. this footage from twitter, the footage here is of the

attack, but this clip is actually from nearly ten years ago, a russian rocket launch from this video. this is a moment of heightened tensions in the middle east as we wait to see how israel will react. at verify, we will continue to monitor the situation closely.— will continue to monitor the situation closely. will continue to monitor the situation closel. :, ,, ~ situation closely. thank you. align cominu situation closely. thank you. align comin: to situation closely. thank you. align coming to us. _ situation closely. thank you. align coming to us, not _ situation closely. thank you. align coming to us, not a _ situation closely. thank you. align coming to us, not a great - situation closely. thank you. align coming to us, not a great deal- situation closely. thank you. align coming to us, not a great deal of. coming to us, not a great deal of detail. the call, the g7 call, align been reported is that the g7 have condemned iran's attack on israel and has called for restraint. we were anticipating that line, but thatis were anticipating that line, but that is the first line emerging from that is the first line emerging from that call, the g7 condemning iran's attack on israel and clung for restraint. we will get nothing that

call in the next little while. —— and calling for restraint iran launched modern 300 drones and missiles towards israel. some 99% of those were intercepted either outside israeli airspace over the country itself. our defence correspondentjonathan beale explained how israel was able to thwart the wave of attacks. first thing to say, it was telegraphed so they knew it was coming and they had preparations in place, both israel and the us. so the us has had a carrier strike group in the red sea dealing with houthi missiles being fired from yemen, which are being provided, the us says, by iran. so they've had practice then.

clearly israel has had practice with its iron dome, with rockets fired on a regular basis and at the same time from gaza into israel over a number of years. so i think iran would have known that those air defence systems were up and running and that they would take out quite a lot of what they were firing. now, obviously, it's more difficult to take out a ballistic missile than it is to take out a drone. but israel has layered air defenses, so it doesn'tjust have the iron dome, which is for shorter range targets. it also has arrow, arrow 2 and 3 to take out ballistic missiles. us ships have been taking out ballistic missiles fired by houthi rebels, anti—ship missiles, so they would have known that that capacity was there. that said, iran does have an arsenal of missiles and drones, which it's been providing to other proxies, but its own massive arsenal which could have overwhelmed the defences of both the us in the region and israel. but they didn't. so most, from what we're being told, were shot down.

it seems like one or two may have made their way through. so i think there was a calculation by iran. and it's a gamble to work out what israel might do next. the us has made clear it's not going to respond against iran directly. but the question is, what will israel do next? shashankjoshi is defence editor for the economist, he gave his assessment of iran's tactics with this latest attack. i think there were about 331 missiles — projectiles — fired. of those, about a third were ballistic missiles. ballistic missiles fly in very different ways. they fly in parabolic arcs, unlike cruise missiles or drones, which fly relatively flat trajectories inside the atmosphere much more slowly. ballistic missiles are much more likely to penetrate air defenses and get through, and they leave much less warning time. but i think it's notable that only a third of these weapons

were ballistic missiles. they were probably targeted at israeli military bases, including the base that israel used to launch f—35 planes that conducted the original attack on the iranian consulate in lebanon. and so there was a kind of symmetry to this. but had iran really wanted to cause more damage, had iran really sought to overwhelm israeli defenses, i think they would have used a much higher proportion of ballistic missiles, and they didn't. and i think that does tell us something of interest, something of note. i think it was in line with expectations of an iranian attack that was both sufficiently dramatic in scale and novelty. of course, the first direct iranian strike on israel to satisfy iran's need to restore deterrence, but also calibrated enough, limited enough in order to avoid inflicting such serious harm that it may have provoked a larger conflict. notably, i think the most significant thing here is the length of time that iran waited before responding, allowing israel and its allies to muster a response, evacuate air bases, prepare their radar facilities,

all of these other things. and i think iran would have known that most of these missiles would probably have been intercepted. earlier we spoke to our security correspondent gordon corera for more context on the attack. the two sides have been engaged in a shadow war for decades, really, in which iran has been using its proxies — groups like hezbollah — to fire missiles and carry out other activities against israel and even inside israel. and israel has been targeting, for instance, iranian nuclear scientists going back decades, including within iran. but you've not seen that kind of direct confrontation that we've seen in the last 2a hours, and including that targeting of an iranian consulate in damascus. so i think it is an escalation. it is significant,

but the question is, what next? exactly, because president biden and others can talk about containment. but there are so many variables at play, aren't there? that's right. and you can sense from the language coming out from the us that they are urging both publicly and, i'm sure, behind the scenes, israel to carry out a measured response in how it deals with this, because the us do not want to escalate into a wider war. all the signs have been that iran also doesn't want to escalate into a wider war, to get into a war with the united states, which could obviously be very serious for the regime in tehran. so there are incentives not to escalate. but the reality of these situations is often that events can spiral out of control. and you could imagine a situation in which one side launches a strike which kills more, does more damage than expected. and that does lead to an escalation which can drag more parties in and lead to more significant strikes.

