00:03we join you right now with breaking news from the Middle East Israel has launched preemptive
00:09airstrikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran going after a variety of positions inside the
00:16country Israel's defense minister Israel Katz declaring a special state of emergency across
00:22the country just moments ago air raid sirens were sounding here in Israel's second largest city of
00:28Tel Aviv and across major population centers here in the Middle East warning civilians to stay close
00:35to protected areas to bomb shelters understanding that in the minutes and hours ahead Israel may
00:41come under direct Iranian attack we are getting a new statement from Israel's defense minister Israel
00:47Katz he says in part the state of Israel has launched a preemptive strike against Iran defense
00:54minister Israel Katz declares a special and immediate state of emergency across the entire country the
01:00state of Israel has launched a preemptive strike against Iran to remove threats to the state of
01:04Israel as a result a missile and UAV drone attack is expected against the state of Israel and its
01:11civilian population in the immediate time frame remember there has been an ongoing U.S. military
01:17buildup across the region for the past two months the world's largest aircraft carrier the USS Gerald
01:23our Ford is now just off the coast of Israel near to the northern city of Haifa you have the
01:29USS
01:29Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group in the Arabian Sea a variety of U.S. destroyers in locations across the
01:36region and of course U.S. fighter jets not only here in Israel but also in places like Jordan you
01:42heard just
01:43last night President Trump talking about what he prefers a peaceful and diplomatic path that was offered to the
01:50Iranians understanding though that they have been incredibly difficult in the past to reach agreements with and while the
01:57president sent his negotiators to the region to Oman and then ultimately to Geneva Switzerland over the past month both
02:04U.S.
02:04Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner ultimately the
02:10coordination was happening at the highest level we understand between the Americans and the Israelis if a decision was made
02:16to launch such a
02:18strike and so we are waiting to get additional information from Israeli and American sources to determine
02:24what exactly has taken place but I'm going to give you all of the updates that we are getting in
02:30right
02:30now as we receive them we understand according to the transportation minister of Israel that Israel has now closed its
02:38airspace to civilian flights again this is a precaution understanding that the Israelis now are bracing for a variety of
02:45of incoming possible ballistic missile and UAV attacks against their country remember we were reporting here live during the 12
02:54day war
02:54last June as the Israelis and the Iranians exchanged blows and the Iranians have the ability to launch ballistic missiles
03:03they take
03:03about 12 minutes to get to Israel and they can cause significant damage to major population centers here we also
03:11know that
03:11Israel has a variety of air defense systems at its at its ability and some of those include the short
03:20range systems the iron dome system the arrow system and also David sling you also have patriot missile defense systems
03:29and THAAD systems provided by the Americans that were deployed here in preparation for the possibility that a decision was
03:37made to strike Iran
03:40understanding that there will be a response as we saw over not just during the 12 day war but also
03:46when the Israelis and the Iranians in
03:492024 exchange blows two separate times in the spring of that year and also in October of that year again
03:56if you are just joining us right now we are reporting live from the Middle East where Israel has made
04:01a decision to launch preemptive
04:03airstrikes against Iran amid the backdrop of a massive U.S. military buildup across the region a special state of
04:11emergency has been declared across Israel Israel's defense minister Israel Katz is urging all civilians to head to bomb shelters
04:19immediately
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