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good morning, from jerusalem, where people are waking up to the news that israel has attacked iran. iran state news agencies reported that air defenses have been fired and explosions were heard near isfahan international airport. israel warned the united states that this was coming. the impact is not yet clear, but it does appear to have a limited -- been limited and there's no damage to nuclear facilities. good morning. we are live in jerusalem and have woken up to the news that israel has attacked iran. early indications suggest a single strike on a carefully selected target. if a significant moment. alex

rossi is in northern israel. alex crawford is in beirut, and james matthews is in washington for us. iranian state media is reporting that air defense is were fired close to the international airport in central iran around 4:00 local time. they say that drones were intercepted and there were no explosions on the ground. we have not been able to verify these claims but they suggest that iran is playing down the attack. that could be crucial for what happens next. this is video from the revolutionary guard telegram channel, which reportedly shows the explosions in the sky near isfahan. this is a developing story, but israel said they were going to do it and now have and it's a question of what iran does next. >> reporter: benjamin

netanyahu is not a leader who typically makes quick to vision that he will have had a lot of voice your, the likes of joe biden, saying don't exacerbate the situation further and he will have had others in his coalition saying the opposite, let's go hard at iran, a task the nuclear facilities, teach them a lesson. in the end, five days after the airstrikes here on israel, i think that he has gone for a lesser option. he would have been provided with a menu of different responses the israeli military could have carried out, ranging from an attack on the facility at the top, assassination of a senior figure, and i think he's gone down the lower end of things, hoping it sends a clear message, hoping it proves to the iranians that israel can strike iran when it wants, where it wants.

don't forget that iran sent 300 drones and missiles here saturday night. most did not make it into israeli airspace. it looks like israel has fired a small number of missiles and they've all gotten through and that that's a powerful message. >> where orion's -- iran's center was hit, that in itself is an escalation. >> it was, the israelis will tell you until you're blue in the face that it was not a concert building, it was not part of the diplomatic compounds and the people inside were the enemies of israel. i don't think they have much support in their assessment, if the classification, many do think it was crossing a line

and did reach the convention. it was a major escalations and that set in motion the train of events that we are seeing play out, now. we then come forward to what happened and it was a further escalation, not only did they come out and directly attack israel for the first time ever, they sent so many drones and miss rules, including ballistic missiles. it was the use of ballistic missiles that cross the line for israel. we have then gone to the events of the last few hours, and i would see the israeli response, assumes there's nothing more we don't yet know about, assume that's it. i would see that as a step toward the escalation. each side wants the final say. i think that israel has provided iran with enough.

>> the last week, we've been speaking to israeli officials and it appears they've been quite short. they say that all sorts of lines were crossed, that they did not expect 300 drones and missiles would end up coming their way as a result of the attack. >> i think that israel had been pushing the envelope, whether or not that is against hezbollah and striking increasingly deeper into lebanon and taking out more senior hezbollah commanders , they are the proxy for the northern border. they were pushing it. the calculation was that they could carry out the strike and not

risk a major fallout. i think they were surprised. we all wear. that's why, they were always going to respond. israel was always going to respond in some form and this is their response. is there any more to come? now, we need to look at iran because it's in their hands, what happens next. what is the language they are using? will it be fiery rhetoric of revenge, or will they try to downplay it? >> so what has iranian state media have been saying? it feels like different outlets are saying different things. >> there is certainly a message holding around of, but not much happens, nothing to see here. there are other reports that iranian defenses shot drones out of the sky. i think it's unlikely, to be honest, and there were reports

that iranian state media of explosions around isfahan. it's not a coordinated message, referring to my previous answer, we haven't heard from iran yet. it's still early. there's this message, that they will carry out a revenge attack, that is what we heard following april 1st in damascus. who knows? the day is young, we will see what they have to say, but i think their language will tell us everything we need to know. >> thank you. let's remind you how this attention began and show you this timeline. april 1st, israel struck the iranian consulate in syria with seven military advisers including three senior commanders, killed. saturday, i ran fired 170 drones , and hundred and 20 ballistic missiles.

