 Tel Aviv and welcome to I-24 News' ongoing coverage of Israel at War. I'm Ariel Levin-Longman. We begin today with a harrowing story of survival from October 7. Journalist Amir Taboen, a resident of Kibbutz Nakhalos who spent hours under fire, as his father armed up and raced to intervene. Amir, I am glad that you are with us. Can you tell us your story? Good to be with you. My story is one of thousands of survival stories of this terrible day, October 7, that we will never forget and has become one of the most important dates in the history of our country. For me, it started like a regular Saturday in my home in Kibbutz Nakhalos with my wife and two daughters. But shortly after 6 a.m., a barrage of rockets and mortars began to fall on our community, specifically in my neighborhood. And so my wife and I raced to the safe room that we have in our home. Every home in the Gaza border communities has a room that is built of a strong concrete where families usually put the kids to sleep. Our two daughters were there sleeping. We locked the door. We shut the safe room window, which is a heavy window built out of iron, and it's completely dark. Soon later, the electricity fell out. And we thought it was just a rocket attack, which is something we've experienced over the years because we've lived in Nakhalos for about seven years. We've had some experiences over the time, and it's a beautiful community. We love living there, and we know that sometimes there were tense days, and it was part of the deal. But we never expected what came next, which was a full infiltration of Hamas into our community. Shortly after 7 a.m., we could hear Hamas terrorists directly outside our window, shouting commands in Arabic, shooting ammunition into our home. Luckily, our home was locked. The doors were locked. The windows were all shut, and so were the shades. But they shot a lot of ammunition into our house. They destroyed our cars. They tried to break into the house. There was a small group of very, very brave fighters in our community. About 10 fighters from a special unit of the Israeli police who were stationed inside the kibbutz. We were joined by three members of our local security team. And for long hours, these 13 people fought a heroic battle against 100 terrorists. They were outgunned. They were outnumbered. They could not save everyone in the community. At the same time that this was happening, and we were sheltering with our two daughters in the safe room, I contacted my parents who live in Tel Aviv, and I told them this is what's happening. They were terrorists outside our window. And my father, who is over 60, and he's retired generally in the Israeli military, he took his pistol and he started driving with my mother toward our kibbutz. It's about an hour and 15 minutes from Tel Aviv. Along the way, they managed to save a young couple, people about my age, who ran away on foot from the massacre at the music festival, not far from our community. And my parents saw them at the side of the road. They were hiding and they tried to make a desperate run toward my parents' car. And my parents took them in their car to a police station in Ashkelod, turned around and continued going toward our community. When they got close, they split. My mom waited alone in a bomb shelter with the whole world on fire around her. My father drove with his pistol in his car toward our community, accompanied by one soldier who agreed to join him. And there was a gun battle. There was an ambush by Hamas targeting a group of soldiers that they ran into. They joined the firefight. They killed the terrorists. Several of our soldiers were wounded there. My father took them back with him in his car and from there, my mom took them to the hospital. And finally, in the early afternoon hours, my father managed to arrive to our community. He joined a group of soldiers. They started clearing the community going from home to home. Until they reached our home, it was after 4 p.m., more than 10 hours in the safe room. And we were saved and our story had a relatively happy ending, but it was a very difficult day for our community. We lost 15 people. We have several people who are kidnapped in Gaza. And we don't know when we will be able to go back home. Amir, during these 10 hours, what do you tell your family while you're sheltering in place, hearing terrorists just outside your windows? We told our two young daughters who are three and a half year old and one and a half year old that they just have to be very, very quiet because it's a dangerous situation outside and they have to be quiet. And we, at some point, we, cell reception was not constant during the day. There were many blackouts. But at some point, we did get a text message from my mom that my father was on his way. So we started telling them that if they stay quiet, their grandfather will arrive. And so we just waited. Your father's story, because you mentioned that he did come to your rescue after these 10 hours. How did that work for him? What was his story on that day? So like I said, my parents drove down from Tel Aviv. Along the way, they saw this couple that ran away from the party and they saved them. And then they split and my father was driving toward our community. Saw this ambush of the soldiers, joined the firefight, helped kill the terrorists. It took a military grade weapon from one of our soldiers who had died earlier this day in the ambush, took back the wounded soldiers and then returned, finally, to rescue us together with a friend of his, another retired general, Israel Ziv, who was in the area. And in the community, when they got there with the soldiers, they went from home to home. They didn't come immediately to our house, but they helped clear the keyboards from terrorists from home to home. And there were many, many stories on that day of Israelis, citizens, soldiers, policemen who took initiative and went to save others and went to fight. The military as a whole, the entire government as a whole did not function on that day, did not provide security, but people who went out and fought saved many, many lives. Amir, since that day, I understand you've met with several major Western leaders to understand the situation, to tell them the story and how have you felt about the international support that Israel has gotten in that time? The most important person I met is President Biden. When he came to Israel, he invited 12 Israelis who had been impacted by the war to come and meet with him. And President Biden's support for Israel will go down in the history books because what he has done for us is incredible. Coming here in the midst of this war, the first American president ever to visit Israel during an ongoing war, sending the aircraft carriers, meeting Israelis like myself and others would go through this event and providing a hug and listening to what we asked from him. And also his work to release the hostages. We've already had four of our hostages released, two of them dual Israeli-American citizens from my own community. And I'm eternally grateful to President Biden for his support of Israel. I know he's also paying a political price for it and we are lucky to have him there. Absolutely. Amir, thank you for being here to tell your story. I'm glad that you, your family made it and the nation needs people like your father who are willing to jump into the fray to save their fellow citizens. That's an inspiring story all around. Thank you for having me. We have many, many heroes in this country and they will be the ones who will carry us through this period. Todar Abba, thank you. Thank you. We're going to move now to the front as a whole. We actually were just taking some rockets all across Tel Aviv and central Israel just a few short minutes ago. We've been moving on to talk about the southern front as a whole, the Israeli Defense Forces continuing to escalate ground operations in the Gaza Strip throughout the weekend, targeting several Hamas operatives and positions. The military said all told that 450 Hamas military targets were struck in the last 24 hours. That one Israeli soldier was seriously injured, another moderately injured, fighting terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip. The military also announced they are increasing the number of soldiers on the ground in Gaza. When warned residents of Gaza City, the area is now a battlefield and reiterated their calls for civilians to move south. Israel also said humanitarian efforts to Gaza led by Egypt and the United States will be expanding and that communications networks in Gaza are beginning to come back online after getting knocked out by airstrikes on Friday. Israel says the number of hostages currently held by Hamas has been confirmed to be at least 230. Their fate has become the number one priority to the Israeli public, that's according to opinion polls, that show that support for an immediate ground operation is dropping in light of that. Netanyahu himself has apologized after trying to pass the blame for Israel's security failures to intelligence agencies and not taking any upon himself. It comes after a backlash to a tweet the Prime Minister made then deleted saying he had no intelligence warning of Hamas's intention to commit a massacre and that he believed intelligence estimates that the group had been deterred. Netanyahu announced the second stage of the campaign to destroy Hamas has begun with that expanding ground defensive into the Gaza Strip but the war ahead will be a long and difficult one. On Friday evening, more of the ground forces enter into Gaza in the development of the stronghold of Ivo. This is the second phase of the war whose goals are clear, the destruction of the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas in the return of the hostages home. At every stage until now and at every stage from now on we will exhaust every possibility to return our abducted brothers and sisters to their families. The war inside the Gaza Strip will be difficult and long and we're prepared for it. And we return our eyes to the southern front where our correspondent Pierre Kloschenler is standing by in Sturro a town just next to the border in southern Israel. Pierre, thank you for being with us. We just got a barrage from Gaza just a few minutes ago. What's the latest coming out of that front? It's going on. The ground offensive is going on for the past since Friday evening at around 7 p.m. local time Roy Platzman, our cameraman can show you a little bit of what's going on from afar. He's pointing at two villages that are on the northern tip of the Gaza Strip Beth Hanun and Beth Lahia where there are heavy bombardment and also heavy fighting. We hear the ratata of the heavy machine guns. We can hear gunships. We can hear the roar of planes. The explosion, the outgoing of the artillery batteries that are located around us. And as a result you can see smoke billowing and melting into the gray sky. Visibility is not great. What we hear right now from, you know, the partial picture that we have from the IDF Spokesperson Unit is that over 450 targets were destroyed in the past 24 hours. There's been heavy fighting in agricultural land and in urban areas of the northern Gaza Strip. Channel 2 just reported now that 20 terrorists came out of a tunnel in the northern tip of the Gaza Strip and were eliminated. We hear also that one IDF officer was severely wounded by a mortar shell. Another soldier was moderately wounded in a clash, in an armed clash with Palestinians with armed Palestinians from Hamas or Palestinian Islamic jihad, we don't know. And we hear from Palestinian reports emanating from Gaza because now the cellular network has been partially restored at least that there have been threats by the IDF versus the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City to evacuate it as soon as possible. You know that the IDF consider hospitals as being safe haven command center and operation centers for Hamas inside the Gaza Strip and therefore they're considered military targets although the IDF has confirmed the messages sent to the Palestinian personal of the Al-Quds Hospital they've never targeted up until now a hospital and this poses a great dilemma for the Israel Armed Forces in the sense that only a week and a half ago there were accusations that the IDF had bombed the Al-Ali Hospital this was denied and proven that it was a misfire by a Palestinian rocket from Palestinian Islamic jihad and yet the pressure on Israel to alleviate the fate of the residents in Gaza is great. We know that 20 trucks have been waiting at the crossing and being checked in order to allow them to cross into Gaza and provide food water and medicines for the residents of Gaza the army and the political echelon in Israel has been calling day and night the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate immediately to no avail there are still no how many tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of residents who refuse or are not given the right to evacuate by Hamas and this poses also a great dilemma and this is why in a sense this operation, this ground operation is very measured very controlled and intelligence is very precise provided by the intelligence unit of the army of course but also by the boots on the ground now that can give a more precise picture of what's going on inside the Gaza Strip Well Pierre thank you for that very detailed breakdown of these recent developments and what the situation on the ground is we'll be coming back to you over the course of the day for more as the situation changes but to discuss a little bit more in studio we are joined by Lieutenant Colonel Daron Avital former commander of Special Forces in the IDF we will not talk about the tactics being used in this ground incursion not quite a full scale ground operation yet this idea that you can sort of slice Gaza into areas of operation small ones and clear them one by one is that actually going to be effective at clearing out upwards of 40,000 Hamas fighters? I think first of all the new terminology that the army uses is the next phase of the war and the next phase of the war really consists of those incursion ground incursions and this replaces the old terminology of the full blown takeover of Gaza City and I think as we go along plans in the army as you go along are changing as was really reported nicely you get a more intelligence you get into more entry to tunnels we had this encounter with Hamas fighters that were killed so this is the kind of pressure that has been created and I think it goes in tandem and it goes back to the dilemma that was presented yesterday by Bibi Gallant and and Benny Gantz the second objective is the hostages so when you go with this kind of pressure you really succeed to maintain the two missions simultaneously because this pressure can create pressure on the Hamas leaders also to come with some kind of a deal as we go as we escalate forward but we don't stop it's not like we are waiting all the time pushing forward gathering intelligence and putting more and more pressure on Hamas I think it's a good and impressive tactic and also allows us to be more precise in our attacks also from the air or from the sea. Absolutely you mentioned the hostages Doron and before we continue I want to bring in a statement because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Saturday with representatives of the families whose loved ones are being held captive in Gaza pledging that Israel will exhaust every opportunity to bring about their return the families are urging Netanyahu to agree for an all for all exchange all security prisoners to Hamas in exchange for those Israeli hostages let's take a listen the demand is unequivocal that the operational activity will consider the fate of the abducted and missing persons and responsibility for this operation rests with the Israeli government we demanded that no move be made that endangers our family members and any move would take into account the safety of our loved one in the second part of the meeting we made it clear that from the point of view of the families a deal for the immediate release of family members within the framework of all for all is a consideration and will have broad national support and I turn back to you Doron to understand a little bit what are the odds really speaking that the ground operation can actually using special forces liberate these hostages without the need to take a terrible deal the prospect rely on one thing and one thing only intelligence because in terms of the