 Israel's story to the world, I-24 News Channels, now on Hot. Welcome to the special broadcast here on I-24 News. As we continue our rolling coverage, day 59 of the war here in Israel. It's a bit over a week now since Danielle Aloni and her daughter, 5-year-old Amelia, were freed from Hamas. Three days later, her sister, Sharon Kunio Aloni, and the twins, 3-year-olds, Emma and Yuli, were released last night, their grandfather. Sharing some of the horror, Hamas terrorists separated the twins just two days after they were kidnapped, taking Yuli from her mother's arms. So Sharon, her husband, David, who is still in captivity, and Emma, didn't even know if she was alive. The accidental reunion in captivity happened when they came across Yuli by chance when she was being moved between hiding places. Mother Sharon recognized Yuli's crime in the other room, a local Arab woman had her. This is only some, some of the chilling testimonies that only begin to come out this past week. Two notions somewhat evaporated. If you get on the ground, hostages will not be released. If you halt the fire, you won't come back to it. But now, at the opening of the ninth week of the war, both transitions have been made. The question is, can it work again? And if not, what is the next exit point? And we want to begin this broadcast by heading to the south as Red Alert sirens are once again going off in the southern Israeli communities. Correspondent Pierre Colchandler with the I-24 news team there on the ground. Pierre, once again, sirens in the city of Ashkelon and in the surrounding area. What can you tell us? Right. It's too early to know if there were any casualties or damage on the city of Ashkelon and the southern communities. It just happened now. Ashkelon has been really the cities that has been the hardest hit in this war, with over 1,700 rockets targeting the city, the southern city. And something like 700 or 750 impacts in the city. So it's a very difficult situation for the residents of Ashkelon, especially that 70% of them do not have a private shelter. So they have to rush for a public shelter. Right. And unlike the communities right across the Gaza border, most of the residents of the city of Ashkelon are there. They were not evacuated. And Pierre, it was a busy night, a whole lot of aerial activity ahead of another push on the ground. Right. And I think that the push on the ground is just going on. There's been like 200 airstrikes overnight. But I recall that there were some nights in the first stage of the Israeli offensive inside the Gaza Strip where you had 400 airstrikes overnight, which means that it's half the measure of the maximum airstrikes that I remember. And yet there was intense activity, even in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip earlier on, intense activity with the artillery, the navy, the air force. But they are fierce fighting in the Jebalia refugee camp in Sheikh Radwan, which is the northwestern part of Gaza City, in Zeytun, which is the central eastern part of Gaza City, and Shejaia, which is on the southeast outskirts of Gaza City. In addition, there are airstrikes in the area of Hanyunas in the central sector, as well as in Rafah in the southern tip of the Gaza Strip. The population of the eastern outskirts of Hanyunas have been urged to relocate themselves. West of Hanyunas, flyers have been dropped by the air force with a QR code that connects you to the interactive map, which has separated the whole Gaza Strip into hundreds and hundreds of blocks, numbered blocks. So if you are living in a block which has been numbered as relocation, you've got to move fast in order to avoid casualties in the battleground. This is a mechanism that has seen no other place around the world, other than here in Israel and the IDF. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for this. And from south we're heading north now. I-24 news correspondent Zach Anders is joining us live from northern Israel. Zach, this hour reports in Lebanon that IDF is striking Hezbollah targets in the southern part of the country. What do we know? This is likely in retaliation for the overnight launches that are attributed to Hezbollah. Yesterday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for at least five of the launches that took place in the afternoon. Twelve were injured, including civilians. The majority of the injuries came from the soldiers at an IDF outpost here in the north that appeared to be targeted by ATGMs, these anti-tank guided missiles that are manned by personnel on the ground and fired from a distance. But this is a little bit more involved than firing these heavy rockets from populated areas, which we've seen Hezbollah do as well. This involves personnel coming close to the border, finding some sort of vantage point or target that they then have a line of sight to, and then firing on that position and retreating further into southern Lebanon. The IDF says overnight and yesterday that there are artillery positions here in the north, struck some of those points of origin for where Hezbollah was launching, and that also took place simultaneously with airstrikes that they were targeting these points of origin. And, Zach, it's not just Lebanon, Syria too is involved, albeit in a much more low-key fashion, let's put it that way. And what we're seeing in a few nights ago, there was an attack attributed to Israel. No comment on that. Of course, it has been targeting, eliminating rather, two Iranian officials there. Iran now is saying retaliation is underway. Which does raise everyone's eyebrows up here, just knowing how deeply involved Iran is in these factions. Syria equation is interesting because we often don't see as much independent reporting that it attributes who claims responsibility for some of these launches, whereas Hezbollah is sometimes quick to take to social media and post as if it was their own victory and exclaim the greatness of their actions. In Syria, you don't see that from some of the factions that, again, are tied to Hezbollah, tied to Iran. They operate in a much different political context under Assad's regime, of course, as well. So it is interesting to see yesterday's launch that the IDF has not clarified was it a rocket or a drone. And if it was a drone, that would be significant again, because that could be potentially equipment supplied by Iran with their much more sophisticated levels of unmanned aviation, those unmanned drones that have quite a distance, a range, and they are packed with explosives. Yes, from North, from East, from South, many different battle fronts, all addressed simultaneously to an extent. And I, 24 News Correspondent Zach Anders in northern Israel, thank you very much for this. And before we begin to unpack what is currently happening and what we're likely to see in the coming days, let's take a listen to the latest from IDF spokesperson, Daniela Garry. As we expand the operation in Gaza, we remain committed to our goals, secure the release of our hostages and dismantle Hamas. We will operate as we have done until now, according to international law. We will operate as we have done until now against Hamas centers of gravity. We pursued them in northern Gaza, we're now pursuing Hamas in southern Gaza too. We will operate in maximum force against Hamas terrorists and infrastructures while minimizing harm to the civilian that Hamas places around them as shields. We're dropping leaflets with QR codes that opens a map guiding Gazans to safer areas. The map is divided into neighborhood numbers indicating where civilians in a specific area should go to avoid being in the crossfire. We call on international organizations in Gaza to assist us with this effort. It can help save lives. We also call on international organizations to ensure that the Red Cross gains access to our hostages in Hamas captivity. 137 hostages are being held in inhumane and brutal conditions. And not one international organization has seen them. The more we hear about the cruel conditions in Hamas captivity, the more urgent our mission, our global mission to rescue our hostages, becomes. And we're joined now into you by Colonel Amit Assa, former member of the Israeli Security Agency. Colonel Assa, thank you very much, Jeff, for joining us. Well, it seems that what we are likely to see in the coming days is some sort of war of evacuations following what we just heard from Daniel Agari and from our very own Pierre-Claude Schindler, this new modus operandi of blocks dividing the southern part of the ship into blocks to allow more precise surgical operation in a densely populated area with a minimal amount of civilian casualties. That's the main goal. Yes, it's a dilemma. It's a big dilemma because we want that nobody will get harm from the civil population. But in the second hand, we have to understand that Hamas is holding them. And part of the places, they are not letting them go from the places because they are shields, human shields for the Hamas, and we know it. But we will do the most that we can to move civilians from a place of action. And this is the dilemma because when you do so, you're pointing where you're going to act. So Hamas will know exactly where's the places that we will be in. But still, we are working on the infrastructures against tunnels, against buildings, against all the equipment that the missiles are on the ground, under the ground. So it's not so bad for us to say where we want to act. But still, it's a dilemma. And we are insisting to have the war aim in front of us in the other end to save human life. And to that point, perhaps we're seeing quite clearly that Hamas, it's not just a surprise of the offense of the horrific October 7th massacre that caught Israel again. And by surprise, to an extent there is also a surprise in the defense state of mind of Hamas. As in perhaps the IDF anticipated more face-to-face battles above ground. And we're seeing the opposite. We're seeing Hamas terrorists hiding in tunnels and very much reluctant to engage in battles with the IDF forces. I think up the ground we have battles. And we have succeeded in most of the battles up ground. But again, we are dealing also in the underground. But I think that the IDF is doing very well while putting everything in control in the upper ground. So after it, we can deal with the underground very easy where the time goes by. There will be a problem inside the tunnels until they will get out anyhow. So we have time. When we are controlling the upper, it's better for us to control also the tunnel. But is there, again, I'm not sure we can even use this term in the context of the current war. But so I wouldn't say victory. But will there be a resolute