 You're watching I-24 News, we're coming to you live from Tel Aviv on this day, 44 of Israel's war with Hamas and Israel has blamed Iranian terror for the hijacking of a ship in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthis. The Prime Minister's office says the galaxy leader is a British ship operated by a Japanese company. The 25 crew members on board do not include any Israelis. Qatar claims that minor logistical issues are holding up a deal to release some of the 236 hostages who are being held in Gaza. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disputes this. He says there is no sign as yet of a deal. Israel has been holding funerals for some of the five soldiers who were killed in the latest fighting, including 23-year-old Major Jamal Abbas, a company commander in the paratroopers brigade and a member of Israel's Druze community. Well, for the very latest on what is happening inside Gaza this hour, we can go to southern Israel. Our correspondent, Zach Anders, is with us. Zach, what's the latest? Well, as of today, the reports coming out of Washington, D.C. from the Washington Post, alleged that there was a tentative agreement that both sides had come to some sort of agreement for a hostage release, dependent on a five-day ceasefire. But later in the morning, the early morning hours for us late afternoon, evening hours for the East Coast, it was then clarified by the White House that that deal is not in place. And then today, of course, Netanyahu, Prime Minister Netanyahu is saying as much that there is no deal in place, like the Washington Post had reported, that it was in place. There was some sort of deal prepared and that there could be the women and children released and the hostages released. But so far there has been no movement on that front. And a lot of the families that we've spoken to, of course, the last week, were very hopeful. We're anticipating that there could be some major breakthrough. But as of now, there hasn't seemed to be one. And of course, Zach, the cost of this war continues to rise for Israel. The IDF has announced the death of two more soldiers in the fighting. Sixty-three soldiers have now been killed in the fighting with Hamas. These soldiers are operating in multiple fields of battle. They're in northern Gaza, mostly in northern Gaza, but these operations, the operational scale has extended into different zones of control throughout central Gaza as well. Now, many of the casualties inflicted in the last 48, 72 hours have been taking place in and around Gaza City as the again, the hospitals are major points of interest and there has been heavy fighting. In fact, today Hamas releasing a video claiming that there was their fighters entering into a Rantisi hospital, another hospital about a mile and a half away from Shifa Hospital, showing that these hospitals continue to be strong points areas of heavy fighting. The IDF is staying today as well, that they have uncovered more tunnels underneath Shifa Hospital complex. Again, this is a very large building, multiple buildings within the hospital compound. The IDF also came out and stated today that they had operational control over a more affluent neighborhood in Gaza City where many commanders were located. It's unclear exactly how long the fighting was in some of these areas, but it was purported to be very heavy fighting just to be able to take this neighborhood. Okay, Zach, thank you very much. Zach Anders there. Well, our senior editor, Guy Azreal is with me, the senior and Guy, there is some breaking news coming out of Gaza this hour related to the Shifa Hospital. Yes, something that Zach has alluded to, the IDF exposing this underground tunnel in the complex of the Shifa Hospital fortified terror tunnel, talking about a tunnel that is 55 meters long, 10 meters deep underneath the Shifa Hospital. Obviously, something that the IDF has been speaking about for a very long time and we were waiting to get at least the much of the world media was waiting to see. Here we can see those visuals in front of our eyes now. Here's the shaft going into this tunnel being used by Hamas in the proximity in the complex of that Shifa Hospital. Another proof of the cynical use that Hamas is doing of civilian facilities, including schools, hospitals, et cetera. The IDF saying in a statement that these findings clearly prove the numerous buildings in the hospital complex are used by Hamas as cover for terrorist infrastructure and activities. This is further evidence of the cynical manner Hamas uses the residents of Gaza Strip as human shields for their murderous terrorist activities. This is nothing surprising. And yet the IDF needs to continue and show those visuals to the world, to Israel as allies, to really emphasize why this ground operation is so needed, why the IDF had to take over much of that complex to go into the tunnels and probably. Yes, sorry to interrupt, but I just want to go back to right at the beginning, we'll remember that the IDF came out with this kind of CGI graphic and it showed this tunnel, these tunnels going under the hospital. And that was the IDF kind of identifying the Shifa Hospital as a legitimate military target. And then you of course had a huge amount of outcry in the Western media with people saying, you know, you need to provide more proof. And day after day we've seen the IDF now that they have control of Shifa in the surrounding areas. Day after day they've gone in, they've actually taken journalists in, they've shown them weapons, they've shown them explosives, they've shown them all sorts of proof. But the tunnels are something different. It is important to stress that digging out these tunnels, exposing them is a very slow process. It's extremely dangerous. Absolutely. And that is why it is so slow. The IDF is doing everything in its power to safeguard its troops, only to use robots, other electronic means in order to get hold of these tunnels, only allowing the live soldiers in once they can clear that area. Also, it is taking a long time and now we're also talking about very extreme weather. This is not shown in these videos. This is not the tunnel. We're just waiting for the pictures. This tunnel was exposed yesterday and this is the tunnel in Shifa when the weather was better. Today, a completely different situation, very heavy rains and winds, making the movement of those IDF much more complicated in a very complicated terrain under that heavy rain in the mud. The camera is going right down into this. You can see it's concrete. It's fortified. Heavily fortified. Right down inside. And then 55 meters in length. And we can just imagine how masterers were able to go through these tunnels, get out in other areas where the IDF was not surrounding them and managed to escape. That is the disadvantage of the fact that the IDF is operating so slowly. Yeah, it's really intriguing to travel through this tunnel as it's being exposed. We can imagine that is some sort of an IDF robot that is exposing those images. Obviously, many of these tunnels are feared to be booby trapped. That is why the IDF is operating so slowly through this difficult terrain, through these tunnels. The mission of both exposing what Hamas is doing under these tunnels, but also to collect, and that is the main thing to collect as much information as possible about the whereabouts of the Israeli hostages that were believed to be held in some of these tunnels. It's horrible to think that the hostages would have been dragged through these horrible, claustrophobic tunnels 10 meters under the ground. It's devastating. This is the situation that we're in. It is clear that they're in hideouts with these terrorists using the civilians in the hospitals, in the schools, in residential buildings above them as human shields. This is what Hamas has been doing. This is what Hamas, how Hamas has been investing billions of dollars of aid that came into Gaza for so many years, building these concrete tunnels. This is not a cheap operation, not an easy operation. I mean, they would have spent millions on constructing these tunnels. Absolutely so. And that's aid money that has been poured into Gaza over the years, over the past. Yes, and of course, the Israeli government is also to blame for the fact that it has allowed so much of that aid into Gaza without inspections for the fact that Hamas was able to do without money, whatever it wanted for so many years. It had those plans that Israel thought they would not execute. That was a grave mistake, both in terms of the intelligence and later with the operation that enabled Hamas to execute that onslaught on October 7th, allowing Hamas to hide from the IDF troops. And this is just one of many that will be exposed as the IDF is working slowly through the Shifa Hospital, but also in any other neighborhoods. Right, they say there's how many kilometers of tunnels under Gaza? Well, the estimates are hundreds of kilometers. Hundreds of kilometers, yeah. Hundreds of kilometers of tunnels under Gaza, not just in northern Gaza, but also in southern Gaza. And then we can say this is evidence that the IDF has just provided in the last few minutes showing the inside of a tunnel which runs for 55 meters under the Shifa Hospital, which has been identified as a Hamas command center, or one of its command centers. And there you can see the IDF has managed to take control of this tunnel. Just terrifying to think that the hostages, children, women, old people, elderly people would have been dragged through these tunnels against their will. This is where the terrorists carry out their work. Deep, deep underground in concrete, fortified tunnels, painstaking work for the IDF as it takes control and clears them of explosives one tunnel after another. All right. Thank you, guy. All right, well, let's go to the north of Israel, because of course, Israel is also battling on its northern front against the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah, which has been firing mortars and other missiles from southern Lebanon. Our peer-stackleback is in northern Israel for us now. Pierre, what's happening? Well, Lord, it has been so far quite eventful day. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for at least eight attacks towards northern Israel, including the launch of both anti-tank missiles and motor shells. In addition to that, suspicious aircrafts were entering Israeli airspace earlier that day. They were all downed by the Israeli military. And we've been just receiving reports about a possible infiltration attempt in Stula, which is a community in the western part of the Galilee area. Now, later, we were receiving reports that this is a false alert. But of course, that triggered a lot of tension and a lot of panic here as well, because we've seen those infiltration attempts also earlier. They have so far all been apprehended by the Israeli military that is, of course, very present here in the northern area alongside the Israel-Lebanon border Stula, also an area that has been targeted by both anti-tank missiles and motor shells before. This is also where one Israeli civilians, one of three in total, was killed by a missile launch from southern Lebanon. In addition to that earlier, there was a missile launch towards the area of Khvar-Giladi and Mar-Galiot in the very eastern part of the Upper Galilee region there. The IDF has not commented on that incident yet. But we're all speaking about communities that have been widely evacuated of civilians, areas that have been cleared because they have come under constant missile fire from southern Lebanon. Today is no exception there. All right, Pia, thank you very much. Pia Stechelbach there in the north of Israel with the very latest on the situation there. Well, we were just reporting on this new tunnel that has been revealed by the IDF going 10 meters deep, 55 meters under the Shifa hospital. All of this evidence that the IDF is coming up with is designed to satisfy Israel's allies who are putting pressure on it to prove that they are going after terrorist targets. However, whether or not it's working remains to be seen. A new poll out today shows that US support for President Biden's handling of the war is falling. 