 I'm Benita Levine, coming to you live from Tel Aviv. The Israeli Defense Force is intensifying its ground incursion into the Gaza Strip as it works to eliminate the Hamas terror threat on day 35 of the war, the IDF causing significant damage to the terror group's underground tunnels. Tunnels its leadership admitted in an international TV interview are for its fighters, not to protect its civilians. But the country is being targeted from other parts of the Middle East too, Israel has carried out strikes in Syria overnight in response to a drone attack on a school in the country's southernmost city of Elat. The IDF saying it targeted the organization that launched that drone without specifying who was behind the attack. Meanwhile, another soldier has been killed during fighting against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip. 21-year-old staff sergeant Gilad Rosenblit was a combat medic. His death brings to 36th the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the ground operation. Now tomorrow marks five weeks since the Hamas terror rampage in the southern Israel in which more than 1,400 people were shot, tortured and butchered. The terror group is still holding 239 people hostage in Gaza, including babies, children, women and the elderly. Benjamin Netanyahu reiterating there will be no ceasefire until the hostages are released. Earlier in the week, he warned that if the Middle East falls to the axis of terror, Europe will be next and no one will be safe. Meanwhile, IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi and Shinbe security agency head Ronan Barr entered the Gaza Strip together, conducting an assessment of the situation on the ground. Let's take a listen. Our main point of strength are our partnerships. I look around and see the IDF. In every corner, everyone is doing everything to make you as strong as possible. Keep moving forward, thoroughly, increase the pace. We are behind you. Now for the latest on the ground, let's go live to our correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman. He joins us from southern Israel near the Israel Gaza border. Good morning to you, Ariel. Siren sounding in the Gaza border communities in the early hours in Kfar Azar, Nakhau'oz and Al-Omim. What is the latest where you are? What can you tell us? Well, best take a look at that yourself. Adam, I want you to zoom in behind me. You can see Gaza City not too far behind me. We just heard the thundering boom of an air strike, but it's only one of many this morning. As you indicated a mere moment ago, they are pounding underground infrastructure as well as above-ground terror targets. You can see this haze of white smoke. That white smoke is actually vaporized concrete in the air, which indicates they hit a ground level target, but not too long ago we saw the telltale plume of black smoke that comes with a ground penetrating munition. That's because when it hits the ground, it doesn't explode immediately. It goes underneath and there's no oxygen there. There was a whole lot of unburnt explosive leaving a big black cloud. We've seen quite a few of those as well, which means they are hitting that tunnel infrastructure that Hamas uses as a fortress. Remember, the IDF said just yesterday that they have hit about 130 tunnel shafts so far in the fighting, disabling those shafts, and sealing of those Hamas fighters underground underneath the rubble where they're going to stay and not be able to pop up and do ambushes. It's a major part of the military strategy sealing those tunnels. That said, a lot of that's being done by the ground forces rather than the air strikes, given the sheer number of tunnel targets they have to hit. They're actually hitting the shafts, not the tunnels themselves, for the most part. That's because the shafts are the only real exposed part of them. Disabled to shafts, fighters can't get in and out. You don't actually have to drop as many ground penetrating munitions on the tunnels themselves. Israel has a limited supply of real deep ground penetrators to do that work with, but it is definitely taking a toll with the IDF having said that they've taken out upwards of 12,000 Hamas targets across the strip. If you zoom in over there just a little bit to the right, Adam, you're going to see just what that looks like. You can see those toppled buildings, everything crumbling down, the sheer weight of the strikes on Gaza, taking their toll, pushing Hamas back, and allowing those ground forces to finally encircle Gaza City and cut off Hamas. Live from southern Israel, our correspondent, Ariel Levin-Waldman, close to that border, we'll be coming back to you, of course, Ariel, in the coming hours for regular updates. Thank you for now. And now, for more insight, we welcome retired Colonel Mary Eisen, the director at the International Institute for Counterterrorism at Reichmann University. Good to see you. Good morning to you. Thank you for being with us again. So, the IDF chief of staff, Herzia Levy, and the Shinbe security agency, Hedron Nenbar, entered the Gaza Strip together. We heard just moments ago the message being sent from Herzia Levy conducting that assessment of the situation. Talk us through the significance of these top security leaders being able to go into Gaza supporting troops on the ground and sending messages like they did. Benita, as I watched both the footage as I watched it yesterday, I as an Israeli in its own way. To me, that's what when we're talking about the moral of a country, when we're talking about the ethics of a military, it's when the two top people who are both responsible for what happened on October 7th and have said that are the ones who have gone into the Gaza Strip to be at the forefront of that fighting. They have gone in to talk with the soldiers who are fighting to give them a clear idea of their mission, to talk them through what they are going to need to do in the upcoming stages, to do so calmly, carefully, because in leadership, we are the ones who are there, the ones who are defending us, they are leading us, and they don't do it from behind. They do it from the front. They go in and they talk with them. And I just think that that shows the ethics, the morals, the ideals of the State of Israel, of the security establishment in the most profound way. And talking about the ethics and the morals involved here, obviously repeated reports about the way troops are targeting terror tunnels, but it is well known that those tunnels are underneath civilian structures, including hospitals, including schools, including obviously residential buildings. Talk us through the care that needs to be taken right now as this operation continues. It's nearly five weeks in and the care that needs to be taken to make sure that the Hamas terror leadership is targeted and that civilians are spared. When we look at what Israel is doing and has been doing for over two weeks in that sense on the ground, it's that going in with the soldiers, with the units. When we say the soldiers, it's a combination of units. To be able to detect the hundreds, and Arielle really presented that so clearly before, to get to the different openings of the tunnels, because that's where you can get in. You have to go into the Gaza Strip. This isn't something it was built into buildings under schools. As you said before, under mosques, under hospitals, we're not attacking the hospitals. We all know that, but we are encircling them because underneath them are headquarters, not just any tunnels, but to be able to get in to the entrances to the tunnel system. It's not individual tunnels. You want to be able to get into that system. You need to go in, get to the buildings, get to the schools, get to the mosques, and from there, both try to explode the tunnel from the outside. That's from those openings and with the combination use, with artillery, with the air force to continue to attack those places. That's the combination of slowly doing that. In a sense, as we said, we're encircling. It doesn't mean that we have more forces on the ground. They are very focused. They're working systematically, blowing those tunnels up. The tunnels are built in such a way that when they implode, and I think, again, Arielle, talked about that before you have the initial explosion, which is the entrance to the tunnel. Then you're going to see a secondary explosion, which is when the tunnel implodes. It caves in. When that happens, the way that it's built under the refugee camp, underneath all of the different neighborhoods, you're going to see the collapsing of structures. In some of the cases, the air forces targeting the entrance to the tunnel through a building. They're going to target a building, and then you're going to see a secondary explosion, which is going to be the implosion of that tunnel and the collapsing of structures nearby. But that's what Hamas built. They built the structure into the buildings and under the buildings. Complicated. Indeed, we obviously will be following to see exactly how that all unfolds out of the Gaza Strip. Another development, Mary, I'd love your take on Israel carrying out strikes in Syria overnight in response to that drone attack on a school in the country's southernmost city of Eilat, a well-known and popular resort city. The idea of saying it's targeted the organization that launched the drone, not giving too many details. What do you make of that development overnight? So first, just for all of us to be clear, Eilat, the lovely resort city, is also the city that is hosting entire communities from the Gaza perimeter. Who flee the Kibbutzim in the Meshavim, absolutely. Exactly. And they were sent there as a safe spot to get away from sirens. And they've had sirens, both the Houthis from Yemen and now unidentified Shiite forces that are based in Syria could be further, have fired these different unmanned aerial vehicles, the UAVs, towards Eilat. I mean, they're trying to get around Israel's defense system. So a few things. One, in addition to that one that arrived and hit in Eilat at a school, in addition to that, there have been many that have been intercepted. What do we know about Shiites inside the different proxy forces in Syria? So when we talk about the northern border, about Hezbollah, Hezbollah is a Lebanese-based, both Iranian proxy and Lebanese, enormous force that sits in Lebanon. But over the last decade, there have been different Shiite proxies. These are Shiite forces that have been trained and established by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that are based both in Syria and in Lebanon. They're trying right now to get from Iraq into Jordan. I'd say that Jordan is trying to stop them. So we are always looking at them or remind everybody that over the last decade, Israel has done many attacks, according to international media, throughout Syria against these kind of forces. We will continue to do so. Why unidentified? We don't want to leave, not me, but the IDF is continuing to monitor them, let them be on their toes. They don't have to know everything we know about them. We want to preempt. We want to make sure that they do not manage to do anything like that. And in this sense, we have been very lucky that they did manage to do an attack that came through into a school. And we all still need to be very wary, very aware, and to act upon the instructions of the IDF in that sense, certainly with all the early warnings that we have. Retired Colonel Mary Eisen, stay with us if you will. We've got more to discuss, but let's follow up on what you've just been explaining and go to our correspondent, Emira Khalif. She is in northern Israel. So good morning to you, Mary. You obviously heard what we were discussing now with Mary. Bring us up to speed on the latest developments where you are in northern Israel. What can you tell us? Good morning, Bonita. Yes, so relatively quiet night overnight, but we do have statements coming out from the IDF saying that it launched a number of different strikes inside southern Lebanon last night. Those include a number of different infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah inside southern Lebanon. These are compounds observation posts and also saying that they strike a number of different technological assets belonging to the group. This, of course, comes as Hezbollah continues to launch missiles and rockets across the border. Yesterday we saw a number of different attacks against IDF observation posts, IDF military areas inside northern Israel, but in areas very close to the border where the IDF continues to operate to try and mitigate this threat coming from its northern border, but we have continued to see these attacks. And give us a sense of the communities that have had to leave and evacuate. It's been weeks now. Many had gone further south, so to speak, but what is your sense of the numbers of people who have decided to stay? What kind of community insights can you share right now about what is happening close to that border? Right, Bonita. Well, it's a very small part of the population which has still remained, at least in these communities that are within four kilometers of the border. That's specifically because we continue to see these anti-tank missile attacks, which have a range of up to five kilometers. That's believed what we have inside Hezbollah's arsenal, inside southern Lebanon. So all those communities for weeks now have been told to go to safer parts of the country. Of course, for many of them, while we continue to see rockets throughout the country, it has been a bit of a hard decision, but it's mostly due to those missile attacks that the IDF has continued to warn residents to try and stay away. The only ones primarily that we've spoken to in some of these communities around here as we've been traveling to who have remained are those who are staying to guard the kaboots. There are many here who have lived here for years with the threat of Hezbollah on their borders, constantly under threat. Some of them living just meters away from this border line. They watched very closely what happened on October 7th, and many of them are very fearful, once again, living from a different terrorist group on their border. So the ones who have remained are those who simply want to stay and guard the kaboots. They're normally ex-military who are part of the community guard, we can call it. The majority of families have gone to safer parts of the country, and the IDF and the Israeli government continues to warn those. If your community has been evacuated to follow the restrictions of the Home From Command, we saw a close call this week with a family in Kirchmona who had returned after three weeks away, who were almost hit just seconds away from being hit by one of these rockets, fired at that evacuated town. So again, the government just wants to make sure the population really does listen and pays attention, because it might not be as heated a border area as it has been in the south, but we absolutely are continuing to see attacks here. One Israeli civilian has died this week. Correspondent Mayor Mikhail Leff, live from northern Israel, close to the border with Lebanon, thank you as always for the update. More to come from Mary in the coming hours. We go back now to retired Colonel Mary Eisen, and your thoughts on exactly that, that threat for the northern communities of Hezbollah looms large. Your take on Hassan Nasrallah and his potential moves down the line. I can't disconnect Hassan Nasrallah from his Iranian patron, backer, supplier, inspirer. Right now at this stage, Iran is holding back? No, not at all. It is allowing and enabling the Houthis, the Yemen, in Yemen to fire at Israel, the different Shiite forces to fire at Israel. So why is Hezbollah and through that Iranian backer holding back? Because this is their asset. They don't want anybody to point fingers right now at Iran. They, the Iranians and Hezbollah, want to enjoy, if I can put it in such a cynical term, enjoy the benefits of what Hamas did on October 7th by participating, but not getting the wrath, the might of Israeli capabilities. And as Mary was describing before, the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces, in a variety of ways has been attacking Hezbollah targets over the last five weeks. Hezbollah has been attacking from Lebanon into Israel over the last five weeks. And the evacuation, the planned evacuation, the one that was done to save people's lives, like Israel has tried to do, so much to save people's lives in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas are using them as human shields. In that sense right now, Hezbollah has to make a choice. Are they Lebanese? And if they start something in big, they are just like Hamas, built under the Lebanese towns, subterranean tunnels, all of their headquarters, their cache of weapons are built just to sound familiar under the mosque, under the hospital, under the school, under the kindergarten, and they do that on purpose. So we've seen a bit of an exodus from southern Lebanon people going north, Lebanon being held hostage in that sense, by Lebanese Hezbollah Shiites. I don't know what I want. I have to tell you the truth, as I'm talking to our listeners, to our viewers. What's better, to preempt now against Hezbollah? They have 10 times the capabilities of Hamas to not preempt against them. They're there. Why would I want to go back home to my community up north, if I know on the other side of the fence, as Mary described so clearly, you have people who want to come and murder and butcher you. So it's a very tense situation. And Iran and Hezbollah are worried about that. This is still, I mean, five weeks into this, tomorrow it'll be five weeks. Hezbollah is still playing a game. They can still join in, and we can still preempt. It's to be expected. We certainly will be watching to see how it all unfolds. Very worrying indeed. Always appreciate your insights. Retired Colonel Mary Eisen, thank you for speaking to us. Always appreciate your time. Thank you, Mary. Now, one of the architects of the Hamas terror rampage is terror leader Yahya Sinwar, believed to be hiding in a tunnel in northern Gaza. Now, his former dentist in prison recounts his interactions with him and also shares his personal trauma because his nephew was one of more than 200 people kidnapped on the 7th of October and is being held by the terror group inside the strip. More in this report. Think such a thing would happen to my family. My nephew was kidnapped to Gaza. Enemies I knew in prison for many years. They're the ones holding my nephew. It's personal. His name is Yuval Beton, but in prison they called him something else. What did they call you? The doctor. There are a few people who sat face to face with them with the architects of the massacre. Let's talk about Sinwar. How many hours have you had with him? Many. Who would even think he'd ever be released? The doctor will be taking us on a journey to the most guarded wing of the prison, and we will go with him to see the destruction. To be a doctor in the prison service? A dentist in Nafra prison. How complicated is it to be a dentist in such a place? Very. A doctor needs to give something of himself. When you care, there's some kind of closeness. You take care of someone. You give something of yourself. In the first years, there were no assistants in the Israeli prison services. So the assistant was a security prisoner, Abu Ali Yata, two life sentences. And you weren't worried? That's the reality. It's me, him, and the Hamas prisoner alone. And if necessary, they ordered surgeons. So Abu Ali, bring a scalpel. In the same way, he can also butcher me. When did you know the prisoner? He asked Sinwar. I know him from when I was a dentist. I'm starting to study this population. His 10 years as a dentist turned him into an expert on the psyche of security prisoners. He got to know the groups, ambitions, everyone's struggles and ideas. And then he decided to make career change to become an intelligence officer, to be the one who recruits sources and collects information in prison. He would eventually become the head of the intelligence division of the prison service. How did the inmates take your move? Today, Iyer Sinwar is the head of Hamas in Gaza, building his power on those years and status in the Israeli prison. And the doctor sees this up close. And why is he willing to go further than his predecessors? Because he's prepared to pay any price for a principal. In October 2011, the Netanyahu government approved the Shalit deal. 1027 prisoners were released in exchange for Gilad Shalit. Among them, Salah Arul, head of Hamas in the West Bank, who met with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah this week, and also with Sinwar. Those who know him, know that the price of releasing someone like this is much worse and higher than anyone else, because his abilities are devastating. The Shin Bet and whoever made the decision did not ask the Israeli prison service at all. And here's something else from the same deal. Everyone who was released was asked to sign a form agreeing not to engage in terrorism. He refused. And what did Israel do? Released it, even though he didn't sign. At the Urim Junction, at the entrance to the Gaza Strip, we meet Nair Yurval's nephew from Kibbutz near Oz. Since that black Saturday, he hasn't returned there. Now, we're headed out to what used to be his home. So here in this neighborhood, there are many, many murdered. This is the founder's neighborhood. On October the 7th, Nair was here with his two daughters, Rani, four years old, and Noga, six years old. He gave them videos to watch and told them that there was a military drill outside and he held the door shut. I held it like this, six hours standing here like this. Yes, and I'm also standing here and my daughter is here, the terrorists standing over there. When he came out, his world collapsed. Pictures of his grandmother being kidnapped on a golf cart were broadcast all over the world. We moved to Nair's house, Nair's brother and Yurval's second nephew. And they just went wild. He's a member of the community security unit. He put on a vest, a weapon, and went out. We don't know anything. No one knows anything. 8.30 in the morning on Saturday. He wrote a message to his wife, Hadas, shut yourself in the safe room. Don't open the door, even if I beg. At this moment in a house burned down in Kibbutz near Oz, the doctor remembers what happened in May 2004. He had an abscess. An abscess is like a hole in the brain. If it explodes, then so there's an infection and you say goodbye. Israeli doctors saved his life. Have you ever thought about it? Definitely, many times, especially now. That's what? That we saved his life. He took the lives of hundreds of children, youth, elderly. Yes, we, our doctors, saved him and he gave back like Hamas knows how to give back. What the citizens of Israel now realized at a terrible price, the doctor realized long ago, but no one listened. Those who understood this long before us were the members of the Palestinian Authority. This is a call from prison that sounds like a prophecy today. The Speaker is a convicted terrorist, one of the leaders of the Fatah prisoners. This was in 2019. We did not understand and did not want to understand because we thought that this was an internal Palestinian issue. We thought it served us. Hamas is an asset because it does not want to talk, neither about peace nor about political processes and not on territorial compromises. It is a definite enemy, obviously. For in Gaza, we found a technical solution. We surrounded them with a fence. So as to say, we don't have a problem with Gaza. The burnt houses of near Oz tell another story and it's one which is perhaps the most painful and difficult of all. The first force of the army, Galani soldiers, entered the gates of the Kibbutz at only 1.30 in the afternoon, seven hours after the start of the massacre. The terrorists were no longer here. They'd returned to Gaza after murdering 40 people and with more than 70 abductees. Yaval stood, looking at the extinguished fire, still smoldering. Everything got mixed up, the past and the present, the nephew who was missing and the architect of the murder, the man who once sat with him in the dental clinic. What does he think to himself now? Now he feels like Salahadin. He has done what no air bleeder has done before, but the price, who will pay it, residents of Gaza, he actually brought on the end of Hamas. More heartbreaking accounts nearly five weeks on and that is a wrap for this edition of our breaking news coverage. I'm Benita Levine in Tel Aviv. Our rolling coverage continues shortly. Stay tuned. This is I-24 News. And more than 3,000 injured and the war with Hamas continued firsthand 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 edition. I'm Benita Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv. The Israeli Defense Force is intensifying its ground incursion into the Gaza Strip as it works to eliminate the Hamas terror threat on day 35 of the war. The IDF causing significant damage to the terror group's underground tunnels. Tunnels its leadership admitted in an international TV interview are for its fighters, not to protect its civilians. But the country is being targeted from other parts of the Middle East too. So Israel has carried out strikes in Syria overnight in response to a drone attack on a school in the country's southernmost city of Elant. The IDF saying it targeted the organization that launched that drone without specifying who was behind the attack. Meanwhile another soldier has been killed during fighting against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip. 21-year-old staff sergeant Gilad Rosenblit was a combat medic. His death brings to 36th the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the ground operation. Now tomorrow marks five weeks since the Hamas terror rampage in southern Israel in which more than 1,400 people were shot, tortured and butchered. The terror group is still holding 239 people hostage in Gaza, including babies, children, women and the elderly. Benjamin Netanyahu reiterating there will be no ceasefire until the hostages are released earlier in the week. He warned that if the Middle East falls to the axis of terror Europe will be next and no one will be safe. Meanwhile IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi and Shinbe security agency head Ronan Barr entered the Gaza Strip together conducting an assessment of the situation on the ground. Let's take a listen. Our main point of strength are our partnerships. I look around and see the IDF in every corner. Everyone is doing everything to make you as strong as possible. Keep moving forward thoroughly. Increase the pace. We are behind you. Now for the latest on the ground. Let's go live to our correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman. He joins us from southern Israel near the Israel-Gaza border. Good morning to you Ariel. Siren sounding in the Gaza border communities in the early hours. What is the latest where you are? What can you tell us? Well best take a look at that yourself Adam. I want you to zoom in behind me. You can see Gaza city not too far behind me. We just heard the thundering boom of an air strike but it's only one of many this morning. As you indicated a mere moment ago Benita they are pounding underground infrastructure as well as above ground terror targets. You can see this haze of white smoke. That white smoke is actually vaporized concrete in the air which indicates they hit a ground level target but not too long ago we saw the telltale plume of black smoke that comes with a ground penetrating munition. That's because when it hits the ground it doesn't explode immediately. It goes underneath and there's no oxygen there. There was a whole lot of unburnt explosive leaving a big black cloud. We've seen quite a few of those as well which means they are hitting that tunnel infrastructure that Hamas uses as a fortress. Remember the IDF said just yesterday that they have hit about 130 tunnel shafts so far in the fighting disabling those shafts and sealing of those Hamas fighters underground underneath the rubble where they're going to stay and not be able to pop up and do ambushes. It's a major part of the military strategy sealing those tunnels. That said a lot of that's being done by the ground forces rather than the air strikes given the sheer number of tunnel targets they have to hit. They're actually hitting the shafts not the tunnels themselves for the most part. That's because the shafts are the only real exposed part of them. Disabled the Shayas fighters can't get in and out you don't actually have to drop as many ground penetrating munitions on the tunnels themselves and Israel has a limited supply of real deep ground penetrators to do that work with. But it is definitely taking a toll with the IDF having said that they've taken out upwards of 12,000 Hamas targets across the strip. If you zoom in over there just a little bit to the right atom you're going to see just what that looks like. You can see those toppled buildings everything crumbling down the sheer weight of the strikes on Gaza taking their toll pushing Hamas back and allowing those ground forces to finally encircle Gaza City and cut off Hamas. Live from southern Israel our correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman close to that border will be coming back to you of course Ariel in the coming hours for regular updates. Thank you for now and now for more insight we welcome retired Colonel Mary Eisen the director at the International Institute for Counterterrorism at Reichmann University. Good to see you good morning to you thank you for being with us again so the IDF chief of staff Herzi Alevi and the Shin Bet Security Agency head Ronin Bar entered the Gaza Strip together we heard just moments ago the message being sent from Herzi Alevi conducting that assessment of the situation. Talk us through the significance of these top security leaders being able to go into Gaza supporting troops on the ground and sending messages like they did. Benita as I watched both the footage as I watched it yesterday I as an Israeli in its own way to me that's what when we're talking about the moral of a country when we're talking about the ethics of a military it's when the two top people who are both responsible for what happened on October 7th and have said that are the ones who have gone into the Gaza Strip to be at the forefront of that fighting they've gone in to talk with the soldiers who are fighting to give them a clear idea of their mission to talk them through what they are going to need to do in the upcoming stages to do so calmly carefully because in leadership we are the ones who are they're the ones who are defending us they are leading us and they don't do it from behind they do it from the front they go in and they talk with them and I just think that shows the ethics the morals the ideals of the state of Israel of the security establishment in the most profound way and talking about the ethics and the morals involved here obviously repeated reports about the way troops are targeting terror tunnels but it is well known that those tunnels are underneath civilian structures including hospitals including schools including obviously residential buildings talk us through the care that needs to be taken right now as this operation continues it's nearly five weeks and the care that needs to be taken to make sure that the Hamas terror leadership is targeted and that civilians are spared when we look at what Israel is doing and has been doing for over two weeks in that sense on the ground it's that going in with the soldiers with the units when we say the soldiers it's a combination of units to be able to detect the hundreds and Arielle really presented that so clearly before to get to the different openings of the tunnels because that's where you can get in you have to go into the Gaza Strip this isn't something it was built into buildings under schools as you said before under mosques under hospitals we're not attacking the hospitals we all know that but we are circling them because underneath them are headquarters not just any tunnels but to be able to get in to the entrances to the tunnel system it's not individual tunnels you want to be able to get into that system you need to go in get to the buildings get to the schools get to the mosques and from there both try to explode the tunnel from the outside that's from those openings and with the combination use with artillery with the air force to continue to attack those places so that's the combination of slowly doing that in a sense as we said we're encircling it doesn't mean that we have more forces on the ground they are very focused they're working systematically blowing those tunnels up the tunnels are built in such a way that when they implode and I think again Arielle talked about that before you have the initial explosion which is the entrance to the tunnel and then you're going to see a secondary explosion which is when the tunnel implodes it caves in and when that happens the way that it's built under the refugee camp underneath all of the different neighborhoods you're going to see the collapsing of structures in some of the cases the air force is targeting the entrance to the tunnel through a building so they're going to target a building and then you're going to see a secondary explosion which is going to be the implosion of that tunnel and the collapsing of structures nearby but that's what Hamas built they built the structure into the buildings and under the buildings complicated indeed we obviously will be following to see exactly how that all unfolds out of the Gaza Strip another development Mary I'd love your take on Israel carrying out strikes in Syria overnight in response to that drone attack on a school in the country's southernmost city of Elat a well-known and popular resort city the idea of saying it's targeted the organization that launched the drone not giving too many details what do you make of that development overnight so first just for all of us to be clear a lot the lovely resort city is also the city that is hosting entire communities from the Gaza perimeter exactly and they were sent there as a safe spot to get away from sirens and they've had sirens both the Houthis from Yemen and now unidentified Shiite forces that are based in Syria could be further have fired these different unmanned aerial vehicles the UAVs towards Elat I mean they're trying to get around Israel's defense system so a few things one in addition to that one that arrived and hit in Elat at a school in addition to that there have been many that have been intercepted what do we know about Shiites inside the different proxy forces in Syria so when we talk about the northern border about Hezbollah Hezbollah is a Lebanese based both Iranian proxy and Lebanese enormous force that sits in Lebanon but over the last decade there have been different Shiite proxies these are Shiite forces that have been trained and established by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that are based both in Syria and in Lebanon they're trying right now to get from Iraq into Jordan I'd say the Jordan is trying to stop them so we are always looking at them or remind everybody that over the last decade Israel has done many attacks according to international media throughout Syria against these kind of forces we will continue to do so why unidentified we don't want to leave not me but the IDF is continuing to monitor them let them be on their toes they don't have to know everything we know about them we want to preempt we want to make sure that they do not manage to do anything like that and in this sense we have been very lucky that they did manage to do an attack that came through into a school and we all still need to be very wary very aware and to act upon the instructions of the IDF in that sense certainly with all the early warnings that we have retired Colonel Mary Eisen stay with us if you will we've got more to discuss but let's follow up on what you've just been explaining and go to our correspondent America if she is in northern Israel so good morning to you Mary you obviously heard what we were discussing now with Mary bring us up to speed on the latest developments where you are in northern Israel what can you tell us good morning bonita yes so relatively quiet night overnight but we do have statements coming out from the IDF saying that it launched a number of different strikes inside southern Lebanon last night those include a number of different infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah inside southern Lebanon these are compounds observation posts and also saying that they strike a number of different technological assets belonging to the group this of course comes as Hezbollah continues to launch missiles and rockets across the border yesterday we saw a number of different attacks against IDF observation posts IDF military areas inside northern Israel but in areas very close to the border where the IDF continues to operate to try and mitigate this threat coming from its northern border but we have continued to see these attacks and give us a sense of the communities that have had to leave and evacuate it's been weeks now many had gone further south so to speak but what is your sense of the numbers of people who have decided to stay what kind of community insights can you share right now about what is happening close to that border right bonita well it's a very small part of the population which has still remained at least in these communities are within four kilometers of the border that's specifically because we continue to see these anti-tank missile attacks which have a range of up to five kilometers that's believed what we have inside Hezbollah's arsenal inside southern Lebanon so all those communities for weeks now have been told to go to safer parts of the country of course for many of them while we continue to see rockets throughout the country it has been a bit of a hard decision but it's mostly due to those missile attacks that the IDF has continued to warrant residents to try and stay away the only ones primarily that we've spoken to in some of these communities round-tairs we've been traveling to who have remained are those who are staying to guard the kaboots there are many here who have lived here for years with the threat of Hezbollah on their borders constantly under threat some of them living just meters away from this borderline they watched very closely what happened on October 7th and many of them are very fearful once again living from a different terrorist group on their borders so the ones who have remained are those who simply want to stay and guard the kaboots they're normally ex-military who are part of the community guard we can call it the majority of families have gone to safer parts of the country and the IDF and the Israeli government continues to warn those if your community has been evacuated to follow the restrictions of the home from command we saw a close call this week with the family in Kirchmona who had returned after three weeks away who were almost hit just seconds away from being hit by one of these rockets fired at that evacuated town so again the government just wants to make sure the population really does listen and pays attention because it might not be as heated a border area as it has been in the south but we absolutely are continuing to see attacks here one Israeli civilian has died this week. Correspondent Mary McAuliffe live from northern Israel close to the border with Lebanon thank you as always for the update more to come from Mary in the coming hours we go back now to retired colonel Mary Eisen and your thoughts on exactly that that threat for the northern communities of Hezbollah looms large your take on Hassan Nasrallah and his potential moves down the line. I can't disconnect Hassan Nasrallah from his Iranian patron backer supplier inspirer right now at this stage Iran is holding back no not at all it is allowing and enabling the Houthis the Yemen in Yemen to fire at Israel the different Shiite forces to fire at Israel so why is Hezbollah and through that the Iranian backer holding back because this is their asset they don't want anybody to point fingers right now at Iran they the Iranians and Hezbollah want to enjoy if I can put it in such a cynical term enjoy the benefits of what Hamas did on October 7th by participating but not getting the wrath the the might of Israeli capabilities and as Mary was describing before the IDF the Israeli defense forces in a variety of ways has been attacking Hezbollah targets over the last five weeks Hezbollah has been attacking from Lebanon into Israel over the last five weeks and the evacuation the planned evacuation the one that was done to save people's lives like Israel has tried to do so much to save people's lives in the Gaza Strip where Hamas are using them as human shields in that sense right now Hezbollah has to make a choice are they Lebanese and if they start something in big they are just like Hamas built under the Lebanese towns subterranean tunnels all of their headquarters their cache of weapons are built just the sound familiar under the mosque under the hospital under the school under the kindergarten and they do that on purpose so we've seen a bit of an exodus from southern Lebanon people going north Lebanon being held hostage in that sense by Lebanese Hezbollah Shiites I don't know what I want I have to tell you the truth as I'm talking to our our listeners to our viewers what's better to preempt now against Hezbollah they have 10 times the capabilities of Hamas to not preempt against them they're there why would I want to go back home to my community up north if I know on the other side of the fence as Mary described so clearly you have people who want to come and murder and butcher you so it's a very tense situation in Iran and Hezbollah are worried about that this is still I mean five weeks into this tomorrow there'll be five weeks Hezbollah is still playing a game they can still join in right and still preempt it's to be expected we certainly will be watching to see how it all unfolds very worrying indeed always appreciate your insights retired Colonel Mary Eisen thank you for speaking to us always appreciate your time thank you Mary now one of the architects of the Hamas terror rampage is terror leader Yahya Sinwar believed to be hiding in a tunnel in northern Gaza now his former dentist in prison recounts his interactions with him and also shares his personal trauma because his nephew was one of more than 200 people kidnapped on the 7th of October and is being held by the terror group inside the strip more in this report I think such a thing would happen to my family my nephew was kidnapped to Gaza enemies I knew in prison for many years they're the ones holding my nephew it's personal his name is Yuval Beton but in prison they called him something else what did they call you the doctor there are few people who sat face to face with them with the architects of the massacre let's talk about Sinwar how many hours have you had with him many would even think he'd ever be released the doctor will be taking us on a journey to the most guarded wing of the prison and we will go with him to see the destruction to be a doctor in the prison service a dentist in Nafra prison how complicated is it to be a dentist in such a place very a doctor needs to give something of himself when you care there's some kind of closeness you take care of someone you give something of yourself in the first years there were no assistants in the Israeli prison service so the assistant was a security prisoner Abu Ali Yata two life sentences and you weren't worried that's the reality it's me him and the Hamas prisoner alone and if necessary they ordered surgeons so Abu Ali bring a scalpel in the same way he can also butcher me when did you know the prisoner he asked Sinwar I know him from when I was a dentist I'm starting to study this population his 10 years as a dentist turned him into an expert on the psyche of security prisoners he got to know the groups ambitions everyone struggles and ideas and then he decided to make a career change to become an intelligence officer to be the one who recruits sources and collects information in prison he would eventually become the head of the intelligence division of the prison service how did the inmates take your move shock today he is in war is the head of Hamas in Gaza building his power on those years and status in the Israeli prison and the doctor sees this up close and why is he willing to go further than his predecessors because he's prepared to pay any price for a principle in october 2011 the Netanyahu government approved the Shalit deal 1027 prisoners were released in exchange for Gilad Shalits among them Salah Arul head of Hamas in the west man who met with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah this week and also with Sinwar those who know him know that the price of releasing someone like this is much worse and higher than anyone else because his abilities are devastating the Shin Bet and whoever made the decision did not ask the Israeli prison service at all and here's something else from the same deal everyone who was released was asked to sign a form agreeing not to engage in terrorism he refused and what did Israel do released it even though he didn't sign at the Urim junction at the entrance to the Gaza Strip we meet near Yuvaz Nefu from Kibbutz near Oz since that black saturday he hasn't returned there now we're headed out to what used to be his home so here in this neighborhood there are many many murdered this is the founder's neighborhood on october 7th Nia was here with his two daughters Rani four years old and Noga six years old he gave them videos to watch and told them that there was a military drill outside and he held the door shut i held it like this six hours standing here like this yes and i'm also standing here and my daughter is here the terrorists standing over there when he came out his world collapsed pictures of his grandmother being kidnapped on a golf cart were broadcast all over the world we moved to Tamir's house Nia's brother and Yuvaz's second nephew and they just went wild he's a member of the community security unit he put on a vest a weapon and went out we don't know anything no one knows anything 8 30 in the morning on saturday he wrote a message to his wife hadas shut yourself in the safe room don't open the door even if i beg at this moment in a house that burned down in kibbutz Nia Oz the doctor remembers what happened in mid-year sinwa in 2004 he had an abscess an abscess is like a hole in the brain if it explodes then so there's an infection and you say goodbye is where the doctor has saved his life have you ever thought about it definitely many times especially now that's what that we saved his life he took the lives of hundreds of children youth elderly yes we our doctor saved him and he gave back like Hamas knows how to give back what the citizens of israel now realized at a terrible price the doctor realized long ago but no one listened those who understood this long before us were the members of the palestinian authority this is a call from prison that sounds like a prophecy today the speaker is a convicted terrorist one of the leaders of the fatah prisoners this was in 2019 we did not understand and do not want to understand because we thought that this was an internal palestinian issue we thought it served us Hamas is an asset because it does not want to talk neither about peace nor about political processes and not on territorial compromises it is a definite enemy obviously for in Gaza we found a technical solution we surrounded them with offense so as to say we don't have a problem the burnt houses of near us tell another story and it's one which is perhaps the most painful and difficult of all the first force of the army ghalani soldiers entered the gates of the kibbut at only 130 in the afternoon seven hours after the start of the massacre the terrorists were no longer here they'd return to Gaza after murdering 40 people and with more than 70 abductees yaval stood looking at the extinguished fire still smoldering everything got mixed up the past and the present the nephew who is missing and the architect of the murder the man who once sat with him in the dental clinic what does he think to himself now now he feels like salahadine he has done what no air bleeder has done before but the price who will pay it residents of Gaza he actually brought on the end of from us more heart breaking accounts nearly five weeks on and that is a wrap for this edition of our breaking news coverage i'm benita levine until i vev our rolling coverage continues shortly stay tuned this is i-24 news abesas yadon deban en mi recargas internacional es altiza tu gente en rd accede a nuestra pagina web recargas punto altis punto com punto b o seleccionar recargas y digita el número al que deseas colocarle la recarga además ellos reciben el doble de balance en recargas de 8 dólares o más altis la red global de los dominicanos 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 a hundred soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped 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 in news edition i'm benita levine coming to you live from tel aviv the israeli defense forces conducting airstrikes inside the gaza strip at this hour as it works to eliminate the hamas terror threat on day 35 of the war at the same time rocket fire from the strip is being sent to southern israeli communities in the last hour including siren sounding in nirin idf troops also causing significant damage to the terror groups underground tunnels the country is being targeted from other parts of the middle east two including a drone attack out of syria targeting a school in the southern resort city of elat israel responding with strikes in syria overnight targeting the organization that launched that drone without specifying who was behind the attack tomorrow marks five weeks since the hamas terror rampage in southern israel in which more than 1400 people were shot tortured and butchered the terror group is still holding 239 people hostage in gaza including babies children women and the elderly benjamin netanyahu reiterating there will be no ceasefire unless the hostages are released meanwhile idf chief of staff herdsie halevi and shin bed security agency head ronan bar entered the gaza strip together conducting an assessment of the situation on the ground let's take a listen our main point of strength are our partnerships i look around and see the idf in every corner everyone is doing everything to make you as strong as possible keep moving forward thoroughly increase the pace we are behind you let's bring you the latest from our team on the ground we start in the north correspondent mary macauliffe is in northern israel so mary the latest developments up there close to the border and the latest out of lebanon what updates can you share this hour good morning bonita so we begin with what's happening right here in our immediate vicinity the idf last night saying that it is continuing to strike a number of different hezbollah targets inside southern lebanon using both our air strikes and artillery strikes against what they say are compounds belonging to hezbollah observation posts and other technological assets belonging to the group it was a definitely a loud night on the border inside southern lebanon communities as these attacks continue idf was responding to a number of attacks coming from within southern lebanon towards israeli communities yesterday has vilified a number of different mortar attacks mostly at idf military positions along this border but also a series of rockets into this area so we continue to see this be a very active area but zooming out from this region a little bit as you mentioned idf again striking in syria last night there was a strike a couple days ago that click that strike wasn't claimed by israel israel now saying that it did strike in response to that drone that fell in a lot we still do not know much about the drone or the group who sent it the idf simply saying that it was a drone of foreign origin that traveled from southern syria all the way across jordan to attack that school in israel that's a very far distance for this drone to travel but as we know we have seen groups from these and we don't know exactly who this origin but i just want to say some iranian made drones such as the sohid drone which we've seen use extensively in ukraine that has arranged some up to 2,500 kilometers so the idf saying it does believe it originated in syria not naming who sent it thank you so much stay safe we will be coming back to our correspondent maria mcarliff in northern israel for regular updates and now for more insight we welcome professor corby michael senior research fellow at the institute for national security studies and former deputy director general in the israeli ministry of strategic affairs professor thank you so much for joining us on this day day 35 so many developments across the region but i want to start with what mary was just discussing israel carrying out strikes in syria overnight in response to this drone attack on a school in the country's southern most city of elat thousands of residents who have had to flee from southern israel are staying in that resort city what more can you share about what unfolded good morning if the the the missile that that hit at the elat yesterday really came from south syria and they saw that yes otherwise the idea wouldn't have attacked there it means that the sheath militias in south syria which are led by by iran are once again in the in this multi-front warfare by the way this is not the first time some rockets were launched from south syria towards the israeli gulan hyath at least twice and it means that the iranians are trying to operate all the all their proxies yemen syria and south lebanon of course in order to in order to signal something to hamas and to signal something to israel maybe to pressure israel with regard to its retaliation in the gaza street and we have to take into consideration that they have another front in west iraq that still was not operated but there are sheath militias in iraq who are iranian proxies as well and if iran will decide to enlarge the confrontation then we have to expect that they will operate this proxy as well when you're talking about these iranian proxies obviously also so much concern up north about hezbollah what has an asralla might want to do next give us your sense of the threat that exists right now out of southern lebanon yes the problem with with south lebanon hezbollah is that we might enter to a sort of miscalculation or misperception of hezbollah or on the other hand because we are talking about the statistic weapon which are which is the rockets we might find ourselves with a very heavy rocket that will hit a public public target or a public building and will cause heavy damages and casualties and then israel will be forced to retaliate aggressively and from there we will find ourselves in a in a full-scale war with hezbollah as it looks now i think that hezbollah and iran as well have no interest to enlarge the the scale of the the friction there along the northern border but something that might go that might go out of control we are going to go to our team on the ground in the south shortly to get an update there but before we do that i'd like your take more broadly on a comment from the us joint chiefs of staff the chairman general charles brown he took over as the top u.s military official last month he says israel's war aim of topling hamas is quote a pretty large order what is the end goal for israel here in terms of eliminating hamas what does this actually look like you know it's a bit weird to hear it from from the americans where they fought against against isis or against the taliban and they have the very same objectives and they were thinking and actually they they operated in terms of years and now they are telling us that our aims are irrelevant or are not clear or something like that i think that the americans understand pretty well what the objectives are and i think that the the objectives were declared very crystal clear by the israeli government and by the idea we have to paralyze hamas to to dismantle its military and governmental capacities and as i said several times before it doesn't mean that we have to reach to the last rocket or to the last terrorist it means that we have to dismantle their major main most significant centers of gravity be it governmental or military a military and at the end of the day hamas will not be able to become once again a military threat or the political ruler of the gaza strip or any other territory around israel this is the aim it will take time i think that the americans understand it pretty well but they have to pay maybe lips service and maybe this is the reason that they are saying what they are saying but i think that they understand pretty clear what is the aim professor corby michael stay with us we've got more to discuss but right now as i said earlier we're going to find out what is happening down south our correspondent ariel levin wildman is in southern israel near the israel gaza border and ariel the idf conducting airstrikes this morning also confirmation a short while ago that the idf says it's eliminated more terrorists tell us more what is the latest absolutely i want you to look behind me as you can see some of the work the idf is doing while i describe what those ground operations are you can actually hear the thunder of those airstrikes and actually just saw a white cloud puff up right now as they're hitting some targets but the ground operations are the interesting part that i want to talk about right now now be an operation directly against the nuqba force itself that would be the force of hamas commandos that commit those crimes against humanity on october 7th well the idf just said they've eliminated several medium to senior level commanders one of which being ahmad musa now that was a company commander of the nuqba force and one of the commanders of the raids on the zikim base and the kabut zikim as well if you've talked outpost where so much butchery was done also on the list of eliminated high ranking terrorists omar al-handi was a platoon commander in the nuqba force so definitely two high level or mid-level mid to high level operational leaders of that commando force and breaking chains of commands is one of the critical elements that we've seen so far of israeli operations in the war on the ground we also did hear that the 452nd reservist battalion fought off an ambush by hamas commandos over the course of the night no word on the actual results casualties or wounded numbers in that uh ambush but from what we're understanding that was fought off without a great deal of damage being done so definitely a point in israel's favor there also on the ground we are hearing confirmation coming out over the course of the night from israel that there is a form of humanitarian ceasefire not ceasefire should say a humanitarian pause that's going to be happening roughly every single day now the israelis have not wanted to use those exact words because that's too close to a ceasefire for anyone's liking especially given that nobody on the israeli side is getting anything or any sort of deal out of that but israeli commanders have actually confirmed that to local media that that's in effect what you're seeing on the ground until then though you are seeing that work being done by the air force overhead you are hearing the roar of the fighter jets back and forth every time you hear that roar fear mere moments later you're going to see a large cloud go up behind me as they do some sort of strike on some sort of infrastructure a white cloud like the one you see hovering just on the horizon there ground level strike black clouds the taller ones it's an underground level strike throwing up a lot of debris a lot of unburnt chemicals so they're still pounding the terror tunnels trying to get as much damage as possible because that underground fortress is where most of hamas's seasoned fighters as well as their arms depots are hiding right now hit those break their chains of command break their ability to move back and forth and the encirclement of gaza city goes ahead as planned and israel makes some major operational gains on the ground correspondent are 11 worldmen live from southern israel we will be coming back to you for regular updates thank you so much for now still with us professor corby michael and professor you obviously heard that update on the ground more terrorists eliminated those strikes continue by the idf as we speak your assessment of what is unfolding right now and the challenges that are coming from those tunnels being able to navigate their way through and the potential of combat happening in those tunnels break it down for us i think that first of all we are doing a great job and i think that uh we are making progress but we have to understand that this is the most complicated ever 45 target or urban warfare that we have met and therefore we have to operate very cautiously but i think that we are doing we are doing it in the right way now we already accomplished cutting the connection between the north part of the gaza street and the central part of the gaza street in a way that will prevent hamas leaders and the and terrorists to run away from from the north to the center to the center part of the gaza street through the tunnels and i think that hamas is losing its capacities its controllabilities in the northern parts of the gaza street and one of the indications or at least we have two indications first of all thousands of people that are leaving the northern parts of the north and making their way to the south and the second indication is the the idea that they are not able to launch rockets from the northern parts and it looks that it will take more time but at the end of the day we will collapse the center of gravity i think that by reaching to the hospitals maybe many to shifa hospital it will be a very significant achievement and then we can say that we succeeded in paralyzing the center of gravity professor earlier on in this broadcast we heard the idf chief of staff herdsya levy he was with ronan bar the shinbet head they had entered the gaza strip together they conducted their own assessment on the ground and obviously had a message for troops what is your take on the impact of this in terms of optics these top security leaders inside gaza supporting troops on the ground i think that the the impact is very significant and the impact is towards three constituencies first of all the the idea the soldiers and the commanders that see that the the chief general of staff and the head of the general security services is there with them it's something that provides a lot of uh of self-confidence and that it is very important the second constituency is the people of israel the citizens of israel that see that the the the most senior commanders and figures are there they have no fear and they have self-confidence and this is something that projects very positively and the third constituency is that the gaza themselves and of course hamas because when they see that the the chief general of staff is there and the head of the general security services is there it means that israel is very confident it means that they are going to lose this war and i think that it is very important professor stay with us i want your take on another development as you well know israeli prime minister benjamin it and yahoo has repeatedly said there will be no ceasefire until the 239 hostages are released u.s president joe biden spoke briefly to reporters while boarding air force one and he was asked about the latest proposals around a ceasefire let's take a listen we're hopeful thanks for moving along did you ask for a three-day pause to net yahoo you know i've been asked for a pause for a lot more than three decades traded with prime minister net and yahoo that he has not listed more to some of the things you have asked him to do taking a little longer than i hope it's taking a little bit longer so professor your insights on the humanitarian pauses and president joe biden saying this is all taking longer than