 Today we come together, not just the Jewish community. Welcome to this special broadcast on I-24 News, I'm Caliban David. It's day 37 of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. A conflict that increasingly is also pitting the IDF against Hezbollah on the northern Lebanese front. At least six civilians wounded there, one critically, by a Hezbollah missile attack near the community of Dovev. And there were seven soldiers, lightly wounded by a mortar attack near the village of Minara. Now when Gaza Israeli troops continued to press forward toward the key Hamas command center underneath Shifa Hospital with the cost of 42 soldiers now having been killed in battle in Gaza. The IDF said it will help in the evacuation of babies from Shifa's neonatal ward. And appearing on CNN today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about Israel's efforts to get civilians out of that medical facility before launching a major assault on the Hamas bunkers place there. Well we've called to evacuate all the patients from that hospital and in fact a hundred or so have already been evacuated. I've called for field hospitals, the French President has sent a floating hospital ship. I've asked the Emirates to send a field hospital they have and other countries have done the same. I expect the UN to build this so there's no reason why we just can't take the patients out of there instead of letting Hamas use it as a command center for terrorism, for the rockets that they fire against Israel, for the terror tunnels that they use to kill Israeli civilians. Well let's go to our correspondent Mary McAuliffe who is in northern Israel there, the Lebanese border. Mary, really a real escalation there, now they're saying some 18 people wounded during the course of the day. The northern front is certainly heating up significantly just in the past 24 hours. Absolutely, Kalev, a number of injuries throughout the day to perhaps the most in one day here for many of these areas here. We're outside Ziv Medical Center which did receive 18 of those injuries today. They said most of the injuries that they received were in light condition but that they are still treating one who is in serious condition. That was from the attack on Mount Dovev earlier where Hezbollah said that it had attacked a number of Israeli soldiers who are attempting to fix surveillance equipment in the area. That of course ending up not being true and instead who was injured there was a number of electrical workers, primarily who were in a convoy of cars. Other civilians also injured but one of those workers does remain in serious condition at the facility behind me. A number of casualties throughout the day also in Manara. A number of soldiers at least seven were injured from another anti-tank missile attack. For those who are lightly wounded were also received here at this hospital but again their situation is relatively light but definitely a significant escalation throughout the day. Also a number of rockets 15 to be exact fired from inside Southern Lebanon towards northern Israeli communities here in this area also further south to the outside of Haifa area. Most of those rockets were intercepted or at least fell into open areas so we don't have any reports of damage or injuries from them. So what we do know is the IDF is responding harshly using a number of different airstrikes and artillery to try and target Hezbollah both its infrastructure as well as personnel on the ground who they say are behind some of these launches today. Important also to note though that was Hamas who took responsibility for the rockets that were fired towards northern Israel today, the Lebanese branch of Hamas. Right but of course Hezbollah is a controlling force there in south Lebanon and for both Hezbollah and Israel marry tough choices. How far to go in this what we thought was a secondary conflict. There certainly is a secondary conflict to what's going on Gaza but increasingly is looking like the potential to really explode up there. Absolutely. Well Hezbollah for its part has always linked what's happening here to the operation in Gaza and to the IDF actions inside Gaza and everything that's been going on saying that they're doing this in support of the Palestinian cause and in support of Hamas itself. But what we've seen over the past few weeks is them continuing to trade the fire, cross-border attacks but it has been pretty limited attacks and a very formulaic response between anti-tank missiles or mortars coming in targeting Israeli military areas but also civilian areas and the IDF responding with these precision strikes inside southern Lebanon but we do know there's been a forceful Israeli response to everything happening today and that it's said that some Israeli airstrikes have gone as far deep into Lebanese territory as 40 kilometers away from this border here. So definitely seems like things are escalating a bit with both sides ratcheting up their attacks and IDF saying that it will continue to respond from any threat coming from any of its borders whether it's down south here in the north or from Syria anywhere in this region. Alright, Mary McCullough, outside Ziv Hospital there in northern Israel, thank you for that. I've seen your defense correspondent, Jonathan Regev, the IDF, the Israeli government has said all along they don't want a full second front open up along the Lebanese border while they're dealing with Hamas and Gaza but increasingly you have to wonder how much of a choice they're going to have if this keeps up, Jonathan. It depends, I mean how far it can go. We're speaking of a high number of casualties, of Israeli casualties today with those six people injured on the border. That is true. Having said that, it happened on the border. All along these attacks were on the border. Hezbollah attacks, Israeli posts or antennas on the border fence and Israel strikes back very close to the border fence. Then we saw those rockets which were fired to the northern Haifa area will this lead to an Israeli all-out attack on Beirut? You can never know. I think the answer is no. On the other hand, we're hearing from Israeli officials saying that what has happened today is clearly an uptick in the level of violence seen from Hezbollah and Israel needs to elevate its level of response. Having said all that, Israel wants to put all the focus on Gaza and not open a full-on second front but that does not necessarily mean it will not happen. At the end, as always I have to say, at least for now it's in the hands of Hassan Nasrallah because Israel is still reacting and not being the first one to act simply because it wants to keep all of the focus as much as possible on Gaza. Also in the hands of Tehran, which probably is weighing in it's to Hassan Nasrallah and how far it has to lead. Those are correct. Of course they also have to take all these factors into consideration. Let's move now from the north down south. Of course the fighting continues in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces, IDF forces continue to make advances taking over key Hamas outposts in northern Gaza approaching ever closer to Shefa Hospital site of a Hamas command center. Now you heard Prime Minister Netanyahu say that today Israel tried to supply Shefa Hospital in Gaza with fuel but it was refused. Here's a phone call between an Israeli official and an administrator at that hospital that appears to confirm that claim. Jonathan that's applied just by the IDF in the past couple of hours. Just interesting you see Hamas at least some elements of us don't want that fuel to go to the hospital presumably trying to keep that narrative going of the hospital running out of fuel putting international pressure on Israel to agree to a ceasefire. Yes that is their tactic all along hiding behind civilians. Whether placing their headquarters right below the hospital or placing all of their central commands within civilian areas knowing that if Israel strikes then civilians will be hurt and then they can call for international assistance and there will be a global outcry and the same here. If Israel is offering 300 gallons of fuel which can keep the hospital running for some time who's saying no Hamas. As far as they're concerned everybody at the hospital can die because it will give Israel the bad image. How much do they care about their own civilians? I think nothing, nothing at all. If all of their civilians in Shefa die but it's Israel that gets the bad publicity out of it as far as they see it they win. Right and of course according to Israeli intelligence estimates Hamas still have thousands of gallons of fuel to run their operation, their underground operation which is beneath the Shefa hospital. I can tell you Kalev that now we're speaking of Shefa hospital but previously of other hospitals the amount of times that we were hearing that these hospitals are running out of electricity, water, fuel you name it is endless and yet they were all running with electricity all along the way so whatever they're saying I'm sorry but it's pure life. Alright, alright. Jonathan let's go back to the North for a minute because as we mentioned there has been an escalation today. The question is of course all this is being conducted within certain parameters but the casualty rates on both sides of the border has been intensifying. You prepared a report looking more deeply at the details of this side war that increasingly is apparently going on between Israel and Hezbollah. Sunday's anti-tank strike on the Israel-Lebanon border. This is what Hezbollah is looking to achieve. He thinks Israeli is on the border fence knowing that the Israeli response will also remain on the border but not beyond. The second front in the north has been active since day one of Israel's war with Hamas but still with the certain mutual understandings. The fighting takes place almost entirely on the border area and not beyond. Most of the targets hit by Hezbollah are military and not civilian and Israel does not strike too deep inside Lebanon but looks mostly for Hezbollah targets on the border. Will this continue to be the case as the campaign in Gaza continues and Hamas is eventually toppled? No one really knows. Hezbollah is dragging Lebanon into a war that may happen. What we are now doing in Gaza, we can also do in Beirut and therefore I hope that Hezbollah will act appropriately and Hassan Nasrallah will not provoke us because his aggression is unacceptable to us. At least on the ground, the Hezbollah leader is sending the message he's not impressed. In recent days we have witnessed a new wave of threats from the Israeli leadership. They are concerned from what is happening on our front in terms of quantity, quality and depth. Of course, we will continue in this position and this performance. Hezbollah had various chances to expand the war but chose not to. That is why the cautious assumption in Israel is that the situation on the Lebanon border will not escalate into a full-on war. Is that good news? Not necessarily. We must not agree to keep the situation as it is. We have a national obligation to eradicate Hezbollah as we are now doing with Hamas in the south. The state must act the same way here in the north. The streets are empty in the evacuated northern border communities with the residents' return. Once the war is over, knowing that Hezbollah is just across the fence and the terrible images seen in the Gaza border could repeat themselves here. A very serious question which for the moment does not have an answer. Jonathan, this escalation in the north does raise another question. You have tens of thousands, excuse me, of Israelis, maybe even over 100,000 now, who have been made to evacuate from those communities in the north. Some of them are saying we're not going to go back there unless this border is somehow made secure and what is happening now. Even though Israel's sort of like measured response is maybe keeping Hezbollah at base somewhat, launching rockets, for example, at Haifa, it's certainly not going to reassure those residents to move back in those homes when, for example, things start to quiet down, perhaps, in Gaza. Not at all and we heard in the story, we heard Gabin Aman was a veteran local council head in the town of Shlomi, which is just on the border fence itself, and he said it loud and clear, we have to do with Hezbollah in the north, whatever we're doing with Hamas in the south, because if that doesn't happen, the residents, many of the residents will not return. I think no Israeli government can take responsibility for this, putting citizens once again in border communities with the RAD-1 forces who are much stronger than the Nukhba forces of Hamas, just along the border fence. And in reality, that is unacceptable. That is why, for many in Israel, the idea of a second front of a full-on war with Hezbollah as difficult as it may be, that may not necessarily be bad news because this is a problem that has to go away, one way or another. The army, at least for now, is saying we can deal with the north, but we do not want to go into a full-on escalation, but if Hezbollah takes it too far, then it has to happen. And let's remember another thing. There is a UN resolution, 1701, which was drafted after the Second Lebanon War in 2006. That resolution, that UN resolution, backed by all of the international players, caused for all Hezbollah people to be way up north beyond the Litani River. Where is the implementation of this? Who is implementing this? This resolution is on paper, but the paper is worth nothing. Without some kind of a formula, diplomatic or military, I don't see most of the residents of the north going back, period. If I may paraphrase Shakespeare, 1701 is a resolution that is more on it in the breach. Absolutely. It is in the observance, unfortunately. And that is just the sad reality of it. Well, let's go back down now to southern Israel. Our correspondent, Zach And, is in the town of Sterot there. And Zach, increasingly, the issue of the hospitals in Gaza has come into the fore, especially as Israel approaches that Shifa hospital and has to deal with the issue of the remaining civilians, the patients that are inside of it. It does appear to be quite a desperate situation within the hospital itself. The IDF says that they are relaying messages of how to escape the hospital, a specific route that leads to the humanitarian corridor that has been opened and provided access to get away from Gaza City. The IDF has to take it a step further and provide specific roads which are clear to get to that humanitarian corridor within the city because it appears the siege of the hospital from the information that is coming in has begun. There are confirmed reports of IDF staging on several roads around the hospital. This is in a very dense, populated area of Gaza City itself. Now for the staff of the hospital, they're receiving phone calls. The IDF says they're calling doctors. They're calling them directly and telling them now is the time to go. We do not know how much time could be left for there to be some level of evacuation before the IDF is going to enter into that hospital compound. And of course another issue has to be the hostages, the situation about where they're located and how that may impact. Benjamin Netanyahu today speaking to NBC News saying there is a possibility for a hostage deal. There's been some talk about it, American mediation. But in the meantime, that's going to have to weigh heavily also just on the IDF as they move forward into the next stage of this operation. Right. Palestinian media is pushing out right now information saying that this is off. The hostage negotiations that were taking place in the last 24 hours are off, dependent on what's happening on the hospital. They say stop the heat siege on the hospital and those talks can resume. But we've seen this goal post moved several times before already as Hamas has said, potentially we could release X, Y, Z. That hasn't happened and now the goal apparently of Hamas is the hospital. Al-Shifa again saying there could have been as many as 80. One report was pushing out as many as 80 of those hostages could have been released, women and children first. This was coming from Biden administration officials through American media, but that appears to have fallen apart. Right. And of course, rockets continue to fall or be launched there. Though we have to say at any decreased rate, I don't want to be overly optimistic. It does seem as if the rocket launching capability or maybe just from the locations to where to launch them from Hamas has definitely been hindered by the IDF operations on the ground in the Gaza Strip. And the IDF has made clear that they can't confirm exactly all of the rocket launches in the last 24 hours. But they did say that it's indicative of where these rocket launches are coming from, that it does appear, again they can't confirm, but it does appear that these launches came from the southern Gaza Strip. So the IDF has been obviously pounding the northern Gaza Strip in this area where they've told people to evacuate and trying to target, specifically target, these launch sites that can reach all across