assets. i'm going to say this. because israel is surrounded by enemies and there is 21 arab countries that are trying to push into israel into the ocean. at has to continue to be strong. however,, we want to avoid a full-scale war. we don't want to get into it with lebanon and syria. they are in this position where they are surrounded. that's where i'm at with this right now. >> you've got 15 seconds to wrap us up. >> the people in jerusalem are being told don't travel all over the place. just because we did a successful thing, there's always alone not job that's going to want to try to hurt the jew in the local area as. jewish people have lived through this, we have survived and we are going to come out of this victorious. there's no question in anybody's

mind. >> top of the hour now it is midnight on the east coast. 9:00 here in los angeles and here's what we know. we do know that israel did launch a mission, an attack on iran. we do not know if this attack actually hit anything. we don't know that. iran is claiming that it knocked these three drones out of the sky. we don't know if that's before these drones fired anything. all of this remains unclear. we do know there was a retaliation from israel and iran has said that it would respond robustly and now iran is saying that there was no attack on their land. they knocked these drones out of the sky. >> the pentagon white house national security council are still not commenting on this israeli strike inside iran

tonight's. i think what is notable is that this strike by what we were told was unlimited strike by israel. it was not carried out by and aircraft. that we can confirm it did take place on the day of the supreme leader birthday. i think that's notable. they were sending a message by targeting the area in isfahan province which everybody knows that is where the nuclear facility is located. we have no indication that the facility was either the target or was struck in this missile strike. but it is a message to iran that after saturday night, crossing that redline and striking inside israel that israel would respond. they were capable of responding and this was a limited strike.

it is designed not to escalate tensions, not to launch a war in the middle east. that is something that u.s. central command, u.s. military as well as the white house has been trying to avoid. the military was not involved in these strikes. we know that from reporting from our own jackie heinrich at the white house. the white house was given advanced notice within the last 24 to 48 hours that israel did plan to strike. we heard from netanyahu who set as much publicly, even though david cameron the foreign secretary of great britain was in israel appealing to israel and not to expand the conflict further from what we had seen on saturday night. israel did respond and felt it had to respond because it had been struck on saturday night it land had been struck.

i think it's very significant the timing of the strike. it's on a friday which is really the day of rest for the muslim population inside iran. that is designed so as not to kill a lot of people. this was not targeting a population centre and the timing and the date of the strike on the supreme leader birthday i think is of note. >> the question becomes it's not as much the message here, not as much about the strength of the power and the breadth of the strike, is the response itself. >> israel likes to send a message that we can reach out and touch you. that's what they did tonight. this was unlimited strike. it was not designed to escalate. that will be i think a great relief to many here at the pentagon and elsewhere who are concerned that the u.s. could get dragged into a wider war, a

broader conflict. i think the propaganda you are hearing from iran tonight suggests that they will possibly be looking for a face-saving way out to not have to get into this tit for tat and firing more missiles. remember as we've been reporting they only have between 10200 missile launcher -- missile launchers. they tried to hit israel... i think they are going to be assessing their capabilities, how they can move forward. i think we have to take a look at the nuclear program. the foreign minister is in new york city, he will be taking their case to the un security council tomorrow. i think israel chose the timing so as not to actually escalate. if you strike on a friday in

iran overnight, you are not trying to kill people and then require a response by a ron. >> it's interesting you talk about the escalation ladder and you wonder if after the foreign minister who you just mentioned there has gone on national television tonight here in america saying that there will be -- if israel makes a mistake there will be a swift, robust, decisive response can you now opt not to respond after making that type of statement? >> i think it depends what the responses going to be. i think all eyes right now will be on their nuclear program and what decision the supreme leader takes in terms of how they decide to move forward with that nuclear program. i would say that is something that will be a brave -- grave concern to the u.s. and it's allies. there is not a lot that the u.s., israel and others can do about that nuclear program.

