blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. show off to the world. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. [ cheering and applause ] >> very special thanks to paul, adam, tyrus and you, our studio audience. on behalf of greg, i love you america! breaking news out of the middle

east, where overnight, israel defense forces say they preemptively struck several hezbollah targets in lebanon. i'm kevin corke in washington. hey, kevin. and i'm chanley painter in new york. the idf claims the iran backed group was preparing to fire missiles and rockets towards the israeli territory. tensions have been rising in the region for weeks after the assassination of a senior hamas leader and a top hezbollah military commander. they were both killed in separate attacks. now iran blames israel for both deaths, though the israelis have only claimed responsibility for the death of the hezbollah commander. this is also coming as ceasefire and hostage talks between israel and hamas resume this weekend. u.s. officials hope a ceasefire will calm tensions in the region. that, of course, remains to be seen. meantime, fox news correspondent trey yingst is live in israel. we're hearing this morning, trey, that the

airport, ben gurion, is closed for arrival and departure. also that israel's security cabinet may convene in the not too distant future. what can you tell us about that? yeah. hey, kevin. good morning. as we speak. the israeli security cabinet is convening following these preemptive israeli strikes against the iran backed group hezbollah in southern lebanon overnight. we understand that dozens of strikes were conducted against rocket and missile launching positions. new reports indicate that at least one of the launchers was aimed at tel aviv, set to fire missiles toward israel's second largest city when the israelis decided to act on the intelligence that they had and preemptively strike the iran backed group in southern lebanon, we are continuing to gather information about this developing story. israeli media at this hour is reporting that all beaches from an area just south of tel aviv, the whole way to the northern part of the

country, along the border with lebanon, are closed. they're closing the beaches and issuing special instructions to civilians in some areas of the country to stay close to protected areas over concerns that hezbollah could launch more attacks into northern and central israel. in response to the preemptive israeli strikes that took place overnight. hezbollah launched more than 200 rockets and drones into the northern part of this country. sirens were sounding just north of israel's third largest city of haifa, in an area called akko. the israeli defense minister, yoav gallant, has declared a special security situation for the next 48 hours, and a senior israeli defense official telling fox news just last hour that these were precise strikes to remove imminent threats. the emphasis there on imminent threats, and there is an understanding again, at this hour that the security situation could deteriorate. and it's part of

the reason that those special instructions have been delivered to the israeli people as the israeli security cabinet meets at this hour. guys, back to you. trey, before we move on, i just want to ask you personally, did you obviously you have sources, but as a citizen, did you get information on your phone about the possible incoming or did you just hear perhaps the air raid sirens? yeah. so i can tell you a little bit about our sourcing related to this story. we've been following it since july 30th, when the israelis targeted fouad suka, a top hezbollah commander in the southern part of the lebanese capital of beirut. immediately after the strike that killed that hezbollah commander, the israelis went to a state of heightened alert because hezbollah was threatening a significant response. so the past several weeks, we've been reporting on the ground here in tel aviv and also in the northern city of haifa, waiting for this response by hezbollah that the israelis thwarted

overnight and overnight, we received information from the israeli military. i got a text message from an idf official just minutes before the strikes were publicly acknowledged by the israeli defense top spokesman, daniel hagari, who said that these strikes were taking place to target the missile and rocket launchers in southern lebanon that were aimed at israeli population centers. as the night went on, we started to get more alerts on our phone. these red alerts from the northern part of this country indicating there were ongoing hezbollah rocket and drone attacks taking place. these are the alert systems used to warn the israeli people that they need to get into bomb shelters when there is incoming fire. so far, the hezbollah response to these preemptive israeli strikes in southern lebanon has been limited to the northern part of this country. but i am receiving some new information from my producer from hezbollah indicating that the organization, again backed

by iran, says it hit 11 israeli military sites on sunday and fired more than 320 katyusha rockets. hezbollah says they have completed the first phase of a response to israel's killing of that top commander last month. let me just break down very briefly what this statement means. hezbollah is certainly trying to save face here. the israelis struck first. they knew that hezbollah was going to launch a significant attack against their country. and hezbollah wants to make clear, at least to their base in lebanon, that they were able to launch a counterattack against israel as those strikes were unfolding. and so this could be a limited hezbollah response to these preemptive strikes overnight. and the situation could certainly be contained. but i can tell you at this hour, israel's security cabinet is meeting, they have to be prepared for all scenarios that are on the table within that cabinet. you have israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu, the country's

defense minister, yoav gallant, a man that i have spoken with extensively since the october 7th massacre, black saturday, that started this war that we are seeing unfolding, not just on israel's northern front, but also the southern front and also a number of top security officials, because, again, they have to be prepared for the possibility that hezbollah tries to launch missiles and rockets deeper into this country. and again, we know they have an arsenal of around 150,000 missiles and rockets. some of them are precision guided missiles with components that have been smuggled into southern lebanon by the iranian regime. this forces the israelis to be on high alert. and again, the country's defense minister, yoav gallant, declaring a special security situation for the next 48 hours. guys, back to you and your conversations. trey before we move forward, especially with yoav, can you give me a sense of how wide ranging this might go? i mean, i know that