the prime minister vowed to respond. let's bring in alex crawford. the region has not just been tense since iran launched attacks last weekend. this tension has been brewing for the past six months and has just been ratcheting up. >> yeah, we must remember that in southern lebanon, northern israel, there's been a lot of activity, almost every day, but that definitely accelerated, after the weekend events with what seemed to be much more intense crossfire between the two sides. there are already nearly 80 villages and towns in southern lebanon that have had to be evacuated, tens of thousands of people who have been displaced and lost their homes with no homes to return

to. there's a lot of fear and trepidation, amongst civilians. we've seen plenty of that this week, and multiple funerals, a day, since the weekend, mainly of hezbollah fighters and certainly, the rhetoric from hezbollah, up till now , the overnights, has been very stoic, very determined. we went to one of the funerals of their fighters yesterday, surrounded by hezbollah fighters and loyalists, and supporters, the whole town came out, thousands of people, many of whom did not know the fighter , but to demonstrate loyalty and support for whatever they are doing. we must remember that in lebanon, hezbollah is very strong, embedded in the political, economic, and social society . it's got a military

wing that is said to be much stronger than the lebanon army and works in conjunction with the lebanese army. this whole week, and certainly this morning, they are still underlining that they are strong all and israel attacks them and iran at great cost. the initial indication, certainly, from hezbollah with a statement from the deputy secretary general, seems very much to be playing it down and drawing a line, saying the israelis were afraid, that they do not have a clear plan, but, and this is key, that if they make a mistake, we must assume he's talking about the future attacks, even more, the price will be greater and the message we've been getting from all sections of lebanon, including

the lebanese authorities, the foreign minister, is very clearly to escalate even more and would be to drive into a regional, a more devastating regional war that would draw in the entire axis of resistance which iran controls. it has a network of proxies, with hezbollah being the strongest, but also, the houthis in yemen, the militia in syria, and hezbollah trained iranian funded groups in iraq. the message was very much, you threaten all of those. we know that there have been a lot of manipulations behind the scenes, diplomatic, political talks, military talks, to calm things behind the scenes and those experts are telling us

that it looks as though this very persistent strike, what appears to be a targeted, low- level strike, might be enough to draw a line under it that no redlines appear to have been crossed, this could be an acceptable level of response and if that is the case, there will be a lot of relief across the region. will that stop the ongoing tensions? i don't think so. we may have just put it to one side for now, but underlying all of this is what's happening in gaza. it won't suddenly lead to an end of the crossfire targeting. it will not, it does not appear to be likely to stop the houthis from continuing to attack international shipping, because underlying all of this, they are all saying that they need a cease-fire, and some

sort of recognition of the palestinian state. >> thank you for vanallen of -- that analysis. to the united states, to speak with our u.s. correspondent, james matthews. we are yet to hear an official statement from the president. it's the middle of the night, we have not heard from israel, either. iran is trying to downplay this and u.s. sources are saying this is a limited strike. >> that's the word we've had from u.s. officials who are saying very little. in terms of biden's reaction, it's the middle of the night, but americans say nothing would be tired -- entirely in keeping with the business of playing it down, certainly inputting the distance between the united states and the act itself.

u.s. officials we are speaking to said yes, it was limited. the other thing they're saying is the united state played no part in this strike, so it's in the american interest to put distance between themselves and the action that has gone on, for fear of dragging the united states into any potential iranian action. the israelis informed america knew of the strike before it took place and to that extent i wonder if there was an except vince, -- acceptance, if not encourage, having been told the details. then there might have been an acknowledgment that it was israel's business and a necessity israel felt, to launch this strike.