Israel. These southern launch strikes may still be operative and this may still be where these launches are coming from. But you're right, it has been a precipitous drop at least in comparison to the first few weeks of this war. Right. And I would venture to say, and I haven't counted it, there have now been more alarms in the north of Israel along the Lebanese border than there have been even in the south today. As Akhen there's though there and Steroge continue to take care. Thank you for that. And that is a question over 10,000 rockets fired by Hamas. The question is how deep is their arsenal and how limited now are their capabilities to launch them just in terms of, for example, the specific locations in which they could, for example, threaten the center of the country as well as the south. First, if we speak of numbers, the assumption no one really knows for sure. The assumption spoke about the fact that the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad and the Gaza factions have roughly 15,000 rockets. So rockets are still there. The vast majority of them, of those remaining, are short range. Exactly to the point that Zach was mentioning, the city of Askelon was a city that took the most rockets so far, 1,000 of them, none of them, none of them coming in the last week. There was no siren in Askelon for over a week. And again, this is the city that took the largest number in the first five weeks or four weeks of this war. Why so? Because the rockets to Askelon, which is just to the north of the Gaza Strip, come from the northern part of Gaza, the town of Betlaya, for example, which is just on the northern part of the Gaza Strip. This is exactly where the IDF is now present. And I'm not going to say completely preventing, but almost completely preventing, Hamas, from firing rockets. That is why, first, we're still seeing red alert sirens sounding. Mostly in the communities bordering the southern part of the Gaza Strip, less, for example, Askelon, less Sderot, although it does happen. We're seeing more rockets fired towards the southern area of the Gaza border. Communities such as Bayeri, which is a name that was mentioned a lot, Kholit, Kerem Shalom, and so on. And also the city of Beersheva, which is parallel to the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Does that mean we will not see any more sirens in central Israel? No, that does not mean that. But I think since Tuesday, if I remember correctly, for five days since Tuesday, there was one alarm in Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon, if I remember correctly. So we do see an effect. That does not mean that Hamas will not fire rockets anymore, but as long as the Israeli army goes in deeper, that number of rockets in their perimeter, let's call it this way, will obviously decrease. All right, now, as I mentioned, 42 soldiers killed. Five announced yesterday. There were a couple of funerals in Jerusalem on the Mount Herzl cemetery for the fall and some of those. And of course, we're now at the, a little past the one month point, called Shloshim in Jewish tradition, in which we memorialize those who fell a month ago in the initial Hamas attack. Among them was first sergeant, first class Itai Bausi, whose last recorded words were, I've been shot, I'm okay, I love you. That was the message he managed to send to his girlfriend, Carmel, after he was fatally wounded at the Nova Music Festival Massacre on October 7th. Now the 22 year old Bausi served in the Duv Devon Commando Unit and witnesses said he tried to fight off the Hamas terrorists there with his bare hands to protect other festival attendees. Now on the occasion of Shloshim, our senior US correspondent, Mike Wagenheim, spoke with his mother, Juliana. She's an American Israeli immigrant to Israel living on Kibbutz, Futsot Yavne. They discussed her son's legacy. My life is a nightmare. The real is not the right word, but I guess that would also be a word. Our lives are shattered. My kid was murdered. And we're still in shock. And I pray that eventually we can heal, of course, not completely, because I just buried my baby boy. But hopefully there can be healing and we will be able to experience joy in the future. That's what I'm going through. Itai is my second born. Every mother will say that her kid is a gem, but he really was a gem. He was a Kibbutz kid. He loved being outside, very empathetic to animals, dogs and cats and all walks of life, and loved milking cows, and very, very loved, very funny, very charismatic. A heart of gold. Really one of those people that just touches everybody's lives. The mothers of his friends came up to me and said, Julie, I've been in touch with him for years. I was trying to get him to help me get my kid on the right track, and I was in touch with him. Things that I had no idea that he was doing, he was very, very modest. He did a year of volunteer work in between high school and the army in the Waverly, which is at-risk youth. And they came, and I knew he had an amazing year there. But they came during the shift and they said, you're a kid, so thanks to me, I'm in the army. Thanks to me, I'm in the Mechina. And he stayed in touch with us. I had no idea. He never said I'm staying in touch. I've kept in touch with these kids. And he always said, I believe in you and you'll find your way. It's the type of thing where they sleep outside in a tent. So for an entire year, he slept in a tent with them and cooked food with them. And then he pushed himself to get into Duv Devan, which is not easy. And he became a kashar in Duv Devan and also just during the Shiva because he was so modest and so, you know, not looking to be in the limelight. People, you know, they came out to me from Duv Devan and said, listen, your kid was risking his life day in, day out, going in, arresting terrorists. About two months ago, he told me a story, Ty, and he barely told me anything. Now I had to go and arrest a father and a son. And a little girl was left in the house and I took her by the hand and I took her to her neighbor's house. So when they start, you know, on the news comparing our soldiers and accusing our soldiers of the same rape and war crimes that they just committed against Jews in our country, it's unfathomable that people would believe that. He was a very professional soldier and he was professional in everything he did. He really demanded excellence of himself and he was a sweetheart. He was a sweetheart. He loved his family. He loved his girlfriend. After he was shot, as he lay dying, he left a message on his girlfriend's phone. I've been shot twice. I'm okay. I love you. You know, he was just, he was a mensch. He was a real mensch and he had his whole life in front of him. Massaj in first class, Itai Bousi. May his memory be a blessing. We are going out for a quick break. We do expect the IDF spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Higari, to give his nightly briefing. We will bring you that as soon as it begins. Stay with us. We are going out for a brief break. Just a few minutes. We'll be back with more of our special coverage of Israel's war against Hamas Day 37. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Welcome back to this special broadcast on I-24 News. Excuse me. Israel's war against Hamas Day 37. We're going to go now to our correspondent, Ariel Levin Waldman, who is outside facing the Tel Aviv Museum. Facing, of course, Israel military headquarters, the Kerriah. That's become a center of actions and events designed to keep awareness of the hostages alive here, both in Israel and abroad. Ariel, what's happening there this evening? Looks like quite a crowd. Yeah, there were well over a thousand people in attendance here today. It's starting to thin a little bit, but I want my cameraman to show you that it is still packed from end to end of the plaza here. Still about, looks like 400 people left, clustered in various places around the plaza, all off to the sides in places you can't see. You can actually see a long table set with 240 seats. That's supposed to represent a Sabbath table for all of the missing people that are not with their families for their Sabbaths, which is an Israeli tradition to be with your family the whole time, as many people obviously are not. The presentation represented an entire ocean of sorrow of families that were shattered and torn apart, looking for their loved ones and praying for their safe return. There's also a great deal of rage in the international community, doing almost nothing to help, focusing only on the plight of people in Gaza and not on the families of so many kidnapped people, so many innocents, babies, children, the young that were utterly innocent and torn from their families and brought into the most horrifying places they can imagine. It's best here directly from the families because me simply repeating the words isn't going to do it justice, so we did speak to one not that long ago. A demand for, from the Red Coast, I'm asking the Red Coast to be more active, to be more assertive and to demand to see our captive people, our families, to demand it. And demanding not just saying I want to see them, but putting an ultimatum if you don't let us see the Israeli kidnapped people we will not treat the Gaza people. This is 848, that's what I'm asking. 848 for Gaza, 848 for our captive. This is the humanitarian thing to do. And if they do not do that, there is no justification for them at all. No reason for their existence. And Aria, more talk today around the hostage deal, Palestinian sources saying those discussions, presumably mediated by Qatar be broken off. Prime Minister Netanyahu speaking on American television earlier today, saying Israel is open to a deal, some kind of hostage deal provided it would be a substantial number. What is the feeling among those people there in terms of a deal, one that could free Palestinian terrorists, might involve a ceasefire? What's the sense there? I mean, ultimately, Caleb, it's going to come down entirely to the family members because many of them have extremely different views. Many of them are pretty obvious in saying that, look, Hamas isn't exactly a credible negotiating party. They are monstrous sadists. They are not going to negotiate in good faith and they're only trying to buy time to preserve their existence as the Israeli military closes in. There are others that are desperate. They're willing to accept an all-for-all deal where they would get all the hostages back for all of the security prisoners. But many people don't believe that's realistic. Others simply believe that the only possible thing to do is to ensure that so much military pressure is put on Gaza, put on Hamas, that they have no choice but to bargain with the hostages to preserve their own existences. There's not really any unified call here beyond the simple thing that Israel should do anything possible and everything that can be done to bring them back whatever form anything might take. All right. Well, definitely, this is a heart-rending issue, of course, on all sides and almost an impossible one to even try to square. Aria Levin-Waldman there outside the Tel Aviv Museum, hostage square, I guess, as they're calling it now. Thank you for joining us this evening. Now, there are politicians, some abroad, who are criticizing Israel's operation in Gaza. Others giving it solid support. One former New Jersey governor and current contender for the Republican presidential nominee, Chris Christie, arrived in Israel today for a solidarity visit. He's actually the first candidate in the 2024 race for the White House to make it here over the past month. Now, Christie went down today to Kibbutz for Gaza with the Knesset speaker, Amir O'Hanner, and he had this to say there. I remind people in the U.S. all the time that there was a ceasefire. It was Hamas who violated the ceasefire, not Israel. And if Hamas had not entered this neighborhood on October 7th and caused the carnage that they did, there would be peace today both here and in Gaza. So we must remember who's really responsible for this. And we can't ask Israel to stand down if they believe there is still a legitimate, violent threat against them and their people. And I think there's no question that there is. And so they must continue to fight until they have degraded that capability to a point where they can say to their people, come back and live here safely and securely. Until that comes, I don't think calls for a ceasefire make any sense and also forget the history of the fact that before October 7th, there was a ceasefire in place and it was Hamas that broke it, not Israel. Jonathan, Chris Christie, obviously, staking out a position, silently in support of the current government here. Somewhat at odds with the Biden administration, which is not demanding a ceasefire, but is pressuring Israel or for a humanitarian pause, which has become a kind of current phrase now. Of course, Israel's saying they are allowing these humanitarian pauses four hours a day during the course of the day in certain localized areas to allow. And we continue to see, we continue to see today, Palestinian civilians from North Gaza making their way south. But in terms of a more general ceasefire, Israel's adamant, and we heard Prime Minister Netanyahu say that in two interviews with foreign media today, no current ceasefire until there's a general ceasefire, until there's a more serious release of hostages. That is true and we heard yesterday other considerations of a ceasefire for the return of 10, maybe 15 hostages. That's something that simply will not pass in Israel. The only way for Israel to agree to a ceasefire, and again, I'm speaking of a ceasefire, not an end of any kind, but a ceasefire of two or three days. Okay, hold on. We have Daniel Higari starting to speak. Good evening. The Chief of Staff met this evening with the head of the local municipalities in the south, of the commitment of the IDF. He listened to the head of the municipalities out of the pain of October 7th. He thanked them for their leadership and has committed that the fighting will continue to fulfill the goals of the war. IDF forces at this time continue to attack Hamas and strongholds in the refugee camp of Shati, ground troops and engineering have taken over dozens of buildings and took over terrorists who were part of the defense of the field. In addition, other troops have taken over the sea ports of Gaza and this is how they surround completely both with the ground troops and the Navy troops. They locate long-range projectiles, shafts of tunnels and destroy them. They operate on the ground together with the Shin Bet and 504 unit, the rest Hamas terrorists who are moved to interrogation. We have so far arrested 20 terrorists for investigation in Israel, among them also some of those who took part in the massacre. The fighting brings about all the abilities of the IDF, including an entire brigade of reservists that operates with coordination of ground and air, including airstrikes of dozens of targets at the same time. We're also looking for the leadership of the Hamas with the IDF, the air force, the intelligence and the Shin Bet. We will reach all of them. We also opened corridors from the hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip to the south. We're speaking to the managers and allowing them assistance in order to transfer patients safely. They continue to follow the guidelines and moving south, although Hamas does everything possible to make them stay. We offered the Shifa Hospital fuel. Last night we prepared 300 liters of fuel. We spoke to the hospital and we're waiting for the hospital to collect the fuel. The leadership of Hamas through their Ministry of Health is preventing the hospital to receive the fuel. We're also ready to assist with moving newborns from the hospital. Those who prevent it are Hamas. Should the hospital ask us, we will assist with both with the fuel and with the newborns to another hospital. Our communication will continue with the Shifa Hospital in the north. Israeli fighter jets are attacking Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in response to rockets fired towards the Haifa area. We also struck a squad that struck Israeli civilians with an anti-tank missile. We've also struck four similar squads in the past day. The IDF is focused on Gaza but we are also on high readiness in the north. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government are responsible for any fire coming out of Lebanon. They will pay the price for these attacks. The IDF has working plans to change the defense situation in the north. It will not remain in a sense that the residents of the north will not feel safe to return to their homes. In the home front, I call you to continue to follow the guidelines. They save lives. We operate all the time. Also today, over many hours with the senior officers of the IDF operational and intelligence and everything that we can do in order to bring back hostages back home safely will continue to do so around the clock all the time. These processes are complicated and they take time. So far, we know the families of 239 hostages will continue to update the families with any information that we have and then later the public. We also give a notice to the families of 361 fallen IDF soldiers. They are heroes and there are other ones that allow us to continue and fight to protect the home. Questions? We saw the firing in the north and also another firing towards the Haifa area. The IDF operates for several weeks for six weeks since this night against the Hezbollah terror group. In every strike, Hezbollah pays the price and it knows exactly what price it's paying back to Lebanon and it will continue to pay a heavier price. With every strike, we will have a severe response and despite what I'm saying now we're also operating in the West Bank. We're also operated in Syria and we'll operate in every place where terror towards the State of Israel is activated. As for your question, I reiterate, IDF has working planes also for the north. If we will not allow the security situation in the north to be such that the residents will not feel safe to return to their homes. In the north, whether the IDF should raise its response as you said, fuel has been entered into the Gaza Strip. I want to reiterate. No fuel entered the Gaza Strip. No fuel entered the Gaza Strip and will not enter the Gaza Strip unless we receive other instructions. What happened was that we communicate with the Haifa Hospital and we prepared fuel 300 liters for the generators for the hospital. We supervised the hospital and we know the situation there. That's why we are in direct communication with this hospital. It has not been collected yet. It is 300 meters from the hospital. We're ready for it to be collected by the hospital or by the Red Cross. Hamas will not touch this fuel. I repeat, this regards to the fuel. As for the north, we respond severely against every attack of Hezbollah against our civilians and soldiers. Every attack in the north is responded with a severe response. And Lebanon, who is a sovereign country, is taking a serious risk with these reactions. IDF operates according to the international law and those who commit war crimes against the Hezbollah group commit crimes against the State of Israel will continue to operate severely. We will leave the northern border in a way in which the residents feel safe. Thank you. That was Real Admiral Daniel Higari on a number of issues, including the situation in the north of Israel in particular today. Joining us now in studio is the former Israeli Justice Minister, Ayala Chaked. Ayala, thank you for joining us. Good evening. Well, a lot happening today. Let's start with the north because that is a major issue. Obviously, the IDF is going to do what it has to in terms of security, responding to Hezbollah. But what could the government do to just even make the residents of the north, those people who had to evacuate and afterwards, after this conflict, to tell them what's it going to have to do to make those residents there feel secure to go back to their homes, some of them right there on the border with Lebanon? So the government should ensure that we enforce the UN decision 1701. It's mean that the Hezbollah will not stay in south Lebanon. You know, the people from the north that are the villages are on the border and they can't live next to the Hezbollah. The Hezbollah, according to the UN decision, should not be in south Lebanon. And the responsibility of the government is to enforce this decision, either with the help of the international security or by ourselves. By an operation? Whatever it takes. It can be an operation. It can be a diplomatic path. It can be from the air. It can be from the ground. Whatever it takes in order to verify that the Hezbollah will not stay in south Lebanon, because if they are, the Black Saturday, the massacre that we saw from the Hamas, it can happen also from the Hezbollah. Now let's turn to the battle against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It's restricting a critical stage. The IDF seems to be zering in on Shifa Hospital. But among that, coming with that, is more international pressure, both from, of course, protests in the streets, what we saw in the streets of London the other day. And of course, even from some governments now, the comments from President Macron, which he kind of backtracked pressure from the United States for a ceasefire. Is this government, in your view, going to be able to withstand it? And what should it be telling the world to make its case better? You know, I want to read you a quote of Golda Mayer, just one minute. I think it's important. And maybe you will understand better, not you, but of course everyone. It's Golda Mayer, okay? If we have to choose between being dead and pitted and being alive with a bad image, we'd rather be alive and have the bad image. So yes, there is international pressure, but you know, Biden, Macron, everyone, they saw the picture they saw in their eyes the videos from the massacre. Hamas launched a barbaric genocidal attack on Israel. They raped our women. By the way, they murdered them while raping them. They slaughtered our babies, and they need to understand that it is either us or them. So we are going till the end this time. We are going to eliminate them. We don't have any other choice. And I hope that the world will understand that. It's not only our battle, by the way. We fight today also for the U.S. and for the U.K. and for the Western world, because you know, right now it's Israel, but in the future it can be the U.S. or the U.K. So I think that the international community should support us. The international community should be unified and demand the release of our hostages. We have the babies, small little girls, children, young girls, elderly, and they all need to help us to release our hostages. Right. Well, speaking of hostages, let me ask you, you've been parts of governments, you've been a member of governments, ministers that had to make some difficult decisions regarding hostages. I'm not going to renegotiate those hostage deals, but Prime Minister Netanyahu, for example, this morning speaking to American television, did say Israel is open to a hostage exchange under a certain kind of conditions. What's your view on that? We have obligation to bring them home, definitely. And I know that there is now a negotiation. We said loud and clear we are not going to agree to a ceasefire unless our hostages will be back at home. So, you know, there is now a negotiation, and I think that all the people in Israel now unified in order to bring them back. But are there certain red lines should be set in terms of the number of hostages, the fact that they have to be Israeli? Yeah, let's give them the time to negotiate and to bring them home. You know, when the shaleed deal was made back then, I was against it because I thought the price is too high, and now we all understand it. We released Dan Iches and Noir, and we saw what happened. But now we have 200, almost 240 hostages there. We need to do anything we can in order to bring them back and bring them back safe. All right, now Israeli officials, initially a month ago, said we're not going to talk about the day after. We have to win the battle. But now there is starting to, as Israel has progressed, there is starting to be talk about the day after. There are those who believe, for example, the Palestinian Authority will have to be brought in, at least to run the civil side. Prime Minister Netanyahu is saying that Israel should maintain on security control. There are those who even in the current government advocating a return of the Gush-Khatif settlement block. So it's true, we are not going to discuss it, but of course there are red lines. The security should be, as the Prime Minister said, Israel should control the security in Gaza. Like we are doing in Judea and Samaria, we should do now the same in Gaza. We don't have any other choice. The PLO also supports terrorists. They pay for slay, you know. They pay for the terrorists in jail. Their education system is against Israel. It is also an anti-Semitic system. And they can't control Gaza as long as they are promoting anti-Semitism and pay for terrorists. So you ask me, of course we want the international community, the moderate Arab countries will take control at least for a while. But let's wait and see. Currently we need to eliminate Hamas. By the way, we liberate also the Palestinian from Hamas regime. The Hamas use the Palestinians in Gaza as a human shield. We saw that they murder also Palestinians that try to move from the north to the south. So it's the fight that we are doing for Israel, but also to release the Palestinians from this terror regime. And what about those voices in the government talking about a return of the settlement block in Gush Kapi? First, we need to win. So you don't rule it out? I'm not talking about the future. I think first we need to win the war, to eliminate Hamas and to bring peace back to the area. All right, there are sirens going off now and south along the Gaza Strip in the Tivas or just north of the Gaza Strip. I don't want to get into politics, and you probably will not give me an answer on that. But there are those voices who say, as in the wake of October 7th, the previous government, at least parts of it, that you were part of, look more attractive than now. The question I'm going to ask is, are you satisfied with the composition of the current government? There are people who say it should be widened even further. People should be brought in, maybe people from the outside with experience should be brought into this government. Of course, I think that in the war time it's better to have a wider government, but this is what we have now and we need to win with the current situation. Okay, is that a deuce to yourself having a role? No, I'm not talking about politics. But let me ask you, I'm afraid that we just have just 30 seconds. Is this government doing enough on the home front for Israelis? Not the war, the home front. Definitely, they can do more. I was also Minister of Interior. I'm talking with different mayors. Of course, the people from the West Negev, they need to get more support. I think that the construction and building of the villages that were damaged can be faster and better and definitely on this side, the government can do more. All right. And finally, let me just ask you about the future, the morale. You've been traveling around the country. Yes, yes. You've been speaking. How do you assess that home front and how this country is doing? Okay, the morale is very, very high. I'm talking with soldiers. I'm traveling to the South every few days. People are, you know, you know, there are like soldiers all across the board from Israel left, right, secular religious. It doesn't matter. Everyone, really, now in Israel, everyone is united and everyone wants to eliminate the Hamas. So the morale right is very, very high. We are going to eliminate those monsters. All right. Well, let's see. And all their leadership, they are all dead men walking. Okay. Well, Israel has had similar situations before, and it's carried through on those kind of promises. No, we didn't have this situation. I'm going back to the days of Gold and May year. Yeah, yeah. But I think that, you know, the atrocities that we saw on October 7th, they're the same in the Holocaust. But since then, we thought that in the 21st century, we were not going to see them. Well, history has repeated itself. Yeah. Yala Shaqed, former Justice Minister of Israel, joining us. Jonathan Regev, please stay with us. We are going out for a brief break. But stay with us. As we said, just in the past few minutes, there were more silent alerts going on in the south, going off in the south. We'll bring you an update on the situation when we're back. We'll be at the top of the hour in just a few minutes. Stay with us. Israel is at war. Make an investment in Israel bonds. It is the most powerful and direct way to stand with Israel. Visit israelbonds.com and invest now. Our families completely done 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. This week on News 24, Israel under attack. News 24 in Spanish brings the analysis and the information of the events of the war, sword of war. Exclusive interviews and 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. Welcome to or back to this special broadcast on I-24 News. I'm Khaled bin David. It's day 37 of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. A conflict that increasingly is also pitting the IDF against Hezbollah on the northern Lebanese front. At least six civilians wounded. One critically by a Hezbollah missile attack near the community of Dovev. And seven soldiers lightly wounded by a mortar attack by Manara. Now in Gaza, Israeli troops continue to press forward toward the key Hamas command center underneath Shifa Hospital at the cost of 42 soldiers having been killed in battle there. Now appearing on CNN today, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke about possible security options for Gaza. But let's go first, let's go to the northern front and our correspondent, Mary McAuliffe, who is at Ziv Hospital. Mary, what is the situation there? Several wounded being brought today to Ziv. That's right, Khaled. The Ziv Medical Center actually received 18 of those injured today. The vast majority of those were civilians and also those who came in with light injured. But it also did receive a number of soldiers who were injured in the anti-tank missile attack on Manara earlier today. But the most serious case that they're currently deal with inside the trauma center is a man who was critically injured today in that anti-tank strike in Mount Dovab. They continue to treat a number of different people mostly from shrapnel and head injuries caused from the blast of that anti-tank missile attack that reverberated out and hit a number. But also the serious case they continue to treat it also comes as their number rockets fired at northern Israel from inside southern Lebanon. Most of them were intercepted or either fell into open areas so we don't have any reports on injuries. But here at Ziv Medical Center, this is an area that has been actively preparing for weeks to take in injuries from the hostilities here on the border and they've been preparing around the clock. They have moved different wards to put them underground and put them more in safe way in areas that are more of a shelter area. So certainly this hospital is now beginning to be on war footing. And today was certainly the day they've received the most injuries so far over the three weeks of tensions we've seen between Hezbollah and Israel. Yeah, definitely an escalation. Let's go to, I'm going to jump to the south and our correspondent, Zach Anderson, Stale Rowe. Zach, some sirens going off. I don't know exactly where you are. I'm going to go up the outer area, and then I'm going to go back up the border area just in the last 15 minutes. Yeah, Cleve, I'm going to step out of shot actually. We, and of course, as soon as I do so, we've lost it but there have been quite a bit of flares and strikes in the Bet-Hannoun area. They've been coming in at about two minute intervals and it's now, of course, completely dark when about 30 seconds ago it was quite active. They've been firing from a position far from us in towards Bet Hanun. And this is an area that's actually closer to the fence than the center of Bet Hanun itself. It's been very active in the last, I'd say about 15 minutes. Right, and of course a lot of activity there today in the areas of Gaza City as the IDF troops move in closer to Shefa Hospital, which is of course the site of also the Kihamas Command Center. And as we've heard, difficulties, challenges for Israel dealing with that situation in Shefa before it prepares for what is potentially a major military operation there. Right, and it's been, I'll give you a chance to take a look again once it appears these flares have struck. Earlier they were lit by flares and then they were followed and there's the thump of the strike itself. Back to that point of Al Shefa. Now, the hospital itself, we don't have a clear picture of its staffing levels or how many people have remained inside the hospital, but it has been apparently clear that there are still quite a few critically injured or critically injured and infants on NICUs, in the NICU, on intubators that supply a constant feed of oxygen and need to do so or the fate of those babies is in dire, dire positions. Now, the IDF has made clear that they're communicating with doctors inside the hospital and that they are telling them they will provide an access point out to get those babies to other hospitals, but it has not been clear if that's gonna be possible. I'll give you a chance here. We're seeing those flares now. Yeah, we're seeing those flares now. Yeah, this is Bet Hanun and I don't know if you can hear as well the strikes, the thumps coming in about, there's another one. Yeah, I see. They're spaced out in my experience in the last several days here. They've been quite repetitive. These ones are spaced out in a bit more methodical, it sounds like, than the strikes before. Mm-hmm, all right. All right, Zach Anders down there in the stereo right by the Gaza border. We're looking, of course, at Gaza. Obviously, IDF activity continues into this evening. There's Zach Anders, thank you for that. Well, let's move from the battle on the ground to the battle of international diplomacy, another key aspect of this conflict. Now, the French president Emmanuel Macron called his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog earlier today to clarify and partially walk back comments that he made in an interview with the BBC on Friday. Those comments implying that Israel is targeting civilians sparked concern and anger in Israel. As our senior diplomatic correspondent, Owen Ultimate explains, they were also seen as a signal of rising international pressure on Israel. De facto, today civilians are bombed. De facto, these babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. There is no reason for that and no legitimacy. Just three weeks ago, French president Emmanuel Macron landed in Israel with a message of warm solidarity. But for him, times have changed. His passage seen as a marker of a wider ramping up of international pressure on Israel. Look, in the very first days, it's clear that the emotion, the compassion created the situation where everybody was just close to Israel. But I think there is no justification precisely to attack civilians. Macron's stark language is seen as a milestone, a European power coming out for a full ceasefire and attacking Israel's position on the war, raising fears among Israelis that the war may end with Hamas still in power in parts of the Gaza Strip. The war against Hamas ISIS is progressing in full force and has one goal, to win. There is no substitute for winning. We will eliminate Hamas and we will return our abductees. Protests have grown, as here in London on Saturday. And the prevailing view in Israel is that the sand is flowing through the diplomatic hourglass. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu digs in his heels, setting up the clash that many say is to come. And still in studio with us are Defense Correspondent Jonathan Regev and joining us is Ambassador Daniel Shek, the former Israeli ambassador to France, now political commentator. And well, let me ask you, Danny, Emmanuel Macron, did was it a, in some ways misspoke slip of the tongue? He had a clarify, or was he actually sort of sending out a warning shot to Israel, fully conscious of the impact his statement was going to have? I actually don't think so. Because I'm not sure he would have gone to so much trouble to explain himself afterwards. Let me put it this way. It wouldn't be the first time that his words get ahead of his thoughts. And he uses language, he's a very verbal person. But often uses... Something of a French characteristic possibly, but he does it with a lot of talent. Okay. Sometimes he just uses words that are stronger that are stronger than what he meant. And I think that that is what happened. Having said that, he is the person in France, they call him Mr. en même temps. En même temps means at the same time. Many times he explains something and then he says, at the same time, you have to think at this. He's the man of the balance. He tries to make everyone happy. He started off the war with a very, not just him, his entire government, with a lopsided position in favor of Israel. There's no other way to explain it. So maybe he, or possibly he felt that it's time to counterbalance it a little bit and he got ahead of himself. He did explain himself. He did call President Herzog to explain. I don't think he would have gone to so much trouble if he didn't feel that he went a little bit too far. Still, I think Owen Altman is right that this might, if he meant it or not, it might signify the beginning of an accelerated erosion in this very unusually long coalition of support and solidarity with Israel. We're into the second month. I think this is an all-time record. Right, especially for these kind of operations and the Gaza Strip. And of course, Macron also has to take into account his public sentiment. Now, over the past month, we have seen in Paris as in other cities across Europe and in the US, big pro-Palestinian rallies that contain elements of both backing Hamas and even expressing anti-Semitic rhetoric. Today in the French capital, it was a demonstration against anti-Semitism that brought out tens of thousands into the streets, including the Prime Minister, Elizabeth Bourne, who has some Jewish roots. But some other notable politicians, like we were just discussing, were notably missing. Journalist Eduardo Quay was there. He filed this report. Tens of hundreds of people marched in Paris on Sunday against anti-Semitism in the biggest such demonstration in France since the 1980s. But there was one person missing, President Emmanuel Macron, who said he would be here in his heart and in his spirit, but also said that he has never attended a demonstration. His remarks did not go down very well with the large French Jewish community, which feels under attack for the first time in many decades. Macron said in an open letter published in a Paris newspaper that a France where our fellow Jewish citizens are scared is not France. Nevertheless, the demonstration was attended by the Prime Minister, as well as by the leaders of most political parties, but not Jean-Luc Bellanchon, the leader of the left wing, La France Insoumise. It was attended, however, by Marine Le Pen, the leader of the right wing Alliance Nationale, which has a long history of anti-Semitism. In the last several years, though, Marine Le Pen has moved the party to the right, to the center, and has attempted to clean up its anti-Semitic image. Many Jewish leaders said they were happy that the extreme right wing party was taking part in the demonstration and said that everybody who is anti-Semitism is welcome. The Jewish community in France, which numbers about 500,000 people, is the largest in Western Europe and has been under increasing pressure for several years. Many Jews say they are afraid and the community is undergoing its worst moment probably since the invasion by the Germans during the Second World War. Danny, you know that community well. Let's talk about, first of all, their feelings now and what it took for them to come out on the streets after week after week of these massive pro-Palestinian rallies that, as I said, have descended at least some elements of them into outright support from us and even anti-Semitic rhetoric. Well, there hasn't been just rhetoric. There have been a record-breaking number of anti-Semitic incidents in the last few weeks during the Gaza War, which is not unusual. I mean, every time that things flare up in this region, things flare up in certain parts of Paris and France in general. I think there was, no, I think I know, there was a wave of, how should I put this? Not joy, but satisfaction and enthusiasm to finally go on the street for a fight against anti-Semitism and not just as a Jewish rally, but as something that came from the heart of the French political leadership. The march was initiated, it has to be reminded, by the president of both houses of parliament, the Senate and the National Assembly, they were at the origin of this march and all the political parties, except as your correspondent mentioned Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who was not missed, to be honest, they all attended. So there was a feeling that there is, not for the first time, it has to be said, sort of a national upsurge against this wave of anti-Semitism, a reaction to it, yes. Well, that is good to see there on the streets of Paris, certainly at least for one day. Well, let's bring the focus back to where it always should be put, which is on the situation of the hostages. Hen Avegdori, he's found success here as a writer for some of the top comedy shows on his rally television, such as Sommet Miller and Miller's Crossing, they even made an American version of that. But in the past month, his life has turned well into a nightmare. His wife, Sharon, 12-year-old daughter, no arm, as well as other family members are believed to have been taken prisoner by Hamas terrorists when they brutally attacked Kibbutz Berry on October 7th. They're among, I've now believed to be, that among the 239 confirmed hostages held in Gaza, joining us now is Hen Avegdori, speaking to us from the town of Hoda-Sharon here in Israel, and I know this is difficult. But if you could just take us back to that morning on October 7th, how it unfolded for you? Well, first of all, I need to say that my daughter, no, I mean, my wife Sharon went to visit Sharon's brother, Afshad, in Kibbutz Berry, which things that we used to do as a family very, very often, because Kibbutz Berry is very pasteurized, very green, very nice place to have a nice weekend vacation. This time, my boy, Omel, we're 16 and myself didn't join them because just don't feel like it. They went on Friday morning and I got up in Saturday and my mom woke me up, I didn't wake up from the alarms. It was chaotic, it would eat, and it was taking us approximately 48 hours to acknowledge that they won't return home soon. Unfortunately, they've been given a status of a missing person, which was on air for like two weeks, which this is the real nightmare because you don't know if the hostages were dead, you are depending between in the circle of despair and hope. And after two weeks, we got the message from the army that they were kidnapped, and since then, we have no new information about them, we don't know where they are, we don't know if they are together, we hope they are together. This is the time also to mention that they were kidnapped, along with five other family members, among them two other children in the ages of eight and three, and again, no information from them since nothing, only the only thing we can do is hope, and that's it, this is my life for the past 36 days. I mean, I should also mention in members of the extended family, of course, Keyboardsbury was a scene of a terrible massacre, and members of the extended family were killed also, were they not? Yeah, we have a total in the family, seven hostages and three murders, all of them people that I know very well, all of them people that I miss very, very much, and this situation is unbearable. I don't miss it to anyone, and this has to stop. This thing has to end, I don't know how to do it, but I'm not here to talk about how, I'm not here to talk here about the what, and the what is very simple. Civilians should not be taken hostage in any form, way, or other, in any conflict. This is not an Israeli issue, this is not a Jewish issue, this is an international issue. Everybody in the world should ask himself, if he kissed his girl tonight, if he hugged his boy tonight, so just imagine how is it to do, to not able to do so for 37 days in a row. This is a nightmare, the nightmare has to be stopped, my government should do anything to bring them home, all the government should do anything to bring them home, and another thing, if I may, I heard that many people around the world are encouraging us and want to help us. So, and everybody asked me, this is from day one, what can I do to you to help, what can I do to help? And the answer is very, very simple, do whatever you can, tie a yellow ribbon over the tree, call your congressman, call any influence that you know, wear the shirt, go to a rally, whatever you can do to make the noise, and to make the vote, don't forget that 241 civilians are kept in captivity in a horrible condition, this should not happen on any world, on any country, especially not in our century. This attacks belong to the past, to the far past, to the forties of the last century. And I want to ask you, because you're part of the entertainment industry here in Israel, I said you've worked on some very big shows here, some of them, one of them at least, was actually produced in the US. Your situation, I saw there was an article in the Hollywood Reporter, I believe, that talked about you and other people, a lot of people have said that called on figures in the arts and in culture, including in Hollywood, which has many, of course, people, there are many Jewish people there, to be supportive of this. How do you feel when you see, on one hand, there are certainly those figures, and then there are other figures in the wider global cultural arts community that are not supportive, but I would say, sometimes their comments are either misinformed or just outright ignorant and unhelpful? You said it better than me. The non-supportive comments are ignorance and a little bit anti-semit. They don't understand the conflict. There is a trend now, a liberal left trend, to sympathize with what seems to be in the week. When people say free Palestine, they think that they're talking about something like free Tibet, which is other condition at all. They should know that this was the most horrific attack on the Jewish people since the Nazis. And they should know that the Hamas territories use Nazis propaganda, use Nazis methods, and MO, there were some people on amphetamines, just like the Nazis, they're killing babies with knives and rifles, just like the Nazis. There are the Nazis, there is no, it's not a comparison for the sake of the argument. There are many parallel lines between the Nazi regime, the Nazis act, and the Hamas thought and ideology. It's almost the same thing. And just now we heard that they found in the school a book by Adolf Hitler, Mine Camp, translated to Arabic, and kids are learning from that. So they are not like the Nazis. They are the new Nazis. And everybody who support free Palestine, and also this, I'm sorry for my bad language, this bullshit from the river to the sea, which means elimination of Israel, think as yourself as a Nazi supporter. There is no other way to look about opponents. All right, so well, let's hand Avigdorri, first of all, we wish you, we join the morning of those of you members of extended family that lost their lives and that attack on Kibbutz Berry, maybe their memory be a blessing. And of course, most of all, we wish the safe and sound return of your wife, Sharon, your daughter, no harm. And you've brought, you've brought pleasure to a lot of people's lives here in Israel through your work. And I sincerely hope you have, you know, time again to laugh and have pleasure in your life as well. And thank you for joining us. And we'll come back and we will win, and we will win only if they come back. There are no Israeli winning without bringing back the hostages. All right, hand Avigdorri, thank you for joining us on my 24 news. Every story, every one of these hostages has a story. What an irony, a man whose work was to make people laugh and to bring pleasure in their lives now has to deal with something like this. You know, I spent my days with these people at the forum of families of hostages where I volunteer. And these are amazing people, the people who fight for the return and who again and again, like Hain, tell the story. It's a tremendous emotional strain. There are ups and downs in the moods of people which are understandable. But they are there and they are here to fight. It's the fifth week of this fight. And, you know, we all hope that this has only one possible ending, the safe return of each and every one of these people. Ambassador Danny Shek, Jonathan Regev, stay with us. So we are going out for a brief break, just a few minutes, but we will be back with more on our special coverage, Israel's war against Hamas, stay with us. 