predicting circumstances like these is a fool's errand, but at the same time, i think you have to be prepared for the absolute worst. in particular, when the iranians are basically funding and arming hezbollah. absolutely. kevin, it's a great question. and when we go back to july 30th, when this current heightened state of escalation erupted following the israeli strike in southern beirut that killed this top hezbollah commander within hours of that strike taking place, ismail haniyeh, the leader of hamas, was killed in an explosion in the iranian capital of tehran, and the iranians said there would be an immediate response against israel. those threats dragged on and ultimately israel focused their attention toward the north, because the intelligence pointed to the fact that hezbollah may actually be the ones to respond not only for the killing of their commander, but also in part for the killing of hamas

leader ismail haniyeh. remember, since the october 7th massacre, the israelis have faced a seven front war. they're not just dealing with the war inside gaza. that is now at day 324. they have also faced attacks from the houthis in yemen. we saw we were here on the ground in tel aviv as a houthi drone slammed into the central part of the city, killing one person and injuring several others. we've also seen attacks from hezbollah in southern lebanon. iran backed groups inside gaza. in the west bank, iran backed iraqi syrian shia militias that are operating across the region in both syria and iraq. and then you have iran itself that back in april launched more than 300 missiles and drones toward israel, injuring one person. much of that fire was intercepted outside of the country. but it gives you a sense of how fluid this situation has been since october 7th, and the threat

level goes up and down, but it changes on a daily basis. and it's part of the reason that we are in constant contact with senior israeli officials. i also speak with american intelligence sources who have been monitoring the situation closely, understanding that there are extensive american assets deployed across the region to do two things. one, to act as deterrence against the iran backed group hezbollah and the iranian regime itself, and also to prepare for a possible defense of israel, the american ally in the middle east that has such close ties with the united states. and so you have these american assets in the region to basically fulfill those two objectives. and the days ahead will be incredibly tense, kevin, because as we look at the situation on the ground, there is no clear indication that this incident is over. and there is certainly no indication that this war is over. amos hochstein, the top advisor to president biden, has been ferrying messages back and

forth trying to get some sort of agreement on the table between israel and hezbollah indirectly, that would allow for a de-escalation. an off ramp in the region to rising tension. but the war in gaza continues. and as we speak right now, there are top israeli officials. there are qatari officials, egyptian officials and even a hamas delegation on the ground in cairo trying to follow up on the talks that took place in doha just last week to cut a ceasefire deal. and at least temporarily paused the war inside gaza, 324 days in. that would give the entire region an off ramp. but hamas has made clear, and i have spoken with hamas officials over the past week that they are unwilling to accept the current deal on the table. they say that the goalpost has moved. they were willing to accept a deal. back on july second. they say benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister of israel, has been playing politics with the situation and has moved the goalposts. those are the words

of hamas. and so they are not willing to accept the current deal on the table. this is an indication that the rising tension across the region is going to continue to escalate. and with these preemptive israeli strikes overnight, targeting hezbollah rocket and missile launchers in southern lebanon, the hezbollah response that included around 200 rockets and missiles, according to israeli media, and the fact that the israelis have entered into this special security situation for the next 48 hours are all indications that the region is headed in a bad direction, so we can expect two things to happen over the next 24 to 48 hours. the israelis will remain in a heightened state of alert. we certainly could see additional airstrikes taking place against southern lebanon and of course, more fire coming from the iran backed group hezbollah in the southern part of that country. but the second thing that we have to talk about, and again, i'm talking with officials as we speak, and i can see some of them have responded to my questions at this moment. but the second thing has to do with

the diplomatic efforts that will be ongoing behind the scenes, trying to avert a larger crisis. and we are getting some new reporting from our pentagon team right now indicating that the u.s. military had no involvement. this is a direct quote in israel's preemptive strikes on hezbollah targets. that is, a u.s. official speaking to fox news. with that information. so as you can tell, this is a dynamic, fluid situation that is currently unraveling in the middle east. but the latest information that we have, the israeli security cabinet is meeting as we speak, following preemptive strikes overnight against hezbollah in southern lebanon that drew a limited hezbollah response into northern israel. the region now waits to see what comes next. guys, back to you. strong reporting from our chief foreign correspondent, trey yingst, unpacking an increasingly intense and unfortunately, in some senses, unraveling circumstance there. trey, obviously stay safe. just after daybreak there in israel. seven i guess. 713 now, trey,

we'll get back to you shortly. meantime, joining us now is the director of the national security law and policy program at george mason university and former chief counsel and senior advisor for the senate foreign relations committee. jameel jaffer, it is great to have you with us. and i'm just curious, listening to trey yingst there, if you can add anything from your perspective to what trey was just sharing, especially as it relates to the expansion of this conflict. well, look, kevin, i think trey is exactly right. what you saw here tonight or last night in israel, time was a set of strikes, about 70 targets hit by israeli defense forces, 20 militants killed in the lead up to what they expected would be a significant attack. and now we're seeing the beginning of that attack starting to take place with hezbollah launching extensive drone strikes there in northern israel likely to spread further. we know that hezbollah has over 100,000 rockets. they're stocked up in