70% of voters aged 18 to 34 disapprove. That's according to a new poll by NBC News. Well, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden have been at odds on the nature of what a post war Gaza might look like. Our correspondent Owen Altman has more. Israeli media made this the headline a 50 minute press conference Saturday night with Israel's top leaders with the Prime Minister saying this about the Gaza Strip on the day after. The Palestinian Authority in its current form cannot get control cannot. Apologies, we have a little bit of a problem there with that report. We were just talking about US support for the war and how President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu have differed on their vision of what a post Hamas Gaza might look like. Of course, that a very pertinent issue as the IDF continues its work to destroy Hamas first in northern Gaza. And there are there is an expectation that Israel will be moving into southern Gaza as well. Well, with me in the studio this hour, Ruth Wasserman Lander is with us. She's a former member of the Knesset and a former Israeli diplomatic envoy to Egypt. Thank you very much. Good evening for being with us, Ruth. And we've just been talking about the latest IDF evidence where they actually go into a terror tunnel 10 meters deep running for 55 meters underneath the Sheifa hospital. And how you tie this into Israel's legitimacy for continuing its war with Hamas, which we are what you're now are on day 44. It is it is becoming more difficult, isn't it, to keep the international community on side. You know what? It's beyond my comprehension how anyone can question the legitimacy of Israel. I would like to see the response of any nation after slaughtering, gang raping, massacring, beheading thousands of their own civilians and having rockets fired over their heads for almost 20 years, unwarranted along with declaration saying that had they had a single chance, they would do it again and again, and that the declared motive is to destroy the entire country and state of Israel. How would any other nation respond? It's beyond my comprehension that anyone, including the BBC, should question the legitimacy of any response, trying to stop those who had perpetrated these heinous acts, not to mention the fact that they still have 240 civilians held hostage. Yes, there are a few, a few less. They did kill a few they killed three of the exodus, of course, true amongst them, nationals of Thailand and other countries. And Israel is required to answer to the legitimacy of its actions by showing that which is obvious. And there is intelligence and there is proof. Some of it is coming out today. Everything will come out in a few days, in a month, in two months, but it's all there. There's no question about Hamas being deadly, educating its kids to be deadly and advocating for the destruction of the state of Israel. And not only that, Laura, but the destruction of all Jews throughout the world and the West. Yeah, we've seen a massive spike in anti-Semitic incidents around the world, haven't we? I want to talk a bit about this kind of, you know, misunderstanding, dispute, whatever you want to call it, between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Biden about what a post Hamas Gaza should look like about the Palestinian Authority, especially when you hear Palestinian officials denying outright what happened on October 7th. I don't think that there is a discrepancy. I think that there is a very strong siding of the U.S. And it needs to be recognized and thanked. And I can say that the government of Israel is extraordinarily grateful for the unquestionable aid that has been given by the United States, both politically and in terms of military for the state of Israel to fight terrorism and what it needs to be doing against the Hamas. There are differences of opinion about what needs to be done until some kind of a local government can take the reins. The Israeli side thinks that a long time needs to go by and a lot of reeducation, a lot of knowing at the indoctrination for a lack of a better word. It's not even indoctrination because it's not harsh enough. Teaching the kids and educating them that their role in life on this planet is to die. They bring the kids 14 years old, seven years old, as young as that, into open graves in order to make them feel comfortable with the ground. This is insane to Western ears. It almost sounds made up because it's so crazy. But this is the truth and the reality, which is being the reality of the kids and the next generation of terrorists in the Gaza Strip. The PA's financial incentives for committing acts of terrorism against Israelis. So one minute, let's just differentiate. There is a difference between Hamas and the issue of open graves and teaching kids to be there for the purpose of death and the Fatah. But the Fatah led by Abu Mazen, first and foremost, said that they don't want to take the Gaza Strip the day after. They remember in 2006, when they were lynched, they were shot in the kneecaps and then thrown out of windows. And they ran away from the Hamas operatives towards Israeli IDF soldiers. So they quite remember those years and do not want to repeat thereof. Will they be willing to accept the strip, governing the strip, where the entire Hamas will be, let's say, handled by Israel? They are only willing, as per Abu Mazen's words, to take the Gaza Strip, if that means a Palestinian state would be created in the West Bank, in the Gaza Strip, including East Jerusalem. Can anyone imagine in this craziness, in this war, in this unbelievable massacre that this is going to be dealt with right now or in the next few months, this is not going to be decided in the next few months and therefore what he's saying. And those who understand Arabic understand, I don't want the Gaza Strip. He cannot set out right because these are his people. OK. Thank you, Ruth. Well, let's talk about diplomacy a bit more broadly now because China, of course, this year, brokered a normalization agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Iran, though, not invited to the current talks going on in Beijing. This, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blames Iran for the hijacking of a ship in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthis. He's here to talk about all of that, Camila. And to clarify, it is the editor-in-chief of the Independent Persian. Great to see you again, Camila. Thank you for joining us. Nice to see you too. Thank you, the artist Lara. Let's start with the latest news this hour then because Prime Minister Netanyahu has directly blamed Iran for the hijacking of a ship, not an Israeli ship, no Israelis on board. But nevertheless, a ship has been hijacked by Yemen's Houthis, something that they said they were going to do. Is Iran directly involved, do you think? There is no doubt everyone know Iranians are, I mean, the Islamic Republic's people supporting Houthis. It is nothing to hide, everyone know. But here, I would like to open another layer of this story of hijacking a ship in the Babul-Mandab areas, which is telling us Houthis, perhaps having had an information, intelligent information, about a ship coming from a particular direction. They had information the ship has been owned by the Israeli citizen. So still we don't know if this information has been confirmed or not. But we understand that there is no Israelis inside, but the goods are not belong to Israel. But the owners has been told is Israelis. This is a main danger in my understanding. If Houthis has such a capability to obtain such an information, it's very dangerous. Otherwise, perhaps Iranian would help them to have such an information and it can be again and again such things happen. Here, we are confronting scenarios. For example, in the future, if that happen again or this frontier from Yemen become too aggressive to Israelis, it may Israel wants to open another frontier with Houthis in Yemen, which that has another dangers. We understand the Babul-Mandab, the Strait of Babul-Mandab is very important for the ship navigations and also the energies. And anything happened there or closed this trade can increase the price of the goods, oils and everything. And it has consequences globally and at the U.S. presidential elections. There is one choice, perhaps, here, which Israelis in the pressure of the Americans to decrease the attack in Gaza. Otherwise, we can see it possible than a frontier in Yemen open. More radicalized group from the Sunnis area may individually get in charge of attacking Israel or the interests of the Americans. And all this story becomes out of hand of everyone in the region. Certainly taking on a more global threat. And I want to ask you, Khamenei, when the Hamas leader, Ismail Hania, met with Khabenei in Iran last month, the Ayatollah reportedly told him Iran will not get involved in this war. It just wanted to get your interpretation of that. Iran already has their very difficult year last year. It was also a big revolution close to happening in Iran to make the regime changes. Still, the situation in Iran is very critical. And this is so obvious for the regime, which they cannot survive any other demonstrations in Iran or any anger to confront its own public. If it's not getting involved, if there is anything that makes them hesitant to step back from their wishes, it has things to do with their own fate, which is very shaking the hands of the Iranian. And they cannot survive this time. If Iranian again wants to confront the regime due to their decision launching a frontier with Israel or open up a frontier with the United States, that would be a heavy price for them. And it looks like they are not ready to pay this. And they prefer their proxy wars by their own militias to just getting this war with Israelis and Americans. And there's a list. There have been dozens of attacks on U.S. troops by Iranian proxies. Do you expect that to continue? We have to blame President Biden out here. And the good point that you just asked me the first question about Hussis. When he becomes a president, he removed the Hussis from the terrorist list without having any warranty of them. And today they are negotiating with Iranians over $10 billion to releasing from the Iraq, which Iraq is their own Iranian, and the money has been kept over there. So when President Biden has such policy, we are not sure if such an attack can be less than he really wants to still negotiate with the terrorists in the region. From the October the 7th, 46th attack has been launched to American bases and full