 Israel is in a state of war, families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. In news edition, I'm Venita Levine, coming to you live from Tel Aviv. This is a photograph of 12-year-old Liel Khatroni, official confirmation today that she was killed by Hamas terrorists during the terror assault at Kibbutzbaeri in southern Israel on the 7th of October. Her remains have now been formally identified. Her family had last week held a ceremony for her and her aunt Ayala, even though at that time there had not been any official identification. Her family buried her personal items. Liel and Ayala were killed along with Liel's twin Khatroni and the twins' grandfather, Avir Khatroni. The grandfather and grandson had been laid to rest in Ruvivim two weeks after the attack. Meanwhile, the families of 236 hostages being held by Hamas are still waiting for answers more than six weeks since they were abducted by the terror group and taken into Gaza. They include babies, children, women and the elderly. The Prime Minister of Qatar says a deal to free hostages now hinges on minor practical issues. Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Tani was speaking at a joint press conference with EU foreign policy chief Joseph Burrell. He didn't give details or any timelines. Reports suggest the release of Sun of the hostages will involve a temporary ceasefire. Meanwhile, rocket fire continues to be fired from Gaza towards southern Israeli communities and earlier from southern Lebanon into northern Israel on day 44 of the war. On the ground, the IDF continues with its retaliatory operation to eliminate the Hamas terror group with the death toll in the ground operation now at 61 Israeli soldiers. Inside Gaza, the Hamas run health ministry is claiming thousands of Gazans have been killed. These numbers have not been independently verified and it's not clear how many of those killed are terrorists from Hamas or Palestinian Islamic jihad. In the northern part of the strip, the IDF says it's working to evacuate as many patients as possible from the Shifa Hospital compound, which it says is located above a Hamas terror compound centre. The broader Israeli security cabinet meanwhile has approved the daily transfer of a limited amount of fuel into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian purposes, rubber stamping the decision made by the war cabinet. Far-right ministers Batsal El Smotridge and Itamar Ben Gavir and Likud, transportation minister Miri Regev voting against it, Gidon Saar from Benny Gantz's National Unity Party abstaining. Israel initially refused to allow any fuel into Gaza amidst concerns that Hamas would use it for terror purposes but has now changed its stance in order to avoid a humanitarian disaster with the breakdown of the sewerage system there. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Qatar saying a deal to free the hostages now hinges on minor practical issues. Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Altani was speaking earlier at a press conference with EU foreign policy chief Joseph Burrell. Let's take a listen. When you come closer to the goal, you feel your confidence levels are increasing and we hope that we are reaching to that point. The sticking points honestly at this stage are more practical, logistical, not really something represent the core of the deal. The deal is going through ups and downs from time to time throughout the last few weeks but I think that you know I'm now more confident that we are close enough to reach to a deal that can bring the people safely back to their homes whether they are the hostages on Hamas side or whatever the exchange that will happen will take place from the Israeli side. Now let's find out exactly what is happening on the ground. We go live to our correspondent Zach Anders. He joins us from southern Israel. So Zach, despite the rain and the wind, awful weather right now but rocket sirens still sounding in southern border communities earlier in the afternoon local time. What is the latest on the ground? What can you share right now? Well the latest within the last 24 hours has been the command and control of one of the more affluent neighborhoods of Gaza by one of the elite paratrooper crews of Israel's IDF. They say they have secured this neighborhood and they have found dozens of new entrances to tunnels within where several senior Hamas commanders were living inside of these communities. Of course the wind and the rain and this weather event today has complicated every situation across both the military aspect and the humanitarian aspect. The military operations the IDF says has not been heated by what is happening in the skies. The high winds has not affected the IDF says any of their aircraft or the drones however for the humanitarian side obviously thousands and thousands of people have been displaced and they're living in temporary shelters tents and tarps over their heads. The wind is blowing them away. It's high winds throughout southern Israel and the Gaza Strip has been a very difficult day for all involved. Thank you so much. We will be coming back to our correspondent Zach Anders updating us there from southern Israel. Thank you Zach. And now for more we welcome to Studio Avipaznare a former Israeli ambassador to France and Italy and former world chairman of the Karen Hayasod United Israel Appeal and our senior editor Guy Azrael. Thank you both so much for being here in studio. I want to start with a developing situation something we were covering earlier on in the day. The IDF confirming that Houtis hijacked a cargo ship in the Red Sea saying it's not an Israeli vessel. Obviously a developing situation Guy what update can you share? Yes we're speaking about a vessel by the name of Galaxy Leader with 25 crew members on board that boat was on its way from Turkey to India where it was hijacked by the Houtis in the Red Sea. We're also getting a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's office just short while ago saying Israel strongly condemns the Iranian attack against an international vessel. This ship which is owned by a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm was hijacked with Iran's guidance by the Yemenites Houthi militia saying this is another act of Iranian terrorism and constitutes a leap forward in Iran's aggression against the citizens of the free world with international consequences regarding the security of the global shipping lanes. Obviously the Red Sea a major shipping route with major international implications for thousands of ships on a regular basis with great impact on the world economy. This is a route that leads cargo from Europe and the West to India and to the East. This is not just an Israeli issue not to mention that as the Prime Minister's office has stated this boat is not operated by Israelis that know Israelis on board no relation to Israel in this case. Namelys Avi it's happening on a global scale Iranian proxies targeting a cargo ship in the Red Sea the implications are huge what is your take? The implications are huge for the whole world not only for Israel and this has this is you know wars have started because of acts like that not not only regional wars bigger wars have started this is an international problem we could by the way we could react should we react now it's a big question you know we can always think about doing something about it in the future is it wise now to open a front against the Houthi or maybe just extend to them an invitation come and visit Gaza see how our enemies are doing but the problem now to solve it is a problem for the international community it is true it's not an Israeli ship although it is owned by an Israeli it's an Israeli firm but it has nothing not an Israeli flag not an Israeli cargo not an Israeli crew nothing it's an international problem and you know that the United States have a carrier force just there in the Red Sea I don't know whether they will do something against the Houthi the Saudis have been trying to fight the Houthis for the last eight years with a very limited success but it is possible to do so but we have to point the finger at who is really responsible for that that's Iran there lies the problem in Tehran lies the problem and everybody should know that where is the outrage likely to come from an incident like this it isn't involving anyone Israeli on board as you are outlining nonetheless this is a cargo ship that has been hijacked in the seas right now by Houthi Iranian proxies where will the response the outrage come from I think first of all from Washington I do think so and then I think by other countries like Britain Germany maybe France Italy I mean countries who have and maybe even Egypt I mean you know if you hurt the traffic in the Red Sea you can hurt also the traffic in the Suez canal I mean there will be ships we will say we don't want to take the risk to go through the Red Sea maybe we will go around Africa you know it can hurt Egypt very badly most of its economy is based on the system I mean it can hurt not Israel also but not only Israel and maybe not mainly Israel this will become an international problem and there will be I'm sure an international reaction I'll just mention that this boat is operated by a Japanese firm and on board we know there are crew members from Ukraine Bulgaria the Philippines and Mexico certainly we'll be waiting to see a developing not one Israeli on board not one Israeli again we wait to see how the international arena responds to this developing situation I'll be I want your take on a burning issue in the hearts of the Israeli nation right now and that is the fate of the 236 hostages still being held by Hamas after more than six weeks it is devastating to think about what these babies children women elderly peace activists are all enduring at this hour your take on these reports around a potential deal that involves some kind of understanding where some of the hostages are released a ceasefire of sorts for a few days what is your understanding of the viability of any deal like this at this juncture you know Benita I know that the deal is being discussed already now for two weeks now and it is very difficult to negotiate with a terrorist organization like the Hamas whose credibility is zero and here and not only that but there is no direct contact between Qatar and for example Sinwa you know you know it is very difficult but I do hope yes I do hope that some kind of deal is in the making and I think Israel is ready not for a ceasefire but for a pose of a few days in order to liberate 50 70 80 hostages we owe it you know that it is written in the Talmud that the one who saves one life is like you save the whole world and those are lives which are precious to us and I know that many many hundreds of thousands of Israelis spend sleepless night thinking about those babies of children these women these men the elderly people in the hands of Hamas we have to do whatever it takes to liberate them not forgetting our ultimate aim the destruction of the Hamas and not forgetting the fact that Qatar has been hosting senior Hamas leaders very comfortably from all accounts and these are the people who are ostensibly brokering this deal how does Israel trust a broker like this we you know we have nobody else I mean Qatar is the when I say nobody else I exaggerate a little bit because we may have a little help from the Egyptian and from the Americans that's true but what can we do Qatar is the main channel through which we can conduct that kind of negotiation in order to liberate us we have no other you know Turkey offered itself to negotiate we said no thanks you know certainly a heartbreaking situation and so many questions remain unanswered earlier I spoke to Udi Goren his cousin Talhaini was abducted by Hamas during that terror onslaught on the 7th of October and Udi has been taking part in the hostages and missing families for a march and I asked him about the latest meetings with Benny Gantz from the war cabinet and the efforts that we've just been discussing to secure the release of all the hostages let's take a listen the march was not to highlight to the world because the world at this point is not the one who's going to bring them back we are trying to to talk directly to the Israeli government that at the end of the day they will be the ones they are the ones that are responsible to bring them back you know we can talk our heads off with the Americans and the Romanians and the Danes and whoever but at the end of the day the people have to broker a deal approve it and make sure that the compromises reached because at the end of the day they will all come back through negotiation is the Israeli government and so far we have not seen any progress we don't know anything more than we knew in day one of the war the Red Cross still hasn't visited them we have people that have that we know went in with uh with injuries with severe injuries we have elderly people who are not getting their medicine we have chronically ill people that are not getting their medicine let alone little children you know it the situation is you know when you really think about the people is unbearable and what we hear is that they're doing everything in their power and you know what I want to believe them first because I have no other choice but second because I think that they do care at the end of the day though we have not seen any progress my cousin is not here yet none of the children or the women are here yet we keep hearing and we know for fact that there have been deals on the table that have not been approved and this is something that we want to make sure that the decision makers understand perfectly clear this is the top priority taking down Hamas is vital so that Israel can continue to exist peacefully and so on but this would take months we know you know how we know because they say it themselves these people don't have months we can't wait for months so if there's one goal that's going to take an extended period of time and there's one goal that if we don't perform it right now people will die and who knows if they're not who knows how many people already died in these 44 days we don't know and this is the key not only to winning this war because if we defeat Hamas and we haven't brought back the hostages we have not won we have completely lost not only have we lost the war we have lost the virtue of the Israeli state to exist because it failed us once on October 7th and if they have not done everything in their power everything in their power everything to bring our loved ones back home they have no right in upholding or in keeping their chair in Israel in a state that's lost its moral ground heartbreaking listening to Udi Goreng a little bit earlier on i24 news avi your take you can hear the pain and can you imagine more than six weeks not knowing if your loved ones are even alive or not what more can Israel be doing right now we know that the war cabinet is obviously prioritizing it but these families are waiting they are in so much pain look every one of us i think feels in his own heart what it is if you have a loved one who would be in that kind of situation this is the most terrible thing which can happen to somebody so Israel has to do the absolute maximum to liberate them i said and if it takes a pause or a limited ceasefire so it will take a pause or a limited ceasefire but we have to remember we have two targets here and there is not number one and number two i know i i do not agree with the theory that we have first priority second priority and that they are not a priority they are a priority as it is to eliminate the leadership of the Hamas and we can do both things it's true it will take time and maybe also it will take time to liberate all the hostages because what are we talking about now we're talking about 50 60 70 we don't know exactly the number still after you liberate them you still have 150 or more so it will take time but this has to be a priority and every Israeli citizen has to be convinced that the government is doing its best in order to liberate them and as you've pointed out up against a cruel terror organization that is withholding information but not only that it's not even clear if these people are being held in tunnels dispersed across the Gaza Strip or are even alive it is unimaginable we don't know we still look at what we discovered at the shifa hospital two bodies and there might be more who knows who knows we don't know yet and they might be in the tunnels i mean this is a heartbreaking situation and we have to rise up to the occasion just to remind our viewers of the cynicism the cruelty of these terror groups back in 2006 the second Lebanon war was opened when Hezbollah killed and abducted two Israeli soldiers they would go with us and and and for two years we did not know whether they're dead or alive and then when the deal was signed eventually to bring them back home Israelis had to view on television live hoping to see them running to the families instead we saw two coffins coming out of an ambulance unimaginable just a devastating situation and so much uncertainty Guy Azrael Avip Azner is always appreciated thank you very much Benito we hope and we wait for good news he has hoping now in news of the Hamas massacre reached the world an unlikely group of Americans were the first ones to lace up their boots and come to the country he has more from our Emily Francis it's not every day that you see cowboys tilling the land of israel but these passionate men and women are here with a purpose much bigger than themselves the up until october 7th you know the the job was just straightforward we were helping the farms and then when october 7th they have the atrocities happen we our job just went to a new level because the foreign workers were leaving the men and women that were called up into the reserve duty had to leave which pulled the farms basically empty so yeah today is wrapping up taking the old tomatoes out and tying up these so they can come in and get the new crops in joshua waller and his big family are christian farmers from tennessee who moved to israel 14 years ago with a big mission called hayo vel or in english serve israel dot com it's looking good all the way through there you go oh it's good it can all stay there anyway i'm sorry josh no it looks good my thumb is brown wrap it up now i can remember back on the farm in tennessee there was a israeli flag with a menorah right in our living room on top of our piano we were raised with the understanding christian zionist understanding that if israel ever needed help we would be the first to be here you know we'll harvest up to 400 tons of grapes in a year hand-picked uh we'll plant just this year before the war we planted 20 000 vines and trees together like after october 7th joshua and his family brought dozens of volunteers from all over the united states to help keep the agriculture alive and flourishing during the war so but these are like perfectly edible you can just take them off and eat them for lunch right now or eat them for a snack but uh yeah you know the color is amazing and josia hilton of virginia beach is already a veteran of four years the story here and it's a huge part of the nation of israel is um and i think that's something we kind of lose around the world is the agriculture and getting back to farming and uh you know growing your own food and that kind of stuff and it's uh it's how the world goes around because you can't you can't live without the farmers so here especially in israel even though there's a there's a big war and there's so many people fighting for their lives in gaza you still have to keep the farms going and there's not a famine during wartime so uh we're privileged and we're blessed to be here to be able to help the farmers and and do what we can't i can't i can't go into gaza and fight so i'm gonna i'm gonna help here on the farms these men and women are proud to call themselves christian zionists because they are a faith-based community who live by the word of god right now there's a there's a movement around the world of people who are saying you know zionists are evil and zionists are uh whatever the the colonizers and there's all this really it's just nonsense um but but zionism is based on a biblical concept about zionism is based on the the fact that the the jewish people belong in the land of israel and so we created this shirt it's hashtag proud zionist we're not we're not afraid to be called zionist i'm not ashamed of the term zionist somebody calls me a zionist that's that makes me proud god doesn't change his mind when he makes a promise he that's just it it's solid it stands that way forever and so when he chose the jewish people that was that was uh that was that was it and we we don't argue with god we we say okay that's great you made a choice and we we're going to back that up we're not arguing with god and uh to be here to be a part of it has has been a huge honor who was itai second samuel chapter 15 tells a remarkable story itai was a man from gath who brought his 600 man army to jerusalem to join king david joshua and his family also host a popular podcast called the israel guys and since october 7th they've managed to raise millions for operation itai to help first responders keep safe and then the second part is is actually bringing those supplies in so we've airlifted uh the first million dollars of equipment has arrived and uh slowly we're bringing the rest of it and we've got about two and a half million now joshua cites a famous quote by author mark twain when i asked him what their message is to the millions of people around the world spewing anti-semitic and anti-israel vitriol mark twain said tell us what the lies travel around the world 10 times while the truth is still getting its boots on that's the truth and tiktok laced the boots yet right yeah still sitting he's just trying to get the boots on right so unfortunately that's the that's the news and and tiktok and and instagram and all these these entity you know twitter and all the stuff x like all these things are horrible uh they they accentuate the fact that lies travel so quickly and that uh is an issue with this next generation they're seeing the bad before they get any chance to even understand the good in the gaza envelope emily francis i24 news and with that message of support and solidarity we thank our emily francis for that report from southern israel thank you emily and that is where we wrap up this edition of our breaking news coverage i'm benice levine our rolling coverage