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EXCLUSIVE Caitlyn Jenner, CNN's Scott Jennings stuck in Israel with other stars amid fears of nuclear war: 'Not getting out'

EXCLUSIVE Caitlyn Jenner, CNN's Scott Jennings stuck in Israel with other stars amid fears of nuclear war: 'Not getting out'

Daily Mail​3 days ago

A group of Americans visiting Israel were prevented from leaving Friday, as the military strike against Iran and the subsequent retaliatory effort locked down the nation's airports.
CNN 's Scott Jennings posted videos of Israeli war planes flying over his hotel on Thursday evening and shared what was happening on the ground.
'Definitely not getting out today. Lol,' Jennings told the Daily Mail on Friday from his hotel in Tiberius, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
'From my hotel balcony I watched jets streaming over head headed west to east,' he detailed in text messages.
Jennings said he was monitoring emergency alerts that came through on his phone but 'didn't feel in danger initially.'
'The most tense time was waiting for the Iranian response. And then of course we got the news that all the drones were neutralized,' he said.
On early Friday morning Israel deployed over 200 warplanes in a coordinated strike on Iranian military and nuclear sites, killing at least four of the country's military commanders, according to reports.
Jennings revealed earlier he was moved to a safe room during a rocket attack in Jerusalem as 'the locals take it all in stride.'
'Israel expertly carried out an attack on the enemies of Western Civilization, and I'm glad I had a front row seat,' he added. 'This place is very secure.'
Caitlyn Jenner, the famed Olympian who is now a transgender woman, was in Israel for Tel Aviv's Pride Parade, which was called off on Friday due to security concerns following the strikes.
Jenner is staying at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv, according to an Israel Hayom report.
"I spoke with my daughter Kylie, and she urged me to stay safe. I reassured her,' she stated on an Israeli television news station. 'Don't worry, I'll keep myself safe, and they'll take care of me.'"
On Thursday, Jenner visited Jerusalem's Western Wall and posted a picture on social media.
All Iranian drone strikes, intended to randomly murder as many civilians as possible, have been intercepted thus far https://t.co/Ey6Fl02NTi pic.twitter.com/Mfb9V66tvv
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) June 13, 2025
'My heart is here, with the beautiful people, in Israel,' she wrote.
Earlier in the week, Jenner visited Kibbutz Be'eri and the Nova Festival site and heard firsthand accounts from survivors of the October 7 massacre.
Washington Reporter Matthew Foldi was also in Israel during the military strikes and spoke to WMAL radio host Larry O'Connor on Friday morning.
'I have slept for about two hours since I got here,' he said, referring his visit as 'my first potential nuclear war rodeo.'
Foldi said sirens went off in the middle of the night which sent people into safe locations and bomb shelters.
'I haven't even been here for 24 hours and I've already gotten a masters degree in how to withstand a ballistic missile strikes from the mullahs in Iran, which thus far have been completely unsuccessful.'
Foldi said that he was able to get lunch and still had Wi-Fi.
'I'm having a normal day in Israel right now, it just so happens that most of the meetings I had planned aren't happening,' he said.

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British involvement in Iran-Israel conflict could end up like Iraq War, MPs warn
British involvement in Iran-Israel conflict could end up like Iraq War, MPs warn

The Independent

timean hour ago

  • The Independent

British involvement in Iran-Israel conflict could end up like Iraq War, MPs warn

MPs have warned against the Government becoming embroiled in the conflict between Israel and Iran, as they said any involvement could have the same results as the Iraq War. Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs said Britain should be wary of any involvement, as they compared it to the British invasion of Saddam Hussein's country in 2003. Intelligence on Tehran's nuclear capabilities was treated with scepticism, as one MP said the Commons should have a vote on whether to engage in any military action. It came as Foreign Secretary David Lammy said any British nationals in Israel should register with the Foreign Office, so they can receive information about how to leave the country. He said it was tougher to help British nationals in Iran due to the closed airspace. The Government has long-issued 'do not travel' advice to the country. He also said the UK had had no role in Israel's counter-strikes. Liberal Democrat MP Al Pinkerton (Surrey Heath) drew a comparison with the Tony Blair-era conflict. He said: 'A despotic Middle Eastern dictatorship, a rogue state, a terrorist state perilously close to achieving a weapon of mass destruction so serious that it could disrupt the entire region. 'Members, as well as the public listening at home, may hear echoes of 2003 in that description of current events. 'And with talk of regime change again in the air, can I ask the Foreign Secretary what he is going to do to personally talk back the authorities in Jerusalem, in Israel, because what they're doing at the moment strikes me as providing the Iranian regime with the best possible propaganda tool that they could possibly have.' Mr Lammy said: 'He's right to emphasise in his words a degree of caution. 'He will have heard what I said in the House this afternoon, which forms the bedrock of diplomacy that our officials are exercising in Israel, in Iran, and across the wider region.' Labour's Barry Gardiner (Brent West) asked the Foreign Secretary what he had done to get information from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to get a fuller picture of Iran's nuclear capabilities. He said: 'The failure to get transparent information from UNSCOM (United Nations Special Commission) and UNMOVIC (United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission) caused untold damage 22 years ago.' Mr Lammy said he had spoken to director general Rafael Grossi last week. Meanwhile his party colleague Abtisam Mohamed (Sheffield Central) asked: 'Given that Israel's claims have been challenged, even by US intelligence assessments, can the Foreign Secretary assure this House that no UK military support, whether direct or indirect, will be given without the clear and explicit consent of this House and that this Government has learnt the hard lessons of Iraq and Libya and will not repeat them?' Mr Lammy said: 'Categorically, the UK is not involved in Israel strikes.' He added: 'We do have an important regional role. We have UK assets, of course, in Cyprus, we have them in Bahrain, we have them in Qatar, and we have a role, an important role in Operation Shader, where we're dealing from terrible threats to us and our allies from Daesh and other things.' It came as MPs said they feared the conflict between Israel and Iran would distract from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's forces' actions against Palestinians in Gaza. The Commons heard renewed calls for the Palestinian state to be recognised, as a UN summit in New York has been delayed by the hostilities between Jerusalem and Tehran. Conservative MP Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire) said: 'The Foreign Secretary said he was keeping his eye on Gaza. 'I'm not quite sure what that means. 'It's certainly the case that the eye of the world has been drawn to the footage that emerged as the missiles have flown of young children shot and bleeding out their lives in the sands of Gaza. 'As he said, 50 people hospitalised over the weekend or shot dead while begging for food. 'And just this morning, 38 people killed while queuing for food, or attempting to obtain food from the new American-sponsored distribution system. 'What comfort should all those bereaved families in Gaza take from the fact that he is keeping his eye on this situation?' Mr Lammy said he had met the family of a hostage who was killed by the terror group Hamas on Monday morning, who asked him to keep Gaza 'at the forefront of my mind'. He added: 'We are absolutely clear that the aid needs to get in, that those hostages need to get out, and we want to see a ceasefire.'

