georgian election observers report a number of violations in what's seen as one of the most pivotal parliamentary polls since independence. with less than two weeks to go until the us election beyonce endorses kamala harris�* bid to become president. not here as a celebrity, i am not here as a politician, i am here as a mother. hello, i'm nicky schiller. sta rt start with reaction to the israeli air strikes on iran. us presidentjoe biden says he hopes the israel's air attacks on iran are the end as the un and countries around the world urge both sides to avoid further escalation.

israel says the strikes were on 20 military and missile manufacturing sites by three waves of fighterjets, with some reports of up to 100 israeli jets involved. israel says its strikes were in response to missiles fired by iran earlier this month. the specific locations of the attacks are yet to be confirmed, but reports say that military installations in the capital tehran and military bases in the provinces of ilam and khuzestan in the south west of the country were hit. iran's armed forces said two soldiers were killed but the damage was limited. hezbollah condemned the attacks and warned of a dangerous escalation of the entire region. these pictures show iran's air defence system working to intercept israeli missiles as they head over the iranian capital. iran says it has to defend itself, but it recognises its responsibilities towards

"regional peace and security". saudi arabia, egypt and the uae all warned of the danger of further escalation, and called for restraint. according to the pentagon, the us was briefed on the strikes beforehand, but didn't have any involvement in the operation. the united states, the uk and the eu have urged iran into de—escalation, and russia blamed israel for exacerbating the conflict. our first report this hour is from our international editor jeremy bowen in jerusalem. israeli pilots set out for the long flight to strike iran. israel and the whole middle east has been waiting for this since iran attacked with around 180 ballistic missiles on the 1st of october. this was tehran in the early hours of the morning. israel said it hit military targets in the capital and the provinces. iran's leaders now face a hard choice.

do nothing and risk looking weak, hit back and risk a bigger israeli attack. if the regime in iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond. 0ur message is clear. all those who threaten the state of israel and seek to drag the region into wider escalation will pay a heavy price. the israeli military released silent, blurred video from the war room. they agreed to president biden�*s request not to hit iran's nuclear, oil and gas facilities. if iran retaliates, they are likely to be the next targets. tel aviv this morning. most israelis believe war in gaza and lebanon as well as iran isjustified and unavoidable. so i think it was a good action. but we need to keep it calm. we don't need to get

an escalation going. the message is through, and i hope things will be calm right now. we need to respond very hard, very quick and that they will understand that we are into it. iran has played down the damage done by the raids, releasing very little video. for the citizens of tehran, it is still the first direct attack on their capital since war with iraq in the 1980s. he says, "we heard cannon fire and an explosion, the sound "echoed across the sky, it was terrible and horrifying." "we are worried the war in the middle east is "going to affect us too. "why should we live without peace? "why can't we just be happy? it's really worrying me." "war," she says, "is frightening." "everyone is worried about what a war might do to us. but i don't believe a terrible war will happen in iran."

israel has released video of another huge strike on hezbollah positions in lebanon. the israelis have set the pace of escalation since early summer. it's hard to stop tit—for—tat strikes when both sides fear looking weak and deterred if they don't respond, and that is how wars spin out of control. we will be getting reaction from washington and beirut in a moment but first, to yolande knell, who is injerusalem. there have been international calls for iran to show restraint. the big question now is, what does ron do next? mil is, what does ron do next? all e es are is, what does ron do next? all eyes are on — is, what does ron do next? fill eyes are on iran right now, to see how it responds —— what does iran do. it has been relatively muted compared to some of the fiery rhetoric in the past. we have had the iranian foreign minister coming out and talking about the fact

that there are no limits, he said. he said iran has a right to defend its interests, its territorial integrity and its people. an earlier statement from the foreign ministry also talked about how iran had a responsibility for regional peace and security. but if you look at the international response there is to this, israel's western allies have really been talking up its right to defend itself against what they see as iranian aggression, that major missile attack at the start of this month. as for the arab countries around this region, you have some condemnation of israel, you have complaints about this being a violation of iran's sovereignty. but, in general, there are calls for restraint coming from all different sides, since the risk of a wider regional war being

