urging iran to show restraint. iran should not respond. we will continue to work with allies to de—escalate the situation across the region. georgian election observers report a number of violations in what's seen as one of the most pivotal parliamentary polls since independence. thousands of supporters of far—right wing activities in other news, with less than two weeks to go until the us election, beyonce endorses kamala harris�* bid to become president. i am not here as a celebrity. i am not here as a politician. i am here as a mother. hello, i'm martine croxall. israel has fired missiles into iran overnight, saying it hit military targets in the country. in the last few hours, iran's foreign ministry responded to the attacks, saying it's "entitled

and obligated" to defend itself against what it called "external aggressive acts" , but also said it recognised its responsibilities towards "regional peace and security". it said two of its soldiers had been killed in the attacks. israel says the strikes were on 20 military and missile manufacturing sites by three waves of fighter jets, with some reports of up to 100 israeli jets involved. the specific locations of the attacks are yet to be confirmed but iran's state media said sites in the capital tehran and in the provinces of ilam and khuzestan in the south west of the country were targeted. (upsot ——in the south west of the country were targeted. these pictures show iran's air defence system working to intercept israeli missiles as they head over the iranian capital. according to the pentagon, the us was briefed on the strikes beforehand, but didn't have any involvement in the operation. both britain and the

united states have urged iran not to strike back. russia has warned that an explosive escalation in hostilities risked spiralling out of control. here's sebastian usher, from jerusalem, with the latest. weeks of anticipation ended as israel launched its retaliation on iran, lighting up the skies over tehran. waves of israeli strikes targeted military sites. the israeli army said it had aimed at facilities that produce the missiles that have been fired at israel. the idf said it had accomplished its mission after several hours and delivered another strong warning to iran. translation: if the regime in iran were to make - the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we would be obliged to respond. all those threatening israel will pay a heavy price. on the streets of the iranian capital, some expressed their growing nervousness over the situation. translation: i was working a night shift, and at work - we heard the sound of cannon fire and explosion.

in fact, the sound echoed across the sky. it was a terrible and horrifying sound. translation: war is frightening. - everyone has concerns about what happens during a war. the harms of war worry everyone, but i don't believe a terrible war will happen in iran. that sense of trepidation is also being felt here in israel for weeks, where many fear that the showdown with iran could embroil the country ever deeper in a dangerous cycle of escalation, a concern also voiced by the prime minister. i am clear that israel has the right to defend itself against iranian aggression. i'm equally clear that we need to avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to show restraint. iran should not respond.

we will continue to work with allies to de—escalate the situation across the region. the iranian foreign ministry has said the country is entitled and obliged to defend itself. the israeli strikes were in direct response to iran's ballistic missile attack at the start of the month. the ball is now back in iran's court. following israel's retaliatory strike on iran overnight — let's remind you of how we got here. tensions rose in lebanon last month when at least 32 people were killed and thousands injured in lebanon, as dozens of hand—held devices like pagers and walkie—talkies — some owned by members of hezbollah, a group backed by iran — spontaneously exploded. ten days later, hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah was assassinated in israeli air strikes on southern beirut in lebanon. three days later israeli tanks crossed

the border into southern lebanon, opening up a new offensive in the conflict. within hours, iran had launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles towards israel. most were intercepted by israel's air defences, but mr netanyahu vowed then that israel would respond. two weeks later, the leader of hamas, yahya sinwar — who masterminded the 7th october attacks on israel — was killed in a chance encounter with israeli forces in rafah in southern gaza. it's seen as israel's biggest victory so far in its war against hamas. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell gave us her assessment from jerusalem. it was very carefully calibrated, this response, and it does seem that israel heeded the warnings from its closest allies, the us, not to hit iran's most sensitive site, its nuclear site, its oil production facilities because that could have had a big knock effect economically and it really could have tipped

the region into a full—scale regional war. we have had, you know, iran coming out, saying that it is going to respond to what happened, and we've got one of the semi—official news agency is talking about a proportional response, the iranians saying that israel broke humanitarian law here but when they are thinking about what to do next, i mean, i will be reflecting, the iranian leadership them on the fact that this was limited damage with two soldiers killed, they say, but they know that israel has the capabilities to have done much more major damage inside iran. there have been these warnings coming from the us as well, really saying that now the strikes and counter strikes between these two countries, the direct fire has to stop. so, what is there in the way of international support for israel? i mean, we've had strong messages of support from the likes of the us, which was kept very much aware of what was going on,