achievement without addressing Hamas and Gaza underground? I think at the end, we need to have all the control up and down. But this stage, we are holding the upper ground. And we have to achieve control on all Gaza Strip in the upper ground. And then we will deal with the other places that we didn't deal maybe in the other ground, the deep bunkers that we are not dealing now. And another aspect that we have to understand that there is other hostages in Hamas hands and they are kept underground. So we have to be careful not to harm them when we are dealing with the upper ground. So it's another dilemma. Absolutely. And we just trapped up a week of ceasefire. Now we're back to war mode. What indications are we getting in terms of the level of control Hamas has at the moment, both when it comes to the civilian population, but more so when it comes to the communication lines between the Hamas leadership in the Strip and the terrorists on the ground? We're seeing quite good communication flow, I must admit. Yes. It's not that I have the information that the army have. But what I can see in the Hamas members that are speaking all over the world, and especially Salah al-Aroori, that is staying now in Lebanon, and they start to speak from there and not from inside Gaza, that the communication that they had maybe is lower than before, the ability for them to connect from place to place with each other is lower than before. Lower than before, but still factory, quote on quote. Yes, still they have it. They have the force. They have the ability to launch missiles, most of it is from the south side of Gaza Strip. And we have to understand that we are dealing in Gaza is just 20% while we are dealing with Gaza, 20% of the Gaza Strip. So now we are heading to the center and then to the south and step by step, we will have control of everything. And last night, Israel's Khan News, the public broadcaster, released recordings of the head of Shin Bet Ronin Bar, where he's saying that Israel's objective is to eliminate not just Hamas commanders, not just Hamas leaders in the Strip, as in Muhammad Defi, of course, but also Hamas officials abroad, Qatar, Turkey, they're all on the hit list, if you will, of Israel. And we can safely assume, let's put it that way, that this recording came out not unintentionally. Let's put it that way. Yes. First, I think that we have to be attention that this is the first time that Ronin Bar is speaking to anybody because he was in the war and he was occupied himself in other things. But it's interesting that he's getting out with this announcement. It's not that the head of the Hamas don't know that we are seeking for the death, but he is giving us a message for the population, mostly for the Israeli population. We will not forget. We will not forget who is dealing with us in this kind of cruelty, have to be understand that he will be dead in the future and it will take some time. Okay. Might not be tomorrow and not tomorrow. It's not tomorrow. Maybe in a month they need to know that we will seek for the death until we will find them. And they will get into ground now, even if they are in Turkey, even if they are in Qatar, they are on the ground. They know that we are looking for them. Or above ground in luxury hotels in Qatar and Turkey, feeling immune, emphasis on the feeling, perhaps. But while we are here talking about strategy and tactics and who should be afraid and who should not, as we speak, that there are still 137 hostages in Hamas captivity, Tal Haimi went out on the morning of the bloody Saturday of October 7th, ready to fight, protect his family, his community, his country, joining the standby squad there. His pregnant wife, Elan, was left with her children locked in the house while terrorists were roaming around the Kibbutz. Some of Tal's friends were killed immediately and he himself was kidnapped ever since. There's no night. There's no day for his family. And we want to speak now to Udi Goran, Tal's cousin. Udi, thank you very much for speaking with us. We know it's not easy to relive this moment every time I knew with every interview, but we do appreciate your time. Before we talk about what you know, what you do not know, tell us a bit about Tal, the perfect embodiment, if you will, of a Kibbutz, Nick, as we call it here in Israel, a third generation there, the epitome of courage and bravery. Thank you for having me and thank you for keeping this topic alive. And you're absolutely right. When we talk about strategy and tactics, we have to make sure we remember what we're doing it for and what's on the balance. And what's on the balance is not just the lives of Ishti Sinwar and the other people who've committed the atrocities of October 7th. Tal is a third generation in the Kibbutz. His grandparents and my grandparents were the founders, among the founders of the Kibbutz where he was kidnapped from. He is a civil engineer. He's a family man. He's shy. He's not necessarily the first person you'd notice when you walk into a room, but he's always the first to land a hand to make sure everybody around him is doing well. He makes sure to wake up every morning to make sandwiches for the kids and come back in time to read them bedtime stories. And he is very much an integral part, not just of his family, his immediate family or extended family, but also very much an integral part of the community of the Kibbutz. Right and we did this past week, hope and fear mixed together now back to war mode. Share with us what's been going through your mind because hostages that were released are sharing some of the horrors of captivity, also providing some information on some of those left behind. Have you heard anything? Sadly no. We know nothing new about him since October 7th. And one of the biggest disappointments and hardships that we're facing is that during this deal that we were of course very happy to see people coming back home and to see that there is someone to negotiate with and there is a progress forward. And the part of the deal was that the Red Cross was supposed to be there. The Red Cross was a part of the deal. They were supposed to visit the hostages and at least get rid of some of the uncertainty, the ambiguity. We don't know to this point, are we waiting for Tal to rejoin the family and for them to be able to move forward together or are we waiting to bury a body? We don't know. No clue. And you know, we're in this struggle day and night without even this little piece of information that would let us know what should we expect at the end? Yes, in this hell of reality, knowing, not knowing, we're not sure what is worth, what is worse rather. And healthy men are last on the list in this hell of, again, of a reality. This selection Hamas is pursuing. What are you hearing from Israeli officials? We know that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to meet the families of the hostages to meet you as early as tonight after you posed an ultimatum earlier in the day. So first of all, I think this is a very, very important step by Netanyahu because he hasn't met officially the war cabinet, hasn't met the hostages. And I think it's crucial because it's very different to hear their stories firsthand and to fully realize what is happening there. I think it becomes sort of a narrative in the media that being a hostage wasn't that bad, and it's the opposite of the truth. There are horrific stories coming out of God, and we know for a fact that every day that they are there is diminishing the chances of them coming back. And all we're getting right now is that we keep hearing the same thing over and over again, that there's nothing we can do, that there's nothing we can initiate aside from waging war and putting more pressure on Hamas in order to release more hostages. And I have two major issues with the fact that this is the only thing that at least on the outside, this is the only thing that Israel is initiating. Because one, we know that the bombing and the attack is hurting the hostages. Now we know it for a fact because we hear the stories. People have been hurt by our own attacks. And the other thing is that if this is the only leverage that we have, this puts us in a place where when Hamas would have absolutely no reason to release my cousin. If we're going by categories and Tal is a healthy man, you would be one of the last people to be released, then the last 40 people or so would be the only thing standing between Sinoir and his life. And this would just put Israel in a position where either we create 40 or 50 Gilad Shalits or Rona Rads, the hostages that either haven't been returned for five years or haven't been returned at all. It creates a situation that's really unsolvable. The top priority must be, everything that we do must be that we need to make sure that all of them come back, not just the women and children, not just the people who are most vulnerable, but all of them have to come back. Yes, this is exactly what separates the two sides. One that is celebrating and cherishing life and not seeking death in the life of Tal and the other hostages, more important than everything else. And we must prove it, absolutely right. Right, prove it in action. This is exactly it. Udi Goran, we are sending all the strength possible from here and hopefully we will be speaking to you again after you tell Tal about all the efforts you've made to bring about his homecoming when he's right back here with us. Thank you so very much Udi Goran for this. We're taking a short break now, but when we get back, as we've mentioned, some horrific testimonies, just some are beginning to come to light and we will bring you, we'll bring you them. Israel is in a state of war, families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Welcome back, thanks for staying with us. To hell and back after over 50 days in Hamas captivity, the Israeli hostages, the freed, are speaking. Some, not all, sharing some, not all of the horrors they experience in our, Erica Jackson is bringing their stories. Nearly two months after Hamas' brutal attack in Israel on October 7th, freed Israeli hostages are now telling first-hand accounts of what it was like being kidnapped and taken into the Gaza Strip. Among those sharing stories of being taken captive and held under life-threatening conditions are 85-year-old Yulchavit Lipschitz and 84-year-old Dietza Hyman. In the last couple of days, I had no idea what was going on with Hamas, and in the last couple of days, I had no idea what was going on with Hamas in the last couple of days. The food was not a big deal at first, but as time passed, the food was gone, it was almost impossible to say what was going on with Hamas. Those