 came back living through hell. Back at 24 years special coverage and our man in the south today is Guy Azriel. What's the latest guy? Jacob, the fighting is ongoing. It can be heard very clearly, very loudly. Here we're hearing IDF shelling. We're hearing drones above our heads. We heard fighter jets earlier. We even heard automatic fire. It's all happening here in the northern part of the Gaza Strip as the IDF continues to take over the neighborhood of Sajai and also Jabalia, still two strongholds of Hamas that the IDF has yet to capture. But as we speak about the north where we are, all the action, or most of the action is happening in Ghaniunis. Ghaniunis, just to explain to our viewers, is the second largest city in the Gaza Strip. It is believed that Hamas leaders, Yahasin War and Mohamed Def, are both in this city. Yesterday, the IDF chief, Harzi Alevi, announced that the IDF has encircled that city. And today we're hearing from the head of the IDF Southern Command, Yaron Finkelman, that the forces are pushing forward into the city. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking just moments ago saying that the troops are also now encircling the home of Yahya Sinwar. It is not likely that Sinwar is at home. If it's called for pizza, he will not be there. But nonetheless, that is an important achievement for the IDF taking over substantial areas in Gaza, including home of such a senior official in Hamas. He is believed to have fled his home. He could be hiding in tunnels, could have even fled the Gaza Strip. The IDF forces will continue to search for him. The goal is to eliminate both him and Mohamed Def, those Hamas leaders, as part of the IDF operation. Also today, Guy, another ballistic missile from Yemen was intercepted on its way to the southern city of Elat. Yes, the IDF stressing that that missile did not make it into Israeli territory. It was intercepted by Israel's Arrow missile defense system. Once again reiterating the threat coming from the Red Sea, from the Yemeni Khoutis, they have been firing both ballistic missiles and drones into Israeli territory several weeks ago. One of these drones hitting a school in the city of Elat, so that threat is imminent. Also, the other threat of the Khoutis is the threat to the cargo ships in the Red Sea. They have threatened and they have done so. They have targeted several boats that they considered related to Israel. This is an issue that is a major concern not just for Israel, but also for other parties in this region. US Navy boats were also targeted over the past several days, taking down drones that were targeted at them. Israel will be looking to establish some sort of an international interference to eliminate that threat, obviously, on the city of Elat in other places in Israel, but also a major concern for that cheaping route in the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal. All right, guys, Rial, Inzderot, thank you very much. We'll get back to you later. Here in the studio with me is Major General Retired Eitan Dango. Thank you very much for coming. Let's talk about the Cabinet meeting later this evening, Israel time, about the request of the United States to even increase the humanitarian flow of oil, gas, and other things in Toghaza. How do you see this? First of all, the headlines of the Cabinet I think created an interest and also signal tense between Israel and the United States and bring it to a point that under the fact that we are during a war and during a very, the most important step till now. Everything was important, but now is the major step of this war to come to conclusions or things to be done by the Israeli Defense Forces that will have impact on Gaza and also on the North. And we can talk about it later. But tonight was something that it was reported that the United States forces Israel to make a Cabinet meeting. Even Israel asked to do it not today, tomorrow or the day after about this issue of the humanitarian thing on the fuel level of fuel. I think it's signal not a good thing. Basically for Israel and United States relationship under the fact that we are running toward achieving the goal that the United States absolutely supporting Israel. Secondly, if you analyze it from the issue of the war of what is going on the operational side, it's a very bad step because it's coming during maneuvering of forces while the south is most of the Palestinian people. You have to stop all the convoys of humanitarian aid that are coming, only those who were agreed. And we know that fuel is a symbol that give Hamas leadership, the Hamas entity, a backwind to show we are exist, we are here, we will take it and it will be a fuel to the existence, not for the vehicles, for the existence of Hamas and under the ground, much more true to say today. Secondly, the fact is that it's bringing it to the partners of Bibi Netanyahu in the cabinet, from other parties as we know specifically, Smotrich or Ben V, to raise the fact that they are against it and it will serve political. So maybe United States wants to emphasize the fact there is like 300 points from the United States to this war. First of all, support the goals, but under the humanitarian condition in Gaza. Secondly, PA will continue to be exist in the West Bank and under the two-state solution and in the North against any kind of increasing or escalating the situation to a war. So today, United States making a proof and I believe also a short message to Israel, listen, the fuel is not a fuel. The fuel is the clock, is the timetable. You have to hurry up because under the humanitarian and other reasons we will stop. And I think behind United States is the fact of a pressure that before it's serving the United States, interior issue, it's serving the block of Arab-modern countries that need it for their position. It's not damaging Israel, but you know sometimes the issue of state of mind is taking outside. On the logic way, great mistake by the United States in this timing. On the general issue, we can live with it. On the political level in Israel, I believe it will break noises and problem if it will be to make another government that will really bring the majority of Israel to it. I think... I'll agree to noises. You've mentioned the north. Let's go to the northern border with Lebanon. I-24 near Zak. Andrews is standing by live there with the latest act. Well hello, this is the day where Hezbollah has taken credit for as many as seven separate attacks along the northern border here. The major news of the day coming from a meeting with the defense minister here with the mayors and heads of council of these communities in the north that have had to been evacuated essentially since October 7th with the news that he says they plan to remain under these evacuation orders in Tel. They can secure the situation with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. He references the 1701 agreement that Hezbollah forces would remain above the Lutani River and that until that happens it will not be secure here for the residents to return to their homes. Of course that given Nasrallah's statements and the actions here, the daily actions here that would apparently involve a need and necessitate some offensive action to be able to either communicate the willingness to move forces, Hezbollah forces back to where the 1701 agreement says they should be or the brokerage of some sort of deal involving international partners that would insist that that original agreement on the backs of the 2006 Lebanon war would be honored. All right, Zach, thank you very much for that. Back to the studio here with Eitan Dangot. To the question of the north, Israeli defense ministers saying tonight that residents will not go back until the Hezbollah is pushed back to the Lutani River. Is this doable? Yes, it has one very clear message. Israel will not end the war situation in the north. Even it's a second arena now without changing the fact that Hezbollah will not be exist as it was on the 6th of October. What does it mean? It means one thing that the Minister of Defense to the people who are living there is oblige. Secondly, the Prime Minister said it twice in the last two speeches that he made for the nation that he said we will not return. But he emphasized and I think he was correct that it has to be done a stage after what will be in Gaza because the results in Gaza will have impact of the solution in the north. I think that from point of deterrence, from point of political or politician that will be involved, especially international community, it has started and you have to remember, you have both sides to bring the solution. From one end you have the issue of the political that Israel raised to the United Nations and their activities by United States, France and others. Secondly, what's going from the military field, it's something that containing attack has been increased but on the other end are keeping the area, geographical area, not deeper in both countries. But if it's not meet before these points, we will see in my opinion when time comes even increasing of the military step, escalation, it not will be completely a high war but it will hurry up the procedure on the end of this thing and also now I think that all the population is right. Israel should finish this war that over its borders no one will threat and create an unsafe situation for the mother that opened a window for her babies and see from the window terrorists and butchers like Hamas, Hezbollah on the others. We are here to live in safe. Now it's hard to see Hezbollah just voluntarily living the border and just going peacefully to the Littani river. So how do you push them back? It's a very good and difficult question because it's not mathematics and I cannot answer to you, especially I can give you the parameters that are influenced. First of all, they are looking what's going in Gaza. Secondly, Iran and Hezbollah lost a very close friend to the terror power that Hamas is now is beaten very deep. Even it's not crashed yet, but the situation of Hamas needs a lot, a lot of months to build them again if they will stay in Gaza. The third issue is Lebanon nation, country. Lebanon