it said that it was told about israel's operation in advance but did not take part in it. they have been defending, along with the uk and others, israel's right they say to defend itself against what is seen as iranian aggression. now, that said, within the region you get a very different reaction. you've got the likes of saudi arabia talking about how this was a violation of iranian sovereignty, a lot of condemnation of israel, and jordan, a neighbouring country, making clear that its airspace was not used to carry out this attack, it says. earlier i spoke with parham ghobadi from bbc persian. he told me more about the intended targets. three provinces were targeted. it was ilam in western iran, the oil—rich province of khuzestan in the south—western part of iran, and specifically a port there.

one of the casualties was from a port there. and also tehran. so the first signs we had which later on we realised was the first wave of israeli attacks, there were reports of explosions in the western part of iran. however, there were not many pictures or images coming out of it. in the second or maybe third round of attacks, a lot of video started surfacing on social media and even published by some of the iranian media inside the country. and it was from the eastern part of tehran, and it showed continuous explosions in the sky, and that was the anti—air defence system, the iranian anti—air defence system getting activated and getting involved with some projectiles in the sky. so that is what we have seen so far. our team has also managed to verify a location in the southern part of tehran that is mentioned to be a factory, so it is said to be a drone factory that has been implicated.

let's get some reaction from the united states. what have white house officials been saying regarding what happened last night? we saying regarding what happened last niuht? ~ ., ., saying regarding what happened last niuht? ~ . ., , last night? we had a briefing from the senior— last night? we had a briefing l from the senior administration official last night and i think there was a degree of relief in there was a degree of relief in the white house over the nature and the way these missile strikes were carried out. the white house has described them as proportionate and precision attacks. i think there were concerns within the administration as to where israel might target. they were particularly concerned about whether they would target nuclear installations of the iranian oil supply lines. there has been public and private pressure on the israelis to avoid those as potential targets and that seems to have happened in this case. the americans are clearly hoping that this will draw a line under these missile strikes on either side and they have

warned the iranians of consequences if they do retaliate against israel over what happened overnight. rather then, what what happened overnight. rather then. what is _ what happened overnight. rather then, what is the _ what happened overnight. rather then, what is the united - what happened overnight. rather then, what is the united states i then, what is the united states likely to do if iran does react? it says it is obligated, entitled to defend itself but also recognises the need to preserve peace in the region. i think this is a carefully calibrated response because they don't want to see the situation in find any further if they can avoid it so they are deliberately playing their cards quite close to their chest, in terms of what those consequences for iran might be if there is any retaliatory strike. it is worth noting after the initial iranian strikes in october at the beginning of the month, the americans did impose further sanctions on iranian assets but they have been very careful in they have been very careful in the language as to what the response might be, any iranian response might be, any iranian

response might be, only as far as saying there might be consequences but not really outlining what those might be. let's speak to yaakov katz, an author and a fellow of thejewish people institute, which is an israel—based think tank. welcome to bbc news, thank you for giving us some of your time. how would you characterise the strikes on iran by israel? some commentators are suggesting that israel has really heeded the warnings of the united states not to escalate things further by attacking nuclear facilities. ~ ~ . facilities. well, i think that israel, what _ facilities. well, i think that israel, what it _ facilities. well, i think that israel, what it did, - facilities. well, i think that israel, what it did, was - facilities. well, i think that israel, what it did, was it l israel, what it did, was it essentially gave the americans what they had asked for, which was to keep the targets very limited and to keep it focused on military targets and that is what israel did, taking out air defence systems, taking out drone facilities and taking out some of the production capabilities that the iranians have their longer ballistic missiles. this was the focus of

the israeli strike, it wasn't something that escalated things to the oil refineries are to the nuclear installations. and this was meant, basically, to give the iranians the ability to close up this round and not to close up this round and not to potentially have to retaliate. so the ball is on their side of the court and we will have to wait to see what iran does. will have to wait to see what iran does-— will have to wait to see what iran does. iran in some ways has played — iran does. iran in some ways has played down _ iran does. iran in some ways has played down the - iran does. iran in some ways| has played down the damage iran does. iran in some ways - has played down the damage that was caused. they were of course to soldiers who were casualties as well. how do you read that, then? are you thinking that this is a sign that they will not risk further retaliation because of wider escalation? well, martin, ithink because of wider escalation? well, martin, i think what we are seeing, and israel has been very quiet about what it's targets were, this isn't coming out officially from israeli sources, it has been linked to different media outlets, but the israelis are not officially saying what they targeted, beyond generally saying they were military targets. and with iran saying it was also not