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 be fought as well. Back to our special coverage on I-24 News. Now as with Israel's previous military operations against Hamas, the international Red Cross has been critical of the IDF's tactics saying they endanger the civilian population there, especially by targeting hospitals that Israel says are being used as sites from where Hamas is launching and directing attacks. But this time the Red Cross is also finding itself the target of criticism in Israel. Last week saw more than a thousand Israeli doctors and medical professionals protest at the organization's Tel Aviv office, demanding the Red Cross make a greater effort to obtain access to the hostages being held in Gaza. Well joining us now is Al-Yonah Senenko, the spokesperson for Israel and the Occupied Territories for the International Committee of the Red Cross. She joins us from Jerusalem. And Al-Yonah, I will give you a chance in a moment to address the situation in Gaza, to be sure. But first I do want to ask you about your reaction and response to that protest last week by Israeli medical professionals and their demands that the Red Cross make a greater effort or their charge that the Red Cross is not making enough of an effort to obtain access to the hostages in Gaza. I'll try to imagine the absolute horror what the families of hostages are going through every day. Not knowing what's happening with your loved one, if they're sick, if they're well, it's just beyond imagination, the suffering that they're going through. And it's of course understandable and that people protest in solidarity because everybody can identify, I can feel the pain of mother or father who do not see their children. But for us as a humanitarian organization, it is not for lack of trying and it is not for lack of putting all the possible effort that we can to obtain access to see them. And of course, first and foremost, demanding their immediate and unconditional release. Right, so let me ask you, when I speak to the families of the hostages, I always mention this is an international channel. We're watched, I presume, some of our footage even gets to Gaza, certainly to some of the countries in the region that do in some ways support Hamas. I want you to use this as a platform. What is your message from the international Red Cross to the world and to those in Gaza and holding the hostages? Your message has been very clear since day one, since October 7th when we said very clearly that taking hostage is against the international humanitarian law, that no civilians should ever be targeted, no civilians should ever pay the price of the conflict. And we've been demanding their release and we continue insisting that we should have access to them. We should be able to see them to check on their medical condition, bring medicine, food, and give news to their family again, imagining the pain of a family that is waiting every single day to get any news. It's very hard to bear this pain. Right, all right, let's talk about the situation in the Gaza Strip. The Red Cross, the international Red Cross has been critical of some of Israel's operations, of course, which the idea says is necessary. How does the Red Cross see that situation? Well, we're a humanitarian organization and just like in case with the hostages that are being held with the civilians in Gaza who are going through a horrendous amount of suffering, our role is to bring them assistance and relief and also to advocate for the respect of the international humanitarian law by all parties, by the Israelis, by Hamas, because any action that is putting civilians at risk that is jeopardizing their safety is against the norms and the principles of international humanitarian law. So the suffering of civilians in Gaza is horrendous. We have a surgical team, they receive wounded children, very young children with severe burns every day and it is painful to watch these images. Right, and how does the Red Cross, what is your reaction to Israel's efforts, for example, to evacuate civilians from those hospitals and offer May today to help bring babies out of the neonatal care department in Shifa Hospital, even if the IDF played a tape recording where they offered 300 liters of fuel to Shifa Hospital and they say the hospital refused it because of presumably pressure from Hamas. Well, again, we are a humanitarian organization and for us we're looking at the situation of civilians and any development on the ground that could lead to alleviate the suffering of civilians is welcome for us. What is important is also to look at the conditions and to be realistic about what is possible to achieve with the evacuations. We're talking about the largest hospital in Gaza that still has several hundred of patients according to reports that we're hearing from the ground and many of these patients, they are the most vulnerable. They are babies and incubators, people in life support, people who cannot easily move. So moving them across a war zone and it's difficult to imagine also finding the facility that would have the capacity to receive them because even the better off hospitals in the southern part of Gaza, they're also running dangerously low on essential supplies. But Ayanna, you know that this operation is to save the lives of those hostages. Every day that goes by, there are babies in those being held hostage. There are elderly people who, presumably who are in bad medical condition that need special medicines. Israel is racing, is carrying out this operation to save them. Those civilian lives are not less than other civilian lives. Well, I think that we agree absolutely that there are people, extremely vulnerable people in that hospital and that they are protected by the international humanitarian law and that everything must be done to spare their lives, to spare the enormous suffering that they have been going through. I think that there are different discussions on the modalities and we have to see the conditions for the evacuations. So there are discussions that are taking place behind the closed doors, but the objective, the aim is of course that we need to ensure that we spare the most vulnerable, the children, the elderly. That includes the elderly and children who are being held hostage that Israel is trying to get to in rescue. That includes every civilian, that includes every civilian because what we're seeing over and over again, unfortunately is that civilians are paying too high a price for this conflict. So whether these are Israeli civilians or Palestinian civilians. So does the Red Cross support the efforts by the Israeli forces and of the Israeli civil administration to move to protect those civilians, to take them out of that combat zone and thus save their lives? We are supporting the respect for the international humanitarian law. We are support any effort to spare civilians from harm. I would not, I don't want to comment on specific operation, but the principle of the international humanitarian law is clear is that civilians are protected and their lives must be spared. Our members of the Red Cross attempting to access areas where the hostages are believed. In Gaza, I mean, of course. We have not spared any efforts and we've been trying to get access to hostages that are being held over and over. And these are the efforts that are taking place at all different levels. Humanitarian diplomacy efforts on the ground in Gaza, maybe. So why, just why have those efforts not proven successful? That's why, I think that's what people in Israel want to know. Well, that is a very good question. And as a humanitarian, I would also like to know why are these efforts that we are putting every single day to spare civilians from horrendous suffering are not bearing results? And I think that if all the parties respect the norms and obligations under the international humanitarian law to spare civilians from harm and give us the access to bring assistance, we as humanitarian organization would have a much easier job. I understand that. But again, I'll just, a last question. Why though are the efforts of the Red, what's stopping the Red Cross from going to places like in Sheff Hospital and asking and going into those areas where it's believed those hostages are being held? We were in Sheff Hospital last week to deliver medical supplies. We tried to reach Al-Quds Hospital and we had a security incident where our humanitarian convoy came under fire. We're not sparing any efforts and even our putting the lives of our own staff at risk, something that should not be happening. And we're not sparing efforts to bring assistance to civilians and also to visit hostages. And this is the work that is taking place every single day, whether you see it or not. All right, Alyona Senenko, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross here. Thank you for joining us on I-24 News. Thank you. Gentlemen, just a response to that interview. Again, I think the frustration here is how are they trying to access the hostages in what way? And again, the total lack of acknowledgement that Israel is trying to save those hostages, that is the point of the military operation. Yeah, to be fair, I'll say a couple of things. First of all, there's no way an organization like the Red Cross can sanction the military operations of one side or the other. No, understood. It's just not possible. That's understood. Okay, the second point in their favor is when you ask why were those efforts to access the hostages unsuccessful, I'm shocked that she didn't state the obvious because they don't know where they are and they depend on Hamas in order to get access to them. This is what I would say, if that's not true, I think that's a very serious issue, but I don't think so. I think the fact of the matter is that they depend on information from Hamas. Having said all that, I think it is absolutely fair and necessary for Israel to continue to ask every friendly country and every friendly personality you can to nag the Red Cross because every time somebody says, I'm doing everything I can, there's always something extra that can still be done. I'm not sure that it's going to happen. We are dealing with an organization that let's say disrespect of international law is not the most serious of its crimes. Right, sure. So I understand that this is not an easy issue for the Red Cross, but I would say, again, I'm going back to the issue of the hostages. The objective obviously is freeing all the hostages. The only valid intermediate objective would be access medical humanitarian access to the hostages so that they can be counted, evaluated about their situation and receive proper medical care. Of course, and that of course has to be conditioned certainly of any ceasefire, anything resembling certainly a ceasefire case. Should be factored into any kind of deal that Israel is going to do. Any kind of deal, yeah. Now, Israel is paying obviously a high cost in this war against Hamas, a cost in lives first and foremost, but also livelihoods with the conflict enacting a heavy economic toll on the country. Now, preliminary figures issued last week by Israel's finance ministry showed that if the conflict should last until next year, it could cost as high as 200 billion shekels or about 51 billion dollars. That's equal to about 10% of Israel's GDP. Now, one toll that's key to the government's ability to weather this financial storm is Israel bonds, the US-based underwriter of debt securities that are issued by the state of Israel. And as in previous national emergencies, Israel bonds is coming through with a massive surge in their purchase in this month since the Hamas attacked on October 7th. Well, joining us now from New York is Danny Navey, the president and CEO of Israel Bonds. Danny, thanks for joining us again. Well, we spoke at the beginning of this month really. Where are we now a month in Israel bonds efforts, of course, to raise funds for this country and it's a time of maybe greatest need. Well, since we have last spoken, we achieved a significant progress. Since the war began, Israel bonds has raised more than $1 billion for the state of Israel. It is the highest surge of investments in Israel bonds history. In 2023, we raised almost more than $2 billion already globally for the state of Israel. And it's a great way of so many people, thousands of people around the world to express their support for Israel. And you mentioned Israel needs following the war. So we are proud that Israel bonds to play a significant role in that. And every investor, Israel bonds, understand that by making that investment, you make a significant support for the people of Israel these days. Right, and let's talk about who is supporting Israel there in the US. The assumption is always the Jewish community, but that's not really actually always the case. You're right. You know, first of all, of course, it are the Jewish communities, individuals and congregations and federations and great people from all around the world. But also local governments and states that express their support for Israel by making an investment in Israel bonds like the state of New York and Florida and Ohio and Pennsylvania. And so many others. And you know, recently we see more and more anti-Semitic and pro-Palestinian groups protesting against their local governments investment in Israel bonds. And the best response of all of us for that should be indeed not just by works by making an additional investment in Israel bonds. This would be the best answer for all of us to Israel's enemies and the enemies of the Jewish people. All right, and I did mention, of course, the challenge is that if this war should extend well into next year, figures being thrown around in the billions of dollars. On the plus side, the Shekel did kind of stabilize after really going down in the opening days of the war. Let's talk about this, what Israel bonds does in terms of just helping investor confidence, market confidence in this country as it emerges from the other side of this tunnel? Well, first of all, I think that, you know, as the days go by, more and more people understand that this is not just a short war between Israel and us. This is a much larger confrontation between the Jewish homeland and the enemies of the Jewish people. Actually, it's a war against the enemies of humanity and civilization, which brings more and more people to be involved, people that have not bought bonds for years or ever, you know, come forward and make that investment in Israel. At the same time, people understand that the Israeli economy is strong. You know, prior to the war Israel, that GDP ratio was below 60%. So the starting point was very strong. And if you take a look at previous wars that we faced, following those wars, the Israeli economy resilience was very fast and strong. So people have a confidence in the Israeli economy and our support for Israel would make Israel even stronger than it is. All right, Danny DeVay, CEO and President of Israel Bonds and for those who know, of course, someone who's got so many positions in both diplomatic and political spheres over of his career. Thank you for joining us on I-24 News. Thank you. And keeping focused abroad, calls for ceasefire in Gaza are becoming ladder in the Arab world. Over the weekend, members of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held a summit in Riyadh, calling upon Israel to immediately cease its offensive in Gaza, although fail to unify on what measures to take if it fails to do so. Well, P.S. Dakobach has more on that in this report. Ella is showing up for the Palestinians in an emergency summit, five weeks after Israel's war with Hamas began. Heads of state of several Arab and Middle East countries arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the goal of applying pressure on the international community to bring about an end to the fighting in Gaza. The kingdom affirms its categorical rejection of the continuing aggression, occupation and forced displacement of the people of Gaza and stresses that Israel bears responsibility for the crimes committed against Palestinian people and resources. These Arab leaders say Israel is committing human rights violations while a humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Gaza. The president of the Palestinian Authority calling upon the U.S. and for a diplomatic way out. And in this context, we hold the United States of America, which has the greatest influence on Israel, responsible for the absence of a political solution. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the summit after the Turkish-Israeli relations significantly deteriorated after the start of Israel's war with Gaza. At the summit, Erdogan only found very vague words for the Hamas massacre in southern Israel on October 7th. Israel is trying to exact revenge for the October 7 attacks, which perhaps many of us do not approve of by killing innocents and children and women. Additionally, the International Atomic Energy Agency should investigate the issue, the nuclear weapons that Israel possesses must be revealed. Speaking about nuclear weapons, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi traveled to Saudi Arabia for the summit for the first time since Iran and Saudi Arabia restored relations earlier this year. Raisi, in his speech, reiterated his trademark call to boycott Israel. The cutting of any sort of political and economic relations with the Zionist regime by Islamic countries in this context, a trade boycott against the Zionist regime, especially in the energy field, should be prioritized. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also attended the summit, after being welcomed back into the Arab League in an initiative led by Saudi Arabia. The summit's conclusion rejects the notion that the war in Gaza is justified by Israel's right to defend itself, which is disregarded in Israel. The summit lacks any political power. It can be understood as a way of Arab and Middle Eastern leaders to show back home that they do take some form of action. Daniel, I don't know that we heard anything out of that Arab League summit that we didn't expect to hear, of course, condemnation of Israel, divisions about what steps to take, but I think the bigger picture is trying to read between the lines and read into what kind of role, at least some of those countries, are gonna be willing to play in the day after Hamas is toppled by Israel. Well, there are at least two paragraphs that I noted in the final statement that refer to that. The first one talks about convening peace conference. It might be just normal words, but I think it has a significance. And the second is a paragraph stating that the PLO is the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, which sounds like that's the language that everybody uses, but with the war against Hamas going on and the Iranian president sitting in the room that has significance that all these Arab and Muslim states say Hamas are not the representatives of the Palestinian people. And in general, I think Saudi Arabia played here a very important role in keeping the radical parts of the Arab world in check, inviting Iran, but showing Iran the limits of its influence in the Muslim and Arab world. I wanna show a quote from Netanyahu, Benjamin Premis and Netanyahu, he made to American television today on CNN. One of his few comments speaking, addressing the situation of the day after. First, the first thing we have to do is destroy Hamas because otherwise they'll do it again and again and again and they've said so. So we'll destroy Hamas. The second thing we have to understand is that there has to be an overriding and overreaching Israeli military envelope because we've seen any place that we leave, we just exit, give it to some other force, very soon terrorism resurgence, so we've achieved nothing. The third thing we have to understand is that a civilian authority has to cooperate in two goals. One is to demilitarize Gaza and the second is to de-radicalize Gaza. Very ambitious program to de-radicalize Gaza. He raised questions about and willingness, speaking in Hebrew last night was more blunt about it, not being the Palestinian authority. But the question is who's gonna take the job of de-radicalizing Gaza? Well, I don't know and it has to be said that yesterday he spoke about what he did not want to happen in Gaza the day after. He never said what his plan was. Here it's a little bit more nuanced and I think, I mean, these are fair statements of goals. I don't know exactly how to achieve de-radicalization, especially not in a place infested by radicalization in like Gaza. But you know, time will tell. It's probably not the right moment to think about this right now. And military envelope that can cover a wide range of measures, Jonathan. It's a very vague statement. What do you mean by a military envelope? Do we control, does Israel control it militarily for years to come? Does Israel preserve the independence to go in night after night as happens in the West Bank? Does Israel rely on others to do this very dirty job? I'm telling people are talking about even in military zones within Gaza, maybe splitting it, but there wasn't an attempt at that on the southern half of Gaza, what was called the Philadelphia Corridor, that was not particularly successful. Exactly. So what do you do with the Philadelphia road, for example, the one running between Egypt and... Right, because you need Egyptian cooperation. Egyptian cooperation, and we know, we know that there are many, many tunnels under that road. And whoever lived here 20 and 25 years ago has traumas of the Israeli presence there. And soldiers looking for the body parts of other soldiers. These are things that have happened. So what do you do? Do you go back to that? It's a very vague statement, which I'm not even sure Benjamin Netanyahu is knows exactly where it leads. It is true that now Israel has to make sure that traumas is no longer there forever. But what happens after that, how do you do that? That's a very big question. All right, well, these are big questions and the questions increasingly, especially in the Arab world, in the US government and the Europeans are gonna be asking the government here. But of course, the main goal remains defeating Hamas and most of all, freeing the hostages that has to stay. As of course, the number one item on any agenda, I wanna thank Ambassador Daniel Shekhar, Defense Correspondent Jonathan Bregev. I failed to mention a little early, there was a red alert siren in the Kisufim that on the Gaza border. We'll see if there's any updates on that. Stay with I-24 News. That's it for this program, but we will continue our coverage of Israel's war against Hamas as day 37 in that battle drew us to a close. Thank you for joining us on I-24 News. Made For Me, a unique concept in Israel. Custom made men's fashion to your measurements. Made For Me, designer of all your events. Schedule your appointment at www.madeforme.co.il. Made For Me, official dresser of I-24 News. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Is in a state of war, families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where she has. Our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. In News 24, Israel under attack. News 24 in Spanish brings the analysis and the information of the events of the war, Spades of War. Exclusive interviews and reports from the war zone, the reaction of 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. Welcome to the special broadcast here on I-24 News. As we continue our rolling coverage, day 37 of the war here in Israel. On the northern front, an alarming escalation. 18 Israelis injured today. Israel and Hezbollah nearing boiling point on the southern front. The IDF opens up more humanitarian corridors, providing fuel to the sheaf of hospital, but Hamas preventing it from being delivered. While suspending talks over a potential hostage release deal. The diplomatic sources saying tonight it is the closest it's been since the beginning of the war. New details on Hamas intentions, true intentions on October 7th, planning a second wave of slaughter, seeking to take over big Israeli cities in the center. There were clear instructions, where and when to rape female soldiers. And according to the Washington Post, the goal was to get all the way to the West Bank. And on the diplomatic front, President Emmanuel Macron taking back criticism of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip as a mass rally against anti-Semitism takes the streets of Paris. And yet the international clock it seems taking more rapidly than before. Earlier this evening, IDF spokesperson with a clear cut message to Hezbollah in the north. You do not want to flirt with our red lines. The IDF is focused on Gaza, but we are also in high readiness in the north. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government are responsible for any fire coming out of Lebanon. They will pay the price for these attacks. The IDF has working plans to change the defense situation in the north. It will not remain in a sense that the residents of the north will not feel safe to return to their homes. And joining us here in studio for this broadcast, Mr. Daniel Elon, former Israeli ambassador to the US and Israeli deputy foreign minister, and Mr. Yakov Lapin, military and strategic affairs analyst at the Jewish New Syndicate and at the Miriam Institute. Thank you gentlemen very much for joining us. Ambassador Elon, I do want to begin with you because it seems that, well, we're not quite there yet. There is significant progress when we're talking about the potential pending hostage release deal, the American president, Joe Biden, speaking this evening with the Amir of Qatar on that. When will we know that it is going in the right direction, that it's not Miriam lip service or attempts on behalf of Hamas to stall time? Well, I don't think, Elie, that we can know before it really happens. And Qatar certainly is the key. They are the only ones who can really pressure Hamas. But still, I would say, at this point, it is not inconceivable that we may see even a military operation as the Israeli forces dig deeper into Gaza and around the Shifa and also some underground subterranean facilities. More and more intelligence is collected. So everything is open right now. And I don't think we can trust Hamas for any of the negotiations. And in this respect, Israeli defense ministry, I've got on telling the families of the hostages today, Mr. Lapin, that the ground operation is bringing Israel closer to the release of hostages, not the other way around. And to that point, we understand that if such a deal is indeed too materialized, we're talking about some sort of a pause in the fighting. Will it tender Israel's ground objective? I don't think so, because if you look at the war cabinet's twin objectives, it is the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas's terror army and political regime. And I don't think Israel is going to do anything to jeopardize those objectives, even though they sometimes look like they're clashing. They're not because the more Hamas is under military pressure, the less cozy it's going to feel about these negotiations. I think the real question is, what does Hamas want in exchange for the hostages? Is it really just the release of security prisoners from Israeli prisons? Or is it to buy itself time? My suspicion is it's the latter. So it may release some civilians. It may keep others. I think its survivability over the long run is its main objective. And we have to keep that in mind going forward. And it is important to note that we're not talking about releasing all the hostages according to recent reports. We're talking about around 80. The total is 239. So this drip-drip policy might only make this entire war longer. Obviously, we want to see every single one free. And I think Israel will go for every opportunity to free them, even if it's in phased release deals. I don't think Israel will be closed to that. But the idea that this will actually stop or result in a long-term ceasefire, I think that's out of the question as far as Israel is concerned. Well, let's head now to the South. The Israel-Gaza border, I-24 news correspondent, Zach Anders with the I-24 news team. They're on the ground. Zach, thank you very much for joining us. Well, the IDF is opening more humanitarian corridors, plural estimations that between 150 to 200 civilians moved from North to South in recent days alone. And yet Hamas actively preventing the Shefa hospital from getting fuel. That hasn't stopped the IDF, though, from communicating with the staff inside the hospital. They say that they're calling the personal cell phones of the doctors and telling them now is the time to go. And apparently the doctors are telling them, well, we have injured, we have sick, we can't move. And there's a neonatal ward with infants that need the oxygen and the power just to be able to stay alive. So late tonight, we are hearing that the IDF is even proposing going inside the hospital, trying to attempt to pull out, safely pull out these infants and the sick and the injured and try and find a way. If that doesn't happen earlier in the day, they've communicated quite specifically the roads that can be taken away from the hospital compound that they're telling the doctors and the staff would be safe to meet that main humanitarian corridor that runs along the coastal road to the south. So the Shefa hospital is a center of attention not just due to the humanitarian issue there, but due to the fact that it is a hospital slash terror compound, no other way to put it. Underneath the hospital, the main or one of the main Hamas headquarters, a big dilemma, no other way to put it, but seems that sooner rather than later, it will have to be addressed militarily. Right, and the Israeli forces that have been able to reach, several days ago we were talking about encirclement of Gaza city. Well, now we're talking about IDF forces within Gaza city. Now, we've seen information that is showing intense fighting around the hospital compound, perhaps speaking to the fact that Hamas is valuing the Shefa complex, is valuing what lies underneath and that the fighting is characteristic of their attempt to defend this facility. Right, Zach Anders, I-24 news correspondent on the Israel-Gaza border. Thank you so very much for this. Zach, back here with Mr. Yakov Lapin and Ambassador Dani Ayalon, you know, we are naturally talking, you know, before we continue our discussion, let's take a quick listen to what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin and Netanyahu had to say today about the Shefa hospital slash terror compound dilemma. Yeah. All right, we will hear Benjamin Netanyahu later on, but bottom line, it's a moral catch-22, at least in the eye of the international community. Right, you know, on the one hand, you know, according to the Geneva Conventions, you know, all four of them, international law, if a hospital has been taken hostage by terrorists that is being used as a compound for attacking any advancing military, it is a legitimate military target. Yeah. But let's not kill ourselves. This will not be held in our favor if there is some real bloodbath coming out of the hospital. This is why right now, the military, the IDF has to take it with kids' gloves, putting the pressure, some psychological pressure as well, with the hope that they will buckle in from inside. And if not, they will have to be a very slow and grueling process till the end, because the IDF is not going to stop short of really clearing out Gaza from Hamas, and there are some trophies there. You know, the heads of Hamas, like Mohamed Dev and Sinwar. Yeah, the symbolism here matters. Yeah, and they are the two masterminds that actually planned. Orchestrated. And orchestrated the entire thing. And they are the ones to do or die. You know, for them, every day they live and breathe, they live and breathe destructions of Israel. And Mr. Lapin, again, we're naturally focusing on what is happening in the northern part of the strip. This is the modus operandi of the IDF at this point in time, and yet, I wouldn't say that we're forgetting, but there is a very serious Hamas presence in the southern part of the strip as well. How will that be addressed? Hamas is not an issue for the northern part of the Gaza strip. So the center of gravity of Hamas' military wing is Gaza City, is northern Gaza. And once the IDF is able to eliminate that, it's going to be easier for it to move south. And it could probably do that in a more targeted manner. I mean, that's why those civilians have been sent south to the humanitarian zone. I think when it comes to the hospitals and when it comes to everything that's been going on in Gaza City, Hamas is trying to slow Israel down. It thought that its lines of defense would be the thing that slows it down. It thought that the hostage crisis would slow Israel down. None of that is working. And I think Hamas is actually disturbed by the fact that Israel is completely determined to continue day by day, making steady progress, killing large numbers of field terror operatives, field commanders, and going after the leadership. All of Hamas' traps, so-called traps, that were designed to slow down Israel, take away its momentum, are failing. And I think that's putting the pressure on the Hamas leadership. And before we jump to the northern front, also tonight, the Internal Security Agency is saying that around 20 Hamas terrorists from Gaza were arrested and taken into Israel for the purpose of intelligence gathering. And some of those people were involved in the October 7th massacre, so that will provide even more intelligence. And yeah, that's a major gain for the Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence agency, for the IDF, for Unit 504 of the Military Intelligence Directorate. Their collaboration is phenomenal going forward. And every day is seeing further and further intelligence and operational achievements for Israel. So valuable intelligence, not just to get an overview of what unfolded, but what is to come. And speaking of what is to come up north on the Israel-Lebanon border, a clear escalation, no other way to put it. Let's cross now to our 24 News correspondent, Mary McCollough, for the our 24 News team. They're on the ground. Mary, 11 wounded Israeli civilians today, 7 wounded soldiers. Question being, when or what will be a boiling point if not that? That's right, LA. Well, it seems already that we seem to have gotten to that point. The IDF, at least the spokesperson today, saying, laying out their planes, saying that they have an operational plan to handle the security situation here in the north, that something will change here in the north. They say they cannot go on existing in this current situation for the residents to come back to their homes as of now that something needs to change, not outline exactly what that is going to be. But we will likely be seeing that very soon, if not tonight, then in the next coming days or weeks. But the IDF making it very clear that the current situation must change. The anti-tank missiles that continue to be launched across the border into Israeli communities, into Israeli military areas. We've seen, of course, these anti-tank missile attacks numerous times over the past three weeks since October 8 when Hezbollah first joined this fight against Israel. But today, of course, causing significant casualties. Over 18 injured here. Most of them were civilians, and most, thankfully, were lightly injured. But here at Ziv Medical Center, they were treating one who was taken into this hospital in critical condition. He is now said to be in serious condition and is sedated and ventilated. But they are still on this act of warfooting here at this hospital, preventing and preparing for the eventuality that they have to take in a large number of casualties here. They have already moved wings of this hospital down into their