he had hoped your thoughts but i think that the americans are pressuring too much and we have to have a iron nerves in this regard we have to pressure hamas and we have to provide a humanitarian pause only in a way that will will serve our aim in this in this war and at the end of the day i think that only pressure on hamas and on katar by the way will enable us to reach more achievements or to realize more achievements and of course that there is no place to talk about ceasefire okay only humanitarian pauses that will enable more people to evacuate from the northern parts and as much as more people will evacuate the northern parts we will be we will have more freedom and flexibility of action there and this will bring us closer to the realization of our objectives professor corby michael thank you so much stay with us we are looking at live images on our screen right now these are live images coming out of the gaza strip you can see plumes of smoke in the air and as ariel levin wildman was detailing a little bit earlier in his report clear that airstrikes are continuing inside gaza as we speak meanwhile as the fighting continues inside the gaza strip israel continues to facilitate the supply and passage of aid food water and medical supplies for the civilian population there our correspondent pia clauschandler went down to the nitsana border crossing into egypt to see close up how this process is going let's take a look we are the nitsana border crossing between israel and egypt and these are trucks that are going to cross to egyptian territory reach the rafa border terminal and transfer food water and medicines to the gaza strip to the non-involved palestinian population there this is like a live supply for that population it carries all kind of food supplies energy bars water as i said medicine 100 trucks a day more or less are reaching the rafa terminal from egypt and crossing into gaza the colonel that is in charge of the whole operation said that it's in coordination with the egyptian authorities these are egyptian trucks from the red crescent society and with coordination with the un let's hear what he had to tell us this operation is with coordination with the egyptians the un the idf it's it's complex i would say operation but it's very efficient the colonel said that he hopes to increase the number of trucks that will cross to gaza right now 100 trucks in batches of 20 trucks each time after they've been inspected by the israeli authorities but there is one hour drive between nitzana on the egyptian side and rafa the terminal to gaza he ensure that also this is taken care of the convoys that are going out from nitzana to rafa is being monitored every second every matter by the idf and this convoys are also coordinated with the egyptian army it would have been simpler to have israeli trucks do a back to back at the kerem shalom crossing between israel and the gaza strip or at the eras crossing between israel and the gaza strip yet both terminals were destroyed during the war when hamas waged its massacres on october 7 on israeli territory and thus nitzana is the only solution this is pia kloschendler i 24 news nitzana border crossing israel now let's go back to our correspondent ariel levin waldman he is in southern israel near the israel gaza border the idf conducting airstrikes as we speak what can you tell us one of the biggest ones we saw all day just went off right behind us only a couple of minutes ago you're still seeing the rubble in the vaporized concrete on the wind there in that faint white cloud no real word on what that target was but they hit it with some very very large scale munitions now usually the idf has a set number of munitions in their arsenal typically what they're dropping is the 500 pound bombs that we've heard going off all morning but they do have 1000 and 2000 pound bombs they use for larger strategic target that need taking out it's quite possible that was one of them information is going to be coming in over the course of the day hopefully on what exactly that was but they have been dropping a smaller number of those much larger munitions in the conflict so far that said the actual pace of airstrikes has dawned down considerably over the course of the past few hours when we first arrived here in the morning at about 6 30 or so we were hearing those 500 pound bombs going off every second every two seconds or so they were pounding the strip something very fierce now it's actually dropped to every few minutes every 10 15 almost 20 minutes between some of the big ones so that's probably to allow some greater operational freedom for the forces on the ground start capturing some objectives in the wake of the air pounding they've done until this point and very briefly what is confirmed was just a little bit earlier the idf has eliminated more terrorists what updates can you share on that front ariel absolutely the nature of those terrorists is the important part because they are ground level commanders of the nukba force commanders actually as we're speaking right now we are hearing a jet streak overhead so it's very likely the next few minutes you're going to see some more of those munitions being dropped on gaza now the nukba force for our viewers to remind them is the hamas commanders the elite commanders that commit the october seventh massacre israel has vowed to eliminate every last one of them to ensure that justice is done and we are talking about a platoon level as well as a brigade level commander that were eliminated in some of the overnight operations in gaza particularly the ones responsible for the massacre at kibbutz zikim that was one of the very brutal ones that we are still seeing some nightmarish pictures coming out of so the elimination of those is a high priority for israel both operationally as well as when it comes down to the strategic goals of the operation so all of that elimination is definitely a win for israel and you're also seeing on the ground behind me just what that means as far as munitions air strikes and the tactical level operations look like and ariel complicating this unfolding situation as we speak still 239 hostages are being held in the gaza strip it's obviously not clear where if they're dispersed across the strip internals exactly where they are how does this complicate what is happening behind you right now look ultimately it's more of a political complication than it is an operational one right now and that's because the families of these hostages are putting a great deal of pressure on the government to make the return of the hostages the higher priority the military establishment has been very clear since the start they have to eliminate hamas and the only way to start getting those hostages back is to put considerable pressure on hamas by blowing their infrastructure to kingdom come which is exactly what they're doing when hamas fears that they're losing the ground they're losing the war maybe they'll be in a position to actually bargain but most analysts are saying hamas isn't actually looking for any sort of hostage deal right now because that's their ace in the hole if it looks like they're going to be destroyed then they get to play the hostage cars before that point they have no real intention of getting them back now it does mean that the idf cannot simply bombard the underground tunnels with bunker busting munitions because it is believed that's where they're holding the hostages and they don't want to risk that but there are other tools in their arsenal and they're playing it very close to their chest what those tools are at least so far to try to break down those tunnels to try to get their people back out you stay safe correspondent ariel levin wildman live from southern israel we'll be coming back to you for regular updates thank you ariel professor corby michael we only have a short time left your thoughts on exactly that this unfolding situation and the fact that there are 239 hostages somewhere in the gaza strip right now your take very briefly please only heavy and heavier pressure on hamas by continue bombarding and detecting attacking them and much heavier pressure on katar we have to understand that katar is uh or the interest of katar is the survival of hamas and uh not the hostages and therefore we have together with americans and the arab world to pressure katar much heavier professor corby michael thank you so much for your insights as always appreciate you being here on i24 news and that is where we wrap up this edition of our breaking news coverage i'm venice elivine entela they've back in a bit our coverage continues stay tuned thank you for watching this is i24 news 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 and we need to get in the car as we're talking within 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped 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 breaking news edition i'm venice elivine coming to you live from tel aviv the israeli defense forces conducting airstrikes inside the gaza strip at this hour as it works to eliminate the hamas terror threat on day 35 of the war at the same time rocket fire from the strip is being sent to southern israeli communities in the last hour including siren sounding in niren idf troops also causing significant damage to the terror groups underground tunnels the country is being targeted from other parts of the middle east too including a drone attack out of syria targeting a school in the southern resort city of elat israel responding with strikes in syria overnight targeting the organization that launched that drone without specifying who was behind the attack tomorrow marks five weeks since the hamas terror rampage in southern israel in which more than 1400 people were shot tortured and butchered the terror group is still holding 239 people hostage in gaza including babies children women and the elderly benjamin netanyahu reiterating there will be no ceasefire unless the hostages are released meanwhile idf chief of staff herzi halevi and shin bed security agency head ronan bar entered the gaza strip together conducting an assessment of the situation on the ground let's take a listen our main point of strength are our partnerships i look around and see the idf in every corner everyone is doing everything to make you as strong as possible keep moving forward thoroughly increase the pace we are behind you let's bring you the latest from our team on the ground we start in the north correspondent mary macaulif is in northern israel so mary the latest developments up there close to the border and the latest out of lebanon what updates can you share this hour good morning benita so weekend with what's happening right here in our immediate vicinity the idf last night saying that it is continuing to strike a number of different hezbollah targets inside southern lebanon using both our air strikes and artillery strikes against what they say our compounds belonging to hezbollah observation posts and other technological assets belonging to the group it was a definitely a loud night on the border inside southern lebanon communities as these attacks continue idf was responding to a number of attacks coming from within southern lebanon towards israeli communities yesterday has required a number of different mortar attacks mostly at idf military positions along this border but also a series of rockets into this area so we continue to see this be a very active area but zooming out from this region a little bit as you mentioned idf again striking in syria last night there was a strike a couple days ago that click that strike wasn't claimed by israel israel now saying that it did strike in response to that drone that fell in a lot we still do not know much about the drone or the group who sent it the idf simply saying that it was a drone of foreign origin that traveled from southern syria all the way across jordan to attack that school in israel that's a very far distance for this drone to travel but as we know we have seen groups from these and we don't know exactly who this origin but i just want to say some iranian made drones such as the sahid zone which we've seen used extensively in ukraine that has arranged some up to 2,500 kilometers so the idf saying it does believe it originated in syria not naming who sent it thank you so much stay safe we will be coming back to our correspondent mary mcarliff in northern israel for regular updates and now for more insight we welcome professor corby nichael senior research fellow at the institute for national security studies and former deputy director general in the israeli ministry of strategic affairs professor thank you so much for joining us on this day day 35 so many developments across the region but i want to start with what mary was just discussing israel carrying out strikes in syria overnight in response to this drone attack on a school in the country's southernmost city of elat thousands of residents who have had to flee from southern israel are staying in that resort city what more can you share about what unfolded good morning if the the the missile that that hit at the elat yesterday really came from south syria and they showed that yes otherwise the idea wouldn't have a tech there it means that the sheath militias in south syria which are led by by iran are once again in the in this multi-front warfare by the way this is not the first time some rockets were launched from south syria towards the israeli golan high at least twice and it means that the iranians are trying to operate all the all their proxies yemen syria and south lebanon of course in order to in order to signal something to hamas and to signal something to israel maybe to pressure israel with regard to its retaliation in the gaza street and we have to take into consideration that they have another front in west iraq that still was not operated but there are sheath militias in iraq who are iranian proxies as well and if iran will decide to enlarge the confrontation then we have to expect that they will operate this proxy as well when you're talking about these iranian proxies obviously also so much concern up north about hezbollah what has an israeli might want to do next give us your sense of the threat that exists right now out of southern lebanon yes the problem with with south lebanon hezbollah is that we might enter to a sort of miscalculation or misperception of hezbollah or on the other hand because we are talking about the statistic weapon which are which is the rockets we might find ourselves with a very heavy rocket that will hit public public target or public building and will cause heavy damages and casualties and then israel will be forced to retaliate aggressively and from there we will find ourselves in a in a full-scale war with hezbollah as it looks now i think that hezbollah and iran as well have no interest to enlarge the the scale of the the friction there along the northern border but something that might go that might go out of control we are going to go to our team on the ground in the south shortly to get an update there but before we do that i'd like your take more broadly on a comment from the us joint chiefs of staff the chairman general charles brown he took over as the top u.s military official last month he says israel's war aim of toppling hamas is quote a pretty large order what is the end goal for israel here in terms of eliminating hamas what does this actually look like you know it's a bit weird to hear it from from the americans where they fought against the against isis or against the taliban and they have the very same objectives they were thinking and actually they they operated in terms of years and now they are telling us that our aims are irrelevant or are not clear or something like that i think that the americans understand pretty well what the objectives are and i think that the the objectives were declared very crystal clear by the israeli government and by the idea we have to paralyze hamas to to dismantle its military and governmental capacities and as i said several times before it doesn't mean that we have to reach to the last rocket or to the last terrorist it means that we have to dismantle their major main most significant centers of gravity be it governmental or military a military and at the end of the day hamas will not be able to become once again a military threat or the political ruler of the gaza strip or any other territory around israel this is the aim it will take time i think that the americans understand it pretty well but they have to pay maybe um uh lips service and maybe this is the reason that they are saying what they are saying but i think that they understand pretty clear what is the aim professor corby michael stay with us we've got more to discuss but right now as i said earlier we're going to find out what is happening down south our correspondent ariel levin wildman is in southern israel near the israel gaza border and ariel the idf conducting a strikes this morning also confirmation a short while ago that the idf says it's eliminated more terrorist tell us more what is the latest absolutely i want you to look behind me as you can see some of the work the idf is doing while i describe what those ground operations are you can actually hear the thunder of those airstrikes and actually just saw a white cloud puff up right now as they're hitting some targets but the ground operations are the interesting part that i want to talk about right now now it'd be an operation directly against the nookba force itself that would be the force of hamas commandos that commit those crimes against humanity on october 7th well the idf just said they've eliminated several medium to senior level commanders one of which being akhmad musa now that was a company commander of the nookba force and one of the commanders of the raids on the zikim base in the kabut zikim as well if you've talked outposts where so much butchery was done also on the list of eliminated high-ranking terrorists omar al-handi was a platoon commander in the nookba force so definitely two high level or mid to high level operational leaders of that commando force and breaking chains of commands is one of the critical elements that we've seen so far of israeli operations in the war on the ground we also did hear that the 452nd reservist battalion fought off an ambush by hamas commandos over the course of the night no word on the actual results casualties or wounded numbers in that ambush but from what we're understanding that was fought off without a great deal of damage being done so definitely a point in israel's favor there also on the ground we are hearing confirmation coming out over the course of the night from israel that there is a form of humanitarian ceasefire not ceasefire should say a humanitarian pause that's going to be happening roughly every single day now the israelis have not wanted to use those exact words because that's too close to a ceasefire for anyone's liking especially given that nobody on the israeli side is getting anything or any sort of deal out of that but israeli commanders have actually confirmed that to local media that that's in effect what you're seeing on the ground until then though you are seeing that work being done by the air force overhead you are hearing the roar of the fighter jets back and forth every time you hear that roar mere moments later you're going to see a large cloud go up behind me as they do some sort of strike on some sort of infrastructure a white cloud like the one you see hovering just on the horizon there ground level strike black clouds the taller ones it's an underground level strike throwing up a lot of debris a lot of unburnt chemicals so they're still pounding the terror tunnels trying to get as much damage as possible because that underground fortress is where most of hamas's seasoned fighters as well as their arms depots are hiding right now hit those break their chains of commands break their ability to move back and forth and the encirclement of gaza city goes ahead as planned and israel makes a major operational gains on the ground correspondent are 11 worldmen live from southern israel we will be coming back to you for regular updates thank you so much for now still with us professor corby michael and professor you obviously heard that update on the ground more terrorists eliminated those strikes continue by the idf as we speak your assessment of what is unfolding right now and the challenges that are coming from those tunnels being able to navigate their way through and the potential of combat happening in those tunnels break it down for us i think that first of all we are doing a great job and i think that we are making a progress but we have to understand that this is the most complicated ever fortified target or urban warfare that we have met and therefore we have to operate very cautiously but i think that we are doing we are doing it in the right way now we already accomplished cutting the connection between the north part of the gaza street and the central part of the gaza street in a way that will prevent hamas leaders and the and terrorists to run away from from the north to the center and to the center part of the gaza street through the tunnels and i think that hamas is losing its capacities its controllabilities in the northern parts of the gaza street and one of the indications or at least we have two indications first of all thousands of people that are leaving the northern parts of the north and making their way to the south and the second indication is the idea that they are not able to launch rockets from the northern parts and it looks that it will take more time but at the end of the day we will collapse this center of gravity i think that by reaching to the hospitals maybe we make many to shift our hospital it will be a very significant achievement and then we can say that we succeeded in paralyzing the center of gravity professor earlier on in this broadcast we heard the idf chief of staff heard sialevi he was with ronan bar the shin bet head they had entered the gaza strip together they conducted their own assessment on the ground and obviously had a message for troops what is your take on the impact of this in terms of optics these top security leaders inside gaza supporting troops on the ground i think that the the impact is very significant and the impact is towards three constituencies first of all the the idea the soldiers and the commanders that see that the the chief general of staff and the head of the general security services is there with them it's something that provides a lot of of self-confidence and that it is very important the second constituency is the people of israel the citizens of israel that see that the the the most senior commanders and figures are there they have no fear and they have self-confidence and this is something that projects very positively and the third constituency is that the gaza themselves and of course hamas because when they see that the the chief general of staff is there and the head of the general security services is there it means that israel is very confident it means that they are going to lose this war and i think that it is very important professor stay with us i want your take on another development as you well know israeli prime minister benjamin at anyahu has repeatedly said there will be no ceasefire until the 239 hostages are released u.s president joe biden spoke briefly to reporters while boarding air force one and he was asked about the latest proposals around a ceasefire let's take a listen we're helpful thanks for moving along did you ask for a three-day pause today you know i've been asked for a pause for a lot more than three decades frustrated with prime minister netanyahu that he has not listened more to some of the things you have asked him to do it's taking a little bit longer so professor your insights on the humanitarian pauses and president joe biden saying this is all taking longer than he had hoped your thoughts but i think that the americans are pressuring too much and we have to have a iron nerves in this regard we have to pressure hamas and we have to provide the humanitarian pause only in a way that will will serve our aim in this in this war and at the end of the day i think that only pressure on hamas and on katar by the way will enable us to reach more achievements or to realize more achievements and of course that there is no place to talk about ceasefire okay only humanitarian pauses that will enable more people to evacuate from the northern parts and as much as more people will evacuate the northern parts we will be we will have more freedom and flexibility of action there and this will bring us closer to the realization of our objectives professor corby michael thank you so much stay with us we are looking at live images on our screen right now these are live images coming out of the gaza strip you can see plumes of smoke in the air and as ariel levin wildman was detailing a little bit earlier in his report clear that airstrikes are continuing inside gaza as we speak meanwhile as the fighting continues inside the gaza strip israel continues to facilitate the supply and passage of aid food water and medical supplies for the civilian population there our correspondent pia clausandler went down to the nitsana border crossing into egypt to see close up how this process is going let's take a look we're at the nitsana border crossing between israel and egypt and these are trucks that are going to cross to egyptian territory reach the rafa border terminal and transfer food water and medicines to the gaza strip to the non-involved palestinian population there this is like a life supply for that population it carries all kind of food supplies energy bars water as i said medicine 100 trucks a day more or less are reaching the rafa terminal from egypt and crossing into gaza the kernel that is in charge of the whole operation said that it's in coordination with the egyptian authorities these are egyptian trucks from the red crescent society and with coordination with the un let's hear what he had to tell us this operation is with coordination with the egyptians the un the idf it's it's complex uh with the operation but it's very efficient the kernel said that he hopes to increase the number of trucks that will cross to gaza right now 100 trucks in batches of 20 trucks each time after they've been inspected by the israeli authorities but there is one hour drive between nitzana on the egyptian side and rafa the terminal to gaza he ensured that also this is taken care of the convoys that are going out from nitzana to rafa is being monitored every second every matter by the idf and these convoys are also coordinated with the egyptian it would have been simpler to have israeli trucks do a back to back at the kerem shalom crossing between israel and the gaza strip or at the eras crossing between israel and the gaza strip yet both terminals were destroyed during the war when hamas waged its massacres on october 7 on israeli territory and thus nitzana is the only solution this is pierre clochandler i 24 news nitzana border crossing israel now let's go back to our correspondent ariel levin wildman he is in southern israel near the israel gaza border the idf conducting airstrikes as we speak what can you tell us well one of the biggest ones we saw all day just went off right behind us only a couple of minutes ago you're still seeing the rubble and the vaporized concrete on the wind there in that faint white cloud no real word on what that target was but they hit it with some very very large scale munitions now usually the idf has a set number of munitions in their arsenal typically what they're dropping is the 500 pound bombs that we've heard going off all morning but they do have 1000 and 2000 pound bombs they use for larger strategic targets that need taking out it's quite possible that was one of them information is going to be coming in over the course of the day hopefully on what exactly that was but they have been dropping a smaller number of those much larger munitions in the conflict so far that said the actual pace of airstrikes has dawned down considerably over the course of the past few hours when we first arrived here in the morning at about 6 30 or so we were hearing those 500 pound bombs going off every second every two seconds or so they were pounding the strip something very fierce now it's actually dropped to every few minutes every 10 15 almost 20 minutes between some of the big ones so that's probably to allow some greater operational freedom for the forces on the ground start capturing some objectives in the wake of the air pounding they've done until this point and very briefly what is confirmed was just a little bit earlier the idf has eliminated more terrorists what updates can you share on that front ariel absolutely the nature of those terrorists is the important part because they are ground level commanders of the nukba force commanders actually as we're speaking right now we are hearing a jet streak overhead so it's very likely the next few minutes you're going to see some more of those munitions being dropped on gaza now the nukba force for our viewers to remind them is the hamas commanders the elite commanders that commit the october seventh massacre israel has vowed to eliminate every last one of them to ensure that justice is done and we are talking about a platoon level as well as a brigade level commander that were eliminated in some of the overnight operations in gaza particularly the ones responsible for the massacre at kibbutz zikim that was one of the very brutal ones that we are still seeing some nightmarish pictures coming out of so the elimination of those is a high priority for israel both operationally as well as when it comes down to the strategic goals of the operation so all of that elimination is definitely a win for israel and you're also seeing on the ground behind me just what that means as far as munitions air strikes and the tactical level operations look like and ariel complicating this unfolding situation as we speak still 239 hostages are being held in the gaza strip it's obviously not clear where if they're dispersed across the strip internals exactly where they are how does this complicate what is happening behind you right now look ultimately it's more of a political complication than it is an operational one right now and that's because the families of the hostages are putting a great deal of pressure on the government to make the return of the hostages the higher priority the military establishment has been very clear since the start they have to eliminate hamas and the only way to start getting those hostages back is to put considerable pressure on hamas by blowing their infrastructure to kingdom come which is exactly what they're doing when hamas fears that they're losing the ground they're losing the war maybe they'll be in a position to actually bargain but most analysts are saying hamas isn't actually looking for any sort of hostage deal right now because that's their ace in the hole if it looks like they're going to be destroyed then they get to play the hostage cars before that point they have no real intention of getting them back now it does mean that the idf cannot simply bombard the underground tunnels with bunker busting munitions because it is believed that's where they're holding the hostage and they don't want to risk that but there are other tools in their arsenal and they're playing it very close to their chest what those tools are at least so far to try to break down those tunnels to try to get their people back out you stay safe correspondent ariel levin wildman live from southern israel we'll be coming back to you for regular updates thank you ariel professor corby michael we only have a short time left your thoughts on exactly that this unfolding situation and the fact that there are 239 hostages somewhere in the gaza strip right now your take very briefly please only heavy and heavier pressure on hamas by continue bombarding and detecting attacking them and much heavier pressure on katar we have to understand that katar is uh or the interest of katar is the survival of hamas and uh not the hostages and therefore we have together with americans and the arab world to pressure katar much heavier professor corby michael thank you so much for your insights as always appreciate you being here on i24 news and that is where we wrap up this edition of our breaking news coverage i'm benita levine entela they've back in a bit our coverage continues stay tuned thank you for watching this is i24 news over 1300 people murdered and more than 3000 injured and the war with hamas continues we bring you firsthand 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 school on what's going on only on i24 news this week in news 24 israel bajo ataque news 24 in espanol brings the analysis and the information of the events of the war iron swords exclusive interviews reports from the war zone the reaction of the spanish-speaking countries news 24 the only medium in spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the latin community in israel news 24 only in i24 news news edition i'm benita levine coming to you live from tel aviv the israeli air force is conducting strikes inside the gaza strip at this hour these are live images on your screen right now as it works to eliminate the hamas terror threat on day 35 of the war confirmation that several terrorists have been eliminated at the same time earlier rocket fire from the strip sent to some southern israeli communities siren sounding in the rim earlier and at other centers in the early hours of the morning the idf troops also causing significant damage to the terror groups underground tunnels the country is also being targeted from other parts of the middle east too including a drone attack out of syria targeting a school in the southern resort city of elat israel responding with strikes in syria overnight targeting the organization that launched that drone without giving details tomorrow marks five weeks since the hamas terror rampage in southern israel in which more than 1400 people were shot tortured and butchered the terror group is still holding 239 people hostage in gaza including babies children women and the elderly let's find out exactly what is happening on the ground we go live to our correspondent ariel levin wildman he's in southern israel near the israel gaza border we saw those live images what is the latest on the airstrikes this morning what can you tell us you could take a quick look behind me you could see something burning over there see a few plumes of smoke from the targets were first hit and that black plume there is a sort of secondary something that caught on fire likely burning fuel could have been a hamas vehicle could have been on any sort of storage facility that includes fuel probably not burning big enough to be a major storage facility but definitely at least the vehicle size multiple vehicles in that last strike we saw four initial plumes likely from four smaller sub munitions that were dropped on that area and you're hearing the loud booms of some outgoing artillery i'm not sure if the mic is picking that up but if it does that's the 155 is all around us speaking and sending their rounds out into gaza right now now we do know they have been hitting some major terror infrastructure over the course of the past few days the idf mentioned that 130 tunnel shafts have been hit in recent days in the operation that's not quite the same as hitting the tunnels themselves the shafts are the access points to the tunnels the easiest thing to hit those are actually mostly being taken out by ground forces just about every single brigade and all the combat engineers have what they're calling a tunnel clearing kit roughly 30 pounds of high explosive they stick in the hole and blow the entrance to kingdom come nothing comes out of that again not without some heavy equipment anyway one of the big plans right now is to seal off all those entrances and make sure anybody inside is forced to flee from whatever's left or stays down there and dies it's not israel's problem anymore so that's the ground operation against the infrastructure when it comes down to the commanders themselves there has been some big news announced now it would be the elimination of several medium to high ranking commanders of the nookba force remember that the nookba force was a team of elite hamas commandos that on october 7th were the leaders of the force that ransacked southern communities committing crimes against humanity horrific massacres heinous torture all around israel's border communities the massacre of well over a thousand civilians and about 300 soldiers on top of that so what israel vowed to do was to eliminate every last member of them and they just took out a company-level commander as well as a brigade commander that were both involved in planning the attack and the massacre at kabud zikim as well as the zikim base that's part of israel's both strategic goal that's the elimination of the nookba force and to gain competency and faith in the idf's ability to deter the enemy once again as well as a tactical level goal because these are the people giving orders to the commandos on the ground the people giving orders to where to place ambushes you start killing those commandos they start losing their ability to coordinate their movements in the strip which means that israel can pick up the pace which is a critical policy moving forward as pressure mounts on israel to reach some sort of a quarter ceasefire well israel can't do that anytime soon which means they need to start getting as much done as possible in a short time as possible eliminating those commandos good way to start thank you so much correspondent ariel levin wildman in southern israel near the israel gaza border will be coming back to you of course for regular updates thank you very much for now ariel levin wildman now for more insight we welcome to studio lieutenant colonel in the reserves dr. shai haritz v senior fellow at the institute for policy and strategy at rachman university and former acting director general in the ministry of strategic affairs thank you so much for being here in studio we see the dramatic images out of gaza right now those airstrikes continuing you heard the update from my colleague ariel levin wildman about the elimination of terror commanders it's a complicated fight right now because of the terror tunnels underground talk to us about the strategy for the israeli troops right now how they are navigating the terrain above ground and underground right now to achieve their goals first we must remember that we have two goals two main goals in this war first to eliminate hamas meaning that to take off all their military capabilities and make sure that they won't be able to stay in the gaza strip any longer after the war this is one goal and the second goal is to bring back all the hostages those are two main goals they are equal goals and we should see how one goal actually serves the other one this is one thing second we see that the idea operates very actually has a lot of success in the last few days continue to his operation slowly slowly this is very important not to have a lot of injuries not to have a lot of soldiers killed but at the end of the day we are approaching chief hospital we are approaching the main tactical headquarters of the hamas this is the important thing and this is one one thing and on the other we allow the population to go from the north to the south to to allow the idea to operate without the population meaning no casualties no civilians that are actually not involved in the fighting going to the south and i think in the coming few days this will be might be a very crucial moment for those two channels one thing i hope i believe that in a few days we'll be we'll approach chief hospital this is one thing and we know that the main hamas leaders are actually are actually under chief hospital and the other end we should remember there are negotiations in katar the head of the cia the head of the mosad we're in katar the leader of katar today is going to egypt so there are a lot of negotiation regarding those issues so actually there are two channels that are going forward but there are always a connection between them we've heard repeatedly comparisons that hamas is the same as isis some even saying hamas is worse than isis depends on your vantage point your insights right now about that perception as this operation continues right now you're talking about a terra command center underneath a hospital this is a civilian hospital above a structure that israel needs to target and do it soon i think the fact that the west president biden and other leaders uh said said from the beginning that hamas is actually equal to the isis in even worse is crucial point because what is the meaning of that the meaning is quite simple for for my point of view that as the west uh try to eliminate isis israel actually has the the same legitimacy to eliminate hamas if i may say from james bond film license to kill meaning license to destroy the organization because it's not only terra organization this is isis the worst thing that actually came in the last a few a few years so this is quite very important this is actually what gives us the legitimacy from the west it's a quite a legitimacy to continue with the world i think for quite a few weeks from now talk to us about the regional and global implications of the war right now overnight there was a drone sent from syria towards a lot there had been a tense out of yemen to target israel also a lot this might surprise many people who think that the fighting is just centered around the gaza strip and potentially out of lebanon breakdown for us what this all means from the broader middle east region i think the president biden has understand it and so it's from the beginning and actually everyone understand that the outcome of the war will have a lot of implication for the old middle east and the war is not only between israel and hamas actually it's a border war which has a regional implication even global implication actually it's a war between one camp the liberal camp led by the united states the european and the moderate arab countries and on the other end the radical exist which russia china iran his hamas his bala and other proxies in the region so actually it it's a global it's not a global war but it's a global confrontation actually and what we see in the last few days is on the one in iran tries not to get his brother too much involved in the in the fighting there are a lot of there are some of course if his bala is firing but make easy the organization is making sure don't escalate too much the war against israel don't go to a wide large scale why not i will answer it in a minute but what we see the iran in on the other end using all the proxies in the region in iraq in syria in yemen actually to attack the american forces in the region to attack israel so so the trying to show us that we have a lot of capabilities to attack you not only from the from the north why iran is not using a his bala to go forward after the scale war i think because two things first iran actually we say it for a long time saving his bala from from their point of view when someone will try to attack their nuclear capabilities so his bala is their asset their strategic asset actually many against israel but who knows who may be for against other forces in the region so the from the iran in point of view it is not the time to use his his bala the critical moment for my point of view might be if his bala in iran feel that israel is going to really to remain at chamas and what is the meaning of that the meaning of that that actually the radical axis is not more anymore iran his bala in chamas actually there are only iran and his bala and there are other poxies because chamas is eliminated and then we should see what will be the reaction of iran and his bala if such a development will occur stay with us we're going to discuss more about exactly that threat that axis of terror so to speak but first let's find out exactly what is happening on the ground we go to our correspondent mary mccullough and she joins us from northern israel so you heard us talking right now about the concerns that remain around his bala's next moves mary if it will in fact get fully involved in the war what is the latest where you are what can you tell us absolutely benita so we hear the ongoing sounds of booms coming from the israeli side of the border into southern lebanon lebanese media reporting ongoing israeli strikes using artillery in the areas of ramia and bet left this is an area that we saw heavily targeted yesterday by israeli air strikes the idf said last night that it was continuing to launch different targets belonging to hezbollah both infrastructure and personnel belonging to that group we saw a number of different strikes from mortar attacks being launched across the border into israeli community mostly at idf military areas and personnel but also some of those setting off sirens in these border communities yesterday the idf said that it was targeting in response a number of different compounds observation posts and technological assets belonging to the group as it does continue to strike these but as you've been discussing in studio it's become a very formulaic situation that we're seeing here on the border hezbollah launching these attacks anti-tank missile attacks mostly at the idf military areas and then idf responding seems an unwillingness from both sides to escalate this war any further on the northern front for now but is certainly a situation that we are keeping our eyes on here and there certainly continue to be deaths in this area at least 81 people have died on the lebanese side of the border the vast majority of those are members of hezbollah also other palestinian terror groups but of course also a score of civilians also this week an israeli civilian was killed by an attack on very near the border traveling in this area so we definitely continue this to be a very heated area and hezbollah for its part also publishing footage of what it says what was its targeting of idf personnel along the border a couple days ago we do not have a comment from the idf about that video or that incident and mary israel also carrying out strikes in syria overnight in response to their drone attack on a school in a lap that of course is the country's most southern most city and a resort town and also a place where many families have been evacuated from southern communities from the kibbutzim and the moshavim that were targeted on the 7th of october they're now staying in a light what more is known about what unfolded as i benita so this drone as you said it hit a school in a lot there were people in the building at the time but in the basement and we don't have any reports of injuries but there was significant damage caused by this drone and it was probably one of the most significant successful attacks that traveled the furthest range to hit the city in the southern most city traveling the idf says from southern syria so over 250 miles at least from inside southern syria to hit the city in a lot the idf said that it was responding forcefully to the source of the attack inside southern syria but it did not specify who was behind the attack only yesterday just saying that they believe the drone was of a foreign origin so we do not know much we do know the idf has been conducting a number of strikes in syria over the past few weeks also of course the past few years but we have seen a once again an escalation in these number of strikes this week also saw strikes by the united states into syria as we continue to see these attacks on dozens of us bases who continue to be attacked by these iranian backproxies who are doing so in the name of the palestinian people saying that this is part of also their resistance launching dozens of attacks so it's not just israel under attack here in the region the united states also trying to grapple with these attacks but also trying to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control we've only had at least two airstrikes by the us forces but as i mentioned there have been dozens of attacks on bases housing us troops in syria and iraq thank you so much correspondent mary micaliv live from northern israel more from mary of course in the coming hours still with me in studio lieutenant colonel in the reserves dr shai haritz v so you heard the report the developments out of syria the developments out of southern lebanon we were talking earlier about yemen bases in iraq this axis these iranian proxies they are active right now yeah actually because from the iranian point of view they must do something and we've talked before that they don't want to escalate the situation with his balance therefore this is why they are using their proxies in the region i really don't know and there is the point that we have to retaliate and this is why we are attacking syria and in might be that the united states will decide to attack in other places in iraq or even in yemen in the future if they continue to launch rockets surface to surface missiles or drones towards israel or towards a u.s. bases in the region but actually this is not the real game the real game actually is going on in gaza this is what sure we should keep in our mind all the all the time make sure that there is no other font in the juda and samaria and in the north and we should continue our work successfully as we were doing in the last few days in gaza this is the main battle this is why we are from our point of view we are not trying to escalate the situation in other fonts just to make sure that there is no surprises over there this is a i think that the idea and the shabak is doing a wonderful job in the juda and samaria to make sure that there are no terror attacks and there are actually there were almost no terror attacks and we have arrested i think more than one thousand hamas people in the last few weeks meaning see how hamas have succeeded in the last few years actually to move to also to do that samaria and to operate from there so it demonstrates i think that from our point of view it is crucial not only from our point of view as i said from the united states and from other other moderate countries actually it's quite crucial that we will succeed in our mission to eliminate hamas the new top american general says israel's goal of toppling hamas and it's a quote is a pretty large order what do you see into the us support certainly the president has been here during wartime the us secretary of state has been here several times the cia director has been here and as you said is involved in talks in terms of hostages what do you make of the us support of israel right now particularly if things do escalate up north first i think the us really wants and that the things in the north do not escalate and this is a why they they send the three carriers to the region two in the middle east and and one in the gulf to make sure to deter iran and khizballah don't escalate and i think the most important thing and i said before that we have the same strategic goal with the united states to eliminate hamas because they understand as we do the the regional implication of the war but we have some debates about the humanitarian aid but it's debate we are talking about debates we're not really a strategic different strategic goals and this is the important thing that we should keep in our mind we have the same strategic goal as the us or the us as the same strategic goal as israel and this is the most important this is why they they gave us a lot of assistance from the beginning of the war and i'm quite sure that they continue to do it as as much as we as we need but what they are asking us help us to help you meaning if you say give a humanitarian aid or humanitarian corridor it will help us to give us to give you the legitimacy as long as you need or for the at least for the coming few weeks to continue to do your job in the gaza street and also obviously to try and secure the freedom of the 239 hostages still being held by the terror group still unimaginable nearly five weeks in stay with us there's more to discuss because there are many disturbing questions being raised about the media coverage on the 7th of october a bombshell investigation by the ngo called honest reporting suggesting that photo journalists in gaza may have known in advance about the attacks questions are raised as to how some of these photographers were on the scene as the attacks were unfolding as our senior correspondent oh and ultiman reports at sparking questions about the role of some journalists in this conflict while sparking anger across israel let's take a look pictures of the october 7th massacre not only from hamas perpetrators not only from israeli survivors but also here from photo journalists entering israel from gaza the subject of a report out wednesday from the pro-israel watchdog group honest reporting what were they doing there so early on what would ordinarily have been a quiet saturday morning was it coordinated with hamas did the respectable wire services which published their photos a proof of their presence inside enemy territory together with the terrorist infiltrators the central questions are about the role of a journalist at what point is a journalist too cozy with the terrorist organization and at what point must a journalist step out and prevent a war crime at the expense of that journalist's core role documenting events and explaining reality they were there they were they witnessed terrorist attacks these people and instead of trying to stop these terrorist attacks they photographed them and to the world that they did things they were unethical one photographer a freelancer working with ap seems to have relished the attack and here is seen smiling with yes in war the leader of hamas in gaza if there were journalists who knew about the massacre who stayed quiet and filmed while children were being massacred they are no different from the terrorists and will share the same fate there senior israeli leader benny gants drawing his conclusion thursday with the unit of the israeli prime minister's office calling the photographers quote partners in crimes against humanity and asking media outlets for clarification as israeli's focus their anger at those they see as hamas's helpers still in studio lieutenant colonel in the reserves dr. shai haritz v what do you make of this it is quite astounding yeah it's an unbelievable story and there are a lot of questions that should be answered first regarding the broadcast networks what they knew uh does uh or the journalists were employed employed by by those networks this is one thing but the other question is even more bothering did they knew and uh know about the attack what they did during the attack how were they there so early on in the development around security teams weren't there intelligence israel's intelligence wasn't there israel security teams weren't there but they were photojournalists yeah and i think that benny gants said that everyone actually knew or didn't try to stop it actually deserve the same fate as the terrorist and but i don't want to to determine at the moment we should make sure what they knew what they did what the networks knew before and after and what they are doing but it should raise a lot of questions for uh for the ethical uh not only for from the ethical point of view but actually there were it might be that they were part in some manner for these terrible events that happened a month ago five weeks ago and you see a photograph of a photographer hugging and kissing yeah it really is quite phenomenal it really is something that needs to be looked into and if we'll bring it up on our screen right now you're looking at that and the yugia sanwar is kissing the journalist who is taking photographs on the scene look how he is on the camera there you can see he is right there on the scene as this is unfolding it really is sparking a lot of questions and understandably a lot of anger as well we are seeing so many demonstrations across the globe many of them anti-israel demonstrations do you see in your mind how an image like that impacts the way the world is seeing what is unfolding right now are you surprised at the way broadly speaking you are seeing these kinds of demonstrations against israel despite the images that we're looking at at the screens and the updates that we're getting Hamas actually videoing those attacks as they happen and yet the demonstrations are anti-israel in many parts of the world right now unfortunately i'm not surprised because we've seen in the last few years that the the anti-semitism movement anti-semitism attitude towards israel is going up and up in the in the last few years and the anti-israel sentiment goes up very rapidly in the last few years and what encouraged me at the end of the day we know that there is a difference between some parts of the public the radical left the radical right and the leaders who actually know exactly what is going on and they support us but this is something that we have to look after the war because at some time the war is going to finish we have to be very careful and to to be aware what is going on in the public because they we know that the young generation actually their attitude towards israel is quite negative and and those generation the young generation in the coming 10 20 years will be in a very very important position so we have to look after it 10 seconds left your level of optimism looking forward at how this is going to all end your take very briefly i think i'm very optimistic because the idea operates very very carefully very successfully and in the coming few days we have a chance not only to continue the war successfully in Gaza but also to bring the hostages maybe not all of them but at least a part of them certainly everybody hoping all hostages will be brought home safely lieutenant colonel in the reserve dr shai harzvi thank you so much and that's a wrap for now stay tuned israel 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 edition i'm bonita levine coming to you live from tel aviv the israeli air force is conducting strikes inside the gaza strip at this our images on your screen right now on day 35 of the war confirmation that several terrorists have been eliminated at the same time earlier rocket fire from the strip sent to some southern israeli communities siren sounding in the rim earlier and at other centers in the early hours of the morning the idf troops also causing significant damage to the terror groups underground tunnels the country is also being targeted from other parts of the middle east too including a drone attack out of syria targeting a school in the southern resort city of elat israel responding with strikes in syria overnight targeting the organization that launched that drone without giving details tomorrow marks five weeks since the hamas terror rampage in southern israel in which more than 1400 people were shot tortured and butchered the terror group is still holding 239 people hostage in gaza including babies children women and the elderly let's find out exactly what is happening on the ground we go live to our correspondent arel levin wildman he's in southern israel near the israel gaza border we saw those live images what is the latest on the airstrikes this morning what can you tell us you could take a quick look behind me you could see something burning over there see a few plumes of smoke from the targets were first hit then that black bloom there is a sort of secondary something that caught on fire likely burning fuel could have been a hamas vehicle could have been any sort of storage facility that includes fuel probably not burning big enough to be a major storage facility but definitely at least the vehicle size multiple vehicles in that last strike we saw four initial plumes likely from four smaller sub munitions that were dropped on that area and you're hearing the loud booms of some outgoing artillery i'm not sure if the mic is picking that up but if it does that's the 155 is all around us speaking and sending their rounds out into gaza right now now we do know they have been hitting some major terror infrastructure over the course of the past few days the idf mentioned that 130 tunnel shafts have been hit in recent days in the operation that's not quite the same as hitting the tunnels themselves the shafts are the access points to the tunnels the easiest thing to hit those are actually mostly being taken out by ground forces just about every single brigade and all the combat engineers have what they're calling a tunnel clearing kit roughly 30 pounds of high explosive they stick in the hole and blow the entrance to kingdom come nothing comes out of that again not without some heavy equipment anyway one of the big plans right now is to seal off all those entrances and make sure anybody inside is forced to flee from whatever's left or stays down there and dies it's not israel's problem anymore so that's the ground operation against the infrastructure when it comes down to the commanders themselves there has been some big news announced now be the elimination of several medium to high ranking commanders of the nuqba force remember that the nuqba force was a team of elite hamas commandos that on october 7th were the leaders of the force that ransacked southern communities committing crimes against humanity horrific massacres heinous torture all around israel's border communities the massacre of well over a thousand civilians and about 300 soldiers on top of that so what israel vowed to do was to eliminate every last member of them and they just took out a company level commander as well as a brigade commander that were both involved in planning the attack and the massacre at kibbutz zikim as well as the zikim base that's part of israel's both strategic goal that's the elimination of the nuqba force and to gain competency and faith in the idf's ability to deter the enemy once again as well as a tactical level goal because these are the people getting orders to the commandos on the ground the people giving orders to where to place ambushes you start killing those commandos they start losing their ability to coordinate their movements in the strip which means that israel can pick up the pace which is a critical policy moving forward as pressure mounts on israel to reach some sort of a quarter ceasefire well israel can't do that anytime soon which means they need to start getting as much done as possible in a short time as possible eliminating those commandos good way to start thank you so much correspondent ariel levin wildman in southern israel near the israel gaza border will be coming back to you of course for regular updates thank you very much for now ariel levin wildman now for more insight we welcome to studio lieutenant colonel in the reserves dr. shai haritz v senior fellow at the institute for policy and strategy at rachman university and former acting director general in the ministry of strategic affairs thank you so much for being here in studio we see the dramatic images out of gaza right now those airstrikes continuing you heard the update from my colleague ariel levin wildman about the elimination of terror commanders it's a complicated fight right now because of the terror tunnels undergrounds talk to us about the strategy for the israeli troops right now how they are navigating the terrain above ground and underground right now to achieve their goals first we must remember that we have two goals two main goals in this war first to eliminate hamas meaning that to take off all their military capabilities and make sure that they won't be able to stay in the gaza strip any longer after the war this is one goal and the second goal is to bring back all the hostages those are two main goals that they are equal goals and we should see how one goal actually serves the other one this is one thing second we see that the idea operates very actually has a lot of success in the last few days continue to his operation slowly slowly this is very important not to have a lot of injuries not to have a lot of soldiers killed but at the end of the day we are approaching a chief hospital we are approaching the main tactical headquarters of the hamas this is the important