is looking what's going in Gaza. They don't like to be in such condition and they will be if it started. Second and the fourth is the issue around us. United States from the beginning said we are umbrella to prevent these drops of winter, of rain to come down and to wet us so they will not allowed. And you have also Saudi Arabia and other countries that are looking very sensitively towards what's going because it can impact a regional escalation and no one wants it. When you combine it together and you bring a solution for it, the end game should be done that north to the Littani River will be Hezbollah. They once signed on it and there will be maybe even a change on the international inspectoring of this decision. The unifil failed. You must bring under multiply forces and that will be a lose for Iran and Hezbollah. So if the potential is exist and you should be wet, it will take time. Complicated as we said before, right. Meanwhile, harsh rhetoric from Turkish president Erdogan now calling Israel's Prime Minister a war criminal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the butcher of Gaza is not only a war criminal but he will definitely be tried as the butcher of Gaza. Just like Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of Serbia was tried. Netanyahu, the butcher of Gaza, personally revealed in front of the cameras that the issue is not just Gaza or Ramallah but that he is pursuing expansionist goals. Therefore, defending Gaza and Palestine today means defending Mecca, Medina, Istanbul, Damascus, Beirut, Baghdad, the Islamic lands along with Jerusalem. We have journalist Ayla Jinn Yakle with us from Turkey. Thank you and good to see you again. Tell me Ayla, why is Erdogan taking the Hamas side even more than many Arab countries? What's the obsession? Yes, he's emerged as Hamas' most vocal, full-throated defender earlier in the conflict. He described them as a liberation front. This seems to be at least in part aimed at his core base. This is a group of very religious-minded voters. Their numbers are debatable but they do make up the bedrock of the ruling party and Erdogan is headed into yet another election. This time it'll be local elections in which he's hoping to regain control of Istanbul and Ankara. So there is a domestic political angle to this and I also think that in its heart of hearts I can't know, you can't know but that he does see Turkey perhaps as the heir to the Ottoman Empire which once controlled these lands as having a say in its future. But he has certainly made it quite clear on side he falls in this conflict. But Turkey is not a Shi'ite country. Is Hamas that popular with the base in Turkey? You know, one thing that Erdogan has successfully done I think he has been able to equate for many people not all by any means but for many people in Turkey has been able to equate the Palestinian cause with Hamas. Not that distinction isn't as clear in people's minds anymore and they see the war against Hamas as a war against Palestinians. So that's one way that he's been successful. I think that when you look at the polling most Turks do think that Turkey should remain neutral. What I'm talking about is a very sliver of Erdogan's support it's his base, it's maybe 10% who do espouse possibly more radical views in your mainstream turret. But I will say that what is widespread is a general sense of sympathy for the Palestinian cause. Now Erdogan was clearly on a path to renew ties with Israel also maybe visiting here was also on the agenda. All of this is gone? You know, it's hard to say from appearances, yes. You know, he's really pushed the relationship with Israel to the brink from calling, as I said, Hamas a liberation force on one hand and Netanyahu a war criminal or the butcher of Gaza on the other. But if we take a step back, we can see that, you know, other things are going as well as they normally do and by that I'm referring specifically to trade relations with Israel. It seems to be largely business as usual. Exports to Israel dipped a little bit in November but only by a percentage or so. So in the sense of, you know, are they putting kind of, you know, muscle behind a lot of the rhetoric? I don't think we're seeing that just yet. So maybe that's the hope that perhaps Erdogan thinks that maybe Netanyahu might not be prime minister forever and that he can rekindle this rapprochement, if you will, down the road. But for the moment, at least, you know, rhetorically, he's been Israel's biggest critic. All right. Ayla, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Back to you, Eitan Dangot, you're in the studio. A word about Erdogan. One word or two words. First of all, after the professional explanation, I would add one thing. We are used to the circle eyes of this theater of Erdogan and if you bother two months, we'll be kind of agreement. You will see how we shook it. We don't have to forget it. We have a good memory and I hope we will adopt this kind of memory from the Marmara and what happened later. Erdogan has not been a friend never. He will not be a friend. He is an interest guy with kind of ambitious to keep his interest. He belongs to the Muslim brother. He's a partner to what we find today with Hamas and he has responsibility for it. And what he said about Israel, he should say about himself as well. All right. There are still 138 Israeli hostages in Gaza, young and old, women, children and men. According to those who have been released, there's grave concern about their condition. More in the next report. Is everything okay? My mother was kept in a one and a half room apartment. She was in one small closed room and the couple lived in the other room. There was a small window in the room which they closed and she couldn't see if it was day or night. As soon as she realized she was alone, she simply told us, listen, I decided, I read, I studied all the stories from the Holocaust. I will keep a diary. I read that Gilad Shalik used to do some sports and that's what kept her going. She realized very quickly that they prayed five times a day and she would simply count prayers. She would record it in a journal and the prayers and sound of the muazzim, all these things gave her a complex of understanding what day it was, what night, what hour and she revolved around that. When I come to them, they see the distress. You see the distress. Yola, Yael, all the time by their mother's side she never leaves Adi. Until two days ago, she whispered. She didn't speak at all, not out loud. Naveh a little more, but you know, he is right away from the moment they were kidnapped, what happened. He saw everything. He doesn't speak at all. Not asking, not about the father, not about the grandfather. As far as we know, all six of them were in one place. Tal was not with them, no. We saw some of the children who came with orthopedic injuries. There is a girl who needed surgery. Injuries to the legs, injuries to the hands, scars that were on children, a burn on a child's leg, which he said was a burn from a motorcycle. We saw very low hygiene conditions, at levels I don't remember encountering on children, stories you hear from other areas, lice, rashes, skin infections. Some of them lost weight in a very, very significant way. What does that mean? Ten kilos in children, a lot. They arrived, and after the first meeting with the family, what is the first thing they want to give children who meet them? We let them eat and at some point we found ourselves taking food from the children's rooms so that they wouldn't eat too much when they arrived. That's why I pulled yogurts and rolls out of the children's hands so that it wouldn't be too much. We will have to continue and give them everything they need, both now and in the future. But they are amazing. We've received an inspiring group of children. We know that she did not know, for example, what happened to her father. She was very pleasantly surprised to see her father in that famous video that she actually ran quickly at the speed of light into her mother's embrace when she saw her father and she was sure that her father had been kidnapped. She did not know that her father was saved and got out of it. The first thing she asked after looking around her and suddenly didn't see Lior, her brother, she asked about her brother and the parents had to tell her this is actually the first thing they told her after she returned about her brother, that her brother was murdered. From what I know and this is almost the first thing I heard from her when I saw her this whole time she was without shoes for almost two months this girl was without shoes. She says that she was humiliated very much, that she had a very difficult experience, that she was treated badly and she was now engraved in her heart everything she does she remembers the experience from there. Was she there alone? She's very scared for the abductees who remained behind. They're still in danger. She was literally brainwashed there really and she doesn't live in our world right now, she's still there. It's impossible to cope there it's impossible, we have to get the abductees out of there. If we don't get them out now they won't get out alive. 