missile attacks from the Hussi bases. So let's say to the Americans or the Israelis, interesting the region. Here we have to ask President Biden when he wants to really put an end to these terrorist activities in the region and exactly do the same thing as President Trump does with the Hussis and when he was so straightforward with Iranian regime. I heard your about the election and because of those reasons we discussed, so President Trump has so much access to elected again. It's a good question, Camelia. I will have to leave that. Thank you very much, Camelia and Takabi Fad. Thank you. Sorry for break. Stay with us. Trell is in a state of war. Families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well. Welcome back. You're watching i24 news. We're coming to you live from Tel Aviv on this day 44 of Israel's war with Hamas and in the last hour the IDF has released a new evidence proving that Hamas uses hospitals to carry out terrorist activities. This is footage of a tunnel which goes 10 meters deep and runs for 55 meters, a 45 tunnel which the IDF has now taken control of. It runs right under the al-Shifa hospital which Israel has for some time now identified as a Hamas command center and you can imagine that the hostages may have been taken down this fortified concrete tunnel. It goes deep, deep under the ground and crucially under the Shifa hospital. You know that the IDF has been going in repeatedly to the Shifa hospital, has even taken foreign journalists into Shifa hospital to show evidence of weapons being stored there. Some journalists in western media are trying to argue that that isn't proof that Hamas uses the hospital but there you can see for yourself the latest evidence released by the IDF in the last hour a fortified concrete tunnel running deep under Shifa hospital. Ruth Wasserman Land is with me in the studio. She's a former member of the Knesset and former Israeli envoy to Egypt as well. Thanks for being with us Ruth and this is just the latest in a long line of evidence that the IDF has come up with to prove that Hamas uses hospitals and other facilities as terror basis. Isn't it ironic that the IDF needs to prove again and again to the likes of the BBC after all those people were massacred and killed and documented by the perpetrator themselves that they are indeed the perpetrators of things that are in humane. It's not human to question that but nonetheless we need to take a deep breath and here is the proof for those who had questioned the validity of the claims and the pain. Well we'll have to see how they interpret that because we've already seen you know certain journalists on the BBC I'm sure you know who I'm talking about saying it's perfectly normal for machine guns and explosives and vests and bullets and grenades and all the rest of it to be stored in hospitals in the Middle East. No no it's perfectly normal to have tunnels under a hospital it's perfectly normal to have a British doctor say on France 24 news that he was very scared to move one millimeter in the wrong direction while he was serving as a doctor there not while the IDF was there because he was warned that the Hamas would be shot. Exactly, very normal I mean it makes sense it happens every day in every hospital. Talking about extraordinary claims should we talk about what the the Palestinian Authority is claiming today saying that Israel fabricated evidence of the October 7th massacre to justify its offensive in Gaza. It's a pity that the leadership of the Palestinian Authority even though it's not perfect but which leadership is is going so far as to say things like that because it further deteriorates their own legitimacy. It's a completely ridiculous claim saying that the Israeli helicopters are the ones who had perpetrated the mass killing at the Nova Festival. How they managed to be head and to rape from the air those civilians is beyond me and then they went on to in Arabic this is written in an official document. Just to point out 364 people were murdered at the festival. And they were not only murdered they weren't shot from the air they were mutilated in other words body parts were found in different places. People were dragged out of their beds things horrid. But at the festival specifically 364 is the largest death toll of correct but of the home. But the claim says that afterwards these helicopters then moved on to the houses in the villages and also did the other atrocities. So you know it's so which is I wonder if this goes back to what you were saying earlier about Mahmoud Abbas not wanting to take over the Gaza Strip because here's President Biden really pushing come on it's your time step up and take over the Gaza Strip. I mean what better way to get yourself out of that rather than than start to make claims as as for example that Israel is fabricating what happened on there is no way that Israel will allow the Palestinian Authority in its current state with the indoctrination and incitement in the school books and the syllabus to rule any kind of entity next to its borders. What is happening in the West Bank is another front all together and exactly as the Hamas had said in the beginning there will be more than one front. There is one in the South in the Gaza Strip but there is another one in the West Bank and a third one in the North. This is just the beginning. Israel is just the beginning. They say this they explain their roadmap then all the Muslims need to take up arms and kill all the Jews throughout the world and after that it will be the turn of the other infidels in other words the West and we've seen some of the demonstrations going against symbols of sovereignty in different countries in the world like in Europe like in the United States Western democracies whether or not permitted to do this is in countries in the UAE that are less democratic and understand the danger. Well let's talk a bit more about what happened on that dreadful day October 7th. Near Oz was one of the Kibbutzim the villages hardest hit by Hamas terrorists on that dark day around a quarter of the community were either murdered or kidnapped. Joining me now is Yahya Moses his parents Gadi and Margalit Moses were both taken captive from near Oz. They've been held for 44 days now. Thank you very much for being with us Yahya. Thank you for joining us. First of all how old are your parents? Were they in good health before they were taken? My mother is 77 my father is almost 80 and they are not in very good health. My mother is recovering from cancer she's diabetic she has fibromyalgia and other illnesses she needs her medicines she needs proper care proper food special food special diet you don't cannot eat anything that is there. And also my father Gadi is not a very healthy man he's looked like but he's almost 80 and has many things that he needs medicines too. What a terrible thing to happen in the in the last years of your life and tell me Yahya tell us a bit about your parent your father is a well-known agronomist is it he he actually taught farmers in developing countries how to grow crops in sandy soil is that right? Yes in the last 30 years or even more he's traveling around the world and guiding the people there the developed countries how to do better agriculture and he do this several times a year and also when people from these countries are coming to Israel he's guiding them to in Israel in order them to be better he love to share his knowledge so everyone will will know also. What a good soul what a good soul and here in your mother they they were divorced is that right but they they were still close they were still good friends. Yeah they're still close they lived in the same in both lived in rows I think less than 100 meters between the houses and my father her life partner Flatka she was murdered on that Saturday her daughter Doron and two granddaughters Rosin Aviv working up to Maltry. Terrible listen I know you were on the march yesterday with the rest of the hostages families and how does it feel to be with the other the families and what do you want the government to do what is the priority I know the priority of course is getting them them home but there is a bit of dispute about whether there should be a ceasefire there should be a deal what do you want the government to do well I was marching the old five days and it was amazing from seeing the support we get from all the public in Israel the amount of people that join us grew from day to day in the last two days there were tens of thousand people and it gives us the the power to continue the the struggle to bring them home because we don't have time babies and elderly people especially need to be home they cannot be like this it's not human for them to be captured like this what we want the reason from the march it was to meeting with the with the decision makers of this war and make sure that releasing the hostages is number one priority for for everyone because we have other army targets and with Hamas targets and it's a war but still releasing them must be the first priority and this is what we want to make sure that they put this in their thoughts and any decision that is making it's need to think does it help us to release them faster if yes we should do it if not let's find the other thing that can do it and I'm not a politician or tactical or anything I don't know all the information they have but I need them to know with everything that they know for each decision this is what they think they must think first does it help to release the hostages because they must be released as soon as possible absolutely I think that everyone in Israel shares that and everybody is thinking about the hostages all the time I want to ask you because we have a lot of reports unconfirmed reports Qatar saying you know we're negotiating and all the rest of it when they talk about reports they say that this is really hard but they say that women and children would be the priority and that that might mean that your father wouldn't be one of the hostages released I mean do you think about that at all of course I think first I think everyone need to be released even if it's not in one time but the deal itself should be for everyone because if it will be for part of the people we don't know where it will be the next so even if it's one deal they need to be for everyone and maybe it will be in steps one side give this and the other side give it but it needs to be one deal for everyone but also all the reports for me I don't take them too much seriously because we hear the reports from the first week and nothing happened so I don't know how to I don't want to get hopes and then get depressed because it didn't happen and then you are in a worse situation than he was before so I prefer to wait until something is really happening and not report from especially not from news unless it's officially from Israel government I don't relate this as a serious report because I don't want to get too much hope yeah I think that's very wise yeah yeah listen I don't know how you're getting through it must be extremely hard to think of your elderly parents in that situation that absolutely unthinkable Gadi and Margalit Moses they've been held for 44 days yeah yeah Moses thank you very much all the way I want to take one more thing that I want go ahead of course very important for us that's the international organization like the UN and the Red Cross