who have been freed also detailing the mental anguish of what it was like to be held against their will, including 44-year-old Danielle Eloni, who was kidnapped with her 5-year-old daughter, Amelia. The children we see, the things that children say to them, or at any age, do not need to see. You are a mother, you feel that you want to raise your child and get rid of this child. I speak and I see it, it was a success. It was amazing. It was no more than a day. There was no rest. There were years, memories. Every day that passes, it is a miracle that it will not end. It is a miracle that every day there are a lot of 85-year-old children, and more children who will not be left alone in the middle of the world. And our main goal for this year is to bring them back to Jesus, the Father. Those who have been freed echoing the same message that time is running out. Every day is critical, also because of the children, and the children are living there very difficult and the 5th child is leaving and leaving. And people there in the meeting, people can die because he just needs to leave them. I ask, I ask, I ask for forgiveness from all of you, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, they will not be able to live with you! More details are likely to emerge about October 7th as more of those who were kidnapped are expected to share their stories as well. It took eight weeks, eight weeks for you and women to condemn Hamas for the rape, sexual abuse, abuse, mutilation, and other horrendous, horrendous crimes against Israeli women. On October 7th, such—the mouth cannot even say out loud. But even the condemnation now, far weaker, rather, than humanity can contain really, simply put, too little, too late. And we want to turn now to Dr. Alona Hagaya Frey, research fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute. Dr. Hagaya Frey, thank you very much. We're joining us, well, is it too little, too late? One would assume that after eight weeks of silence, the response would be stronger, and yet one would assume it will not take eight weeks. Yes. It's too little, it's, of course, too late, but it's not late to do better. It's not late to apologize, a strong apologize to all the women in Israel, especially the victim and the survivor, and to do, to do, to explain, to investigate, to do all the things that these women organizations know to do and did so well in the past. So to that point exactly, now that they've finally made a statement, are we expecting any action to back it? Of course, of course, there was a long silence, as you said, and even denied, because I think if the silence, although women tell it's happened, although all the evidence, the strong evidence show it's happened, now they have to act. They have to condemn, they have to separate all the Palestine narrative from the Hamas attackers, and to see the truth in the face, I admire those women that stood and protest and asked these women to break the silence. And now this organization, especially the feminist organization, have to talk, to speak, to investigate, to help to bring these off criminals to justice. This is their duty. This is what they are promised to do to any women in the world, and they do wrong so long for eight weeks. This is the time to do something right and to investigate. First of all, to apologize. I think this is the woman way, the male deny so long, and the women start to speak about it. Now, apologize, take responsibility, say we're sorry it's happened, we are investigating and bring all the facts and bring it to justice. It's very interesting because you're right to point out that part of the feminist movement or the Me Too movement that was, of course, created as a result of it, one of the main arguments is that man cannot claim responsibility or unable to apologize and putting aside whether you agree with the supremacist or not, that was at the core, at the epicenter of this movement, and now it's them who need to do what they preach for, to practice what they preach for, and today Gal Gadot chiming in, slamming global women's movements altogether for failing women on October 7th, simply put, but Dr. Hagaifry, can trust ever be rebuilt after this, no less than betrayal, really? We must build trust. We are women, we are women that so long were apart and separate because of the male narrative, and we build all this women organization to fought for justice, and we have to forgive. This is, as I said, the female way to forgive, but to forgive after they do the right thing. First of all to apologize, to apologize to all the Israeli women, first of all the victims and the survivor, and then to investigate and bring the horrific criminal to justice. This will be the right thing to do. So Dr. Hagaifry, before we let you go, if you can perhaps elaborate a bit on what does it mean in practice, what type of action are we expecting, does these organizations to begin with, have any teeth, so to speak? Teeth not, but very, very important for legitimacy and for the justice process. I expect after the apology to investigate, they know how to do it, to hear the evidence, to look for other evidence, there are a lot of witnesses that can tell the story, a lot of films, they need to do a very solid report, detailed report with all the horrific sexual crimes that happened on October 7th, and then in the justice process, they have to stand by the survivor and be there for them and to tell the world what happened. Yes, too little, too late, but it is something, eight weeks on, finally a condemnation from you and women. Dr. Hagaifry, research fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, thank you very much for speaking with us. Thank you. Thank you. Now, the Haustard Square in Tel Aviv was painted orange this weekend as the heart of this entire nation is shattered into pieces because we're all waiting for those beautiful innocent redheads that got into everyone's souls to come back home. The Bebes family, the gut-turning video of Madar Shiri and her young boys, four-year-old Ariel, and now 11-month-old Kfir, he was nine-month-old when he was kidnapped, now he's 11-month-old. Being taken into the Gaza Strip from their home more than eight weeks ago became one of the most tragic symbols of this war. Their father, Yerdan, is in captivity too, Hamas, playing a vicious, vicious game, releasing a video of him a few days ago as part of the psychological warfare. The IDF cannot verify claims under well-being, and the heart is simply torn. Take a look. Wow, this is crazy. That's a crazy week, ups and downs, many ups and downs, it's an emotional roller coaster. This last week is a real win for motions, because every day we know not to hop too much so as not to be disappointed, but every day people return. And right now, there are still lots here with us. Unfortunately, even today, even in the sixth exchange, the Bebes family was not included. These were shaky days for the whole country, and certainly for the Bebes family. A week of hope and disappointments while the whole country holds its breath and waits for the list. When will the names of Kfir, Ariel and Shiri appear? No one will hurt her, so that you know how human we are. You know she has children. Everything was said about this moment, which became the symbol of this war, evil versus purity, terror versus horror. Ariel is only four years old, Kfir is nine months old. I don't know how they spent the night there. It's hard to believe that more than 50 days have passed since then. The two red-haired brothers and their parents were kidnapped from Kibbutz near Oz, and Kfir received the dubious and terrible title of the youngest abductee. Last Friday, when the kidnapped children started to come back, they were so hoping to see them. But it was not to be. I kept myself strong all the time to be strong, but this morning I cried because I couldn't hear. One more time. They're not on the list. It killed me this morning. I just can't take it anymore. That's it. I can't take it anymore. So the family decided it was time to further increase the pressure in Israel, and especially in the world. Hamas claims that they are in the hands of another faction, but that does not change the message. They should return home. Are these your enemies? We will repeat this in both Hebrew and English. Are these the people threatening you? Like this? With the pictures of the babies? In terms of posters, things, do you need something for us to complete? Yes, I need their pictures now. I only have the sign. They're getting ready for the statement they're going to give at 4 o'clock in Hostages Square, and we need posters of the family members. Let's make another bag, which before the declaration we will distribute to the people there to hold it during their declaration. In the logistics warehouse in a horrifying order, according to the alphabet, the pictures are placed, coming to the B-Bus pictures, a stack with high demand. Not a day goes by that we don't get questioned. What about the redhead? The people with the balloons begin to gather in the abductees square. After midnight, the yellow changes to reddish orange. All members of the extended family are already waiting in the family room. It's been everyone's effort for weeks. I know that our family, especially these two little ones, entered everyone's hearts deeply. And all of us together with the entire people of Israel were already expecting them to be here. We asked you here. Everyone is holding orange balloons. We will blow them all into the sky hoping that they will reach. I don't know, wherever possible. Let's offer prayers. Let it reach Gaza for those who need it. The main thing is that they return. We want them home now. Now. Now. Are we ready? You want a clap? All right. A lot of international media has arrived at the square and the family enters the information battle. Anyone willing to listen, anyone willing to interview, I feel like some kind of soldier in some kind of war that I don't understand. They tell me go to the expedition. I go. They tell me get an interview. I do the interview. These little red heads, these two young red heads really entered the hearts of everyone in Israel and also the whole world. Their photos appeared all over the world on newspaper covers. No one remained indifferent to these sweet faces. Isn't there some fear that precisely all these interviews and the exposure and the fact that everyone knows them increases their price because they are the strongest card? Did it cross our minds? Of course it did. Eventually, we have to make some kind of decision. Who do we trust and what our intuition says and go for it. And your intuition tells you to shout loudly. Bring them back? Yes. Today. We had a