thing and this is one one thing and on the other we allow the population to go from the north to the south to to allow the IDF to operate without the population meaning no casualties no civilians that are actually not involved in the fighting going to the south and I think in the coming few days this will be might be a very crucial moment for those two channels one thing I hope I believe that in a few days we'll be we'll approach a chief hospital this is one thing and we know that the main hamas leaders are actually under chief hospital and the other end we should remember there are negotiations in Qatar the head of the CIA the head of the Mossad we're in Qatar the leader of Qatar today is going to Egypt so there are a lot of negotiations regarding those cities so actually there are two channels that are going forward but there are always a connection between them we've heard repeatedly comparisons that Hamas is the same as ISIS some even saying Hamas is worse than ISIS depends on your vantage point your insights right now about that perception as this operation continues right now you're talking about a terror command center underneath a hospital this is a civilian hospital above a structure that Israel needs to target and do it soon I think the fact that the the West President Biden and other leaders say said from the beginning that Hamas is actually equal to the ISIS in ever worse is crucial point because what is the meaning of that the meaning is quite simple for for my point of view that as the West try to eliminate ISIS Israel actually has the same legitimacy to eliminate Hamas if I may say from James Bond's film license to kill meaning license to destroy the organization because it's not only terror organization this is ISIS the worst thing that actually came in the last a few a few years so this is quite very important this is actually what gives us the legitimacy from the West and say I quite a legitimacy to continue with the role I think for quite few weeks from now talk to us about the regional and global implications of the war right now overnight there was a drone sent from Syria towards a lot there had been a tense out of Yemen to target Israel also a lot this might surprise many people who think that the fighting is just centered around the Gaza Strip and potentially out of Lebanon breakdown for us what this all means from the broader Middle East region I think President Biden has understood it so it's from the beginning and actually everyone understand that the outcome of the war will have a lot of implication for the old Middle East and the war is not only between Israel and Hamas actually it's a border war which has a regional implication even global implication actually it's a war between one camp the liberal camp led by the United States the European and the moderate Arab countries and on the other end the radical exist which Russia China Iran his Hamas his Bala and other proxies in the region so actually it's a it's a global it's not a global war but it's a global confrontation actually and what we see in the last few days is on the one hand Iran tries not to get his brother too much involved in the in the fighting there are a lot of there are some of course if his brother is firing but make easy the organization is making sure don't escalate too much the war against Israel don't go to a wide large scale why not I will answer it in a minute but what we see the Iranian on the other end using all the proxies in the region in Iraq in Syria in Yemen actually to attack the American forces in the region to attack Israel so so trying to show us that we have a lot of capabilities to attack you not only from the from the north why Iran is not using a his brother to go forward after the scale war I think because two things first Iran actually we say it for a long time saving his brother from from their point of view when someone will try to attack their nuclear capabilities so his brother is their asset their strategic asset actually many against Israel but who knows who may be for against other forces in the region so the from the Iranian point of view it is not the time to use his his bala the critical moment for my point of view might be if his bala in Iran feel that Israel is going to really to remain at Hamas and what is the meaning of that the meaning of that that actually the radical axis is not more anymore Iran his bala in Hamas actually they're only Iran his bala and there are other proxies because Hamas is eliminated and then we should see what will be the reaction of Iran and his bala if that's if such a development will occur stay with us we're going to discuss more about exactly that threat that axis of terror so to speak but first let's find out exactly what is happening on the ground we go to our correspondent Mary McCullough and she joins us from northern Israel so you heard us talking right now about the concerns that remain around his bullies next moves Mary if it will in fact get fully involved in the war what is the latest where you are what can you tell us absolutely Benita so we hear the ongoing sounds of booms coming from the Israeli side of the border into southern Lebanon Lebanese media reporting ongoing Israeli strikes using artillery in the areas of Ramia and Bethlehem this is an area that we saw heavily targeted yesterday by Israeli airstrikes the IDF said last night that it was continuing to launch different targets belonging to Hezbollah both infrastructure and personnel belonging to that group we saw a number of different strikes from mortar attacks being launched across the border into Israeli community mostly at IDF military areas and personnel but also some of those setting off sirens in these border communities yesterday the IDF said that it was targeting in response a number of different compounds observation posts and technological assets belonging to the group as it does continue to strike these but as you've been discussing in studio it's become a very formulaic situation that we're seeing here on the border Hezbollah launching these attacks anti-tank missile attacks mostly at the IDF military areas and then IDF responding seems an unwillingness from both sides to escalate this war any further on the northern front for now but it's certainly a situation that we are keeping our eyes on here and there certainly continue to be deaths in this area at least 81 people have died on the Lebanese side of the border the vast majority of those are members of Hezbollah also other Palestinian terror groups but of course also a score of civilians also this week an Israeli civilian was killed by an attack on very near the border traveling in this area so we definitely continue this to be a very heated area and Hezbollah for its part also publishing footage of what it says what was its targeting of IDF personnel along the border a couple days ago we do not have a comment from the IDF about that video or that incident and Mary Israel also carrying out strikes in Syria overnight in response to that drone attack on a school in Elat that of course is the country's most southernmost city and a resort town and also a place where many families have been evacuated from southern communities from the Kibbutzim and the Moshe Avim that were targeted on the 7th of October they're now staying in Elat what more is known about what unfolded as I've been either so this drone as you said ahead of school in a lot there were people in the building at the time but in the basement and we don't have any reports of injuries but there was significant damage caused by this drone and it was probably one of the most significant successful attacks that traveled the furthest range to hit the city in the southernmost city traveling the IDF says from southern Syria so over 250 miles at least from inside southern Syria to hit the city in Elat the IDF said that it was responding forcefully to the source of the attack inside southern Syria but it did not specify who was behind the attack only yesterday just saying that they believe the drone was of a foreign origin so we do not know much we do know the IDF has been conducting a number of strikes in Syria over the past few weeks also of course the past few years but we have seen a once again an escalation in these number of strikes this week also saw strikes by the United States into Syria as we continue to see these attacks on dozens of US bases who continue to be attacked by these Iranian back proxies who are doing so in the name of the Palestinian people saying that this is part of also their resistance launching dozens of attacks so it's not just Israel under attack here in the region the United States also trying to grapple with these attacks but also trying to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control we've only had at least two airstrikes by the US forces but as I mentioned there have been dozens of attacks on bases housing US troops in Syria and Iraq. Thank you so much correspondent Mary Makalov live from northern Israel more from Mary of course in the coming hours still with me in studio lieutenant colonel in the reserves Dr. Shah Harit Svi so you heard the report the developments out of Syria the developments out of southern Lebanon we were talking earlier about Yemen bases in Iraq this axis these Iranian proxies they are active right now yeah actually because from the Iranian point of view they must do something and we've talked before that they don't want to escalate the situation with his balance therefore this is why they are using their proxies in the region I really don't know and there is the point that we have to retaliate and this is why we're attacking in Syria and it might be that the United States I will decide to attack in other places in Iraq or even in Yemen in the future if they continue to launch rockets surface-to-surface missiles or drones towards Israel or towards a US bases in the region but actually this is not the real game the real game actually is going on in Gaza this is what we should keep in our mind all the time make sure that there is no other font in the Judea and Samaria and in the north and we should continue our work successfully as we were doing in the last few days in Gaza this is the main battle this is why we're from our point of view we're not trying to escalate the situation in other fonts just to make sure that there is no surprises over there this is I think that the IDF and the Shabbat is doing a wonderful job in the Judea and Samaria to make sure that there are no terror attacks and there are actually there were almost no terror attacks and we have arrested I think more than 1000 Hamas people in the last few weeks meaning see how Hamas has succeeded in the last few years actually to move to also to Judea and Samaria and to operate from there so it's demonstrated I think that from our point of view it is crucial not only from our point of view as I said from the United States and from other moderate countries actually it's quite crucial that we will succeed in our mission the new top American general says Israel's goal of toppling Hamas and it's a quote is a pretty large order what do you see into the US support certainly the president has been here during wartime the US Secretary of State has been here several times the CIA director has been here and as you said is involved in talks in terms of hostages what do you make of the US support of Israel right now particularly if things do escalate up north first I think the US really wants that the things in the north do not escalate and this is why they send the three carriers to the region two in the Middle East and one in the Gulf to make sure to deter Iran and Hezbollah don't to escalate and I think the most important thing and I said before that we have the same strategic goal with the United States to eliminate Hamas because they understand as we do the regional implication of the war but there were some debates about the humanitarian aid but it's debate we are talking about debates we're not really strategic different strategic goals and this is the important thing that we should keep in our mind we have the same strategic goal as the US or the US has the same strategic goal as Israel and this is the most important this is why they gave us a lot of assistance from the beginning of the war and I'm quite sure that they continue to do it as as much as we need but what they are asking us help us to help you meaning if you give a humanitarian aid or humanitarian corridor it will help us to give us to give you the legitimacy as long as you need or for the at least for the coming few weeks to continue to do your job in the Gaza Strip and also obviously to try and secure the freedom of the 239 hostages still being held by the terror group still unimaginable nearly five weeks in stay with us there's more to discuss because there are many disturbing questions being raised about the media coverage on the 7th of October a bombshell investigation by the NGO called Honest Reporting suggesting that photojournalists in Gaza may have known in advance about the attacks questions are raised as to how some of these photographers were on the scene as the attacks were unfolding as our senior correspondent oh and ultimate reports at sparking questions about the role of some journalists in this conflict while sparking anger across Israel let's take a look pictures of the October 7th massacre not only from Hamas perpetrators not only from Israeli survivors but also here from photojournalists entering Israel from Gaza the subject of a report out Wednesday from the pro-israel watchdog group Honest Reporting what were they doing there so early on what would ordinarily have been a quiet Saturday morning was it coordinated with Hamas did the respectable wire services which published their photos approve of their presence inside enemy territory together with the terrorist infiltrators the central questions are about the role of a journalist at what point is a journalist too cozy with the terrorist organization and at what point must a journalist step out and prevent a war crime at the expense of that journalist core role documenting events and explaining reality they were there they were they witnessed terrorist attacks these people and instead of trying to stop these terrorist attacks they photographed them and to the world that they did things they were unethical one photographer a freelancer working with ap seems to have relished the attack and here is seen smiling with the leader of Hamas in Gaza if there were journalists who knew about the massacre who stayed quiet and filmed while children were being massacred they are no different from the terrorists and will share the same fate there senior Israeli leader Benny Gantz drawing his conclusion Thursday with the unit of the Israeli prime minister's office calling the photographer's quote partners in crimes against humanity and asking media outlets for clarification as Israelis focus their anger at those they see as Hamas's helpers still in studio lieutenant colonel in the reserves dr. shai haritz v what do you make of this it is quite astounding yeah it's an unbelievable story and there are a lot of questions that should be answered first regarding the broadcast networks what they knew does or the journalists were employed employed by by those networks this is one thing but the other question is even more bothering did they knew and know about the attack what they did during the attack how were they so early on in the development security teams weren't there intelligence israel's intelligence wasn't there israel security teams weren't there but they were photo journalists yeah and i think that Benny Gantz said that everyone actually we knew or didn't try to stop it actually deserve the same fate as the terrorist and but i don't want to do determine at the moment we should make sure what they knew what they did what the networks knew before and after and what they are doing but it should raise a lot of questions for for the ethical not only for from the ethical point of view but actually there were it might be that they were part in some manner for these terrible events that happened a month ago five weeks ago and you see a photograph of a photographer hugging and kissing yeah it really is quite phenomenal it really is something that needs to be looked into and if we'll bring it up on our screen right now you're looking at that and the son where is kissing the journalist who is taking photographs on the scene look how he is on the camera there you can see he is right there on the scene as this is unfolding it really is sparking a lot of questions and understandably a lot of anger as well we are seeing so many demonstrations across the globe many of them anti-israel demonstrations do you see in your mind how an image like that impacts the way the world is seeing what is unfolding right now are you surprised at the way broadly speaking you are seeing these kinds of demonstrations against Israel despite the images that we're looking at at the screens and the updates that we're getting Hamas actually videoing those attacks as they happen and yet the demonstrations are anti-israel in many parts of the world right now unfortunately I'm not surprised because we've seen in the last few years that the the anti-semitism movement anti-semitism attitude towards Israel is going up and up in the in the last few years and the anti-israel sentiment goes up very rapidly in the last few years and what encouraged me at the end of the day we know that there is a difference between some part of the public the radical left the radical right and the leaders who actually know exactly what is going on and they support us but this is something that we have to look after the war because at some time the war is going to finish we'll have to be very careful and to to be aware what is going on in the public because they we know that the young generation actually their attitude towards Israel is quite negative and and those generation the young generation in the coming 10 20 years will be in a very very important position so we have to look after it 10 seconds left your level of optimism looking forward at how this is going to all end your take very briefly I think I'm very optimistic because the IDF operates very careful very successfully and in the coming few days we have a chance not only to continue the war successfully in Gaza but also to bring the hostages maybe not all of them but at least a part of them certainly everybody hoping all hostages will be brought home safely lieutenant colonel in the reserve dr. shai harzvi thank you so much and that's a wrap for now stay tuned over 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 survive 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 también yemen que se ha sumado a la contienda sino por el ataque y demostraciones anti semitas que llenan las principales capitales del mundo cantando que palestina será libre confundiendo al pueblo palestino con una organización terrorista londres españa en latino america en estados unidos y muchos otros países más el apoyo a palestina se traduce hoy en un deseo exterminador cuando las masas pro palestinas gritan desaforadas from the river to the sea palestine will be free desde el rio del rio jordan al mar mediterráneo palestina será libre será libre de qué es una buena pregunta será de nosotros los judíos qué es lo que van a ser con 10 millones nos quieren a todos muertos tengo novedades para todos ustedes que cantan will be free tanto israel como las comunidades judías del mundo haremos lo posible por impedirlo hoy hoy carlos hay un estado que defiende al pueblo judío querer matarlos y querer destruir al estado de israel no es algo que quede impune los responsables de esta guerra están claramente marcados jamas his volar iran y sus cómplices tanto en lo militar lo ideológico y lo educativo nos adelante en el programa hablaremos de uno de los principales cómplices de mantener este conflicto con el pueblo palestino desde 1950 educando a generaciones y generaciones de niños y jóvenes palestinos a querer morir como yahidin como martírez pero previo a ello leor hayat el vocero de la cancedería israelí realizó un zoom para actualizar acerca de la situación de los secuestrados muchos de ellos de países latinoamericanos se hizo referencia al fenómeno del antisemitism actual el apoyo a los terroristas de jamás y es justamente los que están buscando lamentablemente vemos muchas muchas eventos de antisemitism también en los estados unidos pero no todo parte del mundo eso es un problema que nosotros el mundo judío entero y el mundo occidental en la comunidad internacional en su totalidad tiene que enfrentar el hecho de que un ataque contra judíos el peor ataque desde el holocausto que terminó con 1900 y 1400 víctimas que fueron asesinados en israel genera ataques contra israel en el mundo es una cosa que ni siquiera puedo entender demuestra el nivel de odio y el nivel de inglurancia y el nivel de apoyo a un grupo terrorista jamás nicole garin zabar es el único programa que proporciona un sistema de apoyo de 360 grados a sus participantes antes de mudarse israel durante y después su servicio militar incluido alojamiento en pensión completa durante todo el servicio y lo hace con el apoyo de las fuerzas defensas de israel el misterio de absorción e integración la agencia judía de israel y masa israel journey el ataque del 7 de octubre en todos los poblados que bordean la franja de gas y que dejaron cerca de 1400 muertos miles de heridos y un dolor que no cesa y que no se va de nuestro corazón uno de esos que buscin se llama near itzhak y allí se encontraba un grupo de soldados solitarios que vinieron por el programa garin zabar nicole estuviste con ellos el día que fueron a buscar las pertenencias que habían quedado luego del 7 de octubre porque no nos cuentas un poco bueno la verdad carlos fue muy emotivo porque cuando te consigues soldados solitarios jóvenes que están aquí y más aún nosotros latinoamericanos que tenemos esa idiosincracia tan amorosa tan nuestra verlos recoger sus cosas unico hogar aquí en israel en ese equi boots como bien dijiste en la franja de gaza 3 kilómetros near itzhak te dan un sentimiento muy grande como ellos se despiden de esa casa esa segunda casa parte de sus países en latinoamerica donde pertenece vamos a ver el siguiente reportaje nos encontramos en el quibbutz near itzhak el quibut donde viven los soldados latinoamericanos soldados israelíes que hoy se despiden de este lugar que está a 3 kilómetros de la franja de gas estos soldados tuvieron la suerte o destino de salvarse el 7 de octubre del ataque de jamas se disponen a buscar sus pertenencias en su hogar en israel el quibut near itzhak que hoy es zona de guerra jonathan se piurca es el director del área hispano del programa garin sabah jóvenes de la generación hay el ejército israelí resguarda el sur del país el ejército cuida de las personas que entran y también digamos se protege a la población israelí de que no sigan entrando terroristas a toda esta zona como pasó digamos el 7 de octubre y los primeros días posteriores a la masacre de lo que se conoce como el yabat negro por la cantidad de muertos y por donde asesinados y recoger sus pertenencias y otra vez salir de la zona de confort caminante se hace camino al andar renata de paraguay nos dice y como soldada israelí nacida en paraguay te quedas aquí en israel renata eitan de chile se despide de sus padres adoptivos israelí es de costa rica con todos sobre sus hombros de qué parte costa rica eres de san josez de qué das en israel nurin el servicio militar israelí comienza a los 18 años es obligatorio las soldados que no pierden la sonrisa que son fans de shillish gambino en pleno kibbutz las maletas están listas el abrazo de ilan con 53 años en el kibbutz un padre para los soldados la qeataa gaza fae anta taalam y el jamiro ya la bianno 75 en mia minhu la jean y la jean y masulia telomah mutahedah fihima yat masulia telah telal fiannyu qaddim kul taban le tifakia janefid daulia an yukaddim la un kul khedema tuha mta te leh de jamas musabu marzuk dijo que el 75 por ciento de los residentes en la franja de gaza son refugiados y son responsables de naciones unidas to protect them. Marsuk added that, according to the Geneva Convention, it is the responsibility of the occupation to provide to the civilians of Gaza all the services while they are under occupation. But Israel does not occupy, nor is it present in Gaza since 2005. It's just a small detail. The organization that is present is the UNRRA, Agency of the United Nations, which is occupied by the Palestinian refugees. UNRRA has its charge, among other things, the education of the children and adolescents, Palestinians, and in its objective, to educate by human rights and the nonviolent resolution of conflicts. Let's see how they do it. Hamas and Islamic Jihad summer camps 2021, the way children from UNRRA schools spent their summer vacation. In 2021, God is greater than God. We are the martyrs. We are fighting for God's sake, for our country and for God's sake. We are free, we are free, the Palestinians, the Kurds, and all the countries at the moment. The education for a global citizen 2021-2023 of UNRRA, one of the central points is the Palestinian right to the return law. The organization is occupied by the indoctrination of its foundation in 1950, that Israel does not have the right to exist and that the Palestinian refugees can return to Yafo, Haifa, Ashdod, and Ashkelon. For years, UNRRA, an organization of the United Nations, has sent its students to summer camps never again. And there it received military training and a deep desire to be martyrs by Palestine. We will fight for this generation, and for the sake of destroying this enemy. From the bottom of the earth, we will fight for you. We will crush the hearts of the people. The Eibdei certificate of appreciation, complete with this photo, attesting to the completion of formal weapons training and a readiness to fight the Jews. The dollars that UNRRA and UNRRA receive and donations from UNG that support the Palestinian cause, the professional team of UNRRA, their directors, their teachers, their social assistants, all those who should take care of giving them a quality of life, much better than the refugees, they have abandoned them. Exactly, the internal team of the United Nations has issued a categorical report that it is impossible to supervise the use of the funds of UNRRA, that all educational materials are out of the plan of integrated action for refugees that the United Nations has and that UNRRA must be supervised since it is not clear what is the contribution to the improvement of the life of refugees. In the Congress of the United States, the congressman Brad Sherman of the Democrats has passed a law called Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act, Pasi Tolerance in Palestinian Education, which indicates to review all relative aspects to the financial participation of the United States in UNRRA. UNRRA has become the ideological arm of ever and its comprehensive organization of terrorists. Clearly, the Hamas and Islamic Jihad summer camps have become training grounds for the vilification of Israel. UNRRA teachers and textbooks complement this with an ideology and curriculum that promotes armed struggle for the right of return. Last May, the most recent outbreak of anti-Israel violence in Gaza exposed a tunnel dug by Hamas under a school in UNRRA's Zaytun refugee camp. Here is the evidence. Hamas thus takes the UNRRA children captive not only during the summer, but during the school year itself. UNRRA students constitute a future terror army aimed at liquidating Israel based on the illusion of a right of return. UNRRA can no longer act as if it does not know. UNRRA is proud of its 400 schools in Gaza, Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem. It allocates 58% of its budget for an education system that indoctrinates a new generation for war. In essence, it has abandoned its students. The time has come for UNRRA to teach peace and coexistence during both the school year and summer vacation. The time has come for the world to demand oversight of UNRRA schools. The time has come for donor nations to put an end to UNRRA's energy. The Gypsy King has dedicated the TIKVA with its particular style. And my hope is that that TIKVA, that's how he says hope, allows us in the future to be able to live in peace with the Palestinian people. Nicole, one of the countries where she has felt the confusion between the Palestinian people and the Hamas terrorists in Spain. And to make it clear, the situation is with us, the journalist from Madrid, María Hamardo. Thank you very much, María, for being with us today. Thank you, María. Welcome. Thank you very much for inviting me. María, it's our pleasure. We have seen you participate in debates in the Spanish media. These same fake information is credible. Are they credible or are they mixed? The reality of the Palestinian people with the Hamas terrorist organization, that's our question. And today I would like you to clarify it. I would like to answer in a convincing way that there is no confusion in the Spanish media between the terrorists and the Palestinian people. But the truth is that to justify the human rights of some, that we all justify and that we all defend as it cannot be otherwise, they are trying to whitewash all the actions that since last October 7 we have been able to see with our own eyes. And it is very complicated to fight a story that is so instaurated in the press, in society, which is the one that sticks with so much ease in all those who do not know how since 18 years ago, Palestine is free to live in Gaza in its territory as it pleases and as a good part of the Palestinian people in 2006 chose to do it under the political proposal of a terrorist group like Hamas. And hence, since then Israel has not been able to rest in a single minute with those constant threats, with those constant missiles. But of course it is complicated to explain it when you have not been on the ground and it is complicated to hear you when the majority opt for the politically correct that today is defending the Palestinian cause as if the Palestinian cause was something that could be separated from the religious or radical act or the aspirations of a terrorist group like Hamas for imposing in the area in the Middle East that also affects the Israeli territory and its will. You have talked about the political issue and I would like to mention within the Spanish government that there are voices found. On the one hand, President Pedro Sánchez who seeks to have a, let's say, a composing position for the parties in conflict and on the other hand, you have Yolanda Díaz vice presidenta Segunda, his government, who differentiates himself by saying that Israel commits war crimes. How can they coexist these two visions within the Spanish government? Well, it is something incomprehensible and inadmissible because, indeed, when a government is pronounced as an institution, it has to be blocked and internal opinions do not fit. The opinion is pacted in the Council of Ministers and, from there, it is the official opposition of the country. It is very shocking for the Spaniards, too. I understand that it is, from the foreigner, something inexplicable. But I want to remind you that Ms. Yolanda Díaz and the former members of Podemos, for example, were the only members of a government in Europe that were manifested against NATO when she tried to remember the delivery of weapons to Ukraine after being invaded by Russia. We have to understand that, in her pro-Russian vision of the world, although she tries to whitewash it, she is much closer to the postulates of Hamas and their intentions than what can be of a right-wing state like Israel, which bothers a lot in the Middle East, precisely because she does not stop remembering which is the civilization of the West, what is the meaning of the right-wing state, what is the respect to the law and what is freedom, which I think is really what is in danger, in this moment, the freedom of Israel to defend itself against any attack and the freedom of the Western society's journalists to express their opinion and defend what I think is right without fear of being reported. Of course. Certainly, Maria, there is a reality, there has to be a coexistence between the Jewish people, the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. But you, as a journalist, and that is something very important, you seek credible information in front of a sea of fake news that is currently available, how do you do to achieve such an important job as a communicator? Well, more than looking for the real information, which I also try to give, the reality is that I try to dismantle the story of Hamas's propaganda. And I try to do it because it really is something that comes with so much ease and with the victimism with which they expose their own people, the Palestinians, those who are there and it has been confirmed a few hours ago, literally, when they try to escape from the north to the south to get out, what I believe is that it is essential to put in front of the mirror the barbarities and atrocities that Hamas is capable of committing against his own people. He has used it for many years and the business has come out well, precisely because the kindness and the goodness and in many cases, the ignorance of the West have made them send many large amounts of money and important sums of euros from the European Union and the United States of dollars to try to help in that gas stabilization and that they could go ahead. But when one looks back and realizes that after that exit of the last Israeli of the gas industry, the first thing they did was eliminate all the infrastructures and dedicate themselves to becoming gas in a fully soaked cheese cheese under the ground to try to hide under infrastructures such as hospitals, such as schools, such as mosquitos, their demand centers and the West is not able to see it. Really, what is important right now is to put in focus Hamas, to say that Hamas is using his own civilians, to repeat it until the extinction, to put evidence to people who are using their own people, I insist, to leave in Demne, that it has no way to get out of the ambulance that they are trying to evacuate injured through the Rafa border, precisely to escape from that siege, from that siege that every time the CDI approach the strategic areas. And I think the only thing we have to do at the moment is to break down, and I say it directly because that is the word they deserve, the propaganda strategies of Hamas. It can never be compared to a terrorist organization with a consolidated and recognized law and it can't be blanked what they did on October 7th. Nothing that has come after, nothing that has come after, can be breached to try to justify a right that also uses convenience, when they are weakened, when they see that they are entering a situation a little more complex due to the lack of communication, due to the electric cuts, due to the lack of fuel, which, by the way, is not such, and I want to put the focus, since you give me the opportunity for them to see us, it is impossible that we have been for a month since that October 7th, seeing how hospitals and that Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Authority, which depends on Hamas and therefore disobeys the propaganda of Hamas saying that they remain without their ministers day after day and so they take a month from somewhere that fuel is coming out so that they continue, as we saw yesterday, watching, for example, propaganda acts with giant screens in those confrontations between the FD and Hamas in which there was not a window of the hospital of Schiffa without light and there was not a single mobile of those who were there concentrated without battery. That is very important to teach those images, repeat them and disassemble that barbarity that is being built around Hamas to whiten them is fundamental. Maria, we just have to thank you for your analysis and for your participation in our program and we hope maybe later to talk again with topics much less complicated than this to talk a little about the notion of Spain and Israel. Thank you very much, Maria, for being with us in Night Matter News, here in Tel Aviv. Thank you very much, thank you very much. A kiss. Well, we are not going to say goodbye without stopping by and not forgetting about the kidnappers by Hamas, that we continue to ask for the release of all of them. See you next week. Of course, yes, Carlos. See you next week. Thank you for being with us. 1,300 people murdered and more than 3,000 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. From my devastation to resurrection, the security chief of Kibbutz Kivim, who is giving I-24 News a rare look into the life or what's left of it in the Kibbutz right after October 7th. And yes, his optimistic vision on the future of the area as a whole, as we've said from the ashes, flowers will bloom again. Let's take a look. Kibbutz Kivim near the Gaza Strip adjacent to the southern city of Sderot was not severely hit by the brutal terror attack by Hamas on October 7th. But things could have been very different. As Gil Schwartzman, a member of the Kibbutz, tells I-24 News about the dramatic moments. At around 7 AM, I heard gunshots around the gate. I got a call from the local security coordinator. He said, I've been shot. I'm injured. I called the standby squad, and we came to help him. Another car was shot at, and the guy there was shot in his head. But he survived. Another car was also hit by gunshots and grenades. We counted 45 bullet holes in the car. The local security chief got hit in his leg, and I had to take his place. We also had a lot of luck, perhaps even divine providence. I want to show you something special. This gate took a lot of bullets. When we opened the gate, look at the shape of the bullet exit hole. Kibbutz Kivim was established in 1947, a few months before Israel declared its independence. Over the years, it's known many challenges due to its sensitive location. In the beginning, people lived here in tents. In July 1947, this structure was built to protect the residents from attacks by Egyptians. Members of the Kibbutz lived in tents and small cabins. Schwarzman is one of 16 people of the standby squad. The only ones who remain in the Kibbutz are of its 617 members. When we walk around, we see empty houses. But thanks to Schwarzman and the few people who were left here, the Kibbutz is not neglected. And even the local dairy is functioning. I was in Germany on a family vacation when the situation started. After a few days, I came back. It's a bit strange to be here. I'm alone here, except for a few people and soldiers. But what can I do? Outside the Kibbutz, we visit Sauter, which Schwarzman directs. This startup hub is home to dozens of high-tech companies which develop revolution inventions from 3D printers to FSMP platforms. We've been active for six years now. All the companies have told me that they are not leaving this hub. Other companies have been interested in participating in this project. It's the first high-tech hub in the Negev and one of the biggest and most successful ones. High-tech always has a future. I have no doubt that in two years, when you come back to visit, we'll have expanded to 50 companies. Despite the horrific tragedy, Schwarzman is still optimistic and says he believes that most of the residents will return to their home eventually and that Kevim and the high-tech scene will flourish, perhaps a ray of hope in this dark time in the South. October 7th is obviously forever engraved in our history, in our hearts, but there are those who are also engraving it on their skin from Auschwitz to Berry. Now these are not numbers on our hands that the Nazis used to dehumanize us. The other way around, reminders of our strength, our pain, and yet our strength. And we want to welcome now Alina Adams and Alina Budovsky. Both are joining us now. Alina is a tattoo artist and Alina is the sister of Alexei Budovsky, a police officer who got killed on the 7th of October, fighting near Kibbutz Reim. Alina, first of all, we're so very sorry for your loss. When did you decide to honor the memory of Alexei with Asha too and maybe share with us a bit about your hero of a brother? Thank you. Well, first of all, I knew immediately that I'm going to do something to remember him, something that always will be with me. So it wasn't any question. And actually what happened in the day, they came there with a group and they have a tackle with many of the terrorists. And there was a long battle that he was shot. Probably he died on the spot, but we don't know exactly. My brother. And when we came home and we talked with his friends that came also to our home and they show me the picture that you saw before. It's actually his last picture. It's been shot at like, I don't know, maybe an hour before he died. And when I saw it and immediately did, this is what I'm gonna do. This is how I want to remember him because he was a hero, he was a fighter. And I just knew that this is what I want on me. And this is what I want to see every time. And yeah. Alina, every tattoo is a great responsibility, of course, but here, as a tattoo artist, much more so. What do you focus on when making such a tattoo? You mean about tattoo of Alina or about everything? Of Alina, and generally, again, these tattoos have extra meaning at this point in time and forever. A lot of people coming with so much different and hard story and it's most sketchy people choose or feel, I don't know, powerful for how can they understand this pain for everything. And most people come with, they're trying to complete this pain to body, on body. Yes, and as I've mentioned at the beginning of our conversation, obviously for us as Jews, there is an extra meaning of tattooing grief. Alina, but again, this time, it's the power that is being underlined here. Yeah. Sorry, I'm nervous because it's a month, they passed away and I'm still shocked we just did this tattoo. And everyone that I showed him the tattoo, even the people who've been around him, they were like, in shock when they saw it, they didn't believe I was gonna do this. And it's powerful. I don't know how to explain it because I have him on myself. Yes. It's not the simple tattoo, it's not something that just, you know, a beautiful one. Yeah, in you and on you forever. That's for certain. Alina, Alina, thank you both very much for speaking with us, thank you. And now Jews always took humor very, very seriously. We cry when we laugh, we laugh when we cry. This is a part of the survival mechanism, but how do you put on a smile when all you wanna do is cry? And more so, how do you make others? So to try and answer that, we're so glad to welcome here in studio, Sheila Fridlender, best known as Shorty, the Great. The Great. Doug Ray. A medical clown from the Dream Doctors, Shorty. Here, thank you so very much for joining us. Thank you for having me. Before I ask you how you do what you do, maybe let's start with what do you do exactly? It's some sort of a medicine for the soul. Clowning is exactly that. Clowning is that moment that comes into a room and it just changes, shifts the energy. And you can feel something else. It's really hard to put in words. You sort of have to be there, see it, feel it. And when you're there, you know, wow, what just happened? Like what, a second ago I was crying, a second ago I needed to go into an operation and it went in smooth. And that energy shifting, what we like to call, you coming to the room and you just bring something else, you elevate the moment, that's what happens. That's the medical clowning. So it's not necessarily about making people laugh, but about making them stronger to an extent. And especially when there's also this profound issue of trust being shattered, your presence. Look, now it's not that the last thing that I want is make people laugh. But the first thing that I want is to be there for people, to touch, to put a hand, to put a song, to make the feelings come back to life. Not stay in this, we're all in this very hard moment that all you wanna do is cry. All you wanna do is just sink down. And when you come with like, the clown, it's not that he ignores the sadness, but he can come and he can say, but there's still something to it. When I see a sick child, so in the hospital, I will always see also something that he has that is still alive, still good, a toy, the other leg that works, his fingers that are now in a different position. There's always something else. And even now, there's always something else. It's not even looking about the future that you don't know. It's not even thinking about the past, it's now. Now we can find something else in every situation. Something that's alive. Something that's alive, exactly. Something that still wants to feel if it's music. Music is a beautiful therapy. You're going and you just wanna dance or a puppet show or bubbles. You just want something magical, magic tricks. You're looking to hold on to something that is like, that's what it's gonna do to you. That big breath. This one second will lead to another and then another. And yet what you've seen, what we've all seen in the past month is, you know. Heartbreaking. Can you show with us perhaps a moment that you felt that you're making an impact? Look, it can be in the smallest thing of walking into a hotel and you know that all the people there have been evacuated. You don't know where they're going, what happened to them? You don't even need to ask because you can see it on their face. And then that one hand that a mother comes and says, I haven't seen my child laugh like this for the last three weeks. And you feel like it's been worth it. It was worth it. Or even we started working in the hospital with soldiers that have been wounded and standing there with a soldier that he's even like, listen, I wasn't even in battle. It was on the way too. You can laugh about everything because people like humor. People like laughing at the situation. They wanna be in that place that you can just like, let's laugh about it together, you know what? You know, we'll mention Jewish humor at the beginning of our conversation. And albeit that it's not the medical clown humor per se, there's something about this combination of grief, sorrow and laughter that is to an extent embedded in Jewishness. For sure, for sure. It's as if we are looking for these moments to help us overcome what's happening in our every year generation situation of our nation. And we're always looking at the brighter side or at the, there's a joke everywhere. There's a little giggle, you wanna be with kids and give them a different future. Me as a mother, I wanna give a different future and the looking at the situation in this different perspective is just changes everything for a better thing. This is the next generation. The kids don't need to be stuck with these pictures. What they need to remember is nice moments that they're walking through and if it's colorful things around them and if it's a song or all kinds of dancing. So many clowns are now in Elat and what they really enjoy doing is dancing with them. No, you don't dance when it's sad, but you can. And if you can, you're already helping yourself heal. You're already helping yourself overcome everything. You know, Shira, Shorty, so many of us felt guilty to smile in the past month. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Not even smiling, also continuing and just like sitting with my kids, you feel guilty for every little thing that is still a sense of life. And then when you think about it and you're knowing, but we have to, we want to overcome this, we're gonna continue living. And this is our instrument, life. We choose life. We choose to smile in this situation not because I'm laughing at it or I want to put it down because I want to choose life. Because this is the answer, the only answer to death life. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Shira, Fridlender, Shorty, the great. The great indeed. The great. The great. Thank you very much for making us smile and for making so many others smile. Thank you. Thank you. Now, speaking to that point exactly, what do you do when you lose trust in humanity? You find refuge in those who still believe in humans, right? And yes, I mean our best friends. In the moment of truth, they didn't leave us behind and we did not leave them. More Ellen with more about the heroic operations to rescue dogs from the war zone. Israeli residents living next to the Gaza border have been forced to evacuate their homes in a hurry. Many were forced to leave their pets behind. We're talking about cases where people themselves had to run with their babies under hands, stories of them jumping out of windows with their babies and the stories that I hear are of people trying to call their dogs, right? Or cats is even harder to come with them but the dogs are so afraid. That they hide or they run away and they just had to run. They were running for their lives. So a lot of the dogs which are right there, there are another and cats, there are another family member that was just left behind. So that's why it was really important for us to just go and get, you know, extract them as fast as possible. Thousands of Israelis from all over the country have come together to reunite families with their pets. A war room in Beit Kamah in the south of Israel was established and from there, the teams leave for their assignments. These volunteers are headed to another operation to extract dogs from the dangerous areas, the areas that are still closed military zones under the control of the IDF. Don't try to run to a shelter. Just lie on the ground and put your hands on your head. Don't kneel. When we look after animals, if the dog runs off, let us know so we can come with you. Don't get too far away from us. For those who are carrying weapons, we are here to safeguard you. Please leave your gun in the holster, except when we are under fire. It doesn't faze these volunteers. When the war broke out, I was basically just at home and I didn't really do anything to help and I felt a little bad with myself that I can do something better than just sitting at home watching the news. It can be a bit scary sometimes, but it's for the dogs. For the volunteers, the satisfaction of reuniting pets with owners is worth the risk. This dog owner came all the way from Elat, where he and his family have been staying since the war broke out after his dog was found in one of the villages. He tells the volunteers that his second dog is still inside. Not a minute goes by and another group of volunteers come back with the missing dog. The unions are unbelievable. They're unbelievable. I think it's also a sliver of hope that if the dog came back, then maybe the kidnap, right, that the kidnap people would come back as well, that it shows the possibility of getting back someone that you thought you lost track of. Shandong! And we want to turn now to Dr. Tamara Fredman, CEO of the Israeli Private Sanctuary Foundation. Thank you so very much, Dr. Fredman, for joining us. Well, you know, one picture I saw in the earlier days of the war hit hard and I keep on thinking about it. It was a sweet dog sitting all terrified and worn out at the back of her family's semi-burned car in one of the kibbutzes down south, waiting for her owners for three days. Yeah, it's really heartbreaking. And what we started to do when this war broke out was to try and help other animals that were left behind. Yeah. Mainly animals that were left behind in little petting zoos, little children's zoos. Birds, rabbits, turkeys. Lots of these kibbutz farms were evacuated, people had left, and all the animals were left behind. So, in usual times, in peace times, our sanctuary only takes care and rescues monkeys, but we felt we had to do something more about this. And we started to take in all these animals that were left behind in these petting zoos. We did it together with the Ministry of Environment and the Nature Reserves Authority. Now, these are two lemurs that were left behind in the petting zoo of Baile, which had such a terrible time in this terrible massacre. All the birds came out from the little petting zoo in Kerem Shalom where all the people had to leave. And we felt that this is the small thing that we can do to take care and love of these animals until people can go back home and the animals can go back home with them. So, we quickly built these enclosures for all these animals, and we're still taking more. Tomorrow we're going down again to the south to collect more ducks and chickens who were left behind and quickly build more enclosures and find faster families to help us take care of them until they can all return back home. Dr. Friedman, can you feel, can you sense, can you identify trauma with these sorts of animals? Well, I think mainly the two lemurs that we took out from Baile, these little people that suffered so much from the terrible massacre. They did seem to be traumatized. It took a few days for them to cycle, calm down, start eating. They were hugging each other for most of the first few days. And after a few days, it started to feel a bit better. And now they're living these two other lemurs that we have here. So they're starting to feel a bit more relaxed. Yeah, you can't, they had such a terrible time in those days and they were left behind. Some didn't have enough food to eat. So they're starting to give the right food and to start to feel a bit better, yeah. Yeah, to revaluate us slowly, but surely. So, you know, Dr. Friedman, I think that the fact that we insist on saving non-human creatures is underlining our humanity in those dark times when we need to regain trust in humanity all together. Exactly. I mean, the way people treat animals, this is the way people treat other people as well. And we really feel that we've kind of given a bit of peace of mind that people had to leave their homes, knowing that someone's taking care of their animals. And that's what we're really trying to do, to help the people that have to quickly leave their homes. Just, it can be, it can feel so pure that someone's taking care of all these animals that they loved and are waiting to go back home when they go home. Yes, may all of those who are left homeless find a new home sooner rather than later. Dr. Tamal Friedman, thank you so very much for speaking to us and sharing with us. One of the many sideline stories of this big tragedy we're all going through. Thank you so very much, Dr. Friedman. Thanks. And all kinds of assistance. Being used to treat the wounded, both physical and emotional, of course. And that includes some welcome assistance from men's and women's best friends. And again, we're going back to our beloved dog, therapy dogs, this story is a report, an adapted report from Channel 12 News. This time, they decided to enter to the sounds of classical music. Classics. Every day for two weeks, they've been coming to Soroka Hospital. They're therapy dogs that have undergone long training and have come especially to help the wounded in the war. Hi, Dennis. Hello. Hello, Dennis. Hello. Simba, up. Yay. As we work on rehabilitation, try as much as you can to work on stretching the hand. Okay. And caressing. Let's try to expand the motor ability. Try to work with both hands and improve your reach. Come. Good, sit down. Sit down, and now give it to him. Dennis was wounded while trying to neutralize the terrorists with his personal weapon. You didn't feel the pain when he puts his hand on you? Yes. Despite its size, he is very, very careful. Because, you know, stepped on both my feet, basically, to put them here. But you don't feel the pain at all? No. Not feeling? That's the uniqueness when you have a dog next to you. Yes, simply amazing. Days and nights in the hospital are very difficult. And such an atmosphere of hugs and that, it does something good. Yes. And connects. Hey, how are you? I think it allowed us to do a process of processing trauma with patients who had a very, very hard time talking. We had a patient very seriously injured who was in the middle of an anxiety attack. And the introduction of the therapy dog allowed him for a moment, for a moment, to open up to the world and talk about the pain, talk about his pain. And through the treatment of the dog, through his ability to regain control, even for a moment in his life, it really allowed him to talk about the injury as well, to tell about the painful places as well. We've been concluding our broadcast in the past month here by saying, stay strong, stay resilient, you are here. And I would like to conclude this broadcast by quoting Lea Goldberg, another Jewish poet. She's asking, is it true? Will there ever be days with forgiveness and mercy? So tonight, a month on, after October 7th, the answer is yes. You will walk in the field by yourself, never scorched by the heat of the fires on the path paved with horror and blood. And in your heart, you again, will humbly surrender, like one blade of grass, like one of humanity. So we are strong, we are resilient, and we are here together. Thank you very much for watching. Lea in a state of war. This is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking. Within a hundred soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped. Help us, we don't want to do it. 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. News edition, I'm Vanessa Levine, coming to you live from Tel Aviv. The Israeli Air Force is conducting strikes inside the Gaza Strip at this hour as it works to eliminate the Hamas terror threat on day 35 of the war. Confirmation that several terrorists have been eliminated. At the same time, rocket fire from the Strip is being sent to some southern Israeli communities, siren sounding in near Oz in the last hour. IDF troops also causing significant damage to the terror groups' underground tunnels. The country is also being targeted from other parts of the Middle East, including a drone attack out of Syria targeting a school in the southern resort city of Elat. Israel responding with strikes in Syria overnight, targeting the organization that launched that drone without giving details. Tomorrow marks five weeks since the Hamas terror rampage in southern Israel in which more than 1,400 people were shot, tortured and butchered. The terror group is still holding 239 people hostage in Gaza, including babies, children, women and the elderly. Benjamin Netanyahu reiterating that there will be no ceasefire unless the hostages are released. Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Shinbe security agency head Ronin Barr entered the Gaza Strip together, conducting an assessment of the situation on the ground. Now for the latest, let's go to our team in the field. We start at North correspondent, Mary McAuliffe is in northern Israel. So Mary concerns remain around Hezbollah's next moves. If it will in fact get fully involved in this war, what is the latest there, what can you tell us? That's right, Benita. So it's been a bit of a relative calm here in the past few hours. Earlier this morning we did hear a number of IDF shelling of artillery operating in this area, firing into areas of southern Lebanon. But the last we've heard from the IDF is a statement coming from last night, saying that it was continuing to strike a number of different Hezbollah infrastructure and personnel inside southern Lebanon across this border that was in response to a number of different mortar attacks that were fired at IDF forces and IDF military infrastructure in this area. But as you mentioned, the fear of course remains of an all out war breaking out. But for now what we're seeing here just continues to be a very formulaic equation between Hezbollah launching attacks inside Israel and Israel in response, launching these precision attacks in response. So it does believe both sides seem to show an unwillingness to escalate the situation further. Although we should note that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to give another speech tomorrow. Of course, we had a widely anticipated speech last week. Everybody highly on alert in this area to see if he was going to announce some major escalation in the fighting here. But the message that we have been hearing from them and sources from within Hezbollah continue to say though that they're, right now they think they're doing everything they can in support of the Palestinians that they are content with having IDF on high alert here, saying that they had to move a number of different military infrastructure from iron domes to forces themselves into this area while the operation in the south is ongoing. But the Hezbollah does say they continue to watch what's going on in Gaza very closely and that they will be carefully watching the IDF actions. And certainly the region will be carefully watching what he says Hassan Nasrallah when he does speak on Saturday. Mary, Israel has carried out strikes in Syria overnight in response to that drone attack on a school in Elat. Many families evacuated from southern communities are now staying in the resort city. The IDF saying it targeted the organization that launched the drone. What details are known? What exactly unfolded? That's right, Benisa. Well, we actually don't know that many details about what exactly this incident transpired. We know right now the IDF investigating why no sirens rang out, why there was no alert before this drone exploded inside the school. Luckily nobody was hurt at the time of the attack. The only messages we're hearing from the IDF said that it was believed to be a drone of foreign origin and that now they do believe that it came from southeastern Syria which is where they launched those strikes overnight in response. Though we hear speculation though that this was an Iranian-made drone. If it was coming from Iranian-backed proxies in Syria, the signs certainly seem to point to this. We do know these drones have been used many different times in conflicts around the world, especially in recent years. We've watched these Iranian drones operate in Ukraine and we've seen the challenges that they have posed for the Ukrainian air defenses. These Shahid drones able to do significant damage in Kiev without also setting off alarm. So this is one thing the IDF now needs to look at very closely and examine to see if it's now going to have continued threat from these drones to make sure these are hard drones to pick up on a radar. You need specific radars that can pick up these smaller movements to catch these slow flying drones which move much slower as compared to missiles and ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that have also been fired at a lot. Thank you so much, correspondent Mary Makalov from Northern Israel. More to come from Mary in the coming hours. Thank you. And now for more insight, we welcome to studio Lieutenant Colonel in the reserve, Storon Avital, former commander in the special forces in the IDF. Thank you so much as always. So many developments on several fronts but I want to pick up with what we just heard from Mary there, the developments out of southern Lebanon and Syria as well, this drone incident, targeting a school in Elat. What do you make of what transpired? First of all, it's a very cynical attempt. Everybody knows that whoever evacuated from the Gaza area is now in Elat, many of them are in Elat kids and this is an attempt, we had the Khouty attempt and now we have those attempts from Syria, you have those Shia militia that's coming from Iraq into Syria, we know of them, we follow them but they succeeded to surprise us. We are in a new landscape of war in which weaponry, sophisticated weaponry can be in the eye of the different proxies that play along and this is something that we have to be very alert to. In terms of the Syrian front, I think we see it very well on that. So I mean, they tricked us this time that we can hit those Shia militia and as I'm sure the strike was targeting them now. The northern border right now, as was explained here, it seems that the common wisdom is that those exchange of fire, they pay dearly for the provocation, Nasrallah's speech, I'm not sure you in the speech you declare war on the speech but we have to be very careful. There was this Iranian foreign ministry speech in which he said that the conflict can be contained only in Gaza, it must be extended. This is really a warning sign, we have to be careful. Two scripts ahead, either we contain Gaza, we progress, we kill the Hamas, we free the hostages, the good script. The other script is that the conflict extends and escalates to different fronts and we have also the West Bank front. We had real exchange and we had to use air powered in order to hit in Jenin, a group of terrorists, all fronts are there. Looking pretty tense. Let's take a deeper look at what is happening in the West Bank because, as you rightly point out, the focus has been obviously in the Gaza Strip and concerns up north, but according to the Palestinian Authority, officials there saying 14 people, Palestinian gunmen were killed in clashes with the IDF. What exactly does this signify, the boiling of clashes there right now, a front that isn't top of mind? We have to not to forget it before the terrible events in Gaza, this was the front for a year or so, there was a mini constant war. Jenin particularly. The Northern Samaria, Jenin, Tulkara, and it was ongoing everyday terrorist attacks, us targeting terrorists. A lot of Hamas operatives, this is, by the way, one of the things that really succeeded to confuse us because we were looking in the West Bank and didn't see that Hamas was preparing this terrible attack. So we did all those measures of preventive arrest of Hamas, like a few hundreds, maybe 700s or more, and of course we are targeting every group and we allocate the forces accordingly and we use to using the West Bank air power, this is not something that we do on a daily basis. So this is a front that we don't want to see going on in flames because we also need the PA, the Palestinian Authority on our side in whatever future context we'll have in Gaza. We have to be very careful in this front. I saw Bibinettaniau going specifically to the Central Command a few days ago within this war cabinet to really discuss this front. We have to keep this front contained. Talking about leaders showing support for troops, we saw Ronin Barr and Herzi Hailevi, the IDF Chief of Staff and the Shin Bet Head inside Gaza, sending a message of support to the troops who are on the ground in terms of the unfolding battle. What does that mean for the soldiers right now to have leaders A in Gaza and B there physically to support them as this fighting unfolds? I think it has great importance. I know personally both Herzi and Ronin, they served in the unit I commanded. I think it's important for the young soldiers and the officers to see the generals up in the front line showing no fear. It gives it a question of motivation. It's a question of the importance of the mission that we can take risks, to take a risk, to have generals in such high command entering a war zone. So I think it's important. I think it's a good step. Even me as a citizen right now, it gave me some encouragement to see them there talking to the troops, commanding them, motivating them to continue. The termination is there and I hope we'll succeed in the mission. It's day 35 and clearly still a long road ahead. Doron, stay with us. We're going to discuss much more. But right now, let's find out what is happening on the ground. We go to our correspondent, Ariel Levin Waldman. He's in southern Israel near the Israel-Gaza border and IDF airstrikes continuing this morning, targeting Hamas terror sites. Ariel and confirmation a short while ago, the IDF has eliminated more terrorists. What is the latest there? What can you tell us? I'll take a quick look behind me and you can see some of the latest. You can see smoke rising over one of the denser parts of the city. That's from the latest strikes. Now the actual frequency of those strikes has dropped dramatically in the past hour. You do still hear the crack of outbound artillery from some of the positions around this hill that we're on right now. But the actual airstrikes have dropped off dramatically. That goes from 10 to four today. There is a humanitarian pause to allow people to evacuate part of the United States urging for a humanitarian. Well, pause is not the same as ceasefire, but it's something Israel has been reluctant to push for given its proximity to that and the ability for it to stretch into that. In fact, the United Nations came out and said that these humanitarian pauses are invaliding of themselves and then false hope of a ceasefire at that. So you can understand the reluctance of Israel to even give this sort of pause that would allow Hamas to regroup or allow political interests to start pushing to make that into anything larger. On the ground, there are some big developments. There are Palestinian reports. These are unconfirmed at this time that there is fighting going on outside the Shifa and Rantisi hospitals. These are locations that the IDF has mentioned. Hamas has some very intense fortifications built under, as well as major command centers and large-scale weapons depots and the like. They're more or less the heart of Hamas's operation. They've been built under hospitals to give them a sense of impunity knowing that international law frowns upon. In fact, flat-out bans destroying or attacking hospitals. Of course, there are some caveats that if they are being used for warfare and if, as the case is right now, according to inside sources inside Gaza, they're entirely empty out of patience. They are valid targets. Well, Israel still doesn't want to deal with the fallout of having struck them even if they are entirely Hamas's bases at this point. So they can't take them from the air the way it would be easier, but there is some very intense ground fighting out there right now. Now, you did mention those reports of terrorist leaders being taken out. Yes, that's another one of the more recent developments. Part of the strategic and tactical goals of the IDF is to eliminate the entirety of the Nukba commando forces. Nukba commanders are Hamas's elite units, and they are the ones that commit the war crimes, the atrocities, the massacres, the torture, the rape, all of which happened on October 7th when they invaded Israel's south. And what they did over the course of the night was take out a platoon commander as well as a company commander. Those are medium to high ranking leaders. It is a big deal on the strategic side because it restores Israel's faith in its ability to hit the enemy, but on the tactical side, remember, these are the people that are relaying orders to the commando forces on the ground. They're the ones that tell them where to strike, when to strike, where their targets are. But without these commanders, they're more or less blind and deaf in their tunnels. They don't know where or when to strike, and the IDF can start to take apart the Nukba forces piecemeal with those commanders limited. So several major developments on the ground over the course of the past few hours and overnight and more coming out just about every hour now. Live from the Israel Gaza border. Thank you so much, correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman. We'll be coming back to you for more regular updates and still with me in studio, Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserves, Doron Abital. So we heard from Ariel there. It seems that much progress has been made in terms of the IDF troops ability to get closer to Shifa Hospital, which is, of course, on top of this terror command center. What do you make of what is unfolding right now? I think now it's more surgical. We are inching in. We have more intel, I am sure, not right now because many of the civilians left and we are sitting on the network. So targeting those commanders, trying to, of course, do the thing more surgical because we don't want to hit those locations like hospitals. And I think great successes in the last few hours and even a day or two, but still a lot to do. And in the end, the whole infrastructure underneath and the hostages are still the main issues that we'll have to tackle. And the significance, of course, of these commanders being taken out, what it means for the capabilities of the terrorists who remain in the Gaza Strip right now. I think it's a great importance in the end, an army or whatever, a terror organization has a chain of command. The chain of command, when you disrupt it, then a lot of knowledge, a lot of connection are being eliminated and this really affects the ability of this force to operate or to launch something which is sophisticated or with some magnitude. So I think as wherever we can hit using some intel, those commanders, this is a great success and we succeeded to hit a few of them in the last few hours and days. The main concern for so many people watching right now are the 239 hostages that are still being held somewhere in the Gaza Strip. As we're seeing these airstrikes, as we're hearing about this progress in terms of tunnel infrastructure, how does it impact the way the troops are conducting their operations right now? This is the most important dilemma I think. I think it was not only decided but declared that the two aims of the objective of this campaign is of course dismantling Hamas but saving the hostages. For this we have a high command, the text that has a lot of intelligence infrastructure to try to locate them. And then within the fire, within the conducting of the fire, either rescue operation or in some context, if there would be willingness on the other side, serious willingness, maybe some deals of exchange. We saw the Islamic jihad offering something yesterday. There were some rumors of some extended deal. We don't see it on the ground yet but this is the main concern of the idea. And of course, time is of the essence. It's difficult to comprehend five weeks tomorrow that these hostages are being held there inside the Gaza Strip by the terror group. Doron stay with us. We've got lots more to discuss but right now we're changing gears a little as we welcome Professor Roy Landsberg, the co-chair of the ARM Multidisciplinary ENT Medical Center in Ashkelon. Professor, thank you so much for your time. There are many initiatives to help soldiers right now and I understand you have set up a field clinic. Tell us more, what can you tell us? Okay, first of all, we're not from Ashkelon. We're from Asuta, Tel Aviv. That's where we are in. The name of the group is ARM and we work usually at Asuta Hospital in Tel Aviv. And actually about two days after war, we started on the war on that horrible shellet. We decided that we have to do something as anybody feels these days. So what would we do? We are a group of about 23 ENT doctors, he has no throat, et cetera. And the best thing we know how to do is to use our profession and our skills. So we decided to share our skills and profession and the help that we can provide to all soldiers that's around the borders near Asa, in Asa or in the North. And we actually what we organized is every single day we take that car, by the way, was borrowed from a land reviewer company to us. And we put a lot of medical stuff inside. We have endoscopes, ears, stuff, nose, throat, et cetera. And we have two volunteering doctors and one volunteering medical staff, which is not a doctor, that helps us a lot. And every single day we take the car in the morning, we go for the whole day to the Asa Strip around it, North, sometimes East. And we are, we have connection, we have Army doctors that now already, a lot of them know about our enterprise. And on a daily basis, organized by Shani in our group, we come to different camps, to different areas of the soldiers, who came to from fighting, coming out from fighting around these areas. And we put our stuff in about 15 minutes, we put everything there. And how surprising it is, but those healthy young people, actually they have a lot of problems in the throat, in the nose, obviously in the ears, after being exposed to so many terrible noises, as can everybody understand. So we treat them like the way, it's not only a professional help, it's a, I believe it's a mental and emotional help, for them and for us too. We feel that our presence there gives them a lot of strength and support, and for them to know that we are not just watching TV and scrolling the smartphones, we are here with them doing as much as we can. And it seems to work fine and efficiently. Certainly sounds like a fantastic and very necessary initiative. As you alluded to, so many people are wanting to help, are wanting to volunteer, are wanting to get involved and try and make a difference on the ground. If people wanted to help you and your initiative, how would they be in touch with you? How can people who are watching right now, who want to try and get involved, be involved? Okay, let me tell you that. First of all, we are not, it's not a great question, thank you for that. Not all the doctors are from our group, of course, most of them, but we have a lot of help from other people not connected to the group who heard about us. Right. Such as surgical nurses from Asuta hospitals, such as Asuta establishment as well, who gives us a lot of support with medication. We need contributions as much as possible for medical equipment, which could be very expensive and we use our own. And a lot of the medication we paid, ourselves, so if anybody can help with budgets or with equipment or with its presence, such as the company stores in Brezhlova, in Israel, they borrowed to us a lot of medical, expensive stuff for this period. Right. And other medical ENT doctors, which are not from around our group, are coming from all over Israel. And right now about 20, 24 doctors shared this project at about 20 nurses and it seems that people who hear about it are still like being more and more involved. Right. As we saying, so many people wanting to make a difference and get involved. Professor Roy Landsberg, thank you very much for explaining the initiative and we appreciate you and speaking to us all the best with your work. Thank you so much for being on I-24 News. Thanks a lot. Now there were scores of off-duty officers and first responders who raced to the scene during the hours-long massacre on the 7th of October in southern Israel, facing terrorists head on before army troops were able to arrive. Look at this footage as one of these officers confronted dozens of armed terrorists in Kibbutzk, Farazza. These images are from his GoPro camera. Let's take a look. You're shooting? I'm shooting. You have to shoot them! He's shooting! I realized that he was alive, he was with us, he was on his side, he also took his M16, he put a gun on his shoulder, between the two soldiers they are heading to the front line, so that I can really help with the contact on the phone, to try to defend the forces and he took me out of all the directions. They are actually shooting at him, they are shooting at him. Shoot, I'm shooting here! Come on, let's go! Shoot! First of all, we take the gun, we put it on the jeep. You're shooting? Yes, we're also shooting at them. I think I'm going to shoot here, we're still in the van, because I see that they're already shooting at Farazza. Here's the RPG, you can shoot at him, I don't know what you're doing here. In fact, I see Godel, the hero. Are you Israeli? Let's go, let's go! Shoot at the jeep. All the army is going all the way in groups and groups of soldiers, in groups of soldiers, in groups of soldiers, they're getting a life from the army, to take the right amount of bullets. How much did you save? I said, I don't know, that's how much we saved, how much did we save. More dramatic images from the 7th of October, many heroes on that day. Lieutenant Colonel of the Reserve, Laurent Abital, thank you as always, for being here in the studio. And that's a wrap for now, and Vanita Levine, back in a bit. Stay tuned. Over 1,300 people murdered and more than 3,000 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. And we need to get in the car as we're talking. Within 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped. Help us, we don't want to do it. 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 so strong, and we are ready, and we are strong. We are strong. Everyone is showing up. This is the Unity. This breaking news edition, I'm Benita Levine, coming to you live from Tel Aviv. The Israeli Air Force is conducting strikes inside the Gaza Strip at this hour, as it works to eliminate the Hamas terror threat on day 35 of the war. Confirmation that several terrorists have been eliminated. At the same time, rocket fire from the Strip is being sent to some southern Israeli communities, siren sounding in near Oz in the last hour. IDF troops also causing significant damage to the terror groups underground tunnels. The country is also being targeted from other parts of the Middle East, including a drone attack out of Syria, targeting a school in the southern resort city of Elat. Israel responding with strikes in Syria overnight, targeting a mission that launched that drone without giving details. Tomorrow marks five weeks since the Hamas terror rampage in southern Israel, in which more than 1,400 people were shot, tortured and butchered. The terror group is still holding 239 people hostage in Gaza, including babies, children, women, and the elderly. Benjamin Netanyahu reiterating no ceasefire unless the hostages are released. Meanwhile, IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi and Shinbe security agency head Ronin Bar entered the Gaza Strip together, conducting an assessment of the situation on the ground. Now for the latest, let's go to our team in the field. We start at north correspondent Mary McAuliffe is in northern Israel, so Mary concerns remain around Hezbollah's next moves. If it will in fact get fully involved in this war, what is the latest there? What can you tell us? That's right Benita, so it's been a bit of a relative calm here in the past few hours. Early this morning we did hear a number of IDF shelling of artillery operating in this area, firing into areas of southern Lebanon. But the last we've heard from the IDF is a statement coming from last night saying that it was continuing to strike a number of different Hezbollah infrastructure and personnel inside southern Lebanon that was in response to a number of different mortar attacks that were fired at IDF forces and IDF military infrastructure in this area. But as you mentioned the fear of course remains of an all out war breaking out, but for now what we're seeing here this continues to be a very formulaic equation between Hezbollah launching attacks inside Israel and Israel in response launching these precision attacks in response. So it does believe both sides seem to show an unwillingness to escalate the situation further, although we should note that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to give another speech tomorrow. Of course we had a widely anticipated speech last week, everybody highly on alert in this area to see if he was going to announce some major escalation in the fighting here but the message that we have been hearing from them and sources from within Hezbollah continue to say though that right now they think they're doing everything they can in support of the Palestinians that they are content with having IDF on high alert here saying that they had to move a number of different military infrastructure from iron domes to forces themselves into this area and the operation in the south is ongoing but the Hezbollah does say they continue to watch what's going on in Gaza very closely and that they will be carefully watching the IDF actions. And certainly the region will be carefully watching what he says Hassan Nasrallah when he does speak on Saturday. Mary Israel has carried out strikes in Syria overnight in response to that drone attack on a school in Elat. Many families evacuated from southern communities are now staying in the resort city. The IDF saying it targeted the organization that launched the drone. What details are known? What exactly unfolded? That's right, Benisa. Well we actually don't know that many details about what exactly this incident transpired. We know right now the IDF investigating why no sirens rang out, why there was no alert before this drone exploded inside this school. Luckily nobody was hurt at the time of the attack. The only messages we're hearing from the IDF said that it was believed to be a drone of foreign origin and that now they do believe that it came from southeastern Syria, which is where they launched those strikes overnight in response. Though we hear speculation though that this was an Iranian-made drone. If it was coming from Iranian-backed proxies in Syria, the signs certainly seem to point to this. We do know these drones have been used many different times in conflicts around the world, especially in recent years. We've watched these Iranian drones operate in Ukraine and we've seen the challenges that they have posed for the Ukrainian air defenses. These Shahid drones able to do significant moving off the lawn. So this is one thing the IDF now needs to look at very closely and examine to see if it's now going to have continued threat from these drones to make sure these are hard drones to pick up on a raider. You need specific raiders that can pick up these smaller movements to catch these slow flying drones which move much slower as compared to missiles and ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that have also been fired at a lot. Thank you so much Correspondent Mary Makala from Northern Israel. More to come from Mary in the coming hours. We welcome to studio Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserve's Doron Avital, former commander in the Special Forces in the IDF. Thank you so much as always. So many developments on several fronts but I want to pick up with what we just heard from Mary there. The developments out of southern Lebanon and Syria as well. This drone incident targeting a school in Elat. What do you make of what transpired? First of all it's a very cynical attempt. Everybody knows that whoever evacuated from the Gaza area is now in Elat. Many of them are in Elat kids and this is an attempt. We had the Khouty attempt and now we have those attempts from Syria. You have those Shia militia coming from Iraq into Syria. We know of them. We follow them but they succeeded to surprise us. We are in a new landscape of war in which weaponry, sophisticated weaponry can be in the eye of different proxies that play along. And this is something that we have to be very alert to. In terms of the Syrian front I think we see it very well on that. They tricked us this time but we can hit those Shia militia as I'm sure the strike was targeting them now. The northern border right now was explained here. It seemed that the common wisdom is that those exchange of fire they pay dearly for the provocation. Nasrallah's speech, I'm not sure it's a clear war in his speech but we have to be very careful. There was this Iranian foreign ministry speech in which he said that the conflict can be contained only in Gaza. It must be extended. This is really a warning sign. We have to be careful. Two scripts ahead either we contain Gaza, we progress, we kill the Hamas, we free the hostages, the good script. The other script is that the conflict extends and escalates to different fronts. And we have also the West Bank front. We had real exchange and we had to use air powered in order to hit in Janine. A group of terrorists, all fronts are there. Let's take a deeper look at what is happening in the West Bank because as you rightly point out the focus has been obviously in the Gaza Strip and concerns up north but according to the Palestinian authority, officials there saying that 14 people, Palestinian gunmen were killed in clashes with the IDF. What exactly does this signify the boiling of clashes there right now, a front that isn't top of mind? We have to not to forget it before the terrible events in Gaza. This was the front for a year or so. There was a mini constant war. Janine particularly. The northern Samaria, Janine Tulkara, terrorist attacks, us targeting terrorists. A lot of Hamas operatives. This is, by the way, one of the things that really succeeded to confuse us because we were looking in the West Bank and didn't see that Hamas was preparing this terrible attack. So we did all those measures of preventive arrests of Hamas, like a few hundreds, maybe 700s or more. And of course we are targeting every group and we allocate the forces accordingly. And we use, to using West Bank air power, this is not something that we do on a daily basis. So this is a front that we don't want to see going on in flames because we also need the PA, the Palestinian Authority on our side in whatever future context we'll have in Gaza. We have to be very careful on this front. I saw Bibi Netanyahu going specifically to the Central Command a few days ago in our cabinet to really discuss this front. We have to keep this front contained. Talking about leaders showing support for troops we saw Ronin Barr and Herzi Hailevi, the IDF Chief of Staff and the Shin Bet head inside Gaza sending a message of support to the troops who are on the ground in terms of the unfolding battle. What does that mean for the soldiers right now to have leaders A in Gaza and B physically to support them as this fighting unfolds? I think it has great importance. I know personally both Herzi and Ronin they served in the unit I commanded. I think it's important for the young soldiers and the officers to see the generals up in the front line showing no fear. It gives a question of motivation. It's a question of the importance of the mission that we can take risks to take a risk to have generals in such high command entering a war zone. So I think it's important. I think it's a good step. Even me as a citizen right now it gave me some encouragement to see them there talking to the troops, commanding them motivating them to continue determination is there and I hope we'll succeed in the mission. It's day 35 and clearly still a long road ahead. Doron stay with us. We're going to discuss much more but right now let's find out what is happening on the ground. We go to our correspondent Ariel Levin southern Israel near the Israel Gaza border and IDF airstrikes continuing this morning targeting Hamas terror sites Ariel and confirmation a short while ago the IDF has eliminated more terrorists. What is the latest there? What can you tell us? I'll take a quick look behind me and you can see some of the latest you can see smoke rising over one of the denser parts of the city that's from the latest strikes. Now the actual frequency of those strikes has dropped dramatically in the past hour you do still hear the crack of outbound artillery from some of the positions around this hill that we're on right now but the actual airstrikes have dropped off dramatically that goes from 10 to 4 today there is a humanitarian pause to allow people to evacuate part of the United States urging for humanitarian well pauses not the same as ceasefire but as has been reluctant to push for given its proximity to that and the ability for it to stretch into that in fact the United Nations came out and said that these humanitarian pauses are invalid of themselves and then false hope of a ceasefire at that so you can understand the reluctance of Israel to even give this sort of pause that would allow Hamas to regroup or allow political interest to start pushing to make that into anything larger on the ground there are some big developments there are palestinian reports these are unconfirmed at this time that there is fighting going on outside the Shifa and Rantisi hospitals these are locations that the IDF has mentioned Hamas has some very intense fortifications built under as well as major command centers and large-scale weapons depots and the like they're more or less the heart of Hamas's operation they've been built under hospitals to give them a sense of impunity knowing that international law frowns upon and flat out bands destroying or attacking hospitals of course there are some caveats that if they are being used for warfare and if as the case is right now according to inside sources inside the Gaza they're entirely empty out of patience they are valid targets well Israel still doesn't want to deal with the fallout of having struck them even if they are entirely Hamas bases at this point so they can't take them from the air the way would be easier but there is some ground fighting out there right now now you did mention those reports of terrorist leaders being taken out yes that's another one of the more recent developments part of the strategic and tactical goals of the IDF is to eliminate the entirety of the Nukba commando forces Nukba commanders Hamas's elite units and they are the ones that commit the war crimes the atrocities, the massacres, the torture the rape all which happened on October 7th when they invaded Israel south and what they did over the course of the night was take out a platoon commander as well as a company commander those are medium to high ranking leaders it is a big deal on the strategic side because it restores Israel's faith in its ability to hit the enemy but on the tactical side remember these are the people that are relaying orders to the commando forces on the ground they're the ones that tell them where to strike, when to strike, where their targets are but without these commanders they're more or less blind and deaf in their tunnels they don't know where or when to strike IDF can start to take apart the Nukba forces piecemeal with those commanders limited so several major developments on the ground over the course of the past few hours and overnight and more coming out just about every hour now live from the Israel Gaza border thank you so much correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman will be coming back to you for more regular updates and still with me in studio Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves Doron Abital so we heard from Ariel there it seems that much progress has been made in terms of the IDF troops ability to get closer to she for hospital which is of course on top of this terror command center what do you make of what is unfolding right now now it's more surgical we are inching in we have more intel I'm sure now right now because many of the civilians left and we are sitting on the on the network so targeting those commanders trying to of course do the thing more surgical because we don't want to hit those location like hospitals and I think great successes in the last few hours and even a day or two but still a lot to do and in the end the whole infrastructure underneath and the hostages are still the main issues that we'll have to tackle and the significance of course of these commanders been taking out what it means for the capabilities of the terrorists who remain in the Gaza Strip right now it's a great importance in the end or whatever terror organization has a chain of command the chain of command when you disrupt it then a lot of knowledge a lot of a connection of being eliminated and this really affects the ability of this force to operate or to launch something which is sophisticated with some magnitude so I think as wherever we can hit using some intel those commanders this is a great success and we succeeded to hit a few of them in the last few hours and days so the main concern for so many people watching right now are the 239 hostages that are still being held somewhere in the Gaza Strip as we're seeing these airstrikes as we're hearing about this progress in terms of tunnel infrastructure how does it impact the way the troops are conducting their operations right now this is the most important dilemma I think it was not only decided but declared that the two aims of the two objective of this campaign is of course dismantling Hamas but saving the hostages for this we have a high command that has a lot of intelligence infrastructure to try to locate them and then we're within the fire we're in the conducting of the fire either rescue operation or in some context if there would be willingness on the other side a serious willingness maybe some exchange we saw the Islamic Jihad offering something yesterday there were some rumors of some extended deal we don't see it on the ground yet but this is the main concern concern of the idea and of course time is of the essence it's difficult to comprehend five weeks tomorrow that these hostages are being held there inside the Gaza Strip by the terror group Doron stay with us we've got lots more to discuss but right now we're changing gears a little as we welcome Dr Roy Landsberg the co-chair of the ARM multi-disciplinary ENT medical center in Ashkelon professor thank you so much for your time there are many initiatives to help soldiers right now and I understand you have set up a field clinic tell us more what can you tell us okay first of all we are not from Ashkelon we are from Asuta Tel Aviv that's where we are in the name of the group is ARM and we work usually at at Asuta hospital in Tel Aviv and actually about two days after war we just starting on the war on that horrible Shabbat we decided that we have to do something as anybody feels these days so what would we do we are a group of about 23 ENT doctors is no throat etc and the best thing we know how to do is to use our profession and our skills we decided to share our skills and profession and the help that we can provide to all soldiers that's around the borders near Asa in Asa or in the north and we actually what we organized is every single day we take that car by the way it was borrowed from Ladover company to us and we put a lot of medical stuff inside we have endoscopes, ear, stuff, nose, throat etc and we have two volunteering doctors and one volunteering medical stuff which is not a doctor that helps us a lot and every single day we take the car in the morning we go for the whole day to the Asa street around it, north sometimes east and we are we have connection, we have army doctors that now already a lot of them know about our enterprise and on a daily basis organized by Shani in our group we come to different camps areas of soldiers who came to from fighting, coming out from fighting around these areas and we put our stuff in about 15 minutes we put everything there and how surprising it is but those healthy young people actually they have a lot of problems in the throat in the nose obviously in the years after being terrible noises can everybody understand we treat them the way it is not only professional help I believe it is a mental and emotional help for them and for us too we feel that our presence there gives them a lot of strength and support for them to know that we are not just watching TV you know scrolling the smartphones we are here with them doing as much as we can and it seems to work seems to work fine and efficiently certainly sounds like a fantastic and very necessary initiative as you alluded to so many people are wanting to help are wanting to volunteer are wanting to get involved and try and make a difference on the ground if people wanted to help you and your initiative how would they be in touch with you how can people who are watching right now who want to try and get involved be involved okay let me tell you that first of all we are not it's not a great question thank you for that not all the doctors are from our group of course most of them but we have a lot of help from other people not connected to the group who heard about us such as surgical nurses from hospital such as establishment as well gives us a lot of support with medication we need contributions as much as possible for medical equipment which could be very expensive and we use our own and we a lot of the medication we we paid ourselves so if anybody can help with budgets or with equipment or with its presence such as company stores in Breslau in Israel they borrowed to us a lot of medical expensive stuff for this and other other medical ent doctors which are not from around our group are coming from all over Israel and right now about 20 24 doctors shared this project and about 20 nurses and it seems that people who hear about it are feel like being more and more involved. Right as we saying so many people wanting to make a difference and get involved Professor Roy Landsberg thank you very much for explaining the initiative and we appreciate you and speaking to us all the best with your work thank you so much for being on I-24 news. Thanks a lot. Ladies and gentlemen for the question on this topic. So there are a few scores of off-duty officers and first responders who raced to the scene during the hours long massacre on the 7th of October in southern Israel facing terrorists head on before army troops were able to arrive look at this footage is one of these officers There are terrorists. There are four of us. What's going on? Let's get out of here. I thought we'd talk about 15% of what we saw in the eye. Let's get out of here. It's a big deal because it's 20% and 40%. In the morning, we get the money from the cashier who already has terrorists. We get the money from the cashier. I'm actually talking about the money. I've got my wallet, I'm going to the store and I'm going to the cashier. The cashier is going to the left side of the road and we're on our way. We're also going through the road which is really, really far away from us. The first cashier is in Kfar Gaza. They're the cashiers. Two people, and a small group, who are with me. They come to Kfaraza, we see one of them, we see that they are already fighting. When they go to Khadarokhen, they come there to fight. We are near Khadarokhen, we see trees, trees, forests of Kalach. They are listening to our calls, they are calling for help. They see that they are fighting, I tell them to go to the field with them. When we come to build a camp, they see me, there are a few people, half of them are citizens, and we are very excited. Zan! Zan! Zan! Zan! I have been here since I was 16, when they are in their camp, I also support the camp, I give a different view of what it was like to build a camp, and not be a group. I see that they are already fighting. This camp is a career path, I am a volunteer, he tells me that I am dead. I realized that he is alive, he is with us, I respect his passion, I also take his M16, I put him on the field, in the meantime, the two volunteers are going to the camp, so that I can really make a call on the phone, to make a call, and he takes me from all directions. We are actually very close to him, we are very close to him. Let's see if we can get out of here. Come on, let's go. First of all, we take the gun, we put it on the jeep. I think we should start to see where we are relevant, because I see that we already have a group of volunteers here. Here was RPG, you can shoot at him, I don't know what you are doing here. In fact, I see the wall, the wall. Are you Israeli? Come on, let's go, what's up? The jeep. The whole camp is full of all the ways in groups, in groups, in groups, in groups in groups in groups, in groups in groups in groups, I don't know, but we are also very close to each other. We are very close to each other. More dramatic images from the 7th of October, many heroes on that day. Lieutenant Colonel, the Reserves, Duran Abital, thank you as always for being here in the studio. And that's a wrap for now, I'm Venise Levine, back in a bit. Stay tuned. There are phrases you know from where you come from. Come here, and the package for when. And load that you already know from our website. You can access our website www.recargas.altis.com. Or you can choose to load and type the number you want to place the load. Also, they receive the double balance in 8 dollars or more. Altis, the global network of the Dominicans. Of war. This is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking. More than 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped. 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. Israel's story to the world. Breaking news edition, I'm Venise Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv. Red Alert siren sounding in the southern Israeli community of Mirim moments ago, warning of incoming rocket fire from the Gaza Strip yet again earlier on Friday siren sounding in near Oz, Al-Umim and Far Azar. Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force is conducting strikes inside the Gaza Strip as it works to eliminate the Hamas terror threat on day 35 of the war. Confirmation that several terrorists have been eliminated. Take a look at this footage just released by the IDF. One of the Hamas military posts. The IDF also raiding the office of the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. IDF troops also causing significant damage to the terror groups underground tunnels. The country is also being targeted from other parts of the Middle East, including a drone attack out of Syria targeting a school in the southern resort city of Elat. Israel responding with strikes in Syria overnight targeting the organization that launched the drone without giving details. Tomorrow marks five weeks since the Hamas terror rampage in southern Israel in which more than 1400 people were shot, tortured and butchered. The terror group is still holding 239 people hostage in Gaza, including babies, children, women and the elderly. Benjamin Netanyahu reiterating there will be no ceasefire unless the hostages are released. So for the latest on the ground let's go live to our correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman. He's in southern Israel near the Israel-Gaza border. So red alert sirens sounding in the rim just a short while ago. Warning of rocket fire from Gaza. We're live from the Hamas terror site. And the IDF also raiding the office of the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Bring us up to speed. Absolutely. Notice the IDF still hitting targets and you can look behind me to see some of the damage that has been done. Actually, mere moments ago there was a massive explosion as the IDF hit another site in Gaza from the air. Humanitarian pause is not the same thing as free reign. They're still having to corral Hamas terrorists and to strike them wherever they are to prevent them from posing an operational threat to Israeli soldiers. Now another interesting development is of course that raid on Hamas Sinwar brother of Yahya Sinwar, senior Hamas commander. Now that's critical because the IDF is obviously hoping that someone that close to Yahya Sinwar is going to have some information on his whereabouts. He's a very long time and he's one of the senior commanders that was a senior planner of the October 7th crimes against humanity and massacre, which means he's a top priority target for Israel to take out to fulfill its promise of breaking Hamas's leadership without taking out senior commanders and senior level leaders of Hamas. You're not actually going to break the organization, they'll just reform with maybe slightly less competent ground commanders later but as long as the leadership's there, their ideology survives and that's what really has to root out. Also confirmation that several terrorists were eliminated in recent strikes, what details can you share? Absolutely those are high ranking commanders of the Nookbeforce. The Nookbeforce was the commando group of Hamas that carried out the massacres on October 7th. Well overnight the IDF was announcing that they took out a platoon leader as well as a company commander of the Nookbeforce, ones that were responsible for the massacre in one of the Kabutim just along the border as well as some of the various military bases in the area. It fulfills a strategic promise to Israelis to ensure that the people that commit those atrocities are brought to justice as well as a tactical one on the ground. These are the people giving the order to the commandos in the field without their senior level commanders. They don't have that chain of command. They're much less capable on the ground and Israel can pick them apart piecemeal. Correspondent Ariel Levin-Waldman in southern Israel close to the Israel-Gaza border, thank you very much once again for your coverage on this day. Now for more insight, we welcome to studio Aura Yissas Khair, the head of research at the IDSF Habitone Stim and that's Israel's Defense and Security Forum. Thank you so much once again for being here much on the go at the same time right now. We're hearing major inroads so to speak by the IDF inside the Gaza Strip as we heard from Ariel right now. At the same time a humanitarian corridor is open for the next few hours. Talk to us about what is unfolding on the ground the significance of the latest developments as we speak. I think the IDF is going straight ahead to achieve its objective of occupying the entire Gaza Strip. It's going in stages. We're taking over the northern part for the first stage. Second stage we'll have to be to take over the entire Gaza Strip. We'll have to be graduate. We know that IDF forces are operating inside the very heart of the city of perhaps in other areas of the Gaza Strip other than the north. And it's actually not a negative thing that we don't know exactly where IDF troops are located in each given moment. I do believe that as we speak IDF forces are raiding offices of senior Hamas officials. They're raiding Hamas bases and confiscating invaluable intelligence information. And so I think at the end of the day if you look at the achievements it's unbelievable. The IDF is operating in a really admirable way. Cooperating between Air Force and ground troops and we're going to see victory hopefully in the coming weeks. Looking at our screens right now you can see these are live images of this humanitarian corridor which is open right now. People listening to that warning from Israel for people to move from the northern part of the Gaza Strip to the southern part. Talk us through what you're seeing on the screen right now. The impact of what is unfolding there. It's incredibly unprecedented because we actually see Gazans heeding to IDF warnings. We saw 80,000 leaving yesterday and 50,000 others leaving the previous day. And you look at that and you think to yourself this is the IDF actually protecting the population of Gaza and caring for their safety much more in their welfare, much more than what Hamas does. We can see that masses are leaving the Shifa hospital, the base, the main hospital. And the picture is coming out with millions of SMS messages and millions of pamphlets dropped from the air, etc. We can see the IDF doing its utmost efforts to protect civilian population as Hamas does its utmost effort to hide behind them. I'm just going to say that these images only show to the world how much the IDF is keen to safeguard the population and does not want to see any bloodshed that is ultimately going to delay the goals of the war. You made mention of the Shifa hospital and it's such a significant landmark, so to speak, because above ground you have a hospital and under the ground you have a Hamas terror command center. Talk to us about what it means for troops to be able to get there without harming any civilians. I do believe that the IDF has the technical capacity of taking down a hospital and having, you know, bunker-busting bombs. But I don't think this is what the IDF is going to do, otherwise it would have done it a few weeks ago. It's not in the operational manual the Modus operandi to go and attack hospitals. And it does pose the IDF in a very complicated situation because the entire, you know, wild cards of Hamas are placed right underground in the bunker. We did hear Minister Galan say we have innovative methods of combating inside tunnels other than sending civilians in. But we do know that troops actually had fighting, face-to-face fighting with Hamas officials and terrorists inside those tunnels. I think at the end of the day, pressure will have to be made. They are downstairs inside the bunker, the entire Hamas senior leadership. They don't have no way out. So I do believe that even without getting in there we can make them either go out themselves or find other ways to put pressure on them so they, you know, they could even stay there much like Hitler did, eventually either taking their own lives or surrendering themselves. These are live images on your screen right now. This humanitarian corridor, people are continuing to move to the south, from the north of Gaza Strip to the south, via this humanitarian corridor. Or the humanitarian pauses raise a lot of questions. On the one hand, obviously it is significant and important to make sure that humanitarian needs are taken care of right now. Doesn't give time, though, for Hamas to regroup if the IDF agrees to stop fighting when it has some very serious goals to achieve right now. One thing that we should absolutely avoid is to have pretty announced ceasefires in the Gaza Strip, because Hamas knows that from 1 to 5 p.m., for example, it has a daily chance and opportunity, a window really, to rearm itself. This is the last thing we want. On the other hand we don't operate in a vacuum. We have to remember that. We have pressure on the part of the United States. We have pressure on the part of France and other players and actors in the region to allow the movement of civilians. Don't mistake Hamas that it is not aware of that and could send some of its operatives together with these convoys we're seeing on the screen right now. Don't mistake Hamas for not trying to smuggle its own operatives to the Rafah hospital in the Egyptian side of the city of Rafah, where Gazan civilians are supposed to be hospitalized, and Hamas has already attempted to sneak in some of its operatives in those lists of Gazans who need medication. So I do think at the end of the day, this is the part of chance we need to take. Allow these humanitarian corridors, maybe take into account that some Hamas terrorists are inside these people, but at the end of the day we cannot ignore international pressure. We have to do it in a more, in a less anticipated fashion, not to have predetermined announcement in a regular time every day, because this way the world can at least see that we are doing the best of our efforts to avoid civil and casualties. And we saw in recent days evidence of terrorists hiding inside ambulances certainly a very stark images for people to be processing or stay with us. As we are speaking right now, more sirens are sounding right now in southern communities in Kisufin as we speak quite staggering to think that while this is all happening, there is still money for rockets to come out of the Gaza Strip while we talk about humanitarian aid getting in and the needs for the communities inside. Still there is some kind of ability to send rockets to Israeli civilian towns and cities. Or stay with us, we've got more to discuss right now though, we're going up north. Correspondent Mary McAuliffe is in northern Israel and there are reports Mary that an anti-tank missile was launched just a short while ago in southern Lebanon towards an IDF post in the Manara area. What can you confirm? What is known? That's right, Benita. So the IDF saying that it was responding and striking the source of where they believe these launches were coming from. Hezbollah for its part announced that it had launched these strikes saying that they were trying to target these IDF forces who have been stationed on the border. We have seen them routinely try and hit some of these areas and IDF personnel along the border in the past few weeks, but especially in the months of injuries out, Hezbollah for its part though published a video that allegedly shows this strike on Israeli troops. There has not been any comment from the IDF at this point, but we do know that the IDF is striking harshly in response with ongoing artillery shelling reported inside areas of southern Lebanon, including in the Labuna area across the border. In the meantime though, Hezbollah is also announcing a number of deaths from members of its fighters, seven new added to the total. So that's what's happening since October 8th. There are no details giving about when or where these deaths take place. The statement coming from Hezbollah simply saying that they died on the road to Jerusalem, which is what they have been saying since the beginning of October 8th as they continue to try and link their actions here on their border and their targeting of Israeli civilians and Israeli military here to the ongoing operation in Gaza, but some sources close to Hezbollah are saying they do believe those fighters continue to maintain that it will address all threats of terror coming from any front in any of its borders, and we have clearly been seeing that happening not just in Gaza, here in Lebanon responding as well as in Syria, just like it did last night. So how then if it is true that 70 Hezbollah members have been killed in the time that this fighting has been unfolding in recent weeks, how does it all play into the concerns around the terror group getting fully involved potentially in this war? Well the message that we've heard out of Hezbollah so far, there was a widely anticipated speech by Hassan Nasrallah, the founder of the terror group last week in which he said it was expected if he was going to launch a further operation or say further escalation in the region. Instead what he said is Hezbollah seems content with what they have been doing, which is launching these very limited attacks and start to say of course there have been attacks and we have seen at least two Israeli civilians have died, but for the most part it is a pretty large number of people who have been killed in Hezbollah, but we have also seen death among Hamas for inside southern Lebanon. So these are some of the casualties that we've seen coming out, but for now it seems Hezbollah seems content to keep it this way, to not escalate to further. They say they are happy with what they've been doing, but for now it seems Hezbollah seems content to keep it this way, to not escalate to further. They say they are happy with what they've been achieving so far by the current situation, because the IDF has had to reposition a number of its troops who would otherwise be in the south fighting in this operation. They've had to repurpose and reposition iron dome batteries to move them closer to this border as we do continue to see these attacks. So that's how Hezbollah says it is helping the Palestinian cause, but for now we've seen definitely an unwillingness to get further involved. We know a larger operation with Israel is incredibly unpopular but that at over 70%. So Hezbollah must also walk this fine line being hosted operating inside Lebanon where the majority of the population, the majority of the country is against a further war with Israel and of course it's already decimated country suffering from financial collapse. The question is whether or not Hezbollah would be able to survive a war with Israel and whether or not Lebanon itself would also suffer tremendously from getting further involved in this conflict. Certainly many factors to be considered. Corresponded Mary and Israel, thank you very much for that update. Still with us in studio or Jesus Chara and we're going to unpack a little bit more about what is happening on the front in the north. But first once again I want to take a look at these live images right now. You're looking at thousands of people who are agreeing to move from the northern part of the Gaza Strip towards the southern part of the Gaza Strip. That advice coming from Israel, a warning for people to flee from where the fighting is unfolding in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Certainly very dramatic images seeing the number of people who are heeding that call right now. Your thoughts. Absolutely. I think it only shows once again how the IDF cares for the welfare of the people of Gaza much more than Hamas does. And I'll tell you something else. Hamas doesn't want to see these images on the screen right now. Hamas wants to see dead Gaza civilians. I'm saying it with unfortunately the IDF does not want to see civilian casualties. But once Hamas sees that actually this enables the IDF, the freedom of operation that it seeks, Hamas understands very well these images are actually serving the IDF and not Hamas himself. And so what we are seeing for example are Hamas terrorist attacks against their own civilians. We have seen Hamas snipers targeting a dozen women and children preventing them from going into these convoys. We see Hamas IEDs blasted in the heart of civilian convoys in stating roadblocks in Gaza in order to prevent cars from going through. So this cruelty by Hamas is not echoed enough not in the UN, not in international forms. I haven't heard one condemnation on the part of the UN Secretary General on Hamas targeting its own civilian population, killing Gazans and preventing them from evacuating because it serves its military goal. And we saw images also in recent days when the IDF got to residential buildings inside the Gaza Strip and there were weapon storage sites inside apartments quite staggering to see one was next to a children's bedroom very difficult to comprehend exactly what is unfolding as you say we are watching these live images on our screen right now while we do that or I want your take on what is happening up north. You heard my colleague Mary talking about the developments there. She called it a low intensity escalation across the Lebanon Israel border only in this part of the world do we compare the different levels of intensity. Hezbollah nonetheless is saying that seven of its fighters have been killed recently in Israeli strikes in Syria. We don't have confirmation that is just a report but nonetheless Hezbollah is claiming that seven of its members have been killed in fighting so far. How does that impact what is happening out of Lebanon and Syria as we speak. I think Hezbollah is underestimating the number of operatives killed. It is not as a disservice to the goal of Hezbollah to present a more let's say rosy picture than what's really going on. Let's remember Hezbollah has lost I think over a hundred operatives of its own because it's playing right under the threshold of full scale war. It does not interest in a full scale war with Israel at the moment. This is at least the estimate I believe but we can't delude ourselves to think that much like Hamas was so called restraint and before the October 7th we can't delude ourselves that Hezbollah is the third right now and so I think we need to be ready to every scenario but you did mention the Nasrallah speeches coming up tomorrow and Hezbollah is playing under a threshold of four the end of the day the Arab world is not appreciate Nasrallah. We can see only through humor you know Nasrallah with IDF uniform saying that everything is going to be safe comparing Nasrallah to Abur Al-Beda from Hamas saying this is the resistant and this is the contractor so we don't we see the Arab world actually mocking the attempts of Nasrallah to play tough but to be honest not living up to its own threats. He has climbed as we say in Hebrew climbing a very tall tree now he's trying to find a way down I think it all depends on Iran and Hezbollah to determine whether we see escalation in northern front. Many questions remain unanswered lots to watch, lots to unpack thank you so much for your insights as always thank you for being here in studio and now for more we speak to a survivor of the Hamas terror rampage on the 7th of October, Imri Bounim from Kibbutz, a man who fought against terrorists that day to defend his community and he joins us from Eilat Imri, thank you so much for speaking to us it's nearly five weeks since that Hamas terror assault those atrocities unfolding at Kibbutz and you are now in Eilat with thousands of other residents of the south who have been evacuated there and Eilat as we've been discussing in studio has been targeted with drones from Syria missile attempts in recent weeks from Yemen as well so to start how are you doing how are you feeling today it's pretty hard time for us we're missing home we're missing the life we had before so hard to stay for a long time as a refugees we really want to go back it's very very hard for us in new situation for us we want the children to go back to school we want to see our neighbors we want to see our neighbors again we want to host we want to have our garden our Kibbutz our life that we used to have before pretty hard and the fact that we don't know when it will finish make it even harder one can only imagine the hearts of the whole country are with you right now and everybody who is evacuated out of their homes waiting for word as to when they can go back take us back if you will to the 7th of October tomorrow is 5 weeks it's unbelievable your recollection starting with those rockets in the early hours what stands out most for you when you think back to what unfolded on that day well first when we heard the bombs so first we went to the shelter as usual but it was much harder and much stronger bombs and more than what we used to and once we heard some weapons light weapons close to us so understood that I need to take my weapons and to go and fight my home the children saw me taking my gun and run out and and I saw all the Kibbutz all our life all the toys of the children all the places where you see people from the Kibbutz and all our values all our culture and you understand that you must defend that and you must win against this horrible terror attack that wanted to come and to take our life and and then we started a fight and we saw that there are many many of them but we knew how to make them surprise every time from a different angle how to shoot them every time from a different spot the fact that we knew our house and we knew where we can be hidden from them and and always I will remember the brave and how smart was my partner that told me every time where to go and how to do it and even we were only two of us against maybe 40 people that we have seen in that day and later on we saw the other but yet so much brave of all the Kitatko menut that I saw in that day from my friends make me feel that we can do it we will make the Kibbutz safe and one day we will come back to there and we will make the community even greater how it used to be No doubt about that we are incredibly brave people like yourself risking your life to protect your family, your Kibbutz your community as well Emery everyone in the country is obviously hoping for news on the 239 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza for five weeks tomorrow what do you make of the efforts to secure their release what are your thoughts for me I feel that the world doesn't help enough the world supposed to say to these horrible terrorists bring them back now now their place is with us in their home with their families, with the community for us it's the people that we used to see all the time when there was in the schools around in the school regional council very good friends we are doing all the occasions all together and suddenly people that live with you becoming into names and these people supposed to come back now and for me the world doesn't do enough all the world there is no reason for these children for all women for innocent people they don't need to be in prison of Hamas definitely not and they want them back now all of that there is no doubt that the heart of the nation is hoping for that news is waiting for that announcements that somehow these people can be allowed to come home can be reunited with their families it's something that everybody is hoping for and as you say the world will put pressure for this to actually happen you made mention of your family they saw you get up on the 7th of October with your gun and leave to go and defend the rest of your community how are they doing very briefly how is your immediate family doing right now we are in a lot instead of our home and our toys and our backyard and our neighbors and everything we used to have instead we are now in a room at the refugees and doesn't really know what will happen with us in the future unbelievable unbelievable Imri Bunim our hearts are with you our hearts are with your family and our hearts are with the 239 hostages still being held and we wait for good news you are a survivor and a hero thank you so much for speaking to us thank you for sharing your story thank you for sharing our story and with that we wrap up this edition of Outbreaking News Coverage I'm Benita Devine in Tel Aviv thank you for watching 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 news 24 piív I'm Benita Devine coming to you live from Tel Aviv read a lute siren sounding in the southern Israeli community of near-rim moments ago warning of incoming warriors from the Gaza Strip yet again earlier on Friday on Friday, siren sounding in near oars, alumim and far azar. Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force is conducting strikes inside the Gaza Strip as it works to eliminate the Hamas terror threat on day 35 of the war, confirmation that several terrorists have been eliminated. Take a look at this footage just released by the IDF. This is one of the Hamas military posts. The IDF also raiding the office of the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. IDF troops also causing significant damage to the terror groups' underground tunnels. The country is also being targeted from other parts of the Middle East, including a drone attack out of Syria targeting a school in the southern resort city of Elat. Israel responding with strikes in Syria overnight, targeting the organization that launched the drone without giving details. Tomorrow marks five weeks since the Hamas terror rampage in southern Israel, in which more than 1,400 people were shot, tortured and butchered. The terror group is still holding 239 people hostage in Gaza, including babies, children, women and the elderly. Benjamin Netanyahu reiterating there will be no ceasefire unless the hostages are released. So for the latest on the ground, let's go live to our correspondent, Ariel Levin Waldman. He's in southern Israel, near the Israel-Gaza border. So red alert siren sounding in the rim just a short while ago, warning of rocket fire from Gaza to the south, from the north of Gaza Strip to the south via this humanitarian corridor. Or the humanitarian pauses raise a lot of questions. On the one hand, obviously it is significant and important to make sure that humanitarian needs are taken care of right now. Doesn't give time though for Hamas to regroup if the IDF agrees to stop fighting when it has some very serious goals to achieve right now. One thing that we should absolutely avoid is to have pre-announced ceasefires in the Gaza Strip because Hamas knows that from one to five PM, for example, it has a daily chance and opportunity, a window really, to rearm itself. This is the last thing we want. On the other hand, we don't operate in a vacuum. We have to remember that. We have pressure on the part of the United States. We have pressure on the part of France and other players and actors in the region to allow the movement of civilians. Don't mistake in Hamas that it is not aware of that and could send some of its operatives together with these convoys we're seeing on the screen right now. Don't mistake in Hamas for not trying to smuggle its own operatives to the Rafah Hospital in the Egyptian side of the city of Rafah where Gaza's civilians are supposed to be hospitalized and Hamas has already attempted to sneak in some of its operatives in those lists of Gazans who need medication. So I do think at the end of the day, this is the part of chance we need to take. Allow these humanitarian corridors maybe take into account that some Hamas terrorists are inside these people, but at the end of the day, we cannot ignore international pressure. We have to do it in a more, in a less anticipated fashion not to have predetermined announcement in a regular time every day, because this way the world can at least see that we are doing the best of our efforts to avoid civil and casualties. And we saw in recent days evidence of terrorists hiding inside ambulances, certainly a very stark images for people to be processing or stay with us as we are speaking right now more sirens are sounding right now in southern communities in Kisufim as we speak quite staggering to think that while this is all unfolding, there is still money for rockets to come out of the Gaza Strip while we talk about humanitarian aid getting in and the needs for the communities inside. Still there is some kind of ability to send rockets to Israeli civilian towns and cities or stay with us. We've got more to discuss right now though, we're going up North. Correspondent Mary McAuliffe is in Northern Israel and there are reports Mary that an anti-tank missile was launched just a short while ago from Southern Lebanon towards an IDF post in the Manara area. What can you confirm? What is known? That's right, Benita. So the IDF saying that it was responding and striking the source of where they believe these launches were coming from. Hezbov for its part announced that it had launched these strikes saying that they were trying to target these IDF forces who have been stationed on the border. We have seen them routinely try and hit some of these areas and IDF personnel along the border in the past few weeks but especially also in the past couple of days. We saw a similar incident a couple of days ago. We don't have reports of injuries out. Hezbov for its part though published a video that allegedly shows this strike on Israeli troops. There has not been any comment from the IDF at this point but we do know that the IDF is striking harshly in response with ongoing artillery shelling reported inside areas of Southern Lebanon including in the Labuna area across the border. In the meantime though, Hezbov is also announcing a number of deaths from members of its fighters. Seven new added to the total. So that's 70 Hezbov fighters who have been killed since the beginning of the outbreak of fighting since October 8th. There are no details giving about when or where these deaths take place. The statement coming from Hezbov simply saying that they died on the road to Jerusalem which is what they have been saying since the beginning of October 8th as they continue to try and link their actions here on their border and their targeting of Israeli civilians and Israeli military here to the ongoing operation in Gaza but some sources close to Hezbov are saying they do believe those fighters were killed overnight in Israel's air strikes in Syria. The IDF for its part continues to maintain that it will address all threats of terror coming from any front in any of its borders and we have clearly been seen that happening not just in Gaza here in Lebanon responding as well as in Syria just like it did last night. So how then if it is true that 70 Hezbollah members have been killed in the time that this fighting has been unfolding in recent weeks, how does it all play into the concerns around the terror group getting fully involved potentially in this war? Well the message that we've heard out of Hezbollah so far there was a widely anticipated speech by Hassan Nasrallah the founder of the terror group last week in which he said that it was expected if he was gonna launch a further operation or say further escalation in the region. Instead what he said is Hezbollah seems content with what they have been doing which is launching these very limited attacks it's not to say of course there have been attacks and we have seen at least two Israeli civilians have died but for the most part it is a pretty low intensity conflict here on the border. We see attacks coming from inside Southern Lebanon using anti-tank missiles, explosive drones, also rockets being fired at some of these Northern Israeli communities and then the IDF launching these precision strikes in response into these areas in Southern Lebanon attacking both the infrastructure but also the personnel belonging to Hezbollah. There have been at least 90 people who have been killed in Southern Lebanon. The vast majority of those have belonged to Hezbollah but we've also seen deaths among Hamas for inside Southern Lebanon. So these are some of the casualties that we've seen coming out but for now it seems Hezbollah seems content to keep it this way, to not escalate to further. They say they are happy with what they've achieved so far by the current situation because the IDF has had to reposition a number of its troops who would otherwise be in the South fighting in this operation. They've had to repurpose and reposition iron dome batteries to move them closer to this border as we do continue to see these attacks. So that's how Hezbollah says it is helping the Palestinian cause but for now we've seen definitely an unwillingness to get further involved. We know a larger operation with Israel is incredibly unpopular among the Lebanese people. Some polls have put that at over 70%. So Hezbollah must also walk this fine line being hosted operating inside Lebanon where the majority of the population and the majority of the country is against a further war with Israel and of course it's already decimated country suffering from financial collapse. The question is whether or not Hezbollah would be able to survive a war with Israel and whether or not Lebanon itself would also suffer tremendously from getting further involved in this conflict. Certainly many factors to be considered. Correspondent Mary Makalif, live from Northern Israel. Thank you very much for that update. Still with us in studio or Yisas Khara and we're going to unpack a little bit more about what is happening on the front in the north but first, once again, I want to take a look at these live images right now. You are looking at thousands of people who are agreeing to move from the northern part of the Gaza Strip towards the southern part of the Gaza Strip. That advice coming from Israel, a warning for people to flee from where the fighting is unfolding in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Certainly very dramatic images seeing the number of people who are heeding that call right now, your thoughts. Absolutely. I think it only shows once again how the IDF cares for the welfare of the people of Gaza much more than Hamas does and I'll tell you something else. Hamas doesn't want to see these images on the screen right now. Hamas wants to see dead Gaza civilians. I'm saying it with, unfortunately, the IDF does not want to see civilian casualties but once Hamas sees that actually this enables the IDF the freedom of operation that it seeks, Hamas understands very well. These images are actually serving the IDF and not Hamas himself. And so what we are seeing, for example, are Hamas terrorist attacks against their own civilians. We have seen Hamas snipers targeting at a dozen women and children preventing them from going into these convoys. We see Hamas IEDs blasted in the heart of civilian convoys in stating roadblocks in Gaza in order to prevent cars from going through. So this cruelty by Hamas is not echoed enough. Not in the UN, not in international forums. I haven't heard one condemnation on the part of the UN Secretary General on Hamas targeting its own civilian population, killing Gazans and preventing them from evacuating because it serves its military goal. And we saw images also in recent days when the IDF got to residential buildings inside the Gaza strip and there were weapons storage sites inside apartments quite staggering to see one was next to a children's bedroom. Very difficult to comprehend exactly what is unfolding as you say. We are watching these live images on our screen right now. While we do that or I want your take on what is happening up north. You heard my colleague Mary talking about the developments there. She called it a low intensity escalation across the Lebanon-Israel border only in this part of the world. Do we compare the different levels of intensity? Hezbollah nonetheless is saying that seven of its fighters have been killed recently in Israeli strikes in Syria. We don't have confirmation that it's just a report but nonetheless Hezbollah is claiming 70 of its members have been killed in fighting so far. How does that impact what is happening out of Lebanon and Syria as we speak? I think Hezbollah is underestimating the number of operatives killed. I think it is not as a disservice to the goal of Hezbollah to present a more let's say rosy picture than what's really going on. Let's remember Hezbollah has lost, I think over 100 operatives of its own because it's playing right under the threshold of full scale war. It does not, maybe it is not interested in a full scale war with Israel at the moment. This is at least the estimate I believe but we can't delude ourselves to think that much like Hamas was so-called restrained and before the October 7th, we can't delude ourselves that Hezbollah is deterred right now. And so I think we need to be ready to every scenario but you did mention the Nasrallah speeches coming up tomorrow and Hezbollah is playing under a threshold of four. The end of the day, the Arab world does not appreciate Nasrallah. We can see only through humor Nasrallah with IDF uniform saying that everything is going to be safe. Comparing Nasrallah to Abu Al-Beda from Hamas saying this is the resistant and this is the contractor. So we don't, we see the Arab world actually mocking the attempts of Nasrallah to play tough but to be honest, not living up to its own threats. He has climbed as we say in Hebrew, climbed a very tall tree. Now he's trying to find a way down. I think it only depends on Iran and Hezbollah to determine whether we see an escalation in northern front. Many questions remain unanswered. Lots to watch. Lots to unpack. Aurya Sashara, thank you so much for your insights as always. Thank you for being here in the studio. And now for more, we speak to a survivor of the Hamas terror rampage on the 7th of October. Imri Bonim from Kibbutz, a man who fought against terrorists that day to defend his community. And he joins us from Elat. Imri, thank you so much for speaking to us. It's nearly five weeks since that Hamas terror assault, those atrocities unfolding at Kibbutz. And you are now in Elat with thousands of other residents of the South who have been evacuated there. And Elat, as we've been discussing in studio, has been targeted with drones from Syria, missile attempts in recent weeks from Yemen as well. So to start, how are you doing? How are you feeling today? It's really hard dying for us. We are missing home. We are missing the life we had before. And it's so hard to stay for a long time in there. And as a refugees, we really want to go back. It's very, very hard for us in new situations for us. And we want the children to go back to school. We want to see our neighbors again. We want to host. We want to have our garden, our Kibbutz, our life that we used to have before. Really hard. And the fact that we don't know when it will finish make it even harder. One can only imagine the hearts of the whole country are with you right now and everybody who is evacuated out of their homes waiting for word as to when they can actually go back. Take us back, if you will, to the 7th of October. Tomorrow is five weeks. It's unbelievable. Your recollection starting with those rockets in the early hours, what stands out most for you when you think back to what unfolded on that day? Well, first, when we heard the bombs, so first we went to the shelter as usual. But it was much harder and much stronger bombs and more than what we used to. And once we heard some weapons, light weapons, close to us. So I understood that I need to take my weapon and to go and fight my home. The children saw me taking my gun and run out. And I saw all the Kibbutz, all our life, all the toys of the children, all the places where you see people from the Kibbutz and all our values, all our culture. And you understand that you must defend that and you must win against this horrible terror attack that wanted to come and to take our lives. And then we started a fight. And we saw that there are many, many of them. But we knew how to make them surprise every time from a different angle, how to shoot them every time from a different spot. The fact that we knew our house and we knew where we can be hidden from them. And always I will remember the brave and how smart was my partner that told me every time where to go and how to do it. And even we were only two of us against, maybe four people that we have seen in that day. And later on we saw the other. But yeah, so much brave of all the Kitatkonenud that I saw in that day from my friends make me feel that we can do it. We will make the Kibbutz safe. And one day we will come back to there and we will make the community even greater how it used to be. No doubt about that. So many incredibly brave people like yourself risking your life to protect your family, your Kibbutz, your community as well. Emery, everyone in the country is obviously hoping for news on the 239 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza for five weeks tomorrow. What do you make of the efforts to secure their release? What are your thoughts? For me, I feel that the world doesn't help enough. The world supposed to stay to these horrible theories, bring them back now. Now, there are places with us in their home, with their families, with the community. For us, it's the people that we used to see all the time when there was in the schools around, in the school, regional council, very good friends. We're doing all the occasions all together. And suddenly people that live with you becoming into a names. And these people supposed to come back now. And for me, the world doesn't do enough. All the world, there is no reason for these children for all women, for innocent people. They don't need to be in prison of Hamas, definitely not. And I want them back now, all of them. There is no doubt that the heart of the nation is hoping for that news, is waiting for that announcement that somehow these people can be allowed to come home, can be reunited with their families. It's something that everybody is hoping for. And as you say, hoping that the world will put pressure for this to actually happen. You made mention of your family. They saw you get up on the 7th of October with your gun and leave to go and defend the rest of your community. How are they doing very briefly? How is your immediate family doing right now? We are in a lot. Instead of our home and our toys and our backyard and our neighbors and all our boots. And everything we used to have, instead we are now in a room at the refugees and doesn't really know what will happen with us in the future. So unbelievable, unbelievable. Emery Bonim, our hearts are with you. Our hearts are with your family. And our hearts are with the 239 hostages still being held. And we wait for good news. You are a survivor and a hero. Thank you so much for speaking to us. Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for sharing our story. And with that, we wrap up this edition of Outbreaking News Coverage. I'm Benita Devine in Tel Aviv. Thank you for watching. Made For Me, a unique concept in Israel. Custom made men's fashion to your measurements. Made For Me, designer of all your events. Schedule your appointment at www.madeforme.co.il. Made For Me, official dresser of I-24 News. 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Entrevistas exclusivas reportes desde la zona de guerra. La reacción de los países hispano parlantes. News 24, el único medio en Español que te mantiene informado y conectado con la comunidad latina en Israel. News 24, únicamente en I24 News. I'm Benisa Levine, coming to you live from Tel Aviv. Red alert sirens sounding in central Israel, just a short while ago. Warning of incoming rocket fire yet again in Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Gevatayem, Rishon, Lizzion and many other centers. Two women have been injured by shrapnel and have been rushed to Igelov hospital. Sirens also sounding earlier again in southern communities, including near Oz, Alumim and Kfar Azar. Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force is conducting strikes inside the Gaza Strip as it works to eliminate the Hamas terror threat on day 35 of the war. Confirmation that several terrorists have been eliminated. Take a look at this footage released by the IDF. It's one of the Hamas military posts. The IDF also raiding the office of the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. IDF troops also causing significant damage to the terror groups' underground tunnels. Now the country is also being targeted from other parts of the Middle East, including a drone attack out of Syria, targeting a school in the southern resort city of Elat. Israel responding with strikes in Syria overnight, targeting the organization that launched the drone without giving details. Now tomorrow marks five weeks since the Hamas terror rampage in southern Israel in which more than 1,400 people were shot, tortured and butchered. The terror group is still holding 239 people hostage in Gaza, including babies, children, women and the elderly. Benjamin Netanyahu reiterating there will be no ceasefire unless the hostages are released. So for the latest, let's go up north. We go to our correspondent Mary Makalov. She joins us from northern Israel near the border with Lebanon and reports that an anti-tank missile was launched from southern Lebanon towards an IDF post in the Minara area earlier on Friday. Also reports that Hezbollah says seven of its members were killed in a strike in Syria. What is confirmed? What is known? That's right, Benita. So we just know that seven fighters, Hezbollah today, releasing the number saying that's how many were killed. They did not say when and where they were killed, simply saying that they died on the road to Jerusalem. That's the euphemism they've been using since October 8th when Hezbollah first joined this battle, saying that they are doing it in support of Hamas and the Palestinian people. And throughout this time, we've seen them continue to launch strikes across the northern border from inside southern Lebanon into these communities, many into communities, but also targeting Israel military infrastructure. That's been the focus of most of these Hezbollah strikes over the past few days. There have been rockets, of course, earlier in the week, but what we do continue to routinely see is these anti-tank missiles being fired from inside southern Lebanon towards both IDF posts in areas where IDF personnel are housed at the moment. We've seen Hezbollah publishing videos of such strikes. The IDF has not commented on those, but we're also hearing from sources within Hezbollah that it is believed those seven fighters were not killed inside southern Lebanon and not killed in a flare-up of tensions that's happened over the past few days, but rather those were killed in that drone strike, that airstrike that you mentioned that was in response to this drone that was fired inside a lot. The IDF saying this morning that it launched these retaliatory strikes inside Syria, targeting an unspecified group that it said was behind this drone strike, but now we're hearing that it's very possible that it's coming from outside Hezbollah from within their group inside Syria. Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah speaks tomorrow, another major address from the Chief of the terror organization. What are the concerns right now? There was a lot of concern when he spoke last week. Bonita, everybody, this entire region was clearly on high alert. We felt that here in the north when we were here to watch his speech. This speech, I don't think there are that many high expectations and high alerts. Certainly the Israelis will also be watching this speech and keeping a careful eye on what he's going to say, but I think first many of his supporters or many of the Palestinians who thought the Hezbollah was going to draw in this war for real and get more involved in this conflict. I think we're left disappointed by Nasrallah's speech last week. He essentially said that for now they're very happy with what the group is doing now by having the IDF has to re-divert a number of its resources away from the south, away from that operation to here, this area. They say that for now, that's the end of their escalation, but we'll see what happens. Correspondent Mary Makala from Northern Israel, thank you very much for your coverage on this day. Thanks, Mary. Stay safe. And now, for more, we welcome to studio Gornen Ben Yitzchak, former Shin Bet agent. Thank you so much for being here on this day. So many developments and different parts at the same time here in Tel Aviv, rocket sirens sounding just a short while ago, incoming rocket fire. We could hear the interceptions overhead and at the same time, as we heard from Mary, concerns about what's happening in the north out of Hezbollah, Syria as well, and of course the latest in the Gaza Strip. Your take on what is unfolding at the same time right now? We see that as much as the IDF is pushing Hamas in Gaza and getting deeper into Gaza, Hezbollah is trying to help Hamas. And yet, I think that Nasrallah is still trying not to get into a full war with Israel. In the end, it's a decision that is taken not by here in Nasrallah, it's taken by Iran. But if what Mary said is right and the attack, the drone attack was by Hezbollah, it shows that Hezbollah is pushing the line and is like taking a risk. And this also raises the risk of a war in the northern border. Some people thought that after Nasrallah's last address last week, it seems like he's not trying to go into war with Israel, but he's still obliged into helping Hamas and this is what we see. It's very interesting to see that Israel failed to take down the drone that came from Syria. In the beginning, we thought that it's another attack from Yemen, but this time it came from Syria through Jordan. And the fact that they managed to go through Jordan without the Jordan army to take the drone down and Israel that couldn't take the drone down, I need to remind. The drone fell in a school and children were in the school. They were in the shelter, but they were in the school. So this, you know, something like this, if God forbids the kids would be outside and some of them will get hurt or even killed, maybe this is something that can change all the pictures. So luckily it didn't happen, but we see that Hezbollah is pushing the line and it brings us closer to a very high tension in the north. And as we're speaking about tensions in the north, sirens are sounding at Arab al-Aramshir up north as well, and as we were discussing just a short while ago in central parts of Israel and earlier in the day in the south. So talk to us about the capabilities that Israel has in terms of course the iron dome missile defence system for the most part intercepts the rockets that come through. Having said that, two women are taken to hospital just a short while ago after shrapnel fell on them. You smoke about what happened in Elat as well. People need to be vigilant regardless of where they are in the country right now. Very much, you know, for almost three days we didn't have here in the area of Tel Aviv, alerts, but I was on my way here to the studio when the alerts came on. I, you know, I was driving and for one short second I thought, okay, what am I going to do to stop? And I said, yes, okay, this is what we need to do. We need to stop. We need to take a shelter. I went underneath a bridge and I think that all of us we should remember that we have the interception rate is very high, but it's not one hundred percent. We need to take a shelter and we do not need to help them by not taking a shelter when there is an alarm. I don't know, of course, what happened in Tel Aviv and, you know, maybe they were hit when they took the shelter but we still see that Hamas is able launching missiles although Israel is deep, as I said, is deep in Gaza but they still have the ability, first of all, to launch missiles from the southern part of the Gaza Strip and also from Gaza. Israel is not everywhere in Gaza so the risk is still there and I guess that they are still keeping their power to the minute that they'll feel that they are with the backs to the wall. Several terrorists have been eliminated inside the Gaza Strip by Israel in recent days and yet are you surprised that there is still the ability to send rockets out of the Strip? Israel is making more and more progress according to the reports in terms of its moves to try to eliminate Hamas and yet every single day rockets are sent towards civilian areas in Israel. Right, but we need to remember that we're talking about three to four thousand militias that were killed during the operation. They have maybe a bit less than 40,000 militias. Many of them are underneath Gaza. Gaza has another city underneath the main city so most of them are hiding there. We need to say that IDF didn't meet all the power of Hamas yet so they have their ability, they're waiting, they know that Israel is trying to take them out of the tunnels but it's a very complicated issue to bring them out of their tunnels and bunkers and keeping their power. They still have lots of missiles. They have the ability to launch them. They decide how and when to do it because they know that they're still not in enough danger in order to use it. They'll use it when they'll feel that Israel is now going down into the ground. It's so interesting that there are calls for more humanitarian aid to be coming into the strip yet there definitely is enough money for weapons. Clearly that is where the financing has been focused. Stay with us. We've got more to unpack right now though. Let's go to our correspondent Ariel Levin-Waldman. He is in southern Israel near the Israel-Gaza border and he filed this update a short while ago. You can take a quick look behind me. You can see something burning over there. There are plumes of smoke from when the targets were first hit. Then that black plume there is a sort of secondary, something that caught on fire. Likely burning fuel could have been a Hamas vehicle, could have been any sort of storage facility that includes fuel. Probably not burning big enough to be a major storage facility but definitely at least the vehicle size, multiple vehicles in that last strike. We saw four initial plumes likely from four smaller sub munitions that were dropped but if it does that's the 155s all around us speaking running their rounds out into Gaza right now. Now we do know they have been hitting some major terror infrastructure over the course of the past few days. The IDF mentioned that 130 tunnel shafts have been hit in recent days in the operation. That's not quite the same as hitting the tunnels themselves. The shafts are the access points to the tunnels. The easiest thing to hit for those are actually mostly being taken out by ground forces. Just about every single brigade and all the combat engineers have what they're calling a tunnel clearing kit. Roughly 30 pounds of high explosive. They stick in the hole and blow the entrance to Kingdom come. Nothing comes out of that again, not without some heavy equipment anyway. One of the big plans right now is to seal off all those entrances and make sure anybody inside is forced to flee from whatever's left or stays down there and dies and it's not Israel's problem anymore. So that's the ground operation against the infrastructure. When it comes down to the commanders themselves there has been some big news announced. That would be the elimination of several medium to high ranking commanders of the Nookba Force. Remember that the Nookba Force was a team of elite Hamas commandos that on October 7th were the leaders of the force that ransacked southern communities committing crimes against humanity, horrific massacres, heinous torture all around Israel's border communities, the massacre of well over a thousand civilians and about 300 soldiers on top of that. So what Israel vowed to do was to eliminate every last member of them and they just took out a company level commander as well as a brigade commander that were both involved in planning the attack and the massacre at Kabut Zikim as well as the Zikim base. That's part of Israel's both strategic goal, that's the elimination of the Nookba Force and to gain competency and faith in the IDF's ability to deter the enemy once again as well as a tactical level goal because these are the people giving orders to the commandos on the ground the people giving orders to where to place ambushes. To start killing those commandos they start losing their ability to coordinate their movements in the ship which means that Israel can pick up the pace which is a critical policy moving forward as pressure mounts on Israel to reach some sort of a quarter ceasefire while Israel can't do that anytime soon which means they need to start getting as much done as possible in as short a time as possible eliminating those commandos. Good way to start. Correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman with that update from southern Israel just a short while ago still in studio. Your take on the developments that we just heard Ariel describing inside the Gaza Strip. Much progress has been made but as you alluded to earlier there's still a long way to go in this war. There's a long way to go but we need to remember the leader of the military wing Mohammed Def all of them are hiding underneath the ground we didn't see them and their soldiers didn't see them outside. We did see from the other hand we saw the head of the Shin Bet and we saw Chief of Staff of Israel inside deep in Gaza all the soldiers saw that our leadership is inside and this is I think a big difference between us and Hamas they are hiding and sending other people to die but our generals and our commanders are inside with the soldiers I must say as a civilian I don't even recall during the Second Intifada I saw the head of the Shin Bet and Ramallah or any other place Ronan Barr inside with Herzl Alevi, Chief of Staff very important thing for the soldiers for everybody to see and this also means and I think this is what they try to tell Hamas that we will keep chasing them until we bring them Iche Sinouar the first one because I think that before we finish with Iche Sinouar and Mohammed Def we cannot call victory I don't like the word victory but they are talking in the media about victory if we are talking about victory bringing to justice Iche Sinouar and Mohammed Def is a must The other important victory and I agree with you the word is very vague it's very difficult to define this juncture is bringing back 239 hostages talk to us about what it means right now we are seeing all these developments the fighting according to the IDF is going well but the concern is what this all means for the 239 people somewhere across the Gaza Strip potentially in tunnels, potentially dispersed it's not clear, no updates we have two ways that should lead us to the same place one is the diplomatic way Qatar and maybe Egypt and the United States for sure in other countries that should help Israel to bring Hamas to some kind of an arrangement to release hostages the other way is the military way because if they understand that we are going after them if they understand that this is the only thing they can give us in order to push us away a little bit probably they will be willing to bring or release some of the hostages the hostages and I think I said it before in your studio this is the most important thing because these people, civilians and soldiers but let me talk for a minute about the civilians about the babies, about the children, about the elderly that were neglected by Israel the reason why they are in Gaza is because we as a country we failed to keep them safe and this is number one goal to bring them back and I think that what Israel is doing now is trying to push hard Hamas and make them or even force them to release the hostages we saw in the beginning that they released a few now for quite a few days nothing happened I hope it will happen big concern as time goes by people that are sick, people that need to get medicine big, big concern You have made mention of the way Iran is actually pulling the strings at different centers we as you are discussing are watching to see what will happen with the hostages but there are also developments on many different fronts and we are seeing now the idea of saying that the Alat attack was spearheaded by the IRGC so we are talking about the drone that came out of Syria it appears now that it seems that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards was involved explain, does this surprise you what does this mean, what is the significance of that development the war that we are facing now is a war against Iran they are using proxies all over the Middle East they are using proxies in Yemen they are using proxies like Hamas and Hamas became a proxy of Iran financed by Iran and gets all kind of help from Iran Hezbollah of course all kind of different groups with different names in Syria all of them are proxies of Iran Iran is trying to do few things first of all to take off some pressure because of the nuclear issue secondly they try to prevent any agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia because they understand that an agreement between the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia is something that they really don't want to have and I guess that also the timing why they needed Hamas to attack Israel in this timing has some connection with the fact that Israel and Saudi Arabia became closer and closer with the help of the United States so Iran is the problem Iran is running the show all over the Middle East and every time we see something happening whether missiles from Gaza, drone from Syria, missiles from Yemen Iran in the end is sending those people orchestrating all these different developments at the same time Gonen Ben Yitzhak thank you as always for your insights and thank you for being here in studio so support for the hostages that we've been talking about is emanating from many parts of the world posters have been put up in several centres on buildings and landmarks pictures of those being held by the Hamas terror group and in some parts of the United States vandals have been tearing them down more in this report after walls throughout the world began to be covered with posters of the kidnapped Israelis to raise awareness of their plight they began to disappear almost immediately as supporters of Hamas and the Palestinians began tearing them down and in some cases even vandalizing them first why are you taking down pictures of missing children? so why are you taking that down for? because it doesn't need to be there why are you ripping that off? look what you're doing don't colonize somewhere else the videos of the poster vandals have gone viral another front opened this one dealing with information in the public sphere the preservation of the important campaigns started by the artists Deda and Nitzan Minz how long will it last in your opinion? I think no more than a few hours people keep tearing it down but we will continue to put it back on Simcha Itzik and Shira did not know each other before but like many people around the world they organize themselves through a WhatsApp group to continue hanging the posters around the city terrible, it's terrible yesterday in Columbus Square on 59th my 8 year old daughter and I went to Hank's sign and this morning when I got up to see it it was gone but I saw new pictures and people come on their own initiative and hang posters while they're putting up the posters some passersby congratulate them on their important work it hurts, it hurts on the one hand to see that there are people who have no awareness of what really happened there or what really happens there every day and they just ignore it whether it's because it's a trend or they have no idea what happened there how can you tear down a poster of innocent civilians who have been kidnapped and disappearing are asking great care is being taken to document them and clearly record their faces in this case these sisters became famous and appeared on the cover of the New York Post exposing the faces has become an online campaign as more and more names are revealed along with their place of work or school some were fired, some were suspended and some who were caught and reacted violently were also arrested Joav Davis founded the popular web page Jews of New York and every day he gets documentation of the people who tear down the signs never in the city have we encountered the phenomenon of posters being torn down not even for a missing dog the reason it's important for us to name and shame, actually find the name and embarrass them, shame them on the networks is because these people are dangerous people and now for more we welcome to studio Lihu Talmour co-founder of an initiative called 710 stories he's a law student from Reichmann University Lihu thank you very much for being here thank you so much for having me Lihu tell us about this initiative talking about the atrocities that happened on the 7th of October well at first we tried to understand where all the testimonies like there happened so many so many people were there at the Shabbat it was awful and we saw that no one is actually gathering all the testimonies together so we start making phone calls and thanks to the communication in Reichmann we start to invite people in and start talking and start hearing all the first account testimonies and start getting it all around and starting this huge archive of those testimonies it's incredible to think it's nearly five weeks on and every day more and more details are emerging about what happened it's endless give us an idea of the response that you've been getting all the stories we can see online it's actually amazing people from all over the world showing sympathies to the people who've been there this party in the Nova Rave which was a huge massacre and we have a lot of people from there coming and tell their testimony we can see people from around the world showing their sympathies to the people to the Israeli people well when you hear someone from your age talking about the horosities that he has been through you cannot stay silent something happening and the people at that music festival would all be your age who were students and young people wanting to celebrate to dance and we all know what in fact did unfold trauma and speaking about trauma is such a crucial part of the healing are you finding that people are needing to speak about what happened it's amazing that you say that it's actually like a video therapy we can see that people coming and tell their story after like an hour an hour and a half they say like a huge relief they feel like it's like a speeded out first time the whole story that we stay and listen just listen put the headphones and the mics and listen we don't ask too many questions the first question that we ask is just how are you tell us about your story and the word just come out and the reactions are amazing even for the survivors themselves it's an incredible initiative we wish you all the very best so important to have these stories told and as you say also if there's some form of healing for the people who are talking about their ordeal then that certainly is going a long way to making a difference down the line of course and I want to use this platform to call everybody to check our Instagram page seven ten stories and look and share those stories the world needs to know the world needs to hear our story the Israeli story Lee Huhtal Mora thank you so much for being here thank you so much for having me as always appreciate your insight thank you so much and that is a wrap for this edition of our breaking news coverage I'm Anita Levine in Tel Aviv thank you for watching stay tuned there have been countless memorable moments broadcasting with I-24 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 the control room 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 Austin Ostrovsky an international human rights lawyer and their responses were completely different Michael Herzog was calm and composed and on the other hand Austin 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 that we 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 this is breaking news edition I'm Benisa Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv red alert siren sounding in central Israel just a short while ago warning of incoming rocket fire yet again in Tel Aviv Hotelia Gevatayem and many other centres two women have been injured by shrapnel and have been rushed to Iqalov hospital sirens also sounding earlier again in southern communities including near Oz, Alumim and Kfar Azar meanwhile the Israeli Air Force is conducting strikes inside the Gaza Strip as it works to eliminate the Hamas terror threat on day 35 of the war confirmation that several terrorists have been eliminated take a look at this footage released by the IDF it's one of the Hamas military posts the IDF also raiding the office of the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar IDF troops also causing significant damage to the terror groups underground tunnels now the country is also being targeted from other parts of the Middle East including a drone attack out of Syria targeting a school in the southern resort city of Elat Israel responding with strikes in Syria overnight targeting the organisation that launched the drone without giving details now tomorrow marks five weeks since the Hamas terror rampage in southern Israel in which more than 1400 people were shot, tortured and butchered the terror group is still holding 239 people hostage in Gaza including babies children, women and the elderly Benjamin Netanyahu reiterating there will be no ceasefire unless the hostages are released so for the latest let's go up north we go to our correspondent Mary McAuliffe she joins us from northern Israel near the border with Lebanon and reports that an anti-tank missile was launched from southern Lebanon towards the most in the Menara area earlier on Friday also reports that Hezbollah says seven of its members were killed in a strike in Syria what is confirmed what is known that's right Benita so we just know that seven fighters Hezbollah today releasing the number saying that's how many were killed they did not say when and where they were killed simply saying that they died on the road to Jerusalem that's the euphemism they've been using since October 8th when Hezbollah first joined and the Palestinian people and throughout this time we've seen them continue to launch strikes across the northern border from inside southern Lebanon into these communities many into communities but also targeting Israel military infrastructure that's been the focus of most of these Hezbollah strikes over the past few days there have been rockets of course earlier in the week but what we do continue to routinely see is these anti-tank missiles being fired from inside southern Lebanon towards both IDF posts in areas where IDF personnel are housed at the moment and Hezbollah publishing videos of such strikes the IDF has not commented on those but we're also hearing from sources within Hezbollah that is believe those seven fighters were not killed inside southern Lebanon and not killed in a flare up of tensions that's happened over the past few days but rather those were killed in that drone strike that airstrike that you mentioned that was in response to this drone that was fired inside a lot the IDF saying this morning that it launched these retaliatory strikes inside Syria targeting an unspecified group that it said was behind this drone strike but now we're hearing that it's very possible that it's coming from outside Hezbollah from within their group inside Syria Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah speaks tomorrow another major address from the chief of the terror organization what are the concerns right now there was a lot of concern when he spoke last week Bonita everybody this entire region was clearly on high alert we felt that here in the north when we were here to watch his speech this speech I don't think there are that many high expectations that he's going to have but I think for many of his supporters or many of the Palestinians who thought the Hezbollah was going to draw in this war for real and get more involved in this conflict I think we're left disappointed by Nasrallah's speech last week he essentially said that for now they're very happy with what the group is doing now by having the IDF has to re-divert a number of its resources away from the south away from that operation to here this area they say that for now that's the end of their escalation but we'll see what happens correspondent Mary Makala from northern Israel thank you very much for your coverage on this day thanks Mary stay safe and now for more we welcome to studio Gornen Ben Yitzchak former Shin Bet agent thank you so much for being here on this day so many developments in different parts at the same time here in Tel Aviv rocket sirens sounding just a short while ago incoming rocket fire we could hear the explosions overhead and at the same time as we heard from Mary concerns about what's happening in the north out of Hezbollah Syria as well and of course the latest in the Gaza Strip your take on what is unfolding at the same time right now we see that as much as the IDF is pushing Hamas in Gaza and getting deeper into Gaza Hezbollah is trying to help Hamas and yet I think that Nasrallah is still trying not to get into a full war with Israel in the end it's a decision that is taken not by Nasrallah it's taken by Iran but if what Mary said this is right and the attack the drone attack was by Hezbollah it shows that Hezbollah is pushing the line is like taking a risk and this also raises the risk of war in the northern border some people thought that after Nasrallah's last address last week it seems like he's not trying to go into war with Israel but he's still obliged into helping Hamas and this is what we see it's very interesting to see that Israel failed to take down the drone that came from Syria in the beginning we thought it's another attack from Yemen but this time it came from Syria through Jordan and the fact that they managed to go through Jordan without the Jordan army to take the drone down and Israel that couldn't take the drone down I need to remind the drone fell in a school and children were in the school they were in the shelter but they were in the school so this something like this God forbid the kids would be outside and some of them will get hurt or even killed maybe this is something that can change all the pictures so luckily it didn't happen but we see that Hezbollah is pushing the line and it brings us closer to a very high tension in the north and speaking about tensions in the north sirens are sounding at Arab Al Aramshe up north as well and as we were discussing just a short while ago in central parts of Israel and earlier in the day in the south so talk to us about the capabilities that Israel has in terms of course the iron dome missile defense system for the most part intercepts the rockets that come through having said that two women are taken to hospital just a short while ago after Israel fell on them you smoke about what happened in Elat as well people need to be vigilant regardless of where they are in the country right now very much you know for almost three days we didn't have here in the area of Tel Aviv alerts but I was on my way here to the studio when the alerts came on I was driving and for one short second I thought what am I going to do to stop I said yes ok this is what we need to do we need to stop we need to take a shelter I went underneath a bridge and I think that all of us we should remember that we have the interception rate is very high but it's not 100% we need to take a shelter and we do not need to help them by not taking a shelter when there is an alarm I don't know of course what happened in Tel Aviv and maybe they were hit when they took the shelter but we still see that Hamas is able launching missiles although Israel is deep as I said is deep in Gaza but they still have the ability first of all to launch missiles from the southern part of the Gaza Strip and also from Gaza ok Israel is not everywhere in Gaza so the risk is still there and I guess that they are still keeping their power to the minute that they will feel that they are with their backs to the wall. Several terrorists have been eliminated inside the Gaza Strip by Israel in recent days and yet are you surprised that there is still the ability to send rockets out of the Strip Israel is making more and more progress according to the reports in terms of its moves to try to eliminate Hamas and yet every single day rockets are sent towards civilian areas in Israel. Right but we need to remember that we are talking about 3 to 4,000 militias that were killed during the operation they have maybe a bit less than 40,000 militias many of them are underneath Gaza Gaza has another city underneath the main city so most of them are hiding there we need to say the IDF didn't meet all the power of Hamas yet so they have their ability, they are waiting they know that Israel is trying to take them out of the tunnels but you know it's a very complicated issue to bring them out of their tunnels and bunkers and they are keeping their power they still have lots of missiles they have the ability to launch them they decide how and when to do it because they know that they are still not having enough danger in order to use it they will use it when they will feel that Israel is now going down into the ground it's so interesting that there are calls for more humanitarian aid becoming into the strip yet they definitely is enough money for weapons clearly that is where the financing has been focused stay with us we've got more to unpack right now though let's go to our correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman and he filed this update a short while ago we've got some smaller sub munitions that were dropped on that area and you're hearing the loud booms of some outgoing artillery I'm not sure if the mic is picking that up but if it does that's the 155 is all around us speaking and sending their rounds out into Gaza right now now we do know they have been hitting some major terror infrastructure over the course of the past few days the IDF mentioned that 130 tunnel shafts have been hit in recent days in the operation so the access points to the tunnels the easiest thing to hit those are actually mostly being taken out by ground forces just about every single brigade and all the combat engineers have what they're calling a tunnel clearing kit roughly 30 pounds of high explosive they stick in the hole and blow the entrance to kingdom come nothing comes out of that again not without some heavy equipment anyway one of the big plans right now is to seal off all those entrances and make sure anybody inside is forced to leave the fort and that's not Israel's problem anymore so that's the ground operation against the infrastructure when it comes down to the commanders themselves there has been some big news announced now it would be the elimination of several medium to high ranking commanders of the Nukba force remember that the Nukba force was a team of elite Hamas commandos that on October 7th were the leaders of the force that ransacked southern communities committing crimes against humanity massacres, Hamas torture all around Israel's border communities the massacre of well over a thousand civilians and about 300 soldiers on top of that so what Israel is about to do was to eliminate every last member of them and they just took out a company level commander as well as a brigade commander that were both involved in planning the attack and the massacre at Kabud Zikim as well as the Zikim base that's part of Israel's both strategic goal that's the elimination of the Nukba force and to gain competency and faith in the IDF's ability to deter the enemy once again as well as a tactical level goal because these are the people giving orders to the commandos on the ground the people giving orders to where to place ambushes you start killing those commandos they start losing their ability to coordinate their movements in the ship which means that Israel can pick up the pace which is a critical policy moving forward as pressure mounts on Israel to reach some sort of a quarter ceasefire well Israel can't do that anytime soon it's done as possible in as short a time as possible eliminating those commandos good way to start correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman with that update from southern Israel just a short while ago still in studio your take on the developments that we just heard Ariel describing inside the Gaza Strip much progress has been made but as you alluded to earlier in this war there's a long way to go but we need to remember the leader of Hamas Ichesi Noir the leader of the military wing Mohammad Def all of them are hiding underneath the ground we didn't see them and their soldiers didn't see them outside we did see from the other hand we saw the head of the Shin Bet and we saw chief of staff of Israel inside deep in Gaza that our leadership is inside and this is I think a big difference between us and Hamas they are hiding and sending other people to die but our generals and our commanders are inside with the soldiers I must say as a civilian I don't even recall that during the Second Intifada I saw the head of the Shin Bet in Ramallah or any other place Ronan Bar inside with Herzl Alevi chief of staff we need to think for the soldiers for everybody to see and this also means and I think this is what they try to tell Hamas that we will keep chasing them until we bring them Ichesi Noir the first one because I think that before we finish with Ichesi Noir and Mohammad Def we cannot call victory I don't like the word victory but they are talking in the media about victory if we are talking about victory bringing to justice Ichesi Noir and Mohammad Def is a must the other important victory and I agree with you that word is very vague it's very difficult to define at this juncture is bringing back 239 hostages talk to us about what it means right now we are seeing all these developments the fighting according to the IDF is going well but the concern is what this all means the 239 people somewhere across the Gaza Strip potentially in tunnels potentially dispersed it's not clear no updates we have two ways that should lead us to the same place one is the diplomatic way Qatar and maybe Egypt and the United States for sure in other countries that should help Israel to bring Hamas to some kind of an arrangement hostages the other way is the military way because if they understand that we are going after them and if they understand that this is the only thing they can give us in order to push us away a little bit probably they will be willing to bring or release some of the hostages the hostages and I think I said it before in your studio this is the most important thing because these people civilians and soldiers but let me talk for a minute about the civilians about the babies, about the children about the elderly that were neglected by Israel the reason why they are in Gaza is because we as a country we failed to keep them safe and this is number one goal to bring them back and I think that what Israel is doing now is trying to push hard Hamas to make them or even force them to release the hostages we saw in the beginning that they released a few now for quite a few days nothing happened I hope it will happen big concern as time goes by people that are sick people that need to get medicine big big concern you have made mention of the way Iran is actually pulling the strings at different centers we as you are discussing are watching to see what will happen with the hostages but there are also developments on many different fronts and we're seeing now the idea of saying that the A-light attack was spearheaded by the IRGC so we're talking about that drone that came out of Syria it appears now that it seems that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards was involved does this surprise you what does this mean what is the significance of that development the war that we are facing now is a war against Iran they are using proxies all over the Middle East they are using proxies in Yemen they are using proxies like Hamas and Hamas became a proxy of Iran financed by Iran and gets all kind of help from Iran Hezbollah of course all kind of different groups with different names in Syria all of them are proxies of Iran Iran is trying to do few things first of all to take off some pressure because of the nuclear issue secondly they try to prevent any agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia because they understand that an agreement between the United States Israel and Saudi Arabia is something that they really don't want to have and I guess that also the timing why they needed Hamas to attack Israel in this timing has some connection with the fact that Israel and Saudi Arabia became closer and closer with the help of the United States so Iran is the problem Iran is running say running the show all over the Middle East and every time we see something happening whether missiles from Gaza, drone from Syria missiles from Yemen Iran is in the end is sending those people orchestrating all these different developments at the same time thank you as always for your insights and thank you for being here in studio so support for the hostages that we've been talking about is emanating from many parts of the world posters have been put up in several centers on buildings and landmarks pictures of those being held by the Hamas terror group and in some parts of the United States vandals have been tearing them down more in this report after walls throughout the world began to be covered with posters of the kidnapped Israelis to raise awareness of their plight they began to disappear almost immediately as supporters of Hamas and the Palestinians began tearing them down and in some cases even vandalizing them first why are you taking down pictures of missing children so why are you taking that down for cause it doesn't need to be there why are you ripping that off look what you're doing don't colonize somewhere else the videos of the poster vandals have gone viral another front opened this one dealing with information in the public sphere the artists Deda and Nitzan Minz I think no more than a few hours people keep tearing it down but we will continue to put it back on Simcha Itzik and Shira did not know each other before but like many people around the world they organized themselves through a WhatsApp group to continue hanging the posters around the city terrible it's terrible yesterday in Columbus Square on 59 my 8 year old daughter and I went to Hank's sign and this morning when I got up to see it it was gone but I saw new pictures and people come on their own initiative and hang posters while they're putting up the posters some passersby congratulate them on their important work it hurts it hurts on the one hand to see that there are people who have no awareness of what really happened there or what really happens there every day and they just ignore it whether it's because it's a trend or they have no idea what happened there how can you tear down a poster the posters disappearing are asking great care is being taken to document them and clearly record their faces why are you ripping these down tell me what you know about these hostages tell me what you know about these hostages that they're kidnapped by a terrorist organization how do you know that for sure these are innocent civilians in Israel f**k you f**k you what f**k these are our family members in this case these sisters became famous and appeared on the cover of the New York Post using the faces has become an online campaign as more and more names are revealed along with their place of work or school some were fired, some were suspended and some who were caught and reacted violently were also arrested why are you taking those down what's your name Joav Davis founded the popular web page Jews of New York and every day he gets documentation of the people who tear down the signs never in the city have we encountered the phenomenon of posters being torn down not even for a missing dog the reason it's important for us to name and shame actually find the name and embarrass them shame them on the networks is because these people are dangerous people and now for more we welcome to studio Lihoo Talmore co-founder of an initiative called 710 stories he's a law student from Reichman University Lihoo thank you very much for being here thank you so much for having me tell us about this initiative what