especially it seems that they are not humanitarian enough for everyone just for one side and for us it's amazing that they didn't see them yet no one of those it just we don't know their condition we don't know who's alive who's dead who's wounded who's sick are they getting proper food proper places to sleep we don't know anything about them and I'm sure this organization can and must do much more at least to visit them and know their condition before we start anything of course we want them to be released but we don't first we must know their condition and we don't know it yet and these organizations are they're supposedly humanitarian but humanitarian is for everyone and not for only for one side and this is important message that all the world need to understand yeah absolutely to the Red Cross and the UN and all the other humanitarian organizations out there absolutely I think we share your pain yeah we share your anger as well yeah Moses thank you very much thank you for having me thank you thank you Yad yeah yeah and Ruth Westman Landis with me what a horrible thing to happen to have your elderly parents taken away like that it's just another of the horrors that we're hearing about isn't it there are almost no words to to say after each and every member of the families of the kidnapped hostages I don't know how they managed to be strong enough to speak and to walk and to march and to wake up every morning I think it's the hope that keeps them even though the Red Cross and other organizations didn't as he had said as your ear had said give even one small sign of life of health or lack thereof of the hostages something that would seem banal in any other circumstances very odd and very very frustrating it almost adds up to the fact that some women's organizations have not spoken up quite oddly the silence is deafening isn't it from the Me Too movement from all these feminist organizations you know we've had evidence of gang rape of children being raped of women being sexually tortured and nothing from these organizations Reem Al-Salam the U.N. Reporter on Women's Rights nothing it's astonishing it's astonishing on the one hand and on the other hand you have Iran heading the Human Rights Committee in the U.N. need I say more yeah yeah absolutely that says it all doesn't it but yeah I mean you can really hear his pain we've had parents we've had sisters brothers all sorts of people 40 I mean six weeks now 44 days they are inevitable heroes without wanting to be heroes but they are yeah when you see those tunnels on the screen it's it's really heartbreaking well let's talk about the fight back then because tens of thousands of Israeli women serve in the IDF and 41 female soldiers have been killed in the fighting since October 7th female fighters were among those first to the scene when Hamas terrorists streamed across the border from Gaza women here make up around 18 percent of combat forces unique in the region and rare in the rest of the world in the U.S. for example the figure is around 8 percent or Lieutenant General Oydata was the former head of the Women's Corps and the former chief commissioner of the Israeli Prison Service as well and she joins us now thank you very much for being with us Oydata so female soldiers have really been on the front line in this conflict haven't they both during and after October the 7th why were they deployed in such large numbers you can hear that the battalion of the border is a battalion that has 50 percent women and 50 percent men and also the commander Lieutenant Colonel she is a woman that's one side and the observers and the home front commanders and home front combat platoons as well women as well men and women all together so women is a fact in the combat units and of course in that line as it happened in the 7th of October and it's happening right now in Ashati you can see at the film now at the video that this is a battalion of the home front combat team also had a commander by the woman commander by the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as I say and women make up 18 percent I think around that number of combat forces in Israel what special capabilities do female soldiers bring when you are talking about combating combating it doesn't matter if it's a woman or a man they have to to fit to have the qualification and to have the mood to be combatant so I don't see any major difference between women and women I can see that in managing positions in decision-making positions women are enriching the decisions enriching the discussion but we are not talking about that now and if you look at our government if you look at the higher ranks in the military there are fewer women over there if at all there was a debate prior to October 7th about women's role in the army would you say that the sheer courage and bravery we've seen from these soldiers have put that debate to bed once and for all that women are equal to male on the battlefield you know that that debate has been for I remember it 25 years ago women cannot be here women cannot do that I think the question is unquestionable questionable in our days because as you said put to bed because we have seen what they have done on the October 7th and since then so it's obvious and to be very clear I would say that utilizing the human resource of the IDF is a fact that women should be there the IDF needs the women in all these positions and all that combat positions and others of course now we are concentrating on the combatants but it's the best way to fully utilize human resource in Israel which you know we are not very rich in human resource we are a small country all right can I ask you about the prisons because you were in a senior position in the prison authority and hundreds of Palestinians with links to Hamas they've been deemed a security risk have been arrested in the West Bank over the past six weeks and how sustainable is that how long will they be kept the high bars for security reasons excuse me but let me correct you they are not arrested because they have links to Hamas they have been arrested because they are suspected in terror activities or terror planning so that's the way and they are under a judicial system and judicial process like anyone else the others who are under what we call administrative custody it's a little bit different because this is something that is not through a regular legal procedure but they are being supervised and by the court so no one is behind bars just because he has some links or he thinks that he likes Hamas for example so that's one thing the other thing is that the idea the IPS the Israel Prison Service which I was the commissioner of it and nowadays there is also a woman who is a commissioner over there is very professional they know what their profession they do it at the best way they can they keep them all with their rights health and whatever is needed even though the Red Courses asked them if they remember that they need to keep them in a way that is respectful and etc and the commissioner the current commissioner asked them again she said of course we do you know us you visit us always but I'm sure that you are trying of course in a cynical way you are trying to do the same for our hostages in the Gaza by the Hamas so be sure that they are being kept at the right way with all what with all the needs that they that they need that they don't get you know extras yeah the minimum needs they do have it all right yeah we're learning a lot about the priorities of the Red Cross this week aren't we Lieutenant General Ori Adato thank you very much great to talk to you thank you thank you all right well on a lighter note a bunch of cowboys have shown up in Israel to help out Emily Francis met them near the border with Gaza as they were picking cherry tomatoes and cleaning up the vineyards it's not every day that you see cowboys tilling the land of Israel but these passionate men and women are here with the purpose much bigger than themselves the up until October 7th you know the the job was just straightforward we were helping the farms and then when October 7th have the atrocities happen we our job just went to a new level because the foreign workers were leaving the men and women that were called up into reserve duty had to leave which pulled the farms basically empty so yeah today is wrapping taking the old tomatoes out and tying up these so they can come in and and get the new crops in Joshua Waller and his big family are Christian farmers from Tennessee who moved to Israel 14 years ago with a big mission called Hayyovell or in English serveisrael.com yeah that's looking good it's not going all the way through there you go oh it's good it can all stay up there anyway green thumb I'm sorry Joshua no it looks good well just wrap it up now I can remember back on the farm in Tennessee there was a Israeli flag with a menorah right in our living room on top of our piano we were raised with the understanding Christian Zionist understanding that if Israel ever needed help we would be the first to be here you know we'll harvest up to 400 tons of grapes in a year hand picked we'll plant just this year before the war we planted 20,000 vines and trees together like after october 7th Joshua and his family brought dozens of volunteers from all over the united states to help keep the agriculture alive and flourishing during the war so but these are like perfectly edible you can just take them off and eat them for lunch right now or eat them for a snack but uh yeah the color is amazing and Josiah Hilton of Virginia Beach is already a veteran of four years the story here and it's a huge part of the nation of Israel is and i think that's something we kind of lose around the world is the agriculture and getting back to farming and uh you know growing your own food and that kind of stuff and it's uh it's how the world goes around because you can't you can't live without the farmers so here especially in Israel even though there's a there's a big war and there's so many people fighting for their lives in Gaza and you still have to keep the farms going and there's not a famine during wartime so we're privileged and we're blessed to be here to be able to help the farmers and and do what we can't I can't I can't go into Gaza and fight so I'm gonna I'm gonna help here on the farms these men and women are proud to call themselves Christian Zionists because they are a faith-based community who live by the word of God right now there's a there's a movement around the world of people who are saying you know Zionists are evil and Zionists are uh whatever the the colonizers and there's all this there's all this really it's just nonsense but but but Zionism is based on a biblical concept about Zionism is based on the the fact that the Jewish people belong in the land of Israel and so we we created the shirt it's hashtag proud Zionists we're not we're not afraid to be called Zionist I'm not ashamed of the term Zionist somebody calls me a Zionist that's that's that makes me proud God doesn't change his mind when he makes a promise he that's just it it's solid it stands that way forever and so when he chose the Jewish people that was that was uh that was that was it and we we don't argue with God we we say okay that's great you made a choice and we we're gonna back that up we're not arguing with God and uh to be here to be a part of it has has been a huge