conversation in the family about this, whether we were wrong or not wrong all along, but the picture of Shiri and the kids was much bigger than us and it spread like wildfire. Even if we weren't interviewed even once, it just did its job. So I absolve myself of responsibility for this thing. What's going on? My thoughts are running about the night. About Los Angeles? The next morning they continued to the press. Yossi hesitates. He's supposed to leave tonight in a delegation to meet with politicians and celebrities in LA. In my opinion, your trip to Schwarzenegger is important. You will be able to use it to convey it in a meaningful way to the world. Let's give it a few minutes and figure out what we're doing here. The confusion becomes even more acute when a brutal push announced by Hamas arrives. Something's happening here. Let's give it a few minutes and figure out what we're doing here. At the moment, there is a push on the Bebas family, on the two children, on Ariel and Kfir, and on their mother. Hamas announced that they were murdered. We're connecting them to the team now. The family does not know how to accept these news. It may be that these news have nothing to do with reality. Maybe this event. It is part of the psychological warfare. Khanna Katsir, it was announced that she died, and she returned on her own two legs in good health. I think everyone is holding on to it now. We take this message with limited liability at this stage, because we don't know. Hamas is playing a psychological game with us. Hamas didn't know where they were until a minute before this message. He did not know. He lifted every rug. As soon as they run out, before they run out of time, they suddenly find them In my opinion, this is a poor excuse for continuing negotiations. It's not just the shaky manipulation from Hamas that you have to deal with. There's also the palpitations before the list is published. Actually, this is the last one before the end of the ceasefire. In the last few days, I kept hoping. I'm trying to convince myself it's just to abuse us a little more, but they will release them. They will release. But it's scary because, hey, we've reached the day before the last day of the ceasefire, the last day of release, as far as I know now, and they're not here yet. There's a problem here. The last day has arrived. Today is the day that if you are not freed, there is one more day left. We don't have time to wait. We don't have time to wait. We are very worried. We're really afraid of the thing. Trying to pass the time until the situation clears up does no other way. But despite the expectation, a sense of despair comes. Kfir, Ariel and Shiri are not listed. A chilling sign of life comes in the evening precisely from their father, Jordan, a video that does not bode well for the fate of his family. This is an act of psychological terror. Hamas' claims about the vivas family are still unverified. I repeat, they are still unverified. I repeat, they are still unverified. On Friday morning, the fighting resumed, and with it the concern of the vivas family and all the families of the abductees that their return is getting further away. And again, they oscillate between hope and despair, between ignorance and immense longing, the laughter of Kfir, the nonsense of Ariel, the smile of Shiri, the hug of Jordan. We want them back here, healthy and whole in body and soul. And the orange light we have in our hearts will continue to shine and shine until they are home. Yes, waiting for the vivas family to come back home. And we want to conclude this hour of the broadcast by heading back to the field, to the Israel-Gaza border, I-24 news correspondent Pierre Colchandler standing by their pier. Since we last spoke at the beginning of this hour, it's another round of red alerts being heard down south. Thankfully, according to what we understand, there are no direct hits anywhere. Yeah, you know, there's a difference between rocket fire and mortar fire. And many of the communities in the southern sector facing the southern sector of the Gaza Strip and Israeli territory are so close to the border that you only need a 60-millimeter mortar fire to hit those communities. And the problem is with this mortar fire is that iron dome is not efficient against mortar. It's only efficient against rockets. So, but almost all these villages have been abandoned by the civilians and only the army remains there in order to prevent any risk of infiltration from the Gaza Strip. Now, regarding what's going on in the northern sector, the head of the armored corps spoke to the IDF radio, Galed Sahal, and said that the mission in the northern Gaza Strip is almost completed. That means there were three hot spots that still needed to be taken over by the army. It's the Jebaliah refugee camps, the Zaitun neighborhood in east of Gaza City, and the Shejaia neighborhood southeast of Gaza City. So, if the head of the armored corps says that the mission has been completed, that means also possibly that those battalions that fought the IDF in Jebaliah, Zaitun, and Shejaia are neutralized or harmed to such an extent that they're not operative. That's my assumption according to the declaration of the head of the armored corps. Now, in south of Gaza City, of course, the ground offensive is gradually picking up with armored vehicles and infantry troops. One of the soldiers that is death-weathered announced this morning, one of the three soldiers who died on the battleground, is a reservist from the paratroopers who are fighting in Hanyounes. That would be the first confirmed death of an Israeli soldier in the central front of the Gaza Strip. There have been heavy bombardments on Hanyounes, on Rafah, on the central area of the refugee camps, Nusserat, Panisuela, El Burage, Direl Balach, all these places are targeted heavily. The army has said that just overnight, between, let's say, six in the evening and six in the morning, there were 200 airstrikes just during those hours. And Pierre, I would ask perhaps to put your reporting muscles aside and exercise your analytical skills, because we've been talking in the days leading up to the renewal of fire about the next targets. First and foremost, Hanyounes, the birthplace of Yixinwar and Muhammad Def, and also a main bastion of Hamas in terms of the governance and military abilities. And yet, isn't there a danger or risks, I will put it that way, in turning certain targets into such a symbol similarly to what happened, perhaps in the Shifa hospital in the northern part of the Strip and the earlier parts of the war? Of course, there is a risk. There is a humanitarian risk. And I think that the army and the Israeli government understand that a major part of the war, if you want the war to last for quite a while in order to dismantle Hamas's capabilities, both militarily, administratively, politically, you need a lot of time. And these areas now are crowded according to UN organizations. There is now out of a population of 2.2 million or 2.3 million people in Gaza, you have now 1.8 million that are south of Gaza City. In other words, the effort by the Israeli army to push southward the population, the civilian population, the non-involved population, in order to avoid unnecessary casualties in the northern front, now is going to create complications for the Israeli army. And the Israeli army is very much aware of that. This is why they've published this interactive map which is separating the whole of the Gaza Strip into hundreds and hundreds of numbered blocks. And if you live in a certain block that has been designated as the next battleground, you need to leave. And you need to leave and they give you a place where it's going to be safe to shelter yourself. And this is what happens on a daily basis. The map is updated every morning. Flyers are dropped from transport carriers of the Israeli Air Force with a QR code in order to notify the population that there is a way out of the battleground and which way to use with some small segments of humanitarian corridors that the army is setting up for them to leave to another place. Now the big question is what is the extent of the effects of that interactive map and all these precautions that the army is using? The Palestinian Ministry of Health, which is affiliated to Hamas and doesn't distinguish between civilians and terrorists, are talking already about 15,500 dead in the past two months. So if that is true, it's a staggering number. And obviously one of the important way out is... We're going to put a stop right here because we're taking a short break, but we'll see you right on the other side of it. I don't go anywhere. www.madeforme.co.il Made for me, official dresser of i24 News. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Contestants of the war, swords of iron. Exclusive interviews, reports from the war zone. The reaction of the Spanish-speaking countries. News 24, the only media in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel. News 24, only on i24 News. Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us as we continue our rolling coverage here on i24 News. Day 59 of the war and as we speak once again, Red Siren Alerts are being heard this time. Not in the south, in the north. So let's head there. Straight i24 News corresponds. Zach Anders with the i24 News team there. Zach, not for the first time. Likely not the last Red Siren Alerts in northern communities. What can you tell us? Yeah, once again, this is about the same time as it was yesterday that we started to get these Red Alerts. They're consistent. They happened in the morning, the afternoon and the evening. The Hezbollah launches have been detected all throughout the day yesterday. They included what appeared to be ATGMs and a mortar fire. These anti-tank guided missiles and mortar fire from personnel positions. But it's not to discount the fact that Hezbollah has been seeing launching heavy rocket launches from several miles further inside Lebanon Israeli positions here on the north and the situation. For these Red Alerts here, I do hear some distant action. It sounds like these... I'm hearing several very, very distant what sounds like thumps here. The Red Alerts that you do get are very, very limited. You have seconds to respond and to seek shelter because the hostilities are so close here. And as we speak, Zakadisa, I presume from the south, from the Gaza Strip, Barajah rockets towards Israeli-Israel center. Cities in central Israel are now rushing to shelter alongside communities in the south. So another round of rocket fire from north, from south. Zak, if you're still with us, we do know that there's this notion in the Israeli leadership. I wouldn't say the