138 are still there. We'll take a break now and we'll be right back with more special coverage here on I-24 News. Back to our special coverage here on I-24 News According to a Reuters report Saudi Arabia has asked the United States to show restraint in responding to attacks by Yemen's Houthis against ships in the Red Sea also against Israel just today a ballistic missile that was fired from Yemen was intercepted by Israeli air defense system. So more on this now with Brian Katulis from the Middle East Institute, thank you very much for joining us. Why would the Saudis do that by the way? Well the Saudis for the last several years have sought a de-escalation with Iran. If you recall in March there was a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia on the issue of Yemen they've tried to pursue peace talks with the Houthis which have had limited success. But the big reason why I think the Saudis request this is they don't feel like the United States would have their back and their support in the long run if some sort of conflict escalated even further. So I think that's the main reason is that they're trying to keep things quiet as they build their country continue to hold conferences even during the time of war in the Middle East and they don't want to see war expand. Right, but at the same time the Houthis are intercepting ships firing missiles that cannot go on. I agree you know there is no deterrence that is in place right now with not just the Houthis but Iran's network of proxies. Your country, Israel's facing this the United States in its military response is facing this but in my view the military response from the United States and its partners has been insufficient to actually deal with these threats and actually send a message not just to the Houthis but also to the leaders in Tehran who continue to play with fire here. Even more than this I would say the United States looks weak. Yeah, well I actually think compared to other countries like China and Russia and if you look at our military presence across the region I don't think we're that weak and since the United States is offering some pretty strong support to Israel right now and it's time of need in the face of these threats I actually think from this perspective here the United States could do more with its partners to address the threats posed by Iran but we're doing what we can right now to actually help Israel in this urgent time with this crisis and conflict with Hamas. Imagine what happens if the Houthis jump on a Russian ship for example. What would be the reaction? I don't think they would do that because they know what will happen right? Yeah, they know which side their bread is buttered on as we say here in America. The Russians have been offering support to Iran and its networks and as we know Iran has been offering more in Ukraine. So we're at one of these moments where I do hope the United States and its partners could step up a lot more but as I understand from Israel it has its priorities as well. It's very focused on the threats from Gaza and trying to finish this operation but in the long run the stability in the Middle East would be better served if the United States, Saudi Arabia, Israel all of our partners actually took some steps from Iran and its networks that they can't continue to do what they've been doing for years. Alright, Brian, thank you very much. Great, thank you. Back to you, Eitan Dangot here in the studio. Israel cannot afford being shot with ballistic missiles left and right from Yemen. You're right. The time comes while we will react maybe to these attacks but I think we are on the right policy on the fact that we are not running and start another area of fire, etc. Till now we can manage even when we are attacking it's not nice to hear it but I think we have some among this range between Yemen and Israel we have some stations that are very important to the future long term cooperation with Israel and one of these main stations is Saudi Arabia and one of the things that according to what you just report about the request from Saudi Arabia to the United States is the fact that Saudi Arabia is very interesting not to create any escalation that will damage itself after the kind of thing they suffer. So I believe we could manage with the Yemen stage by stage. First of all we have to continue and to continue in our goal in Gaza it's such important task in order to create new deterrence concerning the Israeli armed ground forces especially towards Lebanon secondly for Israeli air force everybody are aware about the power of the most strong air force in all over the Middle East the Israeli air force and I believe that time comes and the Americans will be very sorry for what they've started. The time will come because I was going to say what happens time is something you have like our neighbors you have to keep it in memory and wait time comes. But meanwhile everybody is trying to restrain Israel on the north at Yemen everybody ask Israel to restrain itself the Americans this maybe the long-term effect of this will influence the deterrence or not? I hope not but on the main part of this circle that you just described there is one thing to assure the Israeli situation from security the Israeli security situation that will be let's say give what it's needed for the population secondly I think that all those countries that you mentioned Saudi Arabia, United States everybody is waiting to see how Israel destroyed Hamas under such conditions and then it will be another story towards the block of the terrorism that Iran created or invented in this area and then you will see the problem is just as I see an open fire and Iran is losing the two main proxies Hamas already has lost and Hezbollah all the concept or Iranian policy for the last 15 years in the Middle East should be changed dramatically and will give much more power to the others the who teams I think till now Israel can contain it and that show you the power of Israel don't fight with everybody in the same time but made it with those who have the main impact towards themselves and towards the region and I'm sure in this situation even Israel is attacked by the militias of Shia and others from the Golanites and other kind Israel shows its strongness in this area after the big failure on the 7th of October all right let's move to Vladimir Putin who arrived in the UAE to start a visit also including Saudi Arabia with us now from Dubai what's on the agenda what's the plan Jacob there are a few objectives first to discuss structural disagreement on the attitude to adopt towards Hamas because on the one hand Saudi Arabia and the UAE have atrocious relations with Hamas for at least 15-20 years the Saudi authorities have been accusing Hamas of being too close to Iran too close to the Muslim Brotherhood and they regularly arrest Palestinian leaders and activists on their soil and on the other hand Russia has always had much friendlier relations with Hamas the Russians have never designated them a terrorist organization and they will support everything that can be a blow to US interests Russia did not condemn Hamas on October 7 although around 15 or 16 Russians died in those attacks and another objective is to is also linked in a way to the war in Gaza Putin wants to make sure that the oil prices policy continues to serve Russian interests Russia as you know is highly dependent on revenues from its hydrocarbon exports which by the way dropped by almost 50% this year compared to compared with last year so Putin here is here to make sure that Saudi Arabia and the UAE agree to keep oil prices high notably by taking advantage of the market uncertainty caused by the war in Gaza We also mentioned the Houthis there's the Saudi Arabian ties there is this part of the agenda as well Well, Moscow is aligning more and more explicitly to the global south and to whatever can erode the US-led world order so to speak and Putin benefits from the chaos in Gaza and from a certain control chaos in some other parts of the Middle East because it means Western destruction from his war in Ukraine so just like Hamas the Houthis are part of the equation Russia maintained its embassy in Yemen despite the war there they abstained many times at the UN on arms embargo resolutions against the Houthis they welcomed their leaders in Moscow they did nothing against Iran arming them and so on and that's another point of contention with Saudi Arabia and the UAE who as you know have pretty much always opted for the exchange with Yemen and there's COP28 in the background there is COP28 in the background but Putin's visit won't have any impact whatsoever on this summit because he will not visit the summit venue he won't show because he doesn't want to disrupt the negotiations on climate change not because he has an interest in climate change talks but because these talks are hosted in a country the UAE with which Putin wants to maintain good relations so he cannot afford to cause a scandal at COP28 with western delegations leaving the venue to protest his presence Meanwhile do you hear anything about the Gulf countries being involved in what's happening in Gaza in terms of negotiations hostages ending the war and so on Well as I told you Saudi Arabia and the UAE are suffering from their appalling relations with Hamas so the solution will come from Qatar Qatar being the only country in the world to have good ties with all the actors in this Gaza war they will do more they will be more hostage releases in the weeks and months to come it isn't Qatar's interest because a war is clearly not in this region and the Gulf wants this conflict to last because these countries' development cannot happen if the Middle East remains eternally associated with this notion and this idea of conflict Alright, Bestian Bari in Dubai thank you very much Good evening A little bit more about Putin with us now is Michael from Atlantic Council thank you very much for joining us we are trying to figure out what is Putin trying to achieve in this visit and in general Sure thank you for having me well I gotta say it's pretty astonishing the kind of a split-screen image on the one hand Mr. Putin trying to look like the strong man as an international diplomat throwing his weight and influence around in the Middle East but the fact that he had to be escorted by Soviet jets 3000 plus miles from Moscow to the UAE is quite astonishing it shows how cowardly he is how afraid he is of this ICC arrest warrant would have been interesting to see if he was at all provoked what those four fighter jets would do look we all know what's going on here I mean he is visiting relatively friendly states the UAE for example as you well know is a haven for Russian investors Russian tourists it's one of the few states that haven't tightened the noose around the Russians in response to their full-scale invasion of Ukraine what would be interesting to see though going forward is Saudi Arabia because Russia is they both have something in common they're both dictatorships and they they're both oil producers but at the same time Russia is colluding with Iran in terms of sending drones here to Ukraine in