about the atrocities that happened on the 7th of October well at first we tried to understand where all the testimonies like there happened so many people were there at Shabbat it was awful and we saw that no one is actually gathering all the testimonies together so we start making phone calls and thanks to the communication in Reichman we start to talking and start hearing all the first account testimonies and starting this huge archive of those testimonies it's incredible to think it's nearly 5 weeks on and every day more and more details are emerging about what happened it's endless give us an idea of the response that you've been getting all the stories we can see online it's actually amazing people from all over the world showing sympathies to the people who've been there in those party in the Nova Rave which was a huge massacre and we have a lot of people from there coming and tell their testimony we can see people from around the world showing the sympathies to the people to the Israeli people well when you hear someone from your age talking about the atrocities that he has been through you cannot stay silent something happening and the people at that music festival will be your age people who were students and young people wanting to celebrate to dance and we all know what in fact unfolds trauma and speaking about trauma is such a crucial part of the healing are you finding that people are needing to speak about what happened it's amazing that you say that it's actually like a video therapy we can see that people coming and tell their story after like an hour, an hour and a half they say like they feel like they speed it out first time the whole story that we stay and listen, just listen put the headphones and the mics and listen we don't ask too many questions the first question that we ask is just how are you tell us about your story and the word just came out and the reactions are amazing even for the survivors themselves it's an incredible initiative we wish you all the very best so important to have these stories told if there's some form of healing for the people who are talking about their ordeal then that certainly is going a long way to making a difference down the line of course and I want to use this platform to call everybody to check our Instagram page 7, 10 stories and look and share those stories the word needs to know, the word needs to hear our story, the Israeli story Nihu Talmora, thank you so much for being here Nihu Talmora, thank you so much for being here Nihu Talmora, thank you so much and that is a wrap for this edition breaking news coverage I'm Denise Levine in Tel Aviv thank you for watching, stay tuned to lead in a state of war this is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking more than 100 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 strong everyone is showing up this is the unity BC is now BO before October this past month since bloody Saturday since the world as we knew it ceased to exist the most difficult question here in Israel was is how are you the answer you usually get like everyone, yes like everyone with this thick dock of sorrow butchered and yet together in grief and pain and hope and strength together we have lost so many we have lost so much and so a month on for all of us who died and survived and born anew on October 7th it became clear than ever before this is no social contract that keeps us together that bounds us but a shared destiny covenant and it is up to us to make it not just a covenant of the past but one of the future for the sake of all those who are no longer here but forever will be with us the question is not what will be but who we will be because we have rediscovered if you will our true secret weapon our resilience and the Israeli light amidst all this darkness is and will continue to be shining oh so bright and yet what do you say when there are no words how do you bid farewell to someone you never even knew so many lives ended on October 7th every person a full world of course there were so many of them so many funerals and so many eulogies to be written and yet so little people left to actually write them so writers all over the country volunteered to use their own weapon and honor them with the words to accompany all of them in their final journeys and we're now joined here in studio by screenwriter Tal Miller Gili Dolev also here with us and we'll be speaking to you shortly Gili and by zoom we're also joined by Nili Balsini who lost her husband Yoram in the heroic battles of Kibbutz Beri thank you all of you for joining us on this broadcast and first before and after all else Nili we are so so sorry for your loss irony has no mercy and you were actually writing an obituary to a friend when you got the message on your beloved husband yes that was I was in the Kibbutz we arrived the geologists but in a different way we don't talk about the death but about the living and who was the person how he lived and what he did with his life so I was interviewing one of the families and I was holding my phone at the time because because I knew I was you know I was expecting the call to hear what happened to him and when we were talking about the families no so I got the phone and I went to hear that my husband was there too but then somebody somebody of the group of the writers volunteered to do the inquiries and write the geology so yeah so one of them is Tal Miller who is here with us in Studio Neely it's Neely knows firsthand but it's so hard to recap the life of a person you know not to speak about someone you didn't so where do you start how do you write an obituary for a stranger well it's a very good question I have to say it's weird to say I was privileged but I feel privileged taking part of this amazing and very painful project I used to be a speech writer before I worked as a screenwriter it never I never felt it was so emotional like it is now I feel like I fell in love with people who I never met throughout their beloved ones and the stories they told about them it's like building a puzzle of someone's life you get you get like 40 different questions you need to ask the closest people to the audience and then you try to build this story you ask yourself how would this person wish to be remembered and what are the things that you would be most proud of and you try to build it together with these beloved ones it's a very challenging mission I'm not sure I'm using the right term here but both of you to an extent professional obituary writer is at this point what would you say is the driving force when trying to write an obituary is it the sorrow is it the attempt to comfort those who are present at the funeral is it the pursuit of creating meaning to the life that are now gone well it's a very good question but I agree that the most important thing is talking about life not only about death we always say that each individual is a universe and there were so many universes that we lost in this terrible tragedy we try to look at their life as like they wish to observe their own life if it was possible I believe that a good eulogy is something that can only be written about someone specific and we try to find the right anecdotes that tell their own story in a way that no one no one else can we can write about anyone else so that's the challenge and Nili so many members of the kibbutz we keep on trying to explain to our foreign audiences what a kibbutz means such a powerful strong community and all of a sudden you had to bid farewell to dozens overwhelming can't even describe that there were days with the 17 funerals some of them parents and two kids and one day was a grandmother and their son and a granddaughter so this is overwhelming and they were because we cannot bury the people in our place because we are all refugees by now so we had to put them in temporary places and they were in succession in one hour after another and this was this was incredibly difficult for everyone because it was so intense and families and friends and all over the country and some it cannot be described in words I think because because also in some of the scenes they were still using bombs around and the noises all around yeah you had to bury your friends while the war is still ongoing yeah that's not easy yes please nearly keep on going I don't know you can't describe this I think in words it's only if you take pictures of that if you videotape then you can see you can see the amount of flowers and the amount of people crying and also there are times in that not all the families take it in the same way although it's in succession but each funeral is different so to that point exactly and tell to that point you were forced to find words and I know it's a tough one and yet I think that what I would like to ask you the most what makes a person who is what makes his life his own and what makes his death his it's a very challenging question especially when we're referring that tragedy so many people die in the same day can tell you that I ask myself what would be meaningful for the same individual for each individual that we are writing about for example one of the person I wrote about was religious as a child and the last one the last thing he did before he died was putting a Torah book on his pillow just before he died and that was something that I felt was meaningful because it relate to his own history and biography I try to look at specific issues that makes this person unique for example someone else was color blind and that really shaped his entire personality he could combine different shades but no one would think they are matched and that was a huge part of his the way he looked at himself and the world and that was a part of the eulogy so we try to go for the specific issues and anecdotes that tells someone managed to portray the his life story and his character and you've mentioned the word history and in this respect I don't think it's for us it's not for us to attach meaning to other people's lives it's for us to describe them and to show who they were and the story is enough I think you don't have to it doesn't have to be something you know a lesson for the future generations it's just one person no heroes and no ordinary people died there ordinary people so I think it's enough that we show the future of who they were and respect that to honor them that way and before we thank you both we cannot ignore the historical gravitas I would say of this moment these obituaries will be remembered for eternity not just as personal stories but as stories of this nation to what extent did you feel like a historian Tal well I really agree I don't look at myself as a historian I look at myself as a storyteller and I try to tell the story in a way I examine it in the way the beloved ones of each individual look at it and I think I really agree the tragedy here is there are so many different stories and our goal was to portray it to tell it as accurate as we can and hopefully we did you did very well you did very well I can tell you that because I know the people and I know you did very well thank you so much and really it's really the least we can do as writers as people in this country right now to help in this terrible tragedy that it's really still impossible to describe and yet you were hesitant to using this word to describe how you feel at the beginning to be part of the final phase of their journey Neely, before we we thank you would you like perhaps to share a month on what what keeps you going I'm not sure I know but I think it's it's being a part of a community that's very strong and very empowering and this is where I belong and I have I take part in whatever is necessary now so this is what I do sticking together this is what keeps all of us going Neely Basinay we're sending a big hug from here thank you so very much for speaking to us we appreciate it tell me thank you very much for coming thank you for having me yes and we will take a deep breath now because the next video you're about to see will probably continue to resonate for a while if not forever beforehand mother is it okay now to cry yes girl yes thin hands yes now it is time to cry yes angel of plucked lashes and hair yes now it is already allowed already allowed you are you were obedient and wise and in the dark you did not cry and even so no ear would hear you grew your teeth in silence and a star from above will testify how you tore the sea again apart look at how in a tiny vibration the first glee sparkles in your eye this is a part of a poem written by arguably the greatest Israeli poet Nathan Altelman after World War II based on one of so many such stories of a little girl who was hiding with her mother for so many years Jewish children were not allowed to cry this country was founded so they could so they can be children on October 7th once again Jewish children were not allowed to cry on a peaceful Saturday morning at their home in the south mama and papa bear watched their little baby bear sounded outside baby bear perth his ears good morning baby cop the cop looked for advice don't worry mama bear said it covered his eyes the baby yelled in fear don't worry little one mama bear is here they're getting near I'll make my love mama bear is here we're joined now here in studio by Gili Dolev creator and co-director of the mama bear movie we've just watched Gili thank you so very much for coming it's not the first time I'm watching it and yet every time it hits again I think that many of us felt like Roberto Bernini and life is beautiful trying to mask the horror with some childish tenderness and here it's the exact opposite it's this pure moment of a mother talking her baby in bed how did it all come to be so I think first of all just hearing the previous two guests talking it's just so powerful and I think if there's a glimmer of hope in all this it's like how people come together and the great sense of community and this all mama bear happened because of a lot of great people, great artists like TV execs felt the need to do something and to give voice to those who don't have a voice at the moment and especially the kids held in Gaza and the rest of the hostages a good friend and a colleague of mine who was still is accompanying one of the families who have kids held in Gaza she felt with a very sort of strong instincts that animation will be able to deliver a message in a way that will be different and in a way that will be heard maybe above the general noise and so she mentioned the idea to me and I think we brainstormed it for 15 minutes which is shorter than anything I think I've ever done before and then we involved Shirley Oran who's a senior TV exec in this business and we thought about it a little bit more and then I just pretty much approached a lot of my friends are also artists and animators, they usually work on you know preschool shows my background is directing and creating preschool shows I've recently directed Cocoa Millen this could not be more different to something like that and Peel Animation is a great Israeli studio of of her insurance because it came bored and you know contributed all the time and efforts and people who work in the studio along with animators from all over the world yeah all recruited we've seen this across the board in all sectors of Israeli society from all really all fields and all endeavors Gili why bears and not humans that's a really it's a great question we started off when I first thought about it I thought about a mother and a son with wolves coming into the house you know just all idea of a fairy tale gone very wrong like you know the green brothers and you know with the wolves and then when I was talking to Leora as a storyboard artist about the idea he said like maybe they should all be animals and I thought that was a great idea and I felt like bears and the idea of a mama bear protecting her cub resonating a way that we all understand so to an extent to make the story even more human you had to make it non-human you phrased it in a much better way than I've ever sort of articulated it it's exactly that I think when something animation as a medium is great for you know for doing doing something with a little disguise that you don't expect and then kind of like going you know for like the soft spot and I think it catches you off-guard and I think that's what happens you don't expect it to start which here our house is sort of like very gentle voice and you think you are kind of in for like this kind of fairy tale and very quickly it goes like the visual language here is like a classic children book and then it hits so and that was exactly the purpose and Ashera Simon-Hoyes was the art director and the designer who designed this like we talked very early on about the idea of creating a picture book and because those picture book visuals that you know every parent kind of reads to their kids before they go to bed and now those kids are in Gaza and they don't have that and it's something that just like again we all understand and it resonates and it cross-cultural as well so people in Israel, people abroad they should all understand it on a basic human level. Yeah so we do want to take a quick look into your next project taken. Gilly tell us about this not less shocking. So the idea here is trying to give a very specific voice to the hostages in Gaza by taking their individual videos and from again every day sort of activity, those are real home videos of the hostages and having a moment where they are literally gone so we and the aim is to create one for every hostage held in Gaza with Ilanid Chervigotsky and who's helping make contact with all the families because we get the consent of everyone in Syria around Avi Balili's doing the music and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is already on board to help distribute it. We do hope that they will use it in all their platforms of course. What feedbacks are you getting so far? So on Mamaba it certainly hit a nerve I think it touched a lot of people in Israel and more importantly in a way because it's important to touch people here but we're all in the same camp. I think there's such a wave of anti-Semitism at the moment around the world that all we can do is trying to get people to understand the scale of the horrors that happened here and we're dealing with people exactly like them. It could be the brother, the child, the sister, mother, father, grandparents exactly. So that's the only thing we can do we just hope that their voice is heard and brought back home as soon as possible. Gero Duleva I do hope that very soon you will go back to your ordinary job of making kids happy. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming here. We appreciate it. Thank you. Now brothers in arms it's not just a term, not mere lip service. If this month taught us anything is that the Israeli people are a force of nature. Our correspondent Wisha Pilar joined this civil organization that became the de facto government of the people for the people by the people. Here in this picturesque not far from the Gaza border masses of volunteers have gathered to assist the hard-hit people of the south. On Sunday morning we created this control unit we didn't know exactly what to do we decided to set up this headquarter here, a place close to the Gaza border. This headquarter which was established right after the brutal Hamas assault on October 7 doesn't only help with supplies and food but also with evacuation missions. I-24 News joined the team of elderly people who came to support the people of the south. We have three missions today. The first one is to bring people from Netivot. The second one is to bring a package to Beri and the third is to evacuate a woman and bring her to Jerusalem. Each unit here has four people and two cars in each car we have someone with a weapon and a driver. Our first stop was at Netivot about 10 kilometers from the Gaza Strip which has been bombarded by rockets. The next destination is Kibbutz Berry. This was one of the main targets of the Hamas slaughter. The team is asked to deliver a package to one of the residents here. The road is closed by the IDF and the team brings the package to one of the soldiers. One of the volunteers here is Shauli Levi whose granddaughter was kidnapped and taken to Gaza. We take action and join the civil effort. My heart hurts now but as you can see the activity here is distracting and that's the most important thing for me right now. Ever since the war erupted we are seeing more and more initiatives like this where residents are taking action. It's just one more example of the uniqueness and strength of the Israeli society. It's a short break now but when we get back we continue this special edition a month since October 7th since everything changed from devastation to resurrection. A few minutes and we'll be back stay with us. 1,500 people murdered and more than 3,000 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. Welcome back to this special edition. As said, no, it's not BC anymore, it's BO before October. Nine-month-old fear B-Bus is now 10-month-old. Yes, a month in captivity, a month being held hostage by terrorists over 241 people living in this continuous nightmare. They do not know what's going on in the world and what's going on in the nightmare. They do not know when or who is coming to get them back home. Our children, our grandparents, our sisters, our brothers, no matter how many times I'm saying that this past month, the mind, the soul cannot grasp that. They do not know that this nation's heart will not be beating properly until they are all back home and we want to welcome now here in our studio the director, Mr. Ari Fulman. Thank you so very much for joining us. Before we begin, we want to take a look at one of dozens of such videos you have directed, sir, interviewing families of the hostages. Bring them home now. Let's take a look. After we saw we saw it on TV when he was sitting there in the middle of the night. Yes, there was a sound. I was surprised. We realized that when we were talking about the shooting, the consequences we need to understand, we understand that if we take them in our lives, they will think that they will see that they see them. At least we have had an experience of their presence. We miss them. We miss them so much. We all miss them. We miss them so much. It's just a nice feeling. But first of all, this specific clip was directed by Jossmyne Keany. We shared each one of us directed 15 of them. It was was organized really fast by producers Madal Zamir. Two, three days after the massacre, October the 7th, so around the 9th, we were already organized in a studio with researchers, crew, everything in order to bring the cry of the families. Taking consideration, obviously, that they were totally neglected by the government, especially in the first week, no one contacted them. They didn't know what was going on. Long days for many of them to even know if their loved ones are hostage or missing. Yeah, many of them didn't know. Unfortunately, while we were shooting, we were getting identifications of some of the missing people and their beloved ones, they realized that they were identified as dead. So that was also during the process of the first few days. A lot of confusion, chaos, all chaos, especially coming from the rave party, rain. But most of all, I felt that they were absolutely deserted, neglected, lonely, aside from friends and families. But in general, they had no clue what was going on. This was very tough and strong. So it sounds, and correct me if I'm mistaken, Mr. Fulman, that perhaps the trigger objective was to film those videos so the world can see. But to an extent, the more pressing objective was to make those families feel heard. Yes, to echo the cry of the families worldwide and also here, to the government here. And to put it first in the agenda of what is going on, so they will not be neglected. And they will be part, or even if they're not part of what is going on, they should be released first. This was the idea after five days. But no clue what was going to happen. Obviously, everybody understood that there's going to be a ground invasion. And with the families, it was for them crucial to make a statement that first we bring back the kids, everybody. And then we go on with the fight. It didn't work out so far, as they even don't have names coming from the UN. And I think today we're like one month. And I think, from my point of view, I think the tone should be different, should be changed. Here domestically, not necessarily. For me, I think it's especially domestically, because I think the tone was really trying. It was a begging tone. It was, please bring me my son back home, or my mother. And I think it should be demanding now. Yeah, not now, but yesterday. Well, how do you try to communicate or to convey to foreign audience the scope, the scale, the depth of horror, of cruelty, essentially the shattering of humanity, of trust in humanity? That's for certain. Well, I think it's the job of the government. And I think if we hand here a strong ministry of public information, or who could echo what happened, because there is so much documentation today, endless. They didn't use it. And I think it's one of the reasons that this unbalanced response, especially in Europe and in Ivy League universities in America, occurred. And it was not surprising, because the truth was not really echoed outside. Well, to that point, since you brought it up, Mr. Fulman, you're obviously one of the most successful Israeli directors of the world. And profoundly intertwined with global Western film industry, liberal artists, I can use many more adjectives here. But bottom line, are you disappointed by the community of humanists worldwide? You mean the left wing liberals? Yes, I do. Yes, in a way, but I think it was very much expected. And I'm fully aware of so many problems that occurred in the first week still now, the non-functioning government ministers, and especially just echoing, revealing to the world what happened here on October 7th. That's a biblical event, in our perspective. It's a biblical event, 1,300 people slaughtered within seven, eight hours. I don't think it was echoed, and the way it was done. And we still expect people in Europe, when they're exposed to all the material coming from Gaza, we're not, by the way, to be balanced. But maybe they can't be balanced until they are not informed about everything that happened. In this respect, you've mentioned the documentation. In real time, by the massacre itself, by so many people, how will a collective memory of such, rightfully, putting it in the gravitas of a biblical event, how can a collective memory be created with so many different angles of documentation? I think it will take time, and it will take time. As it will take a long, long time to heal, the process is going to be so long, we don't get it. We still don't get in what kind of event we are in. When we just try to absorb everything that happened, but it's too fast, there will be, culture-wise, there will be endless numbers of documentations. But for doing that, you need the process of time. How to assess it, and how to rewrite the memory again. I did it in my films, and it was very interesting, because when you're used to, like, covering or making a movie about a war that happened 20 years ago, it's one thing, because the story is built out of memory in different juxtapositions. And when you come to the event like now, and so fresh, there are no filters at all. And you never dealt with easy topics, far from it, from the Lebanon War to the Holocaust. You're well versed with dealing with trauma or healing trauma throughout, that's for certain, through cinema. This national trauma hits different. It's in a scale that we do not understand. Look, I was supposed to shoot a fiction movie about the Yom Kippur War in March. So that's four months from today. I can't see it happening. It's like with no comparison. Anything that is written in that script. How can you compare it to a mother calling a TV station, asking the broadcaster like you to send the army to rescue her son? That's not comparable. So how do you foresee art healing this nation? I will rephrase my question. And I will dare to ask, will we be OK? It will be OK. I think I always felt in the last 20 years that for something to move here, we need a catastrophe. But there's no way me or anyone else could have imagined how far this will go. No way, no way on earth. No one expected it. But I think there will be new order here. I hope it will bring new order. It's too early to see that. But one thing is for sure, we cannot sustain the life that we lived here for the past 20, 30 years. This is going to change somehow for whatever direction, to whatever direction, it's going to change dramatically. Yes, the world has changed completely, no longer exists. And a new one will be built. Mr. Harry Folman, thank you so very much for coming here. We appreciate your time. Thank you, sir. Now where the signs of the battle became a battlefield, a battleground of their own, there are so many heartbreaking and stomach-turning visual images from this past month, as we've just been discussing. But there's one that actually changed the course of the war itself, kidnapped. You've all seen it, those posters that are hung and torn and then hung again all over the world, making sure that there's so many, too many Israeli hostages will stay in global consciousness literally in their faces. And we want to head now to New York to speak with the woman behind its artist, Nitsan Mitz. Thank you so very much, Nitsan, for joining us. Well, how did it all start? So basically it started by me, E, Dede, and Tal Huber. It's not only me, it's thousands of volunteers, but in the beginning, Dede and I were here in New York and on the 7th of October, we received the traumatizing news and as two street artists and artists, we decided that we should do something immediately. So we contacted Tal Huber, which is a designer from Israel and together we created the format of the poster, the kidnapped posters, which you can see on top, you can see the word kidnapped and the picture of the real person below. And this is how we started. We started guerrilla. And Dede and I went with 2,000 copies and posted them all over Manhattan. And this is how it started, basically, one month ago. And Nitsan, I do want us to talk about the design of those posters. It is quote unquote basic, right? And references off, obviously, the familiar missing signs in the U.S., a name, a picture, as you've said, and this chilling title kidnapped. And yet, these are not memorials or eulogies. They're very much demanding. The those who see it to be present and to understand it, we're talking about something that is still happening now. Yes, this was the purpose because all the Israelis that live abroad, just like me, I'm a visitor. I don't even live here. Feeling so isolated and so far away from home is a devastating feeling for us. We feel so lost and so unconnected. And we wanna scream on behalf of our country and behalf of our people. So, yes, this is like our, this is how we managed to scream in the streets through this campaign. And because the only goal of this campaign is to really attract people to see our suffering and our hostages that are still held in Gaza and to bring awareness. And by this awareness, we really hope to bring public pressure on politicians, on decision makers to help make the negotiations quicker as soon as possible. This scream, you'd find it, truly comes out of those posters and was well heard all over the world, became a global phenomenon in a matter of split seconds, really. And yet, your posters seeking to tell a story became this story. We've all seen those images from Western capitals all across Europe and the US, propensity and activist film tearing them down. And then, again, they were filmed doing so. What do you think about this, again, those posters becoming an actual war front? You know, I never expected that. I never expected our hostages to still remain in Gaza more than two days. Not in my worst dreams, I would imagine that this campaign would last one month and that it would become a target for radical Islamists. And, you know, it's not what I planned, but I think it's also very important. The main goal of this campaign is to bring awareness. But by accident, this campaign also raised, it kind of raised the issue of antisemitism because with this campaign, we discovered that we're surrounded by people that really, really hates us. Hates us that much that they are willing to rip our posters down. And by saying ripping our posters down, I mean us, physically us. So now we know, we finally know the truth about what's going on in the world, how hated we are, and we need to be prepared for that all over the world. Yeah, again, you describe it so spot on, this act of tearing the poster. I think that I can fairly say we all felt it in our bodies as if our souls are being torn apart. Artist Natsan means I do hope that the next time we speak and that their next artistic project will be celebrating their homecoming. Amen. And wait. Yes, all of us. Thank you so very much for speaking to us. Thank you. And still very much on topic of walls of hope, graffiti artist art too, making sure that the hostages will not be erased. Huge graffiti with the words free pink on a highway close to Tel Aviv. This is not just an artistic expression, but a direct message to Hamas by the graffiti artist community, which is trying to save one of its members. It's so big, it's huge. And so many cars are passing by there. It's coming into your eyes, to your soul, to your heart and you take it with you to the rest of the day and you think about it and you talk about it with others. So it's like when you want to raise awareness to something good or something that's important, it's a great place to do it. This artwork was created by several members of the graffiti community who wanted to raise awareness of the abduction of their friend in Barheiman, the Nova Rave, doing the Hamas onslaught on October 7th. She's now supposed to start her fourth year of studying art. She's really creative and she's really sweet, such a nice young woman, really. This is not the first tribute of the graffiti artist community in Israel. Ever since the Hamas massacre, there have been different gestures, such as this wall painting of Joe Biden, or one dedicated to Rachel from Ophakim, one of the heroes of the current crisis. The entire graffiti scene in Israel enlisted for this mission, and we are going to create more and more graffiti which will raise awareness and call for the release of all abducted Israelis. The situation here is very difficult. Even speaking in front of the camera is very unusual for me. We call on all the graffiti artists in the world to join forces in one message, to bring back all the abducted people. Members of the graffiti scene say they are aware of the power of their artwork on social media. One example is the famous British artist Banksy, whose graffiti art is worth millions of dollars. Over the years, Banksy has shown his support for the Palestinians. I like Banksy and I like his work, but I feel right now it's a different situation and if I could meet Banksy, I would try to talk to him and kind of just explain that this situation that we have right now, as I said before, it's different than the actual conflict. I feel like it's a separate thing. Now it's like terror against the rest of the world. Friends of Inbao also made t-shirts and other items bearing her nickname. They all hope for her fast return. Until then, they'll continue to spread the word. World renowned singer Akinom Nini was one of hundreds of Israeli artists who without even sparing a single thought to it left everything and headed out to the field, touring the country from North to South, appearing before survivors. And no matter how many times I'm using this term, I will not get used to it. And soldiers, of course, at the front lines and now she is here with us. But first, let's take a listen. Come on, never cash action. Most of you probably know her. As Noah is here with us, coming to our studios, a street from the ground up from the place where many Israelis, refugees in their own country are currently at. And Noah, you know, music is healing. We all know that. But I must admit that in the early days of the war, at least in those first days, it felt that every chord, every sound is tainted with blood, with our blood. So what do you sing when your throat is choking? That's a good question. I think there are many people who still can't listen to music. I live in Shafim, which is a kibbutz in the middle of Israel. And our kibbutz is hosting hundreds of people, families from Kva'azah. So I spend a lot of time with them. It's right across the street from my own house. And I accompany families. I go sometimes to Shivas, just sit with people and talk with them and hug them. And some of them say, I would love to hear you sing. I can't hear any music. Music triggers too much emotion. On the other hand, for other people, music is, as you said, it's healing. And I feel privileged to be able to do that. It's just such an honor, really. Gildor and I have been going every night to a different place, north and south, sometimes in hotels and elats, like some of it was on screen before, which are hosting refugees, survivors. Yeah, that's a hard word to say. It's a really hard word to say for Jews. And sometimes kibbutzim, that the kibbutz movement throughout Israel has been amazing. People have opened their hearts and their homes. And we've also done fundraisers. We did a fundraiser to raise money for Qfar Azza, of which people from all over the world were viewing this online thing that we did on Facebook. And so yeah, it's the least we can do. So music, not just healing, but connecting. Yes. And Al Green was asking, how do you mend a broken heart, right? But how do you mend a million broken hearts? Very slowly, step by step. I think that Israel, I don't even think that we understand the road ahead of us. It's going to be a long, long road of healing for everybody. But I have to also be an optimist, because I am. She won Pellis was my hero. And he said that optimists and pessimists all die the same, but they live differently. And I prefer to live as one. I think I'm not the first one to say on this show, or any show, that it's incredible to see the solidarity that has come from this nation. I swear it makes me so proud to be Israeli. I'm always proud to be Israeli. But in this sense to see, and not only that, but you also see the connection between the Ha-Raidim and the secular population, between the Arab-Israeli population, then the Druze and the Jews and everyone, even the refugees that I've seen, the Earthrians who are volunteering and all over, they want to be part. It's incredible to see. That's one. And also, I think that this incredible crisis must lead us all to it. A crisis needs to be an opportunity for growth and for a new light for Israel. And I definitely see that coming. Yeah, from the ashes, flowers, bloom, bloom again. And I need to see, I've always been a person connected to peace. I believe in peace. This hasn't made me believe less in peace. I believe strongly in peace. And I think that, I hope, I pray that this will bring that awareness to all of us that peace is the only way. I do want to talk about what you've been doing day in, day out, and in the past month. So many artists did the same. And it feels, to an extent, part of this nation's DNA because those scenes of singers performing in front of three soldiers or 350 years ago in the Yom Kippur War, a painful one, and yet part of the Israeli-ness. Yeah, it's beautiful. It's a beautiful part of being Israeli, this solidarity that we feel for each other, this coming together and looking out for each other. I mean, I'm sure that we're not the only nation that behaves in this way when there's tragedy. But I think that since this country, since its inception, has experienced so much tragedy and so much hardship, we've had many, many opportunities to do that. The classic singers, like Shoshana Damarian, Esther O'Farriman, and Yaffa Yarkoni were known for being the war singers. They were there with their beautiful voices, singing for the soldiers. I myself served in the IDF in Lakhatsveit in an army band. So I did a lot of that in my military service. And now I find myself, again, like you said, with all of Israel's artists, giving of ourselves to bring people together. Of war, this is a very active scene, and we need to get in the car as we're talking. More than 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped. Help us, we don't want to do it. 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. We're joining us on our rolling coverage of day 35 of Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. A short while ago, sirens ringing on Israel's northern border with two UAVs intercepted. Prior to that, a barrage of rockets fired out of Gaza into central Israel, sending millions of Israelis to shelter. Two women were wounded from shrapnel and had been rushed to hospital. Not quiet on the southern front as well, with multiple rocket launches towards southern border communities near the Gaza border. Meanwhile, the IDF continues its ground operation in Gaza, reportedly surrounding a hospital where Hamas terrorists are barricaded. A lot of people are feeling ill. In these visuals, you just saw right there, depicting shots fired by terrorists at civilians who attempted to flee the area. Also, take a look at this footage released by the IDF. This is one of the Hamas military posts. IDF troops also causing significant damage to the terror group's underground tunnels. The country is being targeted from other parts of the Middle East as well, including a drone attack out of Syria, targeting a school in the southern city of Elat. Israel responding with strikes in Syria overnight, targeting the organization that launched the drone without giving further details. Let's take you live now to Israel's northern border. I-24 News correspondent Zach Andrews is standing by for us. Zach, so much going on over the past hour. What is the latest? What are you seeing and hearing from the IDF? Well, Guy, within the last hour, we are seeing multiple red alerts for communities all across the northern border in the western and eastern halves of that northern front. And we're also seeing reports from both the IDF and Lebanese media that there are intensive shelling efforts on the Lebanon side that this is in response to some of the earlier fire and exchanges that have been, of course, happening over the last several days, but have picked up quite considerably today. Lebanese media reporting that there are ATG anti-tank missiles being fired from the Lebanon side at Israeli forces and that Israel is responding with artillery and airstrikes on the Lebanon side. Now, we have, again, multiple red alerts for those communities near Kiryat Shemona. They are asked to stay indoors and stay in shelters currently as it appears that there might even be exchanges of return artillery fire towards Israel. We're working to confirm that for you at this hour. We also have those two drones that were intercepted and that is a major milestone. If you are able to ascertain the drones being involved with Hezbollah, Hezbollah having quite an arsenal of drones at their disposal, Iranian-supplied drones there. And, Zach, speaking about drones, IDF also targeting targets in Syria overnight, those responsible for the drone attack on Elat, what do we know? We're seeing still that Syria's involvement is this, it continues to be a complexity, another level of complexity added to this already tense situation on the North. Syrian media, curiously enough, is reporting that there are strikes taking place, continued strikes taking place inside Syria. They're attributing even Russian forces involvement there and US forces involvement in Syria. We don't know if that's in response to yesterday's drone launch as well, but that's, as you know, a great distance for those drones to travel from Syria to be able to target Elat. Zach Anders in the Northern border, more coming from you later in this evening. Thank you for that update. And now for more, I'm joined in studio by IDF colonel in the reserves, Alon Eviatar, Palestinian affairs expert and former Cogut advisor. Alon, thank you for your time. Let's start with the operation in Gaza. The ground operation continues. We know that IDF troops are advancing with reports of surrounding a hospital. Talk to us about the tactical targets of the IDF at these very hours. Well, I think we are inside the Gaza city, if you want. In the center of Gaza city, which means a wide net of underground, which means the Gaza metro, few kilometers or dozens of kilometers underground of tunnels, full of seniors and activities of the terrorists, of the Hamas movement. The top five, I don't know where are they, but supposed to be around the city underground. I would say also sites of military positions of rockets for long run and short run all over or around the metro underground. And the special place or the center of the military activity, the terrorist activity of the Hamas is Shifa Hospital. Shifa Hospital, it means up and down. It means that all those terrorists going around, we have a military indication or if you want a intelligence indication for that, that all the Hamas seniors and the terrorists as well control the hospital and down underground. It means that as long as the IDF forces will increase the military pressure with a lot of forces from unit fighting units and special units and so on, and will focus the area of the hospital, it means and with a lot of increasing of military operation on the Hamas headquarter, the Hamas military control, command control and so on, it means that the military pressure on the headquarter of Hamas and especially the seniors of Hamas will be, I would say efficient, will have positive active or positive influence by the military, I would say the IDF interest or policy or targets. And I think that so far we didn't see the, we'd say the thousands of those Hamas terrorists going around or out of Gaza city. The main focus or the main area that you can find them, that located is the center of Gaza. It means that during, I would say, and I can assume that during the next days, even more one week, maybe two weeks, we should see another, I would say, movement or another, I would say Palestinian residents leave their home, leave their flats and going south to the south of the area of Han Yunis district of Gaza Strip and as long as the military units of the IDF will fight over in a crowded area without, let's say, a lot of Palestinians residents over there, it will be easy for them to catch those Hamas activities or terrorists to fight them, to kill them, to assassinate them and also to destroy the Hamas targets. I think that during the next, I would say, two or three weeks, we should be supposed for, I would say, complicated period of time, complicated time, the friction between the IDF forces and the Hamas will be increasing, will be increased, but I would say it's a wide challenge, a wide and new challenge if you want. Yes, and the complicated part of the equation here, of course, is the civilians who are still there, the Palestinians in Gaza who have not evicted and we are hearing some concerns out of Washington about whether Israel is doing enough to maintain their safety. Let's maybe take a listen to what Anthony Blinken just had to say. This marks the last day of what's now been a nine day trip of intensive diplomacy throughout the Middle East and now here in the end of the Pacific. And along the way and at each stop, in different ways, we've sought to advance a number of critical objectives, minimizing harm to Palestinian civilians and maximizing the humanitarian assistance that reaches them, working to prevent the spread of the conflict, focusing on getting hostages home, as well as getting American citizens and other foreign nationals out of Gaza, and working to set sustainable, durable conditions for genuinely lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike. At the same time, much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that the humanitarian assistance reaches them. Far too many Palestinians have been killed. Far too many have suffered these past weeks and we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximize the assistance that gets to them. Yes, Anthony Blinken says far too many Palestinians have been killed. What do you make of the efforts by the IDF to save the lives of those civilians who are uninvolved? To what degree is the IDF doing enough in order to allow them to escape right there from the battles? It's a very good question because, you know, it depends on the legitimacy, if you want. Regarding Blinken's statement, I think that in the meantime, so far, I mean, we are in the weekend, there are approximately between, I can assume, 200 to 300,000 each civilians over there in Gaza City. And the IDF forces or the IDF command will have to push, if you want, to put pressure on the civilians in order to increase the number of the residents that move from the center of Gaza to the south of Gaza, of Gaza Strip, I mean, to the area of Hanunez. It means that the IDF forces, I would say, coordinate with the international organizations like UNR, like the Red Cross and so on, will have to let those e-sings to be involved, to be involved, to be part of the military program, if you want. E-sings, it means, day by day, enter of 200 trucks full of goodies, full of food, full of water, will enter from Rafah border, from Egypt to Gaza Strip. To let those residents that civilians, took their things and went to the south of the Gaza Strip. To use those e-sings, to use those humanitarian needs, but the IDF forces, which should be, I would say, more flexible in order to continue fighting in the city, but to push or to, let's say, put more pressure on those residents to leave their flats more and more, in order to, let's say, to be more easy for fight. Obviously a very complicated task. Let's go now to the south of Israel now. Our Pierre Klotschendler is standing by for us, Pierre, in the city of Zderot. We saw some rocket alerts nearby to where you are, just over an hour ago. What is the latest? We don't know of any report of casualties or damage. It happened about 20 kilometers away from where we are in the localities that are facing the central sector of the Gaza Strip, Hanyunas and the camps of Direl Balach. This is a part of the Gaza city, which is being stricken with the Israeli army, which is being struck with the Israeli army, but there's no ground offensive there. So rocket attacks from this area are very possible. There was another one at nine o'clock in the morning in the southern, facing the southern sector of the Gaza Strip and another one during the night, but Zderot has been spared so far. We hear the outgoing shells of the artillery position just nearby where we are. We hear the roar of the airplanes. So far, so good as far as the communities in the southern Israel. And Pierre, you can hear those shelling very loud in our ears here as well. Very different from what is happening in Zderot, in these municipalities that are practically empty of civilians. That is not the case in central Israel, particularly in Tel Aviv. Both of us were in Tel Aviv earlier today. We saw some heavy traffic there and people are being injured from either rocket fire or from shrapnel described for us that difference between the south of Israel and the center when it comes to the vigilance amid these rocket fire. Well, first of all, I wanna address the resilience of the citizens of Zderot because since the beginning of this week, there's been a trickle of people that have returned to Zderot. If the city was empty a week and a half ago and most residents were either in a lot in hotels or in the Dead Sea, many are, not many, but quite a few are starting to come back. They can't just stand being in an hotel room, a whole family in a tiny hotel room. It's difficult. And they've been used to rocket fire for the past 23 years. So if there is no chance of infiltration, then they decide to return. And supermarkets are also, more supermarkets are also opening. So there was some kind of a sense of life returning to Zderot a little bit, not like in Tel Aviv, definitely. In Tel Aviv, when there is a rocket alarm, many people don't have shelters by the way in Tel Aviv because it's never been, the only way you can have a shelter in Tel Aviv is if you live in a building that has been built after 1998, the law to build private shelters was legislated after the first Gulf War in 1991, but it took eight, seven years for those buildings in Tel Aviv to start having private shelters. So most of the people don't have that there. You can see them running either lying on the side of the road or going into a staircase. Everybody's looking at his cell phone to see where the rockets are striking or being intercepted. You can see also that they're sending text messages to their families to ask if they're all right because if you have kids, they live either near you or in your apartments. All these little questions that you ask yourself for a minute and a half before the rockets fall until they have not been intercepted. Yes, that sense of alertness certainly is saving lives as people follow the guidelines Pierre Kloschen learns the road. Thank you for that report. And as we speak on the ongoing battles in Gaza, many Israeli families are extremely concerned for the wellbeing of their loved ones. Some 239 Israelis are still held in the hands of Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza, including children as young as a 10 months old baby and elderly people in their 90s. I want to welcome now one of those family members, Sharon Lifshitz, the daughter of 83 years old or dead Lifshitz who was kidnapped into Gaza on October 7th and also the daughter of Yohved who was one of the only Israeli hostages to be released by Hamas so far. Sharon, thank you so much for taking your time to be with us today. Thank you for having me. So, Sharon, we cannot begin to imagine what you and your family have been going through. It has been 35 days now since your father's kidnapping. How does the family cope with all that is going on? It's really hard to cope with it. We're moving from one day to the next. We are all very active people so we try to keep busy and do what we think is best. We are helping my mom reintegrate and join the family again and get her basic. But above all that, we are still part of a community of Kibbutz near Oz when we have 74 hostages still in Gaza. These are our mothers and our fathers and our child and our neighbors. And this is incredibly, incredibly disturbing. And so this is our foremost job at the moment is to bring our community, people home. So an entire community that is gone and we hope that they will return. But, Sharon, most of the families have basically zero information about the state of their loved ones. You did receive some information from your mother about your father. Does that change at all your feeling, knowing that at least he wasn't injured? How does that change your conception? My father was injured. My mom last saw him after the terrorist, six terrorists enter his house and he was injured in the arm from a bullet that went through the door of the safety room. He was then bitten. So, yes, we are very, very concerned about my dad. It's hard to know his condition. And 34 days after the 7th of October, we still do not know if he's dead or alive and what his condition is. And, Sharon, Israel repeatedly said it is a top priority for the state to return. Those people safely back home. How do you see the current state of affairs, the efforts to release them while fighting Hamas is still ongoing? How does the family see this process, both tackling Hamas and the effort to retrieve those hostages? I have no doubt that so far it does not seem the government is doing enough to return the hostages. 34 days on, elderly people and babies are still with the Hamas and the government is dealing with semantics. What is more important? How to frame it? What to say? What is the legacy? This is really, really wrong. We do not see that the government is doing absolutely everything it can to return them home. They have a moral duty to return the people of our community and the people of Israel, the enormous amount that are there because the complete failure of this government. This government has failed at us on the 7th of October in a historic failure that is unprecedented and they have since failed to bring these people home. We are hearing a lot of rumors about the possibility of doing deals and we are hearing a lot of kind of back and forth with the government but we have not had many people back. We don't even know if they are dead or alive. And Sharon, if your father could see you now what would be your message to him? What message do you wanna send to him and to the rest of the hostages at this hour? They are incredibly strong people. Seeing Hannah Katzir yesterday in the video and seeing Yagil, seeing my mom. These are the people this country needs. These are straightforward, honest people who believe in human being and they will prevail but their government is failing them. This is 35 days since this historic failure. Our community has been destroyed. We have no way of resurrecting anything until these people are returned to us. Our homes are burned, our houses are destroyed, we are going to funerals every day and I hear very little from this government that encourage me. So I hope my father keeps strong even just so he can come back and say his truth. Sharon Lifschitz, the daughter of 83 years old, the dead Lifschitz, our thoughts and our prayers are with you and with all the rest of the families waiting for their family members to return home safely. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you very much. Thank you. Still with me. Yes, along with Vita. This is a so sensitive issue to bring back those Israeli kidnaps, children, women and so on. It is not just a strategic mission for the kidnaps. It's also a strategic mission for the whole Israeli society. And it's a mission or a strategic interest for the Israeli government, for the whole Israeli society because this is not just a mission for those 214 families, if you want. It's for the whole Israeli society because when you send your soldier to the IDF for a long service, you trust your government that if something will happen during its service, his service, the Israeli government will bring him back. And nobody imagined we'll be dealing with civilians. The civilians. So, yeah, of course. So if you send, if you establish or let's say, settler, sorry, or a new village or kibbutz in the northern border or the southern border and you send there hundreds of Israelis that establish their village or kibbutz and work and they're growing their children and so on, your obligation or you, as Israeli state, you must, I'll say, give them the confidence that if something will happen, you will bring them back. And at the same time, also needing to bring safety to those communities. Those communities that are almost completely eliminated. Of course. To take down the information. Of course. To illustrate what could be happened. Let's say in the nearest future, destroying Hamas targets is a very special, it's a very important mission. All of the targets, you have dozens, if you want, hundreds or a thousand, you can imagine yourself how many targets Hamas has. But more of that, I would say, to kill, let's say, to kill those Hamas seniors, you can do it during the next year, during the next two years and more and more, even five years, it will take time. It will not happen, it will not be end during the next months. It's a long mission, a long mission for sure. But to bring them back, those Israeli kidnaps, you have to use the, I would say, the current opportunity. The perspective of time or the scope of time that you can bring them back, it's not for years. It's a few days, weeks, not many of them. Teal, medicine, of course, needs the monetarian support and so on. So you have a short time to bring them back and you have to use all your efforts in order to do it. Certainly, an extremely complicated mission for Israel to say the least, to fight Hamas and at the same time, save the lives of those innocents. Al Anavitar, thank you for your insight today. More updates coming up at the top of the hour. Thank you for watching. 