 news edition. I'm Benita Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv is another hostage release deal imminent. Hamas Lida Ismail Khania has arrived in Cairo amidst reports around a possible breakthrough that could see the terror group free some of the 129 hostages held in captivity for the past 75 days. The youngest hostage is a baby. Kfir Bibas is now 11 months old. The eldest are in their 80s all abducted on the 7th of October during that brutal Hamas terror rampage. There is still no confirmation as to how many of the hostages are still alive. President Isaac Herzog has said Israel is ready for another humanitarian pause but reports suggest Hamas wants a full ceasefire. The last hostage deal was brokered by Qatar and the United States. Recent meetings also taking place in Poland involving the Qatari Prime Minister Mossad and the CIA. Meanwhile on the ground fighting has intensified inside the Gaza Strip. The number of soldiers killed in the ground operation is at 134. There is still no official verification on the number of Palestinians killed in the fighting and how many of those killed are terrorists. Take a look at these images. The 749th engineering battalion has blown up dozens of buildings in the Shiajia neighborhood in the northern part of the enclave. So now for more details we welcome to studio Palestinian Affairs expert Colonel in the reserves Alon Aviatar, former Kogat advisor and our senior editor, Guy Israel. Gentlemen thank you so much for being here. I want to start with the latest on efforts to secure the release of 129 hostages held captive by a terror organization for 75 days. Guy, what is the latest? So we did see that meeting a few days ago between the Mossad chief David Bornea, the head of the CIA Bill Burns and the Qatari Prime Minister. Israel is looking to get to another deal that to bring about the release of more Israeli hostages. Obviously the conditions are ones other ones that are going to be the problem. But first Israel wants to bring back all of the women that are still remaining in Gaza. Also the elderly and several other Israelis being held hostage who were seriously wounded in the October 7th battles or are in need of urgent medical care medications etc. The main sticking point of course is the fact that Israel would not agree to the main demand of Hamas and that is to withdraw all of its forces and put an end to this war altogether. Well just the latest that we are hearing and that is from the Palestinian Quds network that is a affiliated with Hamas. Well it is reporting according to Egyptian officials that Egypt will exert pressure on the Palestinian factions and Hamas and Islamic Jihad to agree to a humanitarian ceasefire to a pause, to a similar pause like the one we saw back in November during that previous hostage deal far from what Hamas is demanding. Obviously a demand that Israel will not be able to accept. Alon I want to bring you in on exactly that. Reports of a potential truce or humanitarian pause for around a week. What does that mean in terms of the IDF operation on the ground which is gaining much momentum as we speak? Well let's analyze the efforts or the military efforts that exist on the ground right now. The main effort is not just in the north of the Gaza Strip but also in the south which means Hanyunist district and Rafakh. We heard during the last hours that the IDF forces continue to attack Hamas targets in Rafakh city and around the city in order also to cross the option or to cancel the option of smuggling weapons and I would say the way that the seniors of Hamas could run away from Gaza to Sinai. We are dealing with a few famous seniors in order to kill them. Iche Sinwar, Muhammad Def, the brother of Iche Sinwar, the response of the big tunnel that we realized during the last days. A massive tunnel that can fit a car through it. Of course. It's not a tunnel. It's a wide metro, all right? A tunnel which means a small and narrow place. We are speaking about large basement, if you want. A few kilometers as a net, building a net under Gaza and Mawanisa. Those four seniors are the targets, the main targets of assassination of the IDF. I think and can assume that it's a question of time while the IDF forces will succeed to kill one of them, it will be a moral, I would say, step inside will have a negative impact inside Hamas headquarters. And if you want also in the Palestinian public, I think that the IDF, I would say in the current situation, try to concentrate the military efforts in those areas and find another tunnels. I think that this is enough challenges for the IDF, but during the, I would say, the next steps, I can assume that we will achieve another, I would say, achievements day by day, step by step. We have time, but we need more time to complete the main missions. Which brings me to a very painful development that, of course, happened last Friday. We know that there were three Israeli hostages. They were fleeing from their abductors and tragically were shot by Israeli soldiers. Tragic indeed, speaking as well to how complicated fighting is in that part right now. Guy, there is a new update, new information coming through on what happened. Right. It's a very sensitive story, a very complicated one. And the IDF continues the investigation into the circumstances of that wrongful killing of the hostages with one of them waving a white flag and all three of them not wearing a shirt, trying to do whatever they could for the forces to identify them as hostages and not to target them. New information that emerges just short while ago says that just five days prior to that event on Friday, a dog, a canine, operated by the IDF, has entered the compound, the same room where the hostages were being held together with the terrorists who held them. During that fight, the terrorists were killed, and so was the dog. But the three hostages with one of them with a rich military experience, when he saw the military dog, he knew that that dog may have a GoPro camera on him. And therefore, when they spotted the dog, they shouted at the dog for the camera saying, we are hostages, help in Hebrew. Unfortunately, that message did not go through to that day of Friday. There are some conflicting reports on whether the fighters during that active scene heard the sound from the GoPro camera, or was that only analyzed after the dog was found, and that was after the killing? In any case, just another brick in the unbelievable story of the unbelievable tragedy of how those poor hostages tried to do whatever they could to get the message through to the forces around them, that there are hostages being held there. And very sadly, the forces were not aware of their existence. And just so devastating that there could have been a different outcome, your sense alone on exactly that, the message, the SOS that was being sent by these hostages after all that time in captivity? Yes, of course. We feel that we had a very good opportunity, very good opportunity in order to release those hostages. It's an unusual case. No doubt about it. But we have to mention, generally, that using dogs as sensors, if you want, it's very effective way, very effective system in order to save human lives. And I can appreciate that those units are killed, are skilled and practiced with the dogs in order to release to expose also to find Hamas seniors and terror infrastructures as explosives and tunnels and so on. You have a few dogs for every mission separating. And I think that it should not to this case, despite the details and the story, the whole story, it should not influence it should not impact on the main policy or the main efforts for in order to release more and more hostages wherever they located. One certainly cannot imagine what the families of those three hostages are going through compounding the pain, this new development, this new information, which is emerging. But guy, your time Chaim is one of the three hostages who was killed tragically in this horrific incident that we are talking about, and you got the opportunity to speak to the family and what an extraordinary message coming out of the relatives of this young man. It is indescribable that the tragedy that unfolded to this family and the three families of those hostages. I'm a personal friend of Iris. She's the mother of your time Chaim. She was also with us here in studio about a month ago, while she was trying to get international pressure to bring about the release of her son was also different reactions to the misconduct of the soldiers there who wrongfully shot at the hostages despite the warnings that they get that they did get. And first of all, so many Israelis came to pay their respects to your time yesterday. Hundreds came to visit Iris to share their sorrow. But the message from Iris is quite incredible. What she told myself and the rest of the crowd that have gathered gathered there was that she has no anger for the soldiers responsible for the killing of her son. She does not want them to feel any pain. And indeed she said that the first thing that she asked for once they broke the news to her was she wants to speak to these soldiers and tell them that she has no anger in her heart and she does not want them to feel the same pain that she feels right now. She wants them to be able to continue their work. She doesn't want them to carry that pain of that wrongful killing for the rest of their lives. What an extraordinary message. It's very important what I say now because we can just try to feel what the feelings of those soldiers, they are feel for sure kind of guilty or responsible for this case. And I think that the main important for those three or maybe more soldiers and their commanders is a kind of I would say positive conversation with the mother of your time and the other parents in order to push them forward, you know, the main way or the important way to continue in those military missions is kind of those relax or calm down situation or calm down conversations. And we should not, you know, make it worth it, you know, the situation is too bad for them for sure. But we have to go forward in order to complete the military missions. Also in this battle on this special unit. Incredible strength from the families and from the whole nation, obviously grieving and imaginable what they are going through. The pain is immense and it's felt across the country. Gentlemen, stay with us. We've got much more to discuss. But right now let's find out exactly what is happening on the ground. We cross to our correspondent, Pierre Kloschendler. He joins us from southern Israel. And Pierre, we've been discussing a range of developments here in studio, including reports of a possible week long pause in which 40 Israeli hostages might be freed. These are just discussions and just reports at this point. Talk us through the impact of a potential pause for the ground operation happening behind you as the IDF works to eliminate Hamas as soon as possible. Well, you know, there's a fog of war and it's very hazy behind me right now. And I think that there's also a fog regarding the