fact 40 plus came to Ukraine overnight but at the same at the same time Iran is an enemy of Saudi Arabia so we thought so it'd be interesting to find out where that relationship will go what can put an offer to Saudi Arabia well I guess collusion on oil but also you may recall that Saudi Arabia was one of the new inductees into the BRICS alliance interestingly along with Iran so they can talk money Putin needs money and arms desperately this war is costing the Russian economy dearly it's estimated by Atlanta Council that for something like conventional Russian military capability has been destroyed in almost the past two years so he is looking for new friends North Korea won't be enough China is doing a little bit of arms distance approach when it comes to relations with Russia as well and Iran as I mentioned is providing drones and some other military technology the fact that Putin sided with Hamas almost immediately after the attack was that something that was totally expected in your view? Absolutely I mean Russia has a long history of the Putin regime of siding with thugs of non-state actors who do a lot of damage in your region, in Africa and elsewhere but what was really astonishing is how this role of the dice really tore up relations with Israel I believe it was an Israeli member of parliament who said just a few weeks ago but after October 7th that after this war is finished with Israel will turn its attention to Mr. Putin and perhaps even focus more about supporting Ukraine which by the way it should be supporting a lot more but he cannot expect relations with Israel to go back to normal anytime soon so we have to look at if Israel gets back on track with normalizing or establishing relationships with other states in the Middle East like Saudi Arabia how that will affect the relationship too Michael, thank you very much for that My question Now this soldiers, policemen and plain civilians took up arms and went out to defend their communities on October 7th knowing that they are the last line of defense for their families and friends our next piece tells the story of Yossi Tahr and accomplished fighter in the IDF and in Israel's internal security service who lost his life fighting to defend his community I miss him so much my heart is dead why couldn't he be more careful how how could they not save him stay strong like you are you cheer me up all the time it's true it's so painful it's impossible I can't believe that Yossi was taken from me in fact I went there with the feeling that this wouldn't happen to me for what purpose? why is he part of it? Yossi the good lord protects him but no one defended him until October 7th Mazal and Eli Tahr knew nothing about them not what they look like or what their real names were these are the friends of her son Yossi killed on October 7th who remained in the shadow I never knew them I've never seen them and I said to myself what a shame that Yossi never came home with them for dinner now when they come here they give me a little bit of strength but I miss Yossi a lot we spoke on Thursday morning maybe now is the time to show what he wrote to me it was Thursday you read it I can't that I want to tell you how much I love you and really appreciate that you're here by my side you give me strength when I need it always thinking always thoughtful warm friendly with logic and always sincere it is important for me that you know how dear you are to me I love you I love you those are three of the most valiant elite fighters in the secret and very special unit of the internal intelligence service the Shin Bet they are here to meet Yossi's parents and tell them about the side of Yossi they knew less about he had a strong personality he knew him got attached to him in seconds at all levels from the simple soldier arriving at the unit the day before to the IDF chief of staff he knew how to connect with people just like that he gave so much of himself he would meet someone and two days later is invited over for a barbecue dinner we don't wear our ranks we don't treat people based on their position people follow us because of the leadership because of the personality of whoever leads the unit all of the above, big time he knew how to speak to people and touch their hearts we cannot show Yossi's photo and his face will probably never be known to the public our slogan is protect and not be seen in 99% of cases we were the ones to surprise the enemy we are the initiators those who direct the situation on October 7th we were surprised by the intensity of the attack the way it was done the numbers and that was what put us in great difficulty in the first hours of the attack in many ways Yossi is like Emmanuel Moreno the heroic fighter of the famous special forces commando Syred Maktal but in the ranks of Shin Bet tales of his bravery and everything he did on October 7th will remain secret except for what the sensors allow us to reveal it was half past six in the morning of the 7th of October I received the first phone call from Yossi he told me, you're not going to believe it there's something weird going on here he was talking to me from his shelter and told me that he will call me back when he's on the road to decide what we're going to do as we drove south we realized that one of our fighters was hit and Yossi with another small team of fighters responded driving towards the terrorists under heavy fire he was in an area he didn't know and we could not yet understand the scale and complexity of the attack and the number of terrorists he was able to reach our struggling fighter after a few minutes and Yossi actually saved his life outside violent fighting was taking place on all sides and Yossi realized that the evacuation is well managed it's under control he analyzed the situation perfectly and said to himself that he's the first closest to the Kibbutz Mefalsim and decided to support the fighters in the area Yossi is an experienced fighter with a lot of hours of combat and his belt he comes from Sheta Shaloshesre the Marine Commanders Yossi was in a different level than the rest of us he often faced terrorists participated in many operations against them and had a lot of experience pretty early in the fighting he was able to get hold of one of the terrorists tactical radios at first he listened to what they were saying trying to figure out where the terrorists are they killed two terrorists in the van they saw another group of about 10 terrorists up the road he ran to an open area and the terrorists were hiding behind a concrete shelter at the entrance of the Kibbutz at this point he had been hit and that's where he died I heard on the radio that Yossi was wounded and the next call I got was not from Yossi it was from our medic he told me man, I can't keep fighting to save Yossi it's done and I know both of them very well I know about the commitment we have towards each other here however, when he told me that he did everything he could but could not save him and that was the end I realized that we're dealing with a totally different situation here did he suffer? no he didn't suffer? no, he didn't suffer first few days after Yossi died I didn't want to deal with it I tried to keep busy don't think about it I tried to erase it sometimes I'd wake up at night saying to myself it can't be it can't be true but after about 4 days I stopped on the side of the road and said I can't put it away anymore just like that I wanted a moment to process and I got on WhatsApp and listened to some of the messages he has sent me and the last one was a song this song suddenly hit me it cut off half my heart and I just stopped this repression disappeared all of a sudden emotions came pouring out it overwhelmed me because you hear Yossi in his own voice singing a song that is almost like a prophecy Yossi was the son of every parent here in Israel he defended them all by himself all of them he protected the state of Israel he even told us once if not me then who would do the job? He's not here it's just the body physical matter here materiality I respect the cemetery and the burial which is important in Judaism in our heritage but for me this is just a stone like you said it's not him it's a stone I think that if there is as they say a world beyond this one I am sure that he's up there giving it all he's got I have no doubt this is it for my part stay tuned for more special coverage here on i24 news with Kaleb Bindavid meanwhile have a good night from Tel Aviv Devon still being held is Gaza our back we will not stop working for their release they're held in horrible conditions we're starting to hear the testimonies from those who came back living through hell welcome to this special edition on i24 news I'm Kaleb Bindavid it is day 61 of Israel's war against Hamas fierce fighting continues in Gaza as IDF forces continue they're mopping up operations against remaining terrorists in the northern half of the Strip and are now driving deeper into Khan Yunus the Hamas stronghold in the southern half casualties on both sides mounting IDF combat fatalities in Gaza climbing today to 83 while Hamas claims some 16,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza Israel's security cabinet meeting this evening amid reports of U.S. pressure to increase the amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza now despite this barrages of rockets fired from Gaza into southern Israel continue today targeting Ashkelon, Beersheva and other locales rocket attacks also directed today against Israel's southernmost city of Elat with missiles launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels down over the Red Sea by Israeli air defense systems and along the northern border Hezbollah keeps up its firing of rockets anti-tank weapons and mortars across the border spurring Israeli air strikes at targets in south Lebanon linked to the Iran-backed terror movement now turning back to Gaza our senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev takes a closer look at the latest developments on that battleground in this report two months on and the war in Gaza is in full swing Israeli ground forces are now operating on all fronts we have secured many Hamas