security solution, but the Israeli leadership that Israel can allow itself or rather should allow itself to be linear to an extent, as in addressing one threat first, then the other, then the third. And not all at the same time. But if part of the change of the perception post-October 7th was that the enemy should be assessed not according to its intentions, but rather according to its abilities. And if we're talking about abilities, Hezbollah in the north very much has a great ability to create this immense damage in Israel. It does. I think the key modifier here though, and some of the public discourse that's taken place with the decision makers, with senior IEF command, it's more about, well, the timing, the timing here is relevant because Hezbollah will be here. They'll be here. They're not going anywhere. And their actions, their offensives have been just limited to these distant exchanges. They're not attempting some large-scale incursion across the border. If that was to happen, of course, the reality would change here very quickly. But I do think that the, again, that sense that Hezbollah will remain and will remain here for several more weeks as the operation in Gaza continues. So is there a rush or some sort of a need to engage and eliminate the threat here? If you speak to the residents and the folks that are displaced from their homes, they want to come back. They want to live in safety up here, of course. But in the broader scale of war planning, of strategizing your resources across two fronts, it would be an immense challenge to pull resources on both fronts and to try and have a successful operation in Gaza and begin an offensive against a large fighting force here in the north. So I think that's the sense that's prevailing, at least now, is that because they're not going to go anywhere, because they'll continue to be a hostile actor here in the north, that the operation in Gaza is taking priority, and this, the attention will turn here when the time comes. Yes, the only certain thing, the abilities or the intentions of the enemy at this point in time, ironically enough. I, 2040s correspondent Zach Anders, thank you very much for this. So just to recap in the past couple of minutes, rocket fire from south towards southern communities of Israel and central Israel as well. And from the north, another round of Red Star and Alerts there as well. If anyone had any doubt, it's war mode back on again. And we want to welcome now here in studio, police commander Merav Lapidot, former spokesperson for Israel Police and CEO of Lapidot Communications and Strategy in our very own. I-24 News, a senior editor, Guy Israel. Thank you both very much for joining us. Guy, if we think that the threats are coming from the southern border with the Gaza Strip, the northern border with Lebanon, and perhaps east when it comes to the West Bank, well, now according to the National Security Agency, it's 80 countries around the world that pose different levels of threat to Israel, including those in Western Europe, those countries that were perhaps the last bastion of safety for Israelis, for Jews? Perhaps nothing new for anyone who have traveled to even destinations in Western Europe in recent years. Any male Jewish-observing Jew would know that walking around with a Yamaha in certain areas in Europe these days is not safe for him even before the start of this war. And nonetheless, yes, the National Security Agency today publishing new travel warnings, including to Western Europe. The warning for Western Europe is a level two. It includes the UK, France and Germany, also countries in South America, including Brazil and Argentina, Australia and Russia. When you travel to these countries, you need to be extra careful, but also raising the warning for other countries to level three. This includes countries in Africa, like South Africa, Eritrea, Central Asia, countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. For those, you are recommended to re-examine your trip if it's not vital. This is part of Iran's ongoing efforts to hurt Israeli and Jewish targets around the world, also world jihad, Hamas, and the growth in anti-Semitism and incitement against Israel around the world. We will address further a bit later on in the program, but it's important to know that level two alert, albeit extremely alarming, we're not talking about a don't go type of a warning. Just be safe and be more aware of your actions and behavior. There, perhaps, as you said, a guy part of the Jewish or Israeli consciousness, no matter what. Obviously, when we see these protests in Europe these days, very vocal, we've seen Israelis or Jewish people being assaulted in trams, in trains across Europe, certainly something to be aware of when you're out and about on the streets, even in Western Europe. And history is repeating. Exactly. And this is what I was just thinking, that 2023, the end of it, nearing the winter holiday season, and Jews are advised, Israelis and Jews are advised, to reconsider traveling to Britain, to Germany, to the UK. After we suffered the massacre, after we suffered the genocide by Hamas, and in the end of that, we are the one that's supposed to be cautious, because we are the one under attack. And this is something that the Europe communities, all at all, have to consider how they treat their problem with the Muslims inside Europe and not causing us not to come over there. Yes, it truly is insane. But let's circle back to what is happening here in Israel. After posing an ultimatum, clear cut, the families of the hostages still remaining in Gaza, as we speak, 136 of them, and as more testimonies are coming out, where we understand or begin to understand what they're going through, the families of the hostages pose an ultimatum to the war cabinet, to the Israeli Prime Minister. Meet us now, tonight, unless, or else rather, we will camp outside the IDF headquarters until Aviv and will not leave until you do. Prime Minister, yes, making the right call and agreeing to meet with them tonight. But what can come out of such a meeting? As you said, Ali, a lot of hostages are already in Israel. And as long as you hear their voices and their stories, you realize that there is not just a matter of inconvenient of being in Gaza, it's a threat, it's an imminent threat to their lives. People who came back, like suffered from very major loss of weight and its risks in their lives, especially the elder one without medicine and medical treatment. So they want to look in the eyes to those who are making the decisions and let them know that the most important role for this government now is, first of all, to bring them home. Later on, go on with your war. This is what they want to say to them. The work can stay on, the work can be held later on. But now you have to bring them home, because otherwise you'll bring them at corpse and not alive. Obviously, that is quite complicated when you're dealing with a murderous, vicious group like Hamas and those hostages that remain in the hands of Hamas are the cards. The only cards left at the group's hands, when Israel has already declared that the ultimate goal is to eliminate Hamas completely from Gaza, that is obviously a fair claim for the families to demand that of the government. Obviously, when you deal with Hamas, that is a lot more complicated, especially when many of the hostages are also male and female soldiers and the demands of Hamas are much greater than those that we saw with the previous ones. And we heard, regarding to that, we heard Oden Bar, the head of the General Security Service, that he said that the goal of killing Hamas leaders is going to take place all over the world, even in Qatar or Turkey or wherever they are. So this is something we didn't hear before that, before today, from directly from him. All right, we want to tune in now to the press conference by the CEO of the Schneider Children's Hospital, the Fraterrell. Let's tune in. Thinking about is that we really don't know, we just don't know how to treat those children. We read anything possible about children in captivity, with their families, without their families. Things have happened in different places. But an event like this of children facing what they did on October 7th as an event by itself and then being in captivity in such a horrific place for so many days, with or without others, with or without knowing what's going to happen with them, what's going to happen with their parents. This is something we did not know how to deal with. So one child told us, I actually thought that everyone forgot about me. Why did I think that way? Because this is what I've been told by the Hamas kidnappers. They told me, she said, that nobody cares about you anymore. Nobody's looking for you. Nobody wants you back. You can hear the bombs around. All they want to do is kill you and us together. A 13-year-old girl, this is what she has to hear for 50 days. So she comes back. And now, first of all, she has to believe that we were looking for her, that her parents were looking for her, that they cared about her. This is not something that takes a day or two even to start understanding how you make that child believe. The interesting thing is that children are children. I got all of them, all of them. I went all the way to the helicopter in our heliport at the medical center to get them. I went on the helicopter to greet them, to see how they are, to see if they need immediate medical care, just to watch them as we do in a triage, a fast triage. And they looked at them and they looked at me back, said, welcome. They looked like shadows of children, not like children. They looked like shadows. And children are just so strong that while we had them and we still have them doing those days that they were with us, first you listen to them, you look at them and they say almost nothing. Or they whisper or they ask very quietly, can we look out the window? Can you imagine a child asking if he can look out the window? Can I open the drawer? It's your drawer, honey. It's yours. It's your bed. You can open any drawer. Can I go to the shower? Many of them have not showered since their kidnapping days or have showered with a cold bucket if they were lucky. Can I go to the shower? Wow, there is warm water here. Can I walk out of the room? These are the kind of questions that we heard very silently during the first day. I think that we saw the first smile of many of those children, maybe after 24 or 48 hours. And this smile that we first saw gave us a lot of hope that children, like we see them in other conditions, are just enormously strong. That these children, no matter if they're three, eight, 13, 16, they will