southern lebanon, prepared to hit northern israel. we've seen them conduct these strikes before. they did just a few days ago in golan. obviously about a week or two back, the strike that killed 12 students in homs. so obviously an ongoing conflict, one that didn't start last night and has been going on for quite a while, but that began with hezbollah and began with the iran backers of hezbollah coming after israel repeatedly and against the u.s, as they have for many years, killing american soldiers during the iraq war and more recently, the houthi strikes against commercial shipping in the red sea. not to mention their backing of hamas in gaza. let me ask you this, professor, and listen, i get it. when we talk about this inside washington and those of us who are, let's just say, dialed into policy, this all makes sense. but for the viewers at home who may not understand the importance of unpacking what's happening there and why this is impactful for americans, broadly

speaking, what would you say to them? well, look, we're talking about kevin. here is a couple of terrorist groups, hezbollah and hamas, that have been on the american terrorist group list since the beginning of that list since the late early mid 90s. right. these are terrorist groups that are backed by iran that have long come after americans have attacked and killed american soldiers in iraq, have killed americans in the middle east. today alone, we have americans still kidnaped in gaza, being held hostage by hamas. and this is a country, iran, a government in iran, not the country, not its people, but its government that absolutely is opposed to american leadership in the world and has threatened us here at home. and it's actually tried to conduct terrorist attacks here in the united states, even trying to kill a significant leader as they attempted to kill the saudi ambassador in the united states here in dc at cafe citron, they have active threats against former american officials who served in the trump administration. after we killed qasem soleimani, after they killed american soldiers in in the middle east a few years back. so this is a

country with a leadership that is targeting us, targeting americans here at home in the united states and remains a remains an enemy to us and our allies in israel, in the middle east. you know, i'm so glad you pointed that out. and in particular, for those of us old enough to remember 1979 and the 444 days of the hostage crisis, people need to i believe, understand the history of what's been happening between the government here and that in tehran, and how this ultimately can play out by way of their proxy. people don't seem to understand. often when i have a conversation with them that it's not lebanon per se, it's iran using hezbollah through lebanon. is that fair to say? no, that is exactly right, kevin. and it's not just hezbollah, it's hezbollah in lebanon attacking the united states, attacking israel. it's hamas in gaza, attacking israel. it's the houthis in yemen, attacking commercial

shipping and american vessels in the persian gulf. and it's iran backed militias in iraq that killed hundreds of u.s. soldiers when we were at war there. in that country using explosive form penetrators. so this is the iranian government, not the iranian people, but the iranian government coming after us as they have since, as you point out, 1979, when they kidnaped the american hostages. it was it was their operatives who killed americans at the at the embassy in beirut as well. and so this is a war that has gone on between us and them, and they continue to take the fight to us and our and our allies. and it's important that we respond and respond effectively, not just to defend our own interests there in the middle east, but to defend those who have been attacked by terrorists, as we were on nine over 11. you know, if you think about it, kevin, what happened in october to israel was the equivalent on a population adjusted basis of a dozen nine over 11 attacks against the united states. and with that, you would certainly understand why, from the perspective of the israelis. and in particular

their government and the idf, they will stop at nothing to not just avenge what happened to their people, but also, as you pointed out, continue the effort to rescue the hostages. the director of the national security law and policy program at george mason university and former chief counsel and senior advisor of the senate foreign relations committee, jameel jaffer, so great to have you with us, professor. we certainly appreciate your time this morning. thanks for having me on, kevin shanley. thanks, kevin. so now let's turn to another expert joining us now, irish independent researcher doctor rebecca grant. doctor grant, thank you for joining us. right now, the israeli security council is meeting discussing the preemptive attacks. and now hezbollah saying they completed phase one of a retaliatory attack. what do you think they're discussing now as far as next steps? it could be anything. and i think we're going to see israel engaged in with two main missions, one is trying to keep

up their defenses against any potential future missile attacks, and they'll also be looking closely for more indications of hezbollah massing and other places for potential strikes. you know, israel has made really clear that they're not looking for war here. but on the other hand, they've said that they are ready to respond and israel's air force is able to respond in depth, even though hezbollah has somewhere between 130,000 and 150,000 rockets and missiles of different types. you know, israel's air force is really able to continue to carry out strikes as well. so i think we'll see a lot of discussion of what the intelligence looks like coming out. the immediate tactical intelligence from hezbollah and what israel, what their next moves will be. right. the strikes are precise strikes given this status of that, israel took the action. they didn't wait for hezbollah to retaliate. it's been weeks that they've been on standby,