1,300 people murdered and more than 3,000 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. Esta semana, News 24, Israel Bajo Ataque. News 24 en Español trae el análisis y la información de los acontecimientos de la guerra espadas de hierro. Entrevistas exclusivas reportes desde la zona de guerra. La reacción de los países hispanoparlantes. News 24, el único medio en Español que te mantiene informado y conectado con la comunidad latina en Israel. News 24, únicamente en I-24 News. Joining us on our rolling coverage of day 35 of Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. A short while ago, sirens ringing on Israel's northern border with two UAVs intercepted. Prior to that, a barrage of rockets fired out of Gaza into central Israel, sending millions of Israelis to shelter. Two women were wounded from shrapnel and have been rushed to hospital. Not quiet on the southern front as well with multiple rocket launches towards southern border communities near the Gaza border. Meanwhile, the IDF continues its ground operation in Gaza, reportedly surrounding a hospital where Hamas terrorists are barricaded. The visuals you just saw right there depicting shots fired by terrorists at civilians who attempted to flee the area. Also, take a look at this footage released by the IDF. This is one of the Hamas military posts. IDF troops also causing significant damage to the terror group's underground tunnels. The country is being targeted from other parts of the Middle East as well, including a drone attack out of Syria, targeting a school in the southern city of Eilat. Israel responding with strikes in Syria overnight, targeting the organization that launched the drone without giving further details. Let's take you live now to Israel's northern border. I-24 News correspondent, Zach Andrews is standing by for us. So much going on over the past hour. What is the latest? What are you seeing and hearing from the IDF? Well, Guy, within the last hour, we are seeing multiple red alerts for communities all across the northern border in the western and eastern halves of that northern front. And we're also seeing reports from both the IDF and Lebanese media that there are intensive shelling efforts on the Lebanon side that this is in response to some of the earlier fire and exchanges that have been, of course, happening over the last several days, but have picked up quite considerably today. Lebanese media reporting that there are ATG anti-tank missiles being fired from the Lebanon side at Israeli forces and that Israel is responding with artillery and airstrikes on the Lebanon side. Now, we have, again, multiple red alerts for those communities near Kiryat Shemona. They are asked to stay indoors and stay in shelters currently, as it appears that there might even be exchanges of return artillery fire towards Israel. We're working to confirm that for you at this hour. We also have those two drones that were intercepted, and that is a major milestone. If you are able to ascertain the drones being involved with Hezbollah, Hezbollah having quite an arsenal of drones at their disposal, Iranian-supplied drones there. And, Zach, speaking about drones, IDF also targeting targets in Syria overnight, those responsible for the drone attack on Elat, what do we know? We're seeing still that Syria's involvement is this, it continues to be a complexity, another level of complexity added to this already tense situation on the North. Syrian media, curiously enough, is reporting that there are strikes taking place, continued strikes taking place, inside Syria, they're attributing even Russian forces' involvement there, and US forces' involvement in Syria. We don't know if that's in response to yesterday's drone launch as well, but that's, as you know, a great distance for those drones to travel from Syria to be able to target Elat. Zach Anders in the Northern border, more coming from you later in this evening. Thank you for that update. And now for more, I'm joined in studio by IDF Colonel in the Reserves, Alon Eviatar, Palestinian Affairs Expert, and former COGAT advisor. Alon, thank you for your time. Let's start with the operation in Gaza. The ground operation continues. We know that IDF troops are advancing with reports of surrounding a hospital. Talk to us about the tactical targets of the IDF at these very hours. Well, I think we are inside the Gaza city, if you want. In the center of Gaza city, which means a wide net of underground, which means the Gaza metro, few kilometers or dozens of kilometers underground of tunnels, full of seniors, and activities of the terrorists, of the Hamas movement. The top five, I don't know where are they, but supposed to be around the city underground. I would say also sites of military positions of rockets for long run and short run, all over or around the metro underground. And the special place or the center of the military activity, the terrorist activity of the Hamas is Shifa Hospital. Shifa Hospital, it means up and down. It means that all those terrorists going around, we have a military indication or if you want intelligence indication for that, that all the Hamas seniors and the terrorists as well control the hospital and down underground. It means that as long as the IDF forces will increase the military pressure with a lot of forces from unit fighting units and special units and so on. And we'll focus the area of the hospital. It means and with a lot of increasing of military operation on the Hamas headquarters, the Hamas military control, command control and so on. It means that the military pressure on the headquarters of Hamas and especially the seniors of Hamas will be, I would say, efficient. We'll have positive active or positive influence by the military, I would say the IDF interest or policy or targets. And I think that so far we didn't see the, we'd say the thousands of those Hamas terrorists going around or out of Gaza city. The main focus or the main area that you can find them that located is the center of Gaza. It means that during, I would say, and I can assume that during the next days, even more, one week, maybe two weeks, we shall see another, I would say, movement or another, I would say, Palestinian residents leave their home, leave their flats and going south to the south of the area of Khan Yunis district of Gaza Strip. And as long as the military units of the IDF will fight over in a crowded area without, let's say, a lot of Palestinians residents over there, it will be easy for them to catch those Hamas activities or terrorists to fight them, to kill them, to assassinate them and also to destroy the Hamas targets. I think that during the next, I would say, two or three weeks we should be supposed for, I would say, complicated period of time, complicated time, the friction between the IDF forces and the Hamas will be increasing, will be increased, but I would say it's a wide challenge. A new challenge if you want. Yes, and the complicated part of the equation here, of course, is the civilians who are still there, the Palestinians in Gaza who have not evicted and we are hearing some concerns out of Washington about whether Israel is doing enough to maintain their safety. Let's maybe take a listen to what Anthony Blinken just had to say. This marks the last day of what's now been a nine-day trip of intensive diplomacy throughout the Middle East and now here in the end of the Pacific. And along the way and at each stop, in different ways, we've sought to advance a number of critical objectives, minimizing harm to Palestinian civilians and maximizing the humanitarian assistance that reaches them. Working to prevent the spread of the conflict, focusing on getting hostages home, as well as getting American citizens and other foreign nationals out of Gaza, and working to set sustainable, durable conditions for genuinely lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike. At the same time, much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that the humanitarian assistance reaches them. Far too many Palestinians have been killed. Far too many have suffered these past weeks and we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximize the assistance that gets to them. Yes, Anthony Blinken says, far too many Palestinians have been killed. What do you make of the efforts by the IDF to save the lives of those civilians who are uninvolved? To what degree is the IDF doing enough in order to allow them to escape right there from the battles? It's a very good question because it depends on the legitimacy if you want. Regarding Blinken's statement, I think that in the meantime, so far, I mean, we are in the weekend, there are approximately between, I can assume, 200 to 300,000 each civilians over there in Gaza City. And the IDF forces or the IDF command will have to push if you want to put pressure on the civilians in order to increase the number of the residents that move from the center of Gaza to the south of Gaza, of Gaza Strip, I mean, to the area of Hanyunas. It means that the IDF forces by, I would say, coordinate with the international organizations like UNR like the Red Cross and so on will have to let those e-sings to be involved, to be part of the military program if you want. E-sings, it means day by day, enter of 200 trucks full of goodies, full of food, full of water, will enter from Rafah-e-Border, from Egypt to Gaza Strip, to let those residents that civilians, Palestinian civilians, that took their things and went to the south of the Gaza Strip to use those e-sings, to use those humanitarian needs, but the IDF forces should be, I would say, more flexible in order to continue fighting in the city, but to push or to, let's say, put more pressure on those residents to leave their flats more and more in order to, let's say, to be more easy for fight. Obviously a very complicated task. Let's go now to the south of Israel now. Our Pierre Kloshendler is standing by for us, Pierre, in the city of Zderot. We saw some rocket alerts nearby to where you are just over an hour ago. What is the latest? We don't know of any report of casualties or damage. It happened about 20 kilometers away from where we are in the localities that are facing the central sector of the Gaza Strip, Hanyunas and the camps of Direl Balach. This is a part of the Gaza city which is being stricken with the Israeli, which is being struck with the Israeli army, but there's no ground offensive there. So rocket attacks from this area are very possible. There was another one at nine o'clock in the morning in the southern, facing the southern sector of the Gaza Strip and another one during the night. But Zderot has been spared so far. We hear the outgoing shells of the artillery position just nearby where we are. We hear the roar of the airplanes so far, so good as far as the communities in the southern, in southern Israel. And Pierre, you can hear those shelling very loud in our ears here as well. Very different from what is happening in Zderot, in these municipalities that are practically empty of civilians, that is not the case in central Israel, particularly in Tel Aviv. Both of us were in Tel Aviv earlier today. We saw some heavy traffic there and people are being injured from either rocket fire or from shrapnel, described for us that difference between the south of Israel and the center when it comes to the vigilance amid these rocket fire. Well, first of all, I wanna address the resilience of the citizens of Zderot because since the beginning of this week, there's been a trickle of people that have returned to Zderot. If the city was empty a week and a half ago and most residents were either in a lot in hotels or in the Dead Sea, many are, not many, but quite a few are starting to come back. They can't just stand being in a hotel room, a whole family in a tiny hotel room. It's difficult. And they've been used to rocket fire for the past 23 years. So if there is no chance of infiltration, then they decide to return. And supermarkets are also, more supermarkets are also opening. So there was some kind of a sense of life returning to Zderot a little bit, not like in Tel Aviv, definitely. In Tel Aviv, when there is a rocket alarm, many people don't have shelters by the way in Tel Aviv because it's never been, that the only way you can have a shelter in Tel Aviv is if you live in a building that has been built after 1998. The law to build private shelters was legislated after the first Gulf War in 1991, but it took eight, seven years for those buildings in Tel Aviv to start having private shelters. So most of the people don't have that there. You can see them running either lying on the side of the road or going into a staircase. Everybody's looking at his cell phone to see where the rockets are striking or being intercepted. You can see also that they're sending text messages to their families to ask if they're all right because if you have kids, they live either near you or in your apartments. All these little questions that you ask yourself for a minute and a half before the rockets fall on Tel Aviv if they have not been intercepted. Yes, that sense of alertness certainly is saving lives as people follow the guidelines. Pierre Klosschen learns the road. Thank you for that report. And as we speak on the ongoing battles in Gaza, many Israeli families are extremely concerned for the well-being of their loved ones. Some 239 Israelis are still held in the hands of Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza, including children as young as a 10-month-old baby and elderly people in their 90s. I want to welcome now one of those family members, Sharon Lifschitz, the daughter of 83-years-old Oded Lifschitz, who was kidnapped into Gaza on October 7th and also the daughter of Yohved, who was one of the only Israeli hostages to be released by Hamas so far. Sharon, thank you so much for taking your time to be with us today. Thank you for having me. So, Sharon, we cannot begin to imagine what you and your family have been going through. It has been 35 days now since your father's kidnapping. How does the family cope with all that is going on? It's really hard to cope with it. We're moving from one day to the next. We're all very active people, so we try to keep busy and do what we think is best. We are helping my mom reintegrate and join the family again and get her basic. But above all that, we are still part of a community of Kibbutz near Oz when we have 74 hostages still in Gaza. These are our mothers and our fathers and our child and our neighbors. And this is incredibly, incredibly disturbing. And so this is our foremost job at the moment, is to bring our community, people home. It's an entire community that is gone and we hope that they will return. But, Sharon, most of the families have basically zero information about the state of their loved ones. You did receive some information from your mother about your father. Does that change at all your feeling, knowing that at least he wasn't injured? How does that change your conception? My father was injured. My mom last saw him after a terrorist, six terrorists enter his house and he was injured in the arm from a bullet that went through the door of the safety room. He was then beaten. So, yes, we are very, very concerned about my dad. It's hard to know his condition. And 34 days after the 7th of October, we still do not know if he's dead or alive and what his condition is. And, Sharon, Israel repeatedly said, it is a top priority for the state to return those people safely back home. How do you see the current state of affairs, the efforts to release them while fighting Hamas is still ongoing? How does the family see this process, both tackling Hamas and the effort to retrieve those hostages? I have no doubt that so far it does not seem the government is doing enough to return the hostages. 34 days on, elderly people and babies are still with the Hamas and the government is dealing with semantics. What is more important? How to frame it? What to say? What is the legacy? This is really, really wrong. We do not see that the government is doing absolutely everything it can to return them home. They have a moral duty to return the people of our community and the people of Israel, the enormous amount that are there because the complete failure of this government. This government has failed us on the 7th of October in a historic failure that is unprecedented. And they have since failed to bring these people home. We are hearing a lot of rumors about the possibility of doing deals and we're hearing a lot of kind of back and forth with the government, but we have not had many people back. We don't even know if they're dead or alive. And Sharon, if your father could see you now, what would be your message to him? What message do you want to send to him and to the rest of the hostages at this hour? They're incredibly strong people. Seeing Hannah Katzir yesterday in the video and seeing Yagil, seeing my mom. These are the people this country needs. These are straightforward, honest people who believe in human being and they will prevail. But their government is failing them. This is 35 days since this historic failure. Our community has been destroyed. We have no way of resurrecting anything until these people are returned to us. Our homes are burned, our houses are destroyed, we are going to funerals every day and I hear very little from this government that encouraged me. So I hope my father keeps strong even just so he can come back and say his truth. Sharon Lipschitz, the daughter of 83 years old, the dead Lipschitz, our thoughts and our prayers are with you and with all the rest of the families waiting for their family members to return home safely. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you very much. Thank you. Still with me. Yes, along with it. This is a so sensitive issue. You know, to bring back those Israeli kidnaps, children, women and so on. It is not just a strategic and a strategic mission for the kidnaps. It's also a strategic mission for the all Israeli society. And it's a mission or a strategic interest for the Israeli government, for the all Israeli society because this is not just a mission for those 214 families, if you want. It's for the all Israeli society because when you send your soldier to the IDF for a long service, you trust your government that if something will happen during its service, his service, the Israeli government will bring him back. And nobody imagined we'll be dealing with civilians. Civilians, so, yeah, of course. So if you send, if you establish or, let's say, settler, sorry, or a new village or kibbutz in the northern border or the southern border and you send there hundreds of Israelis that established their village or kibbutz and work and growing their children and so on, your obligation or you, as Israeli state, you must, I'll say, give them the confidence that if something will happen, you will bring them back. And at the same time, also needing to bring safety to those communities that are almost completely eliminated. I want to take down the equation. Of course. To illustrate what could be happened, let's say in the nearest future. Destroying Hamas targets, it's a very special, it's a very important mission, all the targets. You have dozens, if you want, hundreds or a thousand. You can imagine yourself how many targets Hamas has. But more of that, I would say, to kill, let's say, to kill those Hamas seniors, you can do it during the next year, during the next two years and more and more, even five years. It will take time. It will not happen, it will not be, and during the next months. It's a long mission, long mission, for sure. But to bring them back, those Israeli kidnaps, you have to use the, I would say, the current opportunity. The perspective of time or the scope of time that you can bring them back, it's not for years. It's a few days, weeks, not many of them. Heal, medicine, needs a monetarian support and so on. So you have a short time to bring them back and you have to use all your efforts in order to do it. Certainly, an extremely complicated mission for Israel to say the least, to fight Hamas and at the same time save the lives of those innocents. Al Anubitar, thank you for your insight today. More updates coming up at the top of the hour. Thank you for watching. Israel is at war. Make an investment in Israel bonds. It is the most powerful and direct way to stand with Israel. Visit israelbonds.com and invest now. This is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking. More than 100 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. They were taken to the hospital and they were taken to the hospital and they were taken to the hospital. Thank you for joining us here on this rolling coverage of day 35 of Israel's war with Hamas. Israeli Defense Forces confirming a short while ago that three aircrafts have infiltrated into Israeli territory out of Lebanon. One of them was intercepted by Israel's aerial defense systems and two other aircrafts have been infiltrated into Israel's territory. One of them was captured by Israel's air defense systems and two others were intercepted by Israel's aerial defense systems and two others fell in open areas. This incident is still being investigated. On Thursday, a UAV that penetrated Israel out of Syria has hit a school in the southern city of Elat with the IDF attacking targets in Syria belonging to the group behind the attack in retaliation. Earlier this afternoon, a barrage of rockets fired out of Gaza into central Israel, sending millions of Israelis to shelter. Two women were wounded from shrapnel and have been rushed to hospital. Not quiet on the southern front as well with multiple rocket launches towards southern border communities near the border with Gaza in recent hours. Meanwhile, the IDF continues its ground operation reportedly surrounding a hospital in Gaza where Hamas terrorists are barricaded. What you just saw there are shots believed to be fired by Hamas terrorists at civilians who attempted to flee the area. Also, take a look at these footage released by the IDF. This is one of the Hamas military posts. IDF troops also causing significant damage to the terror group's underground tunnels and despite Israel's efforts to avoid civilian casualties, US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, says far too many Palestinians have died in the fighting. This marks the last day of what's now been a nine day trip of intensive diplomacy throughout the Middle East and now here in the end of the Pacific. And along the way and at each stop in different ways, what we've sought to advance a number of critical objectives, minimizing harm to Palestinian civilians and maximizing the humanitarian assistance that reaches them, working to prevent the spread of the conflict, focusing on getting hostages home as well as getting American citizens and other foreign nationals out of Gaza, and working to set sustainable, durable conditions for genuinely lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike. At the same time, much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that the humanitarian assistance reaches them. Far too many Palestinians have been killed. Far too many have suffered these past weeks and we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximize the assistance that gets to them. Let's take you live now to Israel's southern border to the city of Steroot, our peer closure handler standing by their peer. More rocket alerts and this time, very close to where you are. You see, I just told you an hour ago, guy that Steroot was spared and just 15 minutes later, there was a rocket alert on Steroot precisely here, but it fell in an open field in that direction. So there is no casualties and no damage. And yet after five days, I think that Steroot has not suffered rocket strikes and the word rocket alert could be misleading. It's a rocket strike. After five days, as the residents are starting to trickle back to their homes in Steroot, another rocket alert. So we are getting the sense not just from the artillery outgoing just right now on the side of Steroot, we're reminded of the war because of the rockets as well. Yes, obviously in ongoing rocket scare, especially where you are, where residents have just 15 seconds to seek shelter. That's very important for our viewers to understand how dangerous is this risk of the rocket, spear closure handler, stay safe there in the city of Steroot. With that, we wrap up this bulletin. More updates coming up throughout the day from Israel's war with Hamas in Ghazam, Ghazrael. Thank you for watching. Inside the presidential residence in Jerusalem, I've just been sitting down with President Herzog. He gave us a long interview and he told us about his personal experiences of October 7th. He also expressed his sorrow and disappointment about how so many have been quick to dismiss the pain and suffering of Israelis. We spoke about that BBC interview and about anti-Israel bias in the international media. He told me that he'd been in contact with the leaders of the countries who have partnered with Israel under the Abraham Accords. He's spoken to them since October 7th and he's confident that the cooperation with those countries will continue. And he had a positive message for Israelis. He says he is certain that the country will overcome this very dark chapter in its history. Watch our interview in full after this. Mr. President Herzog, thank you so much for talking to I-24 News. We appreciate it. Thank you. It's a pleasure and I want to congratulate I-24 for going from strength to strength, especially in these very challenging days. Thank you. Thank you so much. If I could begin the interview by asking you about your own personal experiences of that dark day, October 7th, what you saw, what are the memories that will stay with you? Well, it started with a huge siren and when there's a siren, I automatically know it's war because I live during weekends in the same home I grew up in. And when I grew up in it, in 1967, we dug trenches. We didn't have mamad. We didn't have a shelter then. We dug trenches, all us on the entire family, assuming that there will be a war a few days before the war started and during the war itself, we were in a trench listening to the bombing and shelling on our homes then in northern Tel Aviv. So automatically I took my wife to the shelter but it was quite mind-boggling. It's Simchat Torah, it's beautiful weekend after a beautiful holiday of Sukkot. And I immediately understood that it's something else. It doesn't make sense. So I opened up TV. I was planning to go to synagogue but from that moment on, life changed immediately because I kept on asking, why can't I hear Ophir Lipstein, the head of the regional council of Sharan Egev, usually when there are missiles from Gaza, rockets, he immediately goes on the radio and explains what's going on. And I kept on telling Michal, where's Ophir? He's a good friend of mine. Why doesn't he answer? Why is there no interview with him? And now or two later, it was immediately announced that he was killed in battle. But we were totally uninformed about what's going on. And only through the media channels and the reporting, we understood that it's hell has wreaked upon us and we are going through this cup of agony and pain ever since. Despite that, I mean, I've spoken a lot over the past month to survivors, people whose families have been taken hostage, people who have witnessed things no human being should ever witness. Absolutely. Despite that, there is still this kind of October 7th denialism, people doubting what happened, people saying perhaps the Israelis are exaggerating. Do you think for that reason that the body cam footage that the terrorists themselves recorded, those films that were shown to accredited journalists, should that be shown to the wider world or do you think there's no point some people will never really believe what happened? Some people will never really believe it because if they hate us, they hate us. And if they're prejudiced, they're prejudiced. I still recall from my father's biography, he wrote in his autobiography his description about the liberation of the concentration camps. He was one of the first soldiers' officers to enter Bergen-Belsen in Germany as a British officer. And he tells the story how he went to various camps and of course took many German officers and generals as prisoners of war. And there was one high-ranking officer who said, I don't believe for a moment what you're talking about and that happened in the nearby camp. Although there was smell and everything was clear to all the neighbors. So my father took him there. He told him, if you show me that, and it's true, I will take off my sword, I will take off all my ranks and I will break it as like a German officer of dignity admitting and that's exactly what happened. And my father took him and he vomited and he cursed and he admitted and so forth and so on. The same I wish I could do to all our enemies who say of course it's terrible, all those who support them, all those who accomplish with them, all those who say okay but no, there's no but. The world cannot accept this type of brutality, atrocities, sadism, none acceptable by any norms. It has nothing to do, truly nothing to do with the conflict, with the borders, with the Palestinians, with settlements or anything. It simply has to do with hate and with a whole civilization of hate that wants to wipe all of us off the map, that wants to reign in the Middle East and the rest of the world. It's a jihadist school of thought that the world cannot accept and it's not a war only between Israel and Hamas, it's a war between two major concepts of life, a civilization that wants to run the world in a with certain rules of the family of nations or a civilization that wants to wipe everybody's head, chop their heads and reign the world according to fundamentalist rules. What will quite, despite this, the Hamas leaders themselves keep going on TV and radio and making comments. Just yesterday one of them spoke to the New York Times, he said we want perpetual war, we wanted this, we wanted a violent response from Israel because we don't want anyone in the region to have peace. Yet there are still people who maintain that they are freedom fighters, they are representing the Palestinian people on their legitimate grievances. What do you say to this? So they're hypocrites, they are hypocrites, or naive, or simple anti-Semites, all of their above together. At the end, the truth is the truth. One needs to admit the truth. The truth is the truth. Women and young girls were raped and broochered and brutally molested and babies were killed and burnt and I can go on and on and on. This is unbelievable since the Holocaust. We haven't seen such an amount, number of Jews being killed in one day but killed brutally and tortured. And when you speak to those in the rabbis, in the morgues who identify the bodies, they tell you they've never seen such wounds in their life, inflicted on bodies and on human beings. So first and foremost, people have to admit to the atrocity, that's it. Then you have to discuss about all other issues as well, which we are taking care of. Of course, uprooting Hamas and aiding the civilian population in Gaza while it's working tirelessly to bring the hostages back home. Well, it is of course the job of the media to report the truth and I wanted to ask you about the international media. Do you think that there is an anti-Israel bias taking for example the BBC who refused to refer to Hamas as terrorist? You yourself gave an interview to the BBC. They took out a portion of your answer. I mean, I gave a 28 minutes interview to the BBC, to a very distinguished interviewer who came especially to meet me and she actually knows me for many years and they left only six minutes chopping it, by the way, and editing it in a very negligent way. It's not my job to go and start quarreling with them but I must say I'm quite dismayed and I would have hoped differently but it's not only the BBC. There's a kind of this school of thought in certain quarters of the Western world that does not understand that this is a war on their life, on their ability to enjoy decent, liberal, modern, progressive democratic life or any other ability to live well even if it's not a democratic country. Nonetheless, at the end, most of the rank and file of the international leadership understands this and they are taking a firm position supporting Israel and I am seeing expressions of support day in, day out by leaders, predominantly, of course, President Biden, Vice President Harris and the entire US administration and both sides of the Island Congress but also indefinitely, as you know, United Kingdom, France, Germany and many, many other important nations so the world understands the world we live in with digital impacts of, you know, of brainwashing like TikTok and other things does not explain to the average person the complexity of this situation and the clear need for moral clarity. Well, you have been speaking to world leaders like Vice President Harris. Do you feel, though, that the window of legitimacy as it's termed for Israel is running out and there is increased pressure for a ceasefire or tactical pauses as President Biden has called them. We had, of course, that statement from the G7 yesterday. Do you feel that pressure that Israel is releasing? Yeah, but the G7 starts immediately. The first demand is the release of the hostages and everybody agrees, the hostages must be released. It is unacceptable by any norm that kids, you know, 10 months old baby to 85-year-old Holocaust survivors should be there at all. So I would like to reiterate what Prime Minister Netanyahu said just yes, two days ago there will not be any ceasefire without release of hostages and the whole discussion about humanitarian pauses I must tell you, I haven't seen or I'm unaware of any response from the Hamas side to any of these ideas. I see a lot of news, a lot of spins, a lot of background noises that come from third parties. Nothing is put on the table. We are progressing dramatically within Gaza territory to uproot Hamas infrastructure and our military is doing an incredible job. It's very complicated, challenging, dangerous, but they're doing an outstanding job to uproot the ability of Hamas to have military capabilities and to uproot their infrastructure so that they won't be able to rule Gaza. Well, that's Israel's military objective, isn't it, to destroy Hamas completely. The Americans were criticized for going into Iraq and Afghanistan without a plan for what those countries would look like afterwards. Does Israel have a plan or at least a vision for what Gaza should look like? So a lot of that is being discussed, of course, by the government. The president of Israel doesn't deal with it on a daily basis. There are many ideas. It is an opportunity, the day after, to enable the Palestinians in Gaza to live in peace and prosper. But let me tell you, when we pulled out of Gaza in 2005, we came to our people and said, the pullout will enable Gaza to become the Hong Kong of the Middle East or one of those beautiful sites that can evolve economically and successfully. Nothing of that has happened. We pulled to the last Toyota and we only got Tehran. We got thousands and thousands of missiles. It became an Iranian platform by Kudetai in 2007. And this Iranian platform must be eradicated as a platform. One vision involves the moderate Gulf countries, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain countries that you have visited. And you did appear to really have warm, friendly ties with the leaders of those countries. Have you spoken to those leaders of those countries? I'm in contact with many leaders in the region all the time. We all understand the geostrategic situation. You mentioned it yourself. You quoted the Hamas spokesperson saying, we want an ongoing war. Basically, he said, in order to prevent the inclusion of Israel in the region. So we have here two coalitions. One in a coalition of very serious nations and strong nations who want to move forward in peace in regional security, including the inclusion of Israel in the region. And the other, doing whatever it can to undermine the normalization process. So it is clear that the war is not only Israel-Hamas. It's also a war against the empire of evil, which is headed by Iran from Tehran to undermine the inclusion of Israel in the region. You were also recently in Turkey. Are you shocked by President Erdogan's violently anti-Israel rhetoric? I was very sorry to hear that. And I expressed my regret and my frustration and anger about it. But the real issue goes way beyond it. It's the question, as we spoke from the beginning, do we accept such norms in the family of nations? Israel was not wishing to go to war. We are not Wonga Mangers. We are peace lovers. We were forced. This war was forced upon us. When I met President Erdogan two years ago, I made it clear to him that Hamas is a terror organization just like he feels as towards his enemies. And therefore, when we are bombed in our homes, we must take actions to uproot them and kill them and get them out of the way, get them all out of the city. And that's exactly what we are doing. There's been some really upsetting scenes from university campuses in the United States. Jewish students having to barricade themselves in rooms. I've seen recently people being beaten by the Palestinians. They're ongoing. It's ongoing all over the place. It seems to be getting worse. You wrote a letter to the head of some of the leading universities. To all the leading. I wrote a letter to all presidents of all universities in the United States. And I got letters some back, not some not yet. But the call is very clear. These presidents must intervene. It cannot be that there will be Hamas supporters on campus. Hamas supporters means supporters of people who support and carry out crimes against humanity and genocide. That's what they carried out. They took entire communities and burnt them and chopped them and tortured them and raped them and abducted them. It cannot be in a US campus or any campus that advocates human civil liberties and human rights that this will be allowed on campus. But why do you think the progressive cause has been so hijacked by them? Well, I think the progressive cause must look at itself in the mirror. And some of them don't really want to look in the mirror. But a lot of the cultures that evolved in recent years has become cultures that are indifferent and ignorant to the real truth of life between good and evil. And they distort what evil is and they distort what good is. I can go on and on about it. We don't have much time. But many people have written about it. And there is a very fascinating publication called Sapir. Sapir is a publication of thoughtful people from Jews and non-Jews who discuss issues that are challenging the Jewish world. And it came out under the auspices of my monies foundation. And one of the publications, one of the editions, had to do with the canceled culture in US campuses. There's a whole culture of canceled, meaning you can be the best person in the world, the biggest civil liberties advocate. But if God forbid you support a state of Israel, you're canceled. This cannot go on anymore. It cannot go on anymore. It starts with Israel, but it will end with the West. They just don't get it. If Israel wasn't there, Europe would be next by these animals that we've seen on October 7. Of course, Europe has been repeatedly attacked by Jihadists. All the time? Amid this spike in anti-Semitism, then in Europe and the United States, is Israel preparing or should it prepare for a mass wave of aliyah, immigration to Israel? It always happens, always happens. And by the way, I met some very distinguished Jewish leaders and media people who came here and said, we feel much safer here than anywhere else in the world. And I assume that would be one of the phenomenons of the outcome of the war. And finally, Israelis right now are living through, I think, the worst, the most traumatic period in an already very turbulent history. How can the nation heal? How can Israel get through this? Look, the cup of agony and pain is filled. And we are seeing real torment, sadness, agony, tears, and emotions. But I told the nation last week, it's extremely natural to express emotions, to express fear, to cry. We have to go through this period of mourning. But we are a very resilient nation. We came out of the worst atrocities in the past. The worst atrocity that humanity has known, the Holocaust. We built a very strong nation. We are an immense, incredible people. The people here are just amazing. I fall in love with them every minute as I go out with Michal to all sorts of places to see the people. I'll give you an example of what we went here through yesterday, three sites that gave us, again, the same perception, the same proportion, the same understanding, what an immense nation it is and so much light it has. We started with the United Hatzala in the headquarters down south. And the people who surrounded us was a Muslim doctor who was abducted by Hamas and liberated by the Israeli police, who's a volunteer of Hatzala. Ethiopian immigrants, Haredi Jews, secular Jews, veterans, Israelis and no-comer Israelis all together doing great work in helping and aiding people. Then we went to the home front command. We saw hundreds of people working to assist the families of the hostages and coordinating all the efforts on being on alerts and sirens and what's not and resilience and, of course, dealing with the needs of all the evacuees, about 230,000. And then we went to a Tel Aviv Medical Center to Ichelov to the new rehabilitation hospital. And you go in with these amazing doctors and nurses and, of course, these amazing soldiers and their families. Nobody will break us. Nobody. We are a very strong nation. We shall overcome and we shall prevail and we shall win. I think that's a very positive note to end. Thank you very much. President Hatzala, thank you so much. Thank you. The presence throughout the world brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries. They have completely done down in their best. De la Frontière qui sépare Israel, the state of emergency and war in Israel. Bringing Israel's story to the world. I-24 News Channels, now on Hot. 1,300 people murdered and more than 3,000 injured. And the war with Hamas continued. We bring you firsthand 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. Yo soy Nicole Mischel y esta es una emisión especial de News 24 en Español dedicada a la Guerra Espadas de Hierro. Ha pasado una nueva semana de combates contra la organización terrorista Hamas en la Franja de Gaza. Israel sigue bajo ataque desde el 7 de octubre, no solo por los misiles y los francotiradores de Hamas y la yihad islámica en Gaza. El jizbolá en el híbano y también Yemen, que se ha sumado a la contienda. Sino por el ataque y demostraciones anti-Semitas que llenan las principales capitales del mundo, cantando que Palestina será libre, confundiendo al pueblo palestino con una organización terrorista. Londres, España, en Latinoamérica, en Estados Unidos y muchos otros países más. El apoyo a Palestina se traduce hoy en un deseo exterminador. Cuando las masas pro-Palestinas gritan desaforadas from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. Desde el río Jordán al mar Mediterráneo, Palestina será libre. Será libre de qué? Es una buena pregunta. Será de nosotros, los judíos. ¿Qué es lo que van a hacer con 10 millones? ¿Nos quieren a todos muertos? Tengo novedades para todos ustedes que cantan will be free. Tanto Israel como las comunidades judías del mundo, haremos lo posible por impedirlo. Hoy, hoy Carlos, hay un Estado que defiende al pueblo judido. Querer matarlos y querer destruir al Estado de Israel no es algo que quede impune. Los responsables de esta guerra están claramente marcados. Hamas, jizbolá, Iran y sus cómplices, tanto en lo militar, lo ideológico y lo educativo. Nos adelante en el programa, hablaremos de uno de los principales cómplices de mantener este conflicto con el pueblo palestino desde 1950, educando a generaciones y generaciones de niños y jóvenes palestinos a querer morir como Yahidin, como mártires. Pero previo a ello, Lior Hayat, el vocero de la Cancedería israelí, realizó un Zoom para actualizar acerca de la situación de los secuestrados. Muchos de ellos de países latinoamericanos se hizo referencia al fenómeno del antisemitismo actual. Lamento decir que el que apoya hoy los palestinos apoyan jamás. No hay una línea en el medio. Si no estás con Israel, estás con Hamas. Estás con los que hicieron esas atrocidades. Es difícil de decirlo, pero el que ahora no apoya el Estado israel en su lucha, en su guía de autodefensa, da el apoyo a los terroristas de Hamas y es justamente los que están buscando. Lamentablemente vemos muchos eventos de antisemitismo también en los Estados Unidos, pero no todo parte del mundo. Eso es un problema que nosotros, el mundo judío entero y el mundo occidental o la comunidad internacional en su totalidad tiene que enfrentar el hecho de que un ataque contra judíos, el peor ataque desde el holocausto que terminó con 1400 víctimas que fueron asesinados en Israel, genera ataques contra Israel en el mundo. Es una cosa que ni siquiera puedo entender, demuestra el nivel de odio y el nivel de ignorancia y el nivel de apoyo a un grupo terrorista Hamas. Nicole Garin-Zabar es el único programa que proporciera un sistema de apoyo de 360 grados a sus participantes antes de mudarse Israel durante y después su servicio militar, incluido alojamiento en pensión completa durante todo el servicio y lo hace con el apoyo de las Fuerzas Defensa de Israel, el Ministerio de Absorción e Integración, la Agencia Judía de Israel y Masa Israel Journey. El ataque del 7 de octubre en todos los poblados que bordean la franja de gas y que dejaron cerca de 1,400 muertos, miles de heridos y un dolor que no cesa y que no se va de nuestro corazón, uno de esos quebutsin se llama Nir Itzhak. Y allí se encontraba un grupo de soldados solitarios que vinieron por el programa Garin-Zabar. Nicole, estuviste con ellos el día que fueron a buscar las pertenencias que habían quedado luego del 7 de octubre. ¿Por qué no nos cuentas un poco? Bueno, la verdad, Carlos, fue muy emotivo, porque cuando te consigues soldados, solitarios, jóvenes que están aquí y más aún nosotros latinoamericanos que tenemos esa idiosincrasia tan amorosa, tan nuestra, verlos recoger sus cosas. Un único hogar aquí en Israel en ese equi-buts, como bien dijiste, en la franja de gas a 3 kilómetros, Nir Itzhak, te dan un sentimiento muy grande cómo ellos se despiden de esa casa. Esa segunda casa, aparte de sus países en Latinoamérica, donde pertenecen. Vamos a ver el siguiente reportaje. Nos encontramos en el equi-buts Nir Itzhak, el equi-buts donde viven los soldados latinoamericanos, soldados israelíes que hoy se despiden de este lugar que está a 3 kilómetros de la franja de gas. Estos soldados tuvieron la suerte o destino de salvarse el 7 de octubre del ataque de Hamas. Se disponen a buscar sus pertenencias en su hogar en Israel, el equi-buts Nir Itzhak, que hoy es zona de guerra. Jonathan Sepiurka es el director de la área hispano- hablante del programa Garín Sabar. ¿Un programa que hace llegar a Israel? De hacer migrar a Israel. Exactamente, desde ese lugar nosotros nos ayudamos. Nos orientamos en todo el proceso de la idea y nos ayudamos en todo lo que está pasando. Eso dentro de Israel. Jóvenes de la generación AI. El ejército israelí resguarda el sur del país. En caso de alarma, nos detendremos a la vera del camino y ustedes saldrán y se alijarán del núcleo. Los acá en cohetes constantemente, entonces, nos vamos a dejarse de cuidar de las personas que entran y también, digamos, se protege a la población israelí de que no sigan entrando terroristas a toda esta zona. Como pasó, digamos, el 7 de octubre y los primeros días posteriores a la masacre de lo que se conoce como el yabat negro con la cantidad de muertos y por donde asesinados y secuestrados. Recoger sus pertenencias y otra vez salir de la zona de confort. Caminante se hace camino al andar. Renata de Paraguay nos dice... Se hace muy triste porque nada más tenemos que tener un caso de estumada. Teniendo que... Estuvan tan rápido y con una hora, porque existe la posibilidad de que vuelva a ver... Absacot. Y como soldada israelí, nacida en Paraguay, te quedas aquí en Israel, Renata? Eitan de Chile se despide de sus padres adoptivos israelíes. ¡Va! Es una patica amable. Las con ellos te vuelvan mil historias y te conocían, te ayudaban también con cosas que te dan a las casas de ellos. Y la verdad, no sé, siento que falta eso, falta... Te vas a Chile o te quedas en Israel? Burid de Costa Rica con todo sobre sus hombros. This is because I'm leaving my house, but it's good because... A lot of feelings. Yes. What part of Costa Rica are you from? From San José. Do you stay in Israel, Burid? Yes, 100%. I've never been there. El servicio militar israelí comienza a los 18 años. Es obligatorio. Las soldados que no pierden la sonrisa, que son fans de shildish gambino en pleno kibbutz. Las maletas están listas. Y al final, el abrazo de Ilan, con 53 años en el kibbutz, un padre para los soldados. La citaa Gaza, para que el líder de Hamas, Musabu Marsuk, dijo que el 75% de los residentes en la franja de Gaza are refugees and are responsible for the United Nations to protect them. Marsuk added that according to the Geneva Convention, it is the responsibility of the occupation to provide gas civilians with all the services while they are under occupation, but Israel does not occupy or is present in gas since 2005. It is just a small detail. The organization that is present is the UNRRA, the UNRRA agency of the United Nations that occupies the Palestinian refugees. UNRRA has its charge, among other things, the education of the children and adolescents, Palestinians and in its objective is to educate by human rights and nonviolent resolution of conflicts. Let's see how they do it. Summer Vacation. UNRRA, one of the central points, is the Palestinian right to return law. The organization is responsible for indoctrinating from its foundation in 1950 that Israel does not have the right to exist and that the Palestinian refugees will be able to return to Jaffa, Haifa, Ashdod and Ashkelon. During the years, UNRRA, an organization of the United Nations, has sent its students to summer camps of never and there received military training and a deep desire to be martyred for Palestine. To forget of appreciation, complete with this photo, a testing to the completion of formal weapons training and a readiness to fight the Jews. Socialists, all those who should take care of giving them a quality of life, much better for refugees, they have abandoned them. Exactly, the internal evaluation team of the United Nations has issued a categorical report that it is impossible to supervise the use of the funds of UNRRA, that all educational materials are out of the plan of integrated action for refugees that the United Nations has and that UNRRA must be supervised since it is not clear what is the contribution to the improvement of the life of refugees. In the Congress of the United States, the congressman Brad Sherman of the Democrats has passed a law called Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act, Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education that indicates to review all relative aspects of the financial participation of the United States in UNRRA. UNRRA has become the ideological arm of Hamas and it is a complex organization of terrorists. They have become training grounds for the vilification of Israel. UNRRA teachers and textbooks complement this with an ideology and curriculum that promotes armed struggle for the right of return. Last May, the most recent outbreak of anti-Israel violence in Gaza exposed a tunnel dug by Hamas under a school in UNRRA's Zeytun refugee camp. Here is the evidence. Hamas thus takes the UNRRA children captive not only during the summer but during the school year itself. UNRRA students constitute a future terror army named at liquidating Israel based on the illusion of a right of return. UNRRA can no longer act as if it does not know. UNRRA is proud of its 400 schools in Gaza, Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem. It allocates 58% of its budget for an education system that indoctrinates a new generation for war. In essence it has abandoned its students. The time has come for UNRRA to teach peace and coexistence during both the school year and summer vacation. The time has come for the world to demand oversight of UNRRA schools. The time has come for donor nations to put an end to UNRRA energy. And to clarify, the situation there is with us is the journalist from Telemadrid, María Jamardo. Thank you very much, María, for being with us today. Thank you, María. Welcome. Thank you very much for inviting me. María, it is our pleasure. We have seen you participate in debates in the Spanish media. These same fidedigmas give information. They are credible, they are trendy, they mix the reality of the Palestinian people with the Hamas terrorist organization. That is our question. And today I would like you not to clarify it. Well, I would like to answer in a way that there is no confusion in the Spanish media between the terrorists and the Palestinian people. But the truth is that to justify the human rights of some, that we all justify and that we all defend as it cannot be otherwise, they are trying to whitewash all the actions that since last October 7 we have been able to see with our own eyes. And it is very complicated to combat a story that is so instaurated in the press, in society, which is the one that shouts with so much ease in all those who do not know how, since 18 years ago, Palestine is free to live in Gaza in its territory as it pleases and as a good part of the Palestinian people in 2006 chose to do it under the political proposal of a terrorist group like Hamas. And from then on Israel has not been able to rest in a single minute with those constant threats, with those constant missiles. But of course it is difficult to explain it when you have not been on the ground and it is difficult to make you hear when the majority opt for the politically correct that today is defending the Palestinian cause, as if the Palestinian cause was something that could be separated from the fact that religious or radical or the aspirations of a terrorist group like Hamas for imposing in the area in the Middle East that also affects the Israeli territory and their will. You have talked about the political issue and I would like to mention within the Spanish government there are voices found. On the one hand, President Pedro Sánchez who seeks to have a, let's say, a composition for the parties in conflict and on the other hand you have that Yolanda Díaz vice president of his government who differentiates himself saying that Israel commits war crimes. How can these two visions coexist within the Spanish government? Well, it is something incomprehensible and inadmissible because effectively when a government is pronounced as an institution it has to be blocked and internal opinions do not fit. Opinion is pacted in the Council of Ministers and from there is the official opposition of the country. It is very shocking for the Spaniards too. I understand that it is from the foreigner something inexplicable but I want to remember that Mrs. Yolanda Díaz and the former members of Podemos, for example, were the only members of a government in Europe who manifested themselves against NATO when they tried to remember the delivery of weapons to Ukraine after being invaded by Russia. We have to understand that in their pro-Russian vision of the world although they try to whitewash it, it is much closer to the postulates of Hamas and their intentions than what can be of a state of law like Israel that bothers a lot in the Middle East precisely because it does not stop remembering what is the civilization of the West, what is the meaning of the state of law, what is the respect to the law and what is the freedom that I think is really what is in danger at this moment the freedom of Israel to be able to defend itself against any attack and the freedom of Western journalists to express their opinion and defend what I think is correct without fear that they will point out. Certainly, Maria, there is a reality, there has to be a coexistence between the Jewish people, the Israeli people and the Palestinian people but you as a journalist and that is something very important, you seek credible information in front of a sea of fake news that there is currently, how do you do to be able to make that important work as a communicator? Well, look, more than looking for the real information that I also try to give the reality is that I try to dismantle the story of the propaganda of Hamas and I try to do it because it really is something that comes with so much ease and with the victimism with which they expose their own people to the Palestinians, to those who are and it has been confirmed a few hours ago literally aggravating when they try to flee from the north to the south to be saved that I believe is that it is essential to put in front of the mirror the barbarities and atrocities that Hamas is able to commit against his own people. He has used it for many years and the business has come out well precisely because of the kindness and goodness and in many cases the ignorance of the West has made that many large amounts of money and important sums of euros from the European Union and the United States of dollars to try to help in that stabilization of Gaza and in which they could go ahead when one takes a look back and realizes that after that exit of the last Israeli of the Gaza Strip the first thing they did was eliminate all the infrastructures and dedicate themselves to convert Gaza into a fully soaked cheese under the ground to try to hide under infrastructures such as hospitals, schools, mosques their command centers and the West is not able to see it that what is important right now is to put in the focus Hamas to say that Hamas is using his own civilians to repeat it until the extenuation to put in evidence to people who are using his own people, I insist to leave in DEMNE that he is not able to refuge himself in ambulances that try to evacuate wounded through the Rafa border precisely to escape from that siege that is approaching that every time the FDI approach the strategic areas and I think that the only thing that has to be done at this moment is to break and I say it directly because that is the word they deserve the propaganda strategies of Hamas, it cannot be compared to a terrorist organization with a consolidated and recognized law and it cannot be blanked what they did on October 7 nothing of what has come after nothing of what has come after can be done to try to justify a right that also uses convenience when they are weakened when they see that they are entering a situation a little more complex due to the lack of communications due to the electric cuts due to the lack of fuel which by the way is not such and I want to put the focus on the opportunity for them to see us it is impossible that we have been one month since that October 7 seeing how the hospitals and how that Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Authority that depends on Hamas and therefore defies propaganda of Hamas saying that they remain without ministers day after day and so they have been one month of some place that fuel is coming out so that they continue as we saw yesterday watching for example propaganda acts with giant screens in those confrontations between the FDI Hamas in which there was not even a window of the Shifa hospital without light and there was not even a single mobile of those who were there concentrated without battery that is very important to show those images, repeat them and dismantle that barbarity that is being built around Hamas to blank them is fundamental we just have to thank you for your analysis and for your participation in our program and we hope maybe later to talk again with much less complicated topics than this one to talk a little about the notion of Spain and Israel, thank you very much Thank you Maria for being with us in Night on the For News, here in Tel Aviv Thank you very much to you a kiss Well, we are not going to say goodbye without leaving aside not to forget the kidnapped by Hamas and we are asking for the release of all of them, see you next week Of course, yes, Carlos See you next week Thanks for being with us Israel 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 More than 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped Tell us what we don't want to do We just don't know anything Entire families, including babies and children and families have been kidnapped because we don't want to do We just don't know anything Entire families, including babies and children and families have been kidnapped 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 Thick dock of sorrow in our throats and our hearts and yet together in grief and pain and hope and strength together We have lost so many We have lost so much and so a month on for all of us who died and survived and born anew on October 7th It became clear than ever before This is no social contract that keeps us together It is a destiny covenant and it is up to us to make it not just a covenant of the past but one of the future for the sake of all those who are no longer here but forever will be with us The question is not what will be but who we will be because we have rediscovered if you will our true secret weapon our resilience and the Israeli light amidst all this darkness will continue to be shining oh so bright and yet what do you say when there are no words how do you bid farewell to someone you never even knew so many lives ended on October 7th every person a full world of course there were so many of them so many funerals and so many eulogies to be written and yet so little people left to actually write them so writers all over the country volunteered to use their own weapon and honor them with the words to accompany all of them in their final journeys and we're now joined here in studio by screenwriter Tal Miller Gili Dolev also here with us and we'll be speaking to you shortly Gili and by zoom we're also joined by Nili Balsini who lost her husband Yoram in the heroic battles of Kibbutz Berri thank you all of you for joining us on this broadcast and first before and after all else Nili we are so so sorry for your loss irony has no mercy and you were actually writing an obituary to a friend when you got the message on your beloved husband yes that was I was in the Kibbutz we we write the eulogies but in a different way we don't talk about the death but about the living and who was the person how he lived and what he did with his life so I was interviewing one of the families and I was holding my phone at the time because because I knew I was expecting the call to hear what happened to him and when we were talking about the families no so I got the phone and I went to hear that my husband was there too but then somebody of the group of the writers volunteered to do the inquiries and write the eulogy so one of them is Tal Miller who is here with us in Studio Neely Neely knows first hand but it's so hard to recap the life of a person you know not to speak about someone you didn't so where do you start how do you write an obituary for a stranger well it's a very good question I have to say I was privileged but I feel privileged taking part of this amazing and very painful project I used to be a speech writer before I worked as a screenwriter I never felt it was so emotional like it is now I feel like I fell in love with people who I never met throughout their beloved ones and the stories they told about them it's like building a puzzle of someone's life you get all kinds of you get like 40 different questions you ask the closest people to the seeds and then you try to build this story you ask yourself how would this person wish to be remembered and what are the things that you would be most proud of and you try to build it together with these beloved ones it's a very challenging mission I'm not sure I'm using the right term here but both of you to an extent professional and literary writer is at this point what would you say is the driving force when trying to write an obituary is it the sorrow is it the attempt to comfort those who are present at the funeral is it the pursuit of creating meaning to the life that are now gone well it's a very good question but I agree that the most important thing is not only about death we always say that each individual is a universe and there were so many universes that we lost in this terrible tragedy we try to look at their life as like they wish to observe their own life if it was possible I believe that the good eulogy is something that can only be written about someone specific and we try to find the right anecdotes that tell their own story in a way that no one else can write about anyone else so that's the challenge Nili so many members of the kibbutz and we keep on trying to explain to our foreign audiences what a kibbutz means such a powerful strong community and all of a sudden you had to bid farewell to dozens overwhelming can't even describe that there were days with the 17 funerals some of them parents and two kids and some one day was a grandmother and their son and a granddaughter so this is overwhelming and they were because we cannot bury the people in our place because we are all refugees by now so we had to put them in the temporary places and they were they were they were in succession one hour after another and this was this was incredibly difficult for everyone because it was so intense and families and friends and all over the country and some it cannot be described in words I think because also in some of the scenes they were still using bombs around the noises all around you had to bury your friend while the war is still ongoing yeah that's not easy tell yes please nearly keep on going yeah I don't know you can't describe this I think in words it's only if you take pictures of that or if you videotape you can see you can see the amount of flowers and the amount of people crying and also there are styles in that you know it's not all the families take it in the same way so although it's in succession but each funeral is different so to that point exactly and tell to that point you were forced to find words and I know it's a tough one and yet I think that what I would like to ask you the most is what makes a person who is what makes his life his own and what makes his death his it's a very challenging question especially when we're referring that tragedy so many people die in the same day can tell you that I ask myself what would be meaningful for the same individual that we are writing about for example one of the person I wrote about was religious as a child and the last one of the last thing he did before he died was putting a Torah book on his pillow just before he died and that was something that I felt was meaningful because it relate to his own history and biography I try to look at specific issues that makes this person unique for example someone else was colorblind and that really shaped his entire personality he could combine different shades that no one would think they were matched and that was a huge part of his the way he looked at himself and the world and that was a part of the eulogy so we try to go for the specific issues and anecdote that tells someone managed to portray his life story and his character and you've mentioned the word history I don't think it's for us it's not for us to attach meaning to other people's lives it's for us to describe them and to show who they were and the story is enough I think it doesn't have to be something you know a lesson for the future generations it's just one person there are no heroes and no ordinary people like the ordinary people so I think it's enough that we take a picture of who they were and respect that to honor them that way and before we thank you both we cannot ignore the historical gravitas I would say of this