 This is Breaking News Edition, I'm Bernice Levine. It's exactly three months since the darkest day in the 75-year history of Israel. Exactly three months since that surprise Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel in which more than 1,200 people were murdered, most of them civilians. Scores of people abducted from a music festival, from their homes, and from army bases on the 7th of October. And as we're speaking right now, red alert sirens sounding in the south close to the Gaza envelope, those sirens alerting those in the area of potential incoming rocket fire. Exactly three months since the start of this war. 136 people remain in captivity inside Gaza. The youngest is baby Kfir Bebas, who was nine months old at the time of the terror attacks. Efforts to secure a hostage release deal are ongoing, with relatives of some of the hostages returning from meetings in Qatar. Israel has vowed to continue with its retaliatory ground operation until the Hamas threat is eliminated, the IDF saying overnight it had dismantled the Hamas military framework in the northern Gaza Strip, and is now focusing on central and southern Gaza. The Israeli death toll in the operation is at 176. There is no verified toll out of Gaza, with Hamas officials saying more than 22,000 people have been killed. Meanwhile, tensions flaring across the northern border, with Hezbollah launching barrages of rockets at northern communities, terror chief Hassan Nasrallah pointing fingers at Israel for that targeted assassination of Hamas deputy Salah al-Rouri in Beirut last week. Now onto another front, the West Bank, a deadly day after a roadside bomb killed an Israeli police officer and injured three others during an overnight raid in Jinnin. When Palestinians were killed in a retaliatory airstrike, then a man from East Jerusalem was killed, and a woman from Jaffa injured in a terror attack in Ramallah, a manhunt is still underway for the suspect. Correspondent Nicole Zedek has the details in this report. Israeli border police can be seen nearly every night conducting counterterrorism operations in the northern West Bank city of Jinnin. But Saturday night, it turned deadly, as a roadside explosive hit one of their vehicles, killing 19-year-old Shai Gremai and injuring three others. The wounded were air evac to the hospital, while the IDF carried out an airstrike, killing seven Palestinian gunmen who hurled explosives at troops, four of them brothers, according to family members. I never imagined that they would die all at once. I was thinking that maybe Hazar and Rami were the most likely to be killed. But Allah and Ahmed, I never thought that they would be martyred, especially all together at one time. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the deadly roadside bomb. Mere hours after the attack in Jinnin, an Arab-Israeli man was shot dead near Ramallah. 33-year-old Ammar Mansour was killed in his car. The woman, driving behind him, also injured in serious condition. It's the first deadly shooting attack in the West Bank since November, showing terrorism is still boiling over in the area, even as Israel has arrested more than 2,600 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7th, trying to gain a stronghold on the third front of the war. And now for the latest on the ground, we cross live to our correspondent Robert Swift, checking back in with Robb in southern Israel. And as we start to this broadcast at the top of this hour, Red Alert sirens in the south. What can you tell us? What is the latest, Robb? So the rocket was launched from northern Gaza. We saw it going up into the air. And then the Israeli interceptor missile essentially went over our heads and intercepted the rocket somewhere in the frame behind me. This is the second launch tonight. There was an additional attack about two, three hours ago, a rocket attack which landed in a village just to the south of us, causing one light injury to a woman in her twenties there. Generally speaking, rocket attacks have reduced in frequency, certainly since the opening days of this war, they're far less frequent. However, this demonstrates that the threat does still remain there. The Israeli military made a statement today saying that it has taken control of the northern Gaza Strip and dismantled Hamas s military capabilities in the north of the Gaza Strip. But that being said, we just had to duck for cover just a minute ago because that threat from rocket attacks does still remain. And what more can you tell us about the activity behind you? We know that fighting is continuing inside the Gaza Strip. We also know Daniel Higari, the IGF spokesperson, updating a little bit earlier about the developments and the inroads being made. What kind of update can you share? What is known about the developments inside Gaza this evening, local time? Well in the neighborhoods immediately behind me, to be honest, most of the fighting has ended there. We've not seen much activity there at all, not been hearing the source of fighting that we would have heard if we were here a week ago or two weeks ago. That being said, further to the south we've been hearing continuous artillery being fired and there's frequent Israeli military jets in the skies overhead. So it's clear that there is still a fight going on, but it has moved further to the south as the Israeli military has intended it to. And as we heard earlier in the day Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to keep up the war on Hamas and Hezbollah saying no terrorist is immune. For now, thank you so much to our correspondent, Robert Swift, live from southern Israel. Rob, stay safe. And now for more insight, it's a pleasure to welcome to studio Major General in the Reserves, Etan Dungot, former military secretary to three Israeli defense ministers and former coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian territories in the IDF. Etan, thank you so much for being here in studio. It's a pleasure to comprehend it's exactly three months since the terror onslaught of the 7th of October. When you hear about the progress being made according to Daniel Higari inside the Gaza Strip, that retaliatory operation by the IDF, your assessment, three months in, how's it going? I think that according to the goal that Israel said from the beginning, and it was clear that the goal of destroying the main power of Hamas besides destroying the leadership and change the concept of entity in Gaza, it's quite clear that it will take time. Listen, we are going to build something new, but on the other end, we are on a process of destroying and succeed to achieve a lot of achievements on the north part of Gaza. What is up the ground, I mean, 12 battalions, I mean now what we are facing according to the central part of Gaza at the camps of Buraj, Muassin, Usrat, and also the main part in Hanyunas. We are not dealing till yet from Hanyunas to Rafah. It means that you need a lot of time. We said it's a very complicated military operation, combination and coordination between the ground forces, air force together, and the safety of the soldier might be very slowly professional, and we build according to the continuating of this operation, we're getting more and more intelligence. So I think that patient is the main code for leading us to achieve the goal. It's not something that should be rapidly, rapidly cannot be such a thing that was built more than 10 years with a lot of investments of a kind of arsenal of arms, kind of materials, the underground world. So you need to work on it, but the main achievements of moving ahead, hold what is on the up on the ground and going to guerrilla war, and then continue on the depth of the underground. I think that will take few weeks, and then we will move, and then we are coming to the principle of the fact that we have to take a very strong security responsibility, what is going to be in Gaza, and to make opportunity to people to return back to their homes. Well, talking about what will be as you put it in Gaza the day after, let's take a listen to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He's been in Qatar meeting with Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Tani, and just a short while ago he shared this outline of the day after the war, completely ruling out resettling Palestinians outside of Gaza. Let's take a listen. As Israel moves to a lower intensity phase of its military operation in the north, the United Nations can also play a crucial role in evaluating what needs to be done to allow displaced Palestinians to return home. Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow. They cannot. They must not be pressed to leave Gaza. We reject the statements by some Israeli ministers and lawmakers calling for a resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza. These statements are irresponsible, they're inflammatory, and they only make it harder to secure a future of Palestinian Legaza with Hamas no longer in control and with terrorist groups no longer able to threaten Israel's security. Of course, even as we focused on our immediate goals, we also must work toward lasting peace and security. The United States has a vision for how to get there, a regional approach that delivers lasting security for Israel and a state for the Palestinian people. Speaking in Doha and the U.S. Secretary of State earlier also assuring Jordan's King Abdallah that Washington opposes the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank. Eitan, thank you for your thoughts. I think that, first of all, let's talk on the basic. The fact that Blinken started his visit in the Middle East in Qatar has a meaning for the negotiation that is going to reach agreement of releasing the hostages back to Israel, and this is something very important to what we're dealing about. It has a lot of meaning by Israel, and it's served by the way besides our duty to bring them home back. It's serving Blinken, Egypt, Hamas, and other area, let's say power in this area, besides also Hezbollah, to get a ceasefire that need everybody in order to try to balance and calculate a step for the future. I think that this visit now, when it comes to Israel, when it talk about, and it will talk about probably hostages, what is the next step in Gaza, doing some activities for the day after, and also talking about try to reduce the tense in the north that it looks like going more and more in a narrow corridor over escalation and a war. I think we can be based on the fact that of the hostages can make a lot of, let's say, new things, but for us it's the main important thing for now. Certainly, the hostages, all 136 being held inside Gaza, remain the top priority. I'd like your take, though, on the United States moving to bring in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to help run Gaza. It's all very well and good to talk about peace across the Middle East and hoping that all players would get on board. But given Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent rhetoric around Israel, this sounds ludicrous. I think it's overflow. And when you are looking on it, we don't need him here. We don't need him because he will bring problems in this time of the situation. As you see Erdogan, he is a very flexible guy. He begins with extremists. When things are going over balance, he joined the main group. Let him run after the main group, and who is the main group? The main group is led by the United States, including Egypt, Jordan, modern Arab countries. This is the new part of a magazine of countries which can bring a new message to the area under umbrella of security that should and will be done by Israel. Erdogan is not, let's say, we are not receiving him as a friendship here. Let him stay in his country. He will come by himself later on. Stay with us. We're going to discuss much more in a very short while. But we're now turning to the Houthi threat in the Red Sea. A Chinese state-owned shipping giant is reportedly going to stop visiting Israeli ports. Costco shipping is the fourth largest container shipping line in the world with about 11% of world trade. The Houthis have not targeted any Costco vessels with suggestions that the move is largely linked to China's ties with Iran, the backer of the Houthi rebels in Yemen. So for more, it's a pleasure to welcome to studio economy expert Dr. Alex Koeman from Tel Aviv University. So, Dr. Koeman, the Houthi threats continue making waves, literally not only about trade concerns between the Far East and Israel, but there are far greater pressing impacts right now. Your thoughts on these latest developments? Well, first of all, it's an ironic situation in the sense that this event, the Haifa airport is operated by a Chinese government company. So the Chinese government is hurting the Chinese government, which is interesting in the sense that the loop is not closed. Another funny thing is that SIM, which is the Israeli shipping company, its stock increased by more than 100% in the last month. So you would have thought that since it's an Israeli company and it's most vulnerable to the Houthis, its stock would go down. But actually, the fact that other companies are not shipping into Israel, this basically frees a lot of volume for SIM itself. So what do you see as the greatest concern through Israel's vantage point about the Houthis activities, obviously, over and above the security threat? I'm talking from a financial trade development. Well, the interesting thing is that the biggest damage is caused to the Egyptians because ships are not sailing through the Suez Canal, which is a very significant economic source of funds. So the damage to the Egyptians is far greater than the damage to us. Also the Saudis are really hostile to the