operational capabilities I think we have of course depends where we are in the ground invasion but the question is the intelligence where are they we have also to be very prepared and very careful not to find ourselves by mistake when hitting our so it's possible and I insisting from the beginning the special ops units will be working tandem with the military trying to locate those hostages and then you can find yourself even in context of negotiation on the ground so the negotiation maintaining the two horns of this dilemma the hostages and killing the Hamas let's put it plainly have to work together and we have to do it carefully and I think this is the strategy right now that Hamas of course maintains an underground city the extent of which is unprecedented never seen before hostages held hundreds of meters underground command centers built underneath hospitals how is Israel going to tackle this tunnel network you have to work it carefully even if you have a distinct intelligence and you know that the headquarters underneath your hospital you have to think very seriously into the matter because of course we have an issue but also we have to think the whole landscape of the field because we have Sisi only yesterday talking very bluntly against our incursion into Gaza and this is an ally think what's going on in Jordan think what's going on in the West Bank and not to talk about our enemies so we have to work very carefully gather the intelligence be very very precise and all the time keep an eye on the hostages dilemma using whatever we have in our capacity especially forces but also political diplomatic negotiations that are all the time taking place in the background through Qatar, through Egypt trying to get to some kind of a deal I think there's readiness from the Israeli side to go to a deal but it has to be a serious deal and the prices should be reasonable but we're willing to do something but we have to see that we have somebody a partner to this discussion I've spoken to in the studio other general security analysts people that have a background in this whether it's the Israeli or relatively bloodless ways of taking out the tunnel networks is this something you believe is possible or is this something that is going to evolve going into that? I think in the last 10 years Israel put a lot of emphasis about fighting in tunnels since the 214 war on Gaza and I think in generating elements when technology went into it the problem of course is the hostages themselves are in the tunnels so we have to be very careful how we move it's not like we just crack on the Hamas we've been much easier so it's a tricky thing the best technology that we have in terms of gathering intelligence from tunnels and fighting in tunnels is being used let's hope we can do it well Here's one of the grim questions we have to ask do we believe that Hamas in any way shape or form serious or negotiating for the release of this hostages? I think they have they have an interest in negotiating it was part of the tactic part of the strategy where those hostages in return of something Sinwari himself don't forget he's a prisoner a veteran of the Israeli prison system for 22 years and the question of the prisoners this is one of his main tasks so of course there's a possibility the only problem is of course how they're going to use it in a clever way in order to hold us back from fighting and cracking down on them so this game of back and forth this is the game we play we have export players in our diplomatic channels that know this game from the past and we're playing but we have to keep a real pressure in the battlefield in order for the two things to work together I guess the question on our side as well as the other side is can that pressure tactic actually stop Israel from completing this objective? That's the big question going ahead thank you very much Daran we are going to look at the aftermath three weeks since Hamas's rampage in southern Israel still more bodies being identified the death toll more than 1400 people many families are still waiting for news on their relatives and their friends who are being held hostage in Gaza and where Orish Perot went to a special village that's been built to help survivors of the terror onslaughts two and a half weeks since the horrific Hamas onslaught in southern Israel many are still trying to pick up the pieces the Emile rehabilitation center north of Tel Aviv is one of those places it opened its gates to survivors of the massacre at Reimnova Festival on October 7 the people who were at this party took psychedelic drugs they didn't land on the ground they are here but they are not here in this village the main treatment is logotherapy based on the method of Victor Franco he used the empowerment of internal forces and creating a shell that wraps around the patient one of the survivors Natalie Bloom shared her story with I-24 News and speaks about her personal battle after October 7 I saw the terrorists with my own eyes I had severe anxiety attacks I saw my sister and she looked like a terrorist to me I looked at her and I saw a terrorist I saw a person with a gun standing in front of me and trying to kill me I understood that I can't deal with anything my sister held me and I screamed stop stop I don't want to die I understood that I needed mental treatment Emil, founder of this center considers himself a rebel and opposes some of the mainstream mental care methods although some may see this approach as controversial many of his patients feel grateful and some even continue to work in the village what Emil does here is he doesn't put my mind and soul and body in a cage he lets my soul be free here he lets my mind be free I am allowed to experience new things I am allowed to experience a new way of life and if I don't like it the door is open the massacre at Reim will most likely continue to haunt everyone who was involved the combination with hallucinogenic drugs is challenging Emil and his crew have a message to the thousands of survivors you're not alone and if it's not here then try finding another place that can let you have that peace of mind that you need so mad right now and we'll just recap the most recent developments on all fronts right now with that rocket barrage fired only about 15-20 minutes ago into central Israel from the Gaza Strip all around Tel Aviv and the surrounding communities sending people rushing to shelter this comes after the IDF announced they had struck 450 sites Hamas sites across Gaza as they prepare the way for the ground forces to advance who are operating now since Saturday with heavier operations a strategy that people have described is sort of slicing the pie sector by sector making small gains to push Hamas forces out of the area and get better intelligence on the ground and hopefully resolve the Haas's situation that Israel finds itself in we're going to have more updates for you over the course of the day so stay tuned on I-24 news we're going to go out for a short break now but you can join us again at 1 o'clock local time we'll see you again soon El is officially in a state of war this is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking within 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped we just don't know anything entire families including babies and children and elderly were butchered in their beds awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong everyone is showing up this is the unity this week in I-24 Israel under attack I-24 in Spanish brings the analysis and information of the events of the war exclusive interviews reports from the war zone the reaction of the Spanish-speaking countries I-24 the only Spanish medium that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel I-24 news I-24 news channel broadcasting from Israel with dozens of correspondence throughout the world brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people from hundreds of countries completely done down in their beds the state of emergency and war in Israel bringing Israel's story to the world I-24 news channels now on hot news from Tel Aviv and welcome to I-24 news ongoing coverage of Israel at war we begin today with a harrowing story of survival from October 7 journalist Amir Taboen a resident of Kibbutz-Nachalos who spent hours under fire as his father armed up and raced to intervene Amir, I am glad that you are here with us with the news of the war Amir, I am glad that you are with us can you tell us your story good to be with you my story is one of thousands of survival stories of this terrible day October 7 that we will never forget and has become one of the most important dates in the history of our country for me it started like a regular Saturday in my home in Kibbutz-Nachalos with my wife and two daughters but shortly after 6 a.m a barrage of rockets and mortars began to fall on our community specifically in my neighborhood and so my wife and I raced to the safe room that we have in our home every home in the Gaza border communities has a room that is built of a strong concrete where families usually put the kids to sleep our two daughters were there sleeping we locked the door shut the safe room window which is a heavy window built out of iron and it's completely dark soon later the electricity fell out and we thought it was just a rocket attack which is something we've experienced over the years because we've lived in Nachalos for about 7 years we've had some experiences over the time and it's a beautiful community we love living there and we know that sometimes there were tense days when it was part of the deal but we never expected what came next which was a full infiltration of Hamas into our community shortly after 7 a.m we could hear Hamas terrorists directly outside our window shouting commands in Arabic shooting ammunition into our home luckily our home was locked the doors were locked the windows were all and so were the shades but they shot a lot of ammunition into our house they destroyed our cars they tried to break into the house there was a small group of very very brave fighters in our community about 10 fighters from a special unit of the Israeli police who were stationed inside the kibbutz and they were joined by three members of our local security team and for long hours these 13 people fought a heroic battle against 100 terrorists they were outgunned they were outnumbered they could not save everyone in the community at the same time that this was happening and we were sheltering with our two daughters in the safe room I contacted my parents who live in Tel Aviv and I told them this is what's happening there are terrorists outside our window and my father who is over 60 and he's the retired generally in the Israeli military he took his pistol and he started driving with my mother toward our kibbutz it's about an hour and 15 minutes from Tel Aviv along the way they managed to save a young couple people about my age who ran away on foot from the massacre at the music festival not far from our community my parents saw them at the side of the road they were hiding and they tried to make a desperate run toward my parents car and my parents took them in their car to the police station in Ashkelod turned around and continued going toward our community when they got close they split my mom waited alone in a bomb shelter with the whole world on fire around her my father drove with his pistol in his car toward our community accompanied by one soldier who agreed to join him and there was a gun battle there was an ambush by Hamas targeting a group of soldiers that they ran into they joined the firefight, they killed the terrorists several of our soldiers were wounded there my father took them back with him in his car and from there my mom took them to the hospital and finally in the early afternoon hours my father managed to arrive to our community he joined a group of soldiers they started clearing the community going from home to home until they reached our home after 4pm more than 10 hours in the safe room and we were saved and our story had a relatively happy ending but it was a very difficult day for our community we lost 15 people we have several people who are kidnapped in Gaza and we don't know when we will be able to go back home Amir during these 10 hours what do you tell your family while you are sheltering in place hearing terrorists just outside your windows we told our two young daughters who are 3 and a half year old and 1 and a half year old that they just have to be very very quiet because it's a dangerous situation outside and they have to be quiet and we at some point we cell reception was not a constant during the day there were many blackouts but at some point we did get a text message from my mom that my father was on his way so we started telling them that if they stay quiet their grandfather will arrive so we just waited your father's story because you mentioned he did come to your rescue after these 10 hours how did that work for him what was his story on that day so like I said my parents drove down from Tel Aviv along the way they saw this couple that ran away from the party and they saved them and then they split and my father was driving toward our community saw this ambush of the soldiers joined the firefight helped kill the terrorists took a military great weapon from one of our soldiers who had died earlier this day in the ambush took back the wounded soldiers and then returned finally to rescue us together with a friend of his another retired general who was in the area since then in the community when they got there with the soldiers they went from home to home they didn't come immediately to our house but they helped clear the kibbutz from terrorists from home to home and there were many many stories on that day of Israelis citizens soldiers policemen who took initiative and went to save others and went to fight the entire government as well did not function on that day did not provide security but people who went out and fought saved many many lives Amir since that day I understand you've met with several major western leaders to understand the situation tell them the story and how have you felt about the international support that Israel has gotten in that time the most important person I met is President Biden he came to Israel he invited 12 Israelis who had been impacted by the war to come and meet with him and President Biden's support for Israel will go down in the history books because what he has done for us is incredible coming here at the mid the midst of this war the first American president ever to visit Israel during an ongoing war sending the aircraft carriers meeting Israelis like myself and others would go through this event and providing a hug and listening to what we asked from him and also his work to release the hostages we've already had four of our hostages released two of them dual Israeli-American citizens from my own community and I'm eternally grateful to President Biden for his support of Israel I know he's also paying a political price for it and we are lucky to have him there absolutely Amir thank you for being here to tell your story I'm glad that you your family made it and the nation needs people like your father who are willing to jump into the fray to save their fellow citizens inspiring story all around thank you for having me we have many many heroes in this country and they will be the ones who will carry us through this period thank you we're going to move now to the front as a whole we actually were just taking some rockets all across Tel Aviv and southern just a few short minutes ago we've been moving on to talk about the southern front as a whole the Israeli defense forces continuing to escalate ground operations in the Gaza Strip throughout the weekend targeting several Hamas operatives and positions the military said all told that 450 Hamas military targets were struck in the last 24 hours that one Israeli soldier was seriously injured another moderately injured fighting terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip the military also announced they are increasing the number of soldiers on the ground in Gaza then warned residents of Gaza City the area is now a battlefield and reiterated their calls for civilians to move south Israel also said humanitarian efforts to Gaza led by Egypt and the United States will be expanding that communications networks in Gaza are beginning to come back online after getting knocked out by airstrikes on friday Israel says the number of hostages currently held by Hamas has been confirmed to be at least 230 that has become the number one priority to the Israeli public that's according to opinion polls that show that support for an immediate ground operation is dropping in light of that Netanyahu himself has apologized after trying to pass the blame for Israel's security failures to intelligence agencies and not taking any upon himself it comes after a backlash to a tweet the prime minister made then deleted saying he had no intelligence warning of Hamas's intention to commit a massacre and that he believed the intelligence estimates that the group had been deterred Netanyahu announced the second stage of the campaign to destroy Hamas has begun with that expanding ground defensive into the Gaza Strip but the war ahead will be a long and difficult one on friday evening more of the ground forces entering to Gaza in the development of the stronghold of Ivo this is the second phase of the war whose goals are clear the destruction of the military and the destruction of Hamas in the return of the hostages home at every stage until now and at every stage from now on we will exhaust every possibility to return our abducted brothers and sisters to their families the war inside the Gaza Strip will be difficult and long and we are prepared for it and we return our eyes to the southern front where our correspondent Pierre Kloschendler is standing by in Sturro a town just next to the border in southern Israel thank you for being with us we just got a barrage from Gaza just a few minutes ago what's the latest coming out of that front it's going on the ground offensive is going on for the past since friday evening at around 7 p.m. local time Roy Platzman our cameraman can show you a little bit of what's going on from afar is pointing at two villages that are on the northern tip Gaza Strip Bet Hanun and Bet Lahia where there are heavy bombardment and also heavy fighting we hear the ratata of the heavy machine guns we can hear gunships we can hear the roar of planes the explosion the outgoing of the artillery batteries that are located around us and as a result you can see smoke billowing and melting into the gray sky visibility is not great what we hear right now from the partial picture that we have from the IDF Spokesperson unit is that over 450 targets were destroyed in the past 24 hours there's been heavy fighting in agricultural land urban areas of the northern Gaza Strip Channel 2 just reported now that 20 terrorists came out of a tunnel in the northern tip of the Gaza Strip and were eliminated we hear also that one IDF officer was severely wounded by a mortar shell another soldier was moderately wounded in a clash in an armed clash with Palestinians from Hamas or Palestinian Islamic jihad we don't know and we hear from Palestinian reports emanating from Gaza because now the cellular network has been partially restored at least that there have been threats by the IDF versus the Al-Quds hospital in Gaza city to evacuate it as soon as possible you know that the IDF consider hospitals as being safe haven command center and operation centers for Hamas inside the Gaza Strip and therefore they're considered military targets although the IDF has confirmed the messages sent to the Palestinian personal of the Al-Quds hospital they've never targeted up until now and this poses a great dilemma for the Israel armed forces in the sense that only a week and a half ago there were accusations that the IDF had bombed the Al-Ali hospital this was denied and proven that it was a misfire by a Palestinian rocket from Palestinian Islamic jihad and yet there was pressure on Israel to alleviate the fate of the residents in Gaza is great we know that 20 trucks have been waiting at the Rafah border crossing and being checked in order to allow them to cross into Gaza and provide food water and medicines for the residents of Gaza the critical echelon in Israel has been calling day and night the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate immediately to no avail there are still we don't know how many tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents who refuse or are not given the right to evacuate by Hamas and this poses also a great dilemma and this is why in a sense this operation this ground operation is very measured very controlled and intelligence is very precise provided by the intelligence unit of the army of course but also by the boots on the ground now that can give a more precise picture of what's going on inside the Gaza Strip well Pierre thank you for that very detailed breakdown of these recent developments we'll be coming back to you over the course of the day for more as the situation changes but to discuss a little bit more in studio we are joined by Lieutenant Colonel Daron Avital former commander of Special Forces in the IDF Daron I want to talk about the tactics being used in this ground incursion not quite a full scale ground operation yet this idea that you can sort of slice Gaza into areas of operation small ones and clear them one by one is that actually going to be effective at clearing out upwards of 40,000 Hamas fighters I think first of all the new terminology that the army uses is the next phase of the war and the next phase of the war really consists of those incursion ground incursions and this replaces the old terminology of the full blown takeover of Gaza city and I think as we go along you know plans in the army as you go along are changing as was really reported nicely you get a more intelligence you get into more entry to tunnels we had this encounter with Hamas fighters that were killed so this is the kind of pressure that has been created and I think it goes in tandem and this goes back to the dilemma that was presented yesterday by Bibi Gallant and the second objective is the hostages so when you go with this kind of pressure you really succeed to maintain the two missions simultaneously because this pressure can create pressure on the Hamas leaders also to come with some kind of a deal as we go escalate forward but we don't stop it's not like we are waiting all the time pushing forward, gathering intelligence and putting more and more pressure on Hamas I think it's a good and impressive tactic and also allows us to be more precise in our attacks also from the air or from the sea absolutely you mentioned the hostages before we continue I want to bring in a statement because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on sadly with representatives of the families whose loved ones are being held captive in Gaza pledging that Israel will exhaust every opportunity to bring about their return the families are urging Netanyahu to agree for an all for all exchange where we change all security prisoners to Hamas in exchange for those Israeli hostages let's take a listen the demand is unequivocal that the operational activity will consider the fate of the abducted and missing persons and responsibility for this operation rests with the Israeli government we demanded that no move be made that endangers our family members and any move would take into account the safety of our loved one in the second part of the meeting we made it clear that from the point of view of the families a deal for the immediate release of family members within the framework of all for all is a consideration and will have broad national support and I turn back to you Darron to understand a little bit what are the odds really speaking that this ground operation can actually using special forces liberate these hostages without the need to take a terrible deal the prospects rely on one thing and one thing only intelligence because in terms of the operational capabilities I think we have of course depends on the ground invasion but the question is the intelligence where are they we have also to be very prepared and very careful not to find ourselves by mistake when hitting our own hostages so it's possible and I insisting from the beginning the special ops units will be working tandem with the military trying to locate those hostages and then you can find yourself even in context of negotiations on the ground finding the two horns of this dilemma the hostages and killing the Hamas let's put it plainly have to work together and we have to do it carefully and I think this is the strategy right now complicating all of this is going to be access of course you know Hamas maintains an underground city the extent of which is unprecedented we've never seen before hostages held hundreds of meters underground command centers built underneath hospitals how is Israel going to tackle this tunnel so I think you have to work it carefully okay even if you have distinct intelligence and you know that the headquarters underneath her hospital you have to think very seriously into the matter because of course the humanitarian issue but also we have to think the whole landscape of the field because we have CC only yesterday talking very bluntly against our incursion into Gaza and this is an ally think what's going on in Jordan think what's going on in the West Bank the enemy is a Hezbollah in Iran so we have to work very carefully gather the intelligence be very very precise and all the time keep an eye on the hostages dilemma using whatever we have in our capacity intelligence special forces but also political diplomatic negotiation that all the time taking place in the background through Qatar through Egypt trying to get to some kind of a deal I think there's readiness from the Israeli side to go to a deal but it has to be a serious deal and the prices should be reasonable I mean but we're willing to do something but we have to see that we have somebody a partner to this discussion I've spoken to previous in the studio other general security analysts people that have a background in this who have said that there could be easy or relatively bloodless ways of taking out the tunnel networks is this something you believe is possible or is this thing that is going to evolve going into the last 10 years as well put a lot of emphasis about fighting in Tunnel since the 2014 war with on Gaza engineering elements when technology went into it the problem of course is the hostages themselves are in the tunnel so we have to be very very careful how we move it's not like we just crack on the Hamas in the tunnel this could have been much easier so it's a tricky thing the best technology that we have in terms of gathering intelligence from tunnels and fighting in tunnels is being used let's hope we can do it well I mean here's one of the grim questions we have to ask do we believe that Hamas in any way shape or form serious or negotiating for the release of this hostages I think they have an interest in negotiating it was part of the tactic part of the strategy to have those hostages in return of something Sinwari himself don't forget he's a prisoner a veteran of the Israeli prison system for 22 years and the question of the prisoners this is one of his main tasks so of course there's a possibility the only problem is of course we have to use it in a clever way in order to hold us back from fighting and cracking down on them so this game of back and forth this is the game we play we have expert players in our diplomatic channels that know this game from the past and will play but we have to keep a real pressure in the battlefield in order for the two things to work together I guess the question on our side as well as the other side is can that pressure tactic actually stop Israel from completing this objective big question going ahead thank you very much Daran we are going to look at the aftermath three weeks since Hamas's rampage in southern Israel still more bodies being identified the death toll more than 1,400 people many families are still waiting for news on their relatives and their friends who are being held hostage in Gaza and where Eris Shapiro went to a special village that's been built to help survivors of the terror onslaught two and a half weeks since the horrific Hamas onslaught in southern Israel many are still trying to pick up the pieces the Emil Rehabilitation Center north of Tel Aviv is one of those places it opened its gates to survivors of the massacre at Reim Nova Festival on October 7th the people who were at this party took psychedelic drugs they didn't land on the ground they are here but they are not here in this village the main treatment is logotherapy based on the method of Victor Franco he used the empowerment of internal forces and creating a shell that wraps around the patient one of the survivors Natalie Bloom shared her story with I-24 News and speaks about her personal battle after October 7th I saw the terrorists with my own eyes I had severe anxiety attacks I saw my sister and she looked like a terrorist to me I looked at her and I saw a terrorist I saw a person with a gun standing in front of me and trying to kill me I understood that I can't deal with anything my sister held me and I screamed stop, stop I don't want to die I understood that I needed mental treatment Emil founder of this center considers himself a rebel and opposes some of the mainstream mental care methods although some may see this approach as controversial many of his patients feel grateful and some even continue to work in this village what Emil does here is he doesn't put my mind and soul and body in a cage he lets my soul be free here he lets my mind be free I am allowed to experience new things I am allowed to experience and if I don't like it the door is open the massacre at Rayeem will most likely continue to haunt everyone who was involved the combination with hallucinogenic drugs make the treatment even more challenging Emil and his crew have a message to the thousands of survivors you're not alone and if it's not here then try finding another place that can let you feel so mad right now and we'll just recap the most recent developments on all fronts right now with that rocket barrage fired only about 15-20 minutes ago into central Israel from the Gaza Strip sirens going off all around Tel Aviv and the surrounding communities sending people rushing to shelter this comes after the IDF announced they had struck 450 sites Hamas sites across Gaza as they prepare the way for the ground forces to advance who are operating now since Saturday with heavier operations any strategy that people have described is sort of slicing the pie sector by sector making small gains to push Hamas forces out of the area so they can map out and get better intelligence on the ground and hopefully resolve the hostage situation that Israel finds itself in we're going to have more updates for you over the course of the day so stay tuned on I-24 news we're going to go out for a short break now but you can join us again at one o'clock local time 1300 people murdered and more than 3000 injured and the war with Hamas continues we bring you first-hand testimonies from the front lines from those who survived and all the records of the atrocities by Hamas follow us as Israel fights terror from the south and north get the inside scoop on what's going on only on I-24 news or as we're talking more than 100 soldiers and civilians have been we just don't know anything entire families including babies and children and elderly were butchered in their beds awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong everyone is showing up this is the unity welcome to our latest edition of zoom in continuing our coverage of the war here in Israel now and it's 23rd day of the Islamic life in Tel Aviv the war has now entered a second stage according to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel expands its military activity in the Gaza Strip sending in more troops and striking more than 450 Hamas targets in just 24 hours the IDF says any Palestinian civilians who have yet to evacuate to the south need to do so now the United States and Egypt are expected to increase humanitarian aid efforts in the southern Strip come Monday meanwhile rockets continue to fly from Gaza with red alert sirens blaring through central Israel as rockets are intercepted over major cities including Tel Aviv and Herzliya all of this as IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Higari said at least 230 people are still being held hostage in Gaza quite a lot of developments as we enter this 23rd day of the war most of that activity happening in the south and that's where our correspondent Pierre Kloschenler is standing by near southern Israel Pierre just in the past hour we see another heavy barrage of rockets being fired from central Israel I'm not sure what you've seen on the ground there near the Gaza border what can you tell us well we have some sort of vintage point in inverted comma over the northern tip of the Gaza Strip Roy Platzman our cameraman can show you the village of Bethlehem which is the site of heavy gunfights between Israeli ground forces and Palestinian Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad there are incessant bombing from the air the sea and from the artillery over the northern tip of the Gaza Strip as Israeli ground troops entrench themselves in that area both in agricultural fields which are on the western side of the northern tip of the Gaza Strip but also in urban areas in the villages such as Jebalia village Bethhanun and Bethlehem we hear the roar of the fighter jets of the Israel armed forces we hear from time to time the outgoing powerful booms of the artillery it's like a door slamming on you something like that and in addition what we hear and which has been kind of elliptically confirmed by the IDF is that just this morning 20 terrorists from Hamas came out of a tunnel and engaged Israeli forces they were all eliminated we hear also messages being sent by the IDF on for instance the Al-Quds hospital in Gaza city to evacuate it immediately but without confirming it's going to be attacked and hospitals have been a major issue in the war of knowledge at least waged by the IDF simply because many of these hospitals according to IDF are command and operational center the most important one of those being the Shifa hospital in Gaza with undergrounds adjacent to the hospital and inside the hospital with many Hamas and palestinian Islamic jihad offices being sheltered inside it and a lot of ammunition weapons storage etc etc so one of the big efforts of the IDF right now is on the propaganda side I would say urging every day every night both in the military echelon and the political echelon of Israel the Gaza residents that are still in the northern tip of the Gaza Strip to evacuate immediately to save their life to go south of Gaza city to save havens that can receive humanitarian aid in water in food and medicines and we hear from palestinian sources that right now 20 trucks of humanitarian aid are bound to enter the Gaza Strip after being checked Niko here Kloschenler certainly the scene of an active war behind you there with all of those smoke plumes behind you thank you for your coverage down there on Israel southern border now as the ground offensive intensifies the political background is heating up as well after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Israel's security failure on various intelligence services saying he himself had no warning of Hamas plans to attack on October 7th now war cabinet member Benny Gantz and opposition leader Nair Lapid bashed the premiere stating his statements weaken the IDF when they need strength now more than ever Netanyahu has since retracted his statement and publicly apologized saying he fully backs Israel's security forces I was wrong the things I said following the press conference should not have been said and I apologize for them I give my full support to all the heads of the security arms I back the chief of staff and the commanders and soldiers of the IDF who are at the front and fighting for our home together we will win now I want to bring in my guest joining me in studio right now I'm joined by Dr. Avi Bidzor head of the home front and national security studies for Bate Bear academic college Dr. Avi thank you so much for joining us as we just heard from our correspondent Pierre who's down near the southern border prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying we are now in the second stage of this war but I think it's interesting because for the past three weeks people have been talking about this impending ground operation it doesn't seem to have necessarily the magnitude that everyone was expecting initially no it's the second step like he said and it's not the ground claim that everybody was thinking that we are going to do why because of the 20 and 230 kidnapped people sorry for them and PT and I hope they will come back soon and be free but Israel cannot allow itself to go in with all the power because they will be injured this is no doubt about it first of all second we have yet until the time all the time in the world to go step by step keeping our soldiers keeping still the Hamas alive and make him a little bit you know make it shrink make it something that you can put and press on him to let the Hamas go in such condition it will try to speak with us with other terms about releasing the kidnapped people in other terms how to finish this and we're going very very quietly look Beth-la-ya, Beth-Khanun Jibaria these are neighbors in the east not east of Gaza that we are coming in and we are not going inside rapidly as we could and another thing and we have to mention it every time we are not doing what we can do easily aerial bombardment strategic bombardment you know if I want let's say to kill anyone sorry for saying in this studio we are not doing it we are going step by step we are going the Israeli method and you know it and everybody can listen to this words no-call roof, no-call roof it's not a let's rock no-call roof it's a little bomb that say to us please Nikol and Avi go out from the studio and going to ruin it we are going out without no sketch and then we will do it this is a hint what I have said because we know as the spokesman of the Israeli IDF Agari show everybody yesterday the headquarters of the Hamas is under this and from the inquiries of the people we took we captured from the Hamas terrorists they said we built our headquarters we built our let's say our kitchens under schools, gardens and hospitals why? because you will not attack it Nikol let me say to you I have a research I did not yet put it to everybody but I want to do it in Israel when you speak about shelter you understand me when I say bunker you understand when I say reinforced room you understand very well everybody knows yes we have all around Israel yes we don't want nobody to sketch tell me I am not testing you sorry I want to make something that everybody will listen are there any shelters and bunkers at let's say Egypt? no Jordan? no Syria? no I am not thinking about for Assad a shelter I mean people in their house they have Mamad why? because Israel will not come and do nothing and they know it and we must change a disc we must change concept and we must go on with this slowly attack but very very pressure on the Hamas we thinking about refugees and a little bit looking for the coming future we will be instead of the Hamas we will succeed in the what happens on the ground following this entire war and the operation that's happening here now we are also focusing our attention on the southern Israel where most of that activity is happening we have to remember that the IDF is also keeping an eye on all fronts in the northern border as well in fact that's where we find our correspondent Hamda Salhout who is standing by near northern Israel right now Hamda we have a lot of active scene up there as well we're hearing even just today you keep being moved around by different military personnel that's correct the Israeli military has evacuated a lot of these areas and is telling people to move consistently because they don't want their military positions revealed now the exchanges of fire are continuous the booms in the distance are continuous we've been hearing constant exchanges of fire between whoever is in Lebanon the military we do know that the military has been consistently striking Hezbollah cells that are looking to carry out anti-tank strikes against either Israeli military positions or surveillance positions but I want to also point to comments made by the Iranian president Ibrahim Raisi just a short while ago was saying that Israel's ongoing air strikes and ground operation may force everyone to take action now we've been hearing from Iranian officials but this is the first time we're hearing from the Iranian president himself saying that Washington asked us not to do anything but they keep giving widespread support to Israel the United States sent a message to the act of resistance but received a clear response on the battlefield now we have been discussing for weeks when that ground operation will happen the Israeli government is saying it's inevitable so once it ultimately does happen the response from these groups like Hezbollah we can expect to be a little different Nicole we'll certainly be keeping our eye up there as you said with all of the impending threats on the northern border as well our correspondent Hamda Salhu thank you now as we continue to learn more about the harrowing accounts of October 7th that started this war in the first place three weeks later some survivors are just now coming forward with their story from October 7th in fact I'm joined by one of the heroes himself Dean Aston a survivor from Kibbutz eras thank you so much for joining us I can't imagine how difficult these past 23 days have been for you can you take me back to October 7th exactly what you experienced thanks for having me 6.15 in the morning we've got a wake up call unfortunately we're used to it in our area getting rocket attacks frequently throughout the year so we treated like any other situation jumped up out of bed ran to the shelter closed the door locked it and we were expecting to wait 5 minutes 10 minutes where we generally here's 6 or 7 rockets being intercepted but then it was just a constant barrage of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of rockets and then at about 6.30 my wife's phone started melting from messages of her crew from work that are actually reserve pilots telling her to be asking her if she's okay telling her to be strong stay safe and then another hour will be above you and the rockets just kept coming kept coming and around about 6.30 as well we started here in very heavy automatic gunfire which is something we've never heard that close and that was our security force engaging terrorists at the back fence of Archibauts and we we didn't know if they've gotten in gotten out we could just hear this war going on I explain it more like waking up a good morning Vietnam sitting there watching a movie and the surround sound speakers the best quality and the amazing noise and this I can hear while I'm sitting in a thick concrete 3x3 meter room and it sounds like it's happening right outside the room there were RPGs there were grenades being thrown there were incendiary devices being thrown over the fence on the roofs of houses the entire security force contacted our neighbouring Kibbutz that we work very closely with and their entire security force raced over to help us and those brave guys held off and I think they wiped out about 30 plus terrorists until the army eventually started to slowly get to the area and back us all up including tanks and Apache helicopters and jets it was very terrifying we could actually hear the bullets going past the house people running behind which we thought at the time were terrorists but it's obviously our security crew running behind the houses and doing the war and then a few hours later we were fully backed up in the Kibbutz by a platoon and we actually were locked in the shelter for it must have been 18 hours I was there from 6.15 in the morning until I decided to grab my family jump in the car and run away at 11.30 at night and I left those 18 hours later what made you think that it was safe to leave then when I think back about it now it wasn't safe because the only way we can get out of the Kibbutz is to cross the main road to get to our sister's Kibbutz and then cut through their Kibbutz to get to another road to be able to go away and that's through agricultural fields obviously there's no lights so it's dark and they could have been terrorists in the field but we couldn't stand it anymore we were so long in the shelter and my kids were basically like melted ice on the floor it's not ideal no food, no water it gets hot in there because we weren't allowed to turn air-cons on the house was on total lockdown blinds down lights off no air-cons working don't make a noise so we just decided that's it getting in the car and going for it it was the right decision to make as you and your family are now in a safe place as dangerous as that decision was I had to do it I didn't want to be a sitting duck in a shelter it's those type of situations that so many families had to grapple with I'm curious, Dean, you and your family you're now in a safe place but 23 days later you're just now coming forward sharing your story how are you guys coping, how are you handling even recounting and remembering these atrocities well just the best we can I haven't even started the work yet and I can work from home fortunately with my computer I open the computer I start to log in and then I just close the computer because I've got no energy to do it my head's not there and because it's only three weeks we're about 400 maybe 450 people for an entire keyboard that have been evacuated to this area so we're receiving donations and get the kids back into our routine we we got a school up and running for our kids last week so now we've got the kids back into some kind of routine but I have a lot of friends from the keyboards as well that they work in agriculture or in the factory in the keyboards or places around our area they have nothing to do these are people that are always 5.30 in the morning up on their feet 6 o'clock they're at work and working hard and now they're walking around like zombies and that's how I walked around for the last well 3 weeks now and I just decided that come on you've got to tell your story right and we thank you for telling your story I'm just curious as you're with everyone from your community right now helping each other do you have the sense that you want to go back to Kabut's era so I know some reports that you don't want to go back to Kabut's era until you can go back to your community but are you scared to go back if that's an option no I'm not scared to go back I have 100% faith in the army yes there was a mistake this will all come to light when this entire things over but I do have 100% faith in the Israeli army they will sort this problem out things will be different it's going to take a while and then will it be able to I think only then we'll be able to start properly reflecting on what's happened I mean all of us have lost friends some have lost families entire families it's such a close-knit community all these Kabut's around the area you might not know everybody by name but you certainly recognize the faces so I think it's only going to be until we get back there we'll be able to try and compute everything but there are a lot of people that are even now thinking that they're not going to go back or they don't want to go back but this is where I live this is where I want to continue living I'm actually built supposed to be the Sunday after the Black Saturday we're supposed to be actually starting the work on our houses that we're building in the new neighborhood in the Kabut's so I guess that's not going to happen now for quite some time but yeah I'm definitely going back but it's not up to me it's up to my wife, it's up to my kids whatever they decide if it's too hard for them then I can only do the best for them and whatever they want to do I hope you, your wife, your kids continue to stay safe and Dean asked and thank you so much for sharing your story of survival from Kabut's eras that horrible October 7th thank you thank you very much now I want to come back to my guest in studio Dr. Avi Bitsor, Dr. Avi as we were just hearing from Dean just one of the countless people who survived this massacre but the emotional scar that it's left on the people of Israel they passed this I think I spoke with you before Israel got a huge blow a huge strike and it came in a situation of a trauma a national trauma for this you have to build something that will solve this situation because it will collapse if you cannot fight this condition you gave us a story a usual one, not a man get go out and shoot with his rifle he keep his family alive and escape and he cannot live you're hurting, you're hurting think about all the people that died think about the numbers you have to understand the trauma everybody can listen to it look, on 1948 independence war 6000 people were killed but in a year and a half in 1973 2600 were killed in 30 days here in one day one day one day evil people so cruel people killed 1300 I'm not counting the stories the 200, the 250 they died in the rockets in the missiles at the north I mean, at that day the 7th of October the second Yom Kippur of Israel and it's something that touch every house look, I spoke before when we begin about my students I buried two weeks ago one of my students he was the security officer of Kisufin the Kibbutz Sam Argolec's name he came from South Africa it was night 730, 28 night and Nicole, this is not life in real life student we live one day 120 years buried his teacher not I have to bury him and give him a morn and say to him how great he was and he was and it's something that can break you we're not ready to and we have to attack it in two ways two ways, one is resilience I speak about on-front resilience and one is about military determination the military determination is focused on the Hamas now and we have to finish this snake, we have to I don't want to say the word not ever pay the cost because everybody said to me what about the kind of people leave the cost we have to finish it in the way of a military and the IDF used to have to and must play his role in this awful show, awful scene of the Middle East it's not Switzerland this is not France we are not at England it's not this and this we are in the Middle East I don't want to game an animal I'm not, but on what they have done they will have to pay this is the military about the people, the citizens we must bring back the you know the resilience of a nation to build it up we must stand because you know what Nicole and you know it very well in your job we sit here and maybe I will come later two years, three years I hope so, more years and we speak about who? Hezbollah, about the north side now I don't think Hezbollah will come I don't think that Iran live what they Ayatollah say today he have to say it they don't want to ruin themselves so they will not interfere Hezbollah knows very well that he will kill many Israelis sorry to say it but Lebanon will come to the stone age he doesn't want it we definitely have to keep an eye on all of these friends but Dr. Avi Bitsour you bring up just the best point about the resilience of the Israeli people and the Jewish people and time at time again these are the stories we will continue to focus on Dr. Avi Bitsour, thank you so much for joining us, we are going out for a quick break here on Zubin 1300 people murdered more than 3000 injured and the war with Hamas continues we bring you first-hand testimonies from the front lines from those who survived and all the records of the atrocities by Hamas follow us as Israel fights terror from the south and north get the inside scoop on what's going on only on I-24 news News 24 in Spanish brings the analysis and information about 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 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 welcome back to Zubin as we continue our coverage of the war here in Israel I want to turn our eyes to the northern border where our correspondent Hamta Selkut is standing by Hamta some new developments just within the past 10-15 minutes now that's right Nicole the Israeli military saying that a number of launches were detected from Lebanese territory I could actually see earlier the Iron Dome interceptor trails in the distance however because of the fog the haze and the clouds you aren't really able to see much really in the sky but several booms were heard overhead the Israeli military saying that it is striking several positions now at the sources of that fire this is just a continuation in the exchange of the fire since October 7th between Hezbollah and the Israeli military but remember Hezbollah is not the only one involved when it comes to the situation in southern Lebanon you also have Palestinian factions like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operating out of there but also a short while ago now new video circulating in Lebanese media of Hezbollah's chief Hassan Nasrallah walking in a corridor with the group's logo mounted on a wall behind him he's not seen really speaking on camera but perhaps maybe it's an indication that something is yet to happen so while the exchanges of fire are escalating we're now seeing the leader of the group walking in this video so a lot of unknowns here but one thing is for certain the Israeli military has been clear that any sort of launches or fire that comes out of Lebanese territory they will respond however they see fit our Handa Sahut reporting from the northern border will be coming back to you later in the show as well now as Israel is increasing its military activity in the Gaza Strip with the goal of completely eliminating Hamas and they are worried that this contradicts their goal of saving all of the hostages that remain in the hands of Hamas terrorists now our senior defense correspondent Jonathan Oragev takes a look at the IDF's main objectives during this war two different objectives perhaps contradicting each other but both absolutely crucial for Israeli success in this war our forces are currently operating on the ground in the Gaza Strip the objectives of the war require a ground operation and as we know no victory can come without a price there's no doubt that a ground operation is needed but the price this time can be very high maybe too high at least 230 hostages are held in Gaza their families are going through a living hell and are extremely concerned that the ground maneuver which began on a small scale on Friday night may lead to an even more dangerous situation we are very worried about our dearest that they are there and we don't know that if the military operation take all these hostages under consideration along with the ground operation a first signal from Hamas leader Ilya Sinwar came over the weekend Sinwar, a former prisoner himself who was released in an exchange is well aware of the sensitive sentiment in Israeli society regarding hostages he now set the tone all for all all Israeli hostages for all Palestinian prisoners his message already echoing in Israel from the point of view of the families a deal for the immediate release of family members within the framework of all for all is a consideration and will have broad national support the men who has to decide about that is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the one who set the precedent of more than 1000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier in the 2011 deal freeing Gila Chalit in a meeting with hostages families on Saturday night he promised to do everything to release them we will do everything possible to bring them home it was true before and after any ground invasion it's an integral part of our operation Israeli ground forces raising the Israeli flags deep inside the Gaza Strip and promising to defeat Hamas on one hand 230 hostages lying deep in the Gaza underground tunnels waiting to be released on the other can Israel succeed on both missions clearly a very tough question the hostage situation certainly one of the most complicated when it comes to the war here in Israel I want to bring in my guest to talk more about this subject I'm still joined by Dr. Abit Bitsor head of the home front and national security studies for Bate Barrow Academic College along with our senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev and our Middle East correspondent Arielle Ozeron, thank you all so much for joining me listen, as we just heard from Jonathan Regev's report the complicated objectives and how they almost contradict each other although the Israeli government says that they're continuing to put pressure to release these hostages the families of them are calling for and everyone for everyone exchange swap swapping their innocent civilian hostages for Palestinian prisoners look, I understand very well the families I have sympathy for them I really pray and believe that the hostages will come back safely but in the other hand the terms the Hamas is putting for the release is something that Israel cannot stand to make it quicker and to make the situation something that the Hamas will have to think about it this is the pressure of the movement when you're coming from Bet-Khanun, Laia, Jibalia, go inside it's not occupation it's not the rapid movement like I spoke in the 30 minutes before but it's something that put a very large pressure on Hamas and Hamas will have to decide what to do now we have to do it it's not something that's one against the other it's not let's free them because the terms again it's not something what we will give it what will be after let's say we'll give them all the prisoners in Israel support, okay they want a guarantee from the USA that we will not come back later and finish the job that I have said here that we must do it when we understand it very well the pressure may be for something like gasoline or something like this is going on with the army with supply of food that now 20 minutes ago we gave them 30 trucks full with supply not gasoline or something like this we will give them this too for making some debate some speaking between the two parties I hope so Meanwhile you mentioned just the humanitarian aid that is being allowed in Israel says it's going to be expanding that aid through different United States, Egyptian kind of lead initiatives but Ariel we're also hearing reports that thousands of Gazans broke into a center really looting it and taking it for themselves more than one, and this is not just reports this is an official statement by the UN's Palestinian relief agency UNRA claiming that thousands of Gazans stormed and looted warehouses and distribution sites in the central part and southern part of the Gaza Strip one of them was a warehouse that contained material that was brought in from Egypt the specific material that Israel said that if it makes it to the hands of Hamas then it will be thwarted and so when you have thousands storming and looting the warehouses you cannot rule out the fact that at least some of it if not all is going to end up in the hands of Hamas and this isn't the first time that Hamas has been involved in looting UN humanitarian relief nine days into the war just a couple weeks ago the same UNRA tweeted that Hamas Hamas people came in and stole about 24,000 ton of fuel as well as other medical supplies they since deleted those tweets but we're seeing that this is an MO of Hamas on the one hand claiming that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating so far we haven't heard from any UN aid relief organization that there is a humanitarian crisis currently they're saying that they do need the continuation of this humanitarian aid to go in to prevent that all the while while this aid is going in Hamas is sending its people to grab it and take it for its own and that's the beginning of them coming in you see just how chaotic it is and how difficult it is to prevent something like this from happening so I'm curious after seeing this how is Israel expected to respond they've already been trying to limit the amount of aid in but just yesterday or this morning they said that come tomorrow they're expecting to let more aid into the Gaza Strip Yes Israel cannot control what goes on with the aid once it's inside Gaza there's a significant amount of inspecting the trucks prior to their entry from Egypt through the Rafa crossing that to my understanding is happening however yes I mean this is something that international global community international organizations need to speak up and to make sure they're saying that it's so important to provide humanitarian relief for the people in an orderly fashion and not in a way that Hamas can simply come in take whatever they want and again as they've been doing for decades continue to neglect the suffering residents of Gaza continuing to use their own civilians against them I'm curious also just how the humanitarian aid and the calls for more humanitarian aid also play into possible hostage negotiations I mean right now the hostages are really Hamas's key card on the table do they give any of them up at the moment they would not give any of them up and I think Hamas knows very well that they can use this tool they're very well aware especially Ikeh Sinwar Imsaf who was released, Imsaf a prisoner who was released at the Shalit al-Hinoz house instead of the Israeli society is for hostages and we're speaking of 230 of them at the moment most of them civilians elderly, children, babies, women so he's well aware of the sensitivities and they will play along with it as long as they have this card which is a very strong card in their hands they will play along with it that's their main aim they had two main aims one is killing as many Israelis as possible and second maybe even a bigger aim to take as many hostages as possible to free Palestinian prisoners this is a tool that has worked for them in the past you can debate whether 1000 prisoners for one Israeli soldier as was seen in 2011 was it right, was it wrong you can debate that but you cannot debate the fact that it happened it's at the precedent and now Hamas knows that Israel can be squeezed on this issue loud and clear after seeing that precedent although they said it one of the prisoners himself Ikeh Sinwar as you said was the 4th or 7th massacre so do you think it's surprising that now so many Israeli citizens are calling for more Palestinian prisoners to be released so that possibly something like this could happen again I don't think you can judge the families in this sense if you have a family member who is a prisoner of Hamas your first priority is your family member you do not think strategically we can be angry at those people but I think they can be totally understood because you remember your mother your father, your kid your husband, your wife your grandparents are in the hands of Hamas what are you supposed to do how are you supposed to think Hamas says this card and they will play along with it until the end and they are already doing it and as unfortunate as it is for me to say they are doing a very good job in the psychological warfare absolutely their propaganda October 7th has definitely gotten the attention of all of the international media as the ground operation does continue military activity is ramping up in the Gaza Strip we also just continue to get more numbers as far as the security intelligence and how many hostages there are now confirm 230, at least 30 of them children how do we know that this security intelligence is accurate how accurate is it especially following October 7th breach in security we cannot but we can presume and make the calculation of numbers between the people who have been killed the people that we had did not identify the body and the people that are missing and the people we have seen in videos and photos etc that are going in search of Hamas the number is approximately 230 maybe less I don't know there are people that we know for sure not all of them this is one card that you spoke about that Hamas is playing with who we have who he doesn't have again we have to play this brutal play like there are no kidnapped people in the one side and the other side we have to bring sorry to say it the head of ANIA on a task how to do it how to deal with it the pressure of the military the IDF is very good one we have to press and press and press again and again on them we don't want to come inside the tunnels look when we are not doing it we are not using all ability in the bombardment because we can do easily aerial bombardment or through bombs like this that will crush out the tunnel system of Gaza underground Gaza but 230 people will die so we are coming step by step and look one thing that we have to say there are our soldiers that are coming in till now we have one there has been wounded as I heard I don't know other numbers thank God the numbers maybe will be different we have to understand it it's a very strange one very brutal one we must go on with it Hamas will play the cards Rigev was right and everything he said was right but we must play we must go on and carry on this play that the IDF is doing now with Gaza there is no other way as Hamas is using their cards to gather different perspectives internationally different support internationally I think it's interesting also just all of the pressure that is being put on Israel especially from different foreign sources I'm curious how this is going to impact many of our foreign neighbors our foreign allies Abraham Accords how this is going to impact all of the different Arab countries that we have so far built such close ties with now they are all many of them coming out standing against us this is an issue I think one of the main goals you talked about two main goals killing as many Israelis and kidnapping as many Israelis I think there is also a third goal Israel this is something that we've already seen happen there are no talks about negotiations on that avenue and as you're describing we're also hearing condemnations very strong ones not only from Saudi Arabia from Israel's current Abraham Accords partners this is indeed an issue that will challenge Israel and its new found partners however I think that the diplomatic umbrella that Israel is receiving from the west mainly the backing of United States of the UK other leading countries like Germany and France this is something that definitely gives Israel a diplomatic horizon they will also I mean you see with the visits that Secretary Blinken held in the region they do not want this to hurt Israel's relations with its partners in the region it will be challenging as the death toll and Gaza continues to rise and the destruction gets a lot worse that will put these relations to the test but as far as diplomatically is concerned there hasn't been any steps to remove ambassadors or envoys from any of those countries so as of now the situation is stable but indeed it's a sensitive one that could change as this war progresses I know no steps to remove some of our ambassadors from some of those with our Abrahamic horns but some of the other ones that where we had close ties such as Turkey for example now posing a threat telling their ambassadors to come back to Israel yes however the envoys did return to Israel a week before Erdogan's incitement against Israel and it's Israel received a reminder as to you can have hopes of trying to improve ties with Turkey but at the end of the day when it comes to the Palestinians he's a wild card and he time and time again uses this to pretty much break the mold in terms of relations with Israel and Israel should look at this long and hard and not be tempted or next time it looks into warming ties with Turkey it needs to bear this in mind very well remember who stood with us and who clearly stood against us I think that's a great point to remember I think it's also important right now to remember exactly what sparked this war in the first place and why three weeks later we'll continue to see just the geopolitical ramifications now as we continue to learn more about the horrific attack on October 7th that began this battle in the first place we're hearing more stories that happened right near the border in fact Kisufim is one of the devastated communities near the Gaza border our residents found themselves fighting for their lives that horrible Saturday in this report adapted from Israel's channel 12 news we see the survivors of that battle returning to their shattered community to literally pick up the pieces they also placed explosives on children's bags here I ask you not to touch anything nothing that isn't really needed now okay we've suffered enough losses here we have enough people dead I really want you all to get out of here alive on the ground in Kibbutzky Sufim a group of 20 members are returning for the first time to what was once their paradise to collect leftover equipment to map the damages a paradise that turned into hell this is my grandmother's home I will not go there if you may it's hard very hard incomprehensible I still can't digest the fact that I'm here and she's not we were here a lot now I'm here and she isn't around she was taken away from us she was murdered pure murder when she comes in Shashi examines the damage to her house on the kitchen table she finds a letter left by IDF soldiers who stayed there during the fighting dear Shaked family thank you very much for your contribution to the country by making your home here you are the shield of our society and our country in hope for quiet days soon wow is this just a bad nightmare this is not my they're setting the neighbors house on fire here we woke up at 6.25 a.m. by the vibration of the rocket fire on my phone and it went on and on then came sounds that we're not used to something about the feeling it was different from the last 20 years when did you realize this is something else when I heard gunshots the time is now 141 power has gone out I'm afraid that terrorists will get into our house as well don't worry my love dad has a gun we sat in the security room until half past six in the evening after seven hours troops entered the Kibbutz for seven hours the person who led the battle in the Kibbutz was the deputy commander of our emergency team the emergency team that day was small three close friends Ronnie the commander on the 7th of October at the arms rang it looked like an ordinary incident of rocket fire as far as you can call this reality ordinary Shai immediately joined his friend Saar Saar took one, I took the other Saar took two more what do you mean by two I mean they were no longer able to threaten the safety of our community to mislead the terrorists Shai breaks his house window and spreads ketchup on it I believe that this house was already massacre they continue fighting trying to join Ronnie I encountered a very massive force of Hamas terrorists and it's only the two of you two of us, me and Saar as far as we are concerned Ronnie is unaccounted for he is either kidnapped or killed I have two security rooms in this house in one of them my two daughters were sleeping and in the other room two more children I moved the two girls to the other room closed the door on them and sat here at the kitchen counter I took out the first terrorist here I shot him with the M16 then I had a malfunction so I took out the gun and fired several bullets at the other terrorist he fell to the ground almost instantly he just thrown at me through this window it exploded, I was hit with shrapnel I realized my time was running out I ran to the security room and held on to the door I locked it with my left hand and stood against it they went into Eliminator throwing grenades and explosives inside the house I didn't move from the door I fought them to keep it shut you broke my hand they came over and each time they pushed the door to break in they pushed with force and then with more force but my hand was locked in it did not move even an inch and they also shot at me through the door in the process in my mind I pictured them breaking in and you stood against and just held on what's going through your mind that they will not take them away they are unable to penetrate and thus Ronny's children were saved thanks to his bravery and resilience Batsar Margolis a member of the emergency team was killed after a fierce battle with the terrorists who was murdered along with nine other members of the Kibbutz and six Thai nationals who worked there just one of the communities continuing to recount the horrors that happened on October 7th we're going out for a quick break here on zoom in we continue to break down all of the latest developments of the war here in Israel now in its 23rd day stay with us 1300 people murdered and more than 3000 injured and the war with Hamas continues we bring you first hand testimonies from the front lines from those who survived and all the records of the atrocities by Hamas follow us as Israel fights terror from the south and north get the inside scoop on what's going on only on i24 news with dozens of correspondence throughout the world brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries completely sundown in their beds the state of emergency and war in Israel bringing Israel's story to the world i24 news channels now on hot back to our latest edition of zoom in as we're continuing our coverage of the war here in Israel now in its 23rd day i'm Nicole Zettig live in Tel Aviv this war has now entered a second stage according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel expands its military activity in the Gaza Strip sending in more troops and striking more than 450 Hamas targets in just 24 hours the IDF says any Palestinian civilians who have yet to evacuate to the south need to do so now the United States and Egypt are expected to increase humanitarian aid efforts in the southern Strip come Monday meanwhile rockets continue to fly from Gaza with threat alert sirens blaring through central Israel as rockets are intercepted over major cities including Tel Aviv and Herzliya all of this as IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Higari said at least 230 people are still being held hostage in Gaza quite a lot of developments to unpack but we want to begin on Israel's northern border where our I-24 news correspondent Hamda Salhout is standing by Hamda just within the past hour so the IDF says a number of rockets from Lebanon continue to be fired towards Israel what can you tell us about the latest developments right Nicole the Israeli military saying that a number of rockets were launched from Lebanon to the south but they all fell in open areas we did see the trails either from those rockets or perhaps Iron Dome interceptors that were launched and booms overhead that those sounds the Israeli military responding with artillery shelling against the source of rocket fire in Lebanese territory actually to speak with the military general here in the area who told us that a lot of the communities have been evacuated but around 3,000 people remain and that the activity is expected and that people here haven't left either because of work, family or children so the situation is constantly developing and I want to point again to the statements made by the Iranian president Ibrahim Raisi saying that the ground operation inside of the Gaza Strip may force everyone to take action we're talking about Hezbollah here specifically who is in close contact with the Iranians constantly Hezbollah has been speaking over the last several weeks saying that the changes of fire along the border are just a warning to Israel that they haven't entered the conflict formally but with this ground invasion with Israel entering into its second step of the war really nothing will be able to be seen until that so all eyes are on that ground operation but the Israeli military has been firm that they will continue to respond to any sort of fire that comes out of Lebanese territory with retaliatory strikes that are confirmed in that statement but the United States has been pressuring all parties including the Lebanese government to not open up an additional war on the northern front while all eyes are on the southern front in the Gaza Strip so the military, the Americans, the Lebanese and Hezbollah all waiting for what's next All eyes are certainly on that northern border as well especially as you said the threat from Iran and as Israel is ramping up this activity as you mentioned it's many people are curious as to why Hezbollah has not had a stronger stance since this increased activity has happened on Friday it's two days later now and still not necessarily strong response from Hezbollah That's correct but the situation is still very tense we've been hearing from Hamas leaders as well who say that they expect Hezbollah's response to be firmer they're hoping that they will enter the conflict more formally and while Hezbollah hasn't yet done so they have been saying that they cannot let Hamas fall the Lebanese government urging Hezbollah not to get involved but they're telling them we understand that the Lebanese people don't want a war the country cannot take it on a variety of reasons specifically when it comes to the economic disaster that the country of Lebanon has already been facing but Hezbollah's main point to all of this was that they quote cannot let Hamas fall so the situation constantly developing continuously moving a fluid situation as the war develops Nicole and we continue to hear just those symbols of unity from the different leaders Hamas Hezbollah, Palestinian, Islamic Jihad Correspondent Hamda Salhu will bring us the latest update from Israel's northern border with Lebanon, thank you now as Israel increases its military activity in the Gaza Strip with the goal of completely eliminating Hamas I am worried that this contradicts their goal of saving all of the hostages that remain in the hands of Hamas terrorists our senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev takes a look at the IDF's main objectives during this war two different objectives perhaps contradicting each other but both absolutely crucial for Israeli success in this war our forces are currently operating on the ground in the Gaza Strip the objectives of the war require a ground operation and as we know no victory can come without a price there is no doubt that a ground operation is needed but the price this time can be very high maybe too high bring them home at least 230 hostages are held in Gaza their families are going through a living hell and are extremely concerned that the ground maneuver which began on a small scale on Friday night may lead to an even more dangerous situation we are very worried about our dearest that they are there and we don't know that if the military operation take all these hostages under consideration along with a ground operation a first signal from Hamas leader Ichya Sinwar came over the weekend Sinwar, a former prisoner himself who was released in an exchange is well aware of the sensitive sentiment in Israeli society regarding hostages he now set the tone all for all all Israeli hostages for all Palestinian prisoners his message already echoing in Israel from the point of view of the families a deal for the immediate release of family members within the framework of all for all is a consideration and will have broad national support the men who has to decide about that is prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu the one who set the precedent of more than 1000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier in the 2011 deal freeing Gila Chalit in a meeting with hostages families on Saturday night he promised to do everything to release them we will do everything possible to bring them home it was true before and after any ground invasion it's an integral part of our operation and we will do everything possible Israeli ground forces raising the Israeli flags deep inside the Gaza Strip and promising to defeat Hamas on one hand 230 hostages lying deep in the Gaza underground tunnels waiting to be released on the other can Israel succeed on both missions clearly a very tough question meanwhile as the ground offensive intensifies the political background or battleground is heating up as well after Netanyahu blamed Israel's security failure on various intelligence services saying he himself had no warning of Hamas's plans to attack on October 7th war cabinet member Benny Gantz and opposition leader Yair Lapid bashed the premiere stating his statements weakened the IDF when they need strength now more than ever Netanyahu has since retracted his statement and publicly apologized and he fully backs Israel's security forces I was wrong the things I said following the press conference should not have been said and I apologize for them I give my full support to all the heads of the security arms I back the chief of staff and the commanders and soldiers of the IDF who are at the front and fighting for our home together we will win I want to bring in my studio guest now I'm joined by Brigadier General and Reserve Hanan Geffen commander of 8200 intelligence unit in the IDF Hanan thanks for joining us here now as we were just hearing this political battleground in a sense between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his statements really bashing the IDF he's since retracted then publicly apologized but it is interesting as three weeks into this war the IDF right now truly needs all of the back it can get from its political leaders specifically yes that's why this incident which is a very unfortunate one was finished within eight hours with an apology which is unusual apology by the Prime Minister because just imagine sitting in a small room seven people Prime Minister the head of the Shabak the head of the intelligence how can they cooperate everybody understood it and I believe Prime Minister Netanyahu understood it as well and the top is behind us because we have to go on in this war I just one thing I would like to add Prime Minister is very important but in this case I would say the deep state is a good thing the deep state in Israel is a good thing because we have a very strong military a very strong security establishment that can support the ongoing effort till the end of this and we achieve our goals here I think many people also clearly have questions that the Israeli government the Israeli security intelligence need to answer but the main point being that now is not the time to address those exactly we are going through a very this is the war that every day that passes we understand that is the extension of 1948 war we are fighting for our existence in this part existence in this part of the world because Hamas also started is taking hostages just to exchange us to this very quickly added due to its success probably huge success and the surprise another one and they raise targets we know they exist declare them and now they are openly saying this is the beginning of the end of this country so this existential war and everybody understand it even the Prime Minister so it's going to get through I don't think the Arabs understand it but we already have done so many emotions that we didn't so many emotions in the Israeli public so this war will end and the hostages is a very important part of this but the hostages right now are pawns in the hands of the Hamas we have to be very careful because they are very cruel and will exploit it since they arise this I would say they are redundant fears of the Israelis the fear that the Israelis of the existence of this country so we have to see how we match this together getting rid of 6000 prisoners is not the right answer right now maybe later maybe when they are tracked in their tunnels then maybe it will be not right now, right now they feel that they are victorious and you mentioned something also that Netanyahu said this is not only the second state of the war but we are fighting for Israel's existence this is the second independence war but right now it's important to note also we're just fighting a terrorist organization we have Hamas of course our eyes are on Iranian proxies as well with Hezbollah in the north but unlike the independence war countries we are fighting a terrorist organization so what are the chances that some of these other proxies or other countries get involved this is totally changed from what we have in 1948 because the Arab countries the countries per se stand on the sideline very clearly Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon the country and all the other Arab countries Morocco and so on they blame us they are not happy but they are standing on the lines Hezbollah and Iran are right now the most advocate adversaries we have but it's more world and I'm looking beyond the world, beyond the censuses beyond the speeches behind the speeches and I see no actions the more every day passes we see that they are so hesitant to enter the war because they know the price Iran is a country that do not want to be part of the story that Hamas started the barbarian story Iran is afraid of it because it doesn't want to be stained with this however reports state that Iran helped train Hamas for this yes but the barbarous act that emerged on the 7th of October even the Iranians are very much extend the same for me and try to do it and every day that more evidence exposed to the world they are more siding back I believe that even Hezbollah has shamed of the case of that happened and this is one of the reason they are most stronger reasons the well-being of Lebanon the existence of the Shiite the Shiite group but I would say they are taking aside from apart from what the Hamas did atrocity the Hamas did and meanwhile as you mentioned just everything that did happen those barbaric, barbaric actions that took place on October 7th I think it's important to hear from people who actually experienced it in fact I'm joined right now by Baruch Cohen head of security for Kibbutz again joining us right now from the hospital Baruch thank you so much for joining us right now you were critically wounded on October 7th we see you're still recovering in the hospital right now tell us exactly what happened first of all it's a story of a few years ago during those years I was I think it's the only one or maybe me and another one that say that the story that we are speaking about should happen one day it was quite difficult to believe because it was acquired sometimes there were missiles and everything but it was like that but inside inside of my head inside of my heart I believe that it should happen in one day and that's the story I prepare my unit members in the Kibbutz but belong to a group called Kitat Colonel once in a year we take them to make exercise and to shoot and to be ready they knew the story they knew the Kibbutz and there is a big difference between to fight outside and to fight of your place and we have to defend defend our place and there is no limit to defend it was 6 in the morning there was a lot of bombs it was not normal bombs for me it was a sign because in my head during the years that was a sign but if something should happen it should begin with a lot a lot of bombs it's all over the the line I climb up to the hill that is in our Kibbutz our Kibbutz is the higher place in the west in Negev and I take my model and I take it all around take a view all around I saw a lot of smoke from bombs but I didn't see any movement by the way I got the phone called a good friend of mine but just this minute two motorcycles pass over the road shoot is a garment in the place and that's all immediately the story began that was another sign I phone to my man that is in charge of the security in all the region and I told him look two motorcycles are doing their way now to of a king it's a time of going to a sign ago and it's a time of and that's all and in the same second I decide to continue on the road look after those two motorcycles about three minutes ago later I catch one of them I take my gun my pistol and through the window I shoot him I kill him and I stop that was the minute that I understand but that's not the story because on the way back I wake up all the group that's supposed to keep an eye and to take charge of the keyboards 24 people I enter to the keyboards give them the guns give them the suit and everything and I speak with my second and I tell him to take charge of the hill in the west side of the keyboard and I climb up to the to see what's going on but I saw three Toyotas let's stay just on the road on the fence of the keyboards in the west side with four motorcycles of them and about 30-40 a Hamas people that are trying to get inside to the keyboards a week before I got from my good friend Ilan a good suit the best one in the world and I knew but it's the best one I got the hat but it's the best one in the world and as I saw those people I understand that the only way to stop them to go and to enter to the keyboards because as they enter to the keyboards it's another story it's quite difficult to find them and as they are staying on the on the fence it's easy for us to kill them and I decide to run on them with my car and it's about 200 meters or something like that and during the time of time of running and trying to kill them by my wheels and I take my gun and I shoot them in a lot of magazines and that was the beginning of the shooting him again and I try to make a fence so good and I got the missiles into my into my car and I continue the way during this time all my heroes in the keyboards the people that belong to me they are part of me people that I train them and give them all the ammunition and everything and everything there was the fighters that didn't let those Hamas people to pass over the line they fight about six hours alone a few minutes after that I make the circuit and we got the missile I understand that I have no leg I wait to the car to stop because of the movement I take away my special bandage bleeding and I open the door I call one of my friends that was staying behind me come make me the bandage on leg and continue to shoot he put me the bandage I was staying about an hour behind the wheels of my car and I heard the shooting during this time I tried to speak with my friend that was around me and if there was no ammunition I told them from where to get it and all kind of those things about an hour later they asked me to climb up my hands and I feel that my friends carry me on the floor to a better place lay down behind and put a friend of mine that was wounded one of my professionals to be a man next to me immediately as you see someone that is wounded behind you you begin to roll laying down on the back I couldn't move I asked him to shoot you and he said on my back so I told him can you move a little bit and I should push up your t-shirt I pushed the t-shirt and I saw the hole and then I asked him do you feel something in your stomach he said nothing and I asked him to move his legs and I told him look I am behind you I will pass together I shall keep an eye on you and during this time it was in a place of falling down and I tried to wake him up by all the way that I know including some fizzles that he got on his face and just after about two hours good friends and he would take a car and to put us into this car and that was just the beginning because you have to pass in an area full of Hamas you don't know from where and if you want to go to Bil Shiva or anywhere everything is full of Hamas and it's quite dangerous and Ray decided to take another way and on this side we got a line to Mata and they asked for a connection with an ambulance that should try to help us they make a connection kind of a game then a chapter lay down and they put us inside I saw from one side that my friend is dying and I tried to call him and I tried to to wake him up and I couldn't do anything and that's the last minute that I remember later after a few days they told me that I die in the helicopter and they make me a they wake me up they wake me up and as we got to Adasa they did it again and just in the last second they in success and here I am still alive still a fighter and the best that I can give to my friends is they are not soldiers all of them are citizens fighters and they did such a good we are the only humans that no one would enter inside although there was a lot of Hamas people that tried to do it you and your friends both Cohen that you are all truly such heroes as you said thank you it's truly remarkable and hearing your story of survival thank you so much for sharing it with us and we hope for your speedy and quick recovery and truly thank you for joining us here have a good day and full of courage full of courage for all of us we are going out for a quick break here on I-24 Israel is officially and we need to get in the car within a hundred soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped help us we don't want to do we just don't know anything entire families including babies and children and elderly were butchered in their beds awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong everyone is showing up this is the unity there have been countless memorable moments broadcasting for news in the past six years but for me the one that stands out the most was the first time that I had ever personally heard a rocket siren sounding in Tel Aviv and at that moment we were live on air in studio I will never forget the moment our senior producer said to me in my ear the sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv is going to the shelter with me in studio at the time were Michael Herzog a former Brigadier General today the Israeli Ambassador to the United States and Arsene Ostrovsky an international human rights lawyer and their responses were completely different Michael Herzog was calm and composed and on the other hand Arsene Ostrovsky was trying to phone his family and check in to make sure that his loved ones were okay the camera that normally faces us was hoisted from above there was an overhead shot of the three of us in studio you could see colleagues going to the shelter if you looked at the glass behind the studio and obviously we lost contact with our team on the ground our reporters in Ashkelon and all the witnesses were speaking to during that time when rockets are coming towards a residential area they don't distinguish between race, religion, political views, cultural views they just intend to harm civilians and that moment being in studio hearing those interceptions overhead was the most real coverage I have ever been involved in Welcome back to zoom in as we continue our coverage of the war here in Israel now as the war continues we continue to see people stepping up and helping soldiers on the front lines I want to bring in my guests in studio now I'm joined by Hanan Burstein and Sami Zemel co-founders of Zahi Israel you guys are helping fulfill the needs of soldiers on the front lines such a crucial vital role a little bit about Zahi Israel what exactly is the foundation so thanks for having us so Zahi Israel stands for which after the war we will eventually plan we will eventually fund Kitot Konanout throughout Israel currently as former soldiers ourselves we understand the dire need for certain supplies so we decided to then get on board and contact soldiers as well as commanders of gear they needed so we allocated around $140,000 to date of gear to different bases we've been to over 60 different bases we've driven through around 3,000 miles worth of land throughout Israel from the Lebanon border through the Gaza Strip through all the way down south so that's more or less what we're doing we're just making sure that the direct supplies that they need because they are there for us we need to be there for them especially after October 7 so many soldiers, specifically reserve soldiers had to jump into duty so quickly more than 300,000 now 360,000 reserve duty soldiers many of them without the critical equipment that they needed so we're more looking at the equipment that they are the other equipment that they need underwear socks and stuff like that and doesn't supply to the soldiers boots and stuff like that to specific requests if they need it but we're looking more at the other equipment leathermins and stuff like that that they really need the army is also not going to get to them I want to say when I was covering just after the first week reporting down in the south I did see some of those shipments of underwear coming to these soldiers and seeing everyone come together cheering and screaming holding up this underwear saying yes, we have fresh underwear so I saw first hand how much of an impact this makes even something so small as that people don't realize how crucial it is they don't want to be wearing the same pair of underwear every day so we make sure that they don't have to and you guys yourself also driving to these dangerous places you're putting yourself at risk this is an active war zone rockets are flying overhead so during the first week actually my friend and I were driving up north basically we have different drivers we have about four different drivers each one is armed and we went all the way up to the north to the Lebanon border and we were dealing with rockets overhead we had a rocket explode near us a couple sirens went off and they're very very short sirens about four seconds long but we drove about three and a half hours up north and our main priority was getting watches dry fit tactical uniforms like sleeping mats sleeping bags, towels everything that people might overlook to our soldiers so we weren't going to just disappear before getting it to them our mission was to get it to them and then from there we can get out of there so we had some close calls but again anything for our soldiers because we as soldiers understand the necessity for getting this equipment but as Sammy said not just underwear but really essential items so we're working on tactical uniforms dry fit shirts headlamps, watches stuff like that because at the end of the day that really can make a huge difference and that's what we're trying to do to make sure we see these soldiers with smiles on their faces and know that they can perform to the best of their ability you guys just have such a unique perspective because as you said you are soldiers yourself you're soldiers you've been there you've been on the front lines you know how much these certain things they are we know that the army is going to get to the soldiers whatever they need and we're going to get them whatever they want anything else you know we send out forms to the khayalim