so i think that is the concern as everyone waits to see what israel will do. i mean, the noises coming out of israel are mixed. i mean, we've heard some of the more hawkish members linked to benjamin netanyahu and his coalition talking about the need to reestablish deterrence, which would mean a hard line stance and some kind of strike against iranian interests. others, like benny gantz, who's in the war cabinet, have talked about, rather, responding in a manner and a means and a time of their choosing, which would suggest a more measured, careful response. so i think there will be lots of thoughts, lots of behind—the—scenes negotiations to try and work out what that response might be. and i think it's hard to say exactly at the moment. let me tell you it, in the last few moments, the uk's foreign secretary david cameron has said he condemned in the strongest possible terms iran's attack on israel in a call with iran's foreign minister. 20

more on that story in a moment or two. —— plenty more on that. one more story — more details have been emerging about the victims of the deadly knife attack, at a shopping centre in sydney yesterday. six people were killed and 12 injured. our correspondent katy watson has the latest from sydney. from the early hours of sunday morning, sydneysiders came to pay their respects. this is a nation in shock, not used to violent attacks like this. i go to that mall with my friends and stuff, but it's just sad to think like you can't even really like shop normally now without thinking twice about who's around you and all that stuff. the attacker was named asjoel cauchi, and more details about his background have also emerged. we do understand there is a history of mental health but it will be the ongoing work of the investigators to determine what his activities were yesterday and the days before, that might indicate a motive.

authorities singled out the bravery of inspector amy scott, who shot the assailant dead. her intervention, they said, saved many lives. the investigation is still very much under way. police teams are working there, and they could be working through to the early hours of monday morning. and the commissioner said at this stage there are probably more questions than answers, and that's something that will probably continue for the next few weeks. more details of the victims also emerged. ashlee good died trying to protect her nine—month—old who was injured. overnight, the little girl underwent surgery. faraz tahir was working as a security guard at the westfield when he died. after the panic and fear of saturday, people here are grieving, trying to understand why such a brutal attack happened. katy watson, bbc news, in sydney. we will take a short break and will

be back with all latest from the middle east, we will be live in jerusalem, washington and also talk to the former head of the british army. all of that coming up on bbc news. don't go away. hello. the warm spell of weather has come to an end, it's a much fresher day today and the outlook is pointing to frequent showers with hail and thunder and very windy weather for tomorrow. here's the weather map, as we see that transition in the next 2a hours from the calm conditions we have had recently to this big low sitting on top of us, also dragging in the colder airfrom the northern climes and making it feel colder than it recently has been. onto the forecast — temperatures in the middle of the afternoon hovering around the mid—teens in the southeast of the country, barely making double figures across the north, where we already have showers sweeping across. the winds are freshening and the showers through the night generally confined

to more northern and western areas. towards the end of the night, perhaps reaching central england but the southeast will stay dry. temperatures up to 8 celsius in most major towns and cities. tomorrow, a band of heavy showers across the country, gusty winds, showers could be torrential with hail and thunder, sunshine in—between and the gusts up to 50mph on coastal areas and not far off that inland. a very turbulent day with dramatic cloudscapes and changeable weatherfrom hour to hour. the lowest temperatures around 10 celsius. that low will be barrelling across the uk into the north sea through the course of monday evening. tuesday, it will still have a sting in its tail, stronger winds and showers across the north sea coast, everywhere from yorkshire to east anglia. gusty winds of up to 50mph here but towards the west, the weather will be drier

and brighter and the winds not quite as strong, not quite as chilly. but still around 8 celsius in stornoway and typically up to 13 elsewhere across the uk. towards the end of the week, another weak front moving across uk bringing cloud more than rain and also this high nosing in, an indication the weather should dry out. the main message for now is a very blustery day on the way tomorrow with big shower clouds but also sunny spells. bye— bye.

live from london. this is bbc news. iran strikes at israel with an unprecedented attack involving more than 300 drones and missiles. almost all them were intercepted before they landed.

g7 countries "unanimously" condemn the iranian attack, and call on both sides "to exercise restraint". the white house urges israel not to strike back. whether and how the israelis will respond, that's going to be up to them. we understand that and respect that, but the president has been very clear, we don't seek a war with iran, we don't want escalation here, we will continue to help israel defend itself. help israel defend itself. in tehran — some supporters of the iranian government celebrate the attack. iran says it has no intention of further strikes, but threatens a heavier assault, if israel launches reprisals. this is the scene live injerusalem. we'll have all the latest, as benjamin netanyahu's war cabinet meets to decide its response. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala.