 This week on News 24, Israel under attack. News 24 in Spanish brings the analysis and the information of the events of the war, Spades of Iron. Exclusive interviews, reports from the war zone, the reaction of the Spanish-speaking countries. News 24, the only medium in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel. News 24, only on I-24 News. Thanks for staying with us through our ongoing coverage of Israel at war. We are going to turn our eyes to the southern border where our senior defense correspondent, Jonathan Reykjav, is standing by in Ashkelon as one of those border areas. Jonathan, it is pouring out there behind you. You can barely hear anything over that. Can you walk us through what the latest developments are on the southern front? So first, if you asked me an hour ago if weather is a factor, it should not be a factor. Again, it is pouring rain, but the IDF is well-equipped and well-trained for these situations. But it's muddy, it's windy, and it's certainly gonna present some difficulties, though clearly not something that should stop anything as far as the operation goes. A lot of activity, especially on the eastern side of the northern Gaza Strip, of Gaza City neighborhoods like Jibalia, like Sajaia, which are on the eastern side of the Gaza border. There is where the activity is taking place in communities such as Esderot, which is very close to all those Gaza neighborhoods, which I mentioned you hear very loud sounds of artillery more than were heard in the last three, four days. And this is a situation on the ground. The IDF, step by step, taking more neighborhoods first and encircled the entire northern half of the Gaza Strip and now going in neighborhood by neighborhood to basically cleanse it from terrorists, from ammunition, from tunnels, from everything that Hamas has, all their installations, all their infrastructure. Jonathan, what I'm hearing right now is that there is a Seva Adama rocket alert in Ashkelon right now. Yes, it's just a little bit to the south of us. We're on the northern outskirts of the city. This shows that Hamas still has the ability to fire even from these areas. We're on the northern banks of Ashkelon and yes, the sirens are sounding a little bit to the south of us. Still, sirens are sounding all the time and we also heard them earlier in the day in other parts of the Gaza border area. And we're actually here, interceptions a little bit to the south of us, of course, in these conditions, practically impossible to see. Well, I certainly hope you're ready to jump to cover if they shift their point of aim to your area. While we're waiting to see what happens, can you give us the latest on some of the heavy casualties we're hearing coming out of the Israeli military and the current operation? Yes, urban warfare is such of this kind where Hamas is well entrenched in the ground. It is their own ground and they've been preparing for this and expecting this to happen for years and years. Therefore, they're expecting it and they still have the ability to cause casualties that are coming out of the tunnels and able to, in just a minute or two, coming out of the tunnels, shooting especially anti-tank missiles or things of this kind towards the forces and hiding back and they're able to cause casualties. Again, we're hearing interceptions roughly a mile or so to the south of us, but in these conditions, practically impossible to see. Definitely stay safe out there, Jonathan. Thanks for the updates and I hope you are standing next to a shelter. We're going to look at some more analysis about the war because from the very start of that analysis, I've been on a lookout for any cracks between the United States and Israel. But on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nino, US President Joe Biden, seemed to move closer to an agreement on the nature of a post-war Gaza Strip. Our senior diplomatic correspondent, Owen Alderman, tells us other parts of Biden's outlook that are worth our attention. Israeli media made this the headline, a 50-minute press conference Saturday night with Israel's top leaders, with the Prime Minister saying this about the Gaza Strip on the day after. The Palestinian Authority in its current form cannot get control, cannot get control of Gaza after we fought and done all this to give it to them. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not choosing his words carefully. A week after commentators wrongly said he had closed the door on the Palestinian Authority ruling a post-war Gaza. I will not allow any party into Gaza that supports terrorism and pays terrorists and terrorist families and educates their children to murder Jews and to eliminate the State of Israel. And putting Netanyahu just maybe in line with US President Joe Biden, whose op-ed in the Washington Post came out just as Netanyahu was speaking. As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority as we all work towards a two-state solution. A potential meeting of the minds, at least on a post-war Gaza, is important for Israel. Making it more likely Israel will achieve its core goals. And Israelis should also pay attention to the rest of Biden's op-ed. Normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia implicitly is still on. The red marker corridor from India through the Middle East is still on. And Israel and Ukraine are for Biden a common cause of defending American allies. Israel can think not only of what to take from that US grand strategy, but also how to help it. We're going to break this down more in studio with a discussion panel. Joining me right now is Rafael Ushami, former senior intelligence officer with the IDF, as well as Owen Ultraman, our senior correspondent. Thank you both for being with us. Owen, we just saw your report on the idea of a revitalized Palestinian Authority being what America has in mind for who might rule Gaza in the day after. Only 20 minutes ago on this show, we were discussing that exact idea, looking at some Palestinian attitudes and some surveys that were done of West Bank Palestinians. It does not sound like there is a deradicalized Palestinian Authority ready to actually take that role. So what does Biden have in mind? Well, listen, first of all, it's not clear what kind of support it would get from public opinion, at least for those views. You would have to find some other way for it to have public legitimacy, right? Some other means for it to have it, because it certainly won't on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Or at least on the end game of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are you absolutely right when you look at those polls? Look, at a minimum, I think there are things that can be agreed on, surprisingly maybe, among Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden, and the Palestinian public. First of all, new leadership, the idea that Mahmoud Abbas, for whatever he may have contributed over the last 20 years, and I for one have always said, he's the most taken for granted person in the Middle East, even now, that it's time for him to move on. And for there to be somebody else who would be his leader and take his place, who should the somebody be? Of course, that may be subject to more disagreement. Second, rooting out corruption. If rooting out corruption is something that would help a new, revitalized Palestinian authority get more legitimacy among Palestinians, it might be a common interest among all parties. So that's another point of common agreement and good governance as well. Look, beyond that, there are obviously going to be a lot of disagreements. We had a guest, a Fatah activist a few hours ago on our air, who talked about the idea of a government of national unity. And that may sound good to Palestinian years. It sounds less good to Israeli years, because of course, a government of national unity includes Hamas. And that obviously is going to be a no-go here in Israel, let alone rooting out incitement in the education system, changing the attitude toward terrorists and terrorist families, the conditions that Netanyahu outlined. And I think we have to be very clear. These are the red lines that Netanyahu set out. I absolutely believe that Netanyahu and any future Israeli government will absolutely be prepared to enforce them. And the Israeli military in any reasonable end game in the Gaza Strip is going to be in control of the territory. And given that, Israel will have the leverage to enforce these red lines. So I don't believe that those red lines are going everywhere, anywhere, so there are going to be plenty of issues to be in contention, but other points of agreement. By the way, one surprising point of agreement, if we actually listen carefully what the Fatah Active has said, I'm not sure I heard from him opposition to another condition that Netanyahu has laid out, meaning that there will be freedom of action for the Israeli military. Maybe that's something that the Palestinian public could, a frog that it could swallow in the interim. Justice has been swallowed in the West Bank, even as of course civil administration. That also is a point of agreement that everyone believes should move from Israeli hands to other hands. So I guess what I'm trying to say is there certainly are some very, very core points of contention that aren't going away, but there also are some areas of agreement, which may be a bit surprising. I'm going to turn to you, Rafael, because you have the military background here and the intelligence background to help us understand this more. I want to get your thoughts on some of that that's being discussed and ultimately the idea of two states and how that might interact with military oversight of a security situation. Well, first of all, on paper, the solution seems great, but only on paper. In reality, what would be the ideal situation is first of all, before the security aspect, because security is linked to the politics to have nurture, because we haven't done so far and we should have, to nurture a new generation of leaders. The Palestinian leadership, whether it's Hamas or PLO or whatever, it's old-timers from the Arafat era. They are hopeless for any positive future, peaceful future with the Israelis. We need to have a completely different mentality, attitude. Even Mr. Mohammed Dahlan is the least-worst candidate and there is an elite in Gaza, there is an elite in the West Bank of people who have studied abroad, who have liberal professions or are in high-tech and even will and deal with the Israeli companies. In there, we should try and fish some candidates to have a brand-new political landscape, which is, of course, a bit of a utopia right now, but without that, even any military move, any security move will be hopeless because we're back to corruption. We're back to these governments being made with friends and friends of the cousins of Mr. Abu Mazer and Mr. Abu, somebody else and, of course, the presence of Hamas still. So that's... I think that the Palestinians, on the other hand, the Palestinian politicians and the Palestinian people would understand that at some point until a certain extent the IDF should keep its hand on the security, at least until they feel that they can do it themselves, which is light years away from now and they don't have the personnel, they don't have the budgets, they don't have the training for it. But let's say that the same way we want to nurture a new political class in the Palestinian people, we could also nurture security forces or an army if it's a state, you know. Why not? But this takes years and years before they can reach any level that they could ensure. You see, to give a state to a people is very nice. You have to give them the means of that state. I'm going to turn back to you, because one of the things that he said was the idea of cultivating a new generation of politician, of leader, of just about every aspect of civil governance and society in a Palestinian authority. That's not the work of overnight. What sort of timeframe are we looking at? And ultimately, how would the world see Israel administering a security situation for what could be a generation? Well, a couple things. First of all, there may be mid and lower level civil servants who can stay on, who are professionals. You know, that's been the case in other societies that have had to be rebuilt. And it's been a mistake to dismiss those people, right? Remember what happened in Iraq, for example. I do think that the question here, the core question really is about senior leadership, right? About them being, having a kind of mindset and worldview that would be within Israel's red lines. The red lines laid out by Benjamin Netanyahu and maybe implicit in that op-ed by Joe Biden. And they're being able and having the power and the resources to then enforce those red lines