continues shortly stay tuned this is i24 news breaking news edition date of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front lines but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well news edition i'm benita levine coming to you live from tel aviv this is a photograph of 12 year old liel khatroni official confirmation today that she was killed by hamas terrorists during the terror assault at kibbutz pereri in southern israel on the 7th of october her remains have now been formally identified her family had last week held a ceremony for her and her aunt ayala even though at that time there had no been not been any official identification her family buried her personal items liel and ayala were killed along with liel's twin hanay and the twins grandfather avir khatroni the grandfather and grandson had been laid to rest in rivivim two weeks after the attack meanwhile the families of 236 hostages being held by hamas are still waiting for answers more than six weeks since they were abducted by the terror group and taken into Gaza they include babies children women and the elderly the prime minister of qatar says a deal to free hostages now hinges on minor practical issues mohammed bin abdo rachman al tani was speaking at a joint press conference with eu foreign policy chief joseph borrell he didn't give details or any timelines reports suggest the release of sun of the hostages will involve a temporary ceasefire meanwhile rocket fire continues to be fired from gaza towards southern israeli communities and earlier from southern lebanon into northern israel on day 44 of the war on the ground the idf continues with its retaliatory operation to eliminate the hamas terror group with the death toll in the ground operation now at 61 israeli soldiers inside gaza the hamas run health ministry is claiming thousands of gardens have been killed these numbers have not been independently verified and it's not clear how many of those killed are terrorists from hamas or palestinian islamic jihad in the northern part of the strip the idf says it's working to evacuate as many patients as possible from the shifa hospital compound which it says is located above a hamas terror compound center the broader israeli security cabinet meanwhile has approved the daily transfer of a limited amount of fuel into the gaza strip for humanitarian purposes rubber stamping the decision made by the war cabinet far right ministers but salel smotridge and itamar ben gavir and liqud transportation minister mary reggae voting against it gordon sar from benny ganser's national unity party abstaining israel initially refused to allow any fuel into gaza amid concerns that hamas would use it for terror purposes but has now changed its stance in order to avoid a humanitarian disaster with the breakdown of the sewerage system there meanwhile the prime minister of katar saying a deal to free the hostages now hinges on minor practical issues mohammed bin abdu rachman al tani was speaking earlier at a press conference with eu foreign policy chief joe zeborel let's take a listen when you come closer to the goal you feel your confidence levels are are increasing and we help we hope that we are reaching to that point the sticking points honestly at this stage are more practical logistical not really something represent the core of of the deal the deal is going through ups and down from time to time throughout the last few weeks but i think that you know i'm now more confident that we are close enough to reach to a deal that can bring the people safely back to their homes whether they are the hostages on hamas side or whatever the exchange that will happen will take place from the israeli side now let's find out exactly what is happening on the ground we go live to our correspondent zach and as he joins us from southern israel so zach despite the rain and the wind awful weather right now but rocket siren still sounding in southern border communities earlier in the afternoon local time what is the latest on the ground what can you share right now well the latest within the last 24 hours has been the command and control of one of the more affluent neighborhoods of gaza by one of the elite paratrooper crews of israel's idf they say they have secured this neighborhood and they have found dozens of new entrances to tunnels within where several senior hamas commanders were living inside of these communities of course the wind and the rain and this weather event today has complicated every situation across both the military aspect of the humanitarian aspect the military operations the idf says has not been uh heated by what is happening in the skies the high winds has not affected the idf says any of their aircraft or the drones however for the humanitarian side obviously thousands and thousands of people have been displaced and they're living in temporary shelters tents and tarps over their heads the wind is blowing them away it's high winds throughout southern israel and the gaza strip has been a very difficult day for all involved thank you so much we will be coming back to our correspondent zach and as updating us there from southern israel thank you zach and now for more we welcome to studio avipa's narrow former israeli ambassador to france and italy and former world chairman of the karen hayasod united israel appeal and our senior editor guy israel thank you both so much for being here in studio i want to start with a developing situation something we were covering earlier on in the day the idf confirming that hooties hijacked a cargo ship in the red sea saying it's not an israeli vessel obviously a developing situation guy what update can you share yes we're speaking about a vessel by the name of galaxy leader with 25 crew members on board that boat was on its way from turkey to india where he was hijacked by the hooties in the red sea we're also getting a statement from the israeli prime minister's office just short while ago saying israel strongly condemns the iranian attack against an international vessel this ship which is owned by a british company and is operated by a japanese firm was hijacked with iran's guidance by the yemenite hootie militia saying this is another act of iranian terrorism and constitutes a leap forward in iran's aggression against the citizens of the free world with international consequences regarding the security of the global shipping lanes obviously the red sea a major shipping route with major international implications for thousands of ships on a regular basis with great impact on the world economy this is a route that leads cargo from europe and the west to india and to the east this is not just an israeli issue not to mention that as the prime minister's office has stated this boat is not operated by israelis there are no israelis on board no relation to israel in this case now melisse avi it's happening on a global scale iranian proxies targeting a cargo ship in the red sea the implications are huge what is your take the implications are huge for the whole world not only for israel and this has this is you know wars have started because of acts like that not not only regional wars bigger wars have started this is an international problem we could by the way we could react should we react now it's a big question you know we can always think about doing something about it in the future is it wise now to open a front against the hootie or maybe just extend to them an invitation come and visit gaza see how our enemies are doing but the problem now to solve it is a problem for the international community it is true it's not an israeli ship although it is owned by an israeli it's an israeli firm but it has nothing not an israeli flag not an israeli cargo not an israeli crew nothing it's an international problem and you know that the united states have a carrier force just there in the red sea i don't know whether they will do something against the hootie the Saudis have been trying to fight the hooties for the last eight years with a very limited success but it is possible to do so but we have to point the finger at who is really responsible for that that's iran there lies the problem in tehran lies the problem and everybody should know that where is the outrage likely to come from an incident like this it isn't involving anyone israeli on board as you are outlining nonetheless this is a cargo ship that has been hijacked in the seas right now by hootie iranian proxies where will the response the outrage come from i think uh first of all from washington i do think so and then i think by other countries like britain germany maybe france italy i mean countries who have and maybe even egypt i mean you know if you hurt the traffic in the red sea you can hurt also the traffic in the sues canal i mean there will be ships who will say we don't want to take the risk to go through the red sea maybe we will go around africa you know it can hurt egypt very badly most of its economy is based on the system i mean it can hurt not israel also but not only israel and maybe not mainly israel this will become an international problem and there will be i'm sure an international reaction i'll just mention that this uh a boat is operated by a japanese firm and on board we know there are crew members from ukraine bulgaria the philippines and mexico certainly we'll be waiting to see a developing situation not one israelian boat not one israeli again we wait to see how the international arena responds to this developing situation avya i want your take on a burning issue in the hearts of the israeli nation right now and that is the fate of the 236 hostages still being held by hamas after more than six weeks it is devastating to think about what these babies children women elderly peace activists are all enduring at this hour your take on these reports around a potential deal that involves some kind of understanding where some of the hostages are released a ceasefire of sorts for a few days what is your understanding of the viability of any deal like this at this juncture you know benita i know that the deal is being discussed already now for two weeks now and it is very difficult to negotiate with a terrorist organization like the hamas whose credibility is zero and here and not only that but there is no direct contact between katar and for example sinua you know you know it is very difficult but i do hope yes i do hope that some kind of deal is in the making and i think israeli is ready not for a ceasefire but for a pause of a few days in order to liberate 50 70 80 hostages we owe it you know that it is written in the talmud that the one who saves one life is like you save the whole world and those are lives which are precious to us and i know that many many hundreds of thousands of israelis spend sleepless night thinking about those babies of children these women these men the elderly people in the hands of hamas we have to do whatever it takes to liberate them not forgetting our ultimate aim the destruction of the hamas and not forgetting the fact that katar has been hosting senior hamas leaders very comfortably from all accounts and these are the people who are ostensibly brokering this deal how does israel trust a broker like this we you know we have nobody else i mean katar is the when i say nobody else i i