Houthis. So I think that in this case, when many significant players are hurt by a situation, actually, there was just now a ship that was kidnapped by Somali pirates. So I think that the good news is that it hurts many, many parties. And so I believe that there would be a rude solution to that, rather than the world saying, OK, this is Israel problem. Let's leave it to deal with that. We see that the US is into it. Egypt and Saudi Arabia did not join the coalition, but I believe that they're in a quiet mode supporting it because they have the same interests. So I believe that the Houthis would be significantly eliminated in the near future. And from an actual security front, Etan, when you talk about that coalition, a global coalition trying to thwart attacks from the Houthis inside Yemen, does that give you confidence that this is an issue that is not falling just on Israel's lap? It is something that is affecting the entire Middle East and, frankly, is a global issue as we speak? Absolutely. I believe that Israel was very smart when it didn't choose to make something against the Houthis because it was very clear while you assess the situation that it's a global problem. And you see that the Houthis serve by itself by making its statement and steps against other countries and against other shipments that was in the area. I think that this coalition is the first and important step because who is behind the Houthis? It's, of course, Iran. And the problem of Iran in the Gulf, it's not a sign. The coalition is not a red light towards the Houthis only. It's a very orange light towards Iran concerning activities that Iran is the architect and what's going on. In Israel, it was very smart not to be involved in the reaction. We have time to react if you need it in the future. I think it's a very important and a very rapid reaction that should be done by the coalition and it's also a sign to Iran be a little bit more relaxed in your activities in this area. I want to continue with another development on the finance front because but Salel Smotridge, the finance minister, says the cabinet is set to approve a 2024 wartime budget later this week after ministers approved 9 billion shekels in financial support specifically for IDF reservists. Dr. Koman, that's an important message right now. The problem, yes. It is a very important message. Unfortunately, Smotridge has a big gap between his messages and his actions. So in the past, he talked about dramatic reduction of budgets that are not directly related to the war and to the recovery. And then he backed off and changed his mind. He talked about taxes for suites and for disposable plastic plates and then he backed up. So what he says and what he does are not the same thing. He zigzags. And I think this is a big problem because in economics, you need to have stability and visibility. But even in time of war, it's difficult. So having a captain who is playing with the steering wheel is a big, big, big problem. I spoke to a taxi driver this morning who said that his business was 45% to 50% down since the start of the war. Obviously, no lifts from the airport, restaurants also, staff are in the reserves, so many small businesses taking strange, very briefly, what kind of initiatives need to be brought in quickly so that there isn't a major economic crippling effect here. The major thing is to help reservists when they come back from the military, when they come back to the small businesses. Many of their businesses are devastated to immediately, and this is a life and death situation for the businesses, help them recover. If there's a problem, solve it in the longer term. Dr. Alex Coeman from Tel Aviv University, always appreciate your insights. Eitan Dungart, you're staying with us. Thank you so much for being here in the studio. Meanwhile, former US Vice President Mike Pence is visiting Israel to show his support. He stirred Kibbutz Kfar Azar and the city of Storot meeting with the families of hostages, promising he would act to pressure the Red Cross to visit those still held captive. He was also given a full update on the atrocities that unfolded on the 7th of October and insisted that the Biden administration should support decision makers in Israel. Over 90 days have passed since the terrible Black Saturday. Ever since, dozens of world leaders have arrived to show support and solidarity with Israel. But only a few of them have reached this point. Former US Vice President Mike Pence stood here, overlooking the Gaza Strip. Not far from here was the house of the Dan family. The parents, Roy and Smodar, were murdered. The older brother and sister hid in a closet and Zlitalavi Gael was kidnapped to Gaza and later released. Patients who received a full update about what happened that morning has one clear message to the world regarding the abductees. I think the time has come for the United States of America to send a very clear message, not just to Hamas, but to Iran. The United States and our allies will hold Iran accountable until the hostages are released. Iran served as Vice President of Donald Trump, a conservative Republican, a great friend of Israel. He came here not only to express his support, but also to offer help. It's not a secret that there are some disagreements between the Israeli government and the Biden administration. Do you think it would have been different if it would have been a Republican administration? I'm pleased that our administration has continued to provide resources to Israel. But I think any message other than that we will support the decisions that are made by the elected leadership and by the military here in Israel to secure this nation, to end the terrorist threat of Hamas from Gaza, that needs to be the message from the United States. The Torn Steroz started at the destroyed police station, where the battle that took place became one of the city's symbols of heroism, penciled a candle in the memory of the victims. The Torn Steroz, who was killed by the speaker of the Israeli parliament, he met with the abductees' families. They asked him for help to put pressure on the Red Cross. After seeing what you have seen here, does it meet the criteria of genocide? Hamas came through that fence line to kill Jews. And I know of no other definition of genocide than to target a people because of who they are. This week we are being drugged by South Africa to the International Court of Justice, blaming us for committing genocide over Palestinian. I think Israel and the United States should denounce any action to use the international court of justice, the United Nations, to equate the unprovoked genocidal attack of Hamas on the Jewish people, with Israel's actions in self-defense. If Israel was in the business of genocide on October 8th, there was not a single person in the Gaza Strip. So what we do now is to eradicate Hamas, eradicate Hamas' military and governmental capabilities. This is what the IDF is doing. The fence also called on the international community to stop using a double standard regarding Israel. Well, we're taking a very quick break, but when we get back, our road and coverage continues on this breaking news edition. Stay tuned. That kind of thing. Date of war, families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where she is. Our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Back to this breaking news edition, I'm Benita Levine. Within weeks of the war breaking out in this region, more than a dozen university presidents across the United States released a letter condemning Hamas and confirming that they stand with Israel. The letter saying, quote, we are horrified and sickened by the brutality and inhumanity of Hamas, adding that murdering innocent civilians, including babies and children, raping women and taking the elderly as hostages are not the actions of political disagreement but the actions of hate and terrorism. Now, this letter was organized and coordinated by the president of Yeshiva University in New York. And it's a pleasure to welcome Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, the president of that university here in studio. Thank you so much for being here on this day. Thank you so much, Benita. It's wonderful to be with you. And I understand, Rabbi, that not only have you been involved in this letter condemning what happened exactly three months ago to the day, but you were actually here in Israel on the 7th of October. Tell us more. Yes, sure. I was in Jerusalem on Simchat Torah when we heard the aerial attacks. I was in Beit Knesset, you know, one time, two times, three times, and we knew that Jerusalem was under assault. I immediately ran to my mother's home. My father passed away a little over a year ago, and I wanted to make sure my mother was okay. And then on our way back to Shul, my son, who was with me, was told by a friend, you know, he should really check his phone. He went back to the apartment and we don't carry our phones, and he opened it and he saw that he was called up to duty. He packed his bag and he sent him off to war. When you fast forward three months to today and you look back specifically at the reaction out of the United States to what transpired, some of it has been staggering for people in this region to see, particularly when it comes to student campuses, your thoughts on why there was such a vast paradox when it came to the reactions to what unfolded here on the 7th of October. That's an excellent question and it's very important. You know, because I spearheaded this letter of coalition, which is now over 100 college presidents who stand with Israel against Hamas, I've spoken to dozens of presidents all throughout the country, and they've told me that this issue is the most divisive issue they've had on their college campuses in recent history, more than George Floyd, more than me too, because on the other social issues, the whole campus stood on the same side. This is the first issue that's dividing their campuses. And we're seeing that campuses are roiling today because of the war against Hamas. So this is quite a difficult question. Where is the moral clarity then when it comes to these campuses? Why is it so difficult to see the brutality, the depravity that unfolded through the eyes of young people in the United States? And obviously I'm not making a broad generalization about everybody, but we know the campuses that we're talking about. We know the anti-Israel protests that we have seen. We know that people tore down posters of hostages, pictures of babies who are being held captive in Gaza. Those pictures, those posters, were torn down. Why? You frame this exactly right. After October 7th, when I sent my son off to war, I then returned to America, really on Shlichot as my mission to help Israel at this time, and to speak about moral clarity. We've been in the news all through MSNBC, CMBC Fox, talking about this issue, moral clarity. And this is exactly what I speak to the President about. They're worried to speak because their campuses are a tinderbox, and they're afraid that they're going to set their campus afire. And I've explained to them that it's just the opposite. By not singling out Hamas, by not being clear that they're evil, they're allowing their campus to be filled with hatred, they're students that take on the rhetoric of Hamas. So many of their students don't even understand the language that they're using. And it's the job of university presidents to bring moral clarity, university leaders to talk clearly what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. This is exactly the point and exactly the education that's needed today. Because we see footage of students with banners shouting from the river to the sea, and then you see journalists asking them what that means, and in many cases they have no idea. However, there's this groundswell of anti-Israel sentiment, not only in the United States, at other parts of the world as well. What kind of moves can university leaders like yourself, presidents of these organizations, these elite institutions across these centers be doing right now to change that narrative, to open people's eyes to exactly what is going on? I should be clear, by the way, that Eshibi University as the base of the pro-Israel movement does not have these decisions. Well, clearly it's not, but these are other campuses in the United States for sure. But for other campuses, it's exactly what I speak to them about. And there are really two levels that I talk to them about. Number one is they need to police demonstrations. There should be, it is absolutely clear that even if it's not against their code of conduct, which would be pretty outrageous, it's actually against federal law to intimidate another group because of their race, religion, or ethnicity. And students have the ability to show their voices and to report hate crimes. And anyone who feels intimidating on college campuses actually can report that. And we've been out in force to inform the students and to tell the presidents that they need to enforce the law. That is one thing. The second thing is education, to differentiate Hamas from the Palestinians. There's an Israeli-Palestinian debate on campus, that would be okay. But whatever one chooses in an Israel-Palestinian conflict, they cannot be pro Hamas. One cannot be pro an organization that uses rape as a tool of war, that decapitates babies, that burns families alive. Like this is something that the entire country needs to come around with moral clarity. So both of those levels, policing the demonstration and the hate language, and to bring education to the fore is exactly what university leaders need to be doing. We heard some American families who have hostages who are still being