all the way down through, especially in the education system. You're right, it's not an easy task. We've talked about all the obstacles. I don't know that it's impossible, but there are no questions. You're absolutely right. There are a lot of obstacles and there are a lot of problems. And it's possible that the end result will be one that is considered less than ideal from Israel's perspective. This will take a lot of money and a lot of the right incentives from the United States and maybe some other Arab countries in the region for them in a sense to exercise power and exercise influence over this revitalized Palestinian authority in the same way that Iran has exercised influence over its proxies. Ariel, if Iran can have proxies in the Middle East, why can't Saudi Arabia have proxies? Why can't Saudi Arabia, why can't the United States for that matter have proxies? If we're in a world where proxies exist, maybe not an ideal world, but if we're in a world where proxies exist, then why does only one side get to play the proxy game? Maybe a question that we should all be asking ourselves. As for the security situation, Israel's security control look, I think the likely outcome is some kind of mix, right? Between in the first instance, policing and security that's done by local groups or maybe international or multinational force and as a last resort by the Israeli military, that's the model that's worked in the West Bank for the last few decades. We can argue about whether it's a good model, a bad model, whether it's the best alternative, whether it's not the best alternative, but it's a model that's functioned and has not led to a repeat of the Second Intifada. So it at least has had that measure of success that has obviously benefited Israel, but I would also argue has benefited Palestinians as well, who certainly didn't benefit from the Second Intifada. So you're absolutely right that there are a lot of obstacles, but it doesn't mean that there aren't tools to work with that those who are interested in coming to some kind of different reality can't start to use and can't start to deploy. I mean, it's definitely an optimistic hope, but in many ways we saw the flip side of that on October 7th. We pulled out of Gaza in 2005. Next thing you know, there's a terror organization there. But again, the idea here is that that is a mistake that won't be repeated and that Israel, it's been quite clear, Israel, not only Israel, are going to be much more involved in the day after this war than they slash we were in the day after the disengagement. I think that at least is clear. And I want to turn back to you, Rafael, because operationally we might still be counting our chickens before they're hatched. This war is not over yet. The United States and the rest of the world are going to apply immense amounts of pressure as this war drags on. We haven't even accounted for the fact that we don't know if Hezbollah is joining the war tomorrow, next week, or even this afternoon. Are we being premature when we're giving this day after analysis? For sure, because we don't know what the place will look like on the day after. We're speaking of the day after, but we don't know what's on the table, what does Gaza look like and who will be remaining from the leadership of Ramaz, anybody, and what other leadership might show up. Leaving a vacuum is never good. It's always the bad guys that fill the vacuum. Leaving a vacuum of power in Gaza is not healthy. So, of course, it's premature. On the other hand, we have to understand that the messages we're getting from the international community, at least from the Western world, Europeans and Americans, is that they do understand fully that we have to get rid of the regime of the Hamas, the ruling of the Hamas over Gaza. That's agreed upon. So it will take the time that it will take. I don't think people expect us to finish this in two minutes. They have some conditions, like the humanitarian assistance that I think you can perfectly live with. I also think we can give fuel to the Gaza people. We just make sure it doesn't go into the wrong hands. But I mean, you can do it. So far as we're not forced by some kind of pressure to stop fighting, to have a ceasefire, we can continue working. It seems to be the case right now. In the case of Hezbollah, it's a different problem altogether. We should be striking Hezbollah now. It would be the best interest on a military point of view. On the political point of view, it might create quite a bit of a spot, especially as regards to the Biden administration. We certainly don't want us to start this wider conflict and destabilize maybe the region. So they don't want us to do that. And what do we need to do for our own safety? I think that whatever we decide, the Americans have no choice but follow suit, because if they do want to preserve the stability in the region, they have to work with us and not against us. And we have to take that into account. The more we wait, and the more the Hezbollah will be destabilizing factor for the region, the Hezbollah will be bad for American interest. The more we leave the Hezbollah around, the worse it's for the Israelis, but in the end it's the worst for the whole region and the American interests. Rafael, we keep on throwing around the words Hamas's regime, but it's not just the regime. It's not just their governing structures. There's 40,000 fighters. We know we're not going to get all of them in this war. Israel knows it's not going to get all of them in this war, which means the day after, we're still looking at a potential insurgency, not to mention hundreds of thousands of other radicals, given the sheer numbers we saw in that survey we mentioned earlier. Ultimately, is this war even going to end, or is it just going to transfer into a decades-long insurgency that shows a Gaza that can never actually be made peaceful? Actually, the problem is not to demilitarize Gaza. I think we can do that. We can neutralize the security, the military threat that they pose, or the terrorist threat that they pose. The real problem is that the Hamas, it's also almost half a million, at least 300,000 Hamas people who do not carry weapons. They're just civil servants. They occupy all kinds of functions in the administration of Gaza. Even some teachers, but these teachers or professors in universities, they promoted the Hamas ideology. So you're talking a