exaggerate a little bit because we may have a little help from the egyptian and from the americans that's true but what can we do katar is the main channel through which we can conduct that kind of negotiation in order to liberate us we have no other you know turkey offered itself to negotiate we said no thanks you know better than the one yes certainly a heartbreaking situation and so many questions remain unanswered earlier i spoke to uddi goren his cousin tal khaini was abducted by hamas during that terror onslaught on the 7th of october and uddi has been taking part in the hostages and missing families for a march and i asked him about the latest meetings with benny gants from the war cabinet and the efforts that we've just been discussing to secure the release of all the hostages let's take a listen the march was not to highlight to the world because the world at this point is not the one who's going to bring them back we are trying to talk directly to the israeli government that at the end of the day they will be the ones they are the ones that are responsible to bring them back you know we can talk our heads off with the americans and the romanians and the danes and whoever but at the end of the day the people have to broker a deal approve it and make sure that the compromisers reached because at the end of the day they will all come back through negotiation is the israeli government and so far we have not seen any progress we don't know anything more than we knew in day one of the war the red cross still hasn't visited them we have people that have that we know went in with uh with injuries with severe injuries we have elderly people who are not getting their medicine we have chronically ill people that are not getting their medicine let alone little children you know it the situation is you know when you really think about the people is unbearable and what we hear is that they're doing everything in their power and you know i want to believe them first because i have no other choice but second because i think that they do care at the end of the day though we have not seen any progress my cousin is not here yet none of the children or the women are here yet we keep hearing and we know for fact that there have been deals on the table that have not been approved and this is something that we want to make sure that the decision makers understand perfectly clear this is the top priority taking down Hamas is vital so that Israel can continue to exist peacefully and so on but this would take months we know you know how we know because they say it themselves these people don't have months we can't wait for months so if there's one goal that's going to take an extended period of time and there's one goal that if we don't perform it right now people will die and who knows if they're not who knows how many people already died in this 44 days we don't know and this is the key not only to winning this war because if we defeat Hamas and we haven't brought back the hostages we have not won we have completely lost not only have we lost the war we have lost the virtue of the Israeli state to exist because it failed us once on October 7th and if they have not done everything in their power everything in their power everything to bring our loved ones back home they have no right in upholding or in keeping their chair in Israel in a state right lost its moral ground heartbreaking listening to Udi Goren a little bit earlier on i24 news avi your take you can hear the pain and can you imagine more than six weeks not knowing if your loved ones are even alive or not what more can Israel be doing right now we know that the war cabinet is obviously prioritizing it but these families are waiting they are in so much pain look everyone of us i think feels in his own heart what it is if you have a loved one who would be in that kind of situation this is the most terrible thing which can happen to somebody so israel has to do the absolute maximum to liberate them i said and if it takes a pause or a limited ceasefire so it will take a pause or a limited ceasefire but we have to remember we have two targets here and there is not number one and number two i know i i do not agree with the theory that we have first priority second priority and then they are not a priority they are a priority as it is to eliminate the leadership of the Hamas and we can do both things it's true it will take time and maybe also it will take time to liberate all the hostages because what are we talking about now we're talking about 50 60 70 we don't know exactly the number still after you liberate them you still have 150 or more so it will take time but this has to be a priority and every Israeli citizen has to be convinced that the government is doing its best in order to liberate them and as you've pointed out up against a cruel terror organization that is withholding information but not only that it's not even clear if these people are being held in tunnels dispersed across the Gaza Strip or are even alive it is unimaginable we don't know we still look at what we discovered at the Shifa hospital two bodies and there might be more who knows who knows we don't know yet and they might be in the tunnels i mean this is a heartbreaking situation and we have to rise up to the occasion just to remind our viewers of the cynicism the cruelty of these terror groups back in 2006 the for second Lebanon war was opened when Hezbollah killed and abducted two Israeli soldiers they would call Vassar and and reggae and for two years we did not know whether they're dead or alive and then when the deal was signed eventually to bring them back home Israelis had to view on television live hoping to see them running to the families instead we saw two coffins coming out of of an ambulance unimaginable just a devastating situation and so much uncertainty Guy Azrael Avip Azner is always appreciate you very much Benito we hope and we wait for good news he has hoping now in news of the Hamas massacre reached the world and unlikely group of Americans were the first ones to lace up their boots and come to the country he has more from our Emily Francis it's not every day that you see cowboys tilling the land of Israel but these passionate men and women are here with the purpose much bigger than themselves the up until October 7th you know the the job was just straightforward we were helping the farms and then when October 7th have the atrocities happen we our job just went to a new level because the foreign workers were leaving the men and women that were called up into reserve duty or had to leave which pulled the farms basically empty so yeah today is wrapping taking the old tomatoes out and tying up these so they can come in and get the new crops in Joshua Waller and his big family are Christian farmers from Tennessee who moved to Israel 14 years ago with a big mission called Hayyovell or in English serve israel.com yeah that's looking good it's like all the way through there you go oh it's good it can all stay anyway i'm sorry josh no it looks good my thumb is brown wrap it up now i can remember back on the farm in Tennessee there was a israeli flag with a menorah right in our living room on top of our piano we were raised with the understanding christian Zionist understanding that if israel ever needed help we'd be the first to be here you know we'll harvest up to 400 tons of grapes in a year handpicked we'll plant just this year before the war we planted 20 000 uh vines and trees together like after october 7th joshua and his family brought dozens of volunteers from all over the united states to help keep the agriculture alive and flourishing during the war so but these are like perfectly edible you can just take them off and eat them for lunch right now or eat them for a snack but uh yeah the color is amazing wow and josiah hilton of virginia beach is already a veteran of four years the story here and it's a huge part of the nation of israel is and i think that's something we kind of lose around the world is the agriculture and getting back to farming and uh you know growing your own food and that kind of stuff and it's uh it's how the world goes around because you can't you can't live without the farmers so here especially in israel even though there's a there's a big war and there so many people fighting for their lives in Gaza and you still have to keep the farms going and there's not a famine during wartime so uh we're privileged and we're blessed to be here to be able to help the farmers and and do what we can't i can't i can't go into gaza and fight so i'm gonna i'm gonna help here on the farms these men and women are proud to call themselves christian zionists because they are a faith-based community who live by the word of god right now there's a there's a movement around the world of people who are saying you know zionists are evil and zionists are uh whatever the the colonizers and there's all the there's all this really is just nonsense um but but zionism is based on a biblical concept about zionism is based on the the fact that the the jewish people belong in the land of israel and so we we created this shirt it's hashtag proud zionist we're not we're not afraid to be called zionist i'm not ashamed of the term zionist somebody calls me a zionist that that's that makes me proud god doesn't change his mind when he makes a promise he that's just it it's solid it stands that way forever and so when he chose the jewish people that was that was uh that was that was it and we we don't argue with god we we say okay that's great you made a choice and we we're going to back that up we're not arguing with god and uh to be here to be a part of it has been a huge honor who was itai second samuel chapter 15 tells a remarkable story itai was a man from gath who brought his 600 man army to jerusalem to join king david joshua and his family also host a popular podcast called the israel guys and since october 7th they've managed to raise millions for operation itai to help first responders keep safe and then the second part is is actually bringing those supplies in so we've airlifted uh the first million dollars of equipment has arrived and uh slowly we're bringing the rest of it and we've got about two and a half million now joshua cites a famous quote by author mark twain when i asked him what their message is to the millions of people around the world spewing anti-semitic and anti-israel vitriol mark twain said tell us what the lies travel around the world 10 times while the truth is still getting its boots on that's the truth and tiktok lays the boots yet right yeah still sitting it's just trying to get the boots on right so unfortunately that's the that's the news and and tiktok and and instagram and all these these entity you know twitter and all the stuff x like all these things are horrible uh they they accentuate the fact that lies travel so quickly and that uh is an issue with this next generation they're seeing the bad before they get any chance to even understand the good in the gaza envelope emily francis i24 news and with that message of support and solidarity we thank our emily francis for that report from southern israel thank you emily and that is where we wrap up this edition of our breaking news coverage and beneath levine our rolling