 News 24, only on I-24 News. First though, some developments on Israel's northern front where the IDF is battling the Iranian proxy Hezbollah. Hezbollah Brigade Commander has been killed in an airstrike near the Lebanese city of Tyra. For more on that, let's go to the north of Israel. Our Pierre Steckelback joins us. Pierre, this was Ismail Yousef Baz. That's who he's been named as. Who was he? And is this a sign of Israel's response to Iran might go via Lebanon? Right, Laura. His senior Hezbollah commander, as the Israeli military confirmed, Ismail Yousef Baz, was responsible for, as the Israeli army says, for launching and planning rocket attacks and attacks with anti-tank missiles towards northern Israel. He was killed in an apparent drone strike in an area close to the Lebanese city of Tyra. It is located in the western coast of Lebanon, in the southern area still. He was traveling in a vehicle. He was killed. And there are also reports that several others were injured in that strike. It is not the first time, Laura, that the Israeli army conducts operations in that area and the Tyre area. About a month ago, a senior Hamas member of Hamas's military wing was assassinated in a drone strike as well, exactly in that area. And we're just getting our reports about another strike in the southern area of Lebanon, the Shehabia area. That is allegedly another Israeli strike that might have killed further Hezbollah personnel. However, there's no confirmation nor by the Israeli army or by Hezbollah on that. Hezbollah did confirm that the commander, Ismail Yousef Baz, was killed. He was killed on the way to Jerusalem. This is what the Hezbollah statement says, which is basically a phrase that says or that Hezbollah is using for victims of Israeli attacks, basically. This comes after quite a vanful day on the Israel-Lebanon border. This morning, three people were lightly injured in Beth-Hilel after two UAVs that were sent by launch by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon exploded without giving a warning by the Israeli defense system. And the Israeli army says it is investigating why no incoming rocket alert was triggered in that area before. Pia, thank you very much. Pia Steckel back there in the north of Israel. Well, Israel's war cabinet is meeting for a third time to discuss how to respond to Iran three nights after that unprecedented drone and missile attack today. Iran's deputy foreign minister said his country would respond to any Israeli attack within seconds. This recap with our area level weapon now. Israel has vowed a response to Iran's massive air assault on the Jewish state. 350 ballistic missiles and drones were launched on Saturday night. 99 percent were shot down. We are closely assessing the situation. We remain at our highest level of readiness. Iran will face the consequences for its actions. We will choose our response accordingly. The question now is how will Israel respond and when? The scope of the threat was unprecedented. Iran launched enough firepower to level a city that it was stopped with only superficial damage, has afforded Israel some leeway in its response. Either in Iran or outside Iran. Inside Iran, the strategic targets like military bases, air bases, nuclear facilities, are some of the components, maybe also some symbols, state symbols of Iran, which would mean definitely hitting at the molas, and this could be also a choice. Israel has signaled it will hit Iran in a way that hurts without provoking an all-out war. NBC reports and sites U.S. officials that the U.S. believes Israel will limit the attack to Iranian proxies in the region, likely IRGC affiliates in Syria. But a response that's too limited risks giving Iran a sense of impunity and setting a precedent for such large-scale air assaults. And that means the possibility of a strike on Iran's nuclear program that has the U.N. worried. We are always concerned about this possibility. What I can tell you is that our inspectors in Iran were informed by the Iranian government that yesterday all the nuclear facilities that we are inspecting every day would remain closed on security considerations. Unlikely targets include Iran's soft underbelly, its oil and gas infrastructure. The United States would heavily oppose any actions that would spike oil prices during an election year. In any strike option, the enemy also gets a say, and the whole Middle East now hangs on the precipice of total war. And in the last hour, the Israeli Defense Minister has been visiting the troops in northern Israel. He says that Iran's attack failed and will fail to deter Israel. Let me introduce my guest this hour. Avi Pazena is the former Israeli ambassador to France and Israel. Good evening, Laura. We're also joined by Brigadier General Hanan Geffen, the former commander of the 8200 Intelligence Unit in the IDF. Thank you for being with us as well, Brigadier General. So, Avi, I'll start with you. Clearly the Israeli cabinet is divided. There are reports that it's divided over how to respond to Iran. They keep having these meetings night after night. The U.S. and Israel's other allies have made it clear they don't want Israel to respond. Would it be wise for Israel to squander all the good will it has right now? Yes, but, Laura, I believe that Israel will have to respond. I mean, even if you are the less hawkish possible minister, there cannot be a situation that Iran is launching 350 missile rockets, cruise missiles, a dozen that we don't respond. The question is how to respond in such a manner that we are not drawn into a general conflict with Iran. But it causes enough outrage in Iran without dragging Iran into a war with Israel. I mean, we have to respond with our head and not with our guts. And this is why, by the way, the cabinet, the war cabinet, is meeting already three days in a row. Every day they are meeting and studying. It's a very delicate, very delicate balance. And also we do not want to lose the support of the U.S., of those European countries who participated with us in destroying the missile that were launched from Iran. So it is a very delicate question. But I say again, Israel cannot afford itself to be victim of that kind of aggression by Iran without destroying the girls. If you do not respond, then every time Iran is discontented with something, let's say we enter Rafa, let's say they don't like it. They shoot 100 missiles at us. We have to respond in order to get Iran's attention to the fact that we will not tolerate direct attack on us. Okay. Hannah and Gephard, do you agree with that? How can Israel get the balance right when it comes to responding to Iran? First of all, we are speaking, we are in the Middle East and we have to speak the language of the Middle East. And the language of the Middle East is if you do not, if you won't respond, you are actually saying you have a white flag. That means this is the way it will translate it. So there's no question about it. I have said, I have said, right, all of them are for it. And the question is how to respond in a way that will serve Israel, as you mentioned, not to disturb this new order and then again all the targets we want. And the targets are very complicated. That's why the cabinet is convening day after day. So in the meantime, it's going back to the office and trying to... Do you think there is a split, a divide in the cabinet? No, no, there's not a question of split. I would say the question is the right targets. And the right targets can be many of them. And I would say the different fields of targets. First of all is of course the military targets because the aim was Israeli military targets to respond in the same token, the reply will be in the same token, military targets, but there is also one. Why did the Iranian started to disturb the equation that persisted for many years and across all the time of these six months? And it lies in something that is internal in Iran. They have suffered a loss of five members. IRGC members? IRGC members, prominent in Syria and a vital link in the connection between Iran and Hezbollah. Israeli targeted, we're looking for them. This is not the first time Israel targeted a prominent IRGC figure. But this time the Iranian, it was shown in the street, the funerals were attended by the high ranking ministers, presidents and all the military guys. And the public in Iran was observing it. Now the question that was at the table of the Iranian minister was how to respond. And there were questions there. There was an extremist, probably the IRGC and the military were going for a very harsh answer. The kind that was actually executed. But on the first iteration it was stopped because there was an enhancement a week earlier stopping all the air traffic in Tehran. And it was withdrawn after half an hour with a very embarrassing way. It means that there was a decision. It was stopped and then again. So you see some confusion in their own decision making. And the Israeli, now the Israeli intelligence trying to see how the decision making in Iran and trying to target the decision making, trying to target those who were pushing for the hard line, trying to find the right targets to convince them. OK, well what about the argument then that Iran wanted this attack to fail, that it knew it would get shot down, that it knew it wouldn't get any missiles through, it wouldn't do any significant damage. It could save face and step back. What about Iran's motivation and does that matter when it comes to thinking about retaliation? Clara, I do not think that the Iranian wanted 99% of the missiles and drones being shot down. I think this is a terrible disaster from a tactical point of view for Iran that they fired 300 missiles and rockets and drones towards Israel and 99% were destroyed. Not only by Israeli, that's true. Also Americans, British, foreign sources say Jordanian also. I don't think that Iran wanted that kind of result. It's true, maybe they did not want to hit civilian targets. OK, that is true. They did not want to kill Israeli civilians, that's true. But they wanted to hit Israeli military targets. They hit some very lightly, but they wanted to hit Israeli military targets and to succeed, not to be ashamed before all the world. OK, all right. Well, we should point out, of course, that one young girl, a Bedouin girl, was injured and is fighting for her life in hospital. And, of course, the attack failed because of the actions of Israel and its allies. And the Kingdom of Jordan took part in the US-led alliance that shot down the Iranian missiles on Sunday. And that has put the staunch US ally in Tehran's crosshairs. Today, Jordan's foreign minister, Amas Afadi, told US media that Israel must not be allowed to use the war with Iran to distract what's happening in Gaza, where the idea of his fighting Hamas. We're joining us now. Dr. Nasir Alamari is a writer and political commentator. Thank you for joining us, Nasir. So can these comments from foreign ministers of Afadi be seen as some kind of damage control attempt after Jordan did robustly step in to help defend Israel on Saturday night? Very much so. The Jordanian king has been walking a tightrope and the latest actions by the Jordanian Air Force has revealed to the Jordanians what they have suspected all along and that the king has maintained close ties and relationship with the Israeli military. And this is embarrassing for a king who's of course ruling as a dictator. There is no political representation in Jordan. The majority of Jordanians reject his policies. They want the Israeli embassy to be shut down and they want to dismiss the Israeli ambassador. They don't want that peace agreement with Israel. They don't want any relationship with Israel. On the other hand, the king and his military security elite are running foreign policy in footstep with the United States strategic vision for the region and he's really walking a tightrope and taking a huge political gamble basically governing against the will of his own people and that's why we are seeing his foreign minister saying we don't want anybody to interfere with Jordan's airspace. On the other hand, the U.S. is operating against Iran from Jordanian soil and that doesn't seem to bother the foreign minister. So a very tightrope and if the escalation in the region continues, the king will probably have to make tough choices when it comes to his relationship with Israel. And on top of that, Jordan is dealing with a pretty direct threat from Iran, a threat that came via some of the semi-state news agencies saying that Jordan would be targeted if it did step in once again to protect Israel. How worried do you think they are in Jordan about that threat from Tehran? Well, they are worried, but the king has always placed himself openly and practically with the American moves in the region unlike some of the Gulf allies who are a little more careful. They did not allow the U.S. to operate against Iran from their airspace. The king of Jordan is openly coordinating with the U.S. and Israel. However, you wouldn't hear this in the Jordanian media. The Jordanian media, the king himself comes out and condemns Israel and its actions. So the hypocrisy has not escaped the Jordanians. They can see that. And probably the king feels that the Iranian threat is because the many Jordanians actually accept and embrace the Iranian and Hamas vision vis-a-vis Israel. And that is why the king is really ruling over a nation that disagrees with his policies vis-a-vis Israel. And just to provide some context, Jordan has had its own problems with Iran via its border with Syria, which is under the control of, partly under the control of Iran. Exactly. I mean, there is no doubt that Iran has its sights on Jordan. They understand this division between the king and the people, who, by the way, as you know, are predominantly Palestinians, probably 55 to 60 percent. However, the king understands that the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan and Iran are now in alliance, and they want to create, you know, an unstable situation for the king. So he has made his choice. He is with America and Israel. However, politically, in the long run, that is really harmful to a king who talks about democracy and reform. And all of this, of course, flies in the face of his actions that run counter to his own people. Nazia, thank you very much. Dr. Nazia Alamari there. Thank you. Well, the role of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Saturday night is a little more opaque. The two countries have reportedly denied opening their airspace to the U.S. and Israel, although they were involved in intelligence behind the scenes. Well, for more on that, we're joined from Abah Ren by Abdullah Ajnaid, Bahrain economist and geopolitical analyst. Always a pleasure to see you, Abdullah. Thank you for joining us. My pleasure, Laura. It's been described as the first real test of the Middle East alliance, but it seems as though the UAE and Saudi Arabia are not quite ready to publicly own their role in what happened on Saturday night. Is that fair? What is fair and what is not fair? I mean, at the present time, F Iran decided to immerse this region again in a crisis. But we sit under Linux. That, of course, nobody will sit idle. Are we going to be doing the interpretation of that position in any way to be, you know, read into being in support of Israel or otherwise, no. If, if, and I say if, the Saudi, the Jordanian or anybody else in this, you know, after to minimize the cost of this barbaric attack by the Iranian, definitely if it's going to save the region from further deterioration, I think it's only acceptable and it is demandable by all parties to play their part. Abdullah, could this be a kind of a glimpse into what the future could look like in an ideal world? An opportunity for the Middle East to take responsibility for its own defense and be less dependent on the United States? I believe this is a lesson that Israel could draw from not the region. We've been telling the Israelis the whole region was telling the Israelis a better and more important scope for regional cooperation if we solve all outstanding issues including the Israeli-Palestinian issue, but that will minimize the impact on the policies that's efficient. Now, have Israel benefited from this lesson? I hope it does. More than that, we have news with the Israelis of it. Now, whatever the lesson grown from last week in attack on Israel should be benefited on by everybody in the region. Abdullah, having a tiny bit of a problem with the sound, but thank you. Stay with us, Abdullah. Avi Pazna, you were listening to that. I mean, could this be an opportunity to build on the remarkable cooperation we saw on Saturday night? Absolutely. I believe so and I think the moderate Sunni countries are extremely worried and disturbed by the Iranian action because may I remind that Saudi Arabia was already attacked by Iran four or five years ago, I believe and they put their petrol insulation on fire. I think that United Emirates have been attacked by the Houthis on orders of Iran. Of course, this is a great opportunity for Israel to try to build the coalition of moderate countries against Iran and this is why also it is so important that our reaction and I hope there will be a reaction against Iran does not destroy the chances to build such a coalition because it is important for the future but now we have seen what Iran is capable of doing and it can do it against Israel it can do it against Saudi Arabia, against Jordan which is directly threatened and I am not surprised that the king stands by the policy of his father King Hussein which was a policy which favours the American and Israel because the Hashemite regime is built on the fact that it is under threat from outside Shiites and other forces and that the Israel is the ultimate guarantee of its survival so I am not at all surprised of their policy. Hannah and Geffen, do you see some positivity or is there some hope that this could be the basis of a future defence architecture that the US has been trying to push for many years now we actually saw it in practice on Saturday night, we saw what could be I say starting from the 4 or 5 hours of Saturday night I don't imagine a film director the best of the world can create such a movie a slow motion that within 4 hours there is no exception of so many people in the west and in the countries around us suddenly all of them understand that the threat of Iran that was the basis of this cooperation is a real one it has the nuclear problem and the revolutionary spirit that they are trying to send over the area spread over the area in the Shiite in Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen creating instability in the Middle East this 3 or 4 hours demonstrated in a way that I believe will be the basis for extending this coalition and relationship I am not sure if you are still with us I am wonderful I will give the last word to you sorry we had a technical problem for me I have heard what Avi have said and I am sorry to hear the same narrative being pushed what we need is to learn from all the past experiences and lessons Jordan is more threatened today because of what took place in 2003 through the invasion of Iraq and we all know Avi personally know where Israel stood from that the current deterioration in the region it's not because of just all of a sudden we are faced with Iran or somebody else what we need to do is learn have the courage enough to acknowledge those mistakes and address them strategically not anymore describing Jordan as the way he described which was not very acceptable being a partner with Israel and so much did what he did and took so much punishment for it to stand and you know engaging all those missiles targeting Israel should Israel respond to Iran well our wise men say sometime you will need to give your enemy a golden bridge Israel had a lot of ways to punish without taking this region further Israel could and should respond but it should be very a method of response Abda, thank you very much and apologies for the problem with the line-up Abda Al-Adhanayid in Bahrain and Avi Padna, Hannah Geffen stay with us we are going to take a short break what is happening inside Iran days after that missile strike on Israel stay with us 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 be fought as well exclusive interviews reports from the war zone the reaction of the Spanish-speaking countries news 24 the only means in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel news 24 welcome back as the world awaits Israel's response to the Iranian drone and missile attack on Saturday night inside Iran the regime is calling it a success despite the fact 99% of its missiles were shot down by Israel and its allies Iran's leaders are warning that next time they won't give advance notice of any attack if the Israeli regime makes a mistake this time Iran's response as Iran's military commanders announced will not be minimal but immediate and severe suppose the Zionist regime accepts the answer it has received as an actor who behaves rationally and continues its normal course the Islamic Republic of Iran will take no action in that case but if, for any reason, the Zionist regime wants to take even minor action against our land, against the Iranian people against Iran's interests it will definitely face a decisive and harsh response and this answer will not take another 12 or 13 days Zionists should not count in hours but in seconds well for more we're joined now by Maria Mehmasadehi who is the founder and director of the Cyrus Forum and a senior fellow at the McDonnell Gloria Institute great to see you Maria thank you very much for being with us and just in terms of who you've been speaking to and what you know about what's happening inside Iran what is the feeling there three days after that unprecedented attack Hi Laura I think it's mixed emotions I mean of course there is anxiety about possible war also there is this underlying hope and it's expressed a lot on social media by Iranians of all different kinds who say that well first of all that they have no enmity with the Israeli people with the state of Israel and that they have a common enemy with Israel and that is the regime the same Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that has attacked Israel is the very same force that terrorizes the Iranian people that tortures children in prisons because they have come out and protested particularly in the women life freedom uprising following the death of Masa Amini systematically raping women executing people without due process and having a mafia hold on Iran's economy so there's a feeling of anxiety as I said you know there's also great hope because if there is a shake up if there is some kind of attack or a loosening of the grip on power by the regime then this is a people who have waited for 45 years really to be rid of the tyrants that are oppressing them Right and I want to point out some of the videos that have been circulating on social media that kind of support you've been saying and some show you know young Iranians graffiti on walls and stuff like that encouraging Israel to attack the Islamic regime and then at the same time you've got these official organized protests pro-regime protests which a lot of people pointed out do look pretty small not very well attended can we read anything into that The pro-regime protests have for many years now been forced people being brought in from the countryside lured in really with free food and what have you people from Afghanistan even brought in for when the Friday sermons are happening or the supreme leader speaking people being bussed in of course the regime does have a layer of support in society but every totalitarian regime is going to have that what's most important right now for people in Israel and around the world to know is that those people who take their lives at risk really to spray paint on city walls asking Israel to attack or expressing solidarity with the people of Israel they really are hoping for a future that is entirely different than what this regime represents a future that harkens back to Cyrus the Great and the friendship the ancient friendship between the Jewish and Iranian people as you know the tomb of Esther and Mordecai are in Iran and in Israel many many people of Iranian origin live and if the revolution of 1979 hadn't taken place Iran a secular modernizing liberalizing country could have been a force for peace between Palestinians and Israelis and peace more broadly in the Middle East region but the opposite has happened and there is a regime in power that really has a foothold in every part of the region and it is responsible for terror throughout the region but also across the world and it's a fundamental threat to the existence of Israel and a fundamental threat more broadly to any kind of society any kind of people who values freedom and human dignity and what about the Iranian economy because a war with Israel wouldn't be cheap firing 300 missiles isn't cheap can Iran afford a war with Israel especially when you've got the US and Europe today talking about increasing the very harsh sanctions already on the Islamic regime well unfortunately this regime in the last two three years by the administration has been handed basically money through turning a blind eye on sanctions so because of the great amount of oil wealth that in the last couple of years the regime has managed to secure for itself it has been able to do this and that's why we see caricatures and other commentary online talking about how the provision of money by the Biden administration to the regime is in great part responsible for the regime feeling strong enough appeased enough to to push for the October 7th attack and then to attack Israel with direct missiles and drones so the money has been there and that's why we see what we see Maria Mr. Dakey great to talk to you thank you very much well I'll be Pazna and Hanan Geffen are both with me in the studio and Israel will be watching very closely what's happening inside Iran what we can see in terms of videos and other things that are circulating yes of course they they if the inside Iran is completely different from what you see from the outside I believe that there's a very strong opposition to the regime of the Ayatollah you cannot give a number but I do believe that the majority of Iranian despise this kind of regime you know it's now almost 45 years that we have this regime those regimes are not eternal look what happened in the Soviet Union look what happened in Romania I mean there will be a time when the people of Iran and there are 100 million Iranians most of whom are very unhappy with this backwards regime and you can see that there are demonstrations specially by women especially by women who are the more hurt by the regime Islamic rules but not only women and I believe if we have the time to friendly run like it was before the Ayatollah right and Hanan Geffen you know a lot of people have pointed out that just imagine if those missiles had been nuclear missiles Iran is said to be advancing rapidly with its nuclear program the Americans and the Europeans are talking about increasing sanctions but I mean what is your outlook more broadly for Iran can it afford this war does it want this war well this is a very difficult question because you know you are taking on itself to make sure that Iran will not be a nuclear one not only because of Israel because Saudi Arabia the Emirates all the region and also Europe because Iranian and beyond this regime there is a spirit a revolutionary spirit of spreading the Shiite version of Islam all over the countries Syria in Yemen and in Europe this is the spirit the drive the leader the supreme leader of Iran so once the nuclear it destabilizes but I would like to return to two aspects of you know the internal sides of Iran first of all Iranians until 1979 were trained and by Israelis you know the intelligence were were reached high level because of our trainers the Mossad the military we trained them until 1979 and they started from relatively high point this is one aspect the other one is we want to make sure that the message is driven to the Iranian regime do not mess with Israel because we are going to hurt you are really vulnerable the inside problems that Avi mentioned now the question is I would say that the Israeli planners Mossad and military trying to find targets that will enhance this kind of opposition I would say just to be creative to support the opposition try to imagine that suddenly all the signs in Tehran with the Israeli flag go on Israel we are talking about cyber attack just to be creative I don't know if they will manage to do it but this will be inside and will drive home the message don't mess with Israel okay so you think a cyber attack will be enough it will be the ground music a cyber attack can be part of something bigger it has to be something which hurts the civilian population not the civilian population but the regime we have to find targets that hurt the regime image and power this is what we have to try to find without causing civilian death because that would be counterproductive that would be a boomerang the military goes to the drawing table to come up with the right solution that the government will say that's why it's taking such a long time it's not a discussion whether or not what should be the target okay well there are reports that the Iranian attack has prompted the IDF to delay plans for an offensive in Rafa the southern most city in Gaza and on Monday Hamas rejected the latest offer of a ceasefire in exchange for the release of the hostages 133 hostages are still being held in Gaza and have been for over six months now well let's go to the south of Israel we're joined by our correspondent Zach Andrews Zach at the war in Gaza hit a kind of an empath it's hard to say but when you look out over the north half of the Gaza Strip you continue to see the airstrikes taking place earlier this afternoon we heard the 50 caliber of helicopters flying overhead their guns going off so it seems like this fight just never ends and in the what we understand of the ground situation now that the IDF has pulled out brigades from the south remains in the central area of the Gaza Strip that the people the civilians within Gaza are left with a lot of questions they want to know where they can go we've seen over the last 24-48 hours that huge swaths of people thousands have attempted on the coastal road to make their way into the north half of the Gaza Strip the IDF was apparently turning people away some were able to make it on their way to Gaza City this is the kind of thing that we had many questions about before throughout this entire conflict but within the last few months we've been asking a lot of questions as this has reached this stage as to with the IDF telling us that Hamas has been moving among the civilian populations what methods are going to be in place to stop that if there's going to seriously be a flush of people who can move above ground and hide themselves among women and children how is the IDF going to manage and facilitate some kind of security situation on the ground level and again this is what we see the movement of people who are if they're in Rafa being told that there's this impending this looming moment when Rafa is going to become like what they left like in Kanyunas in Gaza City so we continue to see the messaging be put on hold just as much as the Rafa operation the IDF saying we're not there yet we're not sure what is going to happen and so they have not been communicating there was an expected pamphlet drop that was supposed to take place yesterday it's unclear whether or not that actually went through with instructions for the people inside Rafa so again it does feel like it's at an impasse and there's just so many questions left unanswered especially with this Rafa operation when will it happen and when are all those people going to need to move what instructions will they get that is left unclear a lot of question marks over what's happening in Gaza and of course this is terrible for the families of the 133 hostages who are still being held in Gaza after once again knocked off the headlines a terrible way for them and they've left the headlines but the last two weeks of headlines that they were experiencing were devastating we had the US officials the Biden administration saying they believe most of those hostages remaining in Gaza are dead no more update beyond that so you're just left with this question mark of well what does that mean where's this intelligence coming from and then you get Hamas coming to this the negotiation table with this message that even though you're asking for 40 hostages in exchange of for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners we can't produce proof of life for 40 hostages we're unable to be able to account for where they are the women the children the elderly and so the negotiating team then comes back with an update over the last 24 hours that now Hamas is saying they want this latest deal to be 20 hostages in exchange for the same number if not more of Palestinian prisoners so you're right for those hostage families who again every night have been out there in hostage square or applying pressure wherever they can we see the demonstrations every day the headlines are