hell of a lot of people that are Hamas, you know, and when you say, I always say, you know, when you say civilians, there are civilians and there are innocent civilians. We have to make the difference. And in Gaza, you have, let's say, a million and a half, at least, innocent civilians, but you have not far from half a million of gifted civilians, of radicalized people, fanatical people, also with their religious views. And these guys, you can't get rid of them like that. So you can demilitarize, you can make sure they are not weapons they don't have. But then, you are stuck with, and if it's to do with the infrastructure of the place, you know, the water, the education, everything, it still would be in the hands of these guys who are white color terrorists or civil servants of the Hamas, which just would be another name. And the key is the education system, right? I mean, there's a difference in water and education, right? If people are in technocratic positions, that's one thing. If people are within the education system, again, that's an Israeli red line. And again, I think we should all understand full well that Israel is going to enforce it. The Israeli military is going to be in control of the territories. We'll have the leverage to enforce it in the first instance. And again, we all know Israel is going to have freedom of action for its military in the Gaza Strip afterwards. Maybe that will be another mechanism to enforce this. Again, you can imagine some controversies on the edges here. But this is going to be a core Israeli goal and Netanyahu is absolutely laying the groundwork for it. And we'll have full public support here. Well, it's a monumental task ahead. Thank you both for that analysis. We're going to look at a different kind of analysis of this conflict, though. When we talk about Hamas's weapons, it's not simply rockets or Kalashnikov's. There's also the psychological weapons and in one brutal case, and many, many cases on that one brutal day, I should say, it was the use of rape as a weapon of war considered a crime against humanity and certainly a war crime at the bare minimum. But what bothered Israelis in many ways, just as much as these acts of brutality itself, was the silence they were met with around the world, progressive organizations that long claimed to champions women's rights and dignity oddly silent on the mass rape of Jewish civilians by Hamas, despite being used as a weapon of conflict. Many of these women's organizations now issue a criticism of the Israeli military for the war to stop Hamas's murder once and for all. It spawned a new question. Does Me Too exclude the Jews? Well, here's one of those questions. I'd like to report a crime. Yes. I was raped. So sorry. We're here to help. Tell us what happened. I was at a music festival. We heard gunfire and everyone was running. I started running and then he grabbed me. He yelled something in Arabic and then he ripped my... Sorry to interrupt you. You said he was yelling in Arabic. Yes. So he ripped my pants and then he... I need a bit of background here. Are you Israeli? Yes. And your rapist was Palestinian. He was a Hamas terrorist. Okay, just... This is a bit awkward, but we can't help you. But I was right. Do you have any proof? Yes. He filmed it. Yes, hello, global police. Don't take it personally. I've been arrested since. So sorry. Her husband kidnapped. Please help. Sure, just before we get started. Are either of you Israeli? On October 7th, Hamas terrorists brutally raped Israeli women and children before murdering them. There is no justification for rape and sexual violence. Rape is not resistance. And joining us now is Arit Solitiano, executive director of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers joining us from Tel Aviv. Arit, thank you for being with us on this frankly, absolutely brutal topic. This is spawned a hashtag me too, unless you're a Jew. Why are women's organizations around the world completely silent on this use of rape as a weapon of war? First of all, I just saw the clip that you showed. It's not the first time and it's chopping again and again and again and it's unbelievable that now in 2023 we have to conform this kind of silence. I wanted to say something personal. I'm second generation of a Holocaust survivor. And we all remember and we all know that there are people all around the world that deny that there was a Holocaust. And now in Israel there's a second Holocaust. It's smaller in scale, but horrible. Horrible. And again, this kind of anti-semitic denial. It's unbelievable and I think these women organizations they actually hurt themselves because if they choose to be to say me too, only if you're not a Jew, they actually betray the struggle of all of us, women, feminists who try to make the world better for all of us. Why are they silent? Politics? It's all political but it's unbelievable. I mean, it's unbelievable but unfortunately we're forced to confront that it is happening. If these organizations are betraying their stated purpose to women what purpose are they serving? You're asking excellent questions and I, you know, when you talk about it, I feel my heart hurts because, you know, to be a feminist is to understand that women suffer from specific problems that men don't suffer and the feminist point of view that we need to change the world so the world will be more equal and we need to change the societies and we need to change authorities and we also have to influence war and of course all of us don't want war and all of us want peace I want peace but this kind of silence is a shouting non-moral science and as you said, these women organizations start to be political it means that they're not doing what they're supposed to do and we here in Israel, I'm an umbrella organization of nine rape crisis centers in Israel. We serve we have one rape crisis center who is Arab center. We serve Arabs, we serve Jews, we serve men, we serve women, we serve everybody gender fluid, everybody who needs we serve, don't care and I don't understand these women organizations and I would be very glad if you succeed to interview one of them that she will explain what is the source of this non-moral unbelievable science I don't have the answers only and to understand that politics is above all, it's above feminism and it makes me very, very sad to see that. If international women's organizations are largely abandoning