coverage continues shortly stay tuned this is i24 news breaking news edition respondents throughout the world from israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries completely done down in their best bringing israel's story to the world i24 news channels now on hot israel is in a state of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well watching i24 news on this day of israel's war with hamas israel has blamed iranian terror for the hijacking of a ship in the red sea by yemen's hooties the prime minister's office says the galaxy leader is a british ship being operated by a japanese company the 25 crew members on board are from ukraine vulgaria the philippines and mexico no israelis are among them catar claims that minor logistical issues are holding up a deal to release some of the 236 hostages being held in gaza israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu disputes this he says there is no sign of a deal and in the north of israel two rockets were fired from lebanon at the communities of margalliot and kfar giladi today no injuries have been reported straight to southern israel for the latest on the situation in gaza we're joined now by our correspondent zack anders zack so um earlier in the day how mass released a video purporting to show its terrorists going after idf soldiers in the randt c hospital that is the hospital uh the idea went into last week can you tell us more about that well these videos as they're published are largely used as morale propaganda victories to try and show that the hamas groups within these neighborhoods that have largely been locked down insecure by an idf forces that uh a constant some sort of a reminder trying to uh rally around this idea that they can still strike of course they're using the tunnels for their capabilities of being able to pop up behind in some instances we have been able to confirm and see some of these instances of them popping up behind idf lines using these tunnels with access to the tunnels this is one of those situations where they're using these videos and these clips to try and promote this idea that they can still have this operational capability to strike idf forces meanwhile hand me weather today zack how is that affecting the idf spit to move deeper into gaza well the idf says that that has not played a role in their activities today however it's hard to see with the weather being as drastic as it was at certain points in the afternoon how that wouldn't at least offer another roadblock to some of the activities that were happening here the wind gusts were 30 to 40 miles an hour at times and the heavy rain was reducing visibility the the visibility was just a few feet in front of us at points as far as head as you could see there was really no way to tell so you have to imagine that for any of the ground forces that are dealing with the same conditions that they wouldn't have the ability to see down the street let alone have a good clear image of what they're trying to see in a large operational space like this is the humanitarian side of having thousands and thousands of people displaced in gaza many of them are living in living in temporary shelters now or in tents some of them posting on social media that those tents are flying away they're blowing away with this heavy wind and that is the situation that they're dealing with and zack with regard to the civilians in gaza have there been efforts to move more people south today more humanitarian corridors being supervised by israeli soldiers right they're publishing more and more of this additional humanitarian quarter in the south in the second largest city in the gaza strip con unis to it appears to prepare much like was two weeks ago prepare the citizens of gaza city of the impending military activity as it was set to pick up and get stronger and stronger so that does seem to be an indication that the idf focus now is going to turn towards the south in that second largest city of con unis it also speaks to potentially that gaza city and the situation within gaza city is yeah it would not be fair or safe to say resolved but that there's more and more operational control in gaza city if the idf is turning its focus now to some of the other larger more populated areas all right thank you very much zakander is there reporting from southern israel with the latest on what's happening inside gaza with me in the studio this hour cannot i mean asa is a former member of the israeli security agency could see i mean thanks for being with us and our senior editor guy as well joins me in the studio uh as well let's start then with uh the the latest news of yemen's hooties hijacking a ship um but it's neither israeli nor does it have any israelis on board i think um it's um some kind of a mistake but still uh hooties uh said um i think yesterday that they will stop ships that connected to israel ships with the flag of israel or ships that somehow is playing with another flag but uh is on the water and connecting to israel in that case this ship the ownership of the the ship is one of them is israeli so that's why they stopped her but um it's nothing that connected to israel directly but it's a sign it's a sign for them the hooties that we are here we are here to um to do something in the in this region and i think it's a very big sign to united states because if it's some kind of the thing that will happen often in this region it makes sense that the american has to do something about it it's not just an interfering it takes on a more international dimension now doesn't it even more than it was already yes and of course we're talking about a boat that is owned by a british company and was leased to a japanese company and as you mentioned the crew members on board include ukrainians filipinos bulgarians and mexicans no israelis on board and we are hearing a very strong statement from the israeli prime minister's office saying this is another act of iranian terrorism and constitutes a leap forward in iran's aggression against the citizens of the free world with international consequences regarding the security of the global shipping lanes obviously a very important shipping lanes for thousands of ships carrying cargo from europe to the east in this case this is a boat that was headed from turkey to india and it had nothing to do with this one essentially at all the only probable perhaps a connection is the fact that an israeli businessman is co-shared in the ownership of the british company that has leased that boat to the japanese no direct israeli connection here and another country that needs to be very worried about this development is egypt because obviously if that round of the red sea is unsafe that could mean could have devastating financial consequences for egypt that operates this us canal yeah we'll have to wait to see if we get a response from from egypt um let's talk about what's going on inside gaza uh today on day 44 of the war then let's take a quick listen to the defense minister yav galant he was speaking last night and he had a message for the hamas leadership with every day that passes the places where hamas terrorists can travel freely are diminishing those who are in the west already encountered the lethal power of the idea of those who are on the eastern part are beginning to realize this tonight and we'll understand this over the next a few days and even those who are in the southern part of gaza will start understanding that soon so i meet uh galant also saying that hamas has completely lost control of uh gaza city does the focus now turn to car newness um the city in the south it's a little bit disturbing uh for me personally that everybody is speaking about the what idf is going to do in the next uh step um because we don't really have to speak about it if idf wants to go to the south from uh raffa first and not from car newness first it's it's a way of idf plan but if we can speak about the side of the palestinian the side of the hamas they know that the minute idf will move on from gaza to the south they have to run to the south also south and south again and again this is the time that they are wishing to have to be alive because we can think now that the head of the hamas and other commanders ran away from from gaza to the south and now the time is clicking for them to the war to stop and they're waiting for that because they planned for two months for example and and if two months are finishing that means that idf will be after them again and again and uh it's a very big problem for them and i'm coming back for my what i said at the beginning don't use it and don't say what you are intending to do just do it and um well obviously we're just speculating here studio and i guess the complication is that they have uh warned civilians in the car newness to evacuate and they wouldn't do that unless they were planning to have a military operation that is the major disadvantage of the idf as a military and like no other military in the world that warns civilians where it's operating attempting to minimize the damage to the collateral collateral damage the the damage to civilians where it's operating and and and one of the consequences is the fact that this gives those terrorists enough enough time enough warning to leave the areas and this is what we're seeing obviously this is what we saw in many of these hospitals in the areas where the idf is operating very sadly as well the other consequences so the other consequence of that is that not just Hamas terrorists are running away but also taking with them what we presume to be our live hostages uh that are nowhere to be found where the idf is operating is it is it widely believed then i mean that the Hamas leadership fled Gaza city early on in the war i i think very early uh they left uh because they know uh what is the the consequence of being inside idf pressure but um speaking about the south we have two things that we have to to understand first idf will have two brigades of Hamas to deal with instead of one brigade in Gaza that he did and another thing is a war with two million people in it that we don't have now in Gaza because they evacuate so it's two problems that idf will have to face when we are getting in the salt well quite i mean when you look at the geography of Gaza we know that Egypt has said no way can any Palestinians come via Rafa to to seek refuge there i mean where exactly can the can the people in Canunis where are they being asked to go i think that the refugee camp have to be concentrated on the southeast of Rafa there is a lot of space there to build the tents there to build any hospital maybe a hospital from international aid for that but it's not concerning us it's concerning us because we want to show that we are willing to give a humanitarian aid to everybody but still it's um it's a place that we don't have to be in that's what i'm uh thinking about and in in terms of the humanitarian aid of course israel has agreed to let at least two trucks full of fuel enter Gaza from Rafa right after uh after for so long the well the Israeli government has made it very clear in the idea of spokesman as well that no fuel will enter the Gaza Strip well uh in a hopes aside reality was the was the fact that the Americans put a lot of pressure on Israel to allow at