the americans wanted to be taught. before the attack on the consulate in damascus, they didn't have time. in that particular region, though, in terms of the housekeeping in the framework for this attack, it was tidy, from an american point of view. the trouble, from an american point of view, is israel. benjamin netanyahu. what does he do next? once again, he has demonstrated he will act with autonomy and in israel's interest as he sees it, not according to the interest of joe biden. that's a challenge and clearly the main challenge right now is iran.

biden does not want to see an escalation. the strength, moving forward, in that regard, is neither does iraq. they don't want that directs escalation. they've had quite enough on their plates. the key question what damage did he inflict? what are the casualties? did it have the impact that would make iran's feel is necessary to launch a strike? >> the ball is firmly in iran's court and we are learning about what happened. it's around 4:00 in iran, when we heard there

was a strike. iranian state media was quick to downplay this is nothing, but we have to wait and he what the iranians do and say next. you pointed out that the americans, from the onset, have tried to distance themselves from the situation, but they did impose sanctions on iran yesterday. even after that april attack, iranians made clear, that they didn't have anything to do with the strike that israel has launched. >> indeed, and that, moving forward for the americans, i suppose, it needs to be reinforced. the americans will want to reinforce the message to israel and iran, that the situation does not merit retaliation. it's a message that biden made

clear to ned hill and said after the attack, take the win and he said this demonstrates the power of israel to defend itself against adversity. that's the message to israel, but to israel's adversaries in the region. yes, there have been sanctions. we have seen economic sanctions implemented by the united states against iran, targeting steel production in iran and drone production, the plan, according to u.s. officials, being to disrupt and degrade drone production. that is the sphere into which joe biden wants to take this, economic sanctions, diplomacy. there was a meeting of the g-7 after the strike over the weekend, there was a meeting of the security council. joe biden wants to steer this

away. his difficulty is that other actors central to the middle east began tracking it back to that conflict. >> thank you for all of that, from the united states . let's go to alex rossi, who has more. as we wait and watch to see what iran does next, that low- level war between hezbollah and israel continues . this rivalry between iran and israel will continue to be fought in the shadows, as it has been for many years. >> yeah, it's a war of conflict that's been going on for many years, decades between iran and israel. it's been fought in the shadows and israel has carried out airstrikes. the most audacious

one we saw it was on the consulate, killing top generals, but they've been hitting weapons, through the crescent from tehran to paramilitary groups and proxies. they've also been killing scientists, trying to arrest the nuclear program, but of course, it burst into the open and we saw direct confrontation between the two. the language that is being used as that's the consulate with a redline that got overstepped and that had gone too far and you saw a direct attack and now, we have the response from israel. if it is what we think it is, a limited strike, i think it's mainly not about causing disruption or damage, it's an expression of force, that's the

language being used. israel is saying, this is 1000 miles from jerusalem and tel aviv, we can penetrate your air defenses and we can hit anywhere in your country. it's a shot in that respect. the question is, will the iranians retaliate directly? it may very well be, as you noted, that this goes back to the shadow war when they call the access of assistance. this is the proxy around the region, the most powerful on the northern border. it's also the houthis in yemen, hezbollah trained groups , and it carries on like that. the problem is that the tensions are extraordinarily high, the war against hamas is continuing. that the flashpoint, but what's happening here is effectively a

limited, low-level war. this could be the flashpoint. >> thank you for that analysis . it as we reported, this is a developing story. we woke up in the early hours of the morning to learn israel launched an attack on iran. israel said from the beginning of this week that they would respond. the war cabinet has been leading virtually every single day and we've been hearing from them, strong language that they have no choice but to respond. in many ways, the united states, britain, western allies , new on some levels that this is coming. we've been hearing from american officials and sources who say that they had been informed, they were not surprised, something that they would feel comfortable with, the fact that they have