Israel, abandoning the Jews, that means a lot more work has to fall on your shoulders to try to bring some sort of solace and some sort of justice to the victims here in Israel. What has that been like over the course of the past month and a half and how is your organization effectively pursuing this? Actually we're working all the time there's a lot of pressure on us right now because as you know, never in Israel never we had this kind of rape as a weapon of war, we never had to deal with that and this is very, very complicated and all of us ask the umbrella organization and all of our nine rape crisis centers we're really packed with work. First of all you know sexual violence, raping war is very different than others. The trauma is trauma, horrible trauma but it's more brutal it's done when people see you know, a lot of people who saw what happened are bystanders, some of them are dead, some of them are still alive and the professional community in Israel and we work with it and does not have this kind of information we are doing a series of webinars to invite people professionals from Ukraine, it will be in the end of the month and we invited a professional from Sarajevo to talk how they dealt with sexual violence in rape we're working with the Israeli political system you know, to get prepared hopefully, hopefully that the hostages will come back how they will be treated it's always what we think there should be a reverse burden of proof not to ask nobody if something happened not to ask but only assume that something might have happened and to give all the medical treatment and all of the mental treatment and the society has to be prepared for that and the outcomes are not only short ones but it's long-term outcomes all of the Israeli it sounds like this is a night marriage and monumental task ahead of you, I'm glad your organization is helping I certainly hope that you will have the resources needed in the days ahead for everyone else though we do have to go on a commercial break we will be back in just a minute so stay with us Israel is in a state of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where is she front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well and thank you all for staying with us as we continue our coverage of Israel at war I am going to turn to the studio where we still have Rafael Urashami with us IDF intelligence to understand just what exactly is going on on the ground right now we have seen some drastic advances in Gaza in the last few days the IDF saying that fighting inside Gaza city at least in the areas they had been in was starting to wrap up Hamas had their military resources depleted now we are seeing the expansion into neighborhoods Jabalaya as well as some of the others ultimately how much is left to do in the northern part of the Gaza strip and how much has really been cleared plenty left to do the only reassuring thing is that we are in control of these theater operations we do control the northern part of the Gaza strip this doesn't mean to say that there is no more danger around first of all we also control above ground we do not control what's underground and many terrorists will pop up out of the tunnels to attack the Israeli troops there are many pockets of resistance left around in many neighborhoods of the north it's a tactical opposition we are in control strategically but tactically there are many many dangers still facing our troops so we have to clean street by street neighborhood by neighborhood you know Gaza city might not be New York but it's still a city and it takes quite a while to clean it up of all threat especially the booby traps and the ambushed snipers etc so we have to proceed with that and to strengthen our positions to feel safe enough to start moving down south southwards to one where there even harsher fights are expecting us with harsher conditions the winter as we saw on some pictures is there and it's not making things easier all that rain and all that mud and especially in the third world area where the sewage system is not functioning well so we're going to have a lot of floods and it's going to be very very difficult we have now three main goals the first to go south to start dealing with the south and the second one is to start hitting putting pressure on the political branch because so far we had a very good military success but we haven't frightened I would say the political branch enough we're not deterring them yet enough only the the military branch so more or less this is it and of course we have to take into account the international pressure that our time might be limited or put cut into pieces of time like here we can fight here you have to have ceasefire if you can fight again I mean this is very very bad for our assault we're supposed to have now the momentum so all these put together are the challenges facing us but I would say the main next step is the south and hitting more the political branch and let's actually take a look at the south right now see what that would look like Jonathan Regev our senior defense correspondent is standing by in Ashkelon it's one of those border towns can you walk us through what we are seeing in that fight right now basically step by step the idea of us taking more and more of the neighborhoods around Gaza city the first stage more than a week meant encircling the entire northern half of the Gaza Strip and not going neighborhood by neighborhood but first encircling putting the entire northern Gaza Strip under siege and then going in neighborhood by neighborhood we saw today for example Rimal which is the higher standard Gaza neighborhood where the Gaza leadership used to live even there we found bunkers and ammunition depots and so on were found and also Sajaya and Jabalia to the eastern part of the Gaza city and everything has to be done slowly it's not as if the army can just rush in because the other side had been preparing for this for years they're well entrenched under the ground and that is why the pace is slow but as time goes by more and more neighborhoods within Gaza city are being taken over the next step of course would be heading south to the area of Chaneunas where fighting is going to be tough as well absolutely long road had Jonathan thank you very much for that report from the south now just as much as the battle is being fought on the ground there is also a battle I should say in the