we know militarily that there are certain limits to what you can do to stop or setback that nuclear program. we did not see that kind of strike tonight from israel. i think that's important to keep in perspective. this was a very limited strike. it does not -- we don't know what the targets were and what the extent of the damage. as of right now there are no reports of extensive damage. i do think it's important to point out also earlier this evening the iranian suggested that there security council was meeting. then there was another tweets adjusting that it was not meeting. there's a lot of confusion coming out of iran tonight. a lot of propaganda. they of course want to present to their people that their air defence shocked on this missiles. we can't confirm that either. we will have to see what the bomb damage assessment is tomorrow. i can guarantee you that there are people in this building where i sit right now, the pentagon,... we'll be looking very careful at

the sites that israel struck. they will have their own assessments. tonight, no u.s. officials, no u.s. military commanders are commenting on this strike. the military was not involved. this is a unilateral strike by israel to send a message to iran >> i'm wondering after all the years you spent in israel are you surprised at the type of day , anything about this attack from israel on a ron? >> i'm not surprised. stand i -- [ please stand by ]

>> where iran has now struck at israeli territory with missiles. that had never happened in the history of this conflict. we are in a very dangerous moment. it's never been this serious as far as my experience in covering the middle east for the last 30 years. it is not to be taken lightly and i think tonight nobody can say this is over. this was a limited, very calculated strike and the ball is in iran's court and we will just have to see how they respond. this was not something i think

that the u.s. government or the u.s. military based on conversations i've had this week wanted to happen. the way it has manifested at this point in time i think was limited and so we will have to see what tomorrow brings. very tense times in the middle east. a war is not guaranteed but a lot of diplomacy needs to take place to get things back under control. >> exceptional work is always. we are having a very fascinating conversation. it's interesting when she talks about this because you also have this theme in the biden administration that we talked about this earlier, they said don't to iran. they did. they asked israel not to respond pure they responded. they have asked israel cease-fire now. they set a lot of things. they also said to stand by israel and is this a message that israel is saying to the

united states we want your friendship, we want your defence but we will fight our own wars. >> you are on point trays 100 percent. israel has always been extremely tight with the united states. but i think that there has been tension which has led to this slight rift between the israeli military advising... been in the business. he was shot taking down the first aircraft in the early seventies. he has been dealing with terrorism for a long time. lost his brother in a raid. so i believe that there has been escalating tensions between biden and netanyahu who have known each other for years. however, i think that he had to really pull up his bootstraps on this one to say that it's time

for me to lead my country and to make a decision on behalf of i'm knocking to say 7 million jews. i will say the 7 million litres. this is a tough country, everybody serves in the military, a high education level there. everybody is pretty smart and they are attuned to the security situation. you're putting in your three years, everybody wants to serve and do great. it's part of what gets you a great job out of the idf. the leaders of these companies in israel. i think he pulled up his bootstraps and said love you to pieces but it's time for me to do what i have to do which is protect my people. i understand the language. i want to say this trace. to the iranian people and i think this is really important. [ speaking alternate language ]

>> that means israel stands with the people of iran. i want to make that very clear. our beef is with the irgc and the terrorism that controls that country. the women and people have had a really hard and they have been crying out to the western world for years. i'm seeing the activity on twitter that iranians are solidifying the jews and the israelis. i want to make it clear that israel has no beef with the iranian people. they are good people and i think that they are tired of the irgc. >> i think we are seeing some signs of that. we see a lot of resistance and pushback from the people and even more pushback against their own people. he talks about israel and how it is all for 11 for all. it's an -- incident at the shops are all closed because the people are on the

front lines fighting this war. the people of israel, you're a lawyer one day and you are soldier the next. it's amazing how this country is built on it's all hands on deck. >> there's a famous teaching in judaism. every jew is responsible for his brother. i maybe in america but i'm still responsible for the safety of all my brothers. i love being an american. i'm proud to be an american. just because i'm an american doesn't mean that my brother in israel i have to go in say you are a different country. when you are in israel, you are right. every single father is leaving the home. children are crying when will i see you again. what you are seeing now, i want to speak from the human perspective. the human perspective which is going on right now in israel.

