“Warning of a protracted fight, Israel and Iran carried out waves of deadly attacks on Saturday, with neither side heeding international pleas for an de-escalation of hostilities,” the New York Times reports.

“In sweeping attacks that started early Friday, Israel has struck at the regime in Tehran, hitting Iranian nuclear and military assets. The Israeli strikes have killed more than 70 people, including four top security chiefs, and damaged Iran’s main nuclear site at Natanz.”

“Iran, in turn, has launched barrages of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, targeting what it says are military assets, but with less apparent success.“

The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said Saturday that he had to head to a shelter five times overnight as Iran launched retaliatory strikes, the New York Times reports.

Said Huckabee: “It’s now Shabbat here. Should be quiet. Probably won’t be.”

Iran said further nuclear talks with the U.S. are now “meaningless” after Israel’s strikes, Tehran Times reports.

“Iran’s senior leaders had been planning for more than a week for an Israeli attack should nuclear talks with the United States fail. But they made one enormous miscalculation,” the New York Times reports.

“They never expected Israel to strike before another round of talks that had been scheduled for this coming Sunday in Oman, officials close to Iran’s leadership said on Friday. They dismissed reports that an attack was imminent as Israeli propaganda meant to pressure Iran to make concessions on its nuclear program in those talks.”

The Atlantic: How Israel executed its surprise assault on Iran.

“Voice of America told about 75 employees to come back to work immediately Friday amid escalating military action between Iran and Israel,” the Washington Post reports.

“Most of the staffers restored from months-long administrative leave were from the Persian news division of the government-funded broadcaster.”

“President Donald Trump spent the bulk of this week saying he hoped Israel wouldn’t strike Iran. But by Friday, he was all in,” Politico reports.

“The president had hoped for more time to negotiate with Tehran over its nuclear program, but once Israel launched the massive attack, Trump embraced the new dynamic, using it as leverage to try to seal the deal he wanted all along.”

Wall Street Journal: How a once-resistant Trump decided to back Israel’s attacks on Iran.

The Atlantic: What Trump knew about the attack against Iran.