held captive for three months exactly. Now, saying earlier this evening in Tel Aviv, they'd come back from meetings in Qatar, and they're still asking after three months for the Red Cross to get access to the hostages. We're talking about moral clarity. Your take on why the Red Cross hasn't had access to any of the hostages after three months, and what it's going to take, who are the leaders, the countries, the entities that could be putting pressure right now so that at least there is proof of life, and medication can get to those who have been injured or are sick and are still being held by terrorists in Saigaza. There's no question this situation has revealed hidden anti-Semitism that has been laying underneath the surface and is very much exposed. What we always call for all international organizations and for institutions across the country and the globe is consistency. Whatever you would do for another group, do for the Jews. And if you're not being consistent, that shows the anti-Semitism that's hidden below. And that's what we need to demand, and that's of course at the very least that we deserve. And Rabbi, finally, you are here at a very difficult time in the country. It is three months in and a lot of questions remain unanswered. But what we are seeing at the same time is enormous resilience, unity, volunteers coming together, trying to help communities in need, opening their homes to communities who've been evacuated. Your parting message of positivity and unity. When you look through the lens of American Jews, Israeli Jews and French Jews around the world, your thoughts. This is an essential question, Minita. And there's no question that in Israel, we find that the country is broken. But in its brokenness, we see its strength. And the unity, both in Israel, but also for Jews around the world. The American Jewish community is united, like we haven't seen probably since the Six Day War, and together in their support and their concern for Israel. But also in their seeking and understanding that there's something about them that's different. And what we're seeing today is that Jewish hearts are open now, more probably not since the Six Day War, to exploring what does it mean to be Jewish. When you talk about the opportunity, the opportunity to stand by our values, to live our values. This is what Jewish hearts now are looking. They're not just looking to see the anti-Semitism, the Kabat anti-Semitism. They're looking for meaning and purpose. And we have it in our Torah and in our tradition. And that's an opportunity. I'll tell you one last thing. It's not just Jews that are open to this. The whole society, universities have exposed that even those with large endowments are morally bankrupt. And people see and seeking. What is it that universities, what is it that our society stands for? You know, I was just in a panel two weeks ago, U.S. News & World Report, and presidents and chancellors of universities speak about leadership in higher education. They have the Chancellor of California State with over 500,000 students. They have the Chancellor of SUNY, the State University of New York with 1.4 million. And the Undersecretary of the United States of America, Department of Education with over 15 million. And the President of Yashimi University with 7,000 students. Why did they invite me to come? Because they know that we represent 3,000 years of tradition. And that when people are looking for answers, they're turning to the Jewish people. This is a moment of opportunity for unity amongst our people to seek and understand what we stand for and to bring out those values into the world. And with that message of unity, we thank Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, the President of Yashimi University. Thank you so much for being with us here in studio on I-24 News. Thank you. Thank you, Manita. Thank you. And now, talking about those developments in the war, many hostages still inside Gaza were abducted from that Nova Music Festival near Rhine on the 7th of October, exactly three months ago. The hostages and the missing family forum members arranged an event at the site of that massacre. Our Middle East correspondent, Ariel Osirin, was there, speaking to relatives of the hostages. Let's take a listen to his report. I tried to imagine the feeling that I'll have when I'll be here. I thought it would be different. I thought it would be easier because I feel like I know everything here. I saw so many videos and so many pictures and had so many stories that it almost felt like I know everything. But the second I just stepped into this area felt different. For Mikhaelevi, visiting this beautiful wood outside Kibbutzraim near the Gaza border is an emotional roller coaster. It's the site of the deadly Nova Music Festival. And on October 7th, his brother Ol and sister-in-law Enav arrived just minutes before it was stormed by dozens of Hamas terrorists. Part of his need to know everything as he describes it led him to find a video that depicts Ol and Enav's last moments together. They stood close to the wall inside a bomb shelter. I didn't see what happened inside when those monsters threw their grenades and sprayed bullets into the shelter. But I can imagine, I can understand from the stories. He was, she was in front of him. They saw it. He saw his wife being murdered in front of him. And then taken to Gaza. And then taken to Gaza. Mikhaelevi has not heard a word regarding his brother's condition since that day exactly three months ago. All he knows is that Ol was taken alive and uninjured. The reason Ol and Enav arrived in the morning of the party and not the night before when it began was because they wanted to spend the night with their two-year-old son, Almog, who they left at his grandparents before heading out to Reim at dawn. Now, Almog is essentially an orphan, not knowing if and when his father will return. He misses them. He calls them all the time. He wants to go home. He starts crying when someone mentioned the words, the words, dad or mom. It's as simple as that. He can understand that they are not here. I'm not sure how much of this he can understand. But he understands that they are not here with him. Mikhaelevi is just one sibling of a kidnapped hostage who came to this now hollowed ground for an event arranged by the Hostage Family Forum. This was the dance floor at the Nova Music Festival where 364 partygoers were murdered, raped and mutilated by Hamas terrorists and Gaza locals on a dreadful October 7th. The air here is thicker. It's genuinely harder to breathe walking through here now. These are their faces. Most of them are gone for good. But for some, there's still hope to return home. But time is running out. Besides a mock bar, bullet shells on the ground and the playlist from that day blaring in the background, the event also included a speech by 18-year-old Itai Regev, who was taken hostage with his sister Maya from the festival. Both were freed after more than 50 days in the tunnels of Gaza. Some of his friends who were taken from the party remain in captivity. I was in captivity for 45 days and every day there is life forever. The conditions there are very, very hard to survive, very hard. The hostages cannot stay there for one more second. They all have to return home now. A Saf Pozniak lost two of his relatives at the Nova Festival. His sister-in-law's two sisters, Hodaia and Tahir, were initially believed missing following October 7th. Their burnt bodies were found six days later in the nearby woods. Since then, Asaf has been very active in the family's forum. From the first week, I've been working like crazy to try and bring Hodaia and Tahir. They were at my wedding in June, and I remember thinking how amazing it would be to attend their weddings. Unfortunately, that dream has died. With negotiations over a second phase of hostage release faltering, both Asaf and Mikhail remain optimistic that the hostages will return and soon. I'm hopeful I wake up every morning with that hope, even when there are more difficult days, in which we hear the terrible news of another hostage killed in captivity. Close to 20 hostages murdered by Hamas and the brave soldiers who risked their lives to bring back the hostages. We expect from the government to present an Israeli initiative, to bring back all of the hostages and not to play by Hamas' tune. It's not hope. I know it will be back. It's just a matter of time. That's it. I know it will be back, and like I said on stage, I will do everything to bring him back, even if it means to turn the world upside down. All hostages need to be brought back home and brought back home safely. Now let's check back in with our correspondent Zak Anders. He joins us once again from northern Israel. An intense weekend across that northern front, both on Saturday and again today. What is the latest? What update have you got this hour, Zak? Well, some chatter here from the people that remain and live in the north about yesterday's massive launch of rockets, one of those attacks targeting a radar site with some hits, no apparent casualties. The fear here is that the continued attacks are not being met with a strong enough response. Tomorrow could be a very pivotal day when Secretary Blinken arrives and addresses this situation on the north. We already know what the Secretary plans to say regarding this situation, because he said it before and he said it today on the tarmac. And after getting off the plane elsewhere, that this situation needs to find a diplomatic resolution, that there needs to be a lower intensity to this conflict, that there needs to be something that does not lead to all-out conflict. What will be the one to watch is tomorrow Israel's response when Blinken is in country to that exact point. What does Israel plan to do with the north and with Hezbollah's threat continuing to loom large? This would be a very big moment for the U.S. and its allyship with the Biden administration heading into an election year. A campaign in Lebanon would certainly last months drag on through the election cycle. The campaign has already begun. So their line is very clear. What happens tomorrow as Israel perhaps will lay out their plans for how they plan to address Hezbollah is going to be the story to watch. And we certainly will be watching it and bringing you all the latest developments as they happen for now. Thank you so much, correspondent Zach Anders for all your coverage from Northern Israel. Thank you, Zach. And still in studio, major general in the reserves, Etan Dangot. So Anthony Blinken as we just heard there is here this week. We know about all his various stops on his way to getting to Israel. What is the viability, the probability of any kind of diplomatic breakthrough up north? I think that nowadays it's far away from releasing there for saving or bringing up any kind of solution yet. But we have to give it the chance and the timetable because the Americans, the United States efforts concerning what's going with Amos Oxten in Lebanon and coming back to Israel and Blinken here, we have to give the United States, they're really trying to solve it in a diplomatic way. Under the situation, we are still active in Gaza. And there is not yet any kind of escalation from Nasrallah. We need the time. But unfortunately, I will give you my scenario. After timetable that will take few weeks or even few limit months, I think that we will have a chance only to start with something military way that will bring the point to reach and meet the diplomatic and that time will become the solution. But it will be under our certainty and we will be under insurance that Riz Bala, after what they met, will not be near the border and will withdraw, fulfill something like 1701 or other things. On the other hand, by the diplomatic things and by such a process, I think that can be a chance to solve also the problem of the border between Israel and Lebanon later on. So my opinion is we have to give them the United States opportunity, but we have to be on readiness for taking some measures in order to bring those two points, military and diplomatic to reach each other. The diplomatic will take the leadership and then the sovereign will be much more for sure solved. Because Eitan, we keep on hearing that neither side wants a full escalation. And then we still hear that warning that there could be a mistake. What exactly does that mean if there was some kind of mishap? I think that when you open a fire, you know that you open. You don't know what it will bring you. And with fire and some kinds of escalation under scenario of war, it brings you situation that you have to react in another way that you estimate or you supposed to and you mean to at the beginning of this process. So if, for example, Hezbollah will make some military step that will bring Israel to another opportunity only to react in a very offensive way, it will change the concept. So now I think that Blinken will try to come to understanding that in the coming days there will not be any kind of escalation. But I think again, I think that Hezbollah understands quite well what are the risks they are taking by continuing this area. Because they started in supporting Hamas and they brought us to change what was in the Lebanon border till the 6th of October. And we have to change it. Our civilian will not be able to return under the same conditions. So the situation as the circle moved, it moved. Now we have to lead the situation and not Hezbollah. Why is the barrage over the weekend from Hezbollah towards northern Israel and again developments today? Would you understand that to be the reaction to that targeted assassination in Beirut of Salah al-Rouri? It can be, but I don't let myself now to estimate and to give the other side any kind of belief that I contain and understand the situation. 