>> sean: that is all the time that we have it left for this evening and i have some good news you can set your dvr so you never have missed an episode of hannah d. pretty good news right? better newng from abc. they've hit a site. here we go. three seconds. and good evening. i'm trace gallagher. it's 10 p.m. on the east coast, 7:00 here in los

angeles. and this is a breaking news edition of fox news at night. there are reports coming in that israel has now begun its highly anticipated retaliatory strikes against iran. now we are tracking these developments, and we are hearing that explosions have been heard over iran proper, as well as in southern syria, and explosions heard above iraq. we do not know if any areas of iraq were hit. we think there were some explosions in southern syria and there are reports of possibility of strikes in southern iran near the natanz and the fourto nuclear facilities. remember, these are the facilities that that are said to be places that you can produce nuclear weapons. they also have a uranium conversion facility in isfahan. and this is also in southern iran. and there are reports that there have been

airstrikes in that area as well. let's get live on the ground now to tel aviv. that's where trey yingst joins us live. trey, what are you hearing? what are we learning? yeah. hey, trace. good evening. right now, we are following reports out of the region of airstrikes taking place in iran, iraq and syria. the israelis at this moment have not confirmed that this is the retaliation to that massive iranian drone and missile attack last weekend. but here's what we know. some outlets, citing american officials. and again, these are preliminary reports based on the information that we are gathering right now, we've reached out to israeli defense officials and are waiting for comment. local media is reporting explosions in the iranian city of isfahan. isfahan sits about 200 miles to the south of the iranian capital of tehran. at this location, there is an iranian nuclear facility. there are also reports of activity at

other locations across iran. this is significant because remember the initial reporting leading up to tonight had to do with what might be a limited israeli response to this large scale attack. last weekend conducted by the iranians. so in terms of the targets that were likely hit in any sort of strike and retaliation from the israelis, you are looking at nuclear research facilities. additionally, any sort of irgc locations across the middle east in places like syria and iraq and then iranian backed proxies across the region. and so iran backed iraqi and syrian shia militias certainly would be on that target list for the israelis. the israelis looking to send a message to iran, if this is confirmed, that they are behind these strikes, not to ever attack directly from iranian territory toward israel , and also to ensure that they will keep control of their proxies across the region. the

big concern here has to do with the iranian nuclear aspirations, and i want to break down something very important here, trace, because if it is confirmed that isfahan was one of the targets for the israelis tonight in this retaliation, it is significant for two reasons. we'll point back to june of last year, when the un nuclear watchdog was concerned, and that they went into a probe and found uranium particles that were enriched up to 83, just short of the 90% weapons grade material line, an indication that iran is getting very close to the ability to create a nuclear weapon. other watchdogs over the past several months have said the iranian breakout time for such a weapon is basically zero, and this means iran, in response to this, may not react militarily, but could say they are changing their nuclear doctrine. one other important note here trace . when we look at the iranian attack last weekend, iran for the first time in their country's history, fired on israel directly with what

appeared to be shahab ballistic missiles. these are the missiles that if iran were to create a nuclear warhead, they would use to target in the country around the world and they used this missile last weekend without a nuclear warhead and they were successful in targeting israel so again tonight we are unable to confirm reports at this moment but initial reporting indicates explosions in iran and iraq and syria and this does come on the heels of the throats of israeli retaliation following the iranian attack last weekend that included ballistic missiles and cruise missiles and drones. >> and i will ask you about the diplomacy very quickly because there were reports coming out of qatar today that the united states said they would okay israel going in to rafah a mission in rafah, if they did not retaliate against iran so is it your understanding that it

appears as of late today that the united states did not or was not privy to any information about this attack or is it just too soon to know? >> it is too soon to know that we should note the israel these were coordinating closely with americans in an informal coalition to respond to the iran ballistic missile and drone attack last weekend this is an important note here because in the past there have been no formal agreements for the united states and others to shoot down incoming missiles or drones toward israel but there was a clearly coordinated effort and according to briefings that i was a part of with top israeli air force officials the training for the nation to shoot down the missiles and drones went on for months prior to the iran attack so we do have reason to believe that the israelis have been in close coordination with the americans and that they would inform the united states ahead of any sort of action against targets in iran at this moment

and you may be able to hear overhead the civilian airspace over israel is not closed but we are following and tracking of flights toward iran and can confirm that some civilian airliners actually turned back from the golf they were headed toward the iran capital tehran and made a u-turn amid these reports of israeli strikes in iran territory the israelis will certainly want to act with decisive action they want to catch the iranians off guard unlike what we saw in the weeks prior ahead of the iran attack against israel because again the israelis are looking to send a clear message to iran that any sort of direct attack tour is really territory will not be accepted. i also want to note one other thing following a briefing with israeli air force officials who say they are on high alert across this country fearing iran retaliation everyone from iran's supreme leader the ayatollah to presidents and some top i rgc officials this week made clear they would react with what they