strongholds in the northern Gaza Strip and now we're operating against its strongholds in the south our forces are now encircling the Khan Yunus area in the southern Gaza Strip while simultaneously securing our accomplishments in the north while the Gaza city neighborhoods of Jebalia and Sajaiya are the focal points in the north now the main aim in the south ground forces are approaching the main work is still done here from the air with massive strikes hitting the city and its surroundings for the past 48 hours our forces are expanding the ground operation against Hamas in every place in the Gaza Strip including in the south tonight we operated with massive force the earth shook in Khan Yunus further north the ground operation is also intensifying the army backed by armored vehicles right behind them is conducting the dangerous task of searching for terrorists in every house once again major Hamas operation facilities are found right next to civilian areas we found hundreds of anti-tank missiles UAVs and long-range rockets we are in the middle of a residential area right next to schools the ground forces are assisted from above here is a terror cell to confront the IDF soldiers but they are eliminated from the air as soon as they appear as all this is happening on the military front there is still one bigger goal than any military achievement as the IDF expands its operations to dismantle Hamas in Gaza we have not lost sight not for one moment of our critical mission to rescue our hostages to do everything in our power to bring our hostages home the security establishment believes the military pressure will eventually lead to a hostage deal as it did in the previous stage of the war and here is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking this evening about IDF troops reaching the home of Hamas Lila Yichya Sinwa in Chanyunis last night I said that our forces can reach anywhere in the Gaza Strip now they surround Sinwa's house so his home is not his fortress and he can't escape but it's only a matter of time before we get in joining us in the studio is Reserves IDF Major General Eitan Dangoht the former military secretary to three former Israeli Defence Ministers and from a coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian territories and Eitan we heard from the Prime Minister IDF troops reaching the home of Yichya Sinwa symbolic achievements that Yichya Sinwa presumably is in hiding or in one of those tunnels underneath Chanyunis but let's talk about how it appears fairly quickly and in a more accelerated pace than they entered for example into Gaza City moving into Chanyunis itself now I think that we are in the most effective and influence step or stage in this war between three to four days in completing the area of Chanyunis in the circle and also inside and around it it's the main message that we succeed to take the two major areas that we plan in Gaza under the ground but there is many of Hamas that is in the tunnels themselves are waiting but we are there very close to Rafah very close to the Egyptian border on one end on the other end we succeed to break the it will be it is not now that we will succeed to break and to destroy most of the power of the battalions that are deployed on the north part of Gaza and also on the south part in Gaza in the north we are very close to make the final stage in the south we are on let's say one third of the activities it's not easy Kalev because the situation that Hamas built a very strong army and I told you it's a Hamas state and it's Hamas army what was built during the last 10 years and above all it is a very important symbol that by the maneuvering of the armed ground forces to be near Sinwa house as you said it's a symbol but basically the symbols were from the air that were used now it means we are here in your home but we will write you on the time that you will make your mistake or will come intelligence and it has a lot of mental effect of thousands or hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that are looking for us from the area of Rafah it has impact on those who are not up to the ground we are up on the ground now and in my opinion it has a lot of importance that one of the goals is to bring we cannot be everywhere every moment to take the last missile anti-tank missile we will not do it we have to break the major power and the major areas to kill the major leaders military leaders and the political leaders of Hamas and one of them will be the main game changer and as you see another thing I think that IDF is running now not according to his place basically army needs time patient to get the achievements step by step in this area I think we understand that the clock time is running for only few weeks for finishing the war we will talk about that because that's getting into the serious US question we are on the way but let's be modest and say that the thousands of soldiers that are fighting professionally bravely as to continue on their work a lot with the air support or the fire support we are on the way to destroy the main power up on the ground of Hamas with some issues we can discuss later with the tunnels of course going underground okay well let's go down to southern Israel and the Gaza border okay corresponding guy as real is there in a sterile guy announcement by Prime Minister Netanyahu IDF troops reaching the home of family home of the Hamas leader within an indication maybe symbolic but an indication that the IDF is now fully committed towards its operations within itself yeah absolutely so we know that the division 98 is inside Han Yunus that is a division that includes commander forces and other special units of the IDF making their way inside Han Yunus that is the second largest city in a Gaza Strip a major stronghold of Hamas the IDF publishing those images first images from inside Han Yunus today of those forces going door to door trying to locate those Hamas operatives yes Yahya Sinwar and Mohamed Def are both considered to be in the city of Han Yunus they are not believed to be in the home of Yahya Sinwar right now and nonetheless definitely a symbolic move as the IDF continues to take over major areas across the Gaza Strip where we're standing in the city of you could really feel the fighting both in the south but closer to here in the northern part of the Gaza Strip we're hearing heavy IDF shelling we're hearing fighter jets we're hearing drones there is so much that is going on in the neighborhoods near here we're talking about the neighborhood of Sajaya in Gaza and also in Jabalia confirmation that IDF troops are still operating there these are the two main Hamas strongholds in the northern part of the Gaza Strip the IDF is advancing in multiple fronts today we heard also from the commander of the southern command your own Finkelmann he was with the troops today urging them to push forward inside Han Yunus that is the third phase of that ground maneuver of the IDF taking over Hamas strongholds, terror tunnels infrastructure and what the IDF believes would make a serious difference ahead of another possible hostage release deal of course it's not on the card now but as the IDF increases the pressure on Hamas in so many areas we are even even seeing initial testimonies of civilians who are going against Hamas these days even television interviews cursing Hamas for what they have caused to the civilians in the Gaza Strip so all of that comes together as increased pressure on Hamas and the IDF for now is not letting go pushing ahead with various fronts with the goal of reaching major achievements and eliminating eventually the heads of Hamas, Yahariya Sinwar and Mohamed If Hamas and also the uncovering this tremendous weapons cache including rockets that was discovered in northern Gaza today or uncovered by the IDF Hamas still has the capability to fire rockets out of Gaza at southern Israel today targeting cities like Ashkelon and Beersheva which we haven't seen in a while so that has to be also foremost in the Middle East still still under attack under assault from Gaza rockets even at this stage Yes the rocket threat is still imminent it still exists very much so nonetheless clearly a major reduction in the number of rockets being fired towards Israel those areas that are still under the control of Hamas are still areas where rockets can be launched we saw so many cases where IDF troops made their way into schools, kindergarten, hospitals where these rocket launchers were based and this is one of the goals taking over these rocket launchers eliminating that threat of Hamas that it has certainly seen a major improvement the ability is still there I don't think that is the major concern though of the IDF right now that it's only part of that process and the public here in the southern communities closer to the border obviously has to remain vigilant as this threat is obviously still very evident Alright Guy Azrael there in still wrote and we do have an update I mentioned earlier there was a meeting of the security cabinet earlier and now apparently that has ended and now the full government or governmental political cabinet is meeting apparently the main discussion at those meetings are how to react to pressure from the United States to allow more humanitarian aid including fuel into Gaza that's and that's been a little contentious issue especially like fuel to Gaza there was a report out from Israeli media that the security cabinet has made a recommendation that the amount of fuel entering Gaza will be increased dependent on the possibility of the Red Cross making a maximum effort to visit or determine the conditions of the remaining hostages held in Gaza another consideration is preventing the spread of diseases in Gaza of course the fuel needed if it gets to it to power sewage the sewage system in the Gaza Strip and let me ask you about that because we discussed American pressure you alluded to it earlier we know there's American pressure to speed up Israeli military operations in Gaza some reports media reports today suggesting the Americans would like to see the main operations concluded already by January which may be unrealistic and now this issue