least two trucks some 120 140 000 liters of fuel every day and Israel for each side at least the prime minister has explained it as well in the need to prevent a humanitarian crisis any sorts of sewage problems that would contaminate not just Gaza but even could impact the situation of the Israeli forces and even within Israel itself saying that is vital for Israel's ability to continue with the ground operation okay all right well as you said Amit Hamas is looking for any opportunity to regroup and rearm and that of course will come with any kind of ceasefire and that is being talked about as a possible method of getting some kind of deal to release the hostages well Qatar is very much involved in that and Qatar's prime minister says that it is now just minor logistical issues which are holding up a hostage deal something the prime minister denies but let's take a quick listen to him when you come closer to the goal you feel your confidence levels are increasing and we hope that we are reaching to that point the sticking points honestly at this stage are more practical logistical not really something represent the core of of the deal the deal is going through ups and downs from time to time throughout the last few weeks but I think that you know I'm now more confident that we are close enough to reach to a deal that can bring the people safely back to their homes whether they are the hostages on Hamas side or whatever the exchange that will happen will take place from the Israeli side so that's Qatar's prime minister there suggesting that the deal is close and there are just minor issues holding up any kind of agreement to get some of those 236 hostages released I mean we've been talking about this for I think at least two two and a half weeks now about this potential deal they were talking about 80 hostages possibly 50 hostages women and children I mean how much credibility to these reports coming out of Qatar first you have to say that it's it's all this saying all this conversation about this deal is playing on the hand of Hamas they are leading us they are leading us in this conversation in this say in this a negotiation so-called in the world and they are pushing the right buttons in Israeli hearts and they know it so they are playing they are playing for the quantity of the people that they will send it it's a first it was 150 it's some kind of negotiation that we are losing points all the time and another cynic and thing in this all picture is the Qatarian the Qatarian are the responsible of what happens now with the Hamas inside the Gaza Strip they found that giving them the Qatari is the Hamas and speaking the Qatari is like there are somebody from the outside helping us with their negotiation but it's a cynical because they are responsible for that and there's another thing that we have to remember do you think that they are that they talk about this potential deal and Qatar's role and etc is serving to divide Israel in some ways it's yeah of course they are pushing the right button that's what I said they are pushing the right button in the heart of the the citizens of Israel and citizens of Israel meaning pushing the the government pushing government to do things that Hamas needs that they need the the time they need the the phrase of time then they need also the international speakers to say stop stop the humanitarian area the humanitarian position because of course we've just seen this March guy you know the the families of the hostages suffering so much 44 days on they would do anything and you can understand them to get their their family members back and as the focus is on this March there is a some anger directed towards the government and do you think this is all serving to divide Israel a little bit and weaken Israel first of all it's impossible to criticize anything that these families are doing they're doing anything that they feel is right in in their power to imply pressure on the government to do as much as it can whatever it can to bring their loved ones back home having said that obviously Israel is not the one that decides everything in this even if these negotiations real to any extent Hamas could be playing with Israel could be playing with these families all along even when we hearing of these statements from the Qatari of the negotiations so close to being closed that means nothing when you speak about Hamas a cynical terror group that cynically uses the pain of the Israelis and this is the big difference between Israel and the people of Gaza Israel will do everything to defend its people while Hamas is cynically using the lives of its civilians in Gaza putting them as human shields for the world to see Israel pays a very heavy prices for its its hostages we've seen that so many times in the case of Gilad Shalit in the cases of Goldwasser and Regev in Lebanon in 2008 in previous deals paying with thousands of terrorists for one or two Israeli captives here we're talking about such a big number I think that even in the best dreams of Hamas he did not imagine having over 236 Israeli hostages in its hands so many cards that Hamas can cynically be using and of course it would be doing everything in its power to divide the Israeli society the protesters the families obviously turn their eyes to the government but the Israeli government is if we assume and many of those families do assume that the government is doing everything it can it's not all in its hands it needs the Qatari needs the Americans perhaps the Egyptians but at the end of the day that will be the decision of Hamas and what would really make a difference is the pressure that Israel and the IDF implies on Hamas in this ground operation as long as Hamas has that's what the defense minister you have Gallant keeps repeating isn't it that we have to keep the military pressure up on Hamas that is paramount yeah this is the the first thing that we have to do and we have to think about the hostages that is held by the Hamas because when we spoke before about moving the Hamas from place to place they are moving also the hostages from place to place and they are spreading them and here the information is very important and the intelligence are very very specific with this kind of a job to get all the information about the places that the hostages is kept and it's a lot of it's a lot of work that we have to do to to find them out and to put them out from from the ground whatever wherever they are without any negotiation or any kind of deal with the Hamas yeah that's extremely challenging conditions for the IDF all right well there are ongoing efforts to make sure the plight of the hostages who have now been held for 44 days in Gaza remain at the forefront of people's minds visual representations of the number of women and children being held are key and artists are using their talents to help drive home the message bring them home now with paint brushes in their hands these artists in Israel are raising awareness for hostages that Hamas kidnapped in Israel on October 7th they're doing it through creating portraits of them when everything started so I felt kind of like I can't help with anything and I was at home um pregnant Ayelet has previously painted Daphna Eliakem and is rarely kidnapped by Hamas who's 15 years old today she's painting another hostage Gali Tarshonsky she's only 13 my connection to to a girl like a small young girl that is needs her mother needs her parents needs her family has made me like heart went out to her the opportunity to create these artworks is all thanks to a project called this is us and whether it's through acrylic charcoal or watercolor the mission is the same allowing artists to use the skills they know best to give back the fresh paint art and design fair along with the nonprofit Yotsrim Sviva which provides a platform for female artists in the orthodox Jewish community is behind the initiative it's meant to raise awareness for those held hostage in Gaza by Hamas we've just made contact with the artists that we were in regular connections with and we invited them to do collaborative shifts here at the square of Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Museum of Art as a painter when I found out about this so I wanted straight ahead to participate it wasn't even a question when I started to do this it was like I could breathe again for artists like Stella Lamichov at times the process of creation isn't easy when I heard about this project I knew that it would be quite hard for me to look at someone who I know is over the border usually I paint from life and the thought of someone not being alive just killed me today Stella is painting Danielle Aloni who was kidnapped in Kibbutz near Oz when I saw the videos in the 7th of October of Danielle and her daughter her sister her nieces in a truck led to Gaza I saw the little girls in their pink dresses clinging to their moms with their little hands the first thought as a mom was that could have been me that could have been my daughter I have families the Roth we could have been visiting here the stories of those taken captive are told through art with the hope that one day these paintings will be delivered into their hands I'm full of hope that she will see the drawing she will receive it and hopefully we will meet in better circumstances I believe that I'll paint him and he will return I hope he will put it in his room the room here reporting from Tel Aviv Erica Jackson i24 news all right just some of the projects that have sprung up in Israel and indeed in cities around the world to really give a visual representation of the plight of the hostages 236 people are still being held in Gaza by terrorists six weeks on and tomorrow the Knesset will host the families of some of the hostages for a special conference this will be the first formal parliament sponsored event with the hostages families so we would of course have some coverage of that for you tomorrow and you know kind of we were just talking about this in the break when we guy you know israeli is coming up with all sorts of proof and all sorts of you know video evidence you know weapons stores all the rest of it to try and approve that it is going after terrorists and it all seems to follow that is this is meant for israel's allies for those who understand what israeli is fighting for mainly for the americans and and the west there will always be people who would not believe anything israel says anything that israel does the visuals speak to themselves and now when the palestinians even attempt to deny the fact that they've murdered slaughtered israelis at that music festival well they documented those killings themselves yeah i mean they literally provided the gopro footage and on that as well i should say fox news is reporting that the the premature babies at the al shifa hospital are in raffa now so they were saved uh and thankfully are in uh raffa where are being cared for and they'll be moved to egypt we're gonna keep you updated on this story stay with us this is i-21 news each of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well welcome back a total of 60 idea of soldiers have been killed in the fighting since october 7th that includes five soldiers whose deaths were confirmed yesterday well among them major jamal abbas 23 years old a