honor who was it I second Samuel chapter 15 tells a remarkable story Itai was a man from Gath who brought his 600 man army to Jerusalem to join King David Joshua and his family also host a popular podcast called the Israel guys and since October 7th they've managed to raise millions for Operation Itai to help first responders keep safe and then the second part is is actually bringing those supplies in so we've airlifted uh the first million dollars of equipment has arrived and uh slowly we're bringing the rest of it and we've got about two and a half million now Joshua cites a famous quote by author Mark Twain when I asked him what their message is to the millions of people around the world spewing anti-Semitic and anti-Israel vitriol Mark Twain said tell us what the lies travel around the world 10 times while the truth is still getting its boots on that's the truth and tiktok we haven't laced the boots yet right yeah still sitting he's just trying to get the boots on right so unfortunately that's the that's the news and and tiktok and and instagram and all these these entity you know twitter and all the stuff x like all these things are horrible uh they they accentuate the fact that lies travel so quickly and that uh is an issue with this next generation they're seeing the bad before they get any chance to even understand the good in the Gaza envelope Emily Francis i24 news and people oh we love to see good guys from the heartlands of america here in israel helping out great stuff all right we'll stay with us here on i24 news celeb bend a bit we'll be with you next we've lost my lads my guests thank you very much to you stay with us in a state of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well your confidence levels are are increasing and we hope we hope that we are reaching to that point the special broadcast on i24 news i'm celeb bend a bit it is day 44 of Israel's war against Hamas and the IDF is stepping up its operations including airstrikes and naval file along the coast to stamp out the less pockets of Hamas resistance in northern Gaza this includes the area in and around she for hospital which today saw the evacuation of some 30 babies by the IDF from its prenatal unit now all this again at a cost the deaths of three more soldiers announced of IDF fallen inside Gaza to 62 rocket fire continued from Gaza into southern Israel and also from his Bola and other terror forces in south Lebanon into the north of Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Jov Garland are set to meet this evening with family members of some of the 236 hostages being held in Gaza while Israel denies claims out of Qatar of progress towards a deal to free some of them well let's jump right now to our correspondent Pia Stekobach who is in northern Israel Pia stormy day in Israel and in the north and also stormy along that border some pretty intense action there including tempted infiltration right Kalev both the weather and the events here quite stormy quite an eventful day today in fact only a couple of minutes ago incoming rocket alert sirens went off in the community of Dalton and the belonging industrial zone there which is located in the eastern part of the Galilee region now we do not have any information in terms of what those launches entail because rocket alert sirens go off also when their anti-tank missiles launched or also when there is an infiltration of foreign aircraft so this is what we've also seen throughout the day sirens going off in the communities of Mar-Galiott and Guiladi earlier this afternoon we are hearing that two impacts were recorded there no casualties reported the IDF did not issue a statement on these incidents that comes after Hisballah claims responsibility for at least eight attacks throughout the day entailing anti-tank missile fire and motor shells being launched towards several communities here in northern Israel and you are right Kalev there have been reports about an infiltration attempt into the community of Stula which is located in the western part of the Galilee region now later there were reports that that was indeed a false alarm but of course these false alarms talking about infiltration attempts cost panic it costs quite a lot of tension here because we've seen those infiltration attempts by first and foremost Palestinian groups many times so far they all have been apprehended by the Israeli military Stula one of the communities where one Israeli civilian one out of three was killed by missile fire coming from southern Lebanon and we're speaking about those communities which are very close to the border that have been widely evacuated already because of the constant threat of missile fire coming from southern Lebanon but of course these infiltration attempts as well now as I said a few minutes ago the Red Alert Sirens going off in the community of Dalton in the eastern part of the Galilee and we're waiting for information in terms of what that security incident entails. All right, Piaz Takobak there, Swami Day in the north. There were also some thank you Piaz there was also some sad events in the north today now as we reported 62 IDF soldiers have fallen in combat in Gaza since October 7th six of them come from Israel's Druze community two were buried today in the north Staff Sergeant Adi Malik Harib and Major Jamal Abbas our reporter Robert Swift was at the funeral of Jamal Abbas earlier today in the village of Piquin which is in the north not far from the Lebanese border and he filed this report I'm just going to step to the side so you can see a little bit of the crowd that are gathering here now you can see the number of people that are turning out here we've actually had to wade through cars to get here because the number of families coming together for this funeral is in the is there's several hundred people here it seems to me and the the the majority of the people here from the Arabic speaking Druze minority who are one of Israel's I would say in terms of their contribution to the state they're one of the larger minorities even if in terms of actual population they're they're not now Jamal was killed in one of the battles taking place in the Gaza Strip he was one of five IDF soldiers identified as identified as having been killed by the IDF yesterday now the story behind that is is somewhat tragic and that the the the company commander was serving in Gaza for so long since the fighting began several weeks ago that he hadn't been in touch with his father who is himself a colonel in the reserves and it's understood that just just a short while before he was killed in battle his father was able to reach out to him actually getting in touch through the army's own chain of command and discussing the situation in Gaza with his son however obviously there was time for family words whilst that whilst tactics were being discussed and his father you know passed on his best wishes asked him to be careful but tragically the the situation he could see behind me is is evidence of what the outcome of that was and joining us in studio is reserves IDF or IDF colonel in the reserves Olivia Raffowitz he's a spokesperson he's a spokesperson for the international media in the IDF and our senior editor Guy as a real gentlemen Olivier one basically one-tenth of the fallen in and so far in the battle down south have been from the Jewish community just highlighting the contribution that they that they make you know in terms of the military defense of Israel good evening the truth community is tremendously involved in all the security apparatus in Israel in the army of course and it's not the first time that they pay the highest price and we have to salute them we have to salute the courage the bravery and we know that they are all the time most of the time I mean the in the best units and what we see now in Gaza it's a proof of their involvement of their really willingness to serve the Israeli army and to fight against terror groups Akramas so again I would like to salute their courage and with them to salute all of them who have just fallen since the beginning of the grand operation in Gaza and all of them who have fallen since the 7th of October because they pay the price to be for us free country and the Jewish country in this area all right and there was a lot of talk about the role of the Druze and how they're being treated by the government by the state about the national nation state law and as a response to that where first of all Prime Minister Netanyahu was asked about that yesterday he said we will do whatever is needed to secure their legal status and we're also hearing that the coalition is already now promoting a special primary law that would anchor the rights and the status of the Druze community in Israel it said that it's happening under these circumstances right in fact I think the leader of the Jewish spiritual leader the Jewish community specifically mentioned that at the funeral of the Malik Harb so certainly perhaps I will forward said it should be under these circumstances as you said guys so we just in the last few minutes the IDF has published new and released new information concerning a tunnel a 15-5-meter-long terror tunnel that has discovered below the Shifa Hospital complex we're seeing it now this is really just released just now from the IDF we might hear more this about this later from Daniel Hagar the IDF spokesperson you could see there this tunnel is 10 meters deep underneath the Shifa Hospital complex this is what the IDF isn't saying all along major tunnel complex beneath Shifa housing command center for Hamas the tunnel was uncovered in the area of hospital underneath a shed alongside a vehicle containing numerous weapons including RPGs explosives and Kalishnikov rifles this is just the beginning of it the IDF is going to be examining this tunnel don't even know how far it goes how as we know this is part of the extensive underground system called the Metro or the subway in Gaza Olivia here is the proof of what the IDF has been saying about this these big major tunnels beneath Shifa Hospital it is the first evidence as a proof that we just talk about for now a month and weeks of course lately and we are going to find more much more tunnels we have to understand that we call we talk about a huge underground infrastructure of a terror activity that has been built for years by Hamas terrorist army underground beneath now the hospital of Shifa but also beneath the hospital of Rantisi and we know that it is all over everywhere in the Gaza Strip Calais right and by the way also other other further material being released weapons explosive devices found in the physical therapy ward an interrogation room in the cardiology ward and of course those weapons that we saw in the MRI center again this is what the IDF has been saying all along and it looks like it's just only really even beginning to go in that now as we said the IDF is saying that basically it has secured the entire perimeter of Northern Gaza both from the coast to the Israel border from the borders on the east end north and running along of course the halfway point of the Gaza Strip we did prepare a map and maybe Guy if we could bring the map up if we have it on the here and okay we'll go to it in a second basically showing IDF forces that have managed to attain control okay Guy why don't you just briefly just give us a little run down on this just to make