digital sphere as well internet now awash with old conspiracies and new anything that could possibly shift the blame from Hamas's brand of radical Islam and place the onus for their atrocities on their Jewish victims instead trending on tiktok and promoted fully by the Chinese communist run platforms algorithms has been Osama bin Laden's letter to the west after his Islamist terrorist group murdered more than 3000 American civilians on October on September 11th it's a letter in which he said the reason was because the US supports Israel and blame the Jews for all the world's bills it's a letter not being powered as now being powered I should say as eye opening by western generation Z leftist but the attacks are also coming from the right Ilan musk implying on his platform X that the demented and murderous ideology now being spouted by radicalized leftist was created by the Jews in the first place well to discuss just what is wrong with people today we are joined by gilly flea cop the founder of the pink chili agency and internet researcher joining us from Philadelphia Pennsylvania gilly thanks for being with us first question I asked there what is wrong with young people today the question I find myself as a young person trying to grapple with so first of all thank you for having me I think to say that I'm disgusted is not a big enough word of what's happening right now on social media on tiktok specifically on X this trend that we're seeing since has been removed and all the hashtags and posts have been removed on tiktok but the fact that we got there and the fact that so many young people so many Gen Z tiktokers and consumers get their news source they learn about historical conflicts mostly from tiktok is really really frightening to see such a letter go viral and see people sympathize and empathize with a terrorist organization al-qaeda and bin Laden himself it's worth noting because you mentioned how young people are getting their worldview and their information from tiktok that the actual accounts on there of pro-israel anti-israel are about one versus 15 so it is a cavalcade of misinformation that flat out denies in many cases the October 7th atrocities and much of this is being promoted by the Chinese Communist Party you know there's there's so much you know it's very convoluted there's a lot of when you look at platforms and algorithms and the way the way they work it's extremely complicated but I think tiktok has since removed it I'm more disgusted by X right now I mean Elon Musk's tweet supporting another tweet that was very insinuating the great replacement theory is still there he hasn't retracted the tweet it has millions of views and I think that we have to call these platforms and these leaders of these platforms responsible to to regulate you know free speech is one thing but hate speech is not free speech and we need to take the right measures to remove any hate speech from every single social media platform and I'm glad you mentioned that because I did want to transfer from the twitter the tiktok to twitter because we have talked pretty much ad nauseam about the radical left and their oppressor dynamics leading to this sort of thoughts but on X and on many of the right wing holes on the internet we are seeing the old adages the old forms of anti-Semitism the classical protocols of the elders of Zion raise its ugly head as well how are these just converging in the modern era to bring all of the old lies back to life and mix with the news you know it reminds me I was on I-24 not too long ago and we spoke about X and anti-Semitism you know this is not new first of all in general but specifically in X I mean Elon Musk you know in 2018 he I remember him supporting sort of tweet that implied that Jews run the media I mean it's always been there and I always quote Rabbi Jonathan sucks it's a virus that mutates anti-Semitism it shows different forms and it's just now recirculating in digital forms and it's really frightening to see specifically when we see that so many young people I always say 40% of Gen Z prefers to use platforms like Tiktok as their search engine of choice they're looking at Tiktok to get their news now you brought up the issue that we're faced with in the western world and that's as liberal democracies we believe in free speech but at the same time misinformation is going to shift people's voting habits they're not making free choices if they've been lied to how do you even begin to draw a line and create policy that protects liberty while also protecting the integrity of your own choice I think when you look at free speech if I walked into a crowded room and shouted fire that would obviously seem as irresponsible and not a strong and moral use of free speech same with claiming that elections are rigged I'm almost positive that most platforms would not allow such sentiment and I think understanding that the way that we view free speech regulations in real life if it puts someone in danger if it incites violence in some way and as soon as it gets into that type of leaning towards that then we need to regulate it and there's so much hate speech on these platforms that's just completely unregulated is reporting giving out reports continuously about which social media platforms are still allowing posts that have holocaust denial X is one of them and it's really frightening and I think I'm no politician and when it comes to regulations and creating the laws to kind of regulate everything but I would say similar to how we regulate in real life to make sure that speech is not promoting violence I think it's really important you mentioned holocaust denial at the end there Gillian some of us wondered how people can deny with the amount of evidence we have now we see people denying in real time live stream videos it's just an uphill battle it feels like Gillian thanks for help us explain just what's going on there even if there's not really any happy ending to that story thank you for having me and just as much of a persistent question across this show in this war in general it's simply not applied to Jews are Israelis not entitled to peace every day it seems the United Nations and human rights organizations simply say no a weekend resolution by the UN Security Council demanded a ceasefire without condemning Hamas for their crimes against humanity human rights watch one of the world's loudest NGOs is issuing nearly