knowledge that this was coming, from our understanding of what american officials have continued to say, that this strike was limited, but the information is still coming out and we are still waiting to hear how iranian officials will bond. we've not heard anything from the israeli side yet and have just heard from american officials, as you heard from james matthews, that this is limited and perhaps that americans will try to distance themselves from this. we have to wait and see how the story develops. we are watching all the developments and have all of that correspondence here in israel and across the region, but anna, back to you in london. >> let's get reaction from here in the uk, joined now by the work and pensions secretary. we will talk about domestic issues, but i want your

reaction to the news of this suspected strike. what do you make of it? >> it's unconfirmed, it's an emerging story and that's important. the government's position is clear, which is that we accept that israel has an absolute right to defend itself and indeed, we were working with israel and other allies to head off the attack that iran made on israel. at the same time, we do think de-escalation is key and our message to all, including israel, is that the escalations is important. our secretary is currently in italy to speak with his g-7 counterparts and they will be focusing on that. >> i take it that the uk government was not given any prior warnings of an attack, given what you've said. >> i would not be privy to that

so the answer is, i don't know. i think it's important to recognize this is an emerging story and that these are unconfirmed reports. >> and you talk about the need for de-escalation. president biden told benjamin netanyahu to take the win after israel succeeded in shooting down the vast majority of the projectiles tamed by iran. the uk, as referenced, has urged restraint. would you support israel if it were to be confirmed? >> i don't want to get into hypotheticals because the question you've asked beggs and many other questions as to what form that retaliation may or may not have taken. the overarching message is clear and president biden is answering in that vein, we are in the same place on this which is that de-escalation is key. that is why they are meeting with other g-7 counterparts at the moment, to focus on that.

>> do you expect for the action by israel and do you support further action by israel or is there a line you draw? >> i won't speculate on specific actions that israel may or may not take. the message is clear and that is that de-escalation is important. what we need to focus on is getting humanitarian aid into gaza and we made progress there , to get the border crossing open, getting israel to agree to that, but we've got to focus on a cease-fire, getting hostages released. there's a lot of work that the overarching message is de- escalation is important. >> how concerned are you that iran will not retaliate? >> we don't want to see escalation.

this is a very difficult part of the world with a lot of tensions and a lot of possible scenarios that are not good going forward. the key to avoiding those scenarios is de-escalating. it's a message for iran and israel, de-escalation is what matters. >> how dangerous a moment do you think this is? >> there's no doubt that since the cold war, we live in a more dangerous world. we've got ukrainian war and issues around the area, issues in the middle east. our country , with our allies, is very good at doing what we can to defuse tensions where they are occurring. as i say in the case of the middle east and iran and israel, we are very firmly engaged in counseling de- escalation and moderation at this particular moment. >> that's the main story of the day, but let's turn to domestic

matters for a moment, because i know you want to talk about what the prime minister is announcing in this is him promising to end sick note culture. what does that mean? >> what we know is we have a rising incidence of mental health related long-term sickness and people going on to face a need for long-term benefit. in many cases, there's a better outcome and that is that those people are given treatment but equally are held within the workforce. we know people in work have better mental health outcomes. at the moment, if you go to the gp and say you're feeling depressed, a box is ticked that says you're

not capable of any work whatsoever, but we wanted to change the system so that individuals are set up for work well, where they get the healthcare support they need and a work coach to help them stay in work or help get them into work. we think that work matters and it's a personal mission i have, to drive up those levels particularly amongst those that have those conditions so they can benefit their communities. >> this will prompt a lot of discussions but we are limited on time. i want to raise the issue of the tory mps was suspended from the party after claims he misused party funds. they've now written to police asking them to investigate and said there's a clear public interest in this matter being thoroughly investigated. >> this matter is big and being thoroughly investigated.