it clear to our viewers sure it will be easier and not to hide the map the areas that we see in the green here are the ones where the IDF has actually complete control the towns of Beth-Khanun Beth-Lahiyah Al-Shati these are the areas where the IDF is taking complete control both with his ground troops and before that with the air strikes what the IDF is still doing at this point is surrounding the areas of Jabalia Zaytun areas still in Gaza city those areas are under Israeli control but still could be shafts of tunnels could be terrorists that are still hiding in those areas so fighting is still very much going on in this area and we heard from IDF chief Herzi Halabi that they're very close to eliminating Hamas's military capability in that area of the northern Gaza Strip but that area that we see here is just 25% of the entire Gaza Strip we're talking about 75 other percent of the Strip that still needs work and if we can move on to the next one we have another map hopefully we'll but yes oh yes but what we'll go back in a second let Guy just take and here we see the southern tip of the Gaza Strip 75% of that Strip Al-Muassi well this is the humanitarian area that the IDF has designated so many of those residents in the north have been fleeing through the main road into the Al-Muassi seeking refuge there where the IDF has ensured that they will not strike the issue with the south is that there are still two battalions of of Hamas terrorists located around those areas one battalion was in the north and we can surely imagine that many of them have also fled into this area add to that the fact that many of the Israeli hostages were also been taken by these Hamas operatives down south using those tunnels that we just one of which we just saw together with at least one million Palestinians presumed to be fleeing or already fled from the north into the south making this area a lot more complicated when the IDF moves on to the next plans and just an hour ago the IDF releasing an image of IDF chief Hurtia Levy in which he approves the additional operative plans for taking over the southern part of the strip all this information of course has been approved by the IDF we're not telling anything but it's taken from foreign sources but again yes as you said that information Khan Yunus of course the key that's actually a densely very densely populated area I've had some personal experience just can see as the road yeah Salahadid road we go back to the map we go back to the map the road that yellow south yes okay well let's look at the north you again Olivia yeah I just wanted to say that as you see the Israeli army has closed from the from the sea side and from the land side into the center of the Gaza city area and now actually there are first first fights in Zaitun in Jabalia area and as you know we lost soldiers yesterday right the day before before between terrorist and the Israeli army it's a very serious fight area and Hamas is still there trying to to fight but we are going at the end of the day right to destroy the a dense urban area really building by building building and we continue to have the population remaining there to use the Salahadid road from the north part to the south and illustrating again how close the Israeli community's war to these terrorists for such a long time well gentlemen let's go to the south our correspondent Zach Anders is down in this they rode near the Gaza border and Zach even though while the we're talking even while the IDF maybe has taken control of the perimeter of the north inside those dense areas Jabalia and Gaza city still engaging in battles and still making discoveries like we saw today just coming out now from the Shefa hospital and these battles the intense amount of fighting that we're seeing independently reported around the once the again the Shefa hospital and in addition Rantisi hospital about a mile and a half away also in northeastern Gaza city where Hamas is released footage showing their fighters running into the building then there's a large explosion the IDF has not corroborated or confirmed what exactly we're seeing in this video or what exactly Hamas is alleging they accomplished in this but it does appear that the fighting has been once again around these hospital complexes intense which speaks to the video that we are seeing released in the last hour that you've been discussing the tunnel complex and the access points around the hospital compound is speaking to the fact that they have operational capabilities around these hospital buildings we also heard IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Hect spoke about one of the openings that they discovered had a vehicle next to that opening that was filled with weapons and ammunition he said so you can piece together a little bit for yourself what exactly the utility of these openings could be to be able to have quick access to move around in this operational the scope of control that Hamas is trying to maintain around the hospitals they'll place vehicles next to these openings and then they'll have the ability to move both themselves and equipment and weapons quickly around these areas right and we should stress that even with all this happening inside Gaza Hamas retains the capability of shooting rockets into Israel down in the south primarily these days and of course some of that coming from the southern half of the Gaza Strip where the IDF has to start looking next in its operation there the IDF's focus of course has been parallel with its air superiority attempting to strike these rocket launch sites but as we've spoken over the past 44 days and we've obviously learned very much about these rocket launch sites could be basically underground of course they have to have some sort of opening to be able to fire directionally on targets within Israel really indiscriminately firing into Israeli airspace but they are for the most part located in very hard to reach areas so it's not always 100% obvious where some of these rocket launch sites are and some of the IDF's sources I've spoken to have said that's one of the main challenges is you do have a wealth of air superiority and you can glean a lot of knowledge from the drones and the cameras and the thermal imaging but there is still an element of needing ground forces to be able to locate some of the harder or more precisely hidden rocket launch sites to be able to identify them and then destroy them right and of course that's at a tremendous risk of casualties and we have seen unfortunately this weekend fair number of IDF troops there in harm's way Zach Anders down in Stero thank you for that Olivier I do want to ask you that today we had really the first major stormy weather in Israel I'd almost say winter weather here how does that impact on the fighting both in terms of the IDF's air operations and also perhaps also the soldiers fighting there and now the mud of Gaza I just got now that snow is falling in the German area in the Golan wow yes so already first snow yeah just in the winter time and the cold time and rain is actually part of a problem but also sometimes part of a solution because we are ready to deal with such such a situation and it can also make us some I would say advantage on the ground when we are ready for a fight in this in this situation from the other side let's not forget that many of them are in the underground areas and mad with water can be for them a disadvantage so all together we have to use we have to take this issue as an advantage on to learn how to use it against Hamas in this very difficult and very sensitive situation all right I want to move away from the battlefield on the ground there to a different battlefield one you're certainly involved with Olivia and that is the battle of disinformation yeah since October 7th there have been a number of false claims and conspiracy theories disseminated on social media claiming that the massacre of civilians either never happened or minimizing the role of Hamas in them now one of these claims is that most of the fatalities at the Nova Music Festival was not done by Hamas terrorists despite the copious footage that shows otherwise much of it shot by the terrorists themselves but by IDF helicopters indiscriminately firing into the crowds and today Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbasu we have to say is no stranger to anti-semitic conspiracy theories supported this claim in a statement drawing this response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Day the Palestinian Authority spokesman in Ramallah said something utterly preposterous it denied that it was Hamas that carried out the horrible massacre at the nature festival near Gaza it actually accused Israel of carrying out that massacre that this is a complete reversal of truth Abu Mazen who in the past has denied the existence of the Holocaust today is denying the existence of the Hamas massacre and that's unacceptable my goal is that the day after we destroy Hamas any future civil administration in Gaza does not deny the massacre does not educate its children to become terrorists does not pay for terrorists and does not tell its children that their ultimate goal in life is to see the destruction and the solution of the state of Israel that's not acceptable and that is not the way to achieve peace The guy you have an update related to this not related to this but rather to the Israeli war cabinet it was supposed to meet at quarter to nine it is meeting right now amid reports of some advancement with the talks with the Qataris on the hostage release deal according to reports in Israeli media which we want to be very I want to be very careful with because these are not confirmed reports of course according to the reports in various sources of Israeli media Hamas leader Yerhesi Noir has renewed contact with the Qataris who claim that the negotiations are very close of course we heard that so many times before a lot of disinformation from Hamas this is part of the war of Hamas but the fact that the war cabinet is meeting half an hour earlier means that at least something is being discussed Okay, okay yes, we're gonna have a little more on that because there were comments out of Qatar again and of course one wants to be optimistic first the release of hostages but unfortunately since almost since the beginning of this conflict we've had these kinds of reports but Olivia I want to go back to those comments from Prime Minister Netanyahu because as I said before actually this claim about the helicopters did not originate with President Tabas he's picking up on something that's been disseminated out there as part of this disinformation campaign that we've seen almost almost since the opening hours of October 7th trying to minimize what was done there there is a war within the war the war of the information the war of propaganda by Hamas by the allies of Hamas is another crime added to the crime and we have to be very careful because even if they lie and we know that they lie we have the videos we have the testimonies we have everything we have the dead on the ground we have the blood on the ground even that they will continue to lie and to expand their lies through the digital networks through the iPhone to the all these means and we have to be very careful very cautious because we have to stop this issue right now and to accuse them of lying and to go maybe to the