'I don't want Tehran to turn into Gaza': Iranians on Israeli strikes
'I don't want Tehran to turn into Gaza': Iranians on Israeli strikes

BBC News

timean hour ago

  • BBC News

'I don't want Tehran to turn into Gaza': Iranians on Israeli strikes

Long queues at petrol stations and bakeries. Long lines of cars trying to escape the capital. And long, frightening of Tehran - still shocked by Israel's sudden attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday morning - speak of fear and confusion, a feeling of helplessness and conflicting emotions."We haven't slept for nights," a 21-year-old music student told me over an encrypted social media app. "Everyone is leaving but I'm not. My dad says it's more honourable to die in your own house than to run away."'Donya' - she doesn't want to reveal her real name - is one of many Iranians now caught in a war between a regime she loathes and Israel, whose destructive power in Gaza she has witnessed on screen from afar."I really don't want my beautiful Tehran to turn into Gaza," she said. Follow live updates on this storyWhat we know as conflict intensifies'It's heavy on the heart': Israelis survey damage in city hit by Iranian missileWhat are the worst-case scenarios?Israel's endgame may be regime change in Iran - but it's a gamble As for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call on Iranians to rise up against their clerical leadership, she has a firm response."We don't want Israel to save us. No foreign country ever cared for Iran," she said. "We also don't want the Islamic Republic."Another woman said that at first she had felt a "strange excitement" to see Israel kill Iranian military officials so powerful that she thought they would live for ever."Suddenly that image of power was shattered," she told BBC Persian. "But from the second day, when I heard that regular people - people I didn't know, people like me - had also been killed, I started to feel sorrow, fear and sadness."And she said her sadness turned to anger when she heard that the South Pars gas field had been hit, fearing that Israel was trying to turn Iran "into ruins".For the first time in her life, she said, she has started to prepare for the idea of than 220 people - many of them women and children - have been killed since Friday, according to the Iranian authorities say Iranian missiles have killed at least 24 people in Israel over the same period. Unlike in Israel, there are no warnings of imminent attacks in Iran, and no shelters to run to. Even some supporters of the regime are reported to be upset that its much-vaunted defences have been so thoroughly among many Iranians, distrust in the authorities runs used to defy the regime and its strict dress code by going out with her hair with her university exams postponed until next week, she's staying at home."I get so terrified at night," she said. "I take some pills to help me relax and try to sleep."The Iranian government has suggested that people shelter in mosques and metro stations. But that is hard, when the explosions seem to come out of nowhere."Tehran is a big city and yet every neighbourhood has been somehow affected by the damage," another young woman told BBC Persian."For now, all we do is check the news every hour and call the friends and relatives whose neighbourhood has been hit to make sure they are still alive."She and her family have now left their home to stay in an area where there are no known government you never know, in a country like Iran, who may be living next to you. The Israeli assault has divided Iranians, she said, with some celebrating the regime's losses, while others are angry at those cheering Israel Iranians keep changing their minds about what they think. Divisions are bitter, even among some families."The situation feels like the first hours after the Titanic hit the iceberg," the woman said. "Some people were trying to escape, some were saying it wasn't a big deal, and others kept dancing."She has always protested against Iran's clerical rulers, she told the BBC, but sees what Netanyahu is doing to her country as "inexcusable"."Everyone's life, whether they supported the attacks or not, has been changed forever. "Most Iranians, even those who oppose the government, have now realised that freedom and human rights don't come from Israeli bombs falling on cities where defenceless civilians live."She added: "Most of us are scared and worried about what's coming next. We've packed bags with first aid supplies, food, and water, just in case things get worse."Israel says the Iranian armed forces have deliberately placed their command centres and weapons inside civilian buildings and of Iran's large diaspora are also worried."It's hard to convey what it's like to be an Iranian right now," says Dorreh Khatibi-Hill, a Leeds-based women's rights activist and researcher who is in touch with family, friends and other anti-regime activists. "You're happy that members of the regime - who have been torturing and murdering people - are being taken out."But we know that civilians are dying. This is a devastating humanitarian disaster."And Iranians are not being given accurate information on what is happening, she says."The main person in Iran - the supreme leader - is still alive while Iranians are fleeing for their lives," she adds."No one wants Iran to turn into another Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan. None of us wants this war. We don't want the regime either."

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