i was in a hospital. parents are crying my son doesn't have a leg. my daughter doesn't have an arm. they are crying because their child is terminally ill because of shrapnel. there's not a family in israel that doesn't have a relative that isn't morning. yet we are building. yet we are proud. yet we go on. why? we have a mandate from the moment our religion began. you have to be the light of goodness to the world. nobody wants to be in gaza. nobody -- do you realize the arab records. one of the generals said they are hated by everybody. there's a lot of friends going on right now why because they are starting to see the lights. hamas destroyed a beautiful place, gaza. turned into the most worst

place. we went into lebanon to wipe out the entire hezbollah. america said it's enough get out. now we are fighting them. israel has to start looking. we love the advice from america and from the eu, we are fighting the war here and i say thank you to the idf. >> i said this over the course of the broadcast i was out covering that war in northern israel when america said stop. they said if we stop they are going to come back on us. they stopped. and here we are. all over again and out we are saying the same thing for hamas. i remember the story of the 70-year-old plus former idf sorted -- soldiering israel. he was a high-ranking military member and he was on the phone and his... and you think that is it.

>> that is the human element that we have as a nation. every single one of us. i'm met you in israel and when i met you in israel was one week after the war began. the most beautiful thing was i was with 27 rabbis they said we are going to the front lines. we believe this, it's in our blood pure that's one of the reasons why they love terrorizing and killing whether it's one jew or 20 jews because they know how much we value life. they want to go to heaven. we want to make heaven on earth. wherever i go i've been across the united states because of this. everywhere i go i have non-jewish people say i saw you one fox or this or that. he said you've got to fight this. america needs you. what netanyahu adjusted, it's not like he said to the

americans we're doing this this on our own. america... because nobody wants to see this continue. >> it's not often use -- you hear a rabbi say hasta la vista. [ speaking alternate language ] >> we pay a heavy price to have a jewish state. i think you nailed a bunch of pieces on the head right there. you've got a 70-year-old dad and his 43 -- and his 43-year-old sun and they are going to stop fishing and... people said that's part of our identity. it's a big deal to us but we pay a high price and i think the rabbi nailed it spot on its part

of our national culture. israelis are proud. >> i want to go back to tel aviv. what is the latest now with daylight in tel aviv. >> as iranian state media tries to downplay the strikes overnight inside their territory saying they were just explosions from the country's air defence system, the israelis also trying to give a sense of calm to their civilian population. israel's homefront command releasing a statement this morning saying there is no change in posture for israel. this is an indication that the israelis do not anticipate an immediate iranian response to these strikes overnight. the homefront command is used to communicate military messages to the civilian population here and alert people across this country if they need to stay near to bomb shelters or to other locations.

at this point there are no special instructions for the israeli people. israeli military officials are starting to wake up this morning to give you a sense of just how calm things were here in israel overnight, a few sources said they slept through this incident, indicating that the israelis knew this was going to be limited in scope and they did not anticipate an immediate response by iran p. or there are questions today about how the israelis will see this incident it certainly gives the iranians an exit ramp because there were no major sites that were hit as jennifer reported this was a limited scale attack on iranian territory and meant to send a message to the regime in tehran that the israelis do have the ability to target within the providence is whether our nuclear facilities but not ultimately target them in this initial response to the iranian missile and drone attacks that took place last weekend p. or we

will have to wait and see if there's any development on israel's northern or southern france. israeli officials have kept their forces on high alert, understanding that iran could launch surprise attacks using there key proxies like the houthi in yemen or hezbollah in southern lebanon. >> we don't know the fallout of any of this. we have seen these anti- israel protests. they continued again today coast-to-coast. three students were suspended and almost 200 arrested for the anti-... >> police say that 108 people were arrested for trespassing

after anti- israel protesters took over a campus lawn at columbia university for more than three hours, camping out intense, forming human chains and shouting chance in support of palestine, demanding the university device itself from companies with ties to israel, with a view as the complicity in genocide in gaza. >> the students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever. about 500 students left their classrooms, surrounded...