company commander in the paratrooper's brigade 101st battalion he came from peke and major abbas was a member of israel's drus community there was a huge turnout for his funeral today in the north of israel our pierce deco back joins us now um and both major abbas and his father uh were both serving weren't they in the idea from tragically our major abbas uh fell um his death was confirmed yesterday right laura well in fact his father and his brother are also serving in the israeli military jamal abbas 23 years old died yesterday in a battle in the southern agaza strip as he mentioned he was a company commander and he was a major he was serving in the paratroopers brigade then what is really special about that story is that his father and his brother are serving in the army as well in the northern command his father is a colonel and his brother is also a company and what is especially special is that they had a phone conversation shortly before his death where they uh the brother both wished uh jamal's brigade was good success and good luck and they expressed how much they missed them and how much they loved them now yesterday was confirmed that he died in that battle in southern gaza and there was indeed a very big turnout to his funeral today in his hometown of pekein in northern israel as you mentioned laura he was a member of the drus community so many people of course from his hometown attended the funeral earlier but obviously of course members of the israeli military uh of the israeli army there and he's one of as you mentioned 60 soldiers who fell in gaza asf now yeah and uh talk us through what's happening in the north today then pier it has been slightly more quiet is that right compared to recent days uh in terms of the ongoing skirmishes with hezbollah today has been quite an eventful day hezbollah has claimed responsibility for at least eight attacks we're talking about launches of both mortar shells and also anti-tank missiles to several different areas in northern israel along the israel-lebanon border in addition to that there was an infiltration of suspicious aerial targets that were all downed by the israeli army that set off sirens in different areas earlier today and also there were two launches towards the area of quaggilladine margalyot in the very east and part of the galley region now they both fell into open area and we do not know if we are talking about rockets or anti-tank missiles or mortar shells the israeli army has not commented on that incident yet but we always speak about areas who've been widely evacuated of civilians because of the constant threat of mortar shells or anti-tank missiles coming from southern lebanon and also there has been reports about an infiltration attempt in the area of shula which is in the more western part of the israel lebanon border also the israeli army has not commented on that yet either but that really just gives you a picture of how attention and how volatile the situation here is in the north of israel laura all right pier thank you very much pierce tackle back there with the latest from the north or with me in the studio colonel amid asa is a former member of the israeli security agency the isa our senior as that guy azrael is with me as well and tragically i mean 60 soldiers have now fallen in the war against hamas since october 7th this war is really starting to exact a high cost i think we're coming close to the number of soldiers who died in sofitan the war with hamas back in 2014 and you know it looks like this war will be going on much much longer of course yeah i think we can't compare this war to other operations that we had at the past there's a lot of power and the forces inside gaza in a very frequent a friction with the with the enemy and it's bad it's bad when we are losing it's we're losing soldiers and it's very painful for the old society also it's painful for for the army but still i think that the idea is doing a very good job and they are moving not fast and they are moving very easy and very very tactical they are doing the the right things and as we know hamas is digging them themselves inside and they are surprising us from the back and the situation is not so easy and now is you can add the the weather of course but still i think even if if we are talking about 60 and every one of them is is a whole world for us still idf is doing a very good job at the gaza strip and they will move on it will take time and it will take casualties and we know it but it's a price that we have to pay we have to pay yeah absolutely yes uh 70 soldiers fallen in sukeitan in 2014 um obviously israel lost so many soldiers already in the hamas onslaught on october 7th um but yes everybody understand this is a completely different story uh the israeli public has not been disunited about anything in many many years about the need for this war uh hamas's onslaught was a wake-up call for everyone uh not just around the world but obviously here in israel about the need to eliminate this threat and that cuts right across all sectors of israeli society absolutely so and we see that this um such wide support and you see it as well in the um the turnout to the reserves uh so many people drafting so many asking to volunteer uh thousands of israeli is returning from abroad just for the chance to volunteer to fight for the people because everybody understands this is fighting whether it is an exist an existential threat or not and and there's arguments about that uh this is a threat that israel cannot live with anymore and the eyes are to the north because whatever israel does with hamas is being looked at by chisbala unless israel eliminates this threat of hamas others will have the appetite to do the same as hamas did and and that is why that is so vital to get rid of hamas completely yeah absolutely well uh the war with hamas um has put some pressure on israel's 40-year-old peace with egypt kairu controls the raffa crossing with gaza and has been central to coordinating aid supplies into the strip public criticism of hamas is rare in the arab world but my next guest has spoken out against the groups barbarity dalia ziada is an egyptian writer and political analyst and she joins us now dalia thank you so much for being with us thank you so much for having me happy to be with you laura as always nice to see you again dalia now listen you've been extremely critical of hamas and the atrocities that they carried out on october 7th and can you tell us a bit about the reaction you have had for for stating those views uh actually i uh like many others in the region uh including arab's egyptians and muslims from all over the world uh think that palestinians are not hamas and hamas are not the palestinians hamas is a terrorist organization that has been raking havoc not only in israel but all over the region my country egypt has been harmed by hamas many times between 2012 and 2015 hamas was actually killing our soldiers in synai and if it was not for the help of the israeli security forces and the israeli army we were not able to get rid of hamas terrorists and the terrorist organizations that hamas planted in syna at that time that is simply what i said publicly after uh the hamas the horrible hamas attack on israeli edc billions on october 7 i condemned them and i said that i support israel in what it in what it is doing now which is getting helping the region to get rid of hamas and unfortunately i received a horrible backlash not only from the islamistism i know very well that they don't like me that much and simply because i've been like fighting against them all my life and again is their extremist ideas but what really broke my heart is that the attack is also coming from my fellow egyptians normal egyptian people who believe that uh saying so or speaking out against hamas is now an act of high treason and unfortunately i found out later on that it's not only the extremists it's not only the general public or even the media but there are also legal claims filed against me more than one legal claim filed against me uh at the egyptian public prosecutor's office accusing me of espionage to israel which is in my opinion is a joke and but uh honestly this will not make me stop doing what i'm doing because i very much believe it well i'm very sorry to hear that and you're very courageous for speaking out um like that and do you think and as you point out egypt has had his own problems with extremists and with islamists do you think that israel's war with hamas is is kind of stirring up islamist anger in egypt you know actually we're speaking about the hostages that are being captured by hamas right now but i think their number is much bigger than the number of the israelis that are now under their grip hamas and their fellow extremist organizations and their fellow extremist even grassroots in all over the arab and islamic world uh have taken the entire middle east region hostage right now hamas is taking the region hostage and this is very dangerous because as you can see like the mainstream in the arab countries and even in the islamic world are now very supportive of hamas all of a sudden they forgot all what hamas has been doing and of course this is putting a pressure on the arab governments at the same time who are somehow pending for uh the mainstream rhetoric or the mainstream high emotions towards the palestinian cause and the mis being misled by what hamas is saying this is of course the resulting is between israel and arab countries including the arab countries that are friendly with israel that has been that has that have been close friends with israel i mean including in the gulf and also like all neighbors like jordan and egypt if this is going to affect the long-term uh peace accord or peace relationship between israel and israel this still remains to be seen but we know for sure that the two countries are so interdependent interdependent on each other egypt and israel i mean and interdependent economically and security-wise specifically so i don't think they will risk that for um for the current tension but we know for sure that there are uh bruises left by um the weakness of arab governments in response to what hamas did and their insistence up till this moment not to condemn hamas and only hold israel accountable for starting this war contrary to the to the truth yeah the arab governments are walking a difficult line and as you say egypt and israel have a strong economic partnership just this week um gas exports to egypt have gone up by i think 60 percent so there is a very strong um economic relationship already let's talk about um the gaza then how much of a role will egypt which also shares a border with gaza how much of a role will kyro have in the future for gaza once hamas is is destroyed what is the kind of the national conversation in egypt about what gaza will look like because it will affect egypt as well won't it of course that's a very important question because i believe um we every one in the region all the states in the region especially in the countries that are directly neighbor with israel and gaza like egypt and jordan they should immediately work they should not wait until the war ends or hamas being destroyed or let's say dismantled in order to start to take action towards this peace towards