>> but not by the police? >> that remains to be seen. it doesn't mean the police are investigating but let's see where it goes. we are investigating that. conservative hq is looking closely to circumstances around the various reports being made and the whip has been removed. >> we appreciate your time. thank you. in jerusalem, let's return. you just heard from the minister, the key is de- escalation which we have been hearing all week from the u.s. president, from rishi >>, and lord cameron. there's an attempt to bring the tempo down and de-escalate. we saw last weekend iran

attacked israel. israel set all week it would retaliate and respond and now, we've seen that response. let's remind you of what happened. israel has attacked iran and it was reported that air defenses were fired and explosions were heard at the isfahan international airport. a single strike on a carefully selected target. this video is from the iran revolutionary guard and it reportedly shows the explosions in the sky. the impact of the attack is not yet clear but does appear to have been limited and iranian media is reporting that there has been no damage to nuclear facilities. israel warned the united states that this was coming. more on that new story, that israel has attacked. let's speak to deborah haynes, our

security and defense. we've heard all week from various leaders that the situation needs to de-escalate and we just heard them reiterating that despite israel launching that attack. >> you can imagine in the uk and capitals across the world, they are holding their breath to see what happens next. clearly, the hope has been that any response by israel to what happened over the weekend would be limited and targeted to an extent that iran, if it chooses to respond, does sue -- does so in a less significant way and that both sides could perhaps see some kind of latter to de- escalate those tensions but obviously, it's high stakes poker and it could clearly go

wrong if either side misreads the signals they are being sent and feels that the attack they just incurred is escalating and feels they need to escalate in response or if there is some kind of mistake when this military action is taking place. clearly, whenever a side launches some kind of military attack, there is the chance of things going wrong. as well, you have obviously allied force is, american, british, other nations, militaries who i imagine would be on a heightened state of alert and have been since the weekend because of course, it may not be just iran that decides to strike back but, proxies in the region. there really is a sense of wait and see and everyone knew that this would be coming in terms of israel's response. how iran retaliates is clearly

trying to make it seem as though everything is normal, which hopefully is a sign that maybe they won't feel the need for an escalated response but it's really early days at the moment. >> we've just had some development, we are hearing that senior iranian officials said they have no plans for an immediate response. all morning, we've heard from iranian state media. they have not been able to verify that these were drones, that their air defenses struck down and we are now hearing from iranian officials saying they have no plans for immediate response. as we been reporting all morning, despite to the nature of this, as you say, it feels like high stakes poker. there is an attempt to almost settle the bill, settle the score.

iran attacked israel, israel has not responded and it's a question of drawing a line. >> there is an indication that maybe, there has been a huge amount of diplomas the behind the scenes as well as what has been said publicly about how israel should be restrained in its response and clearly, working on the iranian side to make sure any fight back is limited. you'll remember that iran said that should israel hit iran, it would respond to a greater degree than what happened over the weekend, so it's very significant that iran is signaling that it has withstood this limited strike by israel and is not seeking immediate retaliation, but we are in a new era because these key redlines have been crossed. israel did choose to target in

iranian consulate in damascus, a building that is protected, that was a new red line in terms of the actions israel is willing to take against iran, which clearly poses a huge threat to israel and iran has crossed the red line by striking directly at israel, and israel has crossed another redline by striking back at iran. with those lines crossed, it means that should tensions flare again, it could quickly escalate into direct confrontation in a much greater degree than perhaps it had been in the past. >> we are hearing reports that antony blinken, u.s. secretary of state holy briefly -- will hold a briefing at the g7 summit.

senior officials had told reuters that after the reported strike by israel, that there's no plan for immediate retaliation and no clarification on who is behind the incident. they said there's no clarification on who's behind this, but they say there's no plan for immediate retaliation. significant developments and we are also being told that the u.s. secretary of state is holding a briefing at the g7 foreign ministers summit, so the united states will be responding in a few hours time. as soon as that happens, we will bring that to you live. back to you for that analysis. a few things developed. iran is saying they're not going to respond and we don't know who it is at this stage, as we've

been reporting from everything we've said. it appears israel has launched this attack in response to what happened over the weekend but this is significant. >> it does look as though they are not compelled to react immediately, watch for what iran is going to say. that language is key and i think we are yet to hear from key figures, including the supreme leader. whether or not that had anything to do with that timing, i don't know. let's see what we hear later on, if anything, but my sense is that if they try and downplay it, then that is indicative of where we go next. antony blinken would deliver three key lines and he speaks in italy and first we will