devastating and they don't get any better and there is really that if there's any kind of hope no one knows really where to look for it because no official in the U.S. no official in Israel has been able to say with any certainty that we're any closer to a deal that could at least get a few just just maybe even just one out no one knows that that's even possible Zach thank you very much Zach Andrews there in the south of Israel well to talk more about diminishing hopes of a hostage release deal we're joined now by Rami Iqra he's the former head of Mossad's Russian Union thank you very much for being with us Rami so a lot going on but how does this situation with Iran you know which is dominating world headlines affect the prospect of any kind of hostage deal I don't think the Iranians are in any way connected to the question of the deal the Iranians the Iranians have done two things which are important vis-à-vis the Hamas one thing they have attacked Israel from Iran and they have crossed a border that has never been crossed before and the second thing which is very important they found out that their weapons are not very effective against Israel Israeli technology and Air Force power have now they're they're trying to hit Israel so this by the way is a lesson that his father has to learn and the Hamas as well I don't think it has any relevance the Hamas has from moment one said the same thing it is all the time said we want cessation of hostilities on the one hand and the retreat of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip in other words the reinstatement of the Hamas sovereignty in the Gaza Strip something that Israel cannot comply with so all the talk about a deal along these months a couple of Palestinians more a couple of Palestinians less all kinds of keys to the exchange are irrelevant the only relevant thing is Hamas insistence on the continuation of Hamas sovereignty in the Gaza Strip and the only way to deal with that is to create an alternative a political alternative in the Gaza Strip Hamas has to feel that somebody else is giving out the aid somebody else is in charge of the police somebody else is the sovereign in the Gaza Strip and there is a lot of pressure on Israel not to respond to Iran there's also a great deal of pressure on Israel not to go into Rafa the southernmost city in Gaza I mean from a negotiation point of view why would Sinwa negotiate when it is looking recently unlikely that Israel will be able to go into Rafa first of all Hamas is looking around the world and is very encouraged by the way that the West is dealing with Israel the pressure not to go into Rafa the UN resolution that was against Israel and other things but I think that the West does not understand a very important thing about our neighborhood our neighborhood unfortunately is a neighborhood that is run by force and Israel is complied to retaliate to the Iranian attack otherwise the message will be that you can do it again and it has to be made clear that if you do it again you will pay a very heavy price Israel can inflict a very heavy price and the other message that should be clear to the Hamas what happened in the 7th of October is really the end of Hamas as a political entity no more sovereignty for Hamas in Gaza come what may Rami Iqbal thank you very much I have a question just two questions can the IDF still go into Rafa and in terms of the hostages we're now talking about 20 hostages that's what Hamas are now talking about and still they won't agree to any kind of deal look Laura it's clear that the Hamas has hardened its position on the hostages partly because of the pressure on the government of Israel internal pressure they see what's going on in Israel also by the way some American pressure you remember that Biden said that Netanyahu is not doing enough regarding the hostages so they've hardened their position and it is very worrying the fact that they say now we are speaking about 20 humanitarian hostages maybe really they don't have 40 humanitarian hostages I don't know it can either be a hardening of position or on the country that they don't have the numbers required for a deal but relatively I am convinced that we have to you asked about Rafa we have to apply military pressure on Hamas if not there will not be a deal Hannon just two months of negotiation with the American president involved in the Egyptian president and the Qatari prime minister and the head of the Mossad and everybody come up morning and evening with the announcement here and then it turned out that it was a joke Hamas did not enter the game not only came to square one he was not in the game the Hamas representative in Qatar were just not informed to say the least cheating might be the other solution Qatari played with them along and then the Americans say we don't know what happened they are very disappointed Hanan Geffen one of the Israeli pilots who took part in that defense mission on Saturday night has been speaking about his experience there's more in this report from Dixi Alvint it was a huge operation it's in these moments that you know why you get involved this is what we train so hard for the night between Saturday to Sunday was one of the most dramatic nights Israel experienced crowned with the unprecedented success it was really a lot of tension in the air we wondered what we expected of ourselves our skills we were impatient to be seated in the cockpit you also think a lot about your family best friends who you want to protect during the night from Saturday to Sunday Iran fired more than 300 missiles suicide drones and ballistic missiles towards Israel Israel destroyed almost all of them and declared a 99% success rate IDF pilots and air defense have trained for years for such a scenario since then the tension has been increasing and last Saturday evening we understood that the Iranian attack was imminent this Saturday things became clearer we were called to join our squadron at 7.30pm everyone was there ready to carry out their mission the feelings varied in emotion a rather strange impression as with every new situation you're going to be confronted with on Saturday we received confirmation of the operation and began arming the planes with appropriate ammunition and technicians had to work extremely quickly to equip the planes with air to air missiles capable of destroying the engaged targets reservists were mobilized including crews arriving from all corners of the country thanks to very precise intelligence information we were able to achieve an unprecedented result with our pilots then as soon as the missiles arrived in the area we were able to destroy almost all of them pilots climb into their cockpits and take off for an air battle reminiscent of other older wars when you take off you know your mission you become one with your aircraft you have the controls in hand and as soon as you arrive in the area you must trust yourself it's for this particular moment that we're paired they take off and the eyes of an entire nation are fixed on them as soon as we knew the missiles had been fired formation of four planes takes off and they start taking down the targets we arrive in an already engaged sector with many targets destroyed civilian aircraft or something else that could mislead you when you sit in front of you is the road to your house and you have no other choice to destroy the target so it does not reach your house what do you see with the naked eye from your cockpit first of all many screens in any case it's already dark and it's a desert area it's not very well lit the first thing you really see at night is the release of your missiles to trace in the sky two or three seconds later the explosion when you hit your target and you move on to the next target we are at war I think of my brothers of my friends who are fighting including one of my best friends who died in combat three months ago I think of him, of my own family it reminds me of what I do 10 and G, 27 years old has taken part in numerous attacks in southern Lebanon as well as on the Gaza front in recent months the mission is very different the first difficulty is to recognize your target then once the target is locked I give authorization to the pilot to shoot it down two or three seconds later there's a big explosion in front of your eyes and the target crashes to the ground then you work on hitting the targets one after another this usually happens at high altitude as soon as this historic night ends we return to normality although for Lieutenant G it's not totally over when you get off the plane what is the first thing you do? do you talk to your parents? the first message is from my partner that the night went well that I love her, we'll see each other in the morning are you preparing for what's next? of course, all the time we never know what's coming and we force ourselves to be ready for all possible scenarios we look forward and we don't get stuck in a situation even if it's extreme without forgetting it could be repeated tomorrow and we'll have to be very concentrated and precise once again, protecting civilians and preventing any incursion of flying objects that could harm our homes that's it from me, stay tuned Caleb Bentavid is up next this is I-24 News, good night Tel Aviv is ranked the happiest city in the world and the best place to own a home for three generations the Ben Shalom family has built boutique apartment buildings in the most desirable locations from restoration in historical locales to homes along Park Hydercone Ben Shalom is a one-stop shop from start to finish and friends for life this week in I-24 Israel Bajo Ataque I-24 in Spanish brings the analysis and information of the events of the war Iron swords exclusive interviews and reports from the war zone the reaction of the Spanish-speaking countries I-24 is the only medium in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel I-24 News welcome to this special broadcast on I-24 News I'm Caleb Bentavid it is day 193 of Israel's at war in the north the idea continues to trade blows with his bullet across the Lebanon border today taking out one of its top field commanders in Gaza the army launches a terrorist there and the questions over when Israel will finally move into Hamas's last stronghold in the strip an IDF spokesperson Daniel Higari warning Iran today that it won't get off scot free for Sunday's air attack as the war cabinet met again to discuss the how, the when and the how much of that response will take place Harry 11 has, Waldman has more on that in this report Iran's massive air assault on the Jewish state 350 ballistic missiles and drones were launched on Saturday night 99% were shot down we are closely assessing the situation we remain at our highest level of readiness Iran will face the consequences for its actions we will choose our response accordingly as to how will Israel respond and when the scope of the threat was unprecedented Iran launched enough firepower to level a city that it was stopped with only superficial damage has afforded Israel some leeway in its response either in Iran or outside Iran inside Iran the strategic targets like