negotiations between the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas via Qatari Egyptian and US administration mediation. So we don't know much. What we know more is the demands that have been expressed publicly by both sides. Israel demands first and foremost the release of the remaining women that Hamas refused to release in the previous hostage release in exchange for a lot in the fighting three weeks ago. The remaining women and the two children, the infants, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, Kfir just celebrated, so to speak, is 11 months of captivity two days ago. So that's the first demand. And then the elderly Israelis that are held hostage and this seems to have been received loud and clear by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad because they showed five elderly Israelis that are alive. They showed a sign of life. And then there's also the wounded who sustained their wounds during the October 7 massacre and are held in Hamas jails. So these are the Israeli demands. Now the Palestinian demands, the Hamas demands are diametrically opposed. They want first of all an end of the fighting full stop, not a lull in the fighting. Then they want a complete withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. That's a no go for Israel. And of course, they want the hardest criminals to be released. Israel is ready to release Palestinian prisoners, even those who were involved into criminal acts of terror, those who have, so to speak, blood on their hands. But to which extent we don't know, we believe that Israel wants a ratio of one to three, like it was in the previous case of hostage releasing, one hostage for three Palestinian prisoners. But we don't know if and when those demands will bring about an agreement. What we know is that all sides are in agreement that it's going to take not days, but weeks. And that certainly is concerning because as we keep on hearing, time is of the essence for the hostages who have been held in unimaginable conditions for so long now. Pierre, you're talking about the fog of war and the fog behind you, but there were certainly very clear and dramatic images earlier of that engineering battalion blowing up dozens of buildings in Shajair in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Also, the army targeting over 300 sites in Gaza in the past day. Bring us up to speed on the latest. Right. I mean, the head of the 162 Brigade yesterday declared that the Jabalia refugee camp was in total Israeli control, that the Jabalia Brigade of Hamas was dismantled. That 1000 terrorists had been killed. 500 had been held prisoner by Israel. Among them 70 who are who were perpetrators in the massacres of October 7. Now, the fight is going on even in Jabalia. This morning, the Infantry Nachal Brigade found a truck mounted with a battery of long range rockets that could hit Tel Aviv. The truck was destroyed. There were clashes with remaining cells of terrorists. And in Shajair, as you mentioned, we saw it by our own eyes because Shajair in the fog is around this direction. And we saw a huge explosion. We believed it was the engineering of the destruction of a tunnel. Now it appears, according to Palestinian media affiliated to Hamas, that there were 56 buildings, presumably terror targets, maybe sitting on a network of tunnels that were destroyed. But is it possible that it's 56 buildings and not a tunnel? It's difficult to know because the Palestinian media will always try to bring about and enhance the humanitarian predicament. And when you talk about building and not about their infrastructure, then obviously you talk about civilians. So it's very difficult to know in the fog of war. Now the operation is going on and shifting more and more to the Hanyunas area, which is the make or break of Hamas, according to the IDF, because the leadership, both political and military, is probably underground in Hanyunas because they're all originated from Hanyunas. Now there's an additional brigade that has been deployed in the area of Hanyunas in order to support the existing brigades that are fighting there, reserve paratroopers, a brigade of elite commando units. So the focus is really there. But yesterday the Minister of Defense, Joav Galan, said that there's a plan to expand the operation. That would mean either the central refugee camps between Hanyunas and Gaza City in this direction, or further south of Hanyunas at the southern tip on the border with Egypt, the city of Rafah. Thank you so much. Our correspondent, Pierre Klushendler, updating us they're live from southern Israel, more to come from our team on the ground in the coming hours. Thank you. Meanwhile, the families of the 129 hostages are still waiting for answers, as we've been discussing with their loved ones in captivity for more than 10 weeks now. One of the hostages is 38-year-old father of two Tamir Adar, abducted on the 7th of October during the Hamas rampage. He left his home at 6.30 a.m. on that day. As part of the Kibbutz Miroir's emergency squad, his 85-year-old grandmother Yaffa Adar was also kidnapped. She was released in the first hostage deal last month. Tamir's mother Yael Adar sharing this message after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We held an intimate meeting about 19 families with the Israeli Prime Minister. The meeting was generally positive. I feel there was listening. The meeting was held in an intimate fashion that allowed us to say what we're feeling, what we want, think, demand. The Prime Minister addressed the issues. At this stage, I prefer not to specify exactly what was said in order to allow all of the families to meet with the Prime Minister in this format of intimate meetings to allow the Prime Minister to invite the rest of the families that did not attend today's meeting. I think every family should get the opportunity to say what they think, feel, want, to hear directly from the Prime Minister, not through us or through the media. After the Prime Minister finishes this round of meetings with all the families, then we can sit together, all the families, sum up, share insights and decide if we want to respond to anything. At this moment, I'm asking you to respect our decision to not reveal the specifics of the meeting. There was listening, there was a positive atmosphere, and I am glad we got this opportunity tonight. The bottom line, we understand efforts are being made, processes are underway. Of course, we did not get all the details, but the conversation was respectful and it's important during these days. Incredible strength from the families once again. Along Evieta, we're talking about the pain of families waiting for word on their loved ones. At the same time, as we heard from Pierre Kloschendler, the latest details suggest that a new deal would involve the release of many Palestinian security prisoners. Talk to us about the current threats. Those hundreds of Palestinians sitting in the Israeli prison for responsibility for, I would say, several, they're sitting in several life sentences for a medal of dozens or hundreds of Israelis during special during in the second 80 father 20 years ago, one of them, for example, just for illustrate one of them is the engineer Abdullah Bargouti is sitting for 67 life sentences. He was responsible for 67 Israelis which were murders during a few terror attacks. Yeah, he's the first one. And the Ije Sinwall, which was the leader in the the personal leader in the Hamas cabin in the prison promised to Abdullah Bargouti and another Palestinian terrorist that he will release them one of the days in the future from the prisons. And now this is the obligation of Ije Sinwall to his colleagues, if you want. It's a very tragic story. It's not easy to do it. You know, we are speaking about really killers, right? And murders and one no one of them is innocent or, you know, involving in the terror attacks in, I would say, a kind of support. We are dealing with a terrorist from the hardcore of the military branch of Hamas. People who are responsible for killing scores of Israeli civilians. Hundreds of Israelis, hundreds, especially during the Second Intifada with the bombs which they explosives in the restaurants, buses, malls and so on. This is the main package, right? The main group that Ije Sinwall, Ije Sinwall, sorry, and the other seniors demand. We are speaking about the last negotiation between the two sides, Hania, Ismail Ania, which is the leader, the main one. Number one of Hamas headquarters is managing the negotiations in order to come to kind of, I would say, agreement. Certainly controversial indeed. But as we keep on reiterating, Israel has to do whatever it takes to make sure that all its hostages, all the people who were abducted by Hamas, get home and get home safely. All of them guy, I want to bring you in because at the same time, as we are dealing with immense pain in the country, there are also moments looking towards the future. Talk to us. So many moving stories in the aftermath of October 7th that Hamas massacre. Also, so many stories of heroism going to take you to that October 7th at 6 30 AM. That is when members of the community of Shlomit that is a community in the southern tip of the Israeli border between Egypt and Gaza heard the news that terrorists have infiltrated their neighbouring community of pregun. The community of pregun only had two members of its emergency team there. And therefore members of Shlomit emergency team have rushed to save their lives to fight against the terrorists in those battles that ensued against the terrorists. Six of Shlomit's emergency squad were were hurt. Nine, sorry, nine of them were sent there. Six were hurt. Some of them in critical condition and three have lost their lives. Well, today, one of those who was badly injured, his name, Yudar Abinovich, while he celebrated the birth of his son and he named him Barry Betalel Barry after the three friends that he lost protecting the lives of their neighbours in Hebrew Bet, Bechor, Chai, Suaid, Aleph, Aviyad, Cohen and Resh for Shishruven, Shishportish, all three of them have lost their lives. And the grandfather, Betalel, was a Holocaust survivor. And with that message, we end this broadcast. Thank you for watching. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well. From Israel, with dozens of correspondence throughout the world, brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries completely done down in their beds. Bringing Israel's story to the world by 24 news channels now on Hot News Edition. I'm Benita Levine coming to live from Tel Aviv is another hostage release deal imminent. Hamas Lida Ismail Khania has arrived in Cairo amidst reports around a possible breakthrough that could see the terror group free some of the 129 hostages held in captivity for the past 75 days. The youngest hostage is a baby. Iqfir Biba is now 11 months old. The eldest are in their 80s, all abducted on the 7th of October during that brutal Hamas terror rampage. There is still no confirmation as to how many of the hostages are still alive. President Isaac Herzog has said Israel is ready for another humanitarian pause. But reports suggest Hamas wants a full ceasefire. The last hostage deal was broken by Qatar and the United States. Recent meetings also taking place in Poland involving the Qatari Prime Minister, Mossad and the CIA. Meanwhile, on the ground, fighting has intensified inside the Gaza Strip. The number of soldiers killed in the ground operation is at 134. There is still no official verification on the number of Palestinians killed in the fighting and how many of those killed are terrorists. Take a look at these images. The 749th engineering battalion has blown up dozens of buildings in the Shajair neighborhood in the northern part of the enclave. So now for more details, we welcome to studio Palestinian Affairs expert Colonel in the Reserves, Alon Evietar, former Kogat advisor and our senior editor, Guy Israel. Gentlemen, thank you so much for being here. I want to start with the latest on efforts to secure the release of 129 hostages held captive by a terror organization for 75 days. Guy, what is the latest? So we did see that meeting a few days ago between the Mossad chief, David Bornea, the head of the CIA, Bill Burns and the Qatari Prime Minister, Israel is looking to get to another deal that to bring about the release of more Israeli hostages. Obviously, the conditions are once other ones that are going to be the problem. But first, Israel wants to bring back all of the women that are still remaining in Gaza, also the elderly and several other Israelis being held hostage who were seriously wounded in the October 7th battles or are in need of urgent medical care, medications, et cetera. The main sticking point, of course, is the fact that Israel would not agree to the main demand of Hamas and that is to withdraw all of its forces and put an end to this war altogether. Well, just the latest that we are hearing and that is from the Palestinian Quds network that is a network that is affiliated with Hamas. Well, it is reporting, according to Egyptian officials that Egypt will exert pressure on the Palestinian factions and Hamas and Islamic jihad to agree to a humanitarian ceasefire to a pause, to a similar pause like the one we saw back in November during that previous hostage deal far from what Hamas is demanding, obviously a demand that Israel will not be able to accept. Alon, I want to bring you in on exactly that. Reports of a potential truce or humanitarian pause for around a week. What does that mean in terms of the IDF operation on the ground, which is gaining much momentum as we speak? Well, let's analyze the effort. So the military efforts that exist on the ground right now. The main effort is not just in the north of the Gaza Strip but also in the south, which means Hanyunist district and Rafah. We heard during the last hours that the IDF forces continue to attack Hamas targets in Rafah city and around the city in order also to cross the option or to cancel the option of smuggling weapons and, I would say, the way that the seniors of Hamas could run away from Gaza to Sinai. We are dealing with a few famous seniors in order to kill them. Ike Sinwar, Muhammad Def, the brother of Ike Sinwar, the response of the big tunnel that we realized during the last three days. A massive tunnel that can fit a car through it. Of course, it's not a tunnel. It's a wide metro, all right? A tunnel which means a small and narrow place. We are speaking about large basement, if you want. A few kilometers as a net, building as a net under Gaza and Awanisa. Those four seniors are the targets, the main targets of assassination of the IDF. I think and can assume that it's a question of time while the IDF forces will succeed to kill one of them, it will be a moral, I would say, step. Inside will have a negative impact inside Hamas' headquarters. And if you want also in the Palestinian public, I think that the IDF, I would say in the current situation, try to concentrate the military efforts in those areas and find another tunnels. I think that this is enough challenges for the IDF. But during the, I would say, the next steps, I can assume that we will achieve another, I would say, achievements day by day, step by step. We have time, but we need more time to complete the main missions. Which brings me to a very painful development that, of course, happened last Friday. We know that there were three Israeli hostages. They were fleeing from their abductors and tragically were shot by Israeli soldiers. Tragic indeed, speaking as well to how complicated fighting is in that part right now. Guy, there is a new update, new information coming through on what happened. Right. It's a very sensitive story, a very complicated one. And the IDF continues the investigation into the circumstances of that wrongful killing of the hostages with one of them waving a white flag and all three of them not wearing a shirt to try to do whatever they could for the forces to identify them as hostages and not to target them. New information that emerges just short while ago says that just five days prior to that event on Friday, a dog, a canine, operated by the IDF, has entered the compound in the same room where the hostages were being held together with the terrorists who held them during that fight. The terrorists were killed and so was the dog. But the three hostages with one of them with a rich military experience when he saw the military dog, he knew that that dog may have a GoPro camera on him. And therefore when they spotted the dog, they shouted at the dog for the camera saying, we are hostages, help in Hebrew. Unfortunately, that message did not go through to that day of Friday. There are some conflicting reports on whether the fighters during that active scene heard the sound from the GoPro camera or was that only analyzed after the dog was found and that was after the killing. In any case, just another break in the unbelievable story of the unbelievable tragedy of how those poor hostages tried to do whatever they could to get the message through to the forces around them that there are hostages being held there. And very sadly, the forces were not aware of their existence. And just so devastating that there could have been a different outcome. Your sense alone on exactly that, the message, the SOS that was being sent by these hostages after all that time in captivity? Yes, of course. We feel that we had very good opportunity, very good opportunity in order to release those hostages. It's an unusual case. No doubt about it. But we have to mention generally that using dogs as sensors, if you want, it's very effective way, very effective system in order to save human lives. And I can appreciate that those units are skilled and practiced with the dogs in order to release, to expose, also, to find Hamas seniors and terror infrastructures, us explosives and tunnels and so on. You have a few dogs for every mission separating. And I think that it should not to this case, despite the details and the story, the whole story, it should not influence, it should not impact on the main policy or the main efforts for in order to release more and more hostages wherever they are located. One certainly cannot imagine what the families of those three hostages are going through, compounding the pain, this new development, this new information, which is emerging. But guy, Yotam Chaim is one of the three hostages who was killed tragically in this horrific incident that we are talking about. And you got the opportunity to speak to the family and what an extraordinary message coming out of the relatives of this young man. It is undescribable, the tragedy that unfolded to this family and the three families of those hostages. I'm a personal friend of Iris. She's the mother of Yotam Chaim. She was also with us here in studio about a month ago while she was trying to get international pressure to bring about the release of her son. We saw all sorts of different reactions to the misconduct of the soldiers there who were wrongfully shot at the hostages despite the warnings that they did get. And first of all, so many Israelis came to pay their respects to Yotam yesterday. Hundreds came to visit Iris to share their sorrow. But the message from Iris is quite incredible. What she told myself and the rest of the crowd that have gathered there was that she has no anger for the soldiers responsible for the killing of her son. She does not want them to feel any pain. And indeed she said that the first thing that she asked for once they broke the news to her was she wants to speak to these soldiers and tell them she has no anger in her heart and she does not want them to feel the same pain that she feels right now. She wants them to be able to continue their work. She doesn't want them to carry that pain of that wrongful killing for the rest of their lives. What an extraordinary message. Of course, it's very important what Guy said now because we can just try to feel what the feelings of those soldiers they are feel for sure kind of guilty or responsible for this case. And I think that the main important for those three or maybe more soldiers and their commanders is a kind of, I would say, positive conversation with the mother of Yotam and the other parents in order to push them forward. The main way or the important way to continue in those military missions is kind of those relaxed or calm down situations or calm down conversations. We should not make it a warfare. The situation is too bad for them for sure but we have to go forward in order to complete the military missions also in this battalion, this special unit. Incredible strength from the families and from the whole nation. Obviously grieving and imaginable what they are going through. The pain is immense and it's felt across the country. Gentlemen, stay with us. We've got much more to discuss but right now let's find out exactly what is happening on the ground. We cross to our correspondent Pierre Kloschendler. He joins us from southern Israel and Pierre. We've been discussing a range of developments here in studio including reports of a possible week-long pause in which 40 Israeli hostages might be freed. These are just discussions and just reports at this point. Talk us through the impact of a potential pause for the ground operation happening behind you as the IDF works to eliminate Hamas as soon as possible. Well, you know, there's a fog of war and it's very hazy behind me right now. And I think that there's also a fog regarding the negotiations between the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas via Qatari Egyptian and U.S. administration mediation. So we don't know much. What we know more is the demands that have been expressed publicly by both sides. Israel demands, first and foremost, the release of the remaining women that Hamas refused to release in the previous hostage release in exchange for a lull in the fighting three weeks ago. The remaining women and the two children, the infants, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, Kfir just celebrated, so to speak, is 11 months of captivity