bunker into more protected areas where they can continue to be working around the clock. Many of the workers here also come from areas that are very near the border, themselves also evacuated. Now three weeks into this, definitely clearly seen an escalation in the number of attacks here in Israel, and also reports of the IDF already escalating their attacks inside southern Lebanon with Israeli airstrikes going as far as 40 kilometers away from the border. So it definitely seems to be a significant escalation here. The IDF saying that it is responding to the sources of the fires, not just from those anti-tank missile attacks, but also a number of rockets that were fired into northern Israel that was claimed by the Lebanese branch of Hamas. But the IDF is responding throughout southern Lebanon to these threats. Hi, 24 News correspondent Mary McAuliffe on the Israel's northern border with Lebanon. Thank you very much for this. Back here in the studio, Ambassador Ayelon, it seems that Israel or the IDF will have to increase its response to what we're saying from Hezbollah. Is there in between, is there a mini war with Hezbollah, or that's all in, or not at all? Really, this is exactly what we're experiencing now. It's a mini war right on the contact line. And here, I think, logic prescribes that Nasrallah wouldn't want an all-out war, because he knows exactly how it will end up. Israel will suffer severely, but it may bring his own demise. So I don't think he would want to escalate, except to show solidarity and to show that here is participating in the war, in this big jihadist war. Hamas is not alone. But his masters in Tehran wouldn't want to spend this main card that they have with Hezbollah. Yeah, but not to compromise at this point in time. And yet, from the Israeli standpoint, Mr. Lampin, Israelis cannot go back to these communities without reassurances that Hezbollah forces are deep in Lebanese territory. And here, perhaps, it's not just militarily, but also diplomacy. There is a UN resolution that, if enforced, should have prevented exactly that. Yeah, so UN resolutions and the Lebanese government I think all of these things are utterly irrelevant to Hezbollah, as is, in my opinion, Western logic. I don't think that they're at all deterred. And I don't think that they're at all bothered by the concept of an escalation. How far it goes is a different question. But to me, it's clear that they're ready for war, that they're not deterred by war. And if anything, what they're trying to do is to set up this escalation so that Israel gets blamed for it, but that they don't take the blame. Israel will make the extra step. The extra step, and then they can say, well, look, all I did was show solidarity with Hamas and Gaza. But Israel is the one that launched us into war. And that is a justification, I think, for their Shiite base in southern Lebanon, because they're the ones who they have to actually provide answers to. They're the only population I think that Hezbollah cares about in terms of public opinion. So look, launching anti-tank missiles at civilians, trying to kill them, allowing Hamas to almost hit Haifa. This has escalation written all over it. And I think we should connect the dots. Hezbollah's role here as far as Iran is concerned is to keep Israel distracted from Gaza, from finishing the job in the Gaza Strip against Hamas. And if that leads to a major escalation, then so be it as far as they're concerned. Yeah, the policy of containment proved to be simply wrong on many different levels, and definitely not sustainable when it comes to the northern front. And if we need a reminder that perhaps we should listen to what our enemies are saying, let's take a look at the face of evil, one of the key architects of the Hamas terror rampage, if not the architect, leader Yohi Sinwar, who is believed to be hiding in a tunnel in the northern part of the Gaza Strip while Gaza residents are in shambles. Well, now his former doctor in the Israeli prison recounts his interaction with Sinwar and shares his personal trauma since his own nephew, the doctor who took care of Sinwar, his nephew is one of the 239 people kidnapped on October 7th. Here's more in this next report. I think such a thing would happen to my family. My nephew was kidnapped to Gaza. Enemies I knew in prison for many years. They're the ones holding my nephew. It's personal. His name is Yuval Beton, but in prison they called him something else. What did they call you? The doctor. There are a few people who sat face to face with them with the architects of the massacre. Let's talk about Sinwar. How many hours have you had with him? Many. Who would even think he'd ever be released? The doctor will be taking us on a journey to the most guarded wing of the prison, and we will go with him to see the destruction. To be a doctor in the prison service? A dentist in Nafha prison. How complicated is it to be a dentist in such a place? Very. A doctor needs to give something of himself. When you care, there's some kind of closeness. You take care of someone. You give something of yourself. In the first years, there were no assistants in the Israeli prison services. So the assistant was a security prisoner, Abu Ali Yata, two life sentences. And you weren't worried? That's the reality. It's me, him, and the Hamas prisoner alone. And if necessary, they ordered surgeons. So, Abu Ali, bring a scalpel. In the same way, he can also butcher me. When did you know the prisoner, Heer Sinwar? I know him from when I was a dentist. I'm starting to study this population. His 10 years as a dentist turned him into an expert on the psyche of security prisoners. He got to know the groups, ambitions, everyone's struggles and ideas. And then he decided to make a career change to become an intelligence officer, to be the one who recruits sources and collects information in prison. He would eventually become the head of the intelligence division of the prison service. How did the inmates take your move? Shock. Fire! Today, Heer Sinwar is the head of Hamas in Gaza, building his power on those years and status in the Israeli prison. And the doctor sees this up close. And why is he willing to go further than his predecessors? Because he's prepared to pay any price for a principle. In October 2011, the Netanyahu government approved the Shalit deal. 1,027 prisoners were released in exchange for Gilad Shalit. Among them, Salah Arul, head of Hamas in the West Bank, who met with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah this week and also with Sinwar. Those who know him know that the price of releasing someone like this is much worse and higher than anyone else because his abilities are devastating. The Shin Bet and whoever made the decision did not ask the Israeli prison service at all. And here's something else from the same deal. Everyone who was released was asked to sign a form agreeing not to engage in terrorism. He refused. And what did Israel do? Released him, even though he didn't sign. At the Orym Junction at the entrance to the Gaza Strip, we meet Nair Yuvaz Nafyov from Kibbutz near Oz. Since that black Saturday, he hasn't returned there. Now, we're headed out to what used to be his home. So here in this neighborhood, there are many, many murdered. This is the founder's neighborhood. On October the 7th, Nair was here with his two daughters, Rani, four years old, and Nogha, six years old. He gave them videos to watch and told them that there was a military drill outside and he held the door shut. I held it like this. Six hours standing here like this. Yes, and I'm also standing here and my daughter is here. The terrorists standing over there. When he came out, his world collapsed. Pictures of his grandmother being kidnapped on a golf cart were broadcast all over the world. We moved to Nair's house, Nair's brother, and Yuvaz's second nephew. And they just went wild. He's a member of the community security unit. He put on a vest, a weapon, and went out. We don't know anything. No one knows anything. 8.30 in the morning on Saturday. He wrote a message to his wife, Hadas, shut yourself in the safe room. Don't open the door, even if I beg. At this moment, in a house burned down in Kibbutz near Oz, the doctor remembers what happened to Inmet Yersinwa in 2004. He had an abscess. An abscess is like a hole in the brain. If it explodes, then... So there's an infection and you say goodbye. Is ready, doctors saved his life. Have you ever thought about it? Definitely, many times, especially now. That's what? That we saved his life. He took the lives of hundreds of children, youth, elderly. Yes, we, our doctors, saved him. And he gave back, like Hamas knows how to give back. What the citizens of Israel now realize at a terrible price, the doctor realized long ago, but no one listened. Those who understood this long before us were the members of the Palestinian Authority. This is a call from prison that sounds like a prophecy today. The Speaker is a convicted terrorist, one of the leaders of the Fatah prisoners. This was in 2019. The prison he's been living in is the prison of Iraq. The prison of Iraq is a prison of the caliphate that was established from Russia to America. And it's not in his prison but in his country. There's a country called Hudna. Hudna is the same country that he's been living in. That's how it is. He has a tinnin, a tachmoset, he has a kohot, a tzareno. You've helped him, that's how it is. And today, it's his last day. We did not understand and did not want to understand, because we thought that this was an internal Palestinian issue. We thought it served us. Hamas is an asset because it does not want to talk. Neither about peace nor about political processes and not on territorial compromises. It is a definite enemy, obviously. For, in Gaza, we found a technical solution. We found a solution. We surrounded them with offence. So as to say, we don't have a problem with Gaza. The burnt houses of Nia Oz tell another story, and it's one which is perhaps the most painful and difficult of all. The first force of the army, Galani soldiers, entered the gates of the kibbut at only 1.30 in the afternoon, seven hours after the start of the massacre. The terrorists were no longer here. They'd returned to Gaza after murdering 40 people and with more than 70 abductees. Yaval stood, looking at the extinguished fire, still smouldering. Everything got mixed up, the past and the present, the nephew who was missing, and the architect of the murder, the man who once sat with him in the dental clinic. What does he think to himself now? Now, he feels like Salahadi. He has done what no air bleeder has done before, but the price, who will pay it, the residents of Gaza, he actually brought on the end of Hamas. We're taking a quick break now, but we'll be back in a few minutes as we continue our rolling coverage. Day 37 of the war here in Israel, a few minutes, and we're back. El is 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 be fought as well. In the news 24, Israel under attack. News 24 in Spanish brings the analysis and the information of the events of the war, Iron swords. Exclusive interviews and 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. Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us. Well, we can say a lot of things about the vile Hamas terrorist, one of them. They were, they are very thorough. Yes, not just in their evil execution but in their evil ideology. That was heavily inspired, if we can use such a term, by evil masterminds who preceded them. Reading and marking and taking advice and notes from Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. So this is Adolf Hitler's book, translated to Arabic, Mein Kampf. It's the book that led to the Holocaust and the book that led to World War II. This is the book that led to his victory in elections in Germany, which led to the worst atrocity of humankind which the British fought against. Well, this book was found just a few days ago in northern Gaza in a children's living room which was turned into a military operation base of Hamas on one of the, on the body of one of the terrorists and murderers of Hamas. And he even marked, he wrote notes, he marked, he marked and learned and learned again and again Adolf Hitler's ideology of hating the Jews, of killing the Jews. Still with us here in studio, Ambassador Dania Elon, Mr. Yakov Lapin. Thank you, gentlemen, very much for staying with us. Ambassador Elon, with the lack of a better phrasing, obviously for anyone who knows history, unfolded in the Holocaust, means something. But if we're looking at the younger generation with a little interest in history, it seems. And again, with the lack of a better phrasing, the Holocaust messaging isn't working. Well, that should not deter us to go, it's a, it's a, it's a difficult work. You have to go over and over and over again, you know, in, in a general, you know, in this discipline of, let's say, marketing, quote, unquote, they say you have to actually turn over a message. And let's say, say it about 10 to 20 times before it really begins to really sink in. So you have to keep doing it, you have to keep doing it. And here are two messages, ISIS and Nazis. So ISIS, in this respect, Mr. Lapin, is more vivid in the consciousness of the western world or the majority of western population. Well, certainly because ISIS threatened global security. And of course Hamas does too. But the difference is that Hamas is focusing its first phase of attack on Israel. If you look at Hamas' covenant and its Muslim Brotherhood ideology, Hamas wants to, first of all, destroy the state of Israel and replace it with an Arab-Islamic state. But afterwards, he wants to join up in a regional caliphate. Let's say, Satan, big Satan, it's the same thing. Yeah, and they wanted the same things that ISIS wants, but they just want to get there through a different path. It's the same Sikh, Islamist, jihadist, genocidal ideology. And we are the front line here on, on that front. But I think that, you know, the world is going to have to figure out on its own how to approach this. The main thing, you know, from my perspective is let the IDF work, let the IDF get the job done. Victory on the ground is the most important thing. Yeah. And the rest of the discussions can be held, you know, on that basis. We'll deal with global consciousness later. Right. Well, speaking of, I'm French President Emmanuel Macron calling his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzogar, earlier today to clarify and partially walk back to his infuriating comments. He made an interview with the BBC this weekend, sparking concern and anger here in Jerusalem. But his senior diplomatic correspondent, Owen Alterman, explains they were also perhaps a signal of the international clock taking fast. De facto. Today civilians are bombed. De facto. These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. There is no reason for that and no legitimacy. Just three weeks ago, French President Emmanuel Macron landed in Israel with a message of warm solidarity. But for him, times have changed. His passage seen as a marker of a wider ramping up of international pressure on Israel. Look, in the very first days, it's clear that the emotion, the compassion created the situation where everybody was just close to Israel. But I think there is no justification precisely to attack civilians. Macron's stark language is seen as a milestone, a European power coming out for a full ceasefire and attacking Israel's position on the war, raising fears among Israelis that the war may end with Hamas still in power and taking parts of the Gaza Strip. The war against Hamas-ISIS is progressing in full force and has one goal, to win. There is no substitute for winning. We will eliminate Hamas and we will return our abductees. Protests have grown as here in London on Saturday and the prevailing view in Israel is that the sand is flowing through the diplomatic hourglass while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu digs in his heels, setting up the clash that many say is to come. Gentlemen, the go-to question here is whether the damage already been done despite this semi-walkback from these comments. And yet, perhaps, we should also take into consideration Macron and other leaders, domestic concerns and perhaps even the national security agencies in France suggesting or advising Macron to speak in that tone to try and lower the flames in France, the Muslim community. There is a... 90% of the population in France are Muslims and we know that their breath can be quite devastating for the French political life, French economy and civil conduct as well. But I would say here, from a leadership point of view here if you are managing the entire campaign, you must differentiate the different theaters of the political warfare. Of course, you have Europe which is important, you have the Arab world which is also important, especially in the Sunni countries and you have others that are less important but the most important theater for us is the United States. So long as we have the American support, all the other declarations by other leaders including Macron are secondary. Marginal and