called it immediately to any sort of israeli response to the attack of the weekend so israeli air defence as we speak is on the high alert in this country everything from the iron dome that would pick up a fire from places like southern lebanon with the largest iran epoxy in the region has below and some larger air defence systems like the arrow system that we actually saw here in tel aviv during the iran attack last weekend at the intercepting of some of those drones and ballistic missiles the only question tonight is what were the targets in this apparent israeli response to the iran attack last weekend, again the israelis have a variety of targets that they could hit, not just inside iran's territory but across the region understanding that iran would do it bases places like iraq and syria and also supporting militias in those areas that give them what has been described as fox news as an octopus tentacles across

the middle east stretching iran influenced not only threaten israel but also to threaten american forces across the region and as we set on october 7 the regional tension that followed numerous attacks on american bases across the middle east part of this response is likely to strike fear into these iran backed iraq and she up militias that are operating across the region endif it is confirmed that this is the city just 200 miles to the south of tehran this would be significance to show the israelis stepping up iranian nuclear facilities and back in 2020 and november of 2020 the israelis in a covert operation killed eight top nuclear scientist this is a man responsible for years when it came to the iranian nuclear program and they develop and start a nuclear weapon when the iran nuclear deal from 2015

collapsed iran and started enriching uranium closer and closer to weapons material and the biggest thing is that they would ultimately create a nuclear weapon and then attach that warhead to a ballistic missile like the one fired toward israel over the weekend and target the jewish state with such a projectile we understand the breakout period is anywhere from zero days to a matter of days and possibly even a week according to international observers and the concern for israel is that you could get this enriched uranium to get a nuclear bomb that would target this country. it would not be surprising if the target was this top research facility inside iran it territory good israel has been very clear that they have the targets already chosen inside iran and they are ready to ratchet up the pressure on the iran regime if there's any sort

of response to this counterstrike following the attack last weekend that was conducted by the iran. >> grade information standby will get back to as the news warrants i just want to read this airspace at closing in israel not closed yet but the associated press just sent this one down the thing reads as follows commercial flights developing roots friday morning today's friday friday morning now in the middle east over western iran without explanation as one official news agency in the islamic republic claims there had been explosions heard over the city which train was just talking about i want to bring in the chief national security correspondent live for us at the pentagon, what are you learning about this? >> well the pentagon is not officially commenting on any of the reports of explosions that have taken place inside iran as well as in syria and iraq tonight but a well-placed u.s.

military source tells and confirms to me that what appears to be israeli strikes inside iran have taken place but i am told that they are limited in nature. but we have heard so far from iranian prices that there were three explosions which as terry has explained is the location of that nuclear facility we have no information at that that was the target or that any of the new group studies were eight target tonight you could have situations where there are air defence systems that would be targeted what we know from past reporting on the situation in iran and what it's capabilities are is that iran is a very limited in terms of, and we saw this on saturday night, in terms of the number of ballistic missile launchers that they have these are bulbul launchers and they have between 10200 of those

launchers, israel knows that, israel saw what iran was capable of when they fired those ballistic missiles on saturday night so what we can say at this point in time it is there are iranian based reports of explosions in the area that is significant because that is the location of the nuclear facility i think it would be wildly speculative to suggest that the city itself was struck it's a very hardened site very difficult for anyone to talk about we hear analysts talking about taking out iran's nuclear facilities but most of those facilities are underground and hardened and it's not something that is taken out in one strike with the explosions that occur i think if we look back to earlier in the day i think it was significant that the leading hebrew language newspaper in

israel reported there had been some of the seven ballistic missiles that didn't strike inside israel, there were remnants of those found in israel's nuclear plant that to me suggested that israel may be laying the groundwork for the sort of cassis belli to symbolically strike back in what we are being told by a well-placed u.s. military sources is a limited strike in iran significant however is that israel has never carried out an overt military strike like this and just as iran had never done so until saturday night so a rubicon has certainly been passed and now everybody watches and waits to see what the reaction is, one more point i think if you look at the timing of when this strike reports of the strike began we start hearing explosions just around

the same time that the iran foreign minister landed in new york and sat down for an interview on another network tonight on cnn's in speaking to in -- in bc tomorrow but he landed in new york and clearly the iran, he issued the following threat, he said in essence that the iran response for israel if they were to strike inside iran it would be immediate and maximum level it will be decisive and definitive and regretful to them that was the threat tonight from the iran foreign minister when he landed in new york we are still trying to get do more reporting but as of right now the pin to gone is not confirming these reports of explosions inside iran and my best place source right now u.s. military sources say this is a limited strike inside iran. >> on that point i want to go back because you're talking about the whole concept here and just for context people should know that you know the middle east better than anyone you