and everything else. >> columbia university president released a statement explaining the school's actions. for safety reasons saying in part i authorize the police department to begin clearing the encampment. i took this extraordinary step because these are extraordinary circumstances. outside the nypd late last night headquarters you could see life pictures. you talked about this. a large group still gathering and supporting those arrested protesters as they were being released one by one from that police station. this police operation at the university is the first mass arrest made on the campus since 19681 hundreds of students protested the vietnam war. >> daniela, thank you for coming on. i want to get your take on

what's been happening over the past few days at columbia. what you think of the protest? are they effective? what's your take on these? >> they are quite counterintuitive actually because i don't see them helping any gazan civilians that are living in refugee camps. instead they are spending their money on tents so they can camp out in the middle of campus instead of using their funds towards their education so they can help and become lawyers in the future, they are throwing away their education. >> a lot of people feel sad. on going to play some sound here, i think it's important because this is some of the students at columbia university and they are chanting. listen very closely to what they are saying. watch this.

>> these are your fellow students and they are chanting that we are hamas. it seems stunning. >> i would agree with that statement. it is shocking really. >> what we do say to one of your classmates chanting this? what would you say to them if they walked up to you and said we are hamas? >> i would probably approach it with curiosity and ask them what does that mean to you? what do you really want? i would probably try to get on the same page with them. at their core, they want the same things that i do. they want from my understanding they want palestinians to have human rights and to be treated with decency and i think they are going about it in a wrong way.

i would want to approach the situation as a former combat soldier in the idf and try to have them understand that can coexist with caring for palestinian people. they are not mutually exclusive. i would try to get to that point spilled in >> we are sitting next to another idf -- former idf soldier. this puts you in a very unique perspective to watch these things. when you see these do you think these people are being fed the wrong information or are they taking the right information and not processing at the way that you think they should be processing it? >> i think they see it in a completely different way. they villain eyes us and they see what they want to see. i can tell you about my experience my first week in the military. my commanders ordered me to

carry around my... it contained all the values of the idf. we each write out a value and what it meant and what it said and what it meant to us and how to uphold the values and difficult ethical situations in combat. these are things that people that are saying i have -- i am hamas don't know or don't care about either. that to me is concerning to me. it's just not the truth at the end of the day. if we can get on the same page about what is the truth than maybe we can have a conversation. it doesn't seem like his people want that. [ please stand by ]

>> i think at this point at least -- we are hearing chance on campus rape is resistance. people are screaming this. if that's what they are saying then i don't know if seeing the footage would change things. i don't. >> it's interesting. i wanted to ask you, there has been this case and you heard about this, a student is not being allowed to speak because she has conveyed some of these feelings and her pro- palestinian anti- somatic responses they say are dangerous. what do you think about her not being allowed to speak? >> i would want to hear what she said exactly. i feel like i'm not the best person to make a judgement call

on that because i don't know what she said. i would say from what i've been seeing on columbia's campus, academic freedom and freedom of speech are taken very seriously. they are stepping in and saying this is a student who is going to be valedictorian she has good grades. if they are saying this person cannot represent our university based on her extreme views, that has weight in my opinion and it's concerning. >> great to have you on. best of luck to you and thank you for joining us. we appreciate that. we have a heart out and about one minute. i want to get your final thoughts. that was an amazing interview. former idf soldier and she wants to better understand where they are coming from.

>> she touched on the book that she would carry around with the values of the idf. the training that goes into the morality and structure and making sure that they uphold a really high standard. she touched on it and i think she's on to something. i think the radicalization for the process being magnified by tiktok and it's blown so out of proportion right now. it's going to be interesting how we get a hold on this. >> you talk about darkness and light. she is a girl of light. she fought in the idf. brainwashed by the idf and she came up and said i would love to hear what this lady has to say and then make up my mind. >> thank you all. continuing coverage of breaking news, what's happening. israel now retaliates against iran p. or could jonathan hunt with that -- with the continuing coverage.