7 October, it's a new Middle East. We have to be in a lot. We have to be in readiness. I'm not believing them. I have to change by myself to defend. I am in our country, have to defend ourselves and our civilians. So I'm not think that we have to close this kind of situation. It cannot be finished since Hezbollah is withdrawing from the border 15, 10 kilometers under diplomatic agreement. It's exactly three months since the 7th of October and three months that 136 hostages are still being held captive inside the Gaza Strip. But we need to reiterate that number also includes two Israeli soldiers whose remains have been held by Hamas since 2014, Aurun Sha'ul and Ha'adal Golden and also Avera Mingustu and Hashem al-Saya, two civilians who had gone across under a decade ago now. Talk to us about the message from the IDF adding those four names to the list of demands for the hostages to be released right now. It's a duty. We have obligation towards, unfortunately, the two soldiers that has died. We have obligation to our civilians who are not in a situation. They entered to Gaza. They were not so clear in their mind when they entered there. We hone it to their families like we own to the families of what happened in the 7th of October. So it is a right step. It's a duty. Listen, Benita, from 2014. They are keeping the bodies of soldiers. So can you trust those disorganizations that they will respect those prisoners? We have to do what we can do on releasing them, even stop and making a ceasefire for weeks about it. And then we will solve the problems. We have to aid them and we have to bring everybody back home, some to live and some to bury, but as our civilians, as our duty, this is the thing that Israel should continue after it establishes a state for the future. And this is the first contract between the country and its population. As the fight against evil continues. Major General in the reserves, Eitan Dungart, thank you as always for being here in studio and breaking down all the latest security developments. Three months since the start of this war, 136 people in captivity with three months. That's a wrap for this edition of our breaking news coverage on Benita Levine. Thank you for watching. 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. As we continue our rolling coverage three months of war on the eve of his arrival in Israel, your Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, making it clear that the U.S. is opposed to any attempt to push Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip and emphasizing that statements by Israeli ministers on the topic are irresponsible. Blinken reiterating that Washington is first and foremost focused on preventing an escalation of the situation in the Middle East. But what is considered an escalation and what isn't? New details on the Hezbollah attack on surveillance base in Mount Meron, raising many questions on what happened and more so on what should be happening now. Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, the operation resumes in some northern areas, changing its tune in others at the center and the south. Harsh name and at the very southern tip on the border with Egypt, it's unclear. One thing is clear for all, as IDF Chief of Staff 1311 is saying this evening, 2024 will be challenging. In the north, Hezbollah decided to enter this war. We are exerting an increasing cost from Hezbollah all the time. They paid yesterday with seven killed. They paid yesterday with two very, very important targets struck and we are increasing the price that they are paying. It will end with us having a responsibility, a duty, to return the residents of the north in security, not under duress, safely to their homes. It will come either by the pressure we are now applying, which is rising and will do the job and we will create a completely different reality or we will get to another war. We will do it. We will do it with excellency, even though we are after a long battle already and have had challenges in many arenas, we will know how to do it properly. To achieve the war goals, we have a long way to go and therefore this will take time. And we begin this broadcast by heading straight to the north I-24 news correspondent, Zach Anders with the I-24 news team there on the ground. Zach, thank you very much for joining us. Well, we're learning more on yesterday's intense and yes dramatic Hezbollah surveillance base, the eyes of the country, it is dubbed in Hebrew, the weapons used by Hezbollah, the target itself, the damage. What can we say? Well, the IDF says that this is not affecting the operational capabilities in this strike, but it was a significant one. And it is, again, a ploy to attempt to disrupt one of the advantages here, which is intelligence gathering with not just radar facilities, but the aerial superiority that the Israelis have is one of the major obstacles Hezbollah would have to overcome. Of course, they have a large arsenal of rockets. These heavy rockets would, in some estimates, be able to overwhelm air defenses here. But you can see where they're going when they strike radar sites, attempting these radar sites are there to detect not just the rockets, but these hostile aircraft incursion alerts that we keep seeing. Those are the drones, the Iranian supplied drones that fly slower and lower and can be detected with radar ahead of time and attempt to be intercepted. These radar sites, they're fixed to their facilities, but the balloons that we see all across the countryside here in the north are another example. They're also radar observation balloons, and they have the same capabilities. I've been told not to the same extent, but that it provides the same array and network of coverage that they work together, and they provide the eyes of the north here, like you said. So you see the attack escalating on what Hezbollah considers primary military targets. Not that they have led up on targeting Selma city's towns all throughout the area, but a significant launch of dozens of rockets targeting this one particular site. That's one of the major concerns. Hi, 24 News correspondent, Zach Anders, and, you know, thank you very much for your reporting. Zach and joining us now here in the city, Dr. David Shimoni, former intelligence official and director of commanders for Israel security. Thank you very much, Dr. Shimoni, for joining us. Well, it seems to an extent that Hezbollah's attack was precisely imprecise in a sense, targeting this strategic asset of Israel and missing on purpose. I don't think they missed on purpose. I think they hit on purpose, but they used relatively small weapons. As far as we can interpret from what happened there, they were hinting, I agree with you, they were hinting that until now they have not introduced precision-guided weapons to this battle. And today they used one, or yesterday, actually. And I believe it wasn't one of those big ballistic missiles that were equipped now by Iran to hit directly and precisely, but rather an anti-tank missile, the extended range cornet, with a 10-kilometer range. And this is within the range of this facility. But they are indicating two things. One is that they will introduce precision-guided weapons to hit strategic targets. And we've been talking about it, you and I, since the beginning of this war, their ability to strike. So they're simply showing that they can. Yeah, to strike airfields, Haifa Harbor, strategic power plants, other military bases. And the other thing is that they used a volley of rockets together to camouflage or to hide their precision weapon, and in a way to dodge the interceptions by our air defense system. So that's very significant. In a military jargon, I presume it is called flooding this tactic that you're targeting one aim with a heavy, intense barrage of rockets, as we've seen, in order to make defense difficult to impossible even. And in this respect, Dr. Shimoni, considering those abilities that we've seen, what is it changing, if any at all, from the defense standpoint of Israel in terms of the use of the different systems via Rondom or et cetera? What are we likely to see changing when it comes to Israel's defense state of mind? Not much. We have a very good defense system. And as you said, also very diversified. We have many means of detecting and destroying incoming missiles. But of course, if they launch this kind of volley, or as you said, flooding or swarming, especially a combination of ballistic missiles, drones, anti-tank rockets, we will not be able to intercept all of them at the same time at once. The air defense system we have is sophisticated. It should be able to differentiate between different threats and identify the ones that are more dangerous, that are a bigger threat. But if we have an all-out war with Hezbollah, we will suffer a lot of damage by their rockets. So what if could have? The main question remains whether this suffering is better off now or later. This seems to be the main question, as there are no questions in terms of the abilities of Hezbollah, but only when it comes to the intent. And in disrespect, U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, here in the Middle East yet again, is reiterating Washington's faith to an extent in the diplomatic push. Amos Hochstein, the White House senior advisor in charge of that, already delivered with the maritime deal. Now he wants to do it on land. But in Israel, they're not very optimistic on the diplomatic prospects. It's not only that Israel is not very optimistic. There's a lot of pressure by the public and the government to do something big, drastic, against Hezbollah and to remove by military force the Hezbollah threat. I believe three months ago the United States sent over two aircraft carriers. Now we have one. And yes, the Gerald Ford was stationed in the Mediterranean with the intention to deter Hezbollah from attacking Israel. I believe the removal of the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier from the Mediterranean is a hint to deter Israel from initiating its own war on Hezbollah. Connecting that to the repeated statements on behalf of Secretary of State Blinken that the most important objective is to avoid regional escalation, we perhaps learn more in the American priorities at this point in time, not necessarily in conjunction with the Israeli ones. And on that note, exactly, Dr. Shimoni will want to head now South I-24 News correspondent Robert Swift with the I-24 News team there on the ground. Robert, the IDF recapping three months of fighting in the Gaza Strip. In most areas, we do see a change in pattern to an extent, but in Kanyunas, for example, persistent battles and a main question perhaps over what is next further south, Rafa Kral saying, the Philadelphia Axis. Yes, that's right. Basically tonight, from what we've seen, there was limited fighting, if any, taking place in the north of the Gaza Strip. The vast majority of it from what we were hearing was coming from further south from Kanyunas. Now, there was fire, there was two incidents where rockets were fired out of the northern Gaza Strip, one landing in a community not far to the stout of Stirot, where we've been filming from, that causing wounds, light wounds to one woman in her 20s, and a second rocket towards Stirot being intercepted a little later. But yes, the focus of the fighting remains Kanyunas. The head of the Israeli army today was said that he believed fighting in the Gaza Strip as a whole could continue throughout 2024. And Kanyunas will be one of the major nuts to crack in order to advance that. But as you say, there are additional large urban areas, the Rafa being the largest of those to the south of Kanyunas, which operations have yet to begin there. Yes. And again, those tensions, this seems to be rising between Israel and Egypt over the fate of the Gaza-Egypt border, the Israeli presence there, of course. But Rob, you've mentioned the city of Stirot, and this evening reports suggesting that there is this governmental wishful thinking, or even more so, a plan to bring the residents of Stirot back home by early February, but the local leaders there, the mayor is saying it will not happen. It will not happen until security is assured and reassured again and again and again. That's right. So at the moment, the majority of residents from this part of the country have been down south in Elat. But there is a plan to bring back the students, the children from the displaced populations and to return them to education systems by the 4th of February. But as you say, that seems like a long shot. That seems that something that would be a risk in itself while the fighting continues at pace. And even if the IDF military said today that it dismantled effectively Hamas's military capabilities in the north of the Gaza Strip, and yet still rockets and mortars were fired out of the north of Gaza Strip, and that will be something that's on the minds of any parents that are being advised to bring their children back to this area. And that's something that the mayor of Stirot has had some strong words in the past and will likely continue to on this subject. Yes, indeed. At 24 News Correspondent, Robert Swift, thank you very much for this back here in Stirot with Dr. David Shimono. Dr. Shimono, we talked earlier about the northern front and we've heard leaders of local communities along the Lebanon border saying those same statements we've heard from southern community leaders. If it was Haifa to be targeted, the main city up in the north, their reaction would have been different. But because these are smaller, this is exactly what we've