probably defend israel's right to protect itself and secondly, i think that he will distance america from any of these attacks because if iran wanted to, they could try to implicate america and therefore open up justification to attack american military bases so i think he will try to say we had nothing to do with it and then will call on all sides to chill. >> as we been reporting, a number of redlines have been crossed. the feeling will be that israel struck that compound, iran responded -- iran responded last weekend. they said they are not going to respond immediately. there's no doubt behind the scenes that diplomats are frantically working to de- escalate. >> iran has three options. one

is to go big and hit back like they did saturday night. that would not the right response to what israel carried out so i don't know that they are going down that route. the second is limited retaliation, perhaps not even on israeli territory. i think that's a possibility. if not immediately, at some point. that's the kind of thing that they can do and thirdly, do nothing, downplay it, try to claim credit for shooting down drones, phantom drones, properly, but try to say, downplay it, everyone was on. that could be the territory. >> indeed, thank you. senior officials told reuters

that after those strikes, which are being reported and that we said israel has launched, officials have said they have no plans for an immediate retaliation and we do expect to hear from the u.s. secretary of state, who will be holding a briefing at the g7 foreign ministers summit in about three hours. we will have a reaction and response from the united states. let's bring in the associate professor of international security and conflict resolution. we've heard from officials and they say they have new plans. they tried to downplay, there really is an attempt and they

described this as limited. >> it is, indeed, unfolding, but as you say, there is de- escalated talk coming from iran. it's not clear, with rumors coming out of where this attack started. whether this was glide bombs or drones, coming from inside iran, which makes it more difficult which is why we are hearing this determination that it might not, they don't know who it is, so it looks like at the moment that it has the intention to show the torrent force, hitting a military

installation, no action could be escalated, such a loss of life on a large scale. it was discriminate and proportionate and it would likely not lead to anything immediate on the iranian side. >> while there is a real attempt to de-escalate, a number of redlines have been crossed in the last few weeks. it's really a new phase in this rivalry and conflict between iran and israel. >> it's reflective of the hand iran is operating across the middle east and had to be acted on. there is no country on earth that would support 300 missiles being launched, any response

would have to be required because of regional dynamics. the nature of the response, we have seen widespread discussion with the u.s., the uk, the eu. that's the difference between working with allies and operating as proxy. they did likely further those discussions in a proportionate and limited way that could demonstrate operational capability to restore the torrent of facts from that distance. >> while officials say they are still trying to wrap their head around what happened, that it was a significant shift, the

fact that 300 missiles and drones were launched on israel, and the fact that the allies had to come together, a line was crossed on april 1st when that compound, the diplomatic compound was targeted any senior commander was killed. >> the discussion of the nature of that compound is still subject to dispute and it is still argued that that part of the compound was actually a military installation with no terry conversations going on between leadership and leaders, that it was a military installation and military figures were attacked and it was not the nature of, it was not consulate officials and it was not the actual conflict itself. this was a meeting inside syria

as a whole, where the is activities are still taking place. while it is interpreted that this line was crossed it is still subjective, under that protection. >> thank you. let's bring in alex crawford . we've been reporting that a senior iranian official told the news agency that there is no plan for immediate retaliation. we've been speaking in the last couple hours and as you say, there's a desperate attempt to really try and de-escalate as much as possible because there's jeopardy, here. >> a huge amount of jeopardy,

because it not only involves iran, but certainly, all of its access of resistance in which it is the pivotal one, behind the scenes and the front face of it and the strongest are here, as they are a potent and powerful, immensely strong military group, which is said to be more powerful than the lebanese army and being embedded in politics. it's part of the government, so to take on iran would mean bringing in all of these, the whole of the region, according to anyone who knows anything about this region would be set on fire if there was a large-scale attack from