spend years and years over there covering this my question when you talk about a limited strike is does it matter in the perspective of iran if this is a limited strike does it make them more reticent to strike back immediately? does it lower the odds of an immediate retaliatory strike from iran toward israel? in the coming hours or possibly days? what do you think about that? >> i don't think we can rule anything out at this point in time i think that this is a very tense moment in the middle east i don't think that anyone can say that this is over i think one of the reasons that you saw such stern warnings and you saw from not only the white house but also other allies such as david cameron who flew to israel to try to implore the israelis to not take retaliatory action i think one of the reasons for that is that everyone nose that the escalation ladder goes up pretty quickly after this kind

of a strike and so it may be limited in the eyes of the regional military but from the iranian perspective will they feel the need to respond? we heard from the iran foreign minister tonight that they would and i think most likely as trait mentioned what you will see is iran has been enriching uranium to 60 percent a very short move to move up to weapons grade and they have enough material for several nuclear weapons and nuclear bombs and i would expect that they may take a decision to cross that threshold something they have not taken a decision to do up until this point so we are moving into the escalation ladder as i've said and as has been explained to me by u.s. monetary officials and concerned allies is that this could

unleash something that you don't know where it ends and the u.s. has forces and bases all across the middle east that stand in harms way tonight as a result of the strike. >> i know you have reporting to do i want to let you go what my last point is i want to get a feel for if you know or if you have heard when will we find out in the minutes and hours about the defensive posture and the nine states and the shifts in that region instrument all in knocking down these 300 plus drones and missiles from iran toward israel what now is the deepens of posture of the united states in and around israel? >> i think it's safe to say that the u.s. has been on high alert in the middle east since saturday night i think that nobody is resting easy tonight i think that you have sailors on board warships in the eastern mediterranean and the red sea and most likely bases up near the golf that are on high alert

tonight i think that again the hope is that as i've been reporting this is a limited strike but the question is how will iran iraq how will the proxies react and really all eyes should be on the lebanese which is on israel's northern border with a hundred and 50,000 missiles that could strike all of israel if lebanese hezbollah decides to strike israel all bets are off in terms of escalation. >> all bets are off, jennifer griffin we will let you do your reporting and we will bring you back on when you have more information, thank you we have aaron cohen standing by but i want to bring in first of the cheap legal anchor brett baer who is on the phone with us, you may have heard jennifer or maybe you didn't hear but the concept here is that israel fired what jan is caught categorizing as a limited attack, a limited airstrikes on the uranium

conversion facility and possibly in the area of the nuclear sight there we are hearing significant the word a lot, politically it's the same it's significant. >> yes good evening i think this was forecast for a number of days i had in the israeli ambassador to the u.s. on the special report yesterday he essentially said we have to respond and how we do it and when we do it was up in the air at that point i think that the biggest question mark tonight is hezbollah and they came out with a statement today saying that any strike on iran would be met with fierce retaliation and i do think that there is a tinderbox and there has been since the original iran strike that was failed but it is even more so

tonight i think you have other nations that are very concerned about the situation you had jordan help with strikes to bring down the drones and the missiles on saturday night saudi arabia has expressed concern about the situation so this is a moment in which the middle east is on the brink and how we respond will be a big part of this equation. >> and there were talks about and we talked about this a bit before coming out of qatar talking about how the nine states is in negotiations with israel and willing to give the go-ahead to about strikes on rafah in southern gaza the question being that the strikes would be in return for not retaliating against iran so the question as we watch and have live pictures of the white house were kind of watching all of our posts their window we hear something from the white house? will it be tomorrow morning?

will be here something tonight from the president in your estimation? >> i don't think so tight i think they will wait and see the fallout and what exactly the damages and how the response is on the arab streets i would expect something from the white house tomorrow i don't know if it will be the president but may be john kirby but you will have some response at some point look the u.s. was always tiptoeing through this diplomatically trying to get israel to be cautious in its response but israel has had no signals that they were listening to that and it didn't matter about what they were saying about rafah they were going to respond to this historic attack of 300 plus projectiles on this to you and for the folks who say it was all taken down in the big picture is not a big deal it is a big deal