>> it is 12:30 am on the east coast. it is 7:30 am in israel. 8:00 am in iran. israel has overnight struck back at iran. eyewitnesses say explosions can be seen and heard overnight close to a major air base in the iranian province of isfahan. the extent of damage at this point remains unclear. hello i'm jonathan hunt live in los angeles with ongoing coverage of german take breaking news in the middle east. in the israeli attack which the u.s. source says was limited is in the retaliation for last week's large coordinated missile and drone attack on israel. iran at this point is playing down the situation, claiming its air defences defeated the attack as flight maps show significant diversions over iranian airspace. leading our coverage tonight,

live in tel aviv. it seems to me that we have what u.s. officials are saying was an israeli attack. israeli officials saying very little if anything at the moment. iran saying... what is the point of all of this? laid out if you can for our viewers -- lay it out. >> israel conducted a limited strike overnight inside iran's isfahan province trying to target iran and send a message to the regime in tehran that direct attacks against israel will not go unanswered. the strike overnight gives iran an exit ramp and escalating tension with israel and it also allows the israelis to send that message directly to iranian leadership. state media already trying to save face saying the explosions

heard in this province were from the air defence systems and no missile attack occurred, that does not match with u.s. officials who say that israel conducted something that was of limited scope and again meant to send a message following the attack last weekend that involved hundreds of iranian drones and missiles targeting israeli territory. as this attack was unfolding, some civilian flights that were headed towards the iranian capital diverted and headed back towards the golf. we know that iran's largest airport temporarily closed as the incident was taking place. they say there is no meeting taking place among their officials as was initially being reported. as for the israelis, we do understand over the last hour israel's homefront command made an assessment. this the organization involved with delivering messages to the israeli civilian population. they say there is no change in the security situation.

there is certainly a sense of calm here in israel and an expectation that iran will not immediately retaliate following this israeli strike inside iran. >> do you get the sense that this is if you like an escalation to de-escalate that the israelis saying we are heading back but in a way that allows the iranians to say we did our job, we kept you the iranian people save. we beat back the israeli attack and does this bring an end to the current tit for tat do you believe? >> absolutely. gives both sides the ability to stop the rising tension across the region following that iranian attack that was a response following an israeli strike at the beginning of the month that killed a top iranian general in damascus syria.

having been in a bright -- bright of briefings, officials here were very clear there would have to be a response to the iranian attack last weekend that targeted not only israel's nuclear facilities but also some population centres sending more than a million people to bomb shelters as sirens were sounding in locations across this country. but that response be understood from the very beginning would likely be limited in order to avoid a broader regional conflict. that's exactly what we saw overnight. those israeli officials also indicated that their forces would remain on high alert, understanding that the situation is unpredictable and we are currently still in uncharted territory. iran has a variety of proxies across the middle east including the houthi's in yemen and hezbollah in southern lebanon.

not to mention iranian proxies in places like a rock and syria, the militias that also have missile and drone capabilities. so as things stand right now, both sides can step back from the situation and at least temporarily say that this round is over. it is unclear if there will be continued escalation by the iranians, understanding that they lost seven members of the irgc at the beginning of this month in the israeli strike or kinds you can hear overhead, the civilian airspace in israel remains open. we do understand that iran's civilian airspace will open in a matter of hours around the capital of tehran. things are largely back to normal in both locations. >> do you believe that the israeli people will support the action that israel has

apparently carried out overnight and will they believe that it was enough and sent a strong enough message to the iranian leadership. >> absolutely. this is a country that's been at war for more than six months. they are approaching the 200 day mark of the war inside gaza. hezbollah has been firing on northern israel ever since the october 7th. threats that come from iran and it's proxies. they also understand that their government and military often operates through a policy of strategic patients. israel understands the real threat that iran's ballistic missile program poses to the country but also the real threat that iran's nuclear program poses to this country. officials have not been shy to note that they are pursuing an advanced nuclear program. if been continuing their enrichment of high-grade uranium

