Yolanda Nell

Things have calmed down for the moment, but this is definitely looking like one of the most serious flare-ups there's been between the US and Iran since the ceasefire came into effect two months ago. And of course it's just a day after President Trump suggested again he was days away from a deal with Iran, having put significant pressure on Israel to stop its first confrontation with Iran in the last two months. And it's brought US-Arab allies back under attack again.

Once again. We've been getting some more details with a U.S. official now saying that the U.S. struck nearly 20 targets in Iran, these air defenses, ground control stations, surveillance radar, sort of around the Strait of Hormuz area. Iranian state media had been reporting explosions in the south, not giving much information about damage on their side, apart from saying that in one location two water reservoirs had been affected, and that was going to have an impact on the drinking water supply.

The US insisted that this was a proportional response to Iran's aggression. And Iran's own response came very swiftly. And it said it was really attacking the sites that had been used to carry out attacks on its territory. So Bahrain, that's where the US naval fifth fleet is based. You've got Kuwait. Sirens were going off there. It said that it intercepted hostile aerial attacks. Iran saying that it targeted a US air base in Kuwait.

Longer range missiles were launched at Jordan, where there's a US airbase in the east, with the Jordanian armed forces saying that five missiles were successfully intercepted. Iran also says it shot down a US drone over its airspace. And this US official has been saying that nearly all the missiles and drones launched by Iran were intercepted, that they're not aware of any harm to US personnel or damage to US locations. But Iran is insisting that it destroyed four of its targets. We haven't got a way of verifying any of that.

This is a report that's from the US news site Axios, and it's quoting an unnamed US official and other sources, basically saying that Iran's latest proposal focuses on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, ending the war, and postponing nuclear talks. But the commentary there is really saying that if that was to happen, if the US was to accept that,

It would leave it with a lot less leverage in any nuclear talks. And what Israeli media analysts are saying is that they don't believe that Israel is in favor of that at all. It worries that the U.S. would lose in that kind of a deal. And it's weighing up different scenarios. The Israeli security cabinet met yesterday in case things do really sort of fall apart there and there is a return to war with Iran.

There is a report from the Iranian Fast News Agency saying that Iran has sent these written red lines via mediators on the nuclear program and on the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump was very clear when he was speaking to Fox News on Sunday. He said, if they want, we can talk, but we're not sending people. And he said on social media, all they have to do is call. And his point was that Iran must make this commitment to having no nuclear weapon. That that was, you know...

Extremely shaky in short. Hezbollah fired drones and rockets at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and into northern Israel after that extension of three weeks was announced by President Trump, saying that both Israel and Lebanon had agreed to that. The Israeli prime minister then over the weekend came out and said that he had given the Israeli military this directive to powerfully target Hezbollah. Then he told his cabinet meeting that Hezbollah was dismantling the ceasefire.

Ok, so that would explain maybe why you get a sense of doom or fear when you're in a building where you can hear infrasound, but only on a physical level.

It was the Israeli Supreme Court hearing our appeal as foreign journalists asking for unrestricted media access to the Gaza Strip because, you know, during these last two years, the deadliest ever war in Gaza, international journalists have basically been barred from independently entering into the territory.

We've only been allowed to go to Gaza on these limited and quite restricted visits accompanied by the Israeli military.

So over the past two years, the Foreign Press Association, which includes BBC staff like me who are based locally, we have been pressing for greater access.

And in response to the petition of the Foreign Press Association, the Israeli government said...

This month, the media ban should remain.

That's despite the Gaza ceasefire that is now in place.

And we've been hearing here at the Supreme Court from Israeli military representatives saying that there's a risk to Israeli troops and to journalists if we're allowed into Gaza.

And a lawyer representing the foreign press has been saying that this is an absurd situation and saying that there's important factors here like press freedom, the public right to know,

and it's not clear at the moment when the Supreme Court is going to issue its ruling in this case.