and had those missiles gotten through we don't know the death toll inside israel and tonight again the hezbollah question is the biggest one because should it get fully activated the u.s. would have to be in a position to defend israel and that would be a different question. >> it really does brett standby if you would for us for a few minutes i just want to bring in aaron cohen for a bit of analysis we talked to trey and our national security chief correspondent jim griffin and our senior political correspondent brett baird, to you i'm wondering what you thank of this jennifer said it is significant it was a limited attack, is there such a thing as a limited attack when one country goes after another country? >> i agree i do think there is such a thing as a limited attack israel coined the term many years ago as multilayered, i

think israel put the word out on the streak that they weren't going to do anything until after passover a very important holiday in israel and i think that they used to the confusion and the chatter of not doing anything until then i think overseeing right now based on reports from several semiformal new sights in iran they think that what we are seeing here is in this first piece it's selective airstrikes which let me tell you is very interesting israel's air force has a lot of ai integrated into it they are capable of striking iran from outside of iranian airspace which is why there maybe chatter of attacks happening in iraq and syria they can get those missiles from those 30,000 f-15s in coordination with other special assets on the ground which has the nuclear part piece that we discussed which is a big deal to israel israel took out just as trey reported the nuclear scientist that israel

took out in 2020 by the way and they started tracking him in 2007 it's a big deal with that nuclear program, so that's definitely within israel's optics but there's also another piece that i am hearing from one of my friends in israel which is the airport houses the eighth tactical air wing for the iranian air force and there are several squadrons of f-14's that are stationed there so i think that israel may be laying the groundwork for something bigger they may want to close the traps so that if they continue to pursue more layers they will keep planes from being able to get off the ground and they will keep that air force suppressed so they can progress. >> and you think that before iran has any kind of a chance to retaliate that israel may strike again in some capacity? >> i think that we will see more of this i don't think this will be a one shot pony i think they are laying down some foundation work to really start digging in and doing some big work at the

beginning that iran did by sending 350 missiles into israel, israel did not take that lightly the game changed and now israel is saying how do we get to those batteries but most importantly how to get to that nuclear reactor and that's israel's number 1 threat so let's start to prep the ground so that as we conduct more operations let's take this in pieces and then therefore they can kind of adjust and expand accordingly as needed to but i think we are seeing here the beginning stages of a potentially larger operation. >> a larger operation the syntax changing about their only talk about larger operations does alarm or operation mean war? that's what nobody's asking now is larger operation does iran retaliate during does israel retaliation does that mean that we are stepping very close to war? >> we are getting closer to war but i want to frame it a bit differently, this is were still in the low intensity conflict phase although there was a monster barrage of missiles and

suicide drones are fired at israel a couple of days ago i don't really believe that was an absolute monster flex if you will for lack of a better term from iran i think was posturing in the middle east a card that the middle east needs to play that beating of the chest but israel is not playing around at this point and without that multilayered iron dome program and the magic wand system and the short range system israel would have been, thousands of israelis could have been killed so although iran was posturing israel is not i don't think we are at war yet but i do believe that we are at the trickle stage of a low intensity conflict with iran and that is what these terror groups like to do they want that low burn that slow kindle the question is will israel step it up? i think we are seeing the beginning stages of what could potentially intensify more over the hours were coming days and

for those who never fought or or not military generals like me and much of our audience when you say a low burn what's the difference between a low burn war and an all-out war that involves other nations potentially? >> good question low intensity conflict is kind of the general way of looking at a counterterrorism it's very similar to vietnam gorilla style small unit tactics high intensity conflict would be what we saw in iraq operation first iraq war or deploying to afghanistan we start moving in thousands of troops, operation enduring freedom those are high intensity conflicts actual wars were taking large bodies of troops and tanks and helicopters and airplanes and we are going in there i thank to a theatre for the purpose of being able to either topple a regime and take out a saddam hussein or in this case i think we are still at the low intensity conflict but we

are seeing it on the ravel in the air via selective airstrikes of that go back to israel's really incredible dog unit they've been all over gaza for last six months that is israel's joint tactical controller unit and these are the guys who can get on the ground a tier one asset trays they can infiltrate into enemy territory commander level reconnaissance capabilities they will work in tandem with f-18's and f. 35's would not be surprised if they were working with those of 35 to take down those 350 plus missiles and drones that were fired into israel and those assets can infiltrate enemy territory undetected to be able to work with those missiles to get really high end it selectivity from where those shots will go it's a very important piece of israel's air force hand their incredible so i wouldn't be surprised if those operatives are spangled and

around. >> this from the associated press the dateline here is to buy united arab emirates firing defence batteries and several provinces the state run ir in a a news agency reports without elaborating so iran is apparently trying to either protect itself, it sounds like the assessment here. >> i would say that's probably a very fair assessment iran is going to go to a defensive posture now they will try to up their air defence capabilities to try to take down any of these israeli fighter jets that are coming in these hyper- focused airstrikes and israel is now this is a high-end gun fight is how i look at this when you have two forces and one coming out the other and the other defending and whoever is more aggressive and hits strader will win and israel right now very selective iran probably trying to take out f-15s and 35's israel knows better they will stare out of the iranian airspace as long as they can but