so high, we have had president biden talking about his hopes that this would be an end, these israeli strikes would end this exchange between these two very powerful military powers, that we have in this region, and you have the un secretary—general, antonio guterres, expressing deep alarm, his spokesperson saying that he was calling for maximum effort to prevent regional war, and to have a return to diplomacy. and to have a return to diplomacy-— and to have a return to diloma .~ , ., diplomacy. when it comes to israel, diplomacy. when it comes to israel. it _ diplomacy. when it comes to israel, it seems _ diplomacy. when it comes to israel, it seems to _ diplomacy. when it comes to israel, it seems to have - israel, it seems to have listened to the us with these being targeted attacks on military installations. what has been the reaction there, where you are? it has been the reaction there, where you are?— has been the reaction there, where you are? it is not long since the _ where you are? it is not long since the end _ where you are? it is not long since the end of— where you are? it is not long since the end of the - where you are? it is not long since the end of the jewish l since the end of thejewish sabbath, we have had fairly little in terms of official announcements. you would expect to hear something from the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, who came out after

the 1st of october attacks, vowing that iran would pay a heavy price for what happened then. there was on social media comment by the national security minister, the far right itamar ben gvir, that this was to damage iranian assets. but people point out that israel is fighting on two once, in gaza and against hezbollah, in lebanon as well, —— two fronts. but there is confidence in the military and its ability to respond, particularly when it comes to its air defence capabilities. meanwhile, the situation in gaza continues to get worse, with the un top humanitarian official saying that the entire population of northern gaza is "at risk of dying". we

population of northern gaza is "at risk of dying".— population of northern gaza is "at risk of dying". we have had stron: "at risk of dying". we have had strong condemnation _ "at risk of dying". we have had strong condemnation of - "at risk of dying". we have had strong condemnation of the - strong condemnation of the israeli's ongoing military offensive in the far north of the gaza strip, particularly affected has been one of the few hospitals that are still functioning in gaza, and what we have been hearing is that the israeli raid that began a day ago is now over there, but that many of the male medics who worked at the hospital have remained in israeli detention, some patients detained, as well, and there is footage which we cannot verify, which does show a lot of damage to the buildings of that hospital. this is all against the backdrop of the new offensive that israel began in the north of the gaza strip some three weeks ago, saying that it was targeting hamas fighters who had been regrouping there. the gas and health ministry said

that some 800 people have been killed during that time, the gazan ministry of health. in the refugee campjabalia, hundreds of people have been stuck there, besieged by israeli forces, and the iclc came out and said that there were extremely dire conditions there, and calling for people to be allowed to have safe passage to evacuate from those areas, which are at the centre of this offensive.— of this offensive. yolande knell in — of this offensive. yolande knell in jerusalem, - of this offensive. yolande knell in jerusalem, thank j of this offensive. yolande - knell in jerusalem, thank you. let's get some reaction from the us. 0ur north america correspondent rowan bridgejoins us from washington dc. what has president biden been saying? he answered some questions on his way to your rally in pennsylvania this morning where he said he hoped that this would be the end of the tit—for—tat as jeremy bowen described it between israel and

iran. and i think there will be a sense of relief within the white house as to the nature of the attacks that israel carried out, they were described by a senior official as precise and proportionate. i think there had been concerns, america had been pressuring the israelis publicly and privately not to go after iranian nuclear or oil facilities amid concerns that that could escalate the situation and they are clearly from the language used hoping to draw a line under this at this stage. they are brawling, senior american official said there would be consequences for iran, if they do decide to strike back.— iran, if they do decide to strike back. you mentioned president — strike back. you mentioned president biden _ strike back. you mentioned president biden was - strike back. you mentioned president biden was off - strike back. you mentioned president biden was off to l strike back. you mentioned i president biden was off to an election rally. how big an issue as the middle east in the election? it issue as the middle east in the election? . ., issue as the middle east in the election? _, , issue as the middle east in the election? , . . ., election? it could be crucial. arab americans _ election? it could be crucial. arab americans are - election? it could be crucial. arab americans are a - arab americans are a significant proportion of the electorate, in michigan in particular, which is a key swing state in this election, and with the opinion polls as