this uh rebuilding of gaza either in terms of governance or the actual rebuilding of the city itself but they should start from now on working on solutions they should communicate with their israeli counterparts which i know they also want the god for gaza i heard many israeli officials who are speaking about who are actually very clearly separate between their war on hamas and what they want to do for the people of gaza the palestinian people as soon as they finish hamas so the arab leaders of these important countries including my home country egypt should communicate with israel on this arrange with israel on that and also with the broader international community on what should happen next in gaza and i believe the first step is to make sure there will be a civilian government that is supportive of the peace agenda in the region and that is willing to enhance this peace agenda not to sabotage or delay it for for the reasons the many reasons that hamas used in the past also let's be almost like hamas will not completely disappear hamas even if the israeli army eventually succeed in dismantling hamas we should also expect that they may come back under other titles or other names after or they may continue working under the ground we should also cooperate like i mean israel jordan uh and other ua and other interested countries in the region and world wide should also cooperate on ensuring that hamas will not return again in any form either with its own name or other name in a way that may hurt not only the israel palestinian peace negotiations but the broader peace agenda in the region well darlia it takes a great deal of courage to to go against the grain and speak the truth so thank you very much indeed good luck to you darlia ziada thank you well amidasa and gaya israel stay with me in the studio and that does take a great deal of courage for an egyptian woman to come out and speak the truth like that yeah and also i think it's a optimistic optimistic view a point of view of her but unfortunately there's a very few people that thinks like that and very few from them can speak about it because the threat that they have from their society is very big and she has a lot of courage and obviously for years hamas has been lambasted by leading arab figures in in this region but not so much so obviously since october 7th as the mood in the region was very much so against israel in support of the palestinian cause of course but that does not mean that they should be supporting hamas's atrocities we are not hearing enough voices in the arab world mainly from arab leaders in our neighboring countries the emirates have forcefully condemned and and and they should be uh commended for that um unfortunately not not enough and when the palestinians uh palestinian authority i'm talking about the fatakh movement the the um uh palestinian foreign ministry today attempting to deny the crimes that they uh that hamas have uh has executed on october 7th at the nova festival and in the kibbutzes it it it means a lot when the palestinians are even denying the crimes that they have committed uh why should uh arab leaders even attempt to condemn them and we should talk about that poll um that's out today um palestinians in the west bank 80 percent of them supported 86 86 percent sorry of palestinians in the west bank support the massacre that took place on yeah we have this problem for a longer time now because uh when we are speaking about uh education education young people from the day they were born that the israelis they have to be destroyed and we need to take them out because they are killing us and they are they are raising their kids like that so after 20 years you can't expect anybody to think other way so this is the main point we have to to change the system from the from the basic from the basic thinking and we have to put them on ground and to understand that they have to admit that israelis here for for long and uh this is exactly what uh prime minister benjamin etenia was uh saying very clearly that we will not allow a gaza to be controlled by a palestinian authority that incites against israel on a regular basis base salaries to terrorists that encourages terror uh then you know if we do so then we've done nothing because we've already given gaza to the palestinian authority and we saw what happened since then khamas took over and turned gaza into a terror hub okay all right well the crown prince of bahrain has called for khamas to immediately release all of the hostages prince salman bin hamad al-halifa called for a hostage trade and he also called for the creation of a palestinian state israel and bahrain normalized ties under the abraham accords in 2020 last month though bahrain's parliament called to sever ties with jerusalem well arnaud lashire is a professor of political science and he was formally based in bahrain and he is with us now hello arnaud first of all why do you think the the crown prince chose to speak out now oh i believe that he decided to speak out now um exactly because of the of the stance of the parliament you know the the bahraini parliament has always been very reluctant and very conservative towards links with with israel and the bahraini parliament reflects the the position and the opinion of the bahraini street let's call this the bahraini street and and the and the prince and the crown prince which is as well with as well the prime minister of the country salman al-halifa has always championed the abraham accord without without the parliament and without the pressure given by the parliaments i think that the abraham accord would have been signed maybe five five or six years before so actually is quite logical and he's just repeating the official stance and the official position of of the kingdom of bahrain but it was very difficult for him to speak out before due to the to the reaction of the people and to the reaction of of the parliament yeah of course and as we've been saying you know um criticizing hamas does not mean abandoning the palestinian cause by any means but it does seem to be very difficult for a lot of Arab leaders to criticize hamas bahrain is a complicated case isn't it because it does have this large shia population shia being the same population as iran and talk us through how how this plays out in reality actually one of the first of my students was accepted to give to give a talk to i24 news it was three years ago uh was actually a shia student so it's not only a religious thing it depends on the influence of iran many of the shias in bahrain are completely opposed to the to the iranian mullah so uh so part of them are completely open to uh to the new tide and and to the aburan accord uh but part of the of the other half or maybe a bit more than half of them uh 70 percent of the of the shia in bahrain are uh have always have already tied uh i've still ties with uh with iran and with the iran government that works a lot to uh to to influence them for propaganda um just as a reminder uh the 8th of october all the um poor iranian websites etc and the twitter accounts uh insisted in the fact that the current prince was um was supporting fully israel extra it was clearly a message to destabilize the country and iran is always trying to do this it's quite logical but it's not only due to the shia community uh as i repeated um many of the shia community are completely neutral uh throughout this uh this issue well i'm i'm wondering if bahrain uh will um come out more strongly um against hamas and um perhaps uh renew its ties with israel because uh now that the husis are getting involved we know that the husis um have killed Bahraini soldiers um in recent months um do you think that this will kind of change the the tide of public opinion in Bahrain at all uh there is a this point obviously but you know Bahraini soldiers are in uh yemen uh uh since 2012 so it's not only uh due to this specific specific case i think that the the sense and the pressure put by the emirate of katha our our beloved neighbors uh our kathari neighbors uh were strongly opposed to uh to the to the kingdom of bahrain uh is it's far more important in this uh in to to explain the um to to explain the new position of the of the of the kingdom as katha is stressing a lot on the palestinian support hamas support extra extra condemning israel all the time uh it's quite logical that bahrain is doing exactly the exactly the opposite and that the Bahrain leaders are are are are speaking are speaking out right now to say the opposite and to propose uh how to say a balanced solution an acceptable solution all right stay with us uh i don't know i mean did you want to comment on that yes they are saying uh just the opposite that's what they're saying uh bahrain wants to play a role here in the region and as they see that katha katha ring is getting in as a some kind of uh a middle um a middle nation to get from the hamas something they want also any kind of a share of this kind of uh a negotiation so i see it as a bit to kind of reassert their influence in the region because the emirates of course have taken a leading role haven't they most notably with the with aid delivery to the people yes i visited the Bahrain with a small delegation earlier this year it feels like a whole different world back then uh days of more hopes for peace in this region obviously Bahrain is dealing with this shared population that is not and surveys as well show disapproval of the the accords with israel that is something that the uh government the the prince has has to deal with has um has to speak to um and and as much as they want to uh improve those relations on the ground it is very difficult like economic ties are still very slim uh there's still a long way to go in in that sense and yet Bahrain is looking to to play a unique role and not to be the small sister of the UAE uh well i'm wondering on that uh what we were talking about earlier Arnal uh we were talking about how um you know there is so much incitement and brainwashing um in the Palestinian territories against Israel we know that the emirates and indeed the Saudis have taken steps to kind of remove antisemitism from their school books um it has there been similar moves in Bahrain far far before the Abrahamic world all the antisemitic uh things in the in the in the in the school books have been removed so it's not it's not exactly the concern of antisemitism it's more about uh just Palestinian cause and really it's kind of an obsession uh when you talk to to the to the Bahrain districts to the Bahrain citizens uh whether they are Shia or Sunni it's not it's not really this issue they are they are often really obsessed with this even though they don't really know Palestinians because uh Palestine is is quite uh is quite far away from Bahrain and but to explain as well the reaction of the Bahrain government is that they try as well to influence a little bit their grand uh their grandfather their grandfather Saudi Arabia uh cause really at the very beginning i was the first surprise to find out that that the that the crown prince uh um Muhammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia was very uh was very condemning uh Israel and wasn't condemned uh Hamas we have Hamas is completely illegal in Saudi Arabia uh it is uh as well uh illegal