high court of justice in Haag in Holland to accuse them not only to have perpetrate this incredibly inevitable crime against the the Israelis on the 7th of October also to accuse them of continuing to lie and to perpetrate to continue to perpetrate the crime and to accuse us so Mahmoud Abbas today is actually signing either is I would say either is is is fooled by not being capable to take any part after the war in Gaza because we cannot rely on him in any case what happened today with this statement is actually against not only the Israeli interest but also and before anything else again the interest of the Palestinian Authority and all these people gentlemen in Ramallah lying like Hamas actually are going to be seen by Washington by the administration as people who are not capable in any way to take any responsibility in any case for the Palestinian in this area so they make a big mistake terrible mistake and of course it goes with the statements that we heard from Netanyahu about the fact that he does not want to see the Palestinian Authority under Abbas under the Fatah movement controlling Gaza after this war with the fact that not only they have not condemned this massacre but now even trying to officially deny this massacre in the music festival maybe there are some disagreements among the Israeli War Cabinet about the future of Gaza after this war but Netanyahu is very clear that the Palestinian Authority that is still not surely not secure it's been a little ambiguous still paying salaries to convicted terrorists still inciting for hatred of Israel that is not the power that couldn't control Gaza for a better future right under those conditions let's say there's been some that is what Netanyahu is saying ambiguity but yes under those certainly under those conditions he says the Palestinian Authority can have no real Olivia Kern, Olivia Raffowitz Guy Israel stay with us we are going out for a brief break we'll have lots more when we're back just in a few minutes stay with us The special broadcast on I-24 News still with us currently Olivia Raffowitz a spokesperson to the International Media for the IDF and our senior editor Guy Asriel and speaking gentlemen of what we were just saying about Prime Minister Netanyahu's condemnation of these statements put out by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas seeming to back the conspiracy theory that Israel Israeli IDF have a lot of because most of the casualties on October 7th Yair Lapid the opposition leader of the Asian Tea Party who has been very critical of Prime Minister Netanyahu during at least in some regards during the past few weeks just put out this statement he joins Prime I joined Prime Minister Netanyahu's foreign condemnation of the abominable and false announcement by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry those who deny the massacre make themselves clear that they are not those who deny the massacre make themselves complicit in the worst crime against the Jewish people since the Holocaust where Lapid and Netanyahu differ is well that Lapid saying that the Palestinian Authority should control Gaza after this war going back to our previous conversation no okay he says about civil responsibility not security but let's leave it at that there but we did just speak earlier just minutes ago reports from the Israeli media saying there has been progress apparently in these talks that are being mediated by Qatar to free a number of hostages being held in the Gaza Strip we should stress that both that Israeli officials though have denied these reports that the negotiations have advanced to free these hostages despite this though Mohammed bin Abdul Rahim the Prime Minister of Qatar continue today to insist otherwise here he is speaking in Doha at a conference there when you come closer to the goal you feel your confidence levels are increasing and we hope that we are reaching to that point the sticking points honestly at this stage are more practical logistical not really something represent the core of the deal the deal is going through ups and downs from time to time throughout the last few weeks but I think that you know I'm now more confident that we are close enough to reach to a deal that can bring the people safely back to their homes whether they are the hostages on Hamas side or whatever the exchange that will happen will take place from the Israeli side but for more let's go to our correspondent in the Gulf I-24 News is Dubai correspondent Basjian Buri and Basjian it's very interesting in past years it's really been Egypt that served as the mediator with Hamas when it came to these kind of I don't know if you call them negotiations certainly not direct or indirect talks certainly and with also with hostage deals here it's Qatar stepping in so give us some insight on how Doha is handling these talks these new sort of negotiations well we're still at the stage of an attempted mediation I think is set in stone but yes the crux of the deal would be to the release of around 50 Israeli hostages that would be the concession as to Hamas in exchange for a five day ceasefire the release of several Palestinian women prisoners held in Israel and increased humanitarian aid for Gaza we know that Hamas has already agreed to it and probably instigated this deal in the first place since a five day truce would be of great military benefit to them and on the other side it's Israel that's blocking a negotiation for the time being well that's a court I want to just Basch and I just want to jump in and say we that's according to reports we don't have any confirmation of these details that is according to the reports so they're coming out of Qatar absolutely and but he can't say it again Sal we not stop the fighting even if a hostage release deal is on the table so much so that we can wonder whether Hamas has not deliberately imposed the very demanding conditions in this deal to force Israel to refuse it and thus lose its credibility and behind this Qatar is also very careful about its image because the Qataris cannot agree to mediate in impossible deals it would tarnish their image as negotiators remember that Doha has good relations with the four main players in this conflict namely Hamas Israel the US and Iran and only Qatar is in the situation among the external actors that can weigh in in this conflict on this conflict well the question is does Qatar have any leverage with Hamas for it to be less demanding I mean basically it's provided the financial backing certainly for Hamas's operations in Gaza as well as playing host to top Hamas officials there in Doha so how much leverage does that give it over Hamas well absolutely the Qataris can have leverage because they keep Hamas and even the Palestinian authority alive by spending billions of dollars to develop their infrastructures hospitals education system and so on even if it has been proven that Hamas uses some of this money to develop its military capabilities and incidentally to maintain the rather comfortable lifestyle of its leaders now is it in Qatar's interest to force Hamas to be less demanding yes as well and they might be forced to do so because we know that the U.S. has made Qatar its best non-nato ally Washington sells arms without counting the cost defends Qatar interests so the Qataris depend on the Americans and any dependence is a weakness so the Biden administration has levers to force Doha to be less favorable to Hamas All right Bastian stay with us I want to move now from Qatar to another country down there in the Gulf and that's Yemen because in the Red Sea today Yemen's ran back Tutti rebels seized a freighter which in the Red Sea called the Galaxy Leader claiming it as an Israeli ship but the Israeli government which slammed the hijacking as quote Iranian terrorism said there are no Israelis among the crew and the Bahami Bahamian flag vessel is owned by a UK based company they're apparently with some Israeli investors though it's managed by a Japanese firm and again we've seen actions like this even by Iran itself what is the impact of having the Houthis now do with acting perhaps as an Iranian proxy in this regard Bastian Well first the bottom line Kalev is that the Houthis made a mistake because this board isn't linked to Israel anymore it was sold to a Japanese company but the intention was there and the Houthis are in fact carrying out a threat they have been making since the beginning of this conflict October 7th that of attacking boats not necessarily carrying Israeli passengers or crew but boats more broadly speaking flying the Israeli flag or even chartered by Israeli ship owners today they obviously got the wrong goods but Israeli ships are nonetheless numerous in the Red Sea which is the you know the only way out for Israeli trade to Asian markets it's almost surprising that the Houthis waited 44 days to act in this area where the Americans have nevertheless deployed naval vessels which shows that the sea is a very hard element to monitor and control effectively much more difficult that the sky since almost all the drones and missiles fired by the Houthis at Israel in recent weeks have been intercepted either by the American Navy or by the Israeli air defense so this boat jacking today even if it's a failure at the end of the day has the same goal as has both as actions in northern Israel for instance the Houthis backed by Iran want to maintain an additional military front to divide Sahab all right Bastian Burry there in Dubai thank you for that I just want to inform the viewers that we do expect the idea of spokesperson we're at Mildenio Higari to begin his briefing any moment we will break into that immediately when it does happen Olivia first of all let's a word about Yemen because this is we're almost I think kind of under reported or maybe given so much going on in Gaza in the northern border or even in the West Bank kind of underplaying the role unprecedented that the Houthi rebels are doing to have a basically a force a non-governmental force in a country thousands of miles away firing rockets on Israel is unprecedented and there's your quite limited in it it's certainly not in this ability defend itself but in its in its ability to to take offensive action against the Houthis it is a mistake to think that it is Yemen responsible for this action again the ship the vessel and also to see Yemen responsible for the launching on missiles outside Yemen as a nation since these are the Houthi rebels I mean it's a nation but I mean the capabilities and the technology is not Yemenite obviously he's Iranian he's Iranian actually are using as a proxy Yemenite and the Houthi rebels so-called to attack Israel and now to hijack a ship so that it was an Israeli one but all together we are we are witnessing here the Iranian strategy to actually to settle very strong influence in the Red Sea trying to disrupt the world trade in this area to to maneuver and to threaten the American interest the British interest of course the Israeli soul but Yemen Yemen as it is now is actually the result of Iranian strategy and the American know it very well now we have to see what the American will do with the fleet with the two aircraft carriers and with the submarine in the area to stop this humanite Iranian offensive against against free free trade in this area and again the Israeli interest far away 1,500 kilometers from Yemen it is Israel