tight as they are, groups such as arab americans good p that section of the population which swings key states and ultimately decide the election results, so kamala harris has been trying to shore up support amongst arab americans, because of concerns about us strategy in the middle east and what that could mean to the outcome of this election. in that could mean to the outcome of this election.— of this election. in the last half an hour, _ of this election. in the last half an hour, hezbollah i of this election. in the last| half an hour, hezbollah has reacted to the israeli air strikes on iran, calling it a dangerous escalation. what exactly have hezbollah been saying?— what exactly have hezbollah been saying? this statement, that this has _ been saying? this statement, that this has been _ been saying? this statement, that this has been a _ been saying? this statement, | that this has been a dangerous regional escalation and a treacherous zionist attack but it commends a run for what it calls a successful confrontation of the attack. hezbollah is referred to as the

jewel of the rainy network of armed allies in the middle east and it receives significant financial and military backing from iran and it has been locked in conflict with israel since the day after hamas launched their attacks last october, conflict that has 0ctober, conflict that has picked up in the last month, and claimed the lives of many of hezbollah�*s senior leadership and the displacement of around 60,000 israelis in the north of israel. what this statement does not suggest is that there might be a change of strategy at all in the way that hezbollah is conducting its campaign but at the same time, while iran is receiving calls for restraint, here, the conflict still continues apace in the south of lebanon. throughout the day, israel continues to push into the south of lebanon pursuing its ground campaign, whilst hezbollah has been firing

dozens of rockets into israel and the number of drones, so the conflict here is still very active, whilst we have been picking over the reactions to the israeli attack on iran last night. the israeli attack on iran last niuht. . ~' �* the israeli attack on iran last niuht. . ~ ., night. thank you. and a reminder— night. thank you. and a reminder that _ night. thank you. and a reminder that you - night. thank you. and a reminder that you can l night. thank you. and a l reminder that you can get night. thank you. and a - reminder that you can get much more analysis online including this article on why israel has attacked iran today and why the two nations are enemies. you can find that on the bbc news website or app. to georgia now where the nation has been voting. the election could determine whether the country has closer ties with the european union, or with russia. exit polls from a key parliamentary election in georgia are split on whether the governing party has lost its majority. exit polls in georgia are giving strikingly different predictions for parliamentary elections. 0ne exit poll, for georgia's main pro—government channel, predicts that the long—dominant georgian dream party

has won an outright majority, with 56% of the vote. but one for a pro—opposition channel has a loose alliance of opposition groups in the lead. meanwhile, election observers are reporting a number of violations, including ballot—stuffing, intimidation and violence used against opposition monitors and journalists. the vote in one polling station was discounted. and you can see here, violent clashes outside another. the vote is considered one of the most important parliamentary elections since independence from the soviet union more than 30 years ago. let's speak to nino lomjaria — a former public defender from georgia. cani can i have your reaction to these different exit polls, with both sides claiming victory? with both sides claiming victo ? . ~ with both sides claiming victo ? ., ~ with both sides claiming victory?— with both sides claiming victo ? ., , . victory? thank you very much for having _ victory? thank you very much for having me _ victory? thank you very much for having me on _ victory? thank you very much for having me on the - victory? thank you very much - for having me on the programme. first of all, let me say that for the georgian people, these

parliamentary elections is not an ordinary one, it is a referendum for us. we are choosing whether georgia will be aligned with the democratic west, or on the russia's influence. for us, this is a fight to put an end to russia's dreams of restoring a modern—day soviet union, and we understand that our success will affect the fate of other countries in our region as well who would follow our path to escape russia's influence. as for the situation at the moment, there is a high probability that the anti—western ruling party will secure a majority... there is a strong likelihood that, for the first time in georgia's history of independence, the country will have a coalition government 1540 00:16:59,032 -->