overcome with our help and with their help. I think it's the nature of children to recover. But we also know that after this smile come so many questions and they did. They started very quietly, but they continued with lots of stories that they told from captivity. Lots of stories that a mind can actually not imagine that a three-year-old child would tell a story about the red man that she saw next to her and to understand that that red man was someone that she knew that was covered by the blood so much that the only way that she could say to her mother, I saw that red man on the tractor. It's because she was covered with his blood and he was just red of blood. I don't know how many of you remember different things that happened to you while you were three or four. I try to think about it during the time that I'm not in the doing, but in the being. And I remember some things. I remember some events. I remember some good things and I remember some bad things. And when we try to look back at those children and their horrible stories, the only thing that I try to think, the only thing that when we sit together in our multidisciplinary team is to ask ourselves when they're our age in 40 years from now or 50 years from now, how do we make this memory a memory that will make them better and stronger people and not a memory that will ruin their lives? I think this is our greatest mission now as caregivers. I say in many situations that we put a lot of exclamation, we put a lot of question marks and not exclamation marks of what we do. Because I don't think that any of us really know what exactly we should do. Each and every one of those children, each and every one of those families have three periods in their lives as I see it. One period is until October 6. And as any of us, we have different lives, we have different families, we have different characters, we are in different ages. And that's until October 6. Then there is October 7. October 7 is a whole chapter for these families. And the third chapter is the captivity. And when people ask me how are they, what are the stories that they're telling, this is not one story. These are just if you're if you're into math, this has so many small parameters that we now have to take into consideration of these three chapters of their lives in order to understand how we're going to treat them further on. So you might see on some photos and you see the photos, especially from our hospital, a family come together, three children, a mom, a dad, sometimes just a mom, sometimes there is no mom or dad. But you see a child smiling to the camera. This is a hollow child with a smile, with hope, with the future. But what these children have gone through is simply unimaginable. And we have to go one by one for all these 36 children still waiting for two more to make sure that when they do grow up in a place like Israel, they grow up to be strong, healthy, understand what has happened to them, and help us help them recover from this disaster. If you have any questions, I'll be very happy to answer. Thank you, Dr. Harlew. Are there any questions? That was the CEO of the Schneider Children's Hospital, Fr. Harlew. And that was perhaps the most or rather the only important press conference that we've seen in the past, nearly 60 days since the bloody October 7th. Here in studio, we naturally talk about strategy and tactic and war maneuvers and diplomatic leeway. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to this, to 36, waiting two more hollow children, Hamas, stole their freedom for a while, but it also sought to steal their souls. And it is up to us, as Dr. Harlew just mentioned, to make sure they will not succeed with the letter. With us here in studio, still, Merav Lapidot, Gaye Israel, Merav Lapidot, you were listening to this chilling speech with us, hollow children. It's inconceivable, the situation. I agree with you from the very day of the bloody 7th of October. This is maybe the most important testimony that we have heard. And if there is anybody there out there in the world that thinks that maybe somebody thinks that, okay, they took the people because that or this kind of disagreement in diplomacy or over territory or whatever, nothing in the world would justify to take little children and murder their soul and murder their lives. And I don't know if any of them will ever be the same as they were before the 7th of October. And as she said, some of them came back when their father is still there and the guilt of being here when they left their loved one behind or those who came back to learn that their parents were slaughtered during this bloody Shabbat. So the horrors keep on coming, keep on going. And if there is anyone in the world that's still in silence, come, stand up, make your voice matter because this is something that no human being can accept. And it doesn't matter if you support Israel or Palestine or whatever. You cannot accept this massacre. You cannot agree with genocide. And you cannot accept the murder of little children's souls. So speak up. Don't be silent. And perhaps earlier in the broadcast, we spoke to Udy Goren, a cousin of Tal Haimi, who is still being held captive in the Gaza Strip. And we asked him what do they want to hear from the war cabinet that is set to meet with them tonight. And perhaps it's not even the question. Perhaps the importance of them meeting is simply for them to meet, to be heard, to be seen, even if there are no answers. Yes, obviously, as we mentioned, Hamas is a vicious terror group, and it will be a long and difficult process to get all the hostages back. However, Israel has made it clear that that is one of the goals of this war to bring back all the Israeli hostages. We've seen throughout the years to what lengths does the state of Israel go to return its sons and daughters in this case. We have not had cases of women taking hostages, as we do in this case. A massive number of unprecedented, not for Israel, for the entire world to see those children, these babies that were taken out of their beds, innocent Israelis, innocent civilians out of their communities. And obviously, the families do want to be updated, do want to know that they're being heard, that the voice is being heard, that somebody cares about them. And obviously, the government does. This operation now, this war in Gaza now is meant to increase the pressure on Hamas so that we will find the better conditions to return them and just going back to what those testimonies that we heard. It's going to be a very long healing process, not just for these hostages who are lucky enough to return, also for their families, but I think really for the entire state of Israel, because the state of Israel is not going to be the same as it was on October 6. And it will be, we're going through phases of shock, of mourning, and through understanding. And I think what is also very important here is remembering what the state of Israel is fighting for and what is it fighting against, the sort of evil that cannot exist on Israel's borders anymore, the removing that threat so that Israelis can live freely and safely in their homes. One sentence before we take a short break, yeah. Okay. We can see in Tik Tok now all the released hostages, children and teenagers posting their movies. And one might think that they're smiling and they're okay, please don't think so. Of course, we will continue from that point in three. Israel is in a state of war, families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where she is. Our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. There have been countless memorable moments broadcasting with I-24 news in the past six years. But for me, the one that stands out the most was the first time that I had ever personally heard a rocket siren sounding in Tel Aviv. And at that moment, we were live on air in studio. I will never forget the moment our senior producer said to me in my ear, the sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv. The control room is going to the shelter. With me in studio at the time were Michael Herzog, a former Brigadier General. Today, the Israeli ambassador to the United States. And Arsene Ostrowski, an international human rights lawyer. And their responses were completely different. Michael Herzog was calm and composed. And on the other hand, Arsene Ostrowski was trying to phone his family and check in to make sure that his loved ones were okay. The camera that normally faces us was hoisted from above. There was an overhead shot of the three of us in studio. You could see colleagues going to the shelter if you looked at the glass behind the studio. And obviously, we lost contact with our team on the ground, our reporters in Ashkelon, and all the witnesses that we were speaking to during that time. When rockets are coming towards a residential area, they don't distinguish between race, religion, political views, cultural views. They just intend to harm civilians. And that moment being in studio, hearing those interceptions overhead was the most real coverage I've ever been involved in. Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us. And now to the Organization of Angels. The ZAK organization is one of the most highly revered institutions in Israel. And rightfully so. We're talking about volunteers who help with the extremely difficult and painful process of collecting the remains of terror victims so they can be identified and laid to rest properly. And our Orishapira is reporting from Kibbutz Niroz, one of the community's hardest hit on October 7th, on their work there. Nearly two months after Hamas onslaught in southern Israel, volunteers of the ZAK organization are still working hard to collect body parts from the Gaza border area. Here in Kibbutz Niroz, 38 people were murdered. Yisrael Khasid, a volunteer and the spokesman of ZAK Tel Aviv, recalls the horrific moments when his crew first arrived to Niroz. We found blood on the bed, so we had to cut off the sheet and bury it. This house looks exactly as it was when we arrived here. One of the bodies was laying on the bed. It had melted from the heat. We had another body here and another one of a 15-year-old, which was lying on the grass, half burnt. In one of the houses, the team found human tissue and remains of hair. Khasid tells us about the tough moments he and his crew faced after October 7. One incident broke me and forced me to take some days off. I couldn't communicate with my family or anyone, actually. It was a baby, the same age and size of my daughter. Some of his body parts were removed. When I saw him, I was devastated. I said, that's it. I can't take it anymore. I'm 25 years old. Someone else should