and they actually are launching missiles which is actually ballistic missile with a very very serious and very developed technology Iranian one right well I just want to remind that for viewers a case for that because you mentioned the US involvement there we did see actually apparently in one incident at least US naval forces in the Red Sea actually intercept missiles shot from Yemen not only that we reported exclusively here that the Saudis have intercepted one of those rockets as well so whether they knew this was directed towards Israel or not this in many cases these rockets fly over US US ships and around the Saudi territory and therefore they were intercepted in that case regardless just emphasizes again the regional threat here that the Houthis pose to the entire region not just to Israel and therefore and we also saw some criticism in the US today in some publications about the mild response of the Biden administration to the ongoing attacks on American targets in the region right I just think it's ironic that before the October 7th there was a lot of discussion about a possible mutual defense pact that would involve the United States Saudi Arabia and Israel and even though now those talks have also been suspended because of what's happened as we say in Israel before or almost in actuality or de facto we are seeing a kind of defense cooperation between those to doing those parties even if it's not direct and we don't to be honest we don't even know if it was direct if there are those so maybe under the table kind of talks there you see I mean Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world and actually is used by Iran like Hamas Islamic Jihad groups Hezbollah are used by Iran to move their own interest on the actually on the disadvantage of the people living there if it is Yemenite if it is Ghazan people if it is Lebanese people but Iran doesn't care they are using these platforms against Israel against the American interests against the Brits and now in the Red Sea it is a very very dangerous development Caleb because we see the direct involvement of the Houthis actually Iran behind the scene trying to move something and we are in a very delicate area right now with so many forces around All right I want to move back to Ghazna because of other development this weekend that is some significance Israel did begin this weekend allowing the importation of some fuel into the Gaza Strip primarily in order to enable the ships water and sewage plants to continue operating now this move was approved by the Israeli security cabinet reportedly in response to heavy pressure from the Biden administration now Prime Minister Netanyahu had previously said that no fuel would be allowed into the Gaza Strip until the release of some hostages did defend the move at a press conference last night here's some of what he had to say Israel abides by the laws of war that's how our army works the most moral army in the world humanitarian aid is also vital to maintain international support without humanitarian aid even our best friends will find it difficult to support us over time and it will be very difficult for us to continue the war until the end Olivier let's talk about this decision a lot of discussion I don't expect you to get into the politics of it that is a kind of discussion at the end of the day though obviously the military of the security establishment had a way in on the allowing this fuel into Gaza despite concerns of course that have been said all along that Hamas could hijack this fuel or the simple fact that it has its own fuel reserves that it's hoarding inside Gaza this fuel is very important for the military operation in the Gaza Strip why because it also help to assist the sewage and the water treatment infrastructures in order to prevent illnesses and problems of pollution within the Gaza Strip if there is a problem it will also hurt and also prevent the Israeli army to move because we will then need to deal with the population of these I would say humanitarian problems of this issue which is an humanitarian issue has to be dealt right now in order to allow the Israeli army to continue the military move without dealing with these issues which can be also very serious one and I think it's a very clever decision and a very wise one for the operation altogether All right we do have to say guy there are some in the government particularly those put oh let's go to Daniel Hagar right now this could be a long brief for five days now our forces are operating to expose terror infrastructure at the Shifa Hospital this evening we've exposed initial findings from the ongoing operation at if forces in the Shin Bet have located in the hospital the vehicle of the Nuqba force this vehicle was part of the vehicles that penetrated Israel on the 7th of October and executed the terrible massacre next to the vehicle we found a shaft an underground shaft well hidden in the same compound in the past several days we investigated and we exposed the terror tunnel under the hospital we've shown this to the entire world our forces continue to investigate and expose the terror infrastructure that Hamas has been hiding we are determined to expose the truth at the same time our forces continue the ground operation in other arenas in the north part of the Gaza Strip every ground operation that we're executing is followed with the Israeli Air Force jets strikes in order to ensure the best possible conditions for our forces this evening we will expose to the world further evidence that show how Hamas is executing war crimes in the hospitals I want to stress some of the descriptions and the images the dual show are not easy to watch this morning we notified the families of Norm Artziano on the pathological information she was taken to a hideout apartment next to Shifa during the Israeli strikes a terrorist that held her was killed she was injured in the strike but I want to stress that she was not injured in a life-threatening situation this was determined by the pathological report this is unlike the false videos published by Hamas that attempted to claim as if Noa was killed by IDF strikes according to the information the intelligence information the concrete information that we have Noa was taken by Hamas terrorists from the place where she was being held inside the Shifa hospital where she was murdered by a Hamas terrorist let me stress again in the hospital the place that is supposed to take care of human lives was used by Hamas for murder further intelligence information shows that other hostages were at the hospital at different times in the complex together with the IDF operate Shin Bet agents that investigate the medical staff we have located information that documented the arrival of hostages into the hospital during the massacre we show for the first time documentation of hostages a Nepalese and a Thai citizen citizens that were taken by Hamas into the hospital we've updated their families and their states the world cannot say that it did not know what happens in the hospitals in Gaza and the world must operate against the Hamas ISIS work crime now we will show the findings in English I would like to share an update on our hostage rescue effort the sensitive information that I will be revealing now was shared with the Marziano family this morning 19 year old IDF Corporal Noah Marziano was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists during the massacre of October 7th Noah was taken into Gaza alive she was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza City next to the Shifa hospital during ongoing combat in the vicinity of where she was held captive Noah Hamas kept her was killed and Noah was injured I repeat she was only injured an independent pathological report has determined Noah's injuries were not life-threatening I repeat Noah's injuries were not life-threatening what happened to Noah the world should ask what happened to Noah according to the intelligence we have in our hand a concrete intelligence Hamas terrorists took Noah into Shifa Hospital where she was murdered quickly Hamas murdered Noah inside Shifa Hospital our thoughts are with the Noah's with Noah's family we send our heartfelt condolences to the family we did not reach Noah in time this is only make the IDF more determined to do everything everything in our power to bring all our hostages home we've also gathered more intelligence from the hospital proving that Noah Marziano was not the only hostage taken by Hamas into Shifa Hospital I will now share concrete evidence of hostages one from Nepal one from Thailand taken from Israel during the Hamas massacre on October 7th after ruthlessly methacaring and taking people hostage the terrorists fled to Shifa Hospital they went to the hospital to hide here you can see Hamas terrorists drove back from the massacre this is an Israeli military Jeep they brought into the hospital I want to repeat and just to make everybody understand they're bringing an Israeli Jeep a military Jeep into the hospital compound a place terrorists should not enter they're entering with a military Jeep this is 1050 one of the Toyotas that used Hamas in the 7th of October are bringing hostages into the hospital we have found this Toyota a different one with all the gear and Nuh betoyota hidden in a garage inside the hospital she was ready to go to the 7th of October massacre like other Toyotas going back into the hospital using the hospital as a terror base another Jeep another Israeli vehicle military vehicle entering into the Shifa Hospital using the Shifa Hospital as a human shield shelter to Hamas terrorists bringing military equipment to the vicinity of the hospital click this is 7th of October 1055 a.m the evidence I will share was sent by Israel to diplomatic channels to the countries of those civilians here you can see Hamas taking a hostage inside the vicinity he doesn't look even he even doesn't look need a treatment but they're taking him inside the hospital I will now share this video that shows the same hostage entering into the hospital with a gunman terrorist inside the hospital this is the main entrance of the hospital click this is a 1055 a.m they're entering another hostage gunmen are entering another hostage from those countries I mentioned into the vicinity the terrorists are guarding the room we have not yet located both of these hostages and rescue them we have not yet located them we do not know where they are there are still hostages we need to rescue the Israel defense forces the world must remember Hamas is holding the elderly men women children babies babies hostage the Israel defense forces has a moral obligation to bring everyone everyone of our hostages home we will not rest until we do Hamas was hiding and murdering our hostages in Shifa Hospital Hamas was building terror tunnels underneath Shifa Hospital by now the truth is clear Hamas wages war from hospital wages terror from hospitals everyone who cares about the further the future of humanity must condemn Hamas thank you questions please we expose the section the our actions the intelligence that we have in order to show the world how Hamas uses against international law as a war crime uses the hospitals this is a method of operation we saw the syndrome T.C. Hospital and now at Shifa Hospital with uncurvical evidence how from those bases they embarked on a terror attack on Israel and returned