military bases, air bases nuclear facilities these are some of the components some symbols state symbols of Iran which would mean definitely hitting at the molas this could be also a choice Israel has signaled it will hit Iran in a way that hurts without provoking an all-out war NBC reports and sites U.S. officials that the U.S. believes Israel will limit the attack to Iranian proxies in the region likely IRGC affiliates in Syria but a response that's too limited is giving Iran a sense of impunity and setting a precedent for such large-scale air assaults and that means the possibility of a strike on Iran's nuclear program that has the U.N. worried we are always concerned about this possibility what I can tell you is that our inspectors in Iran were informed by the Iranian government that on the yesterday all the nuclear facilities that we are inspecting every day would remain closed on security considerations unlikely targets include Iran's soft underbelly its oil and gas infrastructure the United States would heavily oppose any actions that would spike oil prices during an election year in any strike option the enemy also gets a say and the whole Middle East now hangs on the precipice of the total war and here's what the IDF spokesperson Daniel Higari had to say this afternoon something else have happened this coalition is directing a message to Iran we will not allow this aggression in the region this coalition is an opportunity for the Middle East a strategic opportunity for the Middle East for countries who share the same threat from Iran firing 110 ballistic missiles directly to Israel will not get scot free we will respond in our time in our place in the way that we will choose for more let's go to our correspondent Baleer Sledin who's outside the IDF headquarters the Kira here in Tel Aviv and Baleer for the third day in a row the war cabinet meeting do we believe that there is now a decision made about how and when to respond to Iran after that air attack this weekend yes in fact for the third day in a row and for the fifth time the cabinet is meeting today as we see Gans has said today that there will be a respond but from a strategic point of view he's saying in a conference the newspaper Israel Hayom he said that the respond will be in a time and a place that Israel chooses and it suits it and also he's adding that Iran failed and because of the Israeli technology and diplomacy so Israel is actually finding or sensing that this coalition that we've seen on Saturday night is something that needs to actually to coordinate with and of course needs to take its benefits after all so we are saying this of course in the background of the international pressure on Israel not to respond today the foreign minister of Germany Al-Anila Birbouk will visit Israel it's of course her main aim of this visit is to pressure Israel not to respond or at least not to conduct a major attack against Iran they are of course hoping to preserve the stability of this region and what's interesting is that most of Israelis are actually against an attack against Iran because the Hebrew University conducted a survey today saying that 52% of Israelis are actually against any attack against Iran and maybe even the those who support an attack only one out of four of them so like 25% of them only actually support an attack against Iran on its soil so something that of course will escalate the situation even more something that the Israelis don't want to see because they think they're not wrong about this that the main goal right now is actually to resolve the situation in Gaza to bring back the hostages we're here also in the hostages that's where we're hearing from the families and of course to eliminate this threat that is in Gaza which is Hamas of course a dilemma here in the Israeli public and also I guess in the Israeli political level. Right and we have heard that there have been disagreements and even in the war cabinet about how to best proceed on the Iran attack and it's a matter of setting priorities as well Balia Sledin outside of the FAA Court, thank you for that. We're joined in studio now by Yaqui Dayan the former Israeli Council of Los Angeles and the former commander of Special Forces in the IDF and Daron a hint there from Benny Gantz that the response to Iran may not be an outright attack certainly not on an attack against Iran on Iranian sources. How could it look like? Well what would you recommend the response to be? If I had the maps here I would have been the... I don't want to weigh any secrets but in general. But I would say the following first of all when you make a decision to go about this attack you have to prepare the forces you have to make the plan. So I think the decision that are made right now is to see that all the venues are open so we can go from venues like cyberattacks we have a powerful tools and I think if there's a venue that the US would support cyberattacks against infrastructure in Iran this can go... Or the nuclear facilities as we've seen in the past before many years ago when we are still doing. Of course secretive operation for sure against general's leaders wherever this is of course part of the secretive war we are having. And then you have of course Iranian targets outside of Iran and then in the end limit of course you have this strike that people talk about this air force strike against some infrastructure against it can be a nuclear facility which is part of the old-day scheme that we have and this looks to me right now not the best venue in this context and for sure not a venue to be taken without some kind of sync with the US because what we have seen and I think the spokesman talked about strategic opportunity let's not spoil... Well I want to pick up on that Yaki with you because we've seen countries like Jordan even countries that may deny it for the time being reportedly Saudi Arabia the UAE cooperating we heard a hint of that there Secretary of State Blinken is due on Cairo on Thursday to meet with the leaders of the six sort of Sunni moderate Arab states building maybe that Arab NATO against Iran so certainly that's got to be factor in the decision making on how to respond to Iran. Absolutely I think that there are three elements that has to have to be taken into consideration the first one is updating the United States this has to be with some kind of correlation with the United States not surprising the United States I would say that's the first element the second element is maintaining the coalition that was built this is extremely important for Israel and the third element is making sure that any response will not open an overall war so if you take into consideration those three elements the Israeli response would be under those constraints and only then Israel can respond and get the support of the international community and there is another very important element which is it's not only a military attack but what Israel has to make sure that there is a diplomatic economic attack because one of the major achievements of three days ago four days ago is the fact that Iran is back into the focus of the international community and what you want to have is to rally the international community to have new sanctions sanctions on Iran on the financial sector on the oil sector and for sure on the nuclear sector right it certainly opens opportunities for Israel on the nuclear issue perhaps there will be follow up on there now let's look at northern Israel without seeing that big attacks that we might have been concerned about either from some of the Iranian proxies but there was further clashes in Israel's northern border that have seen two airstrikes today in southern Lebanon reportedly killing three Hezbollah operatives including an important field commander Mirala Hezbollah drone strike inside Israel territory took place wounding three rocket sirens sounding throughout the day our correspondent Robert Swift is more the skies above Lebanon and Israel were busy Tuesday afternoon an explosion destroyed a car in southern Inbal close to Tyre a prominent Hezbollah field commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike Ismail Yousef Baz responsible for Hezbollah artillery rocket units in southwestern Lebanon was the target of the assassination the Israeli military said Hezbollah confirmed his death an additional airstrike occurred in southern Lebanon shortly thereafter not far away on the other side of the border another attack took place close to the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona without triggering an aircraft infiltration siren two UAVs crossed into Israeli airspace wounding three people in an explosive attack Hezbollah said that it launched the drones and that it was targeting an Israeli iron dome missile battery it also claimed responsibility for artillery attacks and an anti-tank missile launch in the same area citing the strike in Inbal as justification the Israeli military reported that rockets were launched into its territory in the western and upper Galilee causing fires but no casualties only a few days ago it was feared that Israel-Iran tensions could cause the border with Lebanon to flare up but now the IDF and Hezbollah have already returned to the day-to-day routine that has persisted here for the last six months and from all let's go to our correspondent Pia Stakobach who's in northern Israel near the Lebanese border and Pia just I see in the best couple of minutes more air raid sirens there showing what an active area that continues to be today Indeed Kalev a very eventful evening rocket alert sirens now going off in communities towards the western side of the Israel-Lebanon border that is just as Hezbollah claimed responsibility for another rocket launch towards the area of Kiryat Shmone in total Hezbollah claimed responsibility for six cross-border attacks including rockets including artillery it all started when this morning in the UAV are actually two UAVs exploded above the community of Bet-Tilell in the eastern part of the Israel-Lebanon border as we heard in the report injuring three then that Israeli drone strike in Tyre in the area of Tyre that killed the Hezbollah commander Ismail Yousef Baz he was confirmed to have been killed by Hezbollah but he's not the only one that Hezbollah said was killed today just announced that another of its operatives was killed in southern Lebanon today that might indicate that the second strike that was reported the second drone strike on two vehicles traveling in southern Lebanon might have claimed him as one of the casualties we can expect more retaliation from Hezbollah for that killed commander in total Hezbollah has announced that well more than 270 of its operatives were killed since the attacks started on October the 8th and Israel has time and time again struck senior commanders directly also in the area of Tyre so what we've seen today something in an operation very similar to the one we've seen today a cured about a month ago when Israel also via drone strike took out Hamas military a member exactly in that area also via drone strike on a car there so as Israel is now evaluating a potential