do this job. I got home and hugged my daughter. My wife told me, Yisrael, this is your mission. If you feel that you can't do it, take some time off. But then after several days, I saw that there were still hundreds of bodies, which remained unidentified. And it's very urgent, because the bodies are decomposing. And if we'll wait any more, it will be very hard, if not impossible, to identify the bodies. So I stood up and I said, that I'm willing to sacrifice my soul and body in order that we'll identify and bring as many people to burial in Israel as possible. As we walk inside one of the houses, we're greeted by evidence of the mental challenges that the crew faces. I had a conversation with a psychologist yesterday. He begged me to tell him what I've seen here. I asked him if he can handle it. He said, yes. We spoke for 15 minutes. I tried to hide some of the details from what I've seen here. I told him about one case, which really touched my heart. I couldn't sleep after it. As I told him the story, he stops me and said, I need to take a break and drink something. I can't take it anymore. When I heard it, I understood that the psychologist is also a human being. We perform like machines, hours and hours, days and days, without sleeping, without any break for our souls. Israel says that there are still eight missing people from October 7th. Some of the bodies or body parts were transferred to the Abu Kabeer Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv. Identifying them may be a difficult and complex procedure, which may use different methods such as DNA tests and scans. We had one body that was classified as a terrorist body. It had weapons on it. The CT scan engineer told us that it was not a terrorist body, but an Israeli resident. But all the documents had shown that he is a Hamas terrorist. He showed our volunteer David a scan that showed that he had coronary artery bypass surgery. He said that this surgery was done in such a professional way, he doesn't believe that the body belonged to a terrorist. They checked the list of missing people and they found someone on the list who had the exact same surgery. Our ambulance went to tell his Shomer hospital and got his medical records. They cross-checked the information and came to the conclusion that the body belonged to him. They couldn't identify the body in any other way because the body was totally burnt out. Zakatel Aviv is a branch of the famous volunteer organization which has existed for nearly 30 years. It numbers around 400 volunteers. Its main goals are identification, extraction and rescue of bodies and body parts. Many of the volunteers here are ultra-orthodox who see their mission as a religious decree. Bringing complete bodies to burial is a custom in Judaism. We'll continue to work and we won't give up until the last murdered person will be buried. We still have several missing people. Many corpses still need more evidence that we need to collect. We'll continue to come here. We'll search inside the horrors time after time. Going back to these places where the horrors occurred is the hardest thing. But we'll continue to do it. We'll go back here and everywhere we need to go, anytime, any moment, so we can find every small piece of information which can help us identify the bodies of those who are considered missing and who are not fully identified. Zakatel Aviv also operates a special center in Tel Aviv with special facilities for cases of mass casualties. This place is called the Reading Center. It is available for times of emergency to receive and to treat hundreds of bodies. We have family rooms, rooms to purify the bodies and to clean them. We have dozens of morgue freezers. We have a big space which can allow us to accept bodies from hospitals from all over Israel. Zakat volunteers say that despite the difficulties and challenges, they are proud to be a part of this organization which brings a final justice to the deceased. Perhaps another example of Israeli solidarity in the last few weeks. And this war far exceeded its geographic boundaries. Long ago, Jews, Israelis all over the world being attacked and bullied and threatened. This is just the latest in a string of such incidents in the U.S. Pro Hamas protesters in Philadelphia right outside a Jewish-Israeli-owned restaurant, leaving no room for doubt as for their intentions. Goldie Goldie, you cannot hide. I-24 News senior U.S. correspondent Mike Wagenheim is joining us now. Mike, thank you so very much for coming on the show. Well, this is no drill. This is code red or five-alarm fire as a majority leader Chuck Schumer described it a short days ago. No doubt whatsoever. We're seeing a protest like this throughout the country here. And it's one thing when we see these pro-Palestinian and in many cases pro Hamas supporters demonstrating out on the streets, marching through the streets, even, you know, going through events. We saw the Christmas tree lighting of all things protested recently here in New York City where a police officer was attacked by a Palestinian supporter. These are public events in general. When we're talking about boycotting Jewish-owned or Israeli-owned businesses that really have little to nothing to do with the conflict itself, that's where it really starts to veer into as the Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, Jewish man himself, said blatant anti-Semitism, which is, you know, a prime example. Michael Salamanov's a restaurant being protested and listed for a boycott by this particular organization. Him of all people, a prominent advocate for Israeli-Palestinian coexistence and peace really doesn't fit the bill for, you know, the hardcore Zionists that these people pretend to boycott on a general basis. It's not only in Philadelphia. We're seeing it in New York as well. We're seeing it in other places in Toronto. We're at Cafe Lanver, a popular Israeli restaurant, was protested against as well by these Palestinian supporters as they bill themselves. So this is a prime example of what Chuck Schumer, the majority leader and the highest elected American Jewish representative in history has been talking about. It's one thing to voice your opinion. It's one thing to protest Israeli colony. It's another thing to just try to down Jewish-owned and Israeli-owned businesses in America that are far removed, not only from the territory itself, but from the conflict itself, but it's showing no sign, Ellie, of abating. In fact, it's getting worse here by the week as this war drags along. And just, you know, numbers, sometimes not all the time, sometimes speak louder than words. Jews in the U.S., only 2% of the population, but the target of 55% of all religion-based hate crimes are registered by the FBI, only among those registered. But not undermining whatsoever the severity of what we're seeing in the streets or on U.S. campuses. And yet, there's still no actual political muscles, let's put it that way, to those movements in the streets. But now, they're trying to do that, just that, those pro-Palestinian groups are trying to create this political momentum and are launching this initiative that they're phrasing Abandoned Biden. Trying to create a situation in which the American president, the Democratic president, is paying a price for his support in Israel and with the elections so tight, it might be crucial. Even if it means that Donald Trump will win, and his views on Muslims and other issues are very clear in that sense. They want Biden to pay a price. No doubt they're using their political lobbying and advocacy, just as pro-Israel supporters are using their political lobbying and advocacy on a number of issues. Everybody's free to do that. In terms of best interest, as you mentioned, I'm not sure they want to go with the guy who wants to ban all Muslims from the country. But third-party candidate is certainly a possibility. Staying home and not voting at all is certainly a possibility. Those polls, those numbers, those stories, those anecdotes right now are far removed from the general election. I think far too much stock is being put in a lot of things in terms of what might happen in November of 2024. But it certainly doesn't change the fact that it could have an impact on President Biden's policies in the near term. If he sees that he could potentially lose that support, he may try to balance out his policies vis-à-vis Israel and the Palestinians here. So certainly from that political front, it could. I want to note something, Ellie, as you note the rise in anti-Semitic incidents. I attended a couple weeks ago the sentencing of a Palestinian who was accused and convicted of a hate crime against a Jewish man at a rally outside of Times Square during the last Israel Hamas conflict back in 2021. A vicious gang beating of a Jewish man, not even Israeli, just Jewish. And the defense lawyer, not the prosecutor, the defense lawyer as a defense said that one of the mitigating factors in this man's sentencing should be that he was essentially brainwashed growing up and was fed a certain narrative as to Jews and Israelis and how they should be treated and what their complicity is in crimes against. This was the part of the defense for this man. It was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison by the judge. So we're seeing, even incorporated within this rise in anti-Semitism, this background we're seeing not only in homes but in educational institutions and high schools and colleges, sort of this brainwashing of young people, not just Palestinians, but just people on campus in general, of this conflict and the narrative being built here that is substantially anti-Israeli and we're seeing it play out right now on the streets. It's not just within the Arab community or the Palestinian community, but I think the wider educational community that we're seeing this play out as and it's going to be interesting studying this in the years to come exactly the effect that this mindset on these campuses and these educational environments have had on these young Americans and how it's played a role here in the rise of anti-Semitism. Well, definitely we're seeing the immense generational gap here when examining a support or lack thereof to Israel with the division of generations. And Mike, before we continue our conversation, as we speak yet again, red siren alerts being heard throughout Israel's southern communities, an ongoing situation there, and this is perhaps a good opportunity to remind our viewers here in Israel that the Home Front Command instructions are saving lives every single day, especially now as we're saying that the rocket fire is intensifying yet again. Adhering to these instructions is of paramount