anticipating some sort of response from iran backed proxies, or perhaps the country of iran itself. why now? doctor grant well, exactly. and this is iran's work. i mean, the reason hezbollah has all these rockets is because iran has helped finance them. and bought them. as far as the timing, you know, i think this is just a matter of hezbollah has escalated their attacks from down into israel over the last couple of months. and clearly they were ready to do it. and basically, when hezbollah put together this big attack, you know, obviously in consultation with iran, it really left israel no choice but to go ahead and preempt this was imminent danger to israeli civilians. and don't forget, israel actually evacuated about 60,000 residents from that border area several months ago

to try to create more of a buffer. but with with hezbollah deciding to go ahead and carry out this additional retaliation in their minds for the strike against their top military leader, then this was hezbollah's move. and i think israel absolutely making a good and necessary move to strike preemptively. right. because they did make this preemptive move. how much do you think that undercut any sort of retaliation attack that hezbollah may have been planning? oh, i'm sure that from a tactical perspective, this was very successful and they were able to hit quite a bit, you know, the larger problem here is because hezbollah does have so many rockets, but they're relatively short range. they also what's new is they also have the drones, the sort of first person view drones that are relatively small but very difficult for israel's iron dome missile defense system to take out. so i think israel's

preemptive strike on the hezbollah targets will have certainly made an impact tactically. and also it shows the hezbollah leadership that, you know, there's no alternative here. israel will continue to push back. and, you know, i have to remind us as well that we have while american forces aren't involved in directly, we do have american forces in the region, including the wasp, which is an amphibious warship with marines aboard, really very near there up the lebanon coast. so the u.s. will be watching this very carefully as well in the region. and i'm sure from the white house. right. a lot of people crediting the u.s. warships in the region as possible delay from iran backed response, crediting that also, we did receive a statement from the u.s. defense secretary, lloyd austin, reaffirming the united states commitment to israel's defense against any attacks by iran or its regional

partners in proxies. and you mentioned this as far as strategically, what are u.s. leaders could and should be doing and communicating, of course, with the leaders of israel, right now. what do you anticipate to see and hear from them next? well, i think secretary austin is showing, you know, the ironclad support for israel and very interesting. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, air force general, c.q. brown. he's actually in the middle east. he landed in jordan yesterday for talks with jordan and with other allies in the region. so he's our top uniformed military man and himself an air force pilot who knows this region extremely well and has commanded u.s. forces in central command. so really interesting that cq brown is actually on the ground at this point. and that reinforces what we see with the huge number of u.s. forces deployed across the region. they are there, just

like you say, trying to put pressure on iran and to narrow iran's potential response options as well. i mean, we're talking two aircraft carriers. every type of fighter jet that the air force has are deployed into the middle east right now to try to keep a lid on this. exactly. now, this is all happening while israel, israel is conducting, of course, its war in gaza on that front. now they're defending a northern front as well. and amid the ceasefire talks that were again taking place yesterday at saturday, earlier saturday, u.s, qatar and egypt. how does this action by israel now affect what seemed to be like a cease fire? talks that weren't making much progress, doctor grant? well, two things. first of all, israel has pulled together internally. and even if there was discussion and disputes about the war in gaza, this attack from hezbollah and

the need to preempt that has put, you know, israel's leadership politically just really close, close together. and for the ceasefire talks with gaza, we're down to just some very technical issues, really having to do with whether israeli forces can keep watch over the border area. the philadelphi corridor, and also continue to monitor so that there aren't weapons flows from north and south in gaza. and he has asked for a list of the hostages as well. so we're down to these technical issues. but the one problem that has prevented a cease fire is hamas, not being willing to agree to it. and we just have to see the negotiations are back in session. but we'll have to see whether hamas is really willing to stop this, this war in gaza or not. one more thing i want to mention with you, doctor grant, hezbollah saying that this has completed a first

phase of response to israel's killing of their top commander last month, saying that they hit 11 israeli military sites sunday there and fired more than 320 rockets. that first phase language. what does that mean to you as far as what we may see next? very interesting, because hezbollah has not wanted to get into a full scale war with israel. so first phase could mean that they have completed in their mind most of their political face saving by firing off these rockets. and it says, well, you know, we still have rockets. we may do some again, but we have met several objectives so it could open up an off ramp, especially if it turns out that israel strikes have been pretty forceful. and if israel carries out a few more airstrikes on hezbollah targets, you know, this may be hezbollah saying, okay, we struck back, we may be

good here. and, you know, we can do it again. but i think, you know, the hezbollah's leader has has hassan nasrallah has really been trying to make sure he doesn't end up in a complete full scale war with israel. and that's also israel's intent. so a possibility that they may have satisfied what they were trying to do. and, of course, if israel's preemptive attack reestablishes some deterrence between those two, that would be a very good thing. doctor rebecca grant, thank you so much for your time this evening, kevin. i'll send it over to you all right. thank you. behnam ben taleblu is a senior fellow at the phd with a particular focus on iran nonproliferation, proliferation, ballistic missiles and international security. i just want to welcome him in to the program. and ben, thank you for your time this morning. i just want to get your thoughts, not just on the idea of self-defense. here we have heard from the idf