of allowing more aid especially the issue of fuel into Gaza and Israel trying to put more conditions on that I tell you what is my opinion concerning the fuel basically and then we will see the issue that has more psychological effect about this kind of request after the five days or the six days of ceasefire I think there is enough fuel in the underground tunnels Hamas says what he needs to renew its let's say strongness to stay in the D.F. in the coming weeks secondly there is enough fuel also in the area of Rafah what United States in the southern Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border near Rafah area between Hanyunas and Rafah the third point is the fact that we are now in the middle and climbing up towards the most important days of our attack of our offensive plan towards other areas basically military way it's not the time to start with fuel supplying I hope it will be if it's running only over Rafah area and between southern to Hanyunas and it's a symbol that United States is making to Israel to what you Kalev said few seconds before it's fuel but above it it's humanitarian and above it it's our willingness to see this war coming towards a very narrow corridor over ending its activities in the coming well let me ask you that because according to these media reports of course we're not talking about all military activity in the Gaza Strip presumably there will still be some mopping up operations which could take months but is it realistic months because be aware just to separate between war and fighting the war will be ended in somewhere in the coming weeks the fighting will continue even for years well let's talk about for the war to end the definition of the goals of success the metrics of success are freeing the hostages and eliminating the military capability from us and taking out its leadership you keep alluded to is that a realistic goal for the idea to achieve by the end of January which is what we're hearing what we're seeing in these reports that the Americans are talking about absolutely it will not be achieved completely as you say as you just imagine the two main goals is a process the process is divided between major of effect on the Hamas when it will be stopped on one on two months I don't know probably I just gave it as an example the continuing listen hold on we're going to the idea of Spokesperson Daniel Hagar giving a slightly briefing whereas those are three units are fighting against many terrorists in Sajeyi, Jabalia and Kanyunas we have entered the fighting zone the terrorists are heading above surface our forces our forces will continue the achievements at the very heart of Hamas terrorist strongholds in the north the IDF attacked during the day and yet another Hamas terror command IDF forces replied fire to the attacks on behalf of terrorists there we also intercepted a missile shot towards us from the red sea there was there was no danger to the southern city of Veilat and the iron dome interception eliminated the threat far away in the red sea this attack this offensive on behalf of the Houthis is perpetrated by Iran this is a terrible problem and our discussions with SENTCOM from what we understand there are already forces in the red sea to address address this problem we are on high alert and readiness on all fronts both in defense and with attack with offensives the home front command remain intact we must stay in shelter for at least 10 minutes after the red siren goes off we must not get indifferent these are instructions save lives over 130 hostages are still kept in the gulf ship in captivity by Hamas terrorists and in this hour our fighters fighting forcefully in order to bring back all the hostages we have also gave an official an official announcement to the families of the soldiers who have fallen in combat and we are also wishing full recovery to all those who were injured the Prime Minister is saying that the forces are encircling the home of Sinwar what is happening to them the home of Sinwar is the area in the sphere of Hanyu and Sinwar is not above ground he is underground and I don't want to mention how and why we obtain the intelligence level it's not the place to say it publicly our role is to reach Sinwar and kill him this is our role and we need to do it as quickly as possible but at the end of the day it's a joint mission of the IDF and the other security establishment to get to him and eliminate him how close is the IDF to take over Hanyu is it a matter of days and how is Israel going to face the over a million refugees in the southern part of the strip while combating we were asked many times how will you conduct fighting in the southern sphere of Gaza well there you go we have we've seen this commando unit this combined the enemy was surprised by the time the ability of this unit we are now encircling this terror sphere in Hanyu focused on terror infrastructure and alongside there is this interactive map of population of the population itself they know how to move and we bring in humanitarian aid fuel water medicine food we provide humanitarian aid for this population and focus on the main stronghold of Hamas terror in the south that was Rear Admiral the IDF spokesperson discussing the situation mainly discussing the situation the combat situation on the ground in Hanyu very interesting he was asked the same question I asked you about the timetable in the episode right you could but you gave a more definite answer he would not give it any really kind of timetable but he alluded to the fact that maybe a different type of strategy in the south than the north in the north we saw actually weeks of airstrikes before the forces went in here very intensive days of airstrikes early this week in Hanyu but then already these commando units moving in to Hanyu it looks like more of a pinpoint operation in Hanyu to get at especially that Hamas leadership and take out that Hamas leadership there rather than going in and force and trying to get control first over the entire area I think that it's a different system was used by the IDF to surprise the enemy after the ceasefire secondly was adopted because the principle of the clock time has been changed is that pressure from the U.S. we're talking yes it was clear we have to speed up the maneuvering and to be so as you mentioned by the way I think that north part of Gaza Strip needed another kind of treatment from there that's the reason it was taken something like one week here it was three to four days at the maximum while we surprise them on the way I cannot speak a lot of it that the division that were maneuvering came in a different way than it was probably expected by Hamas and the way they prepared themselves right so maybe Hamas was anticipating after the ceasefire the IDF would need to regroup itself prepare itself but instead the idea came quickly surprise of Hamas was that one hour after the ceasefire has stopped and we started to strike from the air it means they were waiting maybe it will be changed and the negotiation etc. IDF was very clear it's ended we are in another mode another mode fire and maneuvering after a short time it's very complicated by the way the enemy is deployed different prepared himself different the area of Hanunez is more larger the area to come to Hanunez is more let's say open a little bit open space we came there very quick towards the timetable that Hamas estimate that we will be there and we are now in the center of Hanunez and we have to go back now to the start of Hanunez in order to take care on each okay well stay with us at Handan goat we are going out for a brief break but we'll be back in just about three minutes with more of our special coverage back to this special broadcast on I-24 news well as we reported earlier was another day of firing across the Israel Lebanon border Hezbollah firing rockets again using anti-tank missiles mortars shelling across Israel Israel responding with airstrikes at Hezbollah targets and Israeli officials saying there is a point at which they're going to have to take tougher, stronger measures to ensure Hezbollah doesn't pose this cross-border threat for more let's go to our correspondent Zach Gandas who is in northern Israel near that Lebanese border again more firing more attacks by Hezbollah Israeli counterattacks Hezbollah but the defense minister of garland making a promise to those residents of northern Israel who have been evacuated from those communities all around you there in the north and he did so when he was meeting of the communities here of these evacuated towns and cities in the north promising that they would abide by the 1701 agreement this is the agreement after the 2006 Lebanon war where Hezbollah was supposed to stay above the Latif river that has been violated throughout the history of that over 10 year agreement now but the latest information that Galant is passing to the mayors and the leaders of the villages and towns here is that that will be what allows residents to come back and end this evacuation notice is once the Hezbollah threat is eliminated along the southern border then the evacuation call will be lifted but there's no time frame or timetable for when that will be or how long that could take and for a day like today where there were seven attacks that Hezbollah claimed responsibility for it does prove true that this is still a dangerous area but that means that you would have to somehow get Hezbollah either with international pressure to abide by that original agreement or initiate some sort of offensive that would push Hezbollah back beyond the river either option it seems like at least from IDF sources neither are palatable in the short term so the evacuation notice could stand it sounds like it's being communicated it could stand for several more weeks at least and maybe even beyond that unfortunately Zach Anders there in northern Israel thank you for that and Zach referring to these comments by the Defense Minister Galant Israel wants to see those Hezbollah forces north of the Letani River as per 1701 UN resolution but reports this evening a town of the US may be looking for some kind of an agreement that would supplant 1701 talks