retaliation to the Iranian strike also carefully is monitoring the skies here on the northern front and the clashes the cross border attacks with Hezbollah are certainly continuing we have been seeing rocket alert sirens going off in different communities in northern Israel from the east to the west basically so it is a very eventful night here and as we've just seen another round of rocket alert sirens have been going off in the western areas however besides the three that were lightly injured when these two exploded in the early afternoon there was no reports of injuries or damage on the Israeli side so far today Kalev alright P.S. Takobach there near the Lebanese border northern Israel thank you for that P.A. and drone we're seeing again Israel following the same strategy that it has not been changed by the way in attack neither Hezbollah but I think you raise the possibility of maybe Israel extending its response outside Iran but the question is that may not generate a direct attack from Iran like the one we had this weekend but it could bring about an intensified response from Hezbollah for sure if we'll attack in Iran Iran can use its proxy to create something or even outside Iran outside Iran of course for sure I'm saying in terms of the strategy versus Hezbollah we didn't change the strategy whenever we have the possibility the opportunity to target leaders or soldiers of Hezbollah we did it this is a very successful operation it means we have very good intelligence and we caught the window of opportunity and we executed this is the way we operate I think in terms of our strategy in the north it works putting aside the fact that our citizens are not back in their homes but apart from that they are paying dearly for their engagement with us we have here and there they succeed and we right now hear about silence in the north in the certain moment we are prepared in terms of ground operation if we need in the southern in the southern strip of Lebanon we heard about a simulation exercise that the IDF completed lately but the question is whether we need to use a real maneuver in the southern Lebanon or there would be some diplomatic resolution I'm going to go to Yaqui because just yesterday we noted six months since the start of the evacuation of the civilians over 60,000 from northern Lebanon and while we can talk about what could be done against Hezbollah and against Iran every action like that puts the date of I think of those return of those civilians a little further So Kaleb here it depends how you look at it but the United States is dictating the rules of this conflict at least in the north for sure in the north in Lebanon because the United States clearly doesn't want to see any expansion of the war 2024 this is an election year in the United States and they are dictating the rules of this conflict meaning that both no one wants to see an extension of this war because Israel wants to finish the front in Gaza but nevertheless even if Israel would have wanted to expand this war we heavily depends on the ammunition coming from the United States and here there is a problem but clearly and I agree with Doron the goal the main goal is returning the Israeli refugees back to their homes as soon as possible and if this conflict continues like that that would be impossible in the very beginning it was a big mistake as I see it to evacuate those people from there because now it's very difficult to bring them back but nevertheless we have to give ourselves a deadline and also to the Americans to this conflict because otherwise it would be very hard to keep those Israeli refugees outside their homes meaning that we have to tell the Americans listen up to this date we are willing to play according to your rules of the conflict if it doesn't work then you'll have to play according to our rules of the conflict I'll just say one of those refugees told us the other night that some of his neighbors are talking about leaving the North all together which is not what Israel wants to see a depopulated North since you mentioned aid from Israel Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel this weekend has put renewed pressure on the U.S. to pass an international aid bill which has been stuck in Congress for months now the U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson says he has divided the bill into four components and will bring it to a vote as soon as Friday senior correspondent Bianca Zanini has a story despite months of delay America will send aid to its allies in need says Washington we have terrorists and tyrants and terrible leaders around the world like Putin and Xi and Iran and they're watching to see if America will stand up for its allies and in our own interest around the globe and we will but U.S. aid has been delayed for more than two months after the Senate passed a $95 billion aid bill which included $14 billion for Israel and $60 billion for Ukraine now Republican Speaker Mike Johnson says he divided the bill into four separate bills which could be brought to a vote as soon as this Friday what we'll do is bring to the House floor independent measures we won't be voting on the Senate supplemental in its current form but we will vote on each of these measures separately in four different pieces we will vote on the Israel aid on the aid to Ukraine on the aid to the Indo-Pacific and then another measure that has our national security priorities included Johnson is facing pressure from the Republicans which have pushed against the aid to Ukraine the fact that we in Ukraine have been waiting months for a vital support package the fact that we are still waiting for a vote in Congress testifies to the fact that the confidence of terrorists has also been growing for months you can't waste any more time it is necessary to really protect life wherever there is a terrorist threat to it adding a fourth bill which includes domestic security issues making part of the aid to Ukraine into a zero interest loan and voting on the four separately makes all of them more likely to pass hopes Johnson a new sense of urgency was placed on passing the aid packages after Iran's massive missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend for more let's go to our senior U.S. correspondent Mike Wagenheim in New York and Mike is this finally splitting these into four bills a recipe for finally passing the aid bill so cooling to Israel or is it a recipe for bringing the downfall of yet another Republican House Speaker the ingredients are definitely there but the process of actually cooking it and getting it onto the plate is a much much different story there's so many moving parts right now first off you have those four separate bills Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and sort of a grab bag of national security priorities for the Republican Party here's a problem with that what happens if you pass those bills in the House and then the Senate elects to pick and choose which ones they want to pass as well maybe they passed Ukraine but they don't wind up passing the Israel bill because of the opposition in the Democratic Party well where does that leave Israel aid that's one thing that the Republican Party is trying to work through right now another thing is well there are amendments and other add-ons that the Republican Party wants in these House bills Democrats away from supporting it and then you've got Johnson's speakership is possibly up for grabs right now you've got two hard right Republicans in the House who are threatening and might very well go through with a motion to vacate which would ship up a vote for Johnson's speakership he might be ousted just as Kevin McCarthy was a few months ago well that will leave the House in complete chaos will Democrats use that to that advantage now will Democrats come along and say we'll save your speakership we want X Y and Z and possibly some of those foreign aid priorities mixed in there so a whole lot of different components right now Republicans and Democrats are kind of feeling out the process right now there is an aim a target to get these bills on the House floor on Friday but so much to work through right now and Democrats might have to bail out my Johnson and it will be costly for Johnson if they do there will be a price extracted from the House speaker of the if it comes to that we should note the Republicans I write it's just a one seat majority I believe in the House of Representatives two seat I'm sorry I'm correct it two seat majority very precarious and if Mike Johnson survives this with Democratic backing you have to expect that his number could be up unless Donald Trump can can somehow again come to his rescue Mike former President Trump is a little occupied these days go on Mike it's a two seat majority but there's another Republican whose resignation is effective at the end of this week another thing to keep in mind so the majority gets even slimmer at the end of the week so many moving parts right now okay thank you Mike Wagenheim for that Jackie to put this in a bigger perspective that just a couple of days after an unprecedented attack by Iran against Israel a aid bill to Israel would be under such would be such a complicated and precarious measure to pass in the U.S. Congress I think is a symptom of a much larger problem for Israel in the in the Congress and in the U.S. right now absolutely I mean the the political debate between the Republicans and the Democrats is extremely unfortunate although we saw the both the Republicans and the Democrats standing as supporting Israel against the Iranians but such a bill would complicate the entire issue because then it moved back to the Senate not necessarily the Senate would approve that and and then there are so many complications there not necessarily that the house the majority of the house would support that and then it postponed the entire bill and that would would be very difficult because at least half of the 14 billion dollars of aid to Israel is for the air defense right something which is extremely needed and that's a show of support now by the Congress extremely needed and if because of the political debate in the in Washington D.C. and that would be extremely shameful right just a clarification the differences between Republican Democrats but also between Republicans themselves and Democrat themselves and that is really complicated things for Israel now. Yankee Diane the Ronavital please do stay with us we are going out for a brief break but in 1993 of Israel at war we'll be back in a few minutes stay with us well story must reach the whole world the I-24 news channel broadcasting from Israel with dozens of correspondence throughout the world brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries completely done down in their beds the state of emergency and war bringing Israel's story to the world I-24 news channels now on hot back to the special broadcast on I-24 news day 193 of Israel at war let's turn now to the Gaza battlefield while the country in the war wait to see if and when the IDF makes its long awaited offensive in Tarafa the Israeli military continues its targeted