Early Friday morning, local time, Israel launched dozens of strikes against Iran and declared a state of emergency, according to Defense Minister Israel Katz. "Following the State of Israel's preemptive strike against Iran,

Follow the latest news after Israel launched strikes at Iran, a dramatic escalation in long-running tensions between the two countries.

Benjamin Netanyahu has been making the argument that Israel faces existential threat if Iran gets a nuclear bomb for many years.

American citizens in Israel are strongly advised to limit internal travel and to maintain a high level of situational awareness. Iran remains under a longstanding "Level 4: Do Not Travel" advisory due to risks of terrorism, kidnapping, wrongful detention, and civil unrest.

Hossein Salami, along with some of the country's top nuclear scientists, were killed in the strike. The United States has denied any role in the strikes, but U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is in close contact with Israel and its allies.

Airlines cleared out of the airspace over Israel, Iran, Iraq and Jordan on Friday after Israel launched attacks on targets in Iran, Flightradar24 data showed, with carriers scrambling to divert and cancel flights to keep passengers and crew safe.

For quite some time now, Iran has pledged to destroy Israel while it supported regional groups that have declared Israel their enemy. Israel, on its part, views Iran as an existential threat and has vowed to prevent it from building a nuclear bomb.