of negotiations with Lebanon to see that those Hezbollah forces move off the border area exactly I think from the beginning the United States made some principles towards Israel and the area it was one clear on according to the north the United States is against and against physically and against in the principle of policy towards any kind of escalation in the north because it's risks the United States situation all over the Middle East it can create it or upgrade to a big escalation not even in this region and taking Iranian so the Arabia and other areas over escalation to this effort so few weeks ago where the United States made some expert in some places that can bring something to solve in the north those disputed border areas like the Dov Mount Dov farm area or Sheba farm area they sent Amos Eksten who made the agreement concerning the fuel in the middle terrain and know the people know the spirit know the atmosphere and the problems of escalation with the borderline are well known to everybody it's not all the borderline it's some areas about 10 issues that should be but I think that it's already has been started few weeks ago and for United States wish to prevent any kind of escalation to fulfill Israeli statement not by the only you have gallant secretary of the minister of defense Netanyahu said in the last two speeches to the people on the north be patient we will not return to the same situation as the 6th of October but we will do it stage by stage and it didn't and it was I think right don't say a lot do much and about it I think that the main efforts by the United States will be to bring it by kind of negotiation if you ask me it can be solved it can be under pressure of other foreign countries Arab modern countries it's a problem maybe maybe it will needed some kind of escalation to bring it to a serious negotiation but I think the United States understand that Israel cannot return to the same situation as on the 6th and above all this is the duty of our leadership to the population that what happened on the 7th of October in the south and what happened and what can happened and happened already in the north while thousands of people left their places should not be the next or the future situation cannot be situation I said a mother cannot open the window of the children room and see such terrorism few hundred meters from a window right and community is like Matula for example which I absolutely all right 8th and stay with us we've been talking about the United States let's shift focus over there now we're a storm of where the surge of Jew and Israel hatred in American campuses has been brewing ever since October 7th now yesterday it reached Washington with members of Congress grilling the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania about the rise of anti-Semitism on their campuses and the failure of faculty and administrators to do more about it our senior diplomatic correspondent takes a closer look at that rough and tumble hearing that was held yesterday on Capitol Hill the fewer over anti-Semitism on campus has made it all the way here to the witness table on Capitol Hill with three University presidents the hearing of the Education Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives so the answer is yes that calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard code of conduct correct again it depends on the context it does not depend on the context the answer is yes and this is why you should resign these are unacceptable answers across the board and so it went with scenes like these is the backdrop months of angry campus protests on the backdrop of the war in Gaza with tensions building between pro-Palestinian students who fear being silenced and particularly Jewish students who feel bullied with Jewish students saying slogans like Intifada Global Revolution are anti-Semitic and some pro-Palestinian groups seeing them as protected speech that is hateful speech that has been and should be condemned whether it rises to the level of incitement to violence under the policies that Penn and the city of Philadelphia follow which are guided by the United States Constitution I think is a much more difficult question the hearing on Capitol Hill adds to the headaches of campus presidents who are facing competing pressures from pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students, faculty, alumni and donors unable to please everyone and maybe to please anyone. Well from all let's go to our senior US correspondent Mike Wagenheim in New York. Mike yesterday Harvard president Claudine Gay asked whether quality for genocide against Jews is an unacceptable speech could not give a clear equivocal answer today but she's singing a little bit of a different tune at least on social media. It's tough to tell whether she's going to get a threat for her job right now or if this is just gaslighting par excellence from Claudine Gay but Harvard releasing a statement in her name about a half hour ago I want to read it to you here in full she said there are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students let me be clear calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community or any religious or ethnic group are vile they have no place at Harvard and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account apparently unprepared yesterday didn't do her homework and couldn't answer that question didn't want to answer it under oath but this is just a completely different tune that she's singing now today and by the way when she says there are some who have confused a right as she says it's because of what she said she's the one who put it out there that there was no direct consequence for calls for genocide against Jews unless it turned into conduct which violated Harvard's policies on bullying and harassment those were her words those weren't anybody else's words so it just goes on and on with these particular problems with anti-semitism on college campuses here and it's pretty remarkable that that statement came out of the president of Harvard today after what she had to say or not say yesterday on Capitol Hill yeah her and the other university presidents not doing their homework as you say is a little ironic as it were now that we should stress these are private universities they're not state institutions of course they don't have to abide their campus regulations don't necessarily have to abide entirely by First Amendment rights private institutions can enforce their own standards Harvard some of these other schools already suffering in the fact of former donors where is this maybe going to go forward in terms of what either on the national level or even more likely on the state or local level these universities could be facing some kind of blowback on their failure to tackle this issue number one I think it's a misnomer a call of to say that because these are private campuses they don't have to abide by First Amendment the opposite of that is what public campuses must abide by all First Amendment and constitutional regulation no if that was the case then you would just open up a student code of conduct and it would say see the constitution and that would be the end of it universities are free and have wide latitude even on public campuses in creating rules that go above and beyond or past any you know protected constant they can create rules for the safety of the campus they can create rules for certain hours of operation for certain attitudes you take toward professionals on campus including staff that you know it's just not the letter of the constitution so I think that's a misnomer to start with but in terms of how do you move forward with this I think it's become fairly clear after yesterday's hearings that you know the federal government and don't forget the body administration created a national strategy for countering anti violence which had as part of it strategies for public education I think it needs to take the investigations that have already been launched against several of these college campuses which the university presidents said they weren't at liberty to discuss and move it forward more vigorously here I think it's time to step up the game in terms of the federal government's investigations of what's going on here in terms of violations of civil rights of Jewish students on campuses to feel safe to be able to feel threatened to be able to participate in campus life without worrying about you know having a genocidal taunts as they're making the way down the halls of these campuses whether they are public or private it's obviously not going to be done here at the administrative level and these universities think yesterday the masks were kind of taken off there and it became very apparent that these university presidents have no intention of taking care of the Jewish students. They really think it's up to the Biden administration whatever administration would come forward after that to take the lead in making sure that Jewish students feel safe on these campuses across America as we've said some very major donors to those universities have also made their feelings about this clear Mike stay with us we're going to look at another story out of Washington DC the Biden administration announcing a new policy that is believed to have been involved in undermining peace security or stability in the West Bank including through committing acts of violence or taking other actions that unduly restrict civilians access to essential services and basic necessities now this unprecedented move comes after several incidents since October 7th of extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank with the State Department saying the policy of violence against Palestinians from extremist attacks let's take a look at what the State Department had to say and some reaction to that in that in the settler community today as President Biden recently warned the United States is taking action to address this escalating violence in the West Bank by implementing a new visa restriction policy under section 212 a3c of the immigration and nationality the United States will pursue visa restrictions against individuals