that about 200 rockets have been launched from lebanon toward israel. but we're also dealing with more than just self-defense of the israeli homeland. we're talking about regional security here as well. what can you tell us about that? that's right. it's a pleasure to be with you, listening. make no mistake, october 7th was a brutal terrorist attack, and the latest iteration of the israel-gaza wars. but post-october seven, starting october 8th, when hezbollah entered the fight, when the shia militias entered the fight, when the houthis in yemen entered the fight, and then really historically and directly and overtly on april 13 and 14, when the iranian state fired ballistic missiles and cruise missiles and drones, they too entered the fight. and this is all part of a larger ring of fire strategy designed to foster a sense of insecurity in israel and play on a sense of desire for stability and restraint from america. to get u.s. forces out to counter the arabs in the region, and to

ultimately move towards that death by a thousand cuts. strategy against the jewish state that you've had. you've heard iranian leaders speak of for four plus decades. now. you know, it's interesting to me is the idea of making a preemptive strike. now, sometimes when you're dealing with an international conflict, people say, well, how can you strike someone before they actually did something to warrant that? but in this particular case, especially in light of the fact ben, that the idf says some 200 rockets have actually been fired in from lebanon, it seems to me that the israelis got this right. they preemptively attempted to limit the damage, and they seem to have been successful at least thus far. not only were they, i would say successful thus far, but you could even say they were a bit restrained. you can look at media reporting as late as 12 hours ago that talked about americans and the israelis seeing something formulate in lebanon that they had not been

seeing before, basically the beginnings of an attack. whenever a group like this attacks, whether it's hezbollah to the north of israel or the houthis far to the south of israel, they have to move rockets and missiles out of storage. they have to fuel these systems. they have to prep the drones on rail launchers. and all of this should be sending and indeed does send satellite intelligence and signals above. so that's what allows the multi-tiered air and missile defense system in israel to kick off and perform so well. and it does open opportunities for what military planners call left of launch operations. so operations that you can engage in to fire against the rocket or fire against the crew manning the rocket before they even fire at you. so given that the israelis waited even this long shows a commendable amount of restraint. in my view. and for the people who are unaware, you heard mention perhaps earlier during our coverage, trey yingst, i thought made it fantastic point. the israelis aren't just dealing with hamas or hezbollah or the houthis. i

mean, they are really taking it in from all different sides here. and in a circumstance like this in particular, as you mentioned, where you know or certainly have reason to suspect, you're about to face an imminent attack, they certainly have been up to it at least it would appear. certainly. what's your thought about that? yeah, certainly restrained. and also to me, as an american looking at this conflict for 10 or 11 months now, i got to tell you, it also shows how much the israelis prioritize the tight military to military coordination that exists with them. and the americans, and more importantly, the politics and the optics of the situation. the allies of the adversaries of america, the adversaries of israel, are trying to foster distrust between the strategic partnership. the islamic republic of iran is trying to break these bonds between america and israel. the ring of fire strategy is designed to break this bond. it's designed to allow america to essentially cut israel loose. and the way

the israelis have been keeping the u.s. apace of the targeting of the intelligence of the next phase of the operations, is preventing this political strategy from the axis of resistance to be actualized. so, again, it's an important move, but it's also a move that has much more than just military ramifications. it has significant political ramifications for the level of u.s. support to israel in the next phase of this fight, and that's something that could be a bit wobbly in the next few months, given politics back in washington. and of course, given how the election may go. boy, i'm so glad you mentioned that too, because certainly here in the nation's capital, all eyes not just on the election, but how that might impact u.s. support for the israelis moving forward and what might happen in the region. behnam ben taleblu, senior fellow at ftd, thank you so much for your time this morning. we certainly appreciate that. we are continuing our coverage here on the ongoing conflict in israel and in particular as they defend themselves from hezbollah. we're going to take

a very quick time out. i'm kevin corke here in washington, chanley painter, joining us from new york. we'll be back

i love my brand new bike! having a set of custom wheels gives kids like me and me the ability to do things we could only dream of before. through your support of wheels for love shriners children's is supplying custom built adaptive bikes and wheelchairs for kids who dream of their first set of wheels. for us, the bike is one of the most incredible experiences. the very first moment she had success. you're doing a great job. jaden received his bike from shriners. i almost started crying because i never thought my son would be able to ride a bike at all. when you go online to loveshriners.org or call this special number with your monthly gift, you'll make a difference too. and help kids like us do things we never thought we could do. when you say yes to giving just $19 a month,

only $0.63 a day, we'll send you this adorable love to the rescue® blanket as a reminder of all the kids you're helping every day. call or go online right now to give. you'll be making sure our amazing doctors and nurses can keep helping kids who need them now and in the days to come. because of you i get the most amazing care anywhere. i can play basketball. yeah! i can play soccer because of your support. thank you, your support is changing our lives. your monthly gift right now at loveshriners.org makes moments like this possible for kids like me and me. thank you for giving. help a kid get their first set of wheels. let's roll. join the movement. please call or go online now.