such a big deal, we were able to defend ourselves and scare off the israeli jets, it could be seen as a way for iran to say it wasn't a big deal, call it a day and move on. it really will depend on what the supreme leader decides to do, does he decide to really call it a day or does he see this as just another round? and this is where we're headed, towards more cycles of violence? i think the concern remains the same. what we saw in april when iran attacked israel directly for the first time was the first direct iranians attack, we saw this again in october, this is the first time israel has attacked with over 100 aircraft in iran itself. this has the potential to really lead to a continued round of violence and to escalate further throughout the region, which no one really wants at the moment.— which no one really wants at the moment. they have been a number of— the moment. they have been a number of international - number of international responses as well, qatar, the united states, the uk, amongst

others, and even russia as well, saying this could really explode. do these representations from the international community make any difference injerusalem? any difference in jerusalem? well, any difference injerusalem? well, of any difference in jerusalem? well, of course any difference injerusalem? well, of course israel is part of the international community and it has allies and friends around the world, more in the west than i would say in the east, and it closely coordinated, we know, with the americans who deployed in israel missile defence systems, a system which is meant to protect israel in the event of another iranian missile assault. it has closely coordinated with the british and other european countries. but at the end of the day, this is about defending israel. what iran has done, since its first direct attack in april and then on october the 1st, and i am not even talking about the proxies, whether hamas and gaza or hezbollah and lebanon, iran can't be allowed to continue to

do this, no country would sustain hundreds of missiles that are fired it's way and just accept that as they comply, it is not something i should never be tolerated. iran is the greatest state sponsor of terrorism, it is directly attacking israel as well as other countries around the world, this is something that needs to be put to a stop, and i wish that we would see more action by the world, more from america, more from the british, more from the european union, and this shouldn't have to fall on israel's shoulders but they will do what they need to defend themselves and that is what they showed this morning. thank you for your time. the total of 2653, according to the lebanese health ministry,

of death. —— of injuries. georgia say there have been numerous violations in a parliamentary vote seen as crucial to relations with europe and russia. these are the live pictures from the polling station in the capital tbilisi. it's one of the most important parliamentary elections since independence from the soviet union more than 30 years ago. the observers have reported violence againstjournalists and observers from opposition parties, infringements of voting secrecy and cases of intimidation. the georgian dream party — which has governed for 12 years — is hoping to extend its hold on power. it's being challenged by a number of opposition groupings who accuse georgian dream of jeopardising moves to join the european union — and adopting increasingly pro—russian policies. polling stations close in under an hour. let's speak to our south caucasus and central asia correspondent, rayhan demytrie. tell us more about these

irregularities.— tell us more about these irregularities. we've heard a briefinu irregularities. we've heard a briefing from _ irregularities. we've heard a briefing from a _ irregularities. we've heard a briefing from a local - irregularities. we've heard a| briefing from a local observer group which combines representatives from more than 30 civil society organisations, and they have deployed 2000 observers two different polling stations across georgia, and they held a briefing a short while ago, listing those irregularities that were documented by the observers, and that includes violence against some of the observers that were representing opposition parties, also several incidents of physical kind of altercations with the journalists, and a number of other irregularities, including ballot stuffing, there was one big case of ballot stuffing, even though the vast majority of voters, they were casting their ballots through electronic machines, more than 90% of the votes, but some precincts still had the old system so there was this

incident. but the government reacted quite quickly and they said that they launched criminal investigations against that particular case in which it was caught on camera, ballots being stuffed into a box. it has been, i would say, quite a tense day. these elections have been so highly anticipated, and there has been higher than average turnout. we went to several polling stations throughout the day, people were queueing to cast their ballots, and we spoke to some of the voters. so, in general, i would say that younger voters, some of them were voting for the first time, they were saying that their country's european future is at stake, they were worried about the outcome. we will know of course the exit polls will be published in less than an hour and then we expect early results to be announced by the central election commission in a few hours' time as 1536 00:18:56,34