How will Israel respond to an unprecedented attack by Iran on its own soil? That's the urgent question we start the program with today. World leaders meeting in an emergency session at the UN have warned that the Middle East is on the brink and that now is the time to de-escalate after Saturday night's events. For its part, Iran has insisted its actions were retaliatory. Opening the meeting, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, told diplomats, It's vital to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the Middle East. He added that civilians are already bearing the brunt and paying the highest price. Now, representatives from the UK and US condemned the attacks by Iran on Israel, but made it clear that they didn't want to see any further escalation. But Israel's ambassador rejected the call for the violence to stop, saying it has the right to retaliate in a time and manner of its choosing. The United States has warned that it will not take part in any strikes against Iran. Our Middle East Correspondent Yoland Nell has the latest.

Israel's air defenses call to action. In the early hours on Sunday, fighter jets battled waves of Iranian drones and missiles fired at Israeli targets. It marked the first time Iran has attacked Israel directly from its own soil. Explosions could be heard widely, including in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Israel It says that 99% of more than 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran were intercepted. Some of those that got through hit here in the sensitive Neverteam Air Force Base in Southern Israel. Nearby, seven-year-old Amina Hasuna was seriously injured when a missile fragment struck her house.

The children were frightened and wanted to run away from home. And that's when the missile hit our house.

The Israeli War cabinet met yesterday to plan its next move. One of its members, Benny Gantz, said Israel would exact a price from Iran when the time is right. And last night, the UN Security Council met in an emergency meeting following the attacks. Israel called for sanctions on Iran and reiterated its right to a response.

This attack crossed every red line, and Israel reserves the legal right to retaliate. We are not a frog in boiling water. We are a nation of lions. Following such a massive and direct attack on Israel, the entire world, let alone Israel, cannot settle for inaction. We will defend our future.

Iran's ambassador to the UN told the meeting that its actions, which were in retaliation for a deadly airstrike on its consulate in Syria, were justified.

These countries, especially the United States, have shielded Israeli from any responsibility for the Gazda Massacre, while they have denied Iran inherent right to self-defense against Israeli armed attack on our diplomatic premises.

Amid rising tensions, the attacks have received widespread international condemnation.

The scale and nature of Iran's heinous assault, the first direct attack from Iran on Israeli soil, poses grave risks to the security and stability of citizens across the Middle East.

Now, world leaders are pressing for de-escalation in a bid for calm in the region.

We have a shared responsibility to work for peace.

Regional and indeed global peace and security are being undermined.

All eyes are on Israel and how it responds. Yoland Nell, BBC News, Jerusalem.

Let's take a closer look at the strikes on Saturday night. Iran may have appeared to try and overwhelm Israel's air defenses with multiple waves of drones and missiles. But Israel's advanced defense system, known as the Iron Dome, destroyed most of them in the air with the help of its Western allies. Our defense correspondent, Jonathan Beale, has more.

How is Israel able to defend itself with the help of its allies? First, they knew about the attack. It was telegraphed in advance. But the scale was significant, with more than 300 weapons fired, including more than 170 armed drones, 30 crews missiles, and 120 ballistic missiles, which can travel twice the speed of sound. Most of those were fired from Iran itself, the first time Iran's directly attacked Israel from its own territory. But the US says some were also launched from Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. Iran has demonstrated that it has an appetite for risk, but it doesn't have an appetite for too much risk. It wanted to impose a cost on the other side without necessarily triggering a broader escalation and an all-out confrontation. So how were they stopped? Well, both Israel and the US were warned and prepared. American destroyers positioned in the Eastern Mediterranean shot down several ballistic missiles. Raf typhoons flying from Cyprus shot down a number of drones, as did US jets and fighters from Jordan. Israel itself has some of the world's most advanced air defenses, providing layers of protection. It's arrow missiles capable of intercepting ballistic missiles from hundreds of miles away.

David sling is the next layer of defense with a range of more than 100 miles. Then it has its shorter range, Iron Dome. These pictures over Jerusalem show the Iron Dome in action, the last line of defense. Ultimately, Israel spent billions of dollars to be prepared for exactly this scenario, had the help of its allies, and very much neutralized what could have been a much more consequential attack. Israel says most of what Iran fired was destroyed even before it reached its territory. Here's one that was shot down over Iraq. But there was one exception. An Iranian missile did get through its defenses, hitting an air base. Confirmation that it was targeting military sites. But in this case, it caused limited damage. This was a calculated attack by Iran, using just a fraction of its firepower. Enough to send a message, but not enough to overwhelm Israel's air defenses.

That was Jonathan, Bill, where Jonathan Conricus is a former spokesperson for the IDF. He explained what Israel's response might be?

Well, it depends really very much on the strategic aim and what Israel will try to achieve by retaliating, because I think that Israel won't retaliate for the sake of retaliating. It will retaliate as part of a bigger plan. Really, the problem here in the Middle East with the Iranian activity is that for many, many years, Iran has, in fact, very successfully built a ring of of terror organizations right around Israel's borders. That is a problem. The reality since October the seventh is that it's clear for Israelis that we cannot go on living like this. We cannot live with terrorist organizations on our borders that have the ability to choose when, how, and at what location to strike Israel, like Hamas did on October the seventh. With Iran's attack on Israel for the first time on from Iranian soil at the Israeli soil, that offers, if you'd like, an opportunity to really change fundamentally the situation in the Middle East and to improve security, bottom line, for Israelis in their homes.

Enrique has there. Well, let's speak to our Middle East correspondent, Yoland Nell, who is in Jerusalem, live for us. Yoland, good to have you. What's the mood there? What are we hearing from not only Benjamin Netanyahu, but his war cabinet?

Well, the Israeli War cabinet met for about three hours, we understand, yesterday, but didn't yet come up with a decision on exactly how to respond to this unprecedented attack by Iran. We're told that there are divisions between the key members of the war cabinet over the timing of a response and exactly what form it should take. Now, that said, Israel's military, we're told, has been drawing up all different possible options for a response. And you've also got signs really that Israelis are getting back to their ordinary lives after the shock of what happened. You had the Israeli military on Saturday night just before these some 300 attack drones and missiles were launched by Iran. You had them putting in place restrictions that closed schools and universities and limited the size of public gatherings. Now, those have been lifted a bit sooner, really, many people expected. That's being seen, of course, as a sign that the Israeli military does not believe another attack is imminent at this stage.

Yoland, Western allies are urging restraint. We keep hearing that word calm, but how much leverage do they actually have over Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing domestic pressure as well?

Indeed, there's a whole spectrum of opinions in the Just among Israeli politicians, you have the far-right National Security Minister, Itimar Ben-Gaver, who's actually said that Israel should go crazy here to restore deterrence in the region. While you have international allies who were so much involved, the US, the UK, France, Jordan, and other allies, we're told, were involved in shooting down drones and cruise missiles, even some of the ballistic missiles that were fired, really asking for restraint saying they don't want to see a regional escalation. It's interesting because within the war cabinet, which really has only five members, three of them decision-making members, from the Israeli Prime Minister, from his defense minister, and from the centrist, Benny Gantz, We're getting a bit more of a sense that things could be balanced. Benny Gantz has been coming out saying that really that Israel should strengthen the strategic alliance, the regional cooperation that was shown on Saturday into Sunday morning, which allowed Israel to weather this really dramatically large attack by Iran with relatively little damage and really very few casualties.

All right, that's really important context. Thank you, Yoland, for that update.