toward a nuclear weapon. the firing of ballistic missiles last weekend sends a message to israel that they have the capability to reach this country with advanced ballistic missiles and they -- they can be outfitted with nuclear warheads wants iran gets the capability. they are -- there aren't serious implications to what has taken place this month and a real possibility of further escalation. as it relates to the strike last night, at least for now the incident appears to be over. >> if i can keep you for one more question. i know you've been working many hours overnight peer i'm just wondering the mood of the israeli people. since october 7th, everything changed i believe it would be fair to say that they were united and backing at the very beginning and for most of the

last six months or so the war in gaza and of the stated israeli aim of destroying hamas completely. you get that and on top of that you get this unprecedented attack over the weekend from iran. how under siege to the israeli people feel right now? >> they are looking very closely at statement from the americans. they see president biden and his cabinet talking about what is taking place on the ground inside gaza as the war continues and the civilian casualty rate continues to rise. it was remarkable to see the shift in tone from president biden last week. there were plans for israel to enter gaza southernmost civet -- city of rafah to go after remaining hamas fighters there. and also to look for the hostages.

there are still 130 plus people unaccounted for that were taken on october 7th. israel has remained focused on the hostages and the efforts of their army inside gaza, understanding that the americans have made very specific statements about aid to israel saying just last week that it -- that it is conditional based on israel's military activity inside gaza. the tone shifted though when their intelligence pointed to the real threat from iran, understanding that they were planning a massive attack against israel in response to that strike in damascus syria that killed the top iranian general p. or it's an incredibly complex situation across the middle east as we speak. a lot of moving parts. israel understands that the most immediate threat is actually not from gaza from groups like hamas or islamic jihad p. or it's not

from iran. understanding that they do have advanced air defence capabilities that were on display just last weekend. the real threat comes from hezbollah. the lebanese militant group that has more than 100,000 missiles and rockets all aimed at israel and they have precision guided components that were provided to them by the iranians. >> it seems very significant that for the moment at least the latest round hezbollah has largely stayed out of it over the past week or so. we will see if that holds. thank you so much for your unmatched reporting. we will be back to you later. the white house is keeping a close eye on the israeli strikes in iran. tensions spiking. obviously in the middle east. for more on reaction in washington we go to fox news correspondent kevin corke. hello kevin. >> all quiet from the white

house at least so far tonight. we can tell you that is tray mentioned i think this is very important, there was notification from the u.s. -- to the u.s. from the israelis before the strikes were conducted. the white house and the nsc our client -- declining to comment though that could obviously change later on this morning. explosions reported inside of iran indicating multiple sites were struck by israel although theirs been some discussion about whether or not that's true based on everything we have seen and heard from officials to say nothing of the video you see right there. it is obvious that some thing did happen. this is part of the pendulum that continues to sway between the two countries jonathan. fox news does confirm that the targets of the attack were not nuclear. you heard tray allude to that. now that semiofficial iranian news agency has reported about

the explosions near isfahan. this is important because not only does it demonstrate the capability of the israelis but it also you could argue demonstrates their restraint and their particular circumstance tehran has argued that anything that threatens their nuclear capability would be met with a painful response. right now i think and support to know from the white house's perspective they were notified prior to this assault, it does seem to be measured and therefore restrained and therefore would appear to meet the political -- geopolitical aims of both the americans and the israelis. i can tell you this as well, the fact that the u.s. and israel are so linked in this exercise, it creates a political problem for this white house and some

very key battleground states. i think this is an element to keep an eye on. there will be reaction that the white house will have to contend with. [ please stand by ] >> it seems his words -- words have been largely heated. >> it's a very tricky circumstance. you are right about that if you are netanyahu, you love these

requests because it plays very well politically at home. people at home feel very strongly that they need to be forceful. they have every right to defend their homeland. imagine if this were a u.s.... the american people would want a very forceful response. they want to partner with israel to make sure they are safe and there are a key ally in the region. on the other hand it is a little bit complicated especially in states like michigan for example while some people will hear that and say wire we talking about domestic politics, this is a global circumstance. it is relevant. between now and november, issues like this, strikes like this, a conflict like this, ongoing circumstances like this could very well determine who will be in the white house.