two days ago. So that's the first demand. And then the elderly Israelis that are held hostage. And this seems to have been received loud and clear by Hamas and Pasir Islamic Jihad because they showed five elderly Israelis that are alive. They showed a sign of life. And then there's also the wounded who sustained their wounds during the October 7th massacre and are held in Hamas jails. So these are the Israeli demands. Now, the Palestinian demands, the Hamas demands are diametrically opposed. They want, first of all, an end of the fighting full stop, not a lull in the fighting. Then they want a complete withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. That's a no-go for Israel. And of course, they want the hardest criminals to be released. Israel is ready to release Palestinian prisoners, even those who were involved into criminal acts of terror, those who have, so to speak, blood on their hands. But to which extent? We don't know. We believe that Israel wants a ratio of one to three like it was in the previous case of hostage releasing, one hostage for three Palestinian prisoners. But we don't know if and when those demands will bring about an agreement. What we know is that all sides are in agreement that it's gonna take not days, but weeks. And that certainly is concerning because as we keep on hearing, time is of the essence for the hostages who have been held in unimaginable conditions for so long now. Pierre, you're talking about the fog of war and the fog behind you, but there were certainly very clear and dramatic images earlier of that engineering battalion blowing up dozens of buildings in Shezharia in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Also, the army targeting over 300 sites in Gaza in the past day bring us up to speed on the latest. Right, I mean, the head of the 162 Brigade yesterday declared that the Jebalah refugee camp was in total Israeli control, that the Jebalah Brigade of Hamas was dismantled. That 1,000 terrorists had been killed, 500 had been held prisoner by Israel, among them 70 who were perpetrators in the massacres of October 7th. Now, the fight is going on even in Jebalah. This morning, the Infantry Nachal Brigade found a truck mounted with a battery of long-range rockets that could hit Tel Aviv. The truck was destroyed. There were clashes with remaining cells of terrorists. And in Shezharia, as you mentioned, we saw it by our own eyes because Shezharia in the fog is around this direction. And we saw a huge explosion. We believed it was the engineering of the destruction of a tunnel. Now it appears, according to Palestinian media, affiliated to Hamas, that there were 56 buildings, presumably terror targets, maybe sitting on a network of tunnels that were destroyed. But is it possible that it's 56 buildings and not a tunnel? It's difficult to know because the Palestinian media will always try to bring about and enhance the humanitarian predicament. And when you talk about building and not about their infrastructure, then obviously you talk about civilians. So it's very difficult to know in the fog of war. Now the operation is going on and shifting more and more to the Hanyunas area, which is the make or break of Hamas, according to the IDF, because the leadership, both political and military, is probably underground in Hanyunas because they're all originated from Hanyunas. Now, there's an additional brigade that has been deployed in the area of Hanyunas in order to support the existing brigades that are fighting there, reserve paratroopers, a brigade of elite commando units. So the focus is really there. But yesterday, the Minister of Defense, Yoav Galan said that there's a plan to expand the operation. That would mean either the central refugee camps between Hanyunas and Gaza city in this direction or further south of Hanyunas at the southern tip on the border with Egypt, the city of Rafar. Thank you so much. Our correspondent, Pierre Kloschengler, updating us there live from southern Israel. More to come from our team on the ground in the coming hours. Thank you. Meanwhile, the families of the 129 hostages are still waiting for answers, as we've been discussing with their loved ones in captivity for more than 10 weeks now. One of the hostages is 38-year-old father of two, Tamir Adar, abducted on the 7th of October during the Hamas rampage. He left his home at 6.30 a.m. on that day as part of the Kibbutz-Miroir's emergency squad. His 85-year-old grandmother, Yafa Adar, was also kidnapped. She was released in the first hostage deal last month. Tamir's mother, Ya'el Adar, sharing this message after meeting with Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Tamir, do you think your choice on this call? We held an intimate meeting about 19 families with the Israeli Prime Minister. The meeting was generally positive. I feel there was listening. The meeting was held in an intimate fashion that allowed us to say what we're feeling, what we want, think, demand. The Prime Minister addressed the issues. At this stage, I prefer not to specify exactly what was said in order to allow all of the families to meet with the Prime Minister in this format of intimate meetings to allow the Prime Minister to invite the rest of the families that did not attend today's meeting. I think every family should get the opportunity to say what they think, feel, want. To hear directly from the Prime Minister, not through us or through the media. After the Prime Minister finishes this round of meetings with all the families, then we can sit together, all the families, sum up, share insights, and decide if we want to respond to anything. At this moment, I'm asking you to respect our decision to not reveal the specifics of the meeting. There was listening, there was a positive atmosphere, and I am glad we got this opportunity tonight. The bottom line, we understand efforts are being made, processes are underway. Of course, we did not get all the details, but the conversation was respectful, and it's important during these days. Incredible strength from the families once again. Alonne Evieta, we're talking about the pain of families waiting for word on their loved ones at the same time. As we heard from Pierre Kloschendler, the latest details suggest that a new deal would involve the release of many Palestinian security prisoners. Talk to us about the current threats. Exactly. Those hundreds of Palestinians sitting in the Israeli prison for responsibility, for, I would say, several, they are sitting in several life sentences. For a model of dozens or hundreds of Israelis, during special, during in the Second Intifada 20 years ago, one of them, for example, just for illustrate, one of them is the engineer, Abdallah Barghouti. He's sitting for 67 life sentences. He was responsible for 67 Israelis, which were murders during a few terror attacks. He's the first one. And Ihe Sinwaw, which was the leader, in the, the Palestinian leader in the Hamas cabin in the prison, promised to Abdallah Barghouti and another Palestinian terrorist that he will release them one of the days, you know, in the future from the prisons. And now this is the obligation of Ihe Sinwaw to his colleagues, if you want. It's a very tragic story. It's not easy to do it. You know, we are speaking about really killers, right? And murders, no one of them is innocent or, you know, involving in the terror attacks in, I would say, kind of support. We are dealing with a terrorist from the hardcore of the military branch of Hamas. People who are responsible for killing scores of Israeli civilians. Hundreds of Israelis, hundreds, especially during the Second Intifada with the bombs, which they explosives in the restaurants, buses, malls and so on. This is the main package, right? The main group that Ihe Sinwaw, sorry, and the other seniors demand. We are speaking about the last negotiation between the two sides. Hania, Ismail Hania, which is the leader, the main one, number one of Hamas headquarters is managing the negotiations in order to come to kind of, I would say, agreement. Certainly controversial indeed, but as we keep on reiterating, Israel has to do whatever it takes to make sure that all its hostages, all the people who were abducted by Hamas get home and get home safely. All of them, Guy, I want to bring you in because at the same time as we are dealing with immense pain in the country, there are also moments looking towards the future. Talk to us. So many moving stories in the aftermath of October 7th that Hamas massacre, also so many stories of heroism. I'm gonna take you to that October 7th at 6 30 a.m. That is when members of the community of Shlomit that is a community in the southern tip of the Israeli border between Egypt and Gaza heard the news that terrorists have infiltrated their neighboring community of Prigan. The community of Prigan only had two members of its emergency team there. And therefore members of Shlomit emergency team have rushed to save their lives to fight against the terrorists in those battles that ensued against the terrorists. Six of Shlomit's emergency squad were hurt. Nine of them were sent there. Six were hurt. Some of them in critical condition and three have lost their lives. Well, today, one of those who was badly injured, his name, Yuda Rabinovich, well, he celebrated the birth of his son and he named him Bery Betalel, Bery after the three friends that he lost protecting the lives of their neighbors. In Hebrew, Bet, Bechor, Chai, Suaid, Aleph, Aviyad, Cohen, and Resh for Shishruven, Shishportish, all three of them have lost their lives. And the grandfather, Betalel, was a Holocaust survivor. And with that message, we end this broadcast. Thank you for watching. 