they just send us whatever they want and we try to get every single thing that they ask for $140,000 you've raised so far since October 7th October 8th yeah how can people help and how have you been able to raise so much money so quickly so one of the main things was I was promoting it on my Instagram and we then built a non-profit so now it's tax deductible we built a website, we have a promotional video which is Tzachi Israel you can find out more about us there and people just saw what we were doing we were driving hundreds of miles a day filling up cars packed to the brim making sure that the soldiers get what they need so people really saw that we were posting in WhatsApp groups what we were doing because it's so critical and everybody wants the help but people aren't sure how to help and that's where we wanted to fill the gap so that people can understand that there are people that there's a face behind the donation we're going there, we're putting the smiles on the soldiers faces and it's all thanks to the donations and we'll continue to do it doesn't matter how long it takes doesn't matter what time of day we'll go there you've been surprised all throughout the country all throughout Israel coming together wanting to support the soldiers support your cause whether they can't be on the front lines themselves people in Israel are absolutely coming together right now 100% we saw, it really started we didn't think of a non-profit to begin with a bunch of people just started texting their family members and all that money started flowing in and when we realized that we could really make a bigger impact if we just make it a tiny bit more organized you know, a non-profit then we can really get more to the soldiers and more of the actual essentials that they need on a personal level, how has it been it seems like it's absolutely keeping you guys very busy during this time because right now it's taking an emotional toll on everyone in Israel I think with us it was really important for us to do this because as Israeli Army veterans we have our own friends that are there our own friends that are wherever they are and we couldn't just sit and be quiet I think that would have taken a much bigger toll on us mentally if we would have just sat down quietly and not done anything but because we're out there and as you said putting our bodies on the line and all of that it's bringing us actually a tiny bit more joy that we can help out a tiny bit more and not just sit down and wait for me, Louine, to call us to take the initiative to our ends 100% I agree there's a lot of things people can do I think everyone can do something but we weren't going to sit idly by while our friends and family were out there and we knew we could do something there was a little bit of shock I'm sure for everyone once the atrocities occurred October 7th, but we knew right off the bat we had to hit the ground running at the end of the day because someone has to step up and at the end of the day it has a spiraling effect to a big thing that becomes a collective and more and more people step up and you see it everywhere you go on the streets there's people just handing out things to soldiers and it's such an amazing and beautiful thing to be a part of the nation as well as seeing everyone come together because at the end of the day this is our home and we really need to stand up and do what we can to provide our soldiers with whatever they need and just knowing that the soldiers also people here in Israel as you said just the October 7th events absolutely shocked everyone here in Israel you guys quickly jumped into action but going forward as things are a little bit more prepared we know that we're in this for the long run I'm curious how you guys are planning to keep up with the demand that we might continue to see we're just continuing on doing stuff like this we're going out trying to publicize ourselves as much as possible get as many donations as possible so we can continue to have a good effect throughout the whole entire war and that it doesn't just stop tomorrow adding to what Sammy said so we deal with logistics usually every night we're up till 3-4 in the morning and then wake up around 7-8 and then hit the ground running again deliveries, purchasing equipment we deal with suppliers we're really working on getting from here we're going down south to two different bases to bring around we have $5,000 worth of equipment after this and it's really about getting the word out finding bigger donors to support the cause showing that what we're doing and through that we hope to keep doing it because at the end of the day however long this war will take we'll be there for our soldiers thank you both for everything that you're doing continuing to put your own lives at risk and raising just so much money for the soldiers that are also putting their lives at risk Hanan Burstein and Sammy Zemmel co-founders of Sahi Israel, thank you for having us three weeks into the war and we are continuing to learn more about the horrific attack on October 7 that sparked this battle in the first place Kibbutz-Kisufim is one of the devastated communities near the Gaza border residents found themselves fighting for their lives that horrible Saturday this report adapted from Israel's channel 12 news we see the survivors of that battle returning to their shattered community literally pick up the pieces they also placed explosives on children's bags here I ask you not to touch anything nothing that isn't really needed right now okay we've suffered enough losses here we have enough people dead I really want you all to get out of here alive on the ground in Kibbutz-Kisufim a group of 20 members are returning for the first time to what was once their paradise to collect leftover equipment to map the damages a paradise that turned into hell this is my grandmother's home I will not go there if you may it's hard, very hard incomprehensible I still can't digest the fact that I'm here and she's not we were here a lot now I'm here and she isn't around she was taken away from us she was murdered pure murder when she comes in Shashi examines the damage to her house on the kitchen table she finds a letter left by IDF soldiers who stayed there during the fighting dear Shaked family thank you very much for your contribution to the country by making your home here you are the shield of our society and our country and hope for quiet days soon wow, is this just a bad nightmare? they're setting the neighbors house on fire here we woke up at 6.25 am by the vibration of the rocket fire on my phone and it went on and on then came sounds that we're not used to something about the feeling it was different from the last 20 years when did you realize this is something else? when I heard gunshots the time is now 141 power has gone out I'm afraid that terrorists will get into our house as well don't worry my love dad has a gun we sat in the security room until half past six in the evening after seven hours troops entered the Kibbutz for seven hours the person who led the battle in the Kibbutz was the deputy commander of our emergency team the emergency team that day was small three close friends Saar Morgolis and Shai Asher on the 7th of October when the alarms rang it looked like an ordinary incident of rocket fire as far as you can call this reality ordinary Shai immediately joined his friend Saar Saar took one I took the other Saar took two more I mean they were no longer able to threaten the safety of our community to mislead the terrorists Shai breaks his house window and spreads ketchup on it in order for the terrorists to believe that this house was already massacred they continue fighting trying to join Ronnie I encountered a very massive force of Hamas terrorists and it's only the two of you two of us, me and Saar as far as we are concerned Ronnie is unaccounted for he is either kidnapped or killed I have two security rooms in this house in one of them my two daughters were sleeping they didn't even hear the gunshots and in the other room two more children I moved the two girls to the other room closed the door on them and sat here at the kitchen counter I took out the first terrorist here I shot him with the M16 then I had a malfunction so I took out the gun and fired several bullets at the other terrorist he fell to the ground almost instantly an explosive was thrown at me through this window it exploded I was hit with shrapnel I realized my time was running out I ran to the security room and held on to the door I locked it with my left hand and stood against it they went in to eliminate it throwing grenades and explosives inside the house I didn't move from the door I fought them to keep it shut they came over and each time they pushed the door to break in they pushed with force and then with more force but my hand was locked in it did not move even an inch and they also shot at me through the door in the process in my mind I pictured them breaking in and you stood against and just held on what's going through your mind that they will not take them away the terrorists were unable to penetrate and thus Ronny's children were saved thanks to his bravery and resilience Batzar Margolis a member of the emergency team was killed after a fierce battle with the terrorists who has murdered along with 9 other members of the Kibbutz and 6 Thai nationals who worked there this week the members went from house to house to collect memories the meaning of the name Kisufim in Hebrew is longing a word that reflects so much of what they all feel today I remember the look in my son Eritz's eyes at night when he cries he says I can't it's weighing on my mind why did all the people I love had to die he bangs his head and cries I understand with him and it hurts me too and he says but mom you always promised us that nothing would happen to us you promised us that this was not going to happen so now how am I going to believe you when you say it won't happen again now as we see the physical toll that the October 7th massacre took on just one of the Kibbutz communities it's important to remember the entire and emotionally hurting but there are some ways to cope with some of that hurt in fact I'm joined in studio now by Omer Rosenberg, fitness trainer and owner of NEXT Fitness thank you so much for joining us right now the physical health of people it's definitely fallen to the back burner but it's important just as anything else to continue to focus on your health and your wellbeing especially through these difficult times exactly as you said like a cute stress reaction that everyone feels these days and it keeps going on and you know after you see this article and the television so how can anyone go out and train but I think that one of the most important thing for us to understand is that we need to take an action and the action must be found in our sources and if every one of us used to train before this war happened before the 7th of October he needs to go back and do what he can in order to take care of him and his sanity and you know one of the things that I hear in my studio all the time and with my colleagues and friends is that everybody says that they feel the guilt they feel the bad feelings that I'm here to say something very clear that the guilt will not go away and if you go out and work out, if you go and train, run doing anything with your body is only the best natural way to take care of yourself and we need to remind ourselves that if we're not going to be strong that then the war is against us and it's not going to get better it's only going to get every day is going to get more and more difficult because we see a lot of new things coming out from this bad and horrific day and when I speak with people that even I have a friend that was in the party and got injured over there she was a fitness instructor she got for her lucky she wasn't died but she got two bullets in her hands and you know she speak with me about one thing the day that she can come back to work she can go back to move her shoulder and being the way she was the day before and I think it's a message for us all that we really need to do and to use the source of physical activity in order to cope with the situation and you know if we don't have the passion to do it it's good time to say that sport is not only for fun and you don't need to expect to go out to the workout in order to celebrate it's not these days and I think it's going to take a lot of time but when you do it you feel the things that coming out from your body from your from your mind and you need to do it also it just so many people right now feel very alone especially if they now have been without work without their loved ones many people are all displaced throughout the country and so even as you're speaking we're seeing some of these images of you from next fitness TV people coming together building a community so I think that aspect is also very important right now that's an amazing aspect that we need to speak about really because it's you know supporting each other throughout the community is the most it's a powerful thing you know when you come to see people you come to see your friends you come you share with everyone your feelings most important thing is to speak about what you see and what you feel and supporting each other and being there for each other is something very very strong and I can see people that going in the workout or doing you know how the workout or any other thing that just people that speak with their body and doing it together is very important thing would you have any tips for anyone right now I know myself since October 7th my routine has absolutely been turned upside down and so just getting back into routine even taking those first steps it's incredibly difficult to make the first commitment I would like to tell you that you know doing sport and being permanent about it is something difficult as itself but in these days you need to understand that it's like it's critical and it's very normal if you feel that you don't have the mood to do sport that you're obsessed with the television with the telephone so my first tip is to do like a diet to the smartphone to the news I think that nothing will change if you wait 45 minutes or 50 minutes and then you go back to the news and get updated and this is the first tip and the second tip is to go back to the things that you used to do before the 7th of October the things that made you feel good then will make you feel better today you're not going to feel good the way it was but this is the way to cope with it to keep on moving all of the little steps step by step people coming together, people supporting each other focusing on your physical and mental health I think that's how we can all get through this together Omer Rosenberg owner of Next Fitness Tel Aviv, thank you so much for all of your insight right now thank you so much now nearly three weeks since the Hamas killing rampage in southern Israel and still more bodies are being identified the death toll is at more than 1400 many families are still waiting for news on their relatives and friends who are still being held hostage in Gaza our Eurasia Pira went to a special village set up to help survivors of the terror onslaught two and a half weeks since the horrific Hamas onslaught in southern Israel many are still trying to pick up the pieces the Emile Rehabilitation center north of Tel Aviv is one of those places it opened its gates to survivors of the massacre at Reim Nova Festival on October 7th the people who were at this party took psychedelic drugs they didn't land on the ground they are here, but they are not here in this village the main treatment is logotherapy based on the method of Victor Franco he used the empowerment of internal forces and creating a shell that wraps around the patient one of the survivors Natalie Bloom shared her story with I-24 News and speaks about her personal battle after October 7th I saw the terrorists with my own eyes I had severe anxiety attacks I saw my sister and she looked like a terrorist to me I looked at her and I saw a terrorist I saw a person with a gun standing in front of me trying to kill me I understood that I can't deal with anything my sister held me and I screamed stop, stop I don't want to die I understood that I needed mental treatment Emile, founder of this center considers himself a rebel and opposes some of the mainstream mental care methods although some may see this approach as controversial, many of his patients are grateful and some even