again like jennifer reported i think that we are going to start to see a bit of a drip escalation i don't think we'll go to war yet i would call it that we are in a higher but still low intensity conflict for lack of a better way of explaining it is just unfolding in the air but where the nuclear program lives. >> very quickly i just want to bring in jennifer griffin our chief national correspondent what are you hearing? >> i just want to clarify what i am hearing because i was listening to what aaron was saying i just want to clarify that we can confirm from a well placed military source that this was a limited strike and it may have been from, there is no indication that this is a manned aircraft that cost -- caused the explosions of any specialist that there were manned aircraft such as f. 35's involved in this strike we cannot confirm that at this point in time it is more likely to have been missiles

that caused the explosions that have been reported by iranian press and we also need to clarify that these explosions occurred in the province where the nuclear facility is but we have no confirmation that the facility itself was struck and there is no sense from the well-placed sources that i'm speaking to that who do have the latest information on what just occurred that this is the beginning of something larger from the israeli side, this looks like a limited strike explosions in the province obviously symbolic because that is the heart and home of the iran nuclear program but no indication right now about what those targets were we are basing our knowledge of those explosions on what the iranian press is saying at this moment but a well-placed u.s. military source says this is likely a

limited strike and most likely in not carried out by a manned aircraft. >> i'm just wondering, just so we can all be on the same page here no indication that the nuclear sight has been struck but it would be an assumed target, fair? >> not necessarily, there are other targets in the area there are air defence systems there are missile launch sites we really can't speculate at this moment about what the target of these strikes would be we will have to wait to hear from the israelis the pentagon not commenting on this u.s. officials are absolutely mom we are not getting any official confirmation that it was even the israelis that carried out this strike inside iran but we have other indications based on reports from the region and iran itself that iran's territory has been struck. we are also sing just across the wires right now that iran

security council is meeting as we speak and as i mentioned before the iran foreign minister had just landed in new york and began his interview on arrival network when the reports of the first explosions occurred and it during that interview he did say that iran would likely respond if israel decided to carry out a retaliatory strike but i don't think we can call these airstrikes at this point based on the fact that we don't know, there were not necessarily israeli pilots or warplanes involved in these explosions. >> great reporting as always we will get back to you as the news warrants we bring in florida congressman with the foreign affairs ministry, you heard the round table conversation going on here we do know that there appears to be reporting leading to us to believe that there have been strikes in the southern part of iran on the uranium conversion area as it jennifer

was saying we don't know if that was targeted or if it was hit but we do know that it was in the vicinity, what do you make of this? >> well strategically i think we have to take a step back and at what point does the bite and administration admit that it's middle east policy it's a de-escalation policy many would call it an appeasement policy, has gone from the abraham accords to open warfare between iran and israel with potentially both sides launching attacks on each other from their own soil for the first time in history it is really astounding and it's terrifying and i appreciate jen's very accurate reporting because we don't know that the israelis did this the biden administration unfortunately has been very clear that they would

not support such a strike and there are certain ways that the israelis would need our support, they also have a history of having a fantastic cyber operations in fact they exploded the utilities and the power system at the nuclear sight we now know years later through a cyber attack so they have a fantastic covert capability we also are hearing or i'm hearing from folks in the region that there have been strikes in syria and strikes in baghdad more focused on irg see operational level operatives and facilities so multiple things can be true at the same time but at the end of the day this de-escalation strategy every time the united states says tap the brakes and pulled back the regional bully iran has seen that as an opportunity and pushed forward and window they reversed course?

>> window they reversed course a great question my question to you is instead of we're talking about trying to back the carriage up and it seems too late for that, the president, the administration, they keep telling iran don't but iran did and they told israel don't retaliate but they done it what should the next move be by this administration save for another warning not to do something? >> unequivocal support for our ally israel if you can have tough conversations in private and disagreements on tactics and strategies in private but publicly to our adversaries weather those are hamas or hezbollah or iran itself or the houthi's they need to see no daylight between the united states and israel and they need to be guessing about what the unites states will help israel do but the bigger piece and so

many of us have said they son until we are just read in the face, iran is going to continue as long as it has the resources to do so just a few years ago their currency was tanking they weren't exporting oil they were really on the back foot economically to the point where many of their terrorist proxies were openly complaining that they were running out of cash and resources and as long as iran is selling 90 percent of its illegal oil to china has long as it is flush with billions of cash i think this is only sadly going to continue it is wearing our military out that should be pivoting frankly to china and dealing with that threat where we are truly struggling and obviously it has israel in a terrible situation we have to go back to maximum pressure, we have to focus on closing and shutting down the resources that iran has to