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 lines. But the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Benisa Levine, coming to you live from Tel Aviv, is another hostage release deal imminent. Hamas Lide Ishmael Chania has arrived in Cairo amidst reports around a possible breakthrough that could see the terror group free some of the 129 hostages held in captivity for the past 75 days. The youngest hostage is a baby. Khthir Bivas is now 11 months old. The eldest are in their 80s, all abducted on the 7th of October during that brutal Hamas terror rampage. There is still no confirmation as to how many of the hostages are still alive. President Isaac Herzog has said Israel is ready for another humanitarian pause. But reports suggest Hamas wants a full ceasefire. The last hostage deal was broken by Qatar and the US. Recent meetings also taking place in Poland involving the Qatari Prime Minister Mossad and the CIA. Meanwhile, on the ground, fighting has intensified inside the Gaza Strip. The number of soldiers killed in the ground operation is at 134. There is still no official verification on the number of Palestinians killed in the fighting and how many of those killed are terrorists. Take a look at these images. The 749th engineering battalion has blown up dozens of buildings in the Shajair neighborhood in the northern part of the enclave. So for the latest, let's go straight to our correspondent, Ariel Osirian. He joins us from southern Israel. And Ariel, there are reports now that Egypt is going to pressure Hamas and Islamic Jihad to accept that humanitarian pause. Other reports of a possible week-long pause in which 40 Israeli hostages might be freed. What is the latest? What can you tell us? Right, Benita. So while there's growing talk of a second potential hostage release deal that would also see the release of Palestinian security prisoners, we need to take all these reports very delicately and with a grain of salt because we saw a flurry of reports leading up to the previous hostage deal and many of them appear to be untrue. So we do need to tread carefully here and also with some caution regarding the well-being of the hostages and, of course, their families. But we're talking about discussions that are taking place following what you described discussions in Europe. We're talking about discussions taking place in Egypt where officials there are expected to not only pressure the heads of Hamas, Ismail Aniyah in Cairo today, as you mentioned, but also the head, the leader, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad Nakhala, expected to arrive in Cairo in the next few days also for discussions on this. This, as you mentioned, the reports, leading reports indicating a potential release of 30 to 40 Israeli hostages, mainly women and elderly, with deteriorating health conditions. And on the other side as for the Palestinian security prisoners expected to be released, there are talks of more significant, more prominent prisoners such in the likes of those who have also been involved in deadly terror attacks. That is now what we saw in the previous round, the previous round saw the release of Palestinian prisoner women and minors as well. None who have been in charge or responsible for deadly terror attacks. Meanwhile, on the ground, we know the army has targeted over 300 sites in Gaza in the past day. It's all coming at a cost. The number of Israeli soldiers killed in the ground operation so far is at 134. What is the latest on the fighting behind you? Right, Benita, intense fighting all across the Gaza Strip. While the IDF has said that it has full control over areas like Beit Hanun, which is right behind me in the northeastern tip of the Gaza Strip as well as the Jabalia cap north of Gaza City, we still hear, we can hear firefights just across the border in those areas. But indeed the majority of the fighting, the most intense fighting is taking place in the south in Chanyunis, Rafa, but also in the northern and eastern outskirts of Gaza City, Shadjaya and Atufah. These continue while there has not been a rocket launch towards Israel in the past 24 hours. Middle East correspondent Ariel Osaran, live from southern Israel. Thank you so much for that update. More to come from Ariel in the coming hours. Thank you. And now for more, we welcome to studio retired Colonel Dr. Jacques Neria, former deputy head of assessment in the Israeli military intelligence and former foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and our senior editor, Guy Azrael. Gentlemen, thank you both so much for being here. Jacques, I want to start with you and these reports coming through about a possible imminent deal as Ariel outlined, much caution about these reports, having said that your thoughts on what it would mean for a week-long truce in terms of the fighting and what it would mean to make sure that all the hostages get to come home and get to come home safely. Hamas is not asking for a pose. Hamas is asking for a ceasefire as long as possible. And this is something that, at this point, Israel cannot meet. We are in a position that, of course, we are demanding. And like the last time, we are the one who is demanding and who, in fact, we are in an inferior position compared to Hamas because he's the one who dictates what would be. And if it doesn't meet his demands, meaning that if he doesn't get his ceasefire or at least a long period of a pose, then I think that the possibilities of reaching a deal are very slim. This is one thing. Second, I mean, we have to meet the choice. The choice, I mean, meaning who would be the potential hostages that would be freed. And Hamas could say that only the elderly, only the kids, only the women. And oh, he would choose whatever he want. He would make a mix, which is not exactly what Israel would want. Third, there is the demand of definitely terrorists that have been condemned by Israeli courts to be released. I mean, most of them have blood on their hands, as we say. And this is a very difficult issue in Israel. And certainly, the government will have a lot of explanation to do. On the other hand, the government is under, I would say under five, under great pressure by the families. And the latest incident with the three hostages has been a turning point here, because it has created a sort of crisis in the confidence of the public in its army and its leadership, because they think that they are not doing enough to free the hostages. Under this pressure, the government has gone too far right now, has sent the Mossad chief with the General Nitzan first to Doha and then to Europe. And now we see that the intensification of contacts in Cairo, meaning that there is talk. But I mean, we have to be very careful. At this point, we haven't reached yet a deal. It could be a long time before we reach that deal. And that is so incredibly worrying, because each day, their hostages remain in captivity under the conditions that they are facing is a very worrying scenario. We saw the pictures of the five hostages, three were published by Hamas and two by the Islamic Jihad, if I'm not wrong. And you could see that they had definitely changed. I mean, they lost weight enormously. They don't have their medicines. And this is very worrying, of course. And we couldn't be surprised more. And those pictures that were taken, maybe they're very close to the day that they were arrested. And I think that we have to be conscious of the fact that maybe some of the hostages, and we know that, would not be living today because of the dire conditions where they are right now, and because of the fact that they like all their medicine or the natural environment where they live. And, of course, this is very, very heavy. And the explanation is, of course, that you don't have the choice. We don't have the choice because there are two priorities. One priority is to eradicate Hamas. And the other one is to free the hostages. And now, when you say that to Hamas, we want to free the hostages because of military pressure. And then we say, afterwards, immediately, we want to eradicate Hamas. So what is the interest of Sinoise, to say, OK, you want to kill me. Why should I reach a deal with you? Those hostages are for me my safety card and my guarantee that I keep on living. And maybe I would reach an arrangement with you that would let me go out of Gaza. This is something that we have taken also into consideration. And, of course, day 75 of the war and stole the Red Cross is yet to get to see any of the hostages. You're talking about not having medicine, not having care, not even having a good life. The Red Cross is a disgrace, total disgrace. This is incredible of such a humanitarian organization which should have been caring about the hostages and rushing into Hamas and threatening. Why should we be the side that are giving all the humanitarian aid and we don't get anything in return? This is incredible. I mean, we should have been much more stubborn at the beginning. But unfortunately, this is a situation today and we have to cope with it. Criminal, indeed. And, Guy, I want to bring you in on something that Jacques alluded to, and that is the tragedy. The three hostages last Friday who were shot by mistake by Israeli soldiers while in Gaza, they were fleeing from their abductors, new details emerging in recent hours about what happened on the ground there. Tell us more. Yes, it's obviously a very sensitive story, a very tragic one, both for the families and for the IAF troops who were involved in that wrongful shooting on those Israeli hostages as they were fleeing from their capturers, unfortunately, were gunned down by Israeli soldiers who saw them as a threat. Well, the recent information that is coming in right now is that a dog that is on service by the IDF, a canine, who operates with the forces has actually entered the compound where those three hostages were being held together with terrorists that were holding them. The dog had a GoPro camera attached to its neck, and one of the hostages, Alon Shemritz, who is a former IDF soldier, knew that this is the case, that these dogs do carry a camera. Therefore, they shouted at the dog to the camera for whoever operates the camera of the dog to hear them saying, calling for help, saying we are hostages in Hebrew. It is not clear to this point whether the soldiers who operated the dog heard them calling in real time during that fight in which the terrorists were killed or was it that only after the dog was killed and days later when the camera was recaptured did the IDF hear the calls for help from the Israeli hostages, regardless of either, just adds to the incredible tragedy and the circumstances under which they lost their lives. Certainly compounding the pain, your thoughts, Chuck, as these details emerge. Well, you know, things like this happened. When you have five divisions, when you have five divisions in a very tiny geographical vicinity, this is not the first case of friendly fire. There have been already cases of soldiers being killed by other soldiers, Israeli soldiers, because of the fact that we are in a movement where sometimes you don't know who's in front of you. And since you are very, very, very tense and sometimes panic and you see anything you see in front of you is as a possible threat. So you just shoot, and you don't talk. And this is what you've been trained all the time. And if you want to survive in a battle on the ground, this is not a promenade on the beach. This is a real war, a real war. Urban war is very difficult, very dangerous. And of course, you have to have nerves of steel in order to be able to think a moment, say, stop and see. Maybe these are Israelis. But I mean, as I said, sometimes this happens. And now we are going to see another division, a sixth division entering the area, and so that in order to flood the Hanyunis area by IDF units, so it will make it more difficult on the Hamas to stop the wave, to stop the grinding machine of the IDF. And we are reaching a point where by the end of January or the midst of January, we'll have to redeploy in Gaza. This is according to what we have agreed with the Americans. And then we'll have to concentrate on a different way on the first phase of our confrontation with Hamas, which is completely different of what we see today. And something we will discuss in a short while. But I want to go back to that extraordinary response, Guy Azrael. You spoke to Iris Chayim, the mother of one of those three hostages