if operators are busy, call again, or go to loveshriners.org to give right away. thank you! with dexcom g7, managing your diabetes just got easier. so, what's your glucose number right now? good thing you don't need to fingerstick. how's all that food affect your glucose? oh, the answers on your phone. what if you're heading low at night? [notifications ringing] wow, it can alert you?! and you can even

track your goals. manage your diabetes with confidence with dexcom g7. the most accurate cgm. learn more at dexcom.com. kevin corke in washington, joined by chanley painter in new york. if you're just joining us, israel says it has carried out a preemptive strike on several hezbollah targets in lebanon overnight. the idf claims that an iran backed group, the hezbollah, was preparing to fire missiles toward their territory. now, tensions, as you know, have been rising in the region for several weeks. we are joined now by chief foreign correspondent trey yingst, who has more on what's been happening overnight. daybreak there. trey about 730 in the morning. what is the latest that you're hearing at this hour? yeah. hey, kevin, right now the israeli security cabinet is meeting to determine the success of the preemptive

strikes overnight. we know that many israeli jets participated in the basic efforts to destroy the rocket and missile launching positions of hezbollah. according to reports, the group was just minutes away from launching a massive attack on the northern and central part of this country. when the israelis decided to carry out this preemptive operation to precisely target the iran backed group in southern lebanon. israeli officials at this hour are meeting, and they say that the ball is in hezbollah's court. the foreign minister of israel indicated that the country is not looking for a larger war, but is prepared to respond to any further attacks by hezbollah. now, as those strikes were taking place, hezbollah says they launched 320 rockets and missiles into the northern part of this country. we know the alerts were sounding across northern israel, and even at this hour, still more of those

alerts are sounding an indication that hezbollah is going to continue responding to these preemptive strikes that took place overnight, conducted by the israelis, to try and thwart any possible attack toward the central part of this country. remember, this was supposed to be hezbollah's response to the july 30th airstrike that took out a top hezbollah commander in the southern part of beirut. the israelis have been monitoring the situation and preparing intelligence in case a day like today ever came. and again, israel is meeting at this hour. the top officials to determine what a possible further response could be from hezbollah following these preemptive strikes overnight. kevin good to send it over to chanley painter. she has a couple questions for you, trey. then i'll pick back up chanley take it from here. sure. hey trey, thanks for all of your hard work out there. you've been in the country obviously living this day in and day out. i follow you on x as you see, you posted, you get alerts on

your phone of all all the i guess attacks the rocket fire, the airstrikes and you're around the people that live there. what what are they feeling and thinking in those moments when everything is on edge? yeah, it's interesting. today, the home front command, israel's directive to civilians amid war issued new instructions for beaches from tel aviv north to be totally cleared. no one is supposed to go to the beach today. they also have special instructions in the northern part of this country to stay close to shelters, in case the rocket fire from hezbollah continues. but it's interesting because you have wars that are ongoing, very close to where we're standing. if you go 45 minutes south, you're at the gaza stri, where 324 days into the conflict between israel and hamas, there's still no end in sight. if you go just about 2.5 hours north, you get to the lebanon border, where the conflict is unfolding. as we

speak. and so it gives you a sense of just how close things are. but yet life continues. people are still going out to restaurants. they are still gathering when they can on the beach. they're going to work and to school starting next week. and so they're trying to go about their normal lives. while the war rages on. and it really, i think, underscores how this population has adjusted to conflict and war that has unfolded across the region. guys, back to you. trey, let me ask you a question about the defense counsel having a chance to have a conversation. it is bright and early, but obviously the circumstance calls for that. what, if anything, can you tell us about their meeting and how often does something like this happen? so they meet often and it is an opportunity for the top officials, including the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, and the country's defense minister, yoav gallant, to assess the security situation. they will look at the strikes overnight and see how successful they were, and they'll also discuss the preparations for the possibility of a larger attack.

and remember, a lot of this is coordinated with the united states because there are so many american assets in the region right now. and so these meetings are quite frequent. this meeting was clearly called at the last minute in response to the preemptive strikes overnight. and we can anticipate some information to leak out of that meeting, even possible statements as the israeli officials in tel aviv will look to communicate a message to the israeli people to try and keep people calm, but also a message of deterrence to hezbollah, urging them not to continue attacks. following these preemptive strikes overnight. guys, one last question before we send it back over to chanley, i want to put up the graphic of the u.s. assets in the region. you mentioned that, trey, and i'm just curious with so much american presence, if you will, in the region, how much does that impact what the pentagon may be saying this morning about what has taken place overnight? yeah. so we did get

some reporting from our pentagon team indicating the united states did not participate in the strikes there. certainly coordination. and according to an israeli defense official that i spoke with earlier, there was a conversation that took place overnight between secretary of defense lloyd austin and israel's defense minister, yoav gallant. and so these counterparts are speaking. they're discussing the situation. and in terms of the american posture in the region, they are prepared for two things, kevin. one is a message of deterrence to hezbollah, trying to encourage the iran backed group and iran itself from attacking or launching further attacks against israel. and the second is preparation for the possibility that they do attack and that israel will need assistance in case their air defense systems are overwhelmed. and so that two part role will continue to stay the same in the days and weeks ahead, as both israel and the united states look to send a message to iran and its proxies across the region. guys, have you ever seen anything like that? i mean, that seems like a massive presence to me. this is