mass-produce these drones build these ballistic missiles pay their terrorist proxies and execute the ayatollah vision for a ring of fire against israel which they fully intend to destroy. >> congressman thank you for coming on we appreciate it we may come back to as the time warrants we get back not to our plea -- chief political anchor because the congress and brings up a fair point it seems as if the administration is losing a bit of control in this situation because every time they ask and request it doesn't seem to be being honoured. >> ear right and i want to reiterate one thing about jennifer and that is that in the beginning of all of these operations we don't have a clear sense of what things look like and there was reporting out of the region citing iran forces or other sources saying that the iran's shot down several drones, there are, the israelis

obviously could have fired missiles and it is important to remember that iran does not have as extensive and iron dome if you will of missile defence set up as israel does and just to go back to when i talked about before i had the ambassador of the israeli ambassador to the u.s. on last night and he said that drone and missile attack that iran launched quote cannot go unanswered because if you don't answer the iranians will feel impunity we have to respond and we will respond and going on he says he fully do not push back against iran in a matter of a few years you may see nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles and michael herzog also said in our part of the world defence is not enough to create deterrent we need to push back. we knew this was coming in the administration clearly had to know this was coming they were trying to get at two where it

was contained or at least more specific and targeted we may be seeing that tonight but the reaction by iran and more importantly by the proxies of iran and how we react to that will be the next 12 or 24 hours. >> and i wonder just going back to your word their containment we leave the proxies out for one second-tier but you make a great point where israel said listen we have to respond to this and now it seems that that she was on the other foot now you have iran and if the reporting is true and if there were hits in iran one would think that iran would feel weak if they chewed did not respond and you have this volley, this back and forth which could be horrifyingly dangerous. >> listen this is not a deadly tennis match this is not something that goes back and forth without consequences, if

you step it up the response will be stronger middle east response is responding to strength and israel obviously has the capability to drop a bomb on iran that would be changing the entire dynamic of the world we have a very tense spot and it will be interesting to see how all leaders not only in the middle east but here in washington responded to it tomorrow morning. >> and lastly i know you have to go but lastly bringing the proxies back in today's those who don't know hezbollah clearly is based in lebanon which is in the northern part of israel the border in the northern part they have been going back and forth since october 7th hezbollah has been firing into israel and vice versa so this has been going on at not a high scale but it has been going on which means there are units in place in lebanon and there are units in place in israel to keep going

back and forth in the question now is the escalation from there because if this is a three sided war you are talking about hamas in the south hezbollah the north and iran you take out the mediterranean sea and you are surrounded. >> at which point the u.s. will have to step up and support its ally if it is a full on three sided war, that is what every administration since the beginning has worried about is everyone trying to take out and illuminate and erase israel and hezbollah deployed everything had obviously the repercussions for them in lebanon would be massive but also it would trigger a response from the u.s. one would think that they would defend it directly. >> lastly very quickly is president biden on the phone

right now to prime minister benjamin netanyahu? >> i'm not sure, i'm not sure what, i'm sure there has been obviously the national security alerts that has gone out and i'm sure they are in the situation room working on that the level of interaction between the israelis and president biden i'm not sure at this moment but we will learn all of this tomorrow morning and i don't think that the next shoe will drop until we get a sense of what exactly this is. >> if you learn something else let us know and we will bring you back on the chief political correspondent brett behr we appreciate your time alone to go back to where we started at the top of the broadcast live in tel aviv on the ground to find out what exactly to ray is learning what are you being told from your position trade? >> hello we have reached out to israeli defence officials and

others here in tel aviv working to get confirmation from the israelis that they are indeed striking iran territory right now we have not yet been able to hear from anyone inside israel's version of the pentagon but we do expect in the coming hours that israeli officials will likely column -- comment on the situation in the middle east or at least alluded to the activity and the response against of the iranians we are also following the reports from iran state media indicating that air defence systems were reportedly active in several provinces across iran this is significant because it is coming from state media and also an indication that the strikes, as jennifer reported, could be from unmanned aircraft taking place in multiple different locations we have no confirmation of these specific targets inside iran's territory but with in this province for example there are iranian nuclear research facilities where the iranians