heard in the south in previous years. If it was Tel Aviv, their reaction would have been harder, but it's not. And in this respect, I do want us to circle back to the statement or review of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, because it gives us a better sense of the sentiment in Washington. As part of his tour now in the Middle East, one of the main objectives is to try and again, if not the main objective is to send indirect messaging or even a communication line with Tehran. Let's try to keep things cool here in the region, but also to put pressure on Arab powers here in the region to start and chime in when it comes to the next phases of the Gaza Strip. It's not only Tehran, it's also China now being involved with the crisis in the seas with the Houthis blocking or blockading commercial commerce and ships free navigation. And this now is beginning to affect China too, and they're also getting involved. And they have their ties with Tehran, and they have their talking suits directly or indirect links, trying to calm everything down. The American intention is to avoid a regional war that might escalate beyond this region, and they're doing their utmost, both with the support that they gave our, they're still giving our country and our military, but also trying to restrain Israel and Hezbollah and Iran. And as I believe also, I think eventually they will attack the Houthis in Yemen if they continue to threaten the free navigation of ships. But because that's a major disruption of global order, this Houthi activity in the seas. So I believe the Americans are trying to restrain everybody. I'm afraid we are going in a collision course with America, with the United States, also because of the really irresponsible statements by Israeli politicians talking about re-establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip and driving all of the Gazans to exile and stuff like that. These are not very useful statements. And not realistic either. This is not the government's position and will never be. And yet it seems to be more than just a political disagreement, but something more profound on the strategic outlook of the region and how to handle things here, simply put. Dr. Shimoni, we do want to, or you're staying with us, of course, but we do want to shift our focus now to this, because as I said, three months, January 7th now, nine months old, Kofir Bebas is now one year old. Pregnancies, God forbid, including their first trimester. Three months of hell, only yesterday it was revealed the IDF found cages in the Gaza Strip that were made in advance for the Israeli hostages. They are still there for their families, no day, no night, for three months now. I-24 News Correspondent Nicole Zedek reporting from the hostage square in Tel Aviv where the plea is simple. We must not get used to them being there. Here at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, there's a recurring message everywhere you walk around. Time is running out. That's certainly how the family members of the 136 hostages who are still held captive in Gaza. That's how their family members feel, especially as we approach the 100th day since October 7th since these hostages were ripped out of their communities. Now that's why some of these families travel to Qatar to meet with Qatari officials and discuss their urgent plea for Qatari officials to help negotiate and mediate another hostage release deal. Now earlier today, we heard from some of those families as they returned back here to Israel after their meeting with Qatari leaders, including the Qatari Prime Minister. Now they said that all of these officials, they listened, they were attentive, and in their words, they said that this was their top priority, saying that they view this as a humanitarian dilemma and they want to help. However, we're also hearing reports now that the Qatari Prime Minister recognizes that what happened, the targeted killing of Hamas senior commander Saleh al-Arori in Beirut just last week, he said that is absolutely complicating the efforts to release the remaining hostages. Now according to some of these reports, Qatari Prime Minister also told the family members that they have to remember that in their words Qatari is just the mediator. They don't have control over Hamas. And as we heard from Hamas following the targeted killing of Saleh al-Arori, they are not going to be negotiating or dealing with Israel when it comes to the release of any of these hostages. But still, family members remain hopeful as this is really the only hope that they have. And so they say they will go anywhere, whether it be Qatar or any other foreign minister or foreign different outside source that's going to welcome them in as they can continue to try and help their loved ones for their release. As they say, time is running out, not only asking for their release, but if not that at least medical attention. They say there's a medical dilemma happening for their hostages who have not been treated for more than 90 days at this point. And so by going to Qatar, meeting with some of these officials, these family members are hoping that their words will go noticed and that hopefully they might see another hostage release still. But as we continue to see the fighting happening inside Gaza, it does seem that their continued message, time is of the essence. It certainly is the case when it comes to the hostages. Reporting in Tel Aviv for I-24 News, I'm Nicole Zedek. And now to this Beijing, Beijing out the Chinese Costco shipping lines will no longer be sailing to Israeli ports. This despite the fact that Houthis have no intention of attacking Chinese ships. Costco, the largest in the world, is the first international company to halt all business with Israel. But it's not just about chipping, not at all really. We want to turn now to Mr. Tal Vashif, East Asia expert. Thank you very much, Mr. Vashif, for joining us. Well, this is just the recent in a series of Chinese blows to Israel since the war began in all spheres of industry and commerce and business. Now this, and it's a major one. Yeah, absolutely. But I think we need to understand the Chinese side and the map of interests of China and the way that they are handling their interests in order to have the perspective and understand what's going on. I see some articles in Israeli media describing it as China putting itself with themselves on the side of Hamas or the side of Iran, which is absolutely not. They are trying to gain the most from all sides. They need Israeli technology and they need Iranian oil and oil from other Arab sources. And the last thing that they need is one of the ships is getting attacked by the Houthis and they cannot support and they cannot trust the Houthis not to shoot them because they could see and everybody could see that the Houthis are not precise. They're not accurate. They've kidnapped in the beginning in a ship that they claimed was Israeli, which was not on the same way that can attack a Chinese ship without noticing that it is Chinese. And the last thing that China wants is to get itself inside of it between Israel and United States on one side and Iran and the Houthis on the other one, it's against their interests. And yet, Mr. Rashif, it's not as if the Chinese are passive diplomatically or economically. They're actively acting against Israel in these two spheres, not to mention Chinese weapons found in the Gaza Strip. Well, I would not describe it as being anti-Israeli actively. First of all, there's no change of policy. They've always voted against Israel in the United Nations and in other international locations. And that's all. They never took any step, active step against Israel beyond that. And it never had their diplomatic relations with the commercial relations with us. It is something that has become already a tradition. They're voting against us just as some other countries. And that's it. And I think I have the impression that their calculation is that Israelis will understand it and will not care too much. They will not make a hassle out of it. While if they do the opposite, it will cause the problems because the Iranian and the Arab side is more sensitive to international activities. So they give us the message, look, we're going to vote against you again and again, but you're going to gain a lot by the corners. By not making a big fuss out of it. But there is perhaps a big strategic problem here. And Dr. Shimoni here in Syria, perhaps you can chime in as well. Because, you know, much Chinese involvement in Israeli strategic assets, something that the U.S. has been trying to hinder for years now. Israel was a bit reckless or maybe careless when doing business with the Chinese here, Dr. Shimoni. Well, let's talk about Chinese infrastructure being expanded here in Israel. And that means that the Chinese gained a lot of influence here and a lot of knowledge and access and power. I don't think this is something very, very significant now during this crisis. I believe Israel and China will not go beyond exchanging a few messages. I believe China will try to resume free ships, free navigation by ships in all seas. And again, we have to differentiate between the Chinese shipping company and the Chinese government. Can we really, Mr. Rashif, make this distinction clearly? Yes, we can. We have done it so far. I believe it will continue. Israel has a strong interest to maintain good relationship with China. And in fact, the declaration and the voting against Israel, which are only symbolical, do not really hurt Israel in any practical way. So Israel can't tolerate it. And China can't tolerate it on the other side. But China will not tolerate if Israel will release some statements and voting against China, because China, just as the Muslim world, is more sensitive than us. So this is the kind of balance that is created. Well, maybe Israel should become a bit more sensitive. It seems that the sensitives one are gaining from their sensitivity. Mr. I don't see it happening. Look, China, one sensitive one following this way of thinking, is in decline. Since 2019, they're in continuing decline in all aspects, commercially, economically, politically, geopolitically. Anyway, they're losing ground to the United States in the last few years. Well, perhaps this too should be added to this long list of conceptions to be reviewed and new. Let's put it that way. Mr. Tal Rashif, Dr. David Cimoni, thank you gentlemen very much for joining us. This is it from us for now, but we'll be back at the top of the hour with all the latest updates from the ground, all the analysis here in studio. Until then, you can always get updated online on 24 News.tv or on social media. Thank you very much for watching. See you at the top of the hour. 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. The special broadcast here on I-24 News as we continue our rolling coverage, three months of war. On the eve of his arrival in Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken making it clear that the US is opposed to any attempt to push Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip and emphasizing that statements of Israeli ministers on the topic are irresponsible. Blinken reiterating that Washington is first and foremost focused on preventing an escalation of the situation in the Middle East. But what is considered an escalation and what isn't new details on the Hezbollah attack on a surveillance base in Mount Meron, raising many questions on what happened and more so on what should be happening now. Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, the operation resumes in some northern areas, changing its tune in others, the center and the south, harshening. And at the very southern tip on the border with Egypt, it's unclear. One thing is clear for all, as IDF chief of staff, Herzee Alevi, is saying this evening, 2024 will be challenging. In the north, Hezbollah decided to enter this war. We are exerting an increasing cost from Hezbollah all the time. They paid yesterday with seven killed. They paid yesterday with two very, very important targets struck, and we are increasing the price that they are paying. It will end with us having a responsibility, a duty, to return the residents of the north in security, not under duress, safely to their homes. It will come either by the pressure we are now applying, which is rising, and will do the job, and we will create a completely different reality, or we will get to another war. We will do it. We will do it with excellency. Even though we're after a long battle already and have had challenges in many arenas, we will know how to do it properly. To achieve the war goals, we have a long way to go, and therefore, this will take time. And we begin this broadcast by heading straight to the north. I-24 News correspondent Zach Anders, with the I-24 News team, they're on the ground. Zach, thank you very much for joining us. Well, we're learning more on yesterday's intense and, yes, dramatic Hezbollah attack on a surveillance base. The eyes of the country, it is dubbed in Hebrew. The weapons used by Hezbollah, the target itself, the damage, what can we say? Well, the IDF says that this is not affecting the operational capabilities in this strike, but it was a significant one. And it is, again, a ploy to attempt to disrupt one of the advantages here, which is intelligence gathering with not just radar facilities, but the aerial superiority that the Israelis have is one of the major obstacles Hezbollah would have to overcome. Of course, they have a large arsenal of rockets. These heavy rockets would, in some estimates, be able to overwhelm air defenses here. But you can see where they're going when they strike radar sites, attempting