operations on Hamas's last stronghold an airstrike today that took out at the center of southern most city and it signs that some of the tens of thousands of internal refugees in Rafah are trying to return home the IDF reportedly dropped leaflets warning them not to go back yet to northern Gaza because the area is still a dangerous combat zone for more let's go to our correspondent Zach Gander's down on the Israel Gaza border and let's talk a little more detail about what happened there in Rafah especially today and in other parts of the Gaza border what happened to the IDF and what happened to Israel Zach yeah this is something that was anticipated a bit because we had been told that there was going to be some communication to the people that are in Rafah the civilian population just wasn't clear when exactly that was going to be or what that would look like and it has in the past been these pamphlet drops the sense to the civilian population where they being told to stay where they are do not go north because the messaging that was publicly available what was making the headlines for so long was this looming Rafah operation so we had seen Palestinians in Arabic media saying that they were concerned that you know they knew what the military might looks like and that it's coming their direction that they wanted to leave or that they felt like this was something that now would be the time to go wasn't clear whether it was safe or not to go back into the Qanunis area so we are seeing thousands of Palestinians leaving trying to get north we know that there's been some blocked at that corridor the Nazarene corridor they've been told to turn around there was confrontations and potentially an exchange of gunfire that took place the other day as thousands were taking that corridor along the coast to try and get towards Gaza city and were turned back so right now as of tonight the question is where is that Rafah operation stand we know that the work cabinet has postponed reportedly postponed the date even though Prime Minister Net Yahu said a date was postponed to the next time the Qanunis area and the Qanunis area has been pushed back with the happenings of Iran but from the latest that we had heard the IDF concerned about the enormity of the task of evacuating people from the civilian population and where they will go and that's the first and foremost concern and I ask you about that because we don't know when the Rafah operation but it certainly couldn't happen until the civilians some of those civilians there start moving the IDF in fact telling the civilians not to go back there were some tank movements in Bait Qanun today but clearly at some point that process has to start we have to think about the soldiers there and the hostages that may be held in Rafah so first of all the strategy right now we divide the north and the south with this one brigade sit on the perimeter and we act either airstrike or raids or special forces or brigades entering upon some intelligence and we prepare for Rafah and we wait to see whether something would come out from the hostages that right now since we are less optimistic the possibility or the visibility of such an agreement and our attention went to Iran right now so we are back to the game when Rafah this is the question on the table and what does it mean Rafah it might be also that we go to some limited campaigns the simple and not a campaign a massive campaign that would require really to transfer all the civilians and this is a big task a tall order and I know the army is preparing how to do it but it's not a simple solution and it would not go without some objection also from the outside many decision many trade-offs in terms of we promise that in the outside he had circled the date on his calendar but you have to wonder if this is very unfortunate that we don't have such a date because in terms of priorities we are discussing so much Iran but bringing back the hostages I would say this is the highest priority that Israel has right now and if we think about the fact that there is no more deal on the table because Hamas clearly refused the deal they don't feel any pressure in a hurry to accept any deal because right now you don't have the army in Chanyunas I mean the army is out you tripled the humanitarian aid so you don't have real leverages pressuring the Hamas and they don't have the incentive to agree to any deal so Rafah is becoming much more acute much more we are in a hurry to do that because otherwise you won't have any leverage pressuring Hamas so it's that and the United States pressuring Qatar to deport the Hamas leadership from Qatar and use much more their force over there because otherwise if we don't use those leverages Hamas won't have don't have any leverages or any incentive sorry to move on the hostage deal the fate of the hostages have to always remain at the top of the agenda of course well let's move on to the look at some of the impact of the Gaza war abroad the viral videos of bully Jewish students and vandalized hostage awareness posters these were just the tip of the iceberg of anti-Semitic incidents since October 7th the anti-defamation league the ADL has now published its annual anti-Semitism report for 2023 and the numbers are there to prove it even as the debate intensifies in the U.S. of a just what not just the U.S. of a just what constitutes as anti-Semitic expression more in this report from Emmanuel Onarat a new record was broken and it's not one to be proud of the anti-defamation league which records anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. each year reports that 8,873 such incidents took place in 2023 that's an increase of 140 percent since 2022 but also the highest amount ever recorded since 1979 when the organization started keeping track of anti-Semitism according to the study the dramatic increase took place between October 7th and the end of October 2023 of which the ADL counted 5,204 incidents that's more than the total for the year of 2022 with 52 percent of the 2023 incidents including references to Israel's war on Hamas and Gaza the lines get quickly blurred between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism lines that the U.S. is trying to clarify the House of Representatives submitted a vote Tuesday on whether or not the slogan from the river to the sea Palestine will be free is an anti-Semitic one the slogan is popular with opponents of Israel's war in Gaza the resolution put in motion states that the slogan is calling for the eradication of the state of Israel and that it implies the removal of Jewish people from Israel located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea but with that being said the debate of what exactly is anti-Semitism is a very real one with many saying that anti-Zionism is not inherently anti-Semitic known anti-Israel U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib tweeted back in November that the slogan from the river to the sea was an aspirational call for freedom human rights and peaceful coexistence not death destruction or hate to which the Israeli Embassy replied that no verbal acrobatics can hide the true meaning behind the slogan namely the obliteration of the state of Israel adding that Hamas Charter clearly states that it rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea and even cry it may be for those protesting against Israel and the meaning may well be in the eye of the beholder but with the soaring incidents of anti-Semitism recorded since October 7 linked to the anti-Israel protests that distinction is of little comfort for American Jews concerned for their safety Joining us now from New York is the CEO and National Director of the Anti-Defamation League Jonathan Greenblatt for a disturbing report putting flesh on what we obviously sense and some hard numbers maybe some break us down go into those a little bit because for example just one example where those incidents are taking place is one of the most disturbing aspects of the increase not just the number the numbers are disturbing the location is disturbing the intensity is absolutely appalling so the data as was reflected in 8,873 140% increase over the prior year which was the previous high and keep in mind that that number that we saw in 2023 was almost 875% greater than a decade ago so we are talking about not like some wave we're talking about a tsunami again that has no parallel in the 45 years that we've been tracking this information so yes you saw these incidents happen there was a concentration in communities with high numbers of Jewish people there's a relationship a correlation between Jewish population and anti-Semitic incidents but I think what's maybe more salient to talk about today is it's happening on college campuses it's happening in public places it's happening in private workspaces it's happening everywhere and look at these images I mean when people think that it's a freedom fighter it doesn't it makes you a complete idiot because Hezbollah is a foreign terror organization and if you think that somehow targeting Jewish businesses you know we saw hundreds and hundreds more than 400 Jewish businesses targeted and victimized last year that isn't has nothing to do with the liberation of Palestine that only is about intimidating, harassing and victimizing American Jews and it's wrong, plain and simple. Well let's talk about again because the report does note since October 7th I would say the nexus between when criticism of Israel becomes demonization of Israel and it becomes the ultimate evil that seems to justify any action that can bleed over into anti-Semitic activity so defining anti-Semitism especially in the context of Israel and then how to combat it. Look like where I would only slightly disagree with the reporters lead in anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism plain and simple and I don't need congresswomen to leave to lecture me on Jewish vulnerability. Thank you no thank you like here's the reality right if you're saying from the river to the sea in front of a synagogue if you are chanting Free Gaza walking to Shul on a Saturday morning if you are screaming about decolonization to again a Hillel student going to a Havdullah service you are not a freedom fighter you are not some kind of social activist you are an anti-Semite and a bigot plain and simple. Now it isn't new for events in the Middle East to trigger you know spasms of violence here but let's not blame it all on Israel let's not blame the victim in 2022 which was the previous high point the state of Israel as you know better than I had a coalition government that included Arabs and Jews Muslims and non-Jews I mean the truth is that anti-Semitism arrives in an environment where conspiracy theories run amok and it literally feeds off of the kind of hate that you know non-state actors like Hezbollah and Hamas and state rogue states like Iran promote and propagandize with relentless efficiency. Right so I guess then the report then brings us to the question of what should be done and how can the American Jewish community which itself is divided on some issues can come together and be