Civilians find no refuge from strikes as Middle East war widens

Welcome to the news hour.

Israel pounded Tehran and Beirut today as Iran sent waves of missiles and drones throughout

the Middle East, targeting Israel and Gulf nations.

President Trump again touted efforts toward a diplomatic solution even as the U.S. continues

its attacks.

We start in Israel, where our Nick Schifrin is again tonight.

In central Tel Aviv this morning, the ripped up, blown apart aftermath of an Iranian attack.

Israeli authorities say an Iranian missile or missile fragment with more than 200 pounds

of explosives hit this apartment block.

Walls, now windows, into what used to be homes.

Remarkably, nobody was seriously injured.

All local residents were saved by sirens and a local bomb shelter.

When the last guy just closed the door, there was a massive explosion outside and when

you were right here, Peleg Ben Barak is a 27-year-old Australian Israeli.

This is what's left of his apartment, including the missile fragment.

And this is now his view in previous conflicts he evacuated, not this time.

And now will you stay in Tel Aviv, yeah?

No doubt.

I mean, we're going to be evacuated to a hotel today, hopefully, but we will stay in Tel Aviv.

That resilient, shared by 37-year-old Ori Manis and his three boys, including nine-year-old

Shahar.

We heard a very loud boom and it scared us.

Scary, but now a way of life.

On average, Iran has fired 10 missiles across Israel every day.

Everywhere it's a place that the bomb could hit, so I don't know, here it's where we live.

And Iran today also targeted Arab Gulf countries.

Iran's blurred and co-weight, which today woke up to power outages after shrapnel hit

power lines.

Despite all these repeated Iranian attacks, President Trump claimed today Iran had turned

over a new leaf.

We have really regime change, you know, this is a change in the regime because the leaders

are all very different than the ones that we started off with that created all those

problems.

The other side, I can tell you, they'd like to make a deal.

And who wouldn't, if you were there?

Today, the U.S. continued to strike Iranian missiles and drones, and Israel continued its

attacks on Iran's infrastructure.

That's left no refuge for people trapped in a war they didn't choose.

Today a child pulled out from the ruins of his family home.

Across the city, residential buildings are reduced to rubble.

The Iranian Red Crescent and more than 82,000 civilian units have been damaged or destroyed

so far.

Today, Israel also intensified its campaign in Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.

It hit this mosque in Al-Haim in southern Lebanon.

And multiple explosions rocked tire in the south.

Israel is isolating the south, destroying more bridges.

The campaign has displaced more than a million people, and now Israeli Defense Minister Israel

Kats warned the Israeli army would occupy southern Lebanon until a political agreement.

The IDF is maneuvering into Lebanese territory to seize a front line of defense.

Into those Israeli communities, since Hezbollah entered the war, Israel says Hezbollah

has fired at least 850 drones and missiles, including this strike during our recent visit

into a civilian neighborhood in northern Israel's largest city.

A handful of civilians have died, including Ofer Moskovitz, his funeral this week,

limited in size, and held miles from his border home town because it's too dangerous.

Moskovitz was an avocado farmer, and the well-known spokesman of the Kabut's Miskav

arm.

Ayaal Moskovitz is Ofer brother.

How do you remember your brother?

It's out to me to speak now, out to remember him, because it's still alive.

I can't talk to him, talk about him on past tense.

But Moskovitz was not killed by Hezbollah.

He was killed accidentally by his Rayleigh artillery fire.

Ayaal does not blame the army.

It doesn't affect.

The mistake happens, he died and he died, he can't change it.

That acceptance is not universal.

Hanan Rubinsky is an old friend of Moskovitz and fellow resident of Miskav arm.

It was five shells that fell into the Kabut, not one after another, one, five minutes,

another one.

Somebody's head has to be chopped.

His anger is felt in these communities that last year were promised the previous

war in Lebanon had eradicated the Hezbollah threat.

It is not.

You can't fool us every time, but this time we were fooled.

We believed that it will be white.

We believed that after a year and a half of this so powerful war, we'll have ten years

of white and we had only not even a year.

Israel's strategy is now not to evacuate the citizens of this area, but instead try

and push the defensive lines deeper into Lebanon.

And you see that village behind me, about half a mile, 11 E's village where Hezbollah

used to be based, now destroyed by Israeli forces.

Thunderous, outgoing Israeli attacks are the northern borders, drumbeat.

What army did in the last war is basically push Hisbela back as much as they can.

And there's no doubt that it has hurt hisbela as an organization.

It has hurt the infrastructure, but they are still here and they are still present

and they are still threatening us of a lens, and that's why we are here.

The IDF asks us to identify this company commander as Captain M.

He's assigned to protect Mithula, Israel's northernmost town.

Since October the 7th, he's deployed in northern Israel for 500 days.

Our job as reservists and our job as the IDF in general is to create a barrier and to create a...

to make sure that we are what is between them and what we consider our enemy.

We are like the phoenix, who is again.

Miriam Haud is one of those residents living in Mithula.

Are you glad that you're here despite everything that's going on instead of being evacuated?

It's my home.

It's my home. I never live my house ever, never.

But do you feel safe?

Well, not too much, but I hope it will all go fast.

And Miriam Haud sent him it is shared widely here.

Everyone hopes the war will end soon, but they're staying put, no matter what.

Jeff.

Nick, we heard President Trump again suggest that diplomacy could soon end the war.

Any movement on that front today?

Today, Pakistan reiterated what you and I talked about last night that they are willing to host

or be the venue for future negotiations.

But Iran said today that not only are there no negotiations,

but they vowed to quote, fight to victory.

And Iran, Jeff, is also publicly refusing to engage with the U.S.

as ongoing demands to stop domestic enrichment,

to cap the range of missiles and support of its proxies.

That said, one sign, perhaps, that the U.S.

is trying to eye a particular negotiator.

Mohamed Bogdor Galiyev is the Speaker of Iran's parliament,

an official with knowledge of the operation today told me that Israel's ongoing

targeting of Iran's leadership will not include Galibef in the coming days.

But Jeff, as you and I discussed last night, Israel is simultaneously preparing the country

to keep fighting for the next two weeks during Passover and accepting that their operation

against Iran may have to stop even tonight if the President declares some kind of victory.

And that kind of dual reality goes to this point as well.

The President indicates he wants to negotiate.

And yet, a U.S. official confirms to me tonight that members of the 82nd Airborne

have been given voice approval to deploy to the Middle East,

including headquarters staff and ground troops.

But a U.S. official says this could be a relatively small deployment.

Again, Jeff, what is happening here is the President is both publicly saying he wants

to negotiate and the possibility of escalation still very much remains on the table, Jeff.

Nick Schifrin with the very latest from Tel Aviv tonight.

Nick, thank you.

Thank you.