these radar sites are there to detect not just the rockets, but these hostile aircraft incursion alerts that we keep seeing. Those are the drones, the Iranian-supplied drones that fly slower and lower and can be detected with radar ahead of time and attempt to be intercepted. These radar sites, they're fixed to their facilities, but the balloons that we see all across the countryside here in the north are another example. They're also radar observation balloons, and they have the same capabilities. I've been told not to the same extent, but that it provides the same array and network of coverage that they work together, and they provide the eyes of the north here, like you said. So you see the attack escalating on what Hezbollah considers primary military targets. Not that they have led up on targeting Selma City's towns all throughout the area, but a significant launch of dozens of rockets targeting this one particular site. That's one of the major concerns. Hi, 24 News correspondent, Zach Anders, and, you know, thank you very much for your reporting. Zach, and joining us now here in the city, Dr. David Shimoni, former intelligence official and director of commanders for Israel Security. Thank you very much, Dr. Shimoni, for joining us. Well, it seems to an extent that Hezbollah's attack was precisely imprecise, in a sense, targeting this strategic asset of Israel and missing on purpose. I don't think they missed on purpose. I think they hit on purpose, but they used relatively small weapons. As far as we can interpret from what happened there, they were hinting, I agree with you, they were hinting that until now they have not introduced precision-guided weapons to this battle. And today they used one, or yesterday, actually. And I believe it wasn't one of those big ballistic missiles that were equipped now by Iran to hit directly and precisely, but rather an anti-tank missile, the extended range cornet with a 10-kilometer range, and this is within the range of this facility. But they are indicating two things. One is that they will introduce precision-guided weapons to hit strategic targets, and we've been talking about it, you and I, since the beginning of this war, their ability to strike. So they're simply showing that they can. Yeah, to strike airfields, Haifa Harbor, strategic power plants, other military bases. And the other thing is that they used a volley of rockets together to camouflage or to hide their precision weapon, and in a way to dodge the interceptions by our air defense system. So that's very significant. In a military jargon, I presume it is called flooding this tactic that you're targeting one aim with a heavy, intense barrage of rockets, as we've seen, in order to make defense difficult to impossible even. And in this respect, Dr. Shimoni, considering those abilities that we've seen, what is it changing, if any at all, from the defense standpoint of Israel in terms of the use of the different systems, let it be our endowment, et cetera, what are we likely to see changing when it comes to Israel's defense state of mind? Not much. We have a very good defense system, and as he said, also very diversified. We have many means of detecting and destroying incoming missiles. But of course, if they launch this kind of a volley, or as he said, flooding or swarming, especially a combination of ballistic missiles, drones, anti-tank rockets, we will not be able to intercept all of them at the same time at once. The air defense system we have is sophisticated. It should be able to differentiate between different threats and identify the ones that are more dangerous, that are a bigger threat. But if we have an all-out war with Hezbollah, we will suffer a lot of damage by their rockets. So what if could have? The main question remains whether this suffering is better off now or later. This seems to be the main question, as there are no questions in terms of the abilities of Hezbollah, but only when it comes to the intent. And in disrespect, the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, here in the Middle East yet again, is reiterating Washington's faith to an extent in the diplomatic push. Amos Hochstein, the White House senior advisor in charge of that already delivered with the maritime deal. Now he wants to do it on land, but in Israel they're not very optimistic on the diplomatic prospects. It's not only that Israel is not very optimistic. There's a lot of pressure by the public on the government to do something big, drastic, against Hezbollah and to remove by military force the Hezbollah threat. I believe three months ago the United States sent over two aircraft carriers. Now we have one. And yes, the Gerald Ford was stationed in the Mediterranean with the intention to deter Hezbollah from attacking Israel. I believe the removal of the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier from the Mediterranean is a hint to deter Israel from initiating its own war on Hezbollah. Connecting that to the repeated statements on behalf of Secretary of State Blinken that the most important objective is to avoid regional escalation, we perhaps learn more in the American priorities at this point in time, not necessarily in conjunction with the Israeli ones. And on that note exactly, Dr. Shimoni will want to head now South I-24 News correspondent Robert Swift with the I-24 News team there on the ground. Robert, the IDF recapping three months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, in most areas we do see a change in pattern to an extent, but in Hanyunas for example, persistent battles and a main question perhaps over what is next further south, Rafa Kross saying the Philadelphia Axis. Yes, that's right. Basically tonight from what we've seen there was limited fighting, if any, taking place in the north of the Gaza Strip. The vast majority of it from what we were hearing was coming from further south from Hanyunas. Now there was fire, there was two incidents where rockets were fired out of the northern Gaza Strip, one landing in a community not far to the south of Starrot where we've been filming from, that causing wounds, light wounds to one woman in her 20s and a second rocket towards Starrot being intercepted a little later, but yes the focus of the fighting remains Kanyunas. The head of the Israeli army today was said that he believed fighting in the Gaza Strip as a whole could continue throughout 2024 and Kanyunas will be one of the major nuts to crack in order to advance that, but like as you say there are additional large urban areas, the Rafa being the largest of those to the south of Kanyunas which operations have yet to begin there. Yes and again those tensions this seems to be rising between Israel and Egypt over the fate of the Gaza-Egypt border and the Israeli presence there of course, but Rob you've mentioned the city of Starrot and this evening reports suggesting that there is this governmental wishful thinking or even more so a plan to bring the residents of Starrot back home by early February but the local leaders there the mayor is saying it will not happen it will not happen until security is assured and reassured again and again and again. That's right so at the moment the majority of residents from this part of the country have been down south in Elat and but there is a plan to bring back the students the children from the displaced populations and to return them to education systems by the 4th of February but as you say that seems like a long shot that seems that something that would be a risk in itself while the fighting continues at pace and even if the IDF military said today that dismantled effectively Hamas's military capabilities in the north of the Gaza Strip and yet still rockets and mortars were fired out of the north of Gaza Strip and that will be something that's on the minds of any parents that are being advised to bring their children back to this area and that's something that the the mayor of Starrot is you know he has he's had some strong words in the past and will likely continue to on this subject. Yes indeed at 24 News Correspondent Robert Swift thank you very much for this back here in studio with Dr. David Shimona you know Dr. Shimoni we talked earlier about the northern front and and we've heard leaders of local communities along the Lebanon border saying those same statements we've heard from southern community leaders if it was Haifa to be targeted the main city up in the north the reaction would have been different but because these are smaller communities this is exactly what we've heard in the south in previous years if it was Tel Aviv the reaction would have been harder but it's not and in this respect I do want us to circle back to the statements or review of of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken because it gives us a better sense of the sentiment in Washington as part of his tour now in the Middle East one of the main objectives is to try and again if not the main objective is to send indirect messaging or even a communication line with Tehran you know let's try to keep things cool here in the region but also to put pressure on Arab powers here in the region to to start and chime in when it comes to the next phases of the Gaza Strip. It's not only Tehran it's also China now being involved with the crisis in the in the seas with the Houthis blocking or blockading commercial commerce and ships free navigation and this now is beginning to affect China too and they're also getting involved and they have to China in a second okay and they have their ties with with Tehran and they have their talking so it's direct link or direct indirect links yeah trying to calm everything down the American intention is to avoid a regional war that might escalate beyond this region and they're doing their utmost both with the support that they gave our they're still giving our country and our military but also trying to restrain Israel and Hezbollah and Iran and as I believe also I think eventually they will attack the Houthis in Yemen if they continue to threaten the free navigation of ships but because that's a major disruption of global order this this Houthi activity in the in the seas so I believe the Americans are trying to restrain everybody I'm afraid we are going in a collision course with America with the United States also because of the really irresponsible statements by Israeli politicians talking about re-establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip and driving all of the Gazans to exile and stuff like that these are not very useful statements and not realistic either this is not the government's position and will never will never be and yet it seems to be more than just a political disagreement but but but but something more profound on on on the strategic outlook of the region and how to handle things here simply put Dr. Shimoni we do want to or you're staying with us of course but we do want to shift our focus now to this because as said three months January 7th now nine months old Kfir Bebas is now one year old pregnancies God forbid including their first trimester three months of hell only yesterday it was revealed the IDF found cages in the Gaza Strip that were made in advance for the Israeli hostages they are still there for their families no day no night for three months now a 24 years correspondent Nikolsedek reporting from the hostage square in Tel Aviv where the plea is simple we must not get used to them being there here at hostages square in Tel Aviv there's a recurring message everywhere you walk around time is running out that's certainly how the family members of the 136 hostages who are still held captive in Gaza that's how their family members feel especially as we approach the 100th day since October 7th since these hostages were ripped out of their communities now that's why some of these families traveled to Qatar to meet with Qatari officials and discuss their urgent plea for Qatari officials to help negotiate and mediate another hostage release deal now earlier today we heard from some of those families as they returned back here to Israel after their meeting with Qatari leaders including the Qatari prime minister now they said that all of these officials they listened they were attentive and in their words they said that this was their top priority saying that they view this as a humanitarian dilemma and they want to help however we're also hearing reports now that the Qatari prime minister recognizes that what happened the targeted killing of Hamas senior commander Saleh al-arori in Beirut just last week he said that is absolutely complicating the efforts to release the remaining hostages now according to some of these reports Qatari prime minister also told the family members that they have to remember that in their words Qatari is just the mediator they don't have control over Hamas and as we've heard from Hamas following the targeted killing of Saleh al-arori they are not going to be negotiating or dealing with Israel when it comes to the release of any of these hostages but still family members remain hopeful as this is really the only hope that they have and so by they say they will go anywhere whether it be Qatar or any other foreign minister or foreign different outside source that's going to welcome them in as they can continue to try and help their loved ones for their release as they say time is running out not only asking for their release but if not that at least medical attention they say there's a medical dilemma happening for their hostages who have not been treated for more than 90 days at this point and so by going to Qatar meeting with some of these officials these family members are hoping that their words will go noticed