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For decades, many had been predicting, perhaps even expecting, a showdown between Israel and Iran
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Military planners on both sides had been preparing for it. Last year, in the aftermath of October the 7th, it looked as if that storm was finally breaking
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But that only turned out to be the warm-up. On Friday, the war did finally break out, with Israel attacking hundreds of Iranian targets in two massive waves
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Overnight, Iran responded with its barrage of missiles and drones. Most of them were shot out of the sky by the Iron Dome
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but some did land in Tel Aviv, where two people were killed and dozens injured
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The night sky echoed to the sound of sirens. Then this announcement from Prime Minister Netanyahu
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the military operation wasn't just meant to disable Iran's nuclear program, it was also meant to trigger regime change
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The Islamic regime, which has oppressed you for nearly 50 years, threatens to destroy my country, the state of Israel
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The objective of Israel's military operation is to remove this threat, both the nuclear threat and the ballistic missile threat to Israel
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And as we achieve our objectives, we're also clearing the path for you
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to achieve your objective, which is freedom. This morning we will ask whether this is little more than wishful thinking
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In Iran, at least 78 people were killed, including some of the country most senior military commanders and nuclear scientists some killed in their bedrooms by precision missile strikes On both sides civilians have died Many more could die if this war escalates
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This is Ayatollah Khamenei last month describing Israel as a lethal cancerous tumor of the region
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that must be uprooted as his loyal followers chant death to Israel in response. Listen
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So many questions this morning. How dangerous is this moment for the wider Middle East
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Even if it delays or destroys one nuclear program, could it trigger a nuclear arms race in the region
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And what about the possibility of regime change in Iran? Israel is now fighting several wars on many fronts
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How long can that last? And what about that old-fashioned concept of diplomacy
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Remember that? Presidents and prime ministers have called for it today again
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They will do so surely at the G7 summit in Canada. but will the fighting parties even listen
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Let's get an update of the situation on the ground with Paul McNamara, Channel 4 News
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senior political correspondent who joins me from Tel Aviv, a suburb in Tel Aviv, Paul, if I'm correct
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How are you and where are you? I'm good, thanks, Matt. I'm actually, so this is
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it's more of a town really, just on the outskirts of Tel Aviv called Rishon Bazaar
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And I am surrounded right now, if I look in every direction, There are a crew of about 12 emergency workers just in front of me now going patrolling houses everywhere around the streets here There a detritus of the strikes that happened at 5 a this morning in this neighborhood
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And just around the corner from me is what is now a crater, which used to be homes, where two people died in the early hours of this morning
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And is it your understanding and the Israelis' understanding that these places were targeted or were they trying to hit military targets and the missiles fell short
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this is a very residential neighborhood there is nothing here that would be a strategic target
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it's still unknown at the moment what the actual target was or if or if this was just
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ministry sometimes called it fire and forget but what is i think what is really clear is that
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striking a missile launched from iran striking such a residential neighborhood harming this
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number of people sowing this much fear in Tel Aviv. Talking of neighbours here, there is real fear here
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The Iranian regime is looking beleaguered, is looking belittled right now. This will be grasped upon as a propaganda win
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The scale of this strike is far smaller than anything that has happened by Israel on Iran
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But the mere fact that they're able to land any rockets here, so close to Tel Aviv, in
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a residential neighborhood that will be grasped upon and despite the iron dome of course do people there now feel very vulnerable i mean you know you been to israel before you also covered the war in south lebanon at the end of last year describe the degree of vulnerability
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that you as a correspondent there but also of course israelis feel right now matt i have literally just spoken to a woman whose home has been decimated she's 70 years old
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the last word she said to me was i now feel scared she's no stranger to the air raid sirens
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at 5 a.m this morning it was different a from the the fear that's been sown over the last 48 hours
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but b by the very visceral reality of what she has experienced this morning there is fear because
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just finally these missiles being fired from iran or indeed drones are very different to the ones
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that have been coming across the border from Gaza, fired by Hamas, in their thousands in recent years
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those are very easily shot down by the Iron Dome. And even if they land, they don't create that much damage on the whole
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Yes, some of these were ballistic missiles. So they are far harder to shoot down
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Their destructive capacity is far greater. Now, in truth, despite all the rockets that were shot last night by Iran
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very few of them actually made land contact. But the fact that they have, that's not insignificant
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Paul McNamara, senior political correspondent for Channel 4 News, currently near Tel Aviv
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Thank you very much indeed for that, and look after yourself