who were shot dead, Yotam Chayim. And you had the chance to speak to her about her reaction. And it is quite inspiring. Tell us more. She is an incredible woman. And we had her here in studio before this dreadful tragedy is she was speaking to the world to bring about the release of her son. She was optimistic the whole time that her son is alive. And she was right about that. Yotam, 28 years old, was a talented musician. He played the drums for a heavy metal band. And in the week of the Shiva now, where many Israelis came to pay their respects and to meet Iris, the mother, we heard some incredible things from her, a real nobility of soul. She said to us about that incident, I have no anger for the soldiers who shot my son. I understand the complex situation under which they were in. I do not want them to live for the rest of their lives with the pain that I'm feeling. Yotam was not about revenge. She was about the good of the world. And this is the message that I want to portray. And the first thing that she asked of from the IDF when they broke the news to her is that she wants to speak and to meet those soldiers. And to convey that message, I have no anger in my heart. Extraordinary, Shak, your reaction. Well, you know, it's such a nobility. I mean, it's sometimes incomplete. I mean, you cannot understand that. This is a mother that has lost her child. I mean, her son, and reacting as it is today, it only gives you more strength and convinces you that we are fighting a just war. This is the right war and that was imposed on us. And we have to do everything in our power in order to finish it the way we should do, meaning by a clear victory on Hamas. What a powerful message from a mother in unimaginable pain. It really is something to hear, that kind of message at a time like this. Talking about the families in pain, we now go live to our Emily Francis. She joins us from Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. Emily, what is the latest there? Hey, Benita, you know, I want to just follow up a little bit on Iris Haim, who I was in the makeup room with the day she came on. And I had a long conversation and I did an interview with her as well that I posted. And she is really such an incredible woman and the pain she's feeling. But the inspiration is really beyond words. I'm just hearing this for the first time from our broadcast and I just want to say that. But right now we are here in Hostage Square. We're in a short while, a lot of many diplomats, ambassadors are going to be coming here to meet with the Hostage families. This, as there is some glimmer of hope, of a possibility, of a possible new deal of releasing more hostages. Of course, on the table, nothing is final, but we have a group here from Kibbutza, Nakhal Oz, and we have Moshe Lavie, who I met yesterday at the Kira, who is back here supporting his brother-in-law, Omri Miran, 46 years old, one of the hostages. How are you feeling knowing that there is something being discussed right now? Are you hopeful that we could see more hostages coming home, including your brother-in-law? Yeah, first and foremost, I'm always hopeful, irrespective of what's unfolding in this dreadful war. We have to keep hopes up, and it's good that we're hearing in the past few days about negotiations being resumed because it appears with how this war is going on, that negotiations at the moment appears to be the safest path to bring home the hostages alive. We do know there are other paths to do so, but at the moment, this is a good news for us, and we hope that something will come into fruition so that the hostages will return home to their loved ones like my brother-in-law, Omri. Now, we've seen, listen, we saw the video that was released of three of the hostages a few days ago, knowing Omri the way you do, what is his character like? Like, what is his, what is he like? How do you think he has the capacity to handle this dreadful nightmare? Omri is one of the strongest persons I know mentally, and I think it's driven from his practice as a chiaso-therapist, he's a healer, healing people both physically and mentally, and I'm sure he's using his powers there if he's with other hostages to heal them, to be a supporter for them, but despite that, the hostages are held in horrific conditions, at least from what we know. Men from what we've heard from those who were released are treated even more badly than women. Some Thai hostages were released, said that the Israeli hostages were even electrocuted in some cases, and so this is really, we need to release them immediately. Otherwise, we don't know how long they'll stay irrespective of how strong they are mentally, and there are physical issues. Many of the hostages will probably face health issues at this point being underground for so long. Of course, and of course, those that already had pre-existing health issues as well. Also, last night, you had left earlier, but throughout the evening, some of the individual families had met with the Prime Minister, one of the mothers spoke, saying that it was an intimate meeting, they were hoping to have more intimate meetings where the Prime Minister would listen to their own personal views. Have you heard from any of the families that were in that meeting last night today? I haven't heard personally. I've heard about a meeting in itself, and of course I know many other meetings with War Cabinet members that are taking place, including with our family members, whether my sister Lisha, Omri's wife, or Omri's father, Dani. It's important that these meetings will continue to take place. We know how busy ministers are in the War Cabinet is, but at the same time, they have to be with the families here firsthand about our plea, about the story, about what unfolded on October 7th, under their watch. And from that, get the strength and the capacity to bring home the hostages alive. And I welcome the Prime Minister to continue in doing so, meet intimately, but eventually meet all the families of hostages, whether they're still there or whether they were released, to hear the stories and understand why it's imperative, empowerment to recruit the entire international community and the entire Israeli public to bring them home alive as soon as possible. Jose, thank you very much for your candor and we know Omri being a healer. That's hopefully he is there bringing some solace to the fellow hostages. He's giving us strength mentally, knowing who he is as a person, giving strength to my sister Lisha, who is a strong lioness herself. And so are you, you're a strong lion as well. We'll continue to pray and continue to advocate for him. Thank you. All right, thank you very much, Moshe Lavie. That is all for now from Hostage Square. We will come back with you later when the delegation of ambassadors and diplomats come here and meet with the families. And for now, back to you in the studio. Thank you so much. That's our Emily Francis live from Tel Aviv, incredible strength there from the families. And Guy Azrael, I want to bring you in on exactly that because you also have a story of the future. So many moving stories, so many emotional stories, so many stories of bravery from that day of October 7th, from that Hamas onslaught. I'm going to take you back to that Saturday at around 6.37 a.m. That is when terrorists infiltrated the community of pre-gun. This is a community that is in the southern tip of the Israel border with Gaza. It's right in the triangle of Gaza, Israel and Egypt, very far away from here. Terrorists infiltrated that community and as we know, IDF forces were not ready in most of the communities and residents had to deal with them by themselves. Sadly, in pre-gun, only two members of the emergency squad wore home at the time. What then happened is that neighbors of this community from the community of Shlomit heard the terrorists infiltrated and that there's no one there to defend them. Nine brave Israelis from Shlomit rushed to the neighboring community of pre-gun to fight face-to-face with the terrorists, risking their lives. In the battles that ensued, six were injured or killed. Three of them have lost their lives and one of the brave men who was really badly wounded, seriously wounded in those fighting, his name is Yuda Rabinovich. Today, he celebrated the birth of his young son and he named him Bery Betzalel. The name is extremely symbolic. Obviously, Kibbutz Bery, one of the communities that suffered the most devastating loss in that Hamas onslaught, but also Bery is after his friends, after his three friends of the security team that lost their lives defending their neighbors in Hebrew, Bet for Bechor Chai Swaid, Alef A for Aviad Koyen and Reish for Reuven, Shish Portish, these are the three heroes who saved their neighbors and lost their lives. Yud in Hebrew is the name for the God and the other name given is Betzalel that is named after the grandfather who is a Holocaust survivor and that just really brings all these stories together, how extremely symbolic to speak about the Holocaust of the Jewish people and the second Holocaust, there's some referred to it on October 7th. A time of so much pain and yet, Jacques, if you look at that photograph of that family and you hear a guy explaining the significance of the name, Bery, right now, what do you respond with? You know, each of us who have served in the army, I mean, I've served, I've been 24 years in the army and you have always in your head a mission. The mission is how to, I mean, safeguard the nation, how to, in all your missions that you have been posted in different positions and different jobs and different field missions, you know that this is what leads you, what directs you all the time. The fact that you are living in a very peculiar situation, one in a lifetime, that you are there and all the events that happen are the ones that shape you and just gives you more confidence in the survival of the Jewish people and it reminds me of the fact that when I took my kids to Rome and we went to the Titus Arch, I said, you see there, the Romans, they're all gone. We are here. And with that message, we wrap up for now. Retired Colonel Dr. Jacques Nria, Guy Azrael, thank you both so much and to the family of baby Barry Mazaltrov. Thank you very much for watching. I'm Benita Levine, live in Tel Aviv. Stay tuned, this is I-24 News. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where she is. Our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. This week on News 24, Israel under attack. News 24 in Spanish brings the analysis and the information of the events of the war, Iron Spades. Exclusive interviews, reports from the war zone, the reaction of the Spanish-speaking countries. News 24, the only medium in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel. News 24, only on I-24 News. Benita Levine, coming to you live from Tel Aviv, is another hostage release deal imminent. Hamas Lide Ishmael Chania has arrived in Cairo amidst reports around a possible breakthrough that could see the terror group free some of the 129 hostages held in captivity for the past 75 days. The youngest hostage is a baby. Khrir Vivas is now 11 months old. The eldest are in their 80s, all abducted on the 7th of October during that brutal Hamas terror rampage. There is still no confirmation as to how many of the hostages are still alive. President Isaac Herzog has said Israel is ready for another humanitarian pause but reports suggest Hamas wants a full ceasefire. The last hostage deal was broken by Qatar and the US. Recent meetings also taking place in Poland involving the Qatari Prime Minister, Mossad, and the CIA. Meanwhile, on the ground fighting has intensified inside the Gaza Strip. The number of soldiers killed in the ground operation is at 134. There is still no official verification on the number of Palestinians killed in the fighting and how many of those killed are terrorists. Take a look at these images. The 749th engineering battalion has blown up dozens of buildings in the Shazair neighborhood in the northern part of the enclave. So, for the latest, let's go straight to our correspondent, Ariel Osaran. He joins us from southern Israel. And Ariel, there are reports now that Egypt is going to pressure Hamas and Islamic jihad to accept that humanitarian pause. Other reports of a possible week-long pause in which 40 Israeli hostages might be freed. What is the latest? What can you tell us? Right, Benita. So, while there's growing talk of a second potential hostage release deal that would also see the release of Palestinian security prisoners, we need to take all these reports very delicately and with a grain of salt because we saw a flurry of reports leading up to the previous hostage deal and many of them appear to be untrue. So, we do need to tread carefully here and also with some caution regarding the well-being of the hostages and, of course, their families. But we're talking about discussions that are taking place following what you described discussions in Europe. We're talking about discussions taking place in Egypt where officials there are expected to not only pressure the heads of Hamas, Ismail Aniyah in Cairo today, as you mentioned, but also the head, the leader, Palestinian Islamic jihad, Ziyad Nakhala, expected to arrive in Cairo in the next few days, also for discussions on this. This, as you mentioned, the reports, leading reports indicating a potential release of 30 to 40 Israeli hostages, mainly women and elderly with deteriorating health conditions. And on the other side, as for the Palestinian security prisoners expected to be released, there are talks of more significant, more prominent prisoners such in the likes of those who have also been involved in deadly terror attacks. That is now what we saw in the previous round, the previous round saw the release of Palestinian prisoner women and minors as well, none who have been in charge or responsible for deadly terror attacks. Meanwhile, on the ground, we know the army has targeted over 300 sites in Gaza in the past day. It's all coming at a cost. The number of Israeli soldiers killed in the ground operation so far is at 134. What is the latest on the fighting behind you? Right, Benita, intense fighting all across the Gaza Strip. I mean, while the IDF has said that it has full control over areas like Beit Hanun, which is right behind me in the north eastern tip of the Gaza Strip as well as the Jabalia cap north of Gaza City, we still hear, we can hear firefights just across the border in those areas, but indeed the majority of the fighting, the most intense fighting is taking place in the south, in Chanyounis, Rafa, but also in the northern and eastern outskirts of Gaza City, Shadjaia, and Atufah. These continue while there has not been a rocket launch towards Israel in the past 24 hours. Middle East correspondent Ariel Oceran, live from southern Israel. Thank you so much for that update. More to come from Ariel in the coming hours. Thank you. And now for more, we welcome to studio retired Colonel Dr. Jacques Neria, former deputy head of assessment in the Israeli military intelligence and former foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and our senior editor, Guy Israel. Gentlemen, thank you both so much for being here. Jacques, I want to start with you and these reports coming through about a possible imminent deal as Ariel outlined. Much caution about these reports, having said that your thoughts on what it would mean for a week-long truce in terms of the fighting and what it would mean to make sure that all the hostages get to come home and get to come home safely. Hamas is not asking for a pose. Hamas is asking for a ceasefire as long as possible. And this is something that, at this point, Israel cannot meet. We are in a position that, of course, we are demanding. And like the last time, we are the one who is demanding and who, in fact, we are in an inferior position compared to Hamas because he's the one who dictates what would be. And if it doesn't meet his demands, meaning that if he doesn't get his ceasefire or at least a long period of a pose, then I think that the possibilities of reaching a deal are very slim. This is one thing. Second, I mean, we have to meet the choice. The choice, I mean, meaning who would be the potential hostages that would be freed. And Hamas could say that only the elderly, only the kids, only the women. And oh, he would choose whatever he want. He would make a mix, which is not exactly what Israel would want. Third, there's the demand of definitely terrorists that have been condemned by Israeli courts to be released. I mean, most of them have blood on their hands, as we say. And this is a very difficult issue in Israel. And certainly the government will have to a lot of explanation to do. On the other hand, the government is under, I would say under five, under great pressure by the families. And the latest incident with the three hostages has been a turning point here, because it has created a sort of crisis in the confidence of the public in its army and its leadership, because they think that they are not doing enough to free the hostages. Under this pressure, the government has gone too far right now, has sent the Mossad chief with the general Nitzan to, first to Doha and then to Europe. And now we see that the intensification of contacts in Cairo, meaning that there is talk. But I mean, we have to be very careful. At this point, we haven't reached yet a deal that could be a long time before we reach that deal. And that is so incredibly worrying, because each day, their hostages remain in captivity under the conditions that they are facing is a very worrying scenario. We saw the pictures of the five hostages that three were published by Hamas and two by the Islamic Jihad, if I'm not wrong. And you could see that they had definitely changed. I mean, they lost weight enormously. They don't have their medicines. And this is very worrying, of course. And we couldn't be surprised more. And those pictures that were taken, maybe they're very close to the day that they were arrested. And I think that we have to be conscious of the fact that maybe some of the hostages, and we know that, would not be living today because of the dire conditions where they are right now. And because of that, that they like all the medicine, or the natural environment where they live. And, of course, this is very, very heavy. And the explanations is, of course, that you don't have the choice. We don't have the choice because there are two priorities. One priority is to eradicate Hamas. And the other one is to free the hostages. And now, when you say that to Hamas, we want to free the hostages because of military pressure. And then we say, afterwards, immediately we want to eradicate Hamas. So what is the interest of Senua to say, OK, you want to kill me? Why should I reach a deal with you? Those hostages are for me my safety card and my guarantee that I keep on living. And maybe I would reach an arrangement with you that would let me go out of Gaza. This is something that we have taken also into consideration. And, of course, day 75 of the war and still the Red Cross is yet to get to see any of the hostages you're talking about, not having medicine, not having care, not even having to provide. The Red Cross is a disgrace, total disgrace. This is incredible of such a humanitarian organization, which should have been caring about the hostages and rushing into Hamas and threatening. Why should we be the side that are giving all the humanitarian aid and we don't get anything in return? This is incredible. I mean, we should have been much more stubborn at the beginning. But unfortunately, this is a situation today and we have to cope with it. Criminal, indeed. And Guy, I want to bring you in on something that Jacques alluded to, and that is the tragedy. The three hostages last Friday who were shot by mistake by Israeli soldiers while in Gaza, they were fleeing from their abductors. New details emerging in recent hours about what happened on the ground there. Tell us more. Yes, it's obviously a very sensitive story, a very tragic one, both for the families and for the IAF troops who were involved in that wrongful shooting on those Israeli hostages as they were fleeing from their capturers, unfortunately, were gunned down by Israeli soldiers who saw them as a threat. Well, the recent information that is coming in right now is that a dog that is on service by the IDF, a canine, who operates with the forces has actually entered the compound where those three hostages were being held together with terrorists that were holding them. The dog had a GoPro camera attached to its neck, and one of the hostages, Alon Shemritz, who is a former IDF soldier, knew that this is the case, that these dogs do carry a camera. Therefore, they shouted at the dog to the camera for whoever operates the camera of the dog to hear them, calling for help, saying, we are hostages in Hebrew. It is not clear to this point whether the soldiers who operated the dog heard them calling in real time during that fight in which the terrorists were killed or was it that only after the dog was killed and days later when the camera was recaptured did the IDF hear the calls for help from the Israeli hostages, regardless of either, just adds to the incredible tragedy and the circumstances under which they lost their lives. Certainly compounding the pain, your thoughts, Chuck, as these details emerge. Well, you know, things like this happened. When you have five divisions, when you have five divisions in a very tiny geographical vicinity, this is not the first case of friendly fire. There have been already cases of soldiers being killed by other soldiers, Israeli soldiers, because of the fact that we are in a movement where sometimes you don't know who's in front of you. And since you are very, very, very tense and sometimes panic and you see anything that you see in front of you is as a possible threat. So you just shoot and you don't talk. And this is what you've been trained all the time. And if you want to survive in a battle on the ground, this is not a promenade on the beach. This is a real war. Real