>> former president trump is not shy about saying none of this would be happening if he was still in the white house. kevin corke, thank you indeed a. for more on the conflict let's turn now to victoria. she is the vice president of national security and foreign policy p. she was also the deputy national security advisor under former president trump. thank you very much for being here. we are getting right now via reuters news agency that another senior commander has said that the explosion and the noise heard in isfahan in central iran was caused by air defence targeting the suspicious objects. they are certainly trying to play this down if there was any damage there saying it didn't happen, saying they shot down a

suspicious object. so is this deliberately done by israel to give iran that ability to deny that any successful attack was carried out? >> good to be with you jonathan. i think what is interesting about this and i agree with jennifer, we will have to wait until tomorrow to get... the maps that you are showing, if you look between israel and iran as a whole bunch of airspace that whatever this one or multiple mystery object that went to isfahan, the space they travelled over, that would've had to have gone over jordan, over saudi arabia, overall rock, over countries that previously would not have granted israel that kind of airspace flexibility. what you are seeing here is a remarkable shift in the region toward supporting israel against

iran. i think maybe is the most telling thing. >> these countries were allowing israel passage through their airspace is what jennifer griffin is reporting from the pentagon that this was -- these were not manned aircraft involved in this. if it was drones, unmanned drones or missile fired. it would appear that that would be significant as well, those countries might not have allowed manned aircraft. if you are drawing the lines here as everybody is drawing so carefully now in the middle east, drones would be a different matter for those nations. without be a fair assessment? >> it's an interesting question and they came out and said publicly that they intercepted

some of the iranian projectiles that came toward israel because they had not permitted them to go through their space. if you have saudi arabia shooting down those kinds of missiles whether these were manned or unmanned. i think the fact that they were allowed passage to go to iran is very significant. we have the escalating thing last weekend by this unprecedented attack country to country, around to israel. now we have israel responding again country to country. it's the countries in between in many ways that are catching my interest. >> what about the messaging here from the israelis. we should point out that israeli officials... they are not saying anything about what they may or may not have done. if we assume that your sources are right given that they come

from... this was an israeli attack. what is the message? we can come after you went and how we want to and we can hit your nuclear facilities if we want to given that they went very close to one of those facilities in isfahan. is that the messaging? >> it's interesting. i agree with you that they have some of the best sourcing in the business and i would listen to them as well. the other messaging i would look at is the messaging out of the israeli government. the signals earlier this week that nothing is going to happen immediately. we are going to wait until after passover which is april 30th. to suddenly be intact -- the attack happened tonight. they are in some ways stopping this game that's been going on for the last three weeks.

they are retaking that element of surprise. that is something that's a little bit different tonight than what we've seen before. i think that is another really interesting signal. >> where do you think we go next victoria? if they are playing this down in terms of saying their air defences reacted successfully, not much to see here, does not signal that they will not be looking to engage in another round of tit for tat? >> i think we can all hope for that and it would be especially significant if israel just used drones because around used drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. one hundred of them against israel, all which they were able to shoot down.

[ please stand by ] >> hopefully for the region for the rest of the world, that's what's happening tonight. >> i'm interested in the significance if any that you ascribe to hezbollah not getting involved in any major way over the past week since we saw the iranian attack. is that significant to you? >> it is. it has been for the last six months since october 7th.

this nightmare scenario is that hezbollah with those hundred thousand plus precision guided missiles that they were reporting on, should they start to overwhelm israeli air defences, that's just an awful scenario. they haven't done that. i don't know if that's the... but hezbollah seems to be in something of disarray. so that is an advantage that i would hope israel would push. would hope the united states would help them. >> it's been absolutely fascinating to get your perspective and expertise in these early hours in the morning on the east coast. thank you very much for being with us. now with israel striking back, how concerned should we be about iran and israel's nuclear

facilities. let's turn... >> while fox news confirms that the targets of the attacks in iran were not nuclear or civilian, it does raise questions on the nuclear threat given that earlier wednesday tehran warned that if israel targeted iranian nuclear facilities, it has the ability to strike israeli nuclear sites. as senior commander in iran's islamic revolutionary guard said if the zionist regime wants to take action against our nuclear centres and facilities we will surely and categorically reciprocate with advanced missiles against their own nuclear sites. the commander in charge of nuclear security one further that such a strike would make it possible for iran to review its peaceful nuclear doctrine and deviate from the countries previous considerations.