daily condemnations of Israel's defensive military action but barely a word even uttered about Gaza's terror groups and their de facto advocate just why are the rights to life freedom and dignity never seemingly applied to Israel or to the Jews well to explain this more we are joined by Hillel Neuer executive director of United Nations watch joining us from Jerusalem Hillel it's good to have you with us it's not a really good question why does the United Nations why the human rights organizations always skip over the Jews that's the question that we're asking you know there was a movement called me too and what we're seeing too often is me too unless you're a Jew I mean let's talk about one of the atrocities that took place on October 7th perpetrated by the Hamas terrorists and that was that women were raped and this was just reported by CNN by Jake Tapper on the lead and what we're seeing is that the UN women the major UN agency dealing with women's issues the special rapporteur on women of the Human Rights Council Reem Alsalam both of these agencies and officials have completely ignored sexual violence against women perpetrated by Hamas whereas they have been speaking out on the conflict but not about the issue that they're actually mandated to deal with so it does seem that certainly if we just talk about one of the abuses against women's rights sexual violence against women it seems to be me too and we believe you unless you're a Jew. Hello in the past when talking about biases at the UN people generally point to the fact that there are how many dozens of Arab nations that sit in various seats in the General Assembly and they have an outsized influence but we're not just seeing silence from Arab nations we're also seeing it from Arab nations as well how do we explain that well look if we take some specific examples we spoke about human rights groups and indeed you're right certainly at the United Nations one could point to 56 Muslim states that historically vote against Israel and that's certainly been the case recently and that dominates the voting at the General Assembly and at the Human Rights Council however when we speak about you know human rights in this typically they're in the west and one example is Sarah Leah Whitson for 16 years up until recently she was the head of human rights watches Middle East division and you know famously on her in her office wall she had a poster of the Palestinian struggle of a film that humanized suicide bombers has documented in the New Republic magazine article called Minority Report from 2010 so it documented her bias but just the other day she posted on twitter that she thinks that Israel may be responsible for the massacre of October 7 not Hamas basically a conspiracy theory she took a report that some of the victims may have been hit by friendly fire when the Israeli rescuers came in helicopters and she used that to basically absolve Hamas saying we don't really know who did it seems like Israelis did the killings and this is the same person who you know a few days after the massacre she said everyone should stop posting things this is the former head of human rights watches Middle East division for 16 years she said on October 10th or 11th she said people should stop posting things about rape and other atrocities because they're not verified so people should stop asserting things until they're verified meanwhile on October 17th when there was the lie put out by Hamas that Israel attacked the hospital it never happened right it was Islamic jihad it wasn't hundreds killed it may have been 10 to 50 it was an Islamic jihad rocket but on the same day that it happened without any verification this same person Sarah Lea Whitson posted a thousand killed by Israeli airstrike so when it's something against Israelis mass rape killings beheadings torture people being burned alive she says days later wait pause we need verification don't post things but when Hamas put out a lie immediately she posted it a thousand killed this is someone in the west she lives in New York or Washington and it shows what we're seeing is a radical ideology that is anti-Israel in many cases also anti-western and I'm reminded of past events where this doesn't just stretch to bureaucrats at the UN I remember back in 2014 Boko Haram kidnapped holds hostages plenty of school children posters were held up by world leaders everywhere but when it's Jewish children that are kidnapped these posters are torn down in the streets of western capitals that's right we're seeing I would say the red-green alliance which is completely irrational a lot of things happen with ideologies that are not rational they are perhaps a kind of a pathology you know if you are you know green is the Islamic movements color Hamas red is the socialist movement the radical left if you believe in leftist values you should believe in equality quality of men and women quality for gays but you should be against Hamas which is completely misogynistic it's against women's rights it's against gay rights they kill gays and yet we see that radical left end up effectively endorsing Hamas it makes no sense the only thing that joins them together is hatred of Jews and sadly that kind of horseshoe where radical left and radical right meet on anti-Semitism is what we're witnessing today and you know just this past weekend there was the scandal a woman who heads a sexual assault center her name is Samantha Pearson at the University of Alberta in Canada she signed in the name of her organization a sexual assault center at the University of Alberta she signed an open letter accusing Israel of genocide and saying that casting doubt upon the rape of by Hamas against Israeli women on October 7th so Samantha Pearson her sexual assault center their motto is we believe women we believe you and she signed a statement basically denying the Hamas rape thankfully the president of that university has now fired her a rare bit of good news but it's once again an example of a radical left ideology which seems to be motivated only by hatred of Jews that makes them embrace a fascist fundamentalist anti-women anti-gay movement that is Hamas it makes you wonder how what is frankly a revolutionary movement committed to the destruction of Western values has become seemingly the dominant ideology in the Western world well look a part of it is an anti-Western nationalism that is part of it this