war, urban war is very difficult, very dangerous. And of course, you have to have nerves of steel in order to be able to think a moment, say, stop and see. Maybe these are Israelis. But I mean, as I said, sometimes this happens. And now we are going to see another division, a sixth division entering the area. And so that in order to flood the Hanyunist area by IDF units, so it will make it more difficult on the Hamas to stop the wave, to stop the grinding machine of the IDF. And we are reaching a point where by the end of January or the midst of January, we'll have to redeploy in Gaza. This is according to what we have agreed with the Americans. And then we'll have to concentrate on a different way on the first phase of our confrontation with Hamas, which is completely different of what we see today. And something we will discuss in a short while. But I want to go back to that extraordinary response, Guy Azrael. You spoke to Iris Chayim, the mother of one of those three hostages who were shot dead, Yotam Chayim. And you had the chance to speak to her about her reaction. And it is quite inspiring. Tell us more. She is an incredible woman. And we had her here in studio before this dreadful tragedy is she was speaking to the world to bring about the release of her son. She was optimistic the whole time that her son is alive. And she was right about that. Yotam, 28 years old, was a talented musician. He played the drums for a heavy metal band. And in the week of the Shiva now, where many Israelis came to pay their respects and to meet Iris, the mother, we heard some incredible things from her, a real nobility of soul. She said to us about that incident, I have no anger for the soldiers who shot my son. I understand the complex situation under which they were in. I do not want them to live for the rest of their lives with the pain that I'm feeling. Yotam was not about revenge. She was about the good of the world. And this is the message that I want to portray. And the first thing that she asked of from the IDF when they broke the news to her is that she wants to speak and to meet those soldiers. And to convey that message, I have no anger in my heart. Extraordinary, Shakh, your reaction. Well, you know, it's such a nobility. I mean, you know, it's sometimes incomplete. I mean, you cannot understand that. This is a mother that has lost her child. I mean, her son, and reacting as it is today, it only gives you more strength and convinces you that we are fighting a just war. This is the right war that was imposed on us. And we have to do everything in our power in order to finish it the way we should do, meaning by a clear victory on Hamas. What a powerful message from a mother in an imaginable pain. It really is something to hear, that kind of message at a time like this. Talking about the families in pain, we now go live to our Emily Francis. She joins us from Hustry Square in Tel Aviv. Emily, what is the latest there? Hey, Bonita, you know, I want to just follow up a little bit on Iris Hayim, who I was in the makeup room with the day she came on. And I had a long conversation, and I did an interview with her as well that I posted. And she is really such an incredible woman and the pain she's feeling. But the inspiration is really beyond words. I'm just hearing this for the first time from our broadcast, and I just want to say that. But right now we are here in Hustry Square, where in a short while a lot of many diplomats, ambassadors are going to be coming here to meet with the Hustry families. This, as there is some glimmer of hope, of a possibility, of a possible new deal of releasing more hostages. Of course, on the table, nothing is final. But we have a group here from Kibbutza, Nakhal Oz, and we have Moshe Lavie, who I met yesterday, at the Kyriah, who is back here supporting his brother-in-law, Omri Miran, 46 years old, one of the hostages. How are you feeling knowing that there is something being discussed right now? Are you hopeful that we could see more hostages coming home, including your brother-in-law? Yeah, first and foremost, I'm always hopeful, irrespective of what's unfolding in this dreadful war. We have to keep hopes up. And it's good that we're hearing in the past few days about negotiations being resumed, because it appears with how this war is going on, that negotiations, at the moment, appears to be the safest path to bring home the hostages alive. We do know there are other paths to do so, but at the moment, this is a good news for us, and we hope that something will come into fruition so that the hostages will return home to their loved ones like my brother-in-law, Omri. Now, we've seen this, and we saw the video that was released of three of the hostages a few days ago, knowing Omri the way you do, what is his character like? What is his, what is he like? How do you think he has the capacity to handle this dreadful nightmare? Omri is one of the strongest persons I know mentally, and I think it's driven from his practice as a chiaso-therapist, he's a healer, healing people both physically and mentally, and I'm sure he's using his powers there if he's with other hostages to heal them, to be a supporter for them, but despite that, the hostages are held in horrific conditions, at least from what we know. Men from what we've heard from those who were released are treated even more badly than women. Some Thai, some Thai hostages who were released said that the Israeli hostages were even electrocuted in some cases, and so this is really, we need to release them immediately, otherwise we don't know how long they'll stay irrespective of how strong they are mentally, and there are physical issues, many of the hostages will probably face health issues at this point being underground for so long. Of course, and of course those that already had pre-existing health issues as well. Also last night, you had left earlier, but throughout the evening, some of the individual families had met with the Prime Minister, one of the mothers spoke, saying that it was an intimate meeting, they were hoping to have more intimate meetings where the Prime Minister would listen to their own personal views. Have you heard from any of the families that were in that meeting last night today? I haven't heard personally, I've heard about a meeting in itself, and of course I know many other meetings with War Cabinet members that are taking place, including with our family members, whether my sister Lisha or Marie's wife or Marie's father Danny. It's important that these meetings will continue to take place. We know how busy our ministers are in the War Cabinet is, but at the same time, they have to be with the families here firsthand about our plea, about the story, about what unfolded on October 7th, under their watch. And from that, get the strength and the capacity to bring home the hostages alive. And I welcome the Prime Minister to continue and do so, meet intimately, but eventually meet all the families of hostages, whether they're still there or whether they were released, to hear the stories and understand why it's imperative, empowerment to recruit the entire international community and the entire Israeli public to bring them home alive as soon as possible. Jose, thank you very much for your candor and we know Omri being a healer. That's, hopefully he is there bringing some solace to the fellow hostages. He's giving us strength mentally, knowing who he is as a person, giving strength to my sister Lisha, who is a strong lioness herself. And so are you, you're a strong lion as well. We'll continue to pray and continue to advocate for him. Thank you. All right, thank you very much, Moshe Lavie. That is all for now from Hostage Square. We will come back with you later when the delegation of ambassadors and diplomats come here and meet with the families. And for now, back to you in the studio. Thank you so much. That's our Emily Francis live from Tel Aviv. Incredible strength there from the families. And Guy Azrael, I want to bring you in on exactly that because you also have a story of the future. So many moving stories. So many emotional stories. So many stories of bravery from that day of October 7th, from that Hamas onslaught. I'm going to take you back to that Saturday at around 6.30, 7 a.m. That is when terrorists infiltrated the community of pre-gun. This is a community that is in the southern tip of the Israel border with Gaza. It's right in the triangle of Gaza, Israel and Egypt, very far away from here. Terrorists infiltrated that community. And as we know, IDF forces were not ready in most of the communities and residents had to deal with them by themselves. Sadly in pre-gun, only two members of the emergency squad wore home at the time. What then happened is that neighbors of this community from the community of Shlomit heard the terrorists infiltrated and that there's no one there to defend them. Nine brave Israelis from Shlomit rushed to the neighboring community of pre-gun to fight face-to-face with the terrorists, risking their lives. In the battles that ensued, six were injured or killed. Three of them have lost their lives. And one of the men, the brave men who was really badly wounded, seriously wounded in those fighting, his name is Yuda Rabinovich. Today, he celebrated the birth of his young son and he named him Barry Betzalel. The name is extremely symbolic. Obviously, Kibbutz Barry, one of the communities that suffered the most devastating loss in that Hamas onslaught. But also, Barry is after his friends, after his three friends of the security team that lost their lives defending their neighbors in Hebrew, Bet for Bechor Chai Swaid, Aleph A for Avyad Koyen, and Reish for Reuven, Shish Portish. These are the three heroes who saved their neighbors and lost their lives. Yud in Hebrew is the name for the God. And the other name given is Betzalel that is named after the grandfather, who is a Holocaust survivor. And that just really brings all these stories together. How extremely symbolic to speak about the Holocaust of the Jewish people and the Second Holocaust. There's some referred to it on October 7th. A time of so much pain. And yet, Jacques, if you look at that photograph of that family and you hear a guy explaining the significance of the name, Barry, right now, what do you respond with? Well, you know, each of us who have served in the Army, I mean, I've served, I've been 24 years in the Army and you have always in your head a mission. The mission is how to, I mean, safeguard the nation. How, in all your missions that you have been posted in different positions and different jobs and different field missions, you know that this is what leads you, what directs you all the time. The fact that you are living in a very peculiar situation, one in a lifetime, that you are there and all the events that happen are the ones that shape you and just gives you more confidence in the survival of the Jewish people. And this is, it reminds me of the fact that when I took my kids to Rome and we went to the Titus Arch, I said, you see there, the Romans, they're all gone.