have been pushing advanced programs and studies specifically when it comes to uranium enrichment it to get the country closer to a nuclear weapon also at this hour iran state media reporting that the tehran international airport is closed for the next several hours as we told you earlier at this hour there were a number of civilian aircraft coming from the gulf inside of iranian airspace when these strikes began they made you turns and headed back toward the gulf understanding this is an incredibly unpredictable situation if these reports from the iran state media are accurate of air defence systems activated across the territory they certainly don't want any cilia aircraft in this airspace it is of note here that while these are likely strikes carried out by israelis we have not yet received independent confirmation that the states was alerted ahead of time that we can use the response from the israelis just last weekend as a point of reference in all of this because we saw for the

first time an informal coalition led by the united states that helped the israelis activate not only their air defence around this airspace but also in jordan's airspace to ensure that these incoming iran missiles and drones last weekend were shot down so there were likely some clear coordinations with the americans understanding this israeli response was imminent and again across this week you had top iran officials everyone from the supreme leader the ayatollah khomeini to the president and top ir gc officials threatening immediate response if there was and is rarely counterattack so we do know that at this moment and this is according to israeli officials that i talked to this week israeli forces across the country are on high alert not just the air defence units but also fighter jets in the sky understanding that iran could decide to activate further their proxies in the region like the iran backed houthi in yemen or the iran back to hezbollah in

southern lebanon to respond to the strikes sight that are being reported not just inside iran's territory but also in iraq and syria. >> i would like to your take if i can very quickly on hezbollah because that's a very good point, brett brought it up earlier and we know that hezbollah is in the north and there has been fighting back and forth since october 7th between israeli idf forces and to hezbollah i'm wondering how strong it does the defensive posture of israel doesn't get stronger in the northern part of the country? while waiting for a potential or a possible response from hezbollah? >> absolutely i spoke with one defence official this week you indicated the worst case scenario for israel is an attack by hezbollah on major is relief operation centres since october 8th just the day after the october 7th massacre you saw it hezbollah involved in the fight striking northern israel on daily basis just yesterday 14

israeli soldiers were injured along with four civilians along the border with lebanon this was a hezbollah drone attack that took place and it gives you just a small sense of the capabilities that this organization has. over the past several years iran has been smuggling precision guided missile components into southern lebanon through syria and it is part of the reason the israelis have struck inside syrian territory over the years to target some of these weapons shipments they want to ensure that they can limit the amount of weapons that hezbollah can stockpile that would ultimately threaten israel in a future conflict we are at that conflict today and the real concern is that iran in response to a threat in their territory an immediate reaction can use as blood to strike medium -- larger population centres like tel aviv is part of the reason that israeli officials over the past week in these briefings, again with top israeli air force and air defence officials, they have

indicated that not only is the iron dome which is a smaller air defence system but david slaying the intermediate system and the arrows system that is capable of shooting down ballistic missiles have remained on high alert across the country and you also have israeli forces along the border who are unsure that if it there is the israelis have tried to build a method of deterrence a back-and-forth that win there is an attack by hezbollah they strike back heavily with iran targets these targets that are linked to the iran regime in southern lebanon and in syria, understanding of these weapons are being shipped in that through syria and threw southern lebanon and signed the real threat for israel has he do with as blot the iran backed emotion group and the kid abilities that they have, understand hundred the thousands of rockets and missiles and precision guided projectiles that could target major population centres across israel, tracy. >> and lastly i know you have

reporting to do but when you talk about hezbollah there has been this back-and-forth going on since october 7th for the better part of six plus months but we have never called it a war and there has been this theme that right now lebanon and the economy there is a shambles and there has been concern that the last thing that hezbollah or lebanon needs is a war does that feeling her main and plays where you are? >> yes, and i've reported from here a couple of times over the past two years and there's a feeling from the civilian violation that a broader conflict in the region doesn't serve anyone this is an economy in shambles a country that is not have independent rule based on the iran influence and a broader conflict that officials have indicated would flatten neighbourhoods and destroy lebanon that's a real concern and we understand from israeli officials over the past several

weeks some of the american efforts to avoid such a conflict have been to ultimately come to the table led by the americans and de-escalate the situation along the northern border as to not go to another major conflict that would last for months and would see a high casualty rate here in israel aidoo does want to break in with a development out of the northern border as we speak here sirens are sounding in northern israel it appears there is a hostile aircraft incursion over the past several minutes i'm looking at the alerts here on my phone and i'm just going to show you here what they look like these are red alerts that are going on in northern israel in a number of different locations and the alert here is for a hostile aircraft so this is likely a drone that is being launched by

hezbollah into northern israel and again this has been an alert that has been coming across our phones just over the past five minutes here in israel indicating that hezbollah could be just probing air defences in the northern part of the country this does not appear to be any sort of large-scale attack but again an indication and again this is being confirmed the first confirmation that we have from the military tonight sirens sounding in northern israel that is coming from the idf, the israeli not terry and again israeli forces have to remain on high alert in northern israel understanding that an iranian response to these reports of explosions inside iran's territory tonight could come from a major proxy across the region like hezbollah in southern lebanon the houthi in yemen or an iran backed iraq or syria she up militia these militias have been active over the past six months and that not only targeted israel but have