yet Mr. Lafender is afraid that it will create some sort of a domino effect in terms of the leeway or liberty Western leaders are taking upon themselves to voice their sentiments facing what we are seeing here. I agree with Ambassador Ayalon first of all, American support is the primary international factor as far as Israel is concerned and this war effort. Not only because of how the American alliance, how primary it is for Israel's security but also we are seeing in the region how important it is to have American involvement and the entire architecture, the future architecture of this region the Sunni moderate block is looking to the United States for the post Gaza reality so the United States has a very important role to play going forward it has to remain on side. When it comes to France, with all due respect I don't think Israel needs to compromise its war against a genocidal enemy because President Macron has some domestic pressure or because somebody in France is acting as a Hamas PR agent with all due respect from an Israeli perspective I don't think that should move our considerations one but the security of the Israeli people is what's important. I haven't heard any international leader suggesting another route of action that is favorable when your people are being slaughtered by your immediate neighbors but against the back-top of this and the in an insane upsurge and anti-Semitic incidents in France tens of thousands of people marching this evening in Paris against anti-Semitism. The silent majority does not want to be silent the question is is it the majority? Journalist Eduardo Quey was there? A massive demonstration this Sunday in Paris against anti-Semitism without doubt the largest such demonstration since the 1980s tens of thousands of people have been marching from the Esperanto-Sambaline to the French Senate since about three o'clock this afternoon. You can see behind me the hundreds and hundreds of people that continue to march down Boulevard Saint-Germain towards the Senate. The demonstration was called in solidarity with the French Jewish community by the President of the Senate and the President of the National Assembly as anti-Semitic acts have risen sharply since the October 7 attack against Hamas. The government says more than 1200 anti-Semitic acts have been registered in France during the campaign. But there are two main figures here today that are missing. One is President Macron who said he would be here in his heart and in his spirit. And in an open letter to the French said that France where French Jewish citizens are afraid is not France. The other absentee is Jean-Luc Mélenchon the head of the extreme left La France terrorist organization. He said today that those demonstrating in Paris are in cahoots with people who support the massacres in Gaza. The attacks against Israel have caused deep divisions within the French political system with many people upset that the extreme right wing national front is taking part in the demonstration but the leader of the party has made it clear that the anti-Semitic history of the party is behind it and that it is fully behind the French Jewish community. And from one western capital to another in London this weekend the biggest anti-Israeli pro Hamas rally to date hundreds of thousands, nearly 2,000 policemen deployed on the same day of British arms to stay making it not just a foreign matter but a domestic one as well. Let's cross now live to Hartford chair, broadcaster and producer Phil Davis joining us. Thank you Phil very much for your time. Great to see you. All things considered of course. I was going to say I think given the circumstance it's still great to see you. The position of the British government and the British street I wouldn't say the same. Look, I think that the scenes that we have witnessed this weekend it's very important to know that however despicable and there's only one word really to describe it that we have seen. What was different before now is that any pro Hamas rallies that we have seen and I'm very pleased you describe it as pro Hamas because people disguise it as pro-Palestinian I mean pro-Palestinian must be against Hamas. Anyway the way I look at it as pro Hamas rallies that we have seen where the police estimated around 300,000 people took to the streets of London yesterday on as you rightly identify Armistice Day the justification people saying is the Armistice Day of course symbolizes the very freedom that we celebrate here in the UK once a year but of course there are those who say look doing this on such a sacred day is holy inappropriate. Why do I mention this? Well because actually now as you rightly identify it turns into a bit of a domestic matter because there are many people in this country who up until recently have just seen this if you like as being a problem for Jewish people being Israel's problem not necessarily something that they need to concern themselves about but it just got personal this weekend because suddenly they start to intrude on one of the most sacrosanct days in the British calendar and that's where I think this is a very interesting turning point now and I am already hearing opinion and also support for what Israel's doing in so much as that now people are saying well hang on a second you've just made this about Britain so this is what I think is quite interesting because Brits are now calling or some of them at least to get their country back this is the sentiment that we've seen and the Home Secretary called them hate marchers the Pro Hamas demonstrators sparking a lot of rage but also suggesting that London police have been more lenient towards pro-Palestinian demonstrators and other groups as such and then were the protesters or soccer hooligans on the other side of the divide right wingers what is the current discourse in Britain tonight yeah that's right it's very strange actually because there's a lot of criticism for the police in the way that they handled the protest yesterday and I should actually stress by the way today which is Remembrance Sunday here again a very sacred day in the British calendar has actually gone off relatively peacefully thank goodness and the Remembrance Day was allowed to happen as it rightly should do but yesterday a very different story for Armistice Day of course Armistice Day being the 11th day of the 11th month which is when Britain commemorates the laying down of arms at the end of the First World War just in case anyone doesn't know what Armistice Day actually is so the excuse me the actual the way that the police dealt with it yesterday people have said well hang on a second why is it that you were very quick to pen in what they describe as far right people who were countering the protest and some might say quite rightly so they were very upset with what they saw they saw people don terrorist scarfs in their capital city there are people in the Jewish community who are too scared to leave their house at the moment get your head around that if you will we are right back in 1930s for some of us I have even witnessed myself graffiti with people sort of dobbling Margen Dovitz on people's houses and chucking paint when they see someone having a mozuzer on their door it's outrageous what's going on here at the moment and to those who are countering those despicable protesters yesterday frankly those of us with the level head say good on them so why the police were trying to stop them who knows I'm not sure what what is crazier that I should be telling you in London Phil Dave to stay safe well we are here in Tel Aviv under the constant attack of rockets and God knows what but yes stay safe Phil Dave this is the time we live in thank you very much for this and it was a busy diplomatic weekend all over the world members of the Arab League and the Association of Islamic Cooperation held a summit, two summits essentially condensed into one in Riyadh calling upon Israel to immediately seize its offensive in the Gaza Strip amid derising civilian death toll and a lack of a political plan our P.S. Takal Bacha recaps these demands and how significant they really are Ella is showing up for the Palestinians in an emergency summit five weeks before Israel's war with Hamas began heads of state of several Arab and Middle Eastern countries arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with the goal of applying pressure on the international community to bring about an end to the fighting in Gaza the kingdom affirms its categorical rejection of the continuing aggression, occupation and forced displacement of the people of Gaza and stresses that Israel bears responsibility for the crimes committed against Palestinian people and these Arab leaders say Israel is committing human rights violations while a humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Gaza, the president of the Palestinian Authority calling upon the U.S. and for a diplomatic way out and in this context we hold the United States of America which has the greatest influence on Israel responsible for the absence of a political solution Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the summit after the Turkish-Israeli war was significantly deteriorated after the start of Israel's war with Gaza at the summit Erdogan only found very vague words for the Hamas massacre in southern Israel on October 7th Israel is trying to exact revenge for the October 7 attacks which perhaps many of us do not approve of by killing innocents and children and women additionally the international atomic energy agency should investigate the issue the nuclear weapons that Israel possesses must be revealed speaking about nuclear weapons Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi traveled to Saudi Arabia for the summit for the first time since Iran and Saudi Arabia restored relations earlier this year Raisi in his speech reiterated his trademark call to boycott Israel the cutting of any sort of political and economic relations with the Zionist regime by Islamic countries in this context a trade boycott against the Syrian regime especially in the energy field should be prioritized Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also attended the summit after being welcomed back into the Arab League in an initiative led by Saudi Arabia the summit's conclusion rejects the notion that the war in Gaza is justified by Israel's right to defend itself which is disregarded in Israel the summit lacks any political power it can be understood as a way of Arab and Middle Eastern leaders to show back home that they do take back here in the studio with Mr. Yaakov Lapin and Ambassador Daniel Elon I wouldn't use the term upset because in diplomacy it's quite irrelevant but are you surprised perhaps that Arab leaders are not helping well we know what they really think perhaps behind the scenes no one will shed a tear not if but when Hamas is eradicated that they're not helping in terms of public opinion making the distinction between Hamas and the Palestinians Dividing lines between the moderate or the relatively moderate Sunni countries No, I'm not talking about Erdogan and Sajom talking about the moderate forces and Iran, Syria of course and the Iranians proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas the Houthis, the Iranian militias Iraq, Syria by the way also in Libya they're also in Nigeria, Boko Haram and others but I would say for the the summit in Riyadh was a mixed bag especially for the Iranians you know first of all they were invited so this is a first in this handshake together with Assad the big butcher of Arabs you know he killed more Arabs than any other leader in the recent history but their purpose was actually to come away with a very you know strong resolution, sanctions on Israel and that did not fly because again when it comes to the real interest, the very important interest of those Arab countries it lies with Israel and against the Hamas So you're saying despite the fact that we're not really sensing them on the public sphere level behind the scenes they're blocking any radical moves and really there's always attention because you know their first and foremost objective is the survivability of their regimes and they know that you know the nefarious power of the Palestinians in terms of incitement inciting their own population against the governments they have experienced it in Jordan in the 70s and in Lebanon and in Kuwait during the Gulfs first and second this is why they have to walk a very fine line that shows solidarity very harsh words against Israel the one who is mastering this is King Abdullah II of Jordan who has very strong Hamas strongholds in Jordan in the parliament of Jordan 70% of his population are Palestinians so he has to be very careful so on the one hand criticizing Israel very harshly calling his ambassador for consultations back home in Amman but at the same time the strategic cooperation is getting deeper and deeper for his own survival and speaking of giving the credit to our enemies when they deserve the Iranians are working very very hard and very well there's not a day passing by without the Iranian foreign minister or other top Iranian figure meeting with some sort of a former foreign counterpart rather in terms of diplomacy the Iranians are sending them their message out to the world the Iranians are first and foremost I think synchronizing their access trying to create a synchronized regional access that exploits the fact that Israel is bogged down in the Gaza Strip and uses the so called diplomatic visits to places like Lebanon to actually send instructions to Hezbollah telling it provoke Israel and keep its military resources bogged down in the north split the military capabilities etc a lot of these things are done under the cover of diplomatic context but they're actually purely military and terrorist instructions that are being sent out and in the region I fully agree with the Iranians assessment there's no confusion I think behind closed doors in the halls of power of pragmatic Sunni powers over who they want to come out on top here they can't say so publicly for domestic reasons if we look at the ideology of Iran the ideology of Hamas this ideology is inherently hostile to pragmatic Sunni regimes Sayi Kutub the godfather of Islamists that he's very influential Hamas all of these regimes as traders and puppets of the west that need to be overthrown that's where Hamas is, that's where President Sisi is that's why President Sisi doesn't want to let people from Gaza in because it's an Islamist infested territory and he's very worried about that spilling over into Sinai so behind the scenes it's a completely different story and that's where we're at we have two blocks in this region in terms of governments one is moderate the other is radical one is modern, the other is medieval and it's clear I think you know which side wants who to win here and perhaps the silver lining in this entire situation is that again the axis of good and the axis of evil are clearly illustrated and no one will be able to stay on the fence for the long term before we wrap up this broadcast gentlemen the talk about the day after is already gaining steam when it comes to the American disc or if it's the least with the lack of a good option but rather poor options to choose from shouldn't Israel even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Tanyao in his next press conference talk to the leaders of the region of the world and tell them you know what guys I don't have good ideas for what to do with Gaza do you I think that would be a very very good political maneuver absolutely Israel should not just stand idle and let others take the initiatives and make some offers absolutely we should do the ones and I think here the Americans are expecting that what would be the day after and I think there is a trade-off here because the United States is with us all the way for the eradication of Hamas but they also want to know what will happen next and they certainly do not want to see the bogging down of Israel over there just as they were bogged down in Afghanistan and Iraq and if you don't plan the day after nothing good can come out of it and I think Israel has the word with all to do it but I think we do need to hear a regional cooperation whether it's the Saudis money whether it's the Egyptian administration all of these can be coaxed in a gentle way brought into the scene of thinking what will Gaza look like after the end of the Hamas regime but again maybe should the international community those who are very much concerned about what is happening here make their suggestions and not just be in a position in which Israel is making moves that are being criticized if you have a good idea bring it on well sure I think you know regionally it's really the much more in Israel's interest for Saudi Arabia to be involved in Gaza than Iran and Egypt should be involved in the Gaza Strip and not the radical Shiite Axis but militarily I think it's very important to point out the IDF has to reserve full freedom of operational activity so general line still not the final outline of course gentlemen thank you very much for joining us a few minutes and we'll be back now