and that hopefully they might see another hostage release deal but as we continue to see the fighting happening inside Gaza it does seem that their continued message time is of the essence it certainly is the case when it comes to the hostages reporting in Tel Aviv for i24 news i'm Nicole Zedek and now to this Beijing the Chinese Costco shipping lines will no longer be sailing to Israeli ports this despite the fact that Houthis have not and have no intention of attacking Chinese ships Costco the fourth largest in the world is the first international company to halt all business with Israel but it's not just about shipping not at all really we want to turn out to Mr. Tal Vashif East Asia expert thank you very much Mr. Vashif for joining us well this is just the recent in a series of Chinese blows to Israel since the war began all spheres of industry and commerce and business now this and it's a major one yeah absolutely but I think we need to understand the Chinese side and the map of interest of China and the way that they are handling their interest in order to have the perspective and understand what's going on I see some articles in Israeli media describing it as China putting itself with themselves on the side of Hamas or the side of Iran which is absolutely not they are trying to gain the most from all sides they need Israeli technology and they need Iranian oil and oil from other Arab sources and the last thing that they need is one of the ships is getting attacked by the Houthis and they cannot support they cannot trust the Houthis not to shoot them because they could see and everybody could see that the Houthis are not precise they're not accurate they've kidnapped in the beginning and a ship that they claimed was Israeli which was not on the same way they can attack a Chinese ship without noticing that it is Chinese and the last thing that China wants is to get itself inside of it between Israel and the United States on one side and Iran and the Houthis on the other one it's against their interests and yet Mr. Rashif it's not as if the Chinese are passive diplomatically or economically they're actively acting against Israel in these two spheres not to mention Chinese weapons found in the Gaza Strip well I would not describe it as being anti-Israeli actively first of all there's no change of policy they've always voted against Israel in the United Nations and in other international locations and that's all they never took any step active step against Israel beyond that and it never had their diplomatic relations without their commercial relations with us it is something that has become already a tradition they're voting against us just as some other countries and that's it and I think I have the impression that their calculation is that Israelis will understand it and will not care too much they will not make a hassle out of it while if they do the opposite it will cause the problems because the Iranian and the Arab side is more sensitive to international activities so they give us the message look we're going to vote against you again and again but you're going to gain a lot but by the corners by not making a big fuss out of it but there is perhaps a big strategic problem here and Dr. Shimoni here in Syria perhaps you can chime in as well because you know much Chinese involvement in Israeli strategic assets something that the US has been trying to hinder for years now Israel was a bit reckless or maybe careless when doing business with the with the Chinese here Dr. Shimoni well let's talk about Chinese infrastructure being expanded here in Israel and that means that the Chinese gain a lot of influence here and a lot of knowledge and access and access and yeah and power I don't think this this is something very very significant now during this this crisis I believe Israel and China will not go beyond exchanging a few messages I believe China will try to resume free ships free navigation by ships in all seas and again we have to differentiate between the Chinese shipping company and the Chinese government can we really Mr. Rashif make this distinction clearly yes we can we have done it so far I believe it will continue Israel has a strong interest to maintain good relationship with China and in fact the declaration and the voting against Israel which are only symbolical and do not really hurt Israel in any practical way so Israel can't tolerate it and China can't tolerate it on the other side but China will not tolerate if Israel will release some statements and voting against China because China just as the the Muslim world is more sensitive than us so this is the kind of balance that is created maybe Israel should become a bit more sensitive it seems that the sensitives one are gaining from their sensitivity Mr. I don't see it happening look China the one sensitive one following this way of thinking is in decline since 2019 they're in continuing decline in all aspects commercially economically politically well politically anyway they're losing ground to the United States well perhaps this too should be added to this long list of conceptions to be reviewed anew let's put it that way Mr. Tom Rashif Dr. David Shimoni thank you gentlemen very much for for joining us this is it from us for now but we'll be back at the top of the hour with all the latest updates from the ground all the analysis here in studio until then you can always get updated online on 24 news dot tv or on social media thank you very much for watching see you at the top of the hour 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 here on i-24 news it's been three months of war here in israel and on the eve of his arrival in israel he was a career of state underneath lincoln making it clear that the u.s. is opposed to any attempt to push palestinians out of the cargo strip emphasizing the statements by israeli ministers on the topic are irresponsible lincoln reiterating that washington's main focus is on preventing an escalation of the situation in the middle east altogether but what is considered an escalation and what is it new details on his ballas attack on a surveillance base in mont meron raising many questions on what happened and more so on what should be happening now meanwhile the gaza strip the operation resumes in some northern areas changing its tunes and others the center south harsh name and at the very southern tip on the border with egypt it's unclear one thing is clear for all this idea of chief of staff her to live he's saying this evening 2024 will be challenging in the north hezbollah decided to enter this war we are exerting an increasing cost from hezbollah all the time they paid yesterday with seven killed they paid yesterday with two very very important targets struck and we are increasing the price that they are paying it will end with us having a responsibility a duty to return the residents of the north insecurity not under duress safely to their homes it will come either by the pressure we are now applying which is rising and will do the job and we will create a completely different reality or we will get to another war we will do it we will do it with excellency even though we're after a long battle already and have had challenges in many arenas we will know how to do it properly to achieve the war goals we have a long way to go and therefore this will take time and we begin this broadcast by heading straight down south i-24 news correspondent robert swift with the i-24 news team they're on the ground thank you robert for joining us well US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken again is expected here in israel tomorrow but while in docha is already saying that israel should allow palestinians to get back to their homes in the northern port of the strip yes he's had a number of uh uncomfortable things to say to israel throughout the day um but it's it's likely that also he'll be coming with uh with with words that israel would like to hear um also uh among the statements that he said today one thing that they won't wish to hear is his comments with regards to the killings of journalists two al-jazeera journalists were killed in what's understood to be an israeli airstrike earlier today including one of them who is the son of the bureau chief there and so his tony blinken's comments on that may cause some unease among the israeli military but they will be uh keen to focus on the the areas where they do have cooperation with the united states and not least of which is the uh the situation on the northern border but also they also includes the uh concerns over the humanitarian situation in the gaza strip with israel's koga that sees the organization within the military responsible for civil coordination with the palestinians with this organization announcing that today 198 aid trucks entered the gaza strip that's the most trucks that have entered in a single day since the beginning of the war um now while the majority of these entered through the raffa crossing in the far south which connects gaza to egypt uh up to 77 of them were entered through the carom shalom crossing uh from the israeli side so this may in itself be seen as a sign of a boon towards the the united states position i-24 news correspondent roberts with andy i-24 news team there underground thank you very much for your reporting today thank you and joining us now here in studio colonel grisha kubovic former head of the civilian department of koga of the idf of course uh currently kubovic thank you very much for joining us well it seems that um as we are either at the final push of the current phase or at the very beginning of the next phase you name it there's there's one main dilemma that you've been talking about here for weeks now um on what to do with the southern front of the southern front as in raffa the philadelphia axes uh we are witnessing this those rising tensions between israel and egypt in this respect um egypt wants to be in charge israel insists on on some sort of a security presence of its own there and it is significant uh for the future near and far i want to add to that another pressure that is actually coming from gaza it was even stated today by some influencers in gaza calling the egyptians to open the border so they will be able to immigrate and demanding that six thousand uh palestinians who got wounded in gaza will get treatment or will move through egypt this is an egyptian nightmare this is an egyptian nightmare yes this is diaper but it's more than that they're also using religion they are taking the hijra thing from the quran and saying even muhammad immigrated from mecca that after he was i don't know exposed by his tribe koreish and it's called the hijra okay and the same thing should happen here also it's like okay egyptians dear egyptians we know that you are trying to make sure that there will be no third nagba so we will not leave our land and whatever but please allow us to immigrate from from gaza and i think that we will see that pressure increasing so two things will happen with egypt one i think this is a must okay a must a need an operational need that this border will be secured by israel and i would say it carefully maybe by a different arrangement that israel would not be there personally i would trust only the idea okay but maybe because of this tension with egypt something new or something else will be created so two pressures are on egypt one the israeli pressure to get that hold on that border and two the pressure from gaza and that will also be increased from the arab world on egypt to open the borders basa and prez muhammad abbas and cairo to uh you know coordinate with president el-sisi ahead of the blinkin visit there i think that abbas is irrelevant and after what is happening in the west bank and only we will get to the west bank in a split second but we do want to get updated now on on on a turbulent day up in the in the north in the aftermath of uh this hezbollah attack on the surveillance base we're learning more and more details of what weapons were used what is exactly the facility that was targeted and the damage that was uh uh caused and what it means for the future i-24 news correspondent zack handers recaps a day another day of hezbollah attacks taking credit for six separate attacks throughout the day late into the afternoon these do not have any apparent casualties but there was damage in a hotel in matula apparent damage to the roof and sides of buildings nearby again no apparent casualties but it's coming off the back of a massive day of launches what hezbollah was calling the first wave of retaliation for the assassination of allery in beirut this is again another tense day but tomorrow secretary blinkin is set to arrive and address the concerns of the north putting forth the united states stance on this situation of course they're heading into an election year and the abide administration wants to say as far away as possible from further conflict that would drag through the election cycle cause more problems their stance is clear tomorrow we will see what the israeli response is and the idf's response to the security situation with blinkin on the ground back here in the city with that colonel grisha akabovich colonel akabovich what are we learning and more importantly what are we learning from what we're learning on on the on the attack on the surveillance base in mount meron the types of weapons as mentioned those for net um the target itself hama hama hezbollah rather sensitive showing we can we can well it looks like we are surprised on a daily base we shouldn't be surprised we discussed this issue here from the beginning of the war and it was said here not only by me by many experts hezbollah prepared themselves years to this