israel. it may be enough to avert an immediate, all-out war. has it gone away? i think not. the ingredients are all there for a flareup, almost at any time and in southern lebanon, many parts of lebanon feel that they are already engaged in war with regular, daily attacks across the border with israel. they've come under a huge amount of tax from israeli drones and jets, bombs, artillery, with nearly 80 towns and villagers having to be evacuated and tens of thousands of people displaced of people who have lost their homes. they feel that hezbollah also feels that they are in a position to

strike back and will always strike alongside iran and the basic grounds, the foundation of this discontent and violence is what is happening in gaza and their demand for a cease- fire is not likely to stop and they are likely to increase from now on. >> alex, thank you. joining me now is the editor and host of the iran podcast. we've been reporting, senior officials have said they have no plans for immediate retaliation and there is an attempt to downplay it. alex crawford was just saying it does not take away the underlying issues and concerns that remain and could cause this to flare up at any other

point. >> correct. i agree. it's important to know that iran and israel have been engaged in a shadow war for years, we before october 7th, but the attack on the consulate in syria was seen as iran crossing a redline in the parameters of that shadow war, thinking they will establish deterrence and re-establish the redlines. in the past few months, we've seen the moving of the redline and this is another episode with israel retaliating, trying to establish a deterrence, trying to re-establish the redline but at the same time, gambling or risking retaliation. the ball is in iran's court and we have

to wait and see how davis on, but i still see this as escalation and a dangerous situation for this work to expand further. >> yeah, all morning, iranian state media has been downplaying this. we just heard from an iranian official who said they have no plans to immediately respond and they say they have no confirmation of where it came from and who did this, but the fact remains, i have been speaking to israeli officials who say that actually, there was a strategic blunder. the security failings of october 7th for israel and then april 1st. perhaps they misjudged or misunderstood that iran would escalate further after that diplomatic compound was struck. >> i agree. going back to my point, the

redlines have been blurred and have been moving in the past few months and what each side is doing is testing the waters, in a calculated way, but escalating to see how far they can go. i think the u.s. has been more careful in telling israel they will not participate , in trying to do back channel talks, getting warnings from iran, giving warnings to iran, so there are a lot of back channel diplomacy is and back and forth happening to minimize the damage of these strikes, but at the same time, both sides are doing this to save face.

>> the americans and the iranians have made it clear to each other that they are not interested in any kind of confrontation. there have been all sort of diplomatic back channel activities. >> they've indicated it publicly and privately. any escalation, even limited by both sides, can get out of hand. it's a volatile region, a volatile situation, and what we've seen has only been escalations. i think this war has only expanded, in various countries, pulling more and more in.

>> okay. thank you for joining us . you are looking at live pictures of lord david cameron, whose add to the foreign ministers summit. in three hours time, we expect the u.s. secretary of state to hold a briefing. lord cameron was in israel earlier this week, calling on israel to de-escalate the situation and at one point said it looks like israel will respond but if you do it, use your head and heart when you do. you were there, at that press briefing. they urged de- escalation and spoke to israel

to ensure this does not become a regional crisis. >> he was not the only one. the german foreign minister was here on the same day. we know what president biden's and antony blinken were saying. they had the shift, from "don't do it," to be except we are going to do something, just make sure it's not too big. it would look as though that message has been received and acted upon. we may never know why regimen that yahoo decided on this course of action, rather than anything more severe or not doing anything at all. it could be he did decide to listen to the u.s. president and others. it could be that he decided israel has enough on its plate. they want to send a message and leave it there.

>> exactly. we are, of course, watching all developments and you have live pictures of david cameron, at g7 foreign ministers summit. in three hours, we expect to hear from antony blinken, who says he will be holding a briefing, to respond, we believe, to the developments of the last few hours. we've also heard from senior officials that there is no plan for immediate retaliation. we are following all developments, so stay with us on sky news.