it was unclear what he meant, in 2015 ideal was introduced imposing strict limits on the nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against tehran among other provisions. into thousand 18 the president trump pull the u.s. out of that deal, reimposing sanctions on the country. around reportedly started reaching those restrictions on its nuclear activities. today the iranian foreign minister said this. >> the entire nuclear program of iran is in its totality within ... and i do think happen in gaza, because netanyahu showed that he will not respect any of the red lines. >> iran's supreme leader has

the last say on tehran's nuclear program. in the early 2000, the ayatollah banned stockpiling nuclear bombs in a religious decree stating that although we have nuclear technology, iran has firmly avoided it. but this new rhetoric from top irgc officials about striking israeli nuclear facilities is raising concerns, renewing concerns. enhancing those concerns about a program that has always ,jonathan, been supported for strictly peaceful purposes. okay, channel, thank you very much for being with us. with us here now, retired navy captain britt sadler. he's also a former pentagon official and senior fellow at the heritage foundation. >> captain, thank you for being here with us. what do you make of what we have seen or what we know of what we have seen in the last few hours? well, thanks for having me

on at this very early hour. and again, it's also still very early and the details are still a bit fuzzy. and i think most importantly is that this does not necessarily mean that we're out of this current round of an israeli response to iran's attack from last weekend. while it is quiet at the moment, what we do know and what seems to be clear is that israel's response was as the only place that took a hit last weekend in israel was an airfield that israel responded apparently by going after an airfield in some of the best defended areas and also near very sensitive nuclear sites. >> in both the message that the response was purported signal as far as the type of target, but also indicating that should they follow up with further attacks, that no one in iran is safe from israel's reach. but we are still in the early stages. and i think passover, which starts on monday, is probably the window of time of greatest

concern right now. >> hmm. but do you think that iran is from its comments tonight saying that nothing got hit, that was no damage? do you think iran is accepting the off ramp that it is being given by this escalation, which almost seems to be designed to de-escalate? >> you know, i wouldn't go so far as to say that iran is is taking an off ramp. it's still too early. if they really take that, then they will lean on their proxies to also curtail their attacks. but it's still too early to see any of those indications of at this stage in the messaging that's probably coming out of tehran is more to placate or distract their own people more than to signal anywhere else. >> hmm. and what what do you think then ,next step will be, though. >> you sound like you believe britt, that there is still a possibility that iran would take some further action. >> now, another round of for tat, if you like. >> well, i think the initiative

is still in israel's side, and i think it's still too early to say that the israelis attack is over. and that doesn't mean that there's potential hide for more attacks inside iran. i think the point was made, but i think the the massing of troops to the north to go against hezbollah, which is a very dangerous and deadly threat, which has been mentioned several times already in your program, that still in the offing. >> and there were also reports of jets, low flying jets and other explosions in syria could be related. >> it's still too early to know. >> but i suspect there's probably a wider effort that's at hand and perhaps targeting the irgc senior leadership throughout the region. >> so the region still on a knife edge front? >> absolutely. i think this this we're not out of the out of the woods on this yet. >> all right. britt sadler, great to have you with us in these early hours. >> so here's where we stand as we approach the top of the

hour. we have what we are being told was an israeli attack on iranian territory in the province of esfahan. we are told by iranian officials saying they defeated the attack, that their air defense systems worked perfectly and that they have not suffered any damage. we're also hearing from our own jennifer griffin at the pentagon that u.s. sources are saying this was deliberately a limited, careful retaliation by israel for the attack on israel by those hundreds of iranian drones and missiles over the weekend. we will have continuing coverage right here on fox news of these dramatic developments in the middle east. >> we're coming right back with more. and israel has struck back at

iran