effective counterweight in order to deal with this trend which frankly we can see is sort of shaking maybe the foundation of the American Jewish community. I'm so glad you said that so a couple points number one I will tell you in my eight plus years running ADL I've never seen the American Jewish community so united there may be differences of opinion about BB Net and Yahoo there may be differences of opinion about Joe Biden maybe differences of opinion about Donald Trump but American Jews from the most observant to the most secular from those on the right to those on the left old and young are all in agreement with each other. I'm so glad you said that. I'm so glad you said that the environment of anti-Semitism is completely intolerable. And that they stand behind the state of Israel so what should be done about it number one we want as the president has done governors to launch state strategies to tackle anti-Semitism. Ron DeSantis has done it in Florida more should do it that's number one number two we want to talk about anti-Semitism because here's the deal at the end of the day anti-Semitism is not just a Jewish problem it's an American problem it is a symptom of a sickness in a society and if you don't address anti-Semitism the hate underneath it will overtake everything. So Jewish or non-Jewish all Americans need to step up need to get in the game need to fight back against this hate once and for all right anti-Semitism is a symptom of a much bigger problem in a society. Jonathan we've got from ADL thank you for joining us on I-24 News. And Yaki of course the state of Israel the government and the people of Israel have to be a part of that fight as well what could they or should they contribute. Exactly this is a very important point Caleb because we are used to the Jews in the United States are helping the state of Israel because the state of Israel has to defend those Jews have to work with the United States with the governors with so many in the United States and in Europe I mean we haven't discussed Europe but the anti-Semitism in Europe is on the high as well so this is a universal problem this is a growing problem and we have to face anti-Semitism and Israel has to play and the government of Israel has to play a role fighting this anti-Semitism. Yes but yes. I think it's very disturbing to see the campus of Columbia University where I spent so many years with those campaigns anti-Semitic campaigns but I think in the end a victorious Israel in Israel that conducted business well and succeeded this conflict might have the effect that we can combat this kind of anti-Semitism. I wouldn't count on that Doron I mean anti-Semitism is latent until it comes out. I'm not talking historically on the long-standing times of history but when Israel is strong, when Israel is succeeded to create a a cool coalition with its partners Europe, the US then our standing is better so we also have to be very effective in terms of this conflict and conclude it victoriously and in a nice in a right conduct and then I would hope it also would affect this phenomenon. But at the same time we have to fight and we shouldn't wait to the results because connecting it to what is happening in Israel there are so many anti-Semites now in the United States that want to see the disappearance of the state of Israel when they chant from the river to the sea this is the call for the year. I would just add one thing which is I agree with you I don't think what happens with Israel is going to impact on what anti-Semites think but in Israel that's what would inspire certainly Jews abroad would give confidence to the American Jewish community to the communities in Europe, South America, elsewhere to be able to more effectively stand up perhaps against anti-Semitism. And especially with our huge communities like in the United States where there are small communities they are so afraid that Israel has to step up and work and help them but big communities like in the United States they have to be able to do that. I think that's one of the things that we're going to have to do with Israel as well. Well hopefully that will be the case. Thank you for joining us on this broadcast. We're going to continue on and go back to what happened on Saturday well the early hours of Sunday morning when Iran launched 300 suicide drones cruise missiles towards Israel. It was a huge operation in these moments that you know why you get involved. This is what we train so hard for. The night between Saturday to Sunday was one of the most dramatic nights Israel experienced crowned with the unprecedented success with all of Israel's technological means. There was really a lot of tension in the air. We wondered what we expected of ourselves, our skills, we were impatient to talk a lot about your family, best friends, who you want to protect. During the night from Saturday to Sunday Iran fired more than 300 missiles suicide drones and ballistic missiles towards Israel. Israel destroyed almost all of them and declared a 99% success rate. IDF pilots and air defense have trained for years for such a scenario. Since then the tension has been increasing and last Saturday evening we understood that the Iranian attack was much clearer. We were called to join our squadrons at 7.30pm. Everyone was there, rather to carry out their mission. The feelings varied in emotion, a rather strange impression as with every new situation you're going to be confronted with. On Saturday we received confirmation of the operation and began arming the planes with appropriate ammunition and technicians had to work extremely quickly to equip the planes with air to air missiles capable of destroying the engaged targets. Including crews arriving from all corners of the country. Thanks to very precise intelligence information we were able to achieve an unprecedented result with our pilots. Then as soon as the missiles arrived in the area we were able to destroy almost all of them. Pilots climb into their cockpits and take off for an air battle reminiscent of other older wars. When you take off you know your mission. You become one with your aircraft. You have the controls in hand and as soon as you arrive in the area you must trust yourself. It's for this particular moment that we're pair. They take off and the eyes of an entire nation are fixed on them. As soon as we knew the missiles had been fired, the formation of four planes takes off and they start taking down the targets. We arrive in an already engaged sector with many targets to destroy. You have to locate your target with certainty. Don't confuse it with a light civilian aircraft or something else that could mislead you. When you soon in front of you is the road to the next target. What do you see with the naked eye from your cockpit? First of all many screens in any case it's already dark and it's a desert area it's not very well lit. The first thing you really see at night is the release of your missiles to trace in the sky and two or three seconds later the explosion when you hit your target. You tell yourself that everything is fine and you move on to the next target. We are at war. I think of my brothers, of my friends who are fighting, including one of my best friends who died in combat three months ago. I think of him, of my own family it reminds me of what I do. Lieutenant G, 27 years old, has taken part in numerous attacks in southern Lebanon as well as on the Gaza front in recent months but this time the mission is very different. The first difficulty is to recognize your target then once the target is locked I give authorization to the pilot to shoot it down. Two or three seconds later there's a big explosion in front of your eyes and the target crashes to the ground. Then you work on hitting the targets one after another, this usually happens at high altitude. As soon as this historic night ends we return to normality although for Lieutenant G it's not totally over. When you get off the plane what is the first thing you do? Do you talk to me? The first message is from my partner that the night went well that I love her, we'll see each other in the morning. Are you preparing for what's next? Of course all the time. We never know what's coming and we force ourselves to be ready for all possible scenarios. We look forward and we don't get stuck in a situation even if it's extreme. Without forgetting it could be repeated tomorrow and we'll have to be very concentrated and precise to succeed once again protecting civilians and preventing any incursion of flying objects that could harm our homes. That's hero there. Now despite the conflict here over the past six months which we've been covering in depth you might be surprised to know that real estate prices in Israel have remained strong especially here in Tel Aviv where Emily Francis has more on why that is in this report. The Tel Aviv skyline is rising into the future with no signs of slowing down. After all, Tel Aviv has been ranked the world's happiest city. Real estate lawyer Andy Schwartz affirms that the real estate market is back to where it was before October 7th and will only get stronger and more secure. First of all the prices are quite rigid meaning that if you want to play safe like you're buying gold Israel is very secure meaning the prices doesn't drop. People who are buying properties in Israel are thinking for the future generation and it's like risk allotment and risk distribution of assets. In the Netherlands there are three things. Location, location, location. Here you have everything you need in order to live in the most big city you have. For over 50 years three generations of the Ben Shalom family have put their heart and soul into their real estate projects including restoring some of Tel Aviv's most famous historic buildings. The building in Disneyland is actually an apartment building an apartment building an apartment building that was built and built in the best location in the world Tel Aviv is a lot like New York where we don't have any kind of land to build new properties so we really need to take something down and build something up just like in New York so you see the value of old historical meaningful building that they represent so much and those are being restored and being now renovated and that's where our specialty is coming to play. Next up is a passion project along Tel Aviv's famous Park Hire Cone in the upscale Bovley neighborhood ideal for families. When the power comes to us he decides to build a house in the Ben Shalom and in fact we realize that he built the most important thing in his life, his home in our hands. And for Sarah Geist the proof is in the pudding. Honestly we're now most of the way through this project and everything they've said they were going to do they've actually done which is quite amazing so I mean like really without fail everything has been tick tick tick. In Tel Aviv Emily Francis, I-24 News. And just an update on some of the issues we discussed earlier US Secretary Janet Yellen says she fully expects that the US will take additional sanctions against Iran in the coming days including AI options to disrupt terrorist funds.