a huge presence. it's about a third of the israeli and excuse me, a third of the american navy in the region. and it's not just in the mediterranean sea off in the distance, but we're talking about the red sea, and we are talking about threats not just coming from the israel-lebanon border, but also from places like yemen with the iran backed group, the houthis. and they're not just worried about those two fronts. there are, of course, the iran backed factions inside gaza and the west bank, and is iran backed iraqi and syrian shia militias and iran itself. and so we're looking at seven different fronts here, and an understanding that israel is really in an unprecedented moment for the country. and that's part of the reason you're seeing so many american assets in the region to defend the key american ally, israel. strong reporting, as always, from our chief foreign correspondent, trey yingst. trey, thank you. over to chanley painter. now, chanley, thanks so much, kevin and trey joining us live now, rich goldberg on the phone, senior adviser at the foundation for defense of democracies. thanks,

rich, for being with us this evening. first, i just want to get your reaction to what has happened in the last hours of israel preemptively striking what their intelligence showed was a strike coming from hezbollah, from lebanon. yeah. thanks for having me on. i think we were minutes away from potentially a major escalation much farther beyond what we have seen so far, if not for what has to have been very precise and credible intelligence obtained by the israelis in some way, the fact that they knew precisely where to hit missiles, we are told that may have been aimed for 5 a.m. at tel aviv, at major sites that could have taken down either government sites, military sites or civilian sites. i'm sure we'll learn more in the coming hours or days, but the preemptive nature of the strike really taking care of that threat and you're already seeing, in my view, hezbollah with a very weak response out of the gates, not

directing a retaliation into tel aviv or into haifa. yet at this point, that could still happen in the days ahead. but for now, it looks like hezbollah looking for an off ramp and israel being willing to stay at this point with its preemptive strike. rich, speak to the intelligence that goes into something like this on the israeli israeli side, to be so precise, to know what's coming. as you said, within the minutes that they were anticipating hezbollah striking into the country. well, think about the last few weeks. i mean, the nature of their intelligence operation, being able to pierce inside hezbollah to get fouad shuker, the chief of staff of hezbollah. and according to some reports, even lure him into a higher floor before striking and taking him out in a very precise strike hours later, taking out ismail haniyeh, the head of hamas, while he's in tehran, of all places, under the guard of the revolutionary guard corps of

iran. now, this preemptive strike so if you're the supreme leader in iran, if you're hassan nasrallah, the leader of hezbollah, you must understand at this point that israel is heavily penetrated within your operations, right? do we still have rich? yep. go ahead. i couldn't hear you for a second. rich. you're absolutely correct. and all of this again. the goal to avoid some sort of a larger conflict in the region which nobody wants this to escalate in any way. well, i think a really important takeaway tonight is to think about the context and the timing of what was supposed to be, we're told, a major spectacular attack by hezbollah on tel aviv, potentially, which would have set off a major response from the israelis all the way to beirut. and perhaps

iran planning something that was going to come immediately afterwards. all of that preempted. but why do that on the weekend where we're told hamas has sent representatives to cairo, were so close to a bridging proposal for a ceasefire in gaza, if iran and hezbollah and hamas were in any way seriously trying to negotiate a cease fire in gaza, there would be a cease fire in gaza. this reminds us who is pulling the strings in all of these arenas. it's iran, hezbollah, its flagship terrorist organization. we need to stop putting pressure on israel to surrender at the negotiating table to hamas and gaza. when you start dealing with the head of this octopus that's controlling all of these fronts, and that's in tehran, iran, making an unprecedented strike last april, directly targeting israel. but still, yet now using their proxies like hezbollah and hamas to strike the country. what do you

see as far as what comes next? we know the security council meeting right now in israel, prepared for what may be another phase. hezbollah is calling this phase one or the phase, the first phase of their retaliatory strikes. what do you see coming next, rich? well, i saw the hezbollah statement come out. it read a little bit like a beirut, bob, if you will, following the preemptive strike from israel. so i'm not sure how much seriousness to take that that statement with. however, you would imagine that they still want to try to attack and show that they can get through israel's air defense. so there may still be another wave to come. whether it is tonight, whether it's next week or some other time of their choosing, israel needs to, however, stay on offense here. i think that's the key takeaway. it can't just become a turtle where they're waiting for the next incoming salvo from iran or from hezbollah, or waiting for godot at the negotiating table with hamas. they need to turn the tables and go on offense. on

what is really a seven front war. they are facing since october 7th, led by iran. right? they they went on the offense tonight, this morning and possibly saving a lot of lives. there rich goldberg, thank you so much for your time. this morning kevin. i'll send it over to you. chandler thanks. joined once again by ben taleblu, the senior fellow over at phd. i think there was a great point made in the conversation between chandler and rich. there ben, where basically he not just talked about this sort of seven front war, but the idea of you can't simply sit back and wait to be attacked. sometimes you have to take preemptive action. and that is what has happened here. your thoughts on what the idf did and whether or not it was effective? do we have ben? do you hear me now? hello, sir. yep. i do hear you now, ben, i was just i was just asking from your perspective, do you feel