round or to this war or to whatever okay some people will say it's a war it's a round of escalation so many many definitions to that hezbollah it's not a surprise that they have at least 200 000 rockets new weapons what they attacked meron mountain today the air force unit it was with cornet new missiles that hezbollah launched and this is only the beginning of their abilities so let's not be surprised again or over again and again it's only the beginning yes they have no will to start the war the israel also has no will to start the war otherwise it will be probably a long time ago that we will be in a in a larger scale so no will no intent but yes ability ability yes of course there is an ability the moment that hezbollah will start the war we will see the ability okay now and i don't want to frighten us but but yes we should be prepared for their abilities and we are talking about between 2000 to 5000 rockets a day nasrallah only today threatened that he can launch in an instant 17 missiles directly to ajdod now we are talking about more than 200 kilometers yes and if his if nasrallah declares nasrallah means what he says so let's not be surprised from their abilities they have on the other hand if they would start that i believe that the consequences of that would be that lebanon will stop existing as a country all right uh and this is the price that hezbollah know that they will have to pay and explain to their own lebanese people and and and in this respect if you mentioned earlier in the context of egypt the pressure not just from israel but from within the gaza serb we're also seeing in lebanon this domestic pressure uh or public upwards to an extent on nasrallah not to get into the war business we've seen that this hacking attack today on beirut airport with again messages messages signaling the cyber attack exactly signaling nasrallah don't force us into this war viewers more or less and now moving to the third front it was a deadly day in the west bank after a roadside bomb killed an israeli police officer and injured three others during an overnight trade in janine seven palestinians were killed in a retaliatory airstrike not long after an easter uselman was killed a woman from jaffa injured in a terror attack in remala a manhunt uh still underway for the suspect our correspondent nicole said it breaks down the turbulent developments unfolding on israel's third border israeli border police can be seen nearly every night conducting counterterrorism operations in the northern west bank city of janine but saturday night it turned deadly as a roadside explosive hit one of their vehicles killing 19-year-old shai germay and injuring three others the wounded were air evac to the hospital while the idf carried out an airstrike killing seven palestinian gunmen who hurled explosives at troops four of them brothers according to family members i never imagined that they would die all at once i was thinking that maybe haza and rami were the most likely to be killed but ala and ahmed i never thought that they would be martyred especially all together at one time the palestinian islamic jihad claimed responsibility for the deadly roadside bomb mere hours after the attack in janine an arab israeli man was shot dead near remala 33-year-old amar matzor was killed in his car the woman driving behind him also injured in serious condition it's the first deadly shooting attack in the west bank since november showing terrorism is still boiling over in the area even as israel has arrested more than 2600 palestinians in the west bank since october 7th trying to gain a stronghold on the third front of the war back here in city with colonel grisha kubovic uh the ordinary tear quote unquote uh not going anywhere i think that you will remember me talking to you last week and i told you when we completed our interview we should be aware to the trends in the west bank and it's getting worse as i as i expected and i'm going to connect it to jordan the jordanian air force attacked few smugglers i think it was yesterday or today with three uh 15s or aircraft and they also try to smuggle weapons now this is the second time that the the jordanians attacking militias proxies okay militians iranians iranian proxies on that border the triangle border between syria jordan and iraq trying to smuggle drugs but also weapons rockets and other abilities a route to the west bank a route to the west bank exactly now this is the longest border that we share with jordan and this border is without fences one of the decisions that was taken in israel a few two weeks ago i think it's to build also a fence there and actually it will be completed all our borders will be surrounded with fences and walls and when we are talking about the prison so let's think who is in the prison yes we are on which side of the border the border you live exactly yes and this is connected to the west bank because when minister gallant mentioned the seven arenas he meant gaza he meant syria lebanon the west bank the west bank is becoming a very very important arena because it will uh the west bank is not gaza and the west bank is not the northern border inside the west bank there are half a million israelis who live there right and this is a total different threat uh i don't want to end it that too deeply but something is happening in the west bank the pa that is why i mentioned a bus that is irrelevant uh because from this eight people that were killed in genean i think two of them are sons to pa officers and it reminds operatives not hamas four of them are hamas one of them is shohad al aqsa fata but two of them are sons of pa palestinian authority officers that are responsible on security coordination coordination now let's count last year 2023 almost 52 palestinian officials officers and officials were killed by the idf as terrorists during the day pa officials during the night terrorists attacking the idf so what is happening in the west bank and we expect the west bank or the pa to gain control in the gaza strip when we're talking about the day after it's not the day after just in the gaza strip but in the west bank and on the northern border and in the west bank it will be way more complicated and with this uh grim yet honest uh analysis we will thank you very much uh colonel russia kubović uh for this um and i'm not sure that the following conversation will uh be very much a plifting but uh um we do want to uh cross now live uh to uh senior journalist the idiot daily mr bendel yamini thank you very much mr yamini for joining us tonight well israel is readying its battle on another front the international criminal court and the captain chosen uh is perhaps the most slandered figure in the past year by government members former chief justice elon barack is it a sign all the domestic wars before the actual war are over no actually well it's a good sign uh for a change i'm saying for a change because uh until now many decisions that were received by uh by the cabinet by mr netanyahu were not accepted by so many people in the israeli public now this decision it looks like like after a long time that it's according to the israeli national interest and not according to the political personal interest of mr netanyahu which is a big surprise because i mean uh ron barack well he's an enemy just let's not forget what happened what was in israel until october 6 ron barack was actually the big enemy of who of the right wingers of who of the people who were uh actually initiating this kind of uh judicial uh reform and what happened now you need him now you need him but it's a good sign it's a good sign i mean i don't want to be cynical it's a good sign because the meaning is that we are all in the same boat not only in han yunus not only in gaza but also when we are speaking about national interest yes we need let me tell you let me admit uh i criticized in many articles the judicial activism of uh judge ron barack but if you ask me yes in this very moment forget all the the the criticism yes now we need him now he's the best person to represent israel in the in the court and mr i mean at the same time it seems and maybe we will find the silver lining here as well maybe it seems that something bad is going on in the cabinet netanyahu slamming ministers today on the never-ending flow of leaks from cabinet discussions but but what is the problem here leaks or uh or what is being said or maybe things are being said just for the purpose of leaking them but also and again i'm i'm i'm suggesting perhaps a different outlook isn't it good that someone is challenging the military the core of the current debate in cabinet this is exactly what didn't happen before october 7th okay what he's talking about is both about the situation and the kind of debate between the cabinet and the army which in other circumstances it could be something which is very legitimate i mean yes it is part of the job of the government ministers to ask questions even the chief of the army and other but i think i think uh that what netanyahu wanted to say is look what you did with all your uh declarations now uh 30 percent of the 84 pages of the south african suit against israel is actually what ministers and journalists and commentators and and ex officers what they said so he was trying to tell them look what a damage you did to israel by so many declarations about what about what about against gaza against the palestinians about the transfer about a new nakba so please shut your mouth shut your mouth i don't want to hear this uh declarations not from the cabinet not from closed rooms i don't want this kind of leaks i don't want you to go out with this kind of uh declarations that's uh what he's trying to tell them now let me tell you something a bit late a bit late because it's all it's all all what they said in closed rooms all what they said and what was of course lit and what they said publicly it is part of of the the the story against israel let's not forget it yes and and perhaps and really in a sentence if you may mr yamini in this respect reports suggested by the administration officials feared the war will be prolonged because of the political complexities i hope not i hope not yes but but i have to admit that many of us many of us israelis are afraid that that uh that political political arguments will be instead of the uh the national interest arguments yes we are afraid about it i mean maybe the i hope not i hope not i pray that it will not happen yes yes many of us many of us are afraid that that some political uh uh reasons will actually lead the way and we don't want it to happen of course of course not and let's do hope uh that will not be the case let's make sure it will not be the case uh mr ben drawer yamini senior generals of the edit thank you very very much for your time uh and part of the reason we hope uh political considerations will not be part of it is because nine months old fear be bus is now one year old pregnancies god forbid concluding their first trimester three months of hell only yesterday it was revealed the idea found cages in the Gaza Strip that were made in advance for Israeli hostages and they are still there for their families no day no night for three months now nicole said reporting from the hostage square in Tel Aviv where the plea is simple we must not get used to them being there here at hostages square in Tel Aviv there's a recurring message everywhere you walk around time is running out that's certainly how the family members of the 136 hostages who are still held captive in Gaza that's how their family members feel especially as we approach the 100th day since october 7th since these hostages were ripped out of their communities now that's why some of these families traveled to Qatar to meet with Qatari officials and discuss their urgent plea for Qatari officials to help negotiate and mediate another hostage release deal now earlier today we heard from some of those families as they returned back here to israel after their meeting with Qatari leaders including the Qatari prime minister now they said that all of these officials they listened they were attentive and in their words they said that this was their top priority saying that they view this as a humanitarian dilemma and they want to help however we're also hearing reports now that the Qatari prime minister recognizes that what happened the targeted killing of Hamas senior commander Salih al-arori in Beirut just last week he said that is absolutely complicating the efforts to release the remaining hostages now according to some of these reports Qatari prime minister also told the family members that they have to remember that in their words Qatari is just the mediator they don't have control over Hamas and as we heard from Hamas following the targeted killing of Salih al-arori they are not going to be negotiating or dealing with israel when it comes to the release of any of these hostages but still family members remain hopeful as this is really the only hope that they have and so by they say they will go anywhere whether it be Qatari or any other foreign minister or foreign different outside source that's going to welcome them in as they can continue to try and help their loved ones for their release as they say time is running out not only asking for their release but if not that at least medical attention they say there's a medical dilemma happening for their hostages who have not been treated for more than 90 days at this point and so by going to Qatari meeting with some of these officials these family members are hoping that their words will go noticed and that hopefully they might see another hostage release deal but as we continue to see the fighting happening inside Gaza