involved in or meaningfully contributing to the undermining of peace security or stability in the West Bank I don't think it should be relevant the people that I live here in so-called West Bank and I don't know anybody that would do something like that or harm Palestinians in any way I think it's a very small percentage of people if at all it's not a thing that happens it's a very very small amount of people so I don't think that it should influence whether the states decides to give a visa or not but if it does it will be unfortunate I think Michael should note this may be more of a symbolic action we don't know the individuals that are going to be targeted by this visa restriction basically banning them from visiting the US the names will not be announced ahead of time we should note though the US is saying this could also apply to family members of the individuals targeted as well as those individuals themselves and there are a fair number of certainly people in the settler communities may or may not be involved in these acts that are for example US citizens or have relatives in the US but clearly by the administration sending a message here that's true and by the way important to note that US citizens will not be affected by this dual nationals Israeli and US citizens they can't have a visa revoked because they have citizenship but yeah it's tough to understand the reasoning behind the decision they're upset with the I'm talking about the US administration upset with the Israeli government or the IDF or Kogat for not taking enough action apparently are going to now go around the Israeli government instead of either not sanctioning the Israeli government but punishing them somehow expressing their anger through some change in policy instead of doing that they're now going to the settlers directly the residents there in Judea and Samaria the West Bank and targeting them it's sort of like well if your kids misbehaving at school we're not going to talk to the parents anymore we're now going to ground the kids and they're not allowed to go outside after school it doesn't really make any sense in terms of changing the behavior of the Israeli government or the IDF or Kogat or whatever responsible for the behavior there amongst those settler communities in Judea and Samaria I think this is a way for the United States to avoid a conflict that they don't want to have with Israel send some sort of message but I think the Israeli government looks at that and says okay go ahead go talk to them it's one less thing we really have to deal with one less policy we really have to change I don't think it sends the message I think the US thinks that it's really going to send. Right I said it's more of a symbolic move I mentioned US citizens because as I said the policy can also target family members meaning spouses for example who are not US citizens even children or grandchildren that are not US citizens I think that was the intention there but as I mentioned it seems more of a symbolic move sending a message than a practical effect. Fine I do want to ask you Mike the status of these reports of the US pressuring Israel to speed up its military activities in the Gaza Strip its main military operation and this comes in the backdrop of this debate in Washington over additional military aid to Israel being tied in with aid to Ukraine especially as far as republics are concerned and maybe adds a little urgency to efforts to get some kind of additional aid package to Israel in the coming weeks. It ain't going to get done today that's a big news coming out of Washington as the senate republicans have come right out and said it's a no-go for a vote today on the senate democrats bill to provide aid to Ukraine to Israel and some border security aid the republicans say it simply doesn't go far enough in terms of cracking down on asylum applications in terms of cracking down on parole they want stricter border security measures and more funding to do it potentially at the expense of Ukraine or Israel funding so republicans have already said whatever bill is put down on the table today they will filibuster it and time is running out here especially for Ukraine aid but really there's no clear viable path forward here for senate democrats and republicans to figure out a way to agree here in Israel is left out in the cold as a result. Thank you for that and back in this region Russian President Vladimir Putin making a rare foreign visit today and his first to the Middle East since the start of the Ukraine war landing in Abu Dhabi and meeting there with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nakhyan before heading on to Saudi Arabia tomorrow to meet with Mohammed bin Salman MBS now Putin is in the Gulf to discuss the countries to talk about Ukraine but in his own words quote first and foremost the Arab-Israeli conflict well for more let's go to Dubai correspondent Basjian Buri well let's talk about what Vladimir Putin is looking for in the Gulf again really makes far visits these days since the start of the Ukraine war but he's clearly looking coming to the UAE and then Saudi Arabia looking for something Basjian absolutely there are a few objectives first to discuss as you said some sort of structural disagreement on the attitude to adopt towards Hamas because on the one hand Saudi Arabia and the UAE have appalling relations with Hamas for at least 20 years the Saudi authorities have been accusing Hamas of being too close to Iran too close to the Muslim Brotherhood and they regularly arrest Palestinian leaders and activists and on the other hand Russia has always had much friendlier relations with Hamas the Russians have never really designated them as a terrorist organization and they will more broadly speaking support everything that can be a blow to US interests that's why notably Russia did not condemn Hamas on October 7 although a lot of Russians died in those attacks and another objective is also kind of linked in a way to the war in Gaza, Putin wants to make sure that the oil prices policy within OPEC continues to serve Russian interests Russia is highly dependent on revenues from its hydrocarbon exports which by the way dropped by almost 50% in 2023 compared with 2022 so Putin is here to make sure that Saudi Arabia and the UAE still agree to keep oil prices high notably by taking advantage of the market uncertainty caused by the events in Gaza right and of course high oil prices gas also benefit Putin and Russia's main ally in the region Iran of course and that could be a point of contention when he meets with MBS in Saudi Arabia Iran of course backing the Houthi rebels who have really kind of renewed their aggressive activities especially in those shipping waters off the coast of Yemen I mean Moscow is aligning more and more explicitly to the global south and to whatever can erode the US led world order and put in benefits from both the chaos in Gaza and from a certain control chaos in some of the parts of the Middle East and because it means western destruction from his war in Ukraine so like Hamas the Houthis as you said are also part of this the same equation Russia maintained its embassy in Yemen despite the war there they abstained many times at the UN on arms embargo resolutions against the Houthis they welcomed their leaders in Moscow they did nothing against Iran arming them and so on and that's another point of contention with Saudi Arabia and the UAE who have pretty much always opted for a much tougher approach with Yemen Basin Bury there in Dubai thank you for that Eitan for many years for many years Israel and Israeli governments have done this sort of delicate dance with Russia with Vladimir Putin in particular out of concern over the serious situation of course but what we really see since October 7th is it does appear Vladimir Putin definitely choosing a side in the Israel at least sort of the Israel Hamas conflict and that has to motivate Israel to also to modify at least its stance towards Russia I think that Putin has already made his choice before the 7th of October while there were some signs concerning his relationship with that organization he didn't denied things before and of course from the 7th of October it was very clear whom he support and I think that Israel has made with Russia a deep mistake it has started from the time with the war between Ukraine and Russia while Israel tried to be balanced as I said the delicate dance tried to do it and the only reason for it was to create any kind of dance or sensitive concerning the north area on the air while we are attacking Iranian targeting striking in Syria and we have a let's say kind of understanding with Russia the fact now what's going here I think besides what you emphasize concerning in your report about the price of the oil it will be on the desk the issue of the Middle East Putin is a very close friend and this is allies and this is the kind of block he created in the Middle East especially since Iran began supplying drones and missiles for use in Ukraine as for Putin power in the area of the Middle East it give Iranian a back wind in their strategic activities now I think it's coming to the house of those who are really creating like a mind to this policy here Abia and UAE while he will succeed also to send to watch the Iranian Russian interest in this region and also we speak on the Middle East by the way I think that Israel has to change very right its policy towards Russia because as Russia is not counting Israel today in what's going what happened I think in the north it's very clear we are now in a war time we have a free zone to ourselves to fly to strike to do what we have to do to defend ourselves even in that case Putin I don't think any kind of interruption in this kind of thing Israel should return to the base and to admit Russia is again very anti-Israeli policy we don't have to break all the tools but we have to be very clear towards Russia in our policy that of course existed for many years during the time of the Cold War and then started to shift following that I want to thank Reserves Major General Eitan Dango for joining us on this hour of the program but do stay with us