targeted american forces in the middle east. >> we will let you go back to your reporting we appreciate it we will get back to her the top of the hour as the news warrants thank you we have been talking here with aaron cohen we want to bring in a rabbi from bel air to give us some context about this but you first what you're hearing from the war correspondents and so forth it's concerning right now because it appears that while iran's war cabinet for back of a better turn is in their consulate is talking about this right now there seems to be action in the northern part of israel coming from lebanon and hezbollah and at least, at the very least, some kind of drone probes going on. >> this is the mo of the irg c. they will gas up all their proxies and first of all israel has been dealing with hezbollah offer like 20 years they were in southern lebanon for plenty of years back the nineties and ended up pulling out hezbollah has always been a constant

threat on the northern border we're dissing more of it ramping up since october 7th and october 8th so we will see more of that coming from that southern border of lebanon into israel this again is the multi-, 360 type of attack with the israel back to the ocean that is definitely a threat and a concern but israel has to keep and i on the northern part of its border up there were 80,000 or 100,000 citizens have been displaced since october 7th since the war started so hezbollah is a big deal but i want to speak very quickly to that low intensity peace that we were discussing, israel is always in a state of war and when i say that israel is in a state of war i mean that. it's just nonstop within the borders it escalates and de-escalate every couple of years but what we see and what i believe we are seeing whether his f-16s or after he flies, whether it is israel's advanced predator drone system with unmanned pilots, which it could be, it is still direct action in

a spec ops air force type of warfare so this could be a limited attack but i will say this israel will not discuss ongoing operations as they are active so getting anything from the idf right now forget it will have to come from sources but i can see the white house sitting around and asking themselves what is happening if i was to venture i would say that there may have been a conversation with the idf with the prime minister and with a bite and i that for sure but i believe that within that paradigm within that relationship which i believe even though it has been very conflicted over the past several months some type of quite warning given saying were probably going to do something we want to give you a heads up just to put it out there so that win something does happen the white house isn't going to get caught off guard but i will say this if there were strikes, which are not confirmed, if

there were strikes weather predators or have 35 or whatever, israel had the element of surprise which is a key, that weight of deception is a monster piece of the israel puzzle, if they did attack and were able to get strikes off her the nuclear program is being developed or at an air force base where there is potentially a 142nd take off and counter, whatever it is, that is in my mind almost preemptive it's a very important piece for israel and this may just be a selective operation and a to four, we may not be ask leading to war here like i said this is a low intensity game right now that's what's being played and we will see what happens, brett is right come tomorrow morning we will have more information. >> a lot of jewish americans have been concerned about this relationship for a while between the administration and israel because they are have been a lot of warnings and doubts and don't goes in there and it it seems to me that because i was talking to

brett about this it seems like the administration has at least, and maybe they were coordinating behind the scenes may be biden and netanyahu spoke all afternoon but it seems to me like the administration has lost a bit of control over what is happening in the middle east. >> i don't know if they have lost control i think that israel put them back in control and i'll tell you why, israel checked every box we can go in to any civilian place number 2 we put the fear of god into iran we know where the places are we know where everything is and look how were able to do it and as the report said and iran said their defence system was working and it still got through i have to tell you something the people in tehran are scared out of their wits israel what did you just do to us? how did you get through all of this? you attack not only here but all of our other supplies in syria israel is a very brilliant tactical nation what is going on

with america? you have to realize something israel one the six-day war in six days, they were not getting weapons from america america didn't tell them what to do when they started getting them in the seventies america started saying pullback don't go, we took casualties in the yom kippur war we took a long time israel now starting to realize is great to listen to america. [ please stand by ] >> they would love to make those billions of dollars. america must realize, choose michigan or israel that's what it's boiling down to in this discussion. >> i have about a minute left of this. do you expect because we have been on the air for the better part of an hour now and we have heard there may be some explosions coming out of the defence of stuff

coming up. we heard nothing else. could it be a quiet night or is this the planning stages? do you need more than a few hours if you are planning to respond? >> it depends. i'm not an expert on iran's capabilities i would lean into they have significantly expended i great deal of resources with that first wave of attacks against israel with the 350 plus missiles and suicide drone attacks we've been talking about this for a couple of days now so iran is going to move some pieces into play. to understand the iranians, they think they are thoughtful and they are strategic think that they are going to continue to try and put something together as far as their response. >> it is now three seconds until the top of the hour. it is now 11:00 o'clock on the east coast, 8:00 here in los angeles.

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