importance and again saves lives every single day, so please do follow the Home Front Command instructions and rush to shelter when this siren is heard. Mike, we're obviously seeing the bond, this destiny, this shared destiny, Jews in the diaspora in the U.S. and Jews here in Israel are feeling nowadays that this bond is getting stronger and yet is there a fear to an extent for the opposite to happen long run. As in, now we're seeing this connection underline, but maybe it will reach a point where Jews in America will feel they're better off not supporting Israel, even for the sake of their mere safety. I haven't seen that, Ellie. I've seen the exact opposite here in America. There was talk for a long time, and some of the numbers bore it out, that there was a growing chasm between American Jewry and Israel. Some of it just a natural extension of the time past since the founding of the state and the kind of connection there was in Israel's original founding ideas. There were political differences among more liberal American Jewry, which is the dominant strain here, versus an increasingly right wing Israeli government or Israeli populist. October 7th changed everything in terms of the connection between Israel and the diaspora, specifically here in America. It's been broad support from all strains of American Jewry. There's been very little criticism, even of Israeli actions in Gaza militarily. We've seen the donations increase. We've seen the rhetoric in terms of a support increase. I think we've kind of turned a corner in terms of that. I think it always goes back. When things settle down, you could always see kind of a drift back to the status quo the way it was. But in terms of people fearing for their safety, in terms of it resulting long-term in a growing chasm between Israel and the diaspora, I see something different. I see more of a strengthening as a result of October 7th than anything else. Hamas did itself, I don't think that was one of its intentions, but if it was, it did itself no favors in trying to break apart the diaspora and American Jewry in these protests, I think that are going out on the streets right now, have only strengthened that connection. I think the Jewish community here in America has seen that they've kind of been left to their own devices, and it's only a tighter knit community here in the shorter term. Yeah, the mishpoche, right? And speaking of, Mike, it's the Festival of Light in a few days. Obviously, it feels the exact opposite. It feels like such a dark period, not feels, it is a dark period in our lives. And yet the holiday of Hanukkah is nearing, but many communities, Jewish communities in North America will not be celebrating because of security threats or because they're simply not allowed to. I think the former, I think Jewish communities throughout North America here are doing everything they can, and there's been upgraded police protection in a number of communities. There's been upgraded government initiatives in a number of communities. We have seen some communities, though, and it's been out in the news lately, canceling, and these are public ceremonies, not private religious-related ceremonies. The public ceremonies, just like Christmas mystery lightings or, you know, Kwanzaa celebrations, they've been canceling menorah lightings in some communities because they say either there are too many security concerns, or we've seen one community up in Canada that canceled the ceremony because they said they didn't want to be insensitive to those who might be harmed by the Israeli Hamas conflict, which, you know, is just nuts in so many different facets. I'm not seeing any synagogues, I'm not seeing any Jewish organizations here in America shutting down Kwanzaa celebrations, if anything, they're kind of turning up the noise a little bit, but you can always sense there is that little bit of uncertainty that is there a little bit of tension in the air when it comes to these ceremonies, and I think we'll see an increasing amount of security, whether it's local or state law enforcement, especially here in the New York area, it's already been announced that they'll be out in full patrol here to make sure that these ceremonies aren't dogged by protest or possibly violence. Again, just another example of the rise in anti-Semitism when you can't light a Hanukkah menorah in public for fear of some sort of backlash, but no, the state of the times right now. Well, Mike, you cannot shut off the darkness, but you can always turn on the light, and this is what the holiday of Hanukkah is all about, and this is what being Jewish is all about, I guess. I-24 News senior U.S. correspondent Mike Wagenheim, live for us from New York. Thank you so very much for this, Mike. And as I said, even in those times of outmost darkness, Jewish groups are doing what they do best, spreading light. So in the upcoming holiday of Hanukkah, Jewish Santa Claus is working overtime, and we want to welcome now Elad Maimon, CEO of Cheyenne High Lifeline Israel. Elad, thank you very much for joining us. Well, tell us about this year's Hanukkah toy drive, right? Right. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. And so every year we're doing a toy drive for kids with cancer. We have over 600 families all over Israel, and this year we increased it like tremendously. It's going to be also for the displaced family, for the kids of the soldiers, the kids in the war. It's going to be for also families from the kidnapped families. So we're talking about thousands and thousands of toys, biggest one we ever had, and it's only coming more and more. We carry on, we keep going and wrapping and just bringing this light to these families and this dark time. It's what we're doing. So Elad, before I ask you about the technicalities of this initiative, these days are particularly difficult for everyone. But tell us a bit about what the past two months have been like for those who are already facing hardships, medical ones most notably. And it's just unimaginable. Can you imagine someone like the sick child and the mom or the father need to be in the hospital with the child and the other kids, the siblings at home without any support and the siren going on? Even if the government like offered them to go to the hotel, they tell me like, what are you going to do at the hotel? Like how can I leave my kids in the hotel if I need to be in the hospital? It's just a situation, terrible, terrible situations. We never faced something like this before, but we're doing everything to make sure this family is going to be like next to the hospital to try to give them everything they need so they can, other kids also, they can be in a normal place and the family, all the support of volunteers going to them, the houses, spend time with them to be with the other siblings or with the parents need to be with the siblings, our volunteers stay with the sick child in the hospital, sleep there, like doing everything we can to make sure this family have the support they need. Yes, and again, before you tell us exactly how things work and how our viewers can help, the silver lining perhaps in the past eight weeks, more than eight weeks now is this wave of volunteers. Every single Israeli, every so many people abroad are chiming in and this is what you guys are doing on a regular basis. What has it been like to see again this volunteering spirit taking over? It's been amazing. It's been amazing to see it, people coming from all over the world just for solidarity trips, coming and help. And we also, from the beginning of the world, it's not only for the kids with cancer, we saw, we have our volunteers, they're doing it anyway, so we also built like new projects. We had like every single night they were doing barbecue for the soldiers in the army base, every single day we're doing carnivores for the displaced family in the hotels because we find that before even the government start to think about the support of volunteers and case managers and professionals already being in the hotel and give everything for these families to make sure all the support they need because we realize just from the beginning it's just a terrible situation and we have our people anyway, the volunteer all the year, so we just use them, we use our professionals and our stuff just to help these families and to see the people coming from all over the world on a daily basis, delegation and delegation coming in support, sending us toys, we have people, all these toys we see on our new screens, it's communities from the state, sending more and more, everything we need, everything we ask them, they're just sending, raising money more than ever, it's going to be double the amount of people going to also for the delivery, it's just been amazing to see all the solidarity with the people coming together to help our children, all the displaced families too. Right, and in those videos we're seeing on screen now during our conversation, you can see how the volunteers are, you can see their spirit really getting out of the screen, you can see that they're doing it with great privilege and great joy as they should with great happiness, so Elad Mahimon before we let you go, how does it work exactly this tour drive, there's a well curated registry, right, like in weddings, so kids will not just be getting the go-to general backman figure but exactly what they wanted, right? Correct, so every child has a wish for Hanukkah and we're talking about over 700 families, the usual, and now we have all these displaced families, we have thousands more toys coming and everyone has a wish and for the past month already we're collecting and still these days now when we're talking volunteers here packing day and night, busy packing the toys and from Thursday when Hanukkah starts for eight days, we're going to have every morning 20 cars here, delivering the kids, going from house to house, from hospital to hospital, from hotel to the other hotel where all these displaced families to make sure every child is going to have a smile on the face this Hanukkah and to bring their lives to all these kids and families. Yes, smiling not despite but because of what is happening, smiling because of the Jewish, the Israeli spirit, thank you very much for what you do and very much for speaking with us and happy Hanukkah as much as possible, hopefully light will conquer the darkness. Thank you so much for having me, thank you very much and happy Hanukkah to all of us, thank you very much. Amen, amen and now we are concluding this broadcast now but Benita Levine will be here at the top of the hour with all the latest updates from the Grand Eye 24 news teams are spread across Israel from