like this preemptive strike was effective? and if so, did it make sense? again, this idea we heard from rich goldberg. you can't just sort of sit back and wait to be constantly attacked. sometimes you have to make the decision to preemptively protect yourself. they did that overnight. was it effective? you know, i certainly think it was effective. and if you don't like the way the table is set, it's always up to you to change. change that. and i think the israelis showed the capability and the intent to change that. the real question now will be, how can this be scaled up over time? so hezbollah knows that they won't be able to get the upper hand next time they want to dangle the threat of an attack or lull the israelis with a little bit of a quieter northern front into a potential next war. so certainly this is as much an intelligence challenge for the israelis and even for the americans. but i would also add one thing here that needs to change in our discourse, that needs to change in our analysis of what israel is facing. and that ties into the seven front war that rick mentioned, which

is that we have an actor that is actually willing to escalate. hezbollah has escalated its targets. it's escalated the kind of weapons that it's used, and it's actually escalated in the geography of the strike as well. so this idea that washington can somehow force de-escalation on a whole host of actors who for the past ten months have proven that they're willing to escalate, needs to also be taken to task. what an outstanding point there and keep in mind, we're talking about the most heavily armed, non-state group in the world and hezbollah. ben, thank you so much. we appreciate your time this morning. and we certainly look forward to having you back with us as we continue our coverage here. 52 minutes after 12 here in the east. i'm kevin corke in washington, chanley painter, joining us from new york. we're going to take a very quick time out as we continue our coverage here on fox news channel. don't meet the jennifers. each planning their future through the chase mobile app. hellooo new apartment. one bank for now.

for later. for life. chase. make more of what's yours. when you see what it's really like when our skin touches wool... you see why we need downy free and gentle with no perfumes or dyes. it not only makes your clothes softer, it is gentle on your skin. it breathes life into your laundry. the earnhardt family has always trusted bass pro shops for all of their outdoor needs, and i continue to be a proud customer. i grew up shopping here, and now i love bringing my family here to gear up for all of our adventures together. and now, bass pro shops club members enjoy special savings and earn points toward free gear, which is rewarding when buying what you need for your next adventure. spending time outdoors

with the ones you love, sharing memories and making new ones... that's an earnhardt family tradition that i'm proud to carry on. why do couples choose a sleep number smart bed? i sleep great now that my side is as firm as my heart desires. my heart desires soft. sleep number does that. your ideal firmness and effortless comfort, all night. during our biggest sale of the year, save 50% on the sleep number® limited edition smart bed and free delivery when you add any base.

following breaking news out of the middle east where overnight, israel's defense forces say they preemptively struck several hezbollah targets in lebanon. i'm kevin corke in washington. hey, kevin, i'm chanley painter in new york. great to be with you. the idf claims the iran backed group was preparing to fire missiles and rockets towards the israeli territory. and of course, tensions have been rising in the region for weeks after the assassination of a senior hamas leader and a top

hezbollah military commander were killed. they were both killed in separate attacks. now, iran blames israel for both of those deaths, though israel has only claimed responsibility for the death of the hezbollah commander. this is also coming as ceasefire and hostage talks between israel and hamas resumed this weekend. u.s. officials are hoping a ceasefire will calm tensions in the region. we are joined now by fox news chief foreign correspondent trey yingst. he is live in israel. trey, what can you tell us about the closure of the major airport there? and by the way, we're also hearing about a possible meeting with israel's security cabinet. anything on that? i don't hear him. and had to they had to divert incoming

flights and then ultimately moving forward, they're reassessing the situation on the ground to determine what exactly will take place next. and that's part of the reason that we have seen so many statements from the israeli military. and we're also gathering some initial information from defense officials about what the preparations might look like for a possible counter attack from hezbollah, as these preemptive strikes were taking place. hezbollah says it launched around 320 rockets into the northern part of this country, and channel 12, the main news channel in israel, they say, according to reports, that 6000 rockets were being prepared by hezbollah to be launched at northern and central israel when the decision was made to carry out this preemptive strike against hezbollah in southern lebanon. and so we do understand that the airport is now back open.

there is a special security situation for the entire country for the next 48 hours. and the beaches along the israeli coast from tel aviv to the lebanon border are currently closed because they are trying to avoid large gatherings of people just in case there is an unexpected attack by hezbollah. we do expect to have more information later in the day. the israeli military is going to be briefing in about 15 minutes to provide a number of information points about what they actually hit overnight. but according to the idf, thousands of targets were eliminated in the strike and the idf says more than 100 jets took part in this preemptive attack against hezbollah to thwart the larger attack that was planned by this iran backed group. those numbers are really significant because it gives you a sense of just how close israel was to a larger attack being carried out by hezbollah that would have caused significant damage