moment these obituaries will be remembered for eternity not just as personal stories but as stories of this nation to what extent did you feel like a story in Tal? Well I really agree I don't look at myself as a story teller and I try to tell the story in a way I examine it and the way the beloved ones of each individual look at it and I think I really agree the tragedy here is there are so many different stories and our goal was to portray it to tell it as accurate as we can and hopefully we did the best in order to you did very well I can tell you that because I know the people and I know you did very well thank you so much and really I can't it's really the least we can do as writers as people in this country right now to help in this terrible tragedy that it's really still impossible to describe and yet you were hesitant to using this word to describe how you feel at the beginning of the conversation and you had the privilege to be part of the final phase of their journey Neely before we thank you would you like perhaps to share a month on what keeps you going? I'm not sure I know but I think it's it's being a part of a community that's very strong and very empowering and this is where I belong and I have I take part in whatever is necessary now yes so this is what I do sticking together this is what keeps all of us going Neely Basinay we're sending a big hug from here thank you so very much for speaking to us we appreciate it tell me thank you very much for coming thank you for having me yes and we will take a deep breath now because next video you're about to see will probably continue to resonate for a while if not forever it beforehand mother is it okay now to cry yes girl yes thin hands yes now it is time to cry yes an angel of plucked lashes and hair yes now it is already allowed already allowed you were obedient and wise and in the dark you did not cry and even so no ear would hear you grew your teeth in silence and a star from above will testify how you tore the sea again apart look at how tiny vibration the first glee sparkles in your eye this is a part part of a poem written by arguably the greatest Israeli poet Nathan Altelman after World War II based on one of so many such stories of a little girl who was hiding with her mother for so many years Jewish children were not allowed to cry this country was founded so they could so they can be Jewish children on October 7th once again Jewish children were not allowed to cry on a peaceful Saturday morning at their home in the south mama and papa bear watched their little baby bear sounded outside or go check baby bear purred his ears good morning baby cop the cop looked for advice don't worry mama bear said whoops the baby yelled in fear don't worry little one mama bear is here they're getting near I'm on it my love mama bear is here we're joined now here in studio by Gilly Dolev creator and co-director of the mama bear movie we have just watched Gilly thank you so very much for coming it's not the first time I'm watching it and yet every time it hits again I think that many of us felt like Roberto Bernini and life is beautiful trying to mask the horror with some childish tenderness and here it's the exact opposite it's this pure moment of a mother talking baby in bed how did it all come to be so I think first of all just talking just hearing the previous to you guest talking it's just like so powerful and I think if there's a glimmer of hope in all this it's like how people come together and the great sense of community and this all mama bear happened because of a lot of great people great artists like TV execs felt the need to do something and to give voice to those who don't have a voice at the moment and especially the kids held in Gaza and the rest of the hostages a good friend and a colleague of mine who was still is accompanying one of the families who have kids held in Gaza she felt with a very sort of strong instincts that animation will be able to deliver a message in a way that will be different and in a way that will be heard maybe above the general noise and so she mentioned the idea to me and I think we brainstormed it for 15 minutes which is shorter than anything I think I've ever done before and then we involved Shirley Oran who's a senior TV exec into this business and we thought about it a little bit more and then I just pretty much approached a lot of my friends who are also artists and animators usually work on preschool shows my background is directing and creating preschool shows I'd recently directed Coco Melon this could not be more different to something like that and Peel Animation which is a great Israeli studio of her insurance because it came bored and contributed all the time and efforts and people who work in the studio along with animators from all over the world. Yeah all recruited we've seen this across the board in all sectors of Israeli society from all fields from all endeavors Gili, why bears and not humans? That's a really it's a great question we started off when I first thought about it I thought about a mother and a son with wolves coming into the house just all idea of a fairy tale gone very wrong like the green brothers and with the wolves and then when I was talking to Lior as a storyboard artist about the idea he said like maybe they should all be animals and I thought that was a great idea and I felt like bears and the idea of a mama bear protecting her cub resonates in a way that we all understand so to an extent to make the story even more human you had to make it non-human. You phrased it in a much better way than I've ever sort of articulated it it's exactly that I think when something animation as a medium is great for doing something with a little disguise that you don't expect and then kind of like going for like the soft spot and I think it catches you off guard and I think that's what happens you don't expect it it starts with Shira Haase's sort of like very gentle voice and you think you are kind of in for like this kind of very quickly it goes the visual language here is like a classic children book and then it hits so and that was exactly the purpose and Ashera Simon Haase was the art director and the designer who designed this like we talked very early on about the idea of creating a picture book and because those picture book visuals that every parent kind of reads to their kids before they go to bed and now those kids are in Gaza they don't have that and it's something that just like again we all understand and it resonates and it cross cultural as well so people in Israel people abroad they should all understand it on a basic human level yeah so we do want to take a quick look into your next project taken Gilly tell us about this not less shocking so the idea here is trying to give a very specific voice to the hostages in Gaza by taking their individual videos and from you know again every day sort of activity those are real home videos of the hostages and having a moment where they are literally gone so we and the aim is to create one for every hostage held in Gaza and we're working with with Ilanid Chervigotsky and who's helping make contact with all the families because we get the consent of everyone in Shilio Run, Avi Balili is doing the music and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is already on board to help distribute it and we hope that they will use it in all their platforms of course what feedbacks are you getting so far so on Mamaba it's certainly hit and nerve I think it touched a lot of people in Israel and more importantly in a way because it's important to touch people here but we're all in the same camp I think there's such a wave of anti-Semitism at the moment and all we can do is trying to get people to understand the scale of the horrors that happened here and we're dealing with people exactly like them it could be the brother the child the sister, mother, father, grandparents exactly so that's the only thing we can do we just hope that their voice is heard and brought back home as soon as possible and we hope that very soon you will go back to your ordinary job of making kids happy thank you very much thank you very much for coming here we appreciate it, thank you thank you for having me now brothers in arms it's not just a term not mere lip service if this month taught us anything is that the Israeli people are a force of nature in the de facto government of the people for the people by the people on Sunday morning we created this control unit we didn't know exactly what to do we decided to set up this headquarter here a place close to the Gaza border this headquarter which was established in the capital Hamas on October 7 doesn't only help with supplies and food but also with evacuation missions I-24 news joined a team of elderly people who came to support the people of the south we have three missions today the first one is to bring people from Niti Vot the second one is to bring a package to Beiri and the third is to evacuate a woman and bring her to Jerusalem and two cars in each car we have someone with a weapon and a driver our first stop was at Niti Vot about 10 km from the Gaza Strip which has been bombarded by rockets the next destination is Kibbutz Berry this was one of the main targets of the Hamas slaughter the team is asked to deliver a package to one of the residents here the road is closed by the IDF and the team brings the package one of the volunteers here is Shauli Levi whose granddaughter was kidnapped and taken to Gaza decided to take action and join the civil effort my heart hurts now but as you can see the activity here is distracting and that's the most important thing for me right now ever since the war erupted we are seeing more and more initiatives like this where residents are taking action it's just one more example of the uniqueness and strength of the Israeli society we are taking a short break now but when we get back we continue this special edition a month since October 7th since everything changed from devastation to resurrection few minutes and we'll be back stay with us this is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking more than 100 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 since the outbreak of this war I-24 news has been providing around the clock coverage giving a voice to all those impacted by the October 7th massacre gaining perspectives on the whole left through Israeli society an impact on the entire Middle East here are some of the best stories from our coverage since this war began now by Galt Gilboa Dahlal joining me in studio one of the kidnapped by Hamas Galt thank you so much for joining us it's been more than three weeks 24 days since your brother was kidnapped exactly how have you been doing for these past four weeks or three weeks well this is kind of hard question because we have a lot of up and downs how you call right now we are trying to spread the word about him as much as we can in any platform that will have us so thank you for having me and yes it's really it's been really hard on us the last three weeks I mean in the first week we were shocked we didn't speak, we didn't eat it was just terrible but then we understand that my brother needs our help and we need to do anything that we can that people will hear his story and our story and know exactly what happened what needs to be done right now take me back to that first week what did happen, how did you find out that your brother was one of the ones that was kidnapped well my brother was kidnapped from a spiritual festival from the Nova Festival and I actually went with him I was there with him I wasn't supposed to go to this festival at the beginning because I had other plans but he asked me to join him and I wanted to watch over him because it was his first festival his first time he went to this kind of festival to see how much fun I have so he wanted to also have the experience and I wanted him to have the greatest experience he can have so I went there I arrived there at 5.30 in the morning which was one hour before the first alarm he went there with his three best friends one childhood friend and another couple a boy and a girl their name is Ron Saffati they both died his second his childhood friend was kidnapped with him from the festival now as soon as I arrived my brother jumped at me he took a selfie, sent it to our mom he's the kind of guy that always informed our mother that everything is okay keep her updated because she gets worried and and I mean he sent the selfie at 6.30 at 6.15 sorry the first alarm started so I haven't even had time to go to the dance floor with him or do anything with him and he was so joyful and happy when he saw me he and his three friends they were just so happy you need to understand these kind of people that go to this spiritual festival they are I wouldn't say hippie type people but they are all about the peace and love half of the profile picture has this slogan Arab and Jews are refusing to be enemies since they are really all about the peace and and once the first alarm started we knew that we should either take covers as we usually do in Israel because alarm in missile attack usually but this time we figured that we don't have anywhere really good to hide or to take cover from missiles so we should just get to our car and get out of there as soon as we can my brother and his friends they arrived in a separate car than me because I arrived much later so our car didn't park like next to each other and everyone was trying to get on the same time so we had couple of minutes between us that I was stuck in the middle of the traffic my brother was stuck way in the back now the traffic was stuck because the roads were closed police closed the exit but we only after we realized it wasn't really police it was terrorists who stole the police car and they closed the exit until everyone was stuck and then start spraying on them so once they start spraying we heard the first round of shooting it was a massive round of shootings and me and my friend I went there with a good friend of mine he was with me in the car and me and him we left to the valley next to our car to find cover and I called my brother this was the last time I spoke with him he told me that they are also ok but they had to leave the car also they were in outer cover with our police force four cops and I told him to stay as close as he can to our cops but stay hidden and that was our last conversation because people were fleeing told me while we were speaking they told us that we should keep moving because terrorists are just above us you could hear the bullets but we didn't know from where the bullets came and we didn't saw the terrorists yet so we just figured we should go further into the valley find a better place to hide and on my second hide out I called my brother again and he didn't answer anymore neither he or his friends I only left the party this place seven and a half hours after it started a force of police were able to find us and rescue us from there and I mean most of the people were just were frightened they feared so much my fear has changed in wars because when my brother stopped to answer me I wanted to see what happened with him but I couldn't get to him because he was too far and they were shooting all around us so all I could do is try to reach him and hope he will be he will be fine which he would, he did it because I on the way out we saw so many dead bodies somewhat corrupted burned even in war they took us to a police station and as I reached there, as soon as I reached there I called my father I told him that I was able to get out of there but if you know anything about my brother you should tell me because he sounded broken he sounded like something is wrong and he told me that my brother was kidnapped and there is a hostage video of him already in Gaza you can see the video right now that's my brother he's afraid he and his friends are there now you can see this is his childhood friend that was kidnapped with him along with three other Israeli guys that were at the party that's the last piece of information we have about my brother we didn't receive any word about him any new lead what about from the Israeli government Israeli officials have they been in contact with you? only two days after the incident they came to our house and officially let us know that my brother is kidnapped in Gaza but we already knew it we saw the video they posted the video at 11.30 which was two and a half hours before I was able to get out of there so my parents already knew why I was there they just didn't tell me they only told me once I got out of there ever since we are trying to get as much information as we can and to speak with as many people as we can so people will know and help us to raise the awareness because right now Hamas they won't even let the Red Cross get in and see what's the condition of the hostages they don't even give us a signal that he's alive and we know for sure that he was taken alive and well you can see in the video that he's already in Gaza and that they were able to kidnap him without really harming them which is it's hard to say that gives us hope but it is what gives us hope right now after hearing your own story of survival that in itself is so difficult to even hear but you bring up just such a strong emotion that you weren't scared for your own life you were scared for your brother no as I told you I only went there to watch over him to make sure he's having a great experience me and my brother are the best friends we also have a little sister and three of us has the greatest relationship I have a soul between siblings I love him more than myself I love him more than anything in the world we share the same interests and hobbies same music and the same movies and everything he's truly my best friend and I adore him more than anything in the world and we miss him so much it's so hard come back without him a lot of people came back from there and felt like they got the life back the life was safe I don't feel this way, I feel like the best thing in my life was taken and there is no comfort in coming back without him Gal, thank you so much for sharing the story of you and your brother Guy we will continue to put his picture out there to talk about him in hopes that he and the 240 other hostages get home, get back safely and as soon as possible thank you so much Gal it was a day of tragedy for all of Israel and also for many individuals Israelis among them Gilad Korngold now as Hamas terrorists attacked Hebutzbury three members of his family were killed and two Gaza among that group are his son Tal and daughter-in-law Adi their eight year old son Navey and three year old daughter Yahal along with Adi's mother Antonis to raise awareness of their plight Gilad has worked with the tech firm Generative AI for Good to create a clip using a computer generated image of young Navey speaking to us from his captivity here is a bit of that I miss my friends I miss playing soccer mom I even want to go back to school already do my friends even think about me I keep telling myself it's just a story well joining us in studio now is Gilad Korngold Gilad thank you for joining us first of all let me ask you about October 7th at least that day unfolded in the beginning for you and for your family 6.10 in the morning it was Saturday and holiday in Israel and we start to hear Siren you live in a community I live in Kibbutz Gvulot it's around 12 kilometers from the border but we can hear everything we have Siren go to I work with Siren and we have regular protocol we run to the shelter close the door and we stay until we get permission to get out it's not unusual in our area it's every 2-3 months it start again and then after a few days the stop and we continue regular time but immediately we realize that something it's unusual because the first hour they shoot more than 1000 missiles all over Israel my family was living in the north of the country they came to Bari to this mother and father house and they slept there overnight and this morning Saturday they supposed to come to Maikibus we plan to go to the swimming pool we plan at this as a birthday cake and we start to hear that there is terrorists it's also I live there around 28 years it's not something unusual 2-3 terrorists that go inside Kibbutz it's not unusual and H-Kibbutz depends on the big population they have a group of men with arms well training their job is to jump immediately there's something happen and go to watch the fans in the Kibbutz until the army came nobody go inside and we start to read the what's up listen where's the army they kill us they burn the houses all over the area there was 22 Kibbutz it's 1.5 km from the border okay what was the message from your family in particular that you start to realize they're in deadly danger and when did you get your last message from them my son told me that he didn't have his phone we chat with his mother's phone he told me that everything is okay he didn't realize there is a lot of terrorists and a group of my friends want to come volunteer to rescue from them and I ask him to send me a google map and say father don't need the army it's here don't involve anybody on this of course it's not what's happened and the last message is from 10.30 in the morning and everything is shut down no more messages two days we thought that they're staying in the shelter in the security room without any knowledge and then I asked for one of the forces if he can go to the house and see what's happened he sent me a video that the house is burned everything and he told me that check inside there's not dead bodies and this time I say yes it means that either they in Gaza and we know that they start to take people see videos or they kill them outside three days after a member of the kibbutz called us he was captured by Hamas his wife and his daughter and they put him in the car they stole the car from the kibbutz and start to drive to the kibbutz fence and then stop and say there's a soldier, there's a soldier three days after we didn't have any notice yes and then they come back and he saw my son he took him on the feet with clothes with shoes, with everything and we are back yes with the white zip and they throw him to the car trunk and they start to drive to the border this guy escaped from the car with his wife and the daughter they killed the wife but the daughter and this guy is back in the kibbutz safe so we know for sure that Tal was taken alive we didn't have any other information regarding the other family and now we know by Israeli authorities contacted and said they've confirmed that they are they confirmed not 100% my son and he is also Austrian citizen yes and my daughter my grandson and my daughter-in-law they are German citizens so let me ask you your activity since then we saw that clip that you made tell us a little about that what are your other activities to create better awareness international awareness of their plight yes we work all the day during the day with a lot of interviews special to German and Austrian audience but yesterday we have Indian television CNN everything that I can show the poster show the poster you can hold that up in front of the camera three years old Navey's eight years Adi's 38 and Tal is 38 I can imagine what's happened there now with them we do everything that we can and I know that also the Austrian embassy and the German embassy here in Israel help us a lot and they work now the Israeli authorities with also Gal Hirsch team and the army we contact daily with me and we hope that they are safe there we don't have any knowledge about the condition either alive or dead but we strong family and we do hope and the problem is the knights right he sits near the Gaza border and was right beside the supernova music festival when thousands of terrorists burst into southern Israel on that tragic morning of October 7 like other communities in the area it did suffer serious casualties but it could have been worse much worse there safe for the actions of a handful of residents who formed Reim's rapid response group for hours they fought the terrorists with little backup neutralizing many of them and holding off many of them until backup finally arrived one of that group is Reim he joins us now from a lot where he's been located first of all and we tell us about how it unfolded at least the beginning of October 7 for you Good evening in the beginning of the day of October 7 about 6.30 on the morning we heard a lot of rockets a lot of missiles it's something common but this time it was much much harder a lot of them very strong and we understood that this is a big big attack and after about 20 minutes we started to hear some shooting from arms much closer to us and in that point we understood that we have to go outside and to fight our house our home we find out around 7 o'clock when we went out that we are only 6 people with arms with weapons and we need to defend all our kibbutz 4 of these 6 went to the northern part of the kibbutz and me and my friend Nivduria we moved to the southern part of the kibbutz and we had 2 minutes before to understand the whole situation we saw that the terrorists having fight with the base and we understood that no army will come to save us we saw them go by many many many of them and pick up tracks full of RPG a lot of shotguns and grenades they were well armed they came to stay in Reim they wanted to conquer all the school regional council and we understood that it's only us 6 people against something like 100 that they came to our kibbutz and we had a couple with me his name is Nivduria he was the commander and the main idea of our way of fighting was to surprise them like to shoot 1 or 2 bullets each time and then to run to somewhere else we understood that we don't want them to come because we knew in which houses there are people and we cannot suffer terrorists will come to these houses so we make the terrorists to go to houses that we knew that they are empty and we delay them most of the time we just shot them from different angles and make them to be surprised right and this went on for quite a period was there ever a point in which you felt alright I'm doing what I have to do to leave the lives of my my fellow members here on the kibbutz but at the end of the day we're going to be overwhelmed and this will be a sacrifice of my own life until 10 o'clock this is what I felt like but around 9.30 the first police came on on a vehicle and they started to shoot from the outside of the kibbutz on the terrorists that were inside me and my friend was pretty much in the west side of the kibbutz we went to there and we shot a few bullets on the terrorists there and then opened the way to bring another friend of our Kitatkonenut that he was working on a school park and he barely made it to come to the kibbutz and he came inside the kibbutz with another four police officers they came by walking they ran inside the kibbutz and from that point that was at 10 o'clock I understood that even if something will happen to me still there will be a force that will keep the kibbutz that was the point that I felt like we're going to make it but let me ask you if you're planning to go back to kibbutz Reim what lesson have you learned as someone there dealing with the security what has to happen for you to go back there and for you and the survivors of Reim to feel secure safe and secure once again there first that there will be no Hamas at all we cannot live next to that monster I don't know how they educated their children how they make thousands thousands of people what they made in their mind to get inside Israel to get inside the kibbutz and to burn people alive in their houses and just to shoot many people unarmed all the people children we cannot the world cannot have the Hamas the Hamas cannot be in this world all the world need to understand that okay it's not a fight between two armies it was a horrible terror attack it was a holocaust to all our area to all our community and our community it's all combined together there's called the community not only Reim we see people in the schools in every activity we are always together and for you you see pictures and once we see these pictures we know the people we met them and what happened to us it's not only in Reim it's to all of our regional council it's very difficult and first that there will be no Hamas no attack anything that will make us fear all right Deim we wish you well we wish the safe return of all of your friends and comrades there and we wish for the revival of Kibbutz Reim in a safer more secure future so that's a day like so your kind of heroism is never as admirable as it is is never called on again and we thank you for joining us so thank you for your service to your community that was just a small selection of some of the debates and the discussions that we've had over the course of the past almost a month now that war thanks for watching that episode of our best stuff investment in Israel bonds it is the most powerful and direct way to stand with Israel visit Israel bonds dot com and invest now 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 as Israel fights terror from the south and north get the inside scoop on what's going on only on i24 news coverage of day 35 of Israel's war with Hamas the Israeli defense forces confirming a short while ago the three aircrafts have infiltrated into Israeli territory out of Lebanon one of them was intercepted by Israel's aerial defense systems and two others fell in open areas on Thursday a UAV that penetrated Israel out of Syria has hit a school in the southern city of Elat with the IDF attacking targets in Syria belonging to the group behind the attack in retaliation earlier this afternoon a barrage of rockets was fired out of Gaza into central Israel sending millions of Israelis to shelter two women were wounded from shrapnel and have been rushed to hospital not quiet on the southern front as well with multiple rocket launches towards southern border communities near the Gaza border meanwhile the IDF continues its ground operation in Gaza Israeli tanks are reportedly surrounding a hospital where Hamas terrorists are barricaded what you just saw are shots believed to be fired by Hamas terrorists at civilians who attempted to flee the area of that hospital also this evening Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the heads of municipalities on the southern border those most affected by the Hamas massacre Netanyahu vowing the IDF will remain in control of the Gaza Strip after the war to ensure there is no longer a threat from Gaza to Israeli citizens we are now finishing a meeting with the heads of the communities of the Gaza envelope these people along with the residents in the Gaza envelope show tremendous resilience civilians fought alongside soldiers to shoulder there is a great determination among them and in the government to restore it to even better than before to restore, to build, to grow first of all to restore security to make sure that there is no Hamas and that Hamas does not return but also to make sure that there will be strong life after I am impressed by these people impressed by the work of Moshe Edri Yossi Shelly the Minister of Tourism we have a big mission and we will succeed in it Yossi Shelly let's go to Israel's northern border now I-24 News correspondent Zach Anders is standing by Zach not a dull moment in the north what do we know about these drones intercepted yeah exactly I just I want to share with something that we just saw you can see me looking up into the sky over my shoulder is facing north we're looking south it would appear to be a rocket no red alert right now but it would appear to be a rocket streaking across the sky in our direction facing south this has been a very very active day again on the northern border Hezbollah is claiming that seven more fighters died in Israeli strikes bringing the total death count to 70 Hezbollah fighters now that is not confirmed by Israeli sources this is coming from Hezbollah and Lebanese media this severe amount of activity and a severe amount of strikes happening on the Lebanese side Israeli air force and the IDF in simultaneous strikes with artillery as well which we continue to hear outgoing artillery towards the north in that direction have been striking posts where Hezbollah and potentially Hamas syndicate fighters have been firing upon IDF troops stationed on the northern border and these skirmishes that fighting has been ongoing now for days obviously but today once again they've been firing at IDF positions and at Israeli bases from the Lebanese border Zach Anders reporting for us from the northern border thank you for that update now for more I'm joined in studio by IDF colonel in reserves Amit Assa also former member of the Israeli security agency the Shin Bet Amit we just heard from the Israeli Prime Minister vowing to the municipalities in the south that the IDF will continue to control the Gaza Strip and at least in terms of the security there how could that look like what would that mean it's a very good question because part of it we are supposed to understand that it will be an occupation as everybody say we will occupy the Gaza Strip and we will control it but in another hand the reason possibility that we are not doing this occupation but we controlling the security if there will be any force inside if there will be any international force inside to control everything we will be able to control security what's happening there without any taking care of a lot of troops inside Gaza and so it's difficult to say how it will be but Benjamin Netanyahu is saying very clearly what is going on to be is safe safe and secure Gaza Strip there's no ability to anybody to shoot anything out of Gaza are you expecting something similar to what we see in the West Bank like area B where the idea has no regular control but are you able to go in some kind of combination like that A B C but I think that it will not be a control of the Palestinian hands it's not like in area A in the West Bank was the leaders there was controlling there is the Palestinian we will not be able to give them the opportunity to hold this secure in Gaza so it will be somebody else but it will be some combination I think a very creative combination to do it we're hearing a lot about the status of the civilians in Gaza and we're hearing this evening from officials in Washington like Secretary Blinken his concerns about what Israel is doing to protect those civilians maybe let's take a listen first let's take a listen to Blinken and then we can hear more okay we do not have Blinken your response to this we can be concerned about it but as we know that the Israeli IDF is working the most humanitarian way that anybody or any army in the world can act first we are giving all the civilians the opportunity to get out from war zone and we see the Hamas is shooting them not to go out from the war zone this is what we see it's not that we don't want but we are giving them the opportunity to go back for numbers numbers of people are going from the north to the south and we see the corridor is open and this is one hand in one hand on the other hand is humanitarian aid that comes from all over the world as medicine, as water to who is in the south side of Gaza so we are doing the best as we can to see that estimates are that 50,000 residents have moved south today following these Israeli calls for them to move to the safe zone let's take a listen to Blinken right now this marks the last day of what's now been a nine day trip of intensive diplomacy throughout the Middle East and now here in the end of the Pacific and along the way and at each stop in different ways we've sought to advance a number of critical objectives minimizing harm to Palestinian civilians and maximizing the humanitarian assistance that reaches them working to prevent the spread of the conflict focusing on getting hostages home as well as getting American citizens and other foreign nationals out of Gaza and working to set sustainable durable conditions for genuinely lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians like at the same time much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that the humanitarian assistance reaches them far too many Palestinians have been killed far too many have suffered these past weeks and we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximize the assistance that gets to them so Blinken says far too many Palestinians have been killed and as we're speaking the idea is surrounding one of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip with tanks but that is no regular hospital there are no such regular hospitals in Gaza as we see and it's very interesting because something happened about the hospitals IDF is talking to people inside hospitals the management of the hospitals and they are telling them go out they succeeded two hospitals are getting out of the hospital all the people from there all the innocent people that is in the hospital and as we can see it's success it's success for the IDF to get out everybody from this hospital because we know that under this hospital there is tunnels and bunkers and the command and control of Hamas so we can succeed in it we can avoid the casualties from the innocent people let's take a broader picture now and speak about the popularity of Hamas both in Gaza and in the West Bank when Hamas initiated this attack it knew very well that it is bringing a death wish to itself and to the people of Gaza perhaps didn't expect the IDF to do so well in entering Gaza the Israeli response and nonetheless the overwhelming support on the streets in Gaza and also in the West Bank is still to the movement of Hamas with all that Hamas has done for its civilians try to explain this for our viewers this is something that we don't understand in the West and we don't understand because if something is very clear when you are getting deep into the ideology of Hamas is that ideological is the important thing okay it's not the wealth it's not the convenience that will be to the civilians or to the to the society it's the ideology Islamic radical ideology that your life is belong to Allah and you will give your life back to Allah because he's just borrowed your soul so nothing will will be good for them and we can give them wealth, we can give them money we can give them everything at the end they will come back of Hamas and this is a problem because if the ideology of the Hamas is the legitimate of Israel here in the region there's nothing we can do until they will change this view thank you Amit and we'll go back to you very soon now since the start of the Hamas onslaught on October 7 over 1400 Israelis were murdered many of them were amputated, beheaded or burned alive no less than 7000 others were wounded in the hands of those Hamas terrorists but also at the hands of terrorists of other Palestinian factions and even just regular Gaza civilians who happily joined the bloodbath of Israeli civilians Israeli paramedics, doctors and nurses have been working tirelessly since the attack to care for the wounded I want to welcome the director of ECMO for Respiratory Failure Services at the Soroka University Medical Center also the head of the Resuscitation Committee at the Medical Intensive Care Unit is joining us from Mishmal Hanegev in southern Israel, Dr. Galante thank you for coming on the show thank you, good evening so doctor, you have not only been treating patients at the hospital but also felt the attack very close to your home and to your family take us back to that Saturday morning of October 7th I woke up at 6 am planning to take my horse and go for a ride in the beautiful fields of the western Hanegev on 6.30 I started hearing the missile attack, the bombs the bombing, so this is something that we are pretty used to it was something unusual the amount so I opened the TV and there was the first three ports of terrorist invasions to Kibbutz near the Gaza St I immediately called my friend with the security in charge in my Kibbutz I live in Mishmal Hanegev as you said which located 25 kilometers from Gaza and we didn't know what's happening and we didn't have any long weapons in our Kibbutz so we decided that he is going to drive to the armour which is located approximately 15 minutes drive and I'm going to go take my personal weapon and with another friend go to the fence of our Kibbutz to protect our family and Kibbutz rockets were falling the iron dome was firing on the Hamas missiles but there were falls all over very much closer than we used to so the earth was shaking and I located myself near the stables this is what was my post and started to write to my uncle who lives in a Kibbutz nearer closer to Gaza his name was Saeed Moshe he lived in Kibbutz New Oz and he told me that there are terrorists all over they are shooting at homes that he and my aunt Adina are in the safe room of their house the shelter and his son my cousin Moshe with his five children and his wife are at their home also in the Oz also in the safe room so the next hour and a half was looked like me in my post writing to Saeed and at the same time I got a call from Shiran, Shiran is a nurse in my ICU she lives in a village called Yakhini and she told me that her nephew 18 years old boy called Jonathan Hatchby is shot in the chest while visiting his grandmother I tried to to guide him how to treat him knowing that without proper medical equipment the chances are very very low so I hanged up and tried to arrange for medical evacuation for him under fire I called the EMS, I called the police I called the army whoever I can but I didn't succeed for arranging this evacuation I called them back and we did a video chat and I saw the situation is deteriorating he asked for ice he told his family that he's going to die so knowing I know from treating patients that when a patient says he's going to die he probably knows what he's talking about I told him that everything would be ok knowing that he probably not at one time I tried to ask them if maybe they can take him into their car and just drive under fire and evacuate him immediately I regretted asking that because I knew that maybe I'm sending them to their death so you can imagine me at the fence missiles falling all over and trying to text my uncle which stopped replying at 9.45 and Jonathan the situation is getting worse and worse he lost conscience I started guiding them how to do a CPR knowing that it won't help and after approximately two hours he died in his grandmother's home with his family then the security team in Mikey Boots was already arranged so I said goodbye to my family I'm knowing that I'm leaving them alone and knowing that in the next city which is five minutes away from Mikey Boots of Akim there are terrorists doing horrifying things and I left for the hospital I entered the trauma room with my jeans my pistol because you can never know what's going to happen now and where and what I saw was apocalyptic view at the first day in Sohoca Medical Center we got approximately 800 wounded approximately 100 of them severely injured into the trauma room and medical teams working all over amazing teams and it was a war it was just like a war intubating chest tubes all the time and what do you know about your family at these moments so much is going on and you haven't heard from your uncle since I didn't have heard from him we lost contact approximately at 2pm I got a message from another family member that there is a clip showing my aunt Adina as a hostage hostage in Gaza on a motorcycle with two armed terrorists and a celebrating mob around there unfortunately we can see the screens right now yeah which journalists all over taking pictures of this situation just later in the evening when Oz was freed from the terrorists amongst my cousin went to his parents' home finding my uncle my beloved uncle Said dead shot 12 times in the safe room after they bombed the window and he was found still holding the door handle and the door which was never opened in a heroic attempt to save his beloved wife which was as I said before she was kidnapped I said I turned back to treat the patients what could I do I knew that Amos and his five little children is safe now I knew that my uncle is dead and I knew that my aunt is somewhere in Gaza this was my night how do you manage to cope how do you manage to concentrate on saving lives when your own family has just experienced such a tragedy coping with unimaginable tragedies like losing your uncle your aunt being kidnapped seeing a young boy die in front of your eyes what choice did I have there were many many many other kids they were all kids coming into the trauma room soldiers young people from the party celebrating the life insist so what choice do I have just continue working don't let the emotions put them aside and just keep on working to try and save who we can it has been over a month now since this terrible tragedy since losing your uncle and since your aunt was kidnapped do you have any information about her what is your family doing and what do they know about what is she experiencing now in Gaza what are you hearing from the Israeli government from other foreign foreign entities what do you know we don't know nothing we know that she is there we know from the clip that she got there alive but nothing else we're working her children is working with village committees I'm doing what I can from the hospital combining the work of treating still treating the patients and trying to do whatever we can speak to whoever we can but we don't really have any new information we know that there were two elderly ladies who were released from Hamas both of them were from the same kibbutz but nothing else and doctor working at the syrocha medical center you have clearly treated also many patients from Gaza over the years you saved so many lives of patients that came from how do you see your work doing that with everything that has happened it's not only that the near-olds community was a very special community there were all farmers people of the land people who loved people many of them were volunteers they volunteered to drive families and children from Gaza to get treatment in Israeli hospital and as you said me myself I treated over the years I think I treated dozens of patients from Gaza I fought for their lives I saved their lives I talked to their families and I sent them back home and as a matter of fact the week before the October 7th there were approximately 60 families from Gaza in Israeli hospital getting treatment for diseases they treat in Gaza and now you can't help yourself from asking and wondering whether those patients of mine their families their friends were part of this murdering mob that slaughtered, murdered, raped burned, kidnapped my family and friends did they call their parents proudly showing their bloody hands with Jewish blood to get a blessing for their parents as we heard those talks you know I work in a hospital in Soroka Medical Center which is filled with wonderful people the people that give their lives to treat others on October 7th we worked side by side shoulder by shoulder medical teams with Muslims Christians, Jewish and we treated the wounded together the wounded were also Jewish, Muslims Christian all over they killed everybody and 30 kilometers from where I am sitting now just now there's a building and the sign over the building says hospital hospital in this place this place harbors the monstrous murder murderers of my family and friends they are hiding over there probably my aunt Adina with the other 240 kidnappers among them 40 children and babies she's probably over there also underneath this hospital so called hospital in the tunnels of Hamas unbelievable and unimaginable situation we have one minute to go would you have a final message to the world to the people who are watching us try to understand the situation yeah all the people in all the countries that are watching everybody that are watching you should do whatever you can press your leaders to get those 240 civilians children, baby elderly men and women back home captive we don't know in what conditions nobody had connection with them the red cross is not allowed to see them to see them so we should do whatever we can to free them whatever we can Dr. Ori Galante we thank you so much for sharing this devastating story with us we certainly hope that message did go through to the world to understand what you've been going through what so many people in Israel have gone through what the state of Israel is going through right now thank you for your time Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom, thank you and with that we wrap up this bulletin of the I-24 News Desk coming up at the top of the hour where Israel continues its ground operation the day 35th of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza special edition here on I-24 News V.C. is now B.O. before October this past month since bloody Saturday since the world as we knew it ceased to exist the most difficult question here in Israel was is the answer you usually get like everyone, yes with this thick dock of sorrow in our throats and our hearts and yet together in grief and pain and hope and strength together we have lost so many we have lost so much and so a month on for all of us who died and survived and born anew on October 7th clear than ever before this is no social contract that keeps us together that bounds us but a shared destiny covenant and it is up to us to make it not just a covenant of the past but one of the future for the sake of all those who are no longer here but forever will be with us the question is not what will be but who we will be because we have rediscovered if you will a red weapon a resilience and an Israeli light amidst all this darkness is and will continue to be shining oh so bright and yet what do you say when there are no words how do you bid farewell to someone you never even knew so many lives ended on October 7th every person a full world of course there were so many of them so many funerals and so many eulogies and yet so little people left to actually write them so writers all over the country volunteered to use their own weapon and honor them with the words to accompany all of them in their final journeys and we're now joined here in studio by screenwriter Tal Miller Gili Dolev also here with us and we'll be speaking to you shortly Gili and by zoom we're also joined by Nili Balsini who lost her husband Yoram in the heroic battles of Kibbutz Beri thank you all of you for joining us on this broadcast and first before and after all else Nili we are so so sorry for your loss irony has no mercy and you were actually writing an obituary to a friend when you got the message on your beloved husband yes that was I was in the Kibbutz we arrived the eulogies but in a different way we don't talk about the death but about the living and who was the person how he lived and what he did with his life so I was interviewing one of the families and I was holding my phone at the time because because I knew I was I was expecting the call to hear what happened to him and when we were talking about the the family's loss so I got the phone and I went to hear that my husband was there too but then somebody of the group of the writers volunteered to do the inquiries and write the eulogy so one of them is Tal Miller who is here with us in studio Nili it's Nili knows firsthand but it's so hard to recap the life of a person you know not to speak about someone you didn't so where do you start in the laboratory for a stranger well it's a very good question I have to say it's weird to say I was privileged but I feel privileged taking part of this amazing and very painful project I used to be a speech writer before I worked as a screenwriter it never I never felt it was so emotional like it is now I feel like I fell in love with people who I never met throughout like building a puzzle of someone's life you get all kinds of you get like 40 different questions you need to ask the closest people to the seeds and then you try to build this story you ask yourself how would this person wish to be remembered and what are the things that you would be most proud of and you try to build it together with these beloved ones and it's a very challenging mission I'm not sure I'm using the right term here but both of you to an extent professional obituary writer is at this point what would you say is the driving force when trying to write an obituary is it the sorrow is it the attempt to comfort those who are present at the funeral is it the pursuit of creating meaning to the life that are now gone well it's a very good question but I agree that the most important thing is talking about life not only about death we always say that each individual is a universe and there were so many universes that we lost in this terrible tragedy we try to look at their life as like they wish to observe their own life if it was possible I believe that the good eulogy is something that can only be written about someone specific and try to find the right anecdotes that tell their own story in a way that no one no one else can we can write about anyone else so that's the challenge Nili so many members of the kibbutz and we keep on trying to explain to our foreign audiences what a kibbutz means such a powerful strong community and all of a sudden you had to bid farewell to dozens of families and all men can't even describe that there were days with 17 funerals some of them parents and two kids and some was one day was a grandmother and their son and a granddaughter so this is overwhelming and there were because we cannot bury the people in our place because we are all refugees by now temporary places and they were they were in succession one hour after another and this was this was incredibly difficult for everyone because it was so intense and families and friends and all over the country and some it cannot be described in words I think because because also in some of the scenes they were still using bombs around and the noises all around yeah you had to bury your friends while the war is still ongoing yeah that's not easy tell and the yes please Nili keep on going yeah I don't know you can't describe this I think in words it's only if you take pictures of that or if you videotape then you can see you can see the amount of flowers and the amount of people crying and also there are styles in that you know it's not not all the families take it in the same way so although it's in succession but each funeral is different so to that point yeah exactly and tell to that point you are forced to find words and I know it's a tough one and yet I think that what I would like to ask you the most is what makes a person who is what makes his life his own and what makes his death his it's a very challenging question especially when we're referring that tragedy so many people die in the same day can tell you that I asked myself what would be meaningful for the same individual for each individual that we are writing about for example one of the person I wrote about was a religious as a child and the last one of the last thing he did before he died was putting a Torah book on his pillow just before he died and that was something that I felt was meaningful because it relate to his own history and biography I tried to look at specific issues that makes this person unique for example someone else was color blind and that really shaped his entire personality he could combine different shades that no one would think they are matched and that was a huge part of his the way he looked at himself and the world and that was a part of the eulogy so we tried to go for the specific issues and anecdotes that tells someone managed to portray his life story and his character and you've mentioned the word history and in this respect I don't think it's for us it's not for us to attach meaning to other people's lives it's for us to describe them and to show who they were and the story is enough I think you don't have to it doesn't have to be something you know a lesson for the future generations it's just one person no heroes and no ordinary people like that ordinary people so I think it's enough that we take a picture of who they were and respect that to honor them that way and before we thank you both we cannot ignore the historical gravitas I would say of this moment these obituaries will be remembered for eternity not just as personal stories but as stories of this nation to what extent did you feel like a historian Tal? well I really agree I don't look at myself as a historian I look at myself as a storyteller and I try to tell the story in a way I I examine it in the way the beloved ones of each individual look at it and I think I really agree the tragedy here is there are so many different stories and our goal was to portray it to tell it as accurate as we can and hopefully we did the best you did very well you did very well I can tell you that because I know the people and I know you did very well thank you so much and really I can't it's really the least we can do as writers as people in this country right now to help in this terrible tragedy that's really still impossible to describe yet and yet you were hesitant using this word to describe how you feel at the beginning of the conversation and you had the privilege to be part of the final phase of their journey Neely before we thank you would you like perhaps to share a month on what keeps you going I'm not sure I know but I think it's being a part of a community that's very strong and very empowering and this is where I belong and I have I take part in whatever is necessary now so this is what I do sticking together this is what keeps all of us going Neely Balsini we're sending a big hug from here thank you so very much for speaking to us we appreciate it tell me thank you very much for coming thank you for having me yes and we will take a deep breath now because next video you're about to see we'll probably continue to resonate for a while if not forever it beforehand mother is it okay now to cry yes girl yes thin hands yes now it is time to cry yes an angel of plucked lashes and hair yes now it is already allowed you were obedient and wise and in the dark you did not cry and even so no ear would hear you grew your teeth in silence I will testify how you tore the sea again apart look at how in a tiny vibration the first glee sparkles in your eye this is a part of a poem written by arguably the greatest Israeli poet Nathan Altelman after World War II based on one of so many such stories of a little girl who was hiding with her mother for so many years Jewish children were not allowed this country was founded so they could so they can be children on October 7th once again Jewish children were not allowed to cry mama bear said and covered his eyes the baby yelled in fear don't worry little one mama bear is here they're getting near I'm on it my love mama bear is here we're joined now here in studio by Gilly Dolev creator and co-director of the mama bear movie we we've just watched Gilly thank you so very much for coming it's not the first time I'm watching it and yet every time it hits again I think that many of us felt like Roberto Benini and life is beautiful trying to mask the horror with some childish tenderness and here it's the exact opposite it's this pure moment of a mother tucking her baby in and how did it all come to be so I think first of all just talking hearing the previous two guests talking is just like so powerful and I think if there's a glimmer of hope in all this is like how people come together and the great sense of community and this all mama bear happened because of a lot of great people great artists like TV execs felt the need to do something and to give voice to those who don't have a voice at the moment and especially the kids held in Gaza and the rest of the hostages a good friend and a colleague of mine Ila Pachter who was still is accompanying one of the families who have kids held in Gaza she felt with a very sort of strong instincts that animation will be able to deliver a message in a way that will be different and in a way that will be heard maybe above the general noise and so she mentioned the idea to me and I think we brainstormed it for 15 minutes which is shorter than anything I think I've ever done before and then we involved Shirley Oran who is a senior TV exec in this business and we thought about it a little bit more and then I just pretty much approached a lot of my friends are also artists and animators usually work on you know preschool shows my background is directing and creating preschool shows I've recently directed coca melon this could not be more different to something like that and Peel Animation which is a great Israeli studio of her insurance because it came bored and contributed all the time and efforts and people who work in the studio along with animators from all over the world yeah all recruited we've seen this across the board in all sectors of Israeli society from all sides why bears and not humans that's a really it's a great question we started off when I first thought about it I thought about a mother and a son with wolves coming into the house just all idea of a fairy tale gone very wrong like the green brothers and with the wolves and then when I was talking to Leor as a storyboard artist about the idea he said like maybe they should all be animals and I thought that was a great idea and I felt like bears and the idea of a mama bear protecting her cub resonating a way that we all understand so to an extent to make the story even more human you had to make it non-human you phrase it in a much better way than I've ever sort of articulated it it's exactly that I think when something animation as a medium is great for you know for doing something with a little disguise that you don't expect and then kind of like going you know for like the soft spot and I think it catches you off guard and I think that's what happens you don't expect it it starts with a very gentle voice and you think you are kind of in for this kind of fairy tale and very quickly it goes like the visual language here is like a classic children book and then it hits so and that was exactly the purpose and Asha Semenhoy was the art director and the designer who designed this like we talked very early on about the idea of creating a picture book and because those picture book visuals that you know every parent kind of reads to their kids before they go to bed and now those kids are in Gaza they don't have that and it's something that just like again we all understand and it resonates and it cross cultural as well so people in Israel people abroad they should all understand it on a basic human level. Yeah so we do want to take a quick look into your next project taken. Gilly tell us about this Nautilus Sharking. So the idea here is trying to give a very specific voice to the hostages in Gaza by taking their individual videos and from you know again every day sort of activity those are real home videos of the hostages and having a moment where they are literally gone so we and the team is to create one for every hostage held in Gaza and we're working with with Ilanid Chervigotsky and who's helping make contact with all the families because we get the consent of everyone in Shilio Avib Ali is doing the music and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is already on board to help distribute it. We do hope that they will use it in all their platforms of course what feedbacks are you getting so far? So on Mamaba it certainly hit a nerve I think it touched a lot of people in Israel and more importantly in a way because it's important to touch people here but we're all in the same camp I think there's such a wave of anti-Semitism at the moment and what we can do is trying to get people to understand the scale of the horrors that happened here and we're dealing with people exactly like them it could be the brother, the child, the sister mother, father, grandparents exactly so that's the only thing we can do we just hope that their voice is heard and brought back home as soon as possible. Very soon you will go back to your ordinary job of making kids happy. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for coming here. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Now brothers in arms it's not just a term not mere lip service. If this month taught us anything is that the