same Samantha Pearson on her sexual assault center's website which one can see at the University of Alberta website most of the about us section is dedicated not to talking about sexual assault but how the University of Alberta is a colonial project stealing the land of the indigenous peoples and how Canada is stealing land and indeed the open letter begins we who reside in the so called is clearly also a radical anti-Western ideology which ends up embracing whoever's against the West this weekend on tiktok there was in America Americans were embracing Osama bin Laden who's an evil terrorist massacred thousands of innocent people and they end up embracing Hamas it's also there's an anti-Semitism an anti-Westernism that tend to go together it's not rational it's pathological hello is a pathological situation and we find ourselves in the eye of that storm right now I thank you for your analysis and for helping break down a lot of very complicated issues for us not a particularly happy ending to that story now we are going to look at some other displays of activism though first the square of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art has become the site of art displays and protests that raise awareness for Israel's hostage crisis Israeli artists have been at work with a project called this is us it aims to increase support for those who have been kidnapped with those behind the project working closely with the bring them home now movement also known as the hostages and missing families forum our Erika Jackson has more on how this project is making a difference and touching hearts through the power of art with paint brushes in their hands these artists in Israel are raising awareness for hostages that Hamas kidnapped in Israel in October 7th they're doing it through creating portraits of them when everything started I felt kind of like I can't help with anything and I was at home pregnant Ayelet has previously painted Daphna Eliakim and is really kidnapped by Hamas who's 15 years old today she's painting another hostage she's only 13 my connection to to a girl like a small young girl that is needs her mother needs her parents needs her family has made me my heart went out to her the opportunity to create these artworks is all thanks to a project called this is us and whether it's through acrylic charcoal or watercolor the mission is the same allowing artists to use the skills they know best to give back the fresh paint art and design fair along with the nonprofit which provides a platform for female artists in the Orthodox Jewish community is behind the initiative it's meant to raise awareness for those held hostage in Gaza by Hamas we've just made contact we're in regular connections with and we invited them to do collaborative shifts here at the square of Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Museum of Art as a painter when I found out about this so I wanted straight ahead to participate it wasn't even a question when I started to do this it was like I could breathe again for artists like Stella Lamichov at times the process of creation isn't easy when I heard about this project I knew that it would be quite hard for me to look at someone who I know is over the border usually I paint from life and the thought of someone not being alive just killed me today Stella is painting who was kidnapped in Kibbutz near Oz when I saw the videos in the 7th of October of her daughter her sister her nieces in a truck led to Gaza I saw the little girls in their pink dresses clinging to their moms with their little hands the first thought as a mom was that could have been me that could have been my daughter I have families there we could have been visiting here the stories of those taken captive are told through art with the hope that one day these paintings will be delivered into their hands I'm full of hope that she will see the drawing she will receive it and hopefully we will meet in better circumstances I believe that I'll paint him and he will return I hope he will put it in his room a room here reporting from Tel Aviv Erica Jackson i24 news and before we go we are going to recap the most recent developments in the war the fighting on the ground is expanding over the course of the night fighter jets are striking many Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip towns of Jabaliah, Hea and Gaza city Zetun neighborhood the idea was recovering stashes of weapons from residential buildings and providing further proof of Hamas hiding within civilian populations and using human shields in their war against Israel all these actions I should say being obvious crimes against the war crimes in the international courts the military announced the deaths of five more soldiers killed in action in North Gaza which brings the total on the ground to 60 just in the south on the northern front there was some action against Hezbollah that continues to escalate combined arms assault just a few hours ago on Israeli posts the northern terror group is expanding the intensity of their operations they were attacking from the north with rockets mortar fire and drones now at least one of those drones was shot down a total of eight soldiers have fallen so far fighting in the north Qatar's prime minister has said that a deal for an immediate ceasefire in return for the release of hostages is near and that all sides see eye to eye on what the details of that deal might be but this comes as both Israel and the United States say that reports of a hostage deal is very much premature and then Yahoo saying as of now any deal still off the table regarding the deal we are prevented from discussing the details of the conditions that we adhere to we want everyone back if we do it in a step or two we will do it in such a way that we want to bring whole families together it's clear as the sun we want categories released together this is also clear as the sun I don't want to say beyond that but that's what we want it is hard it is a cruel and cynical enemy which has no limitations within these limitations we work and do the best we can and on that topic the number of hostages held by Hamas is now confirmed to be at 236 a number that's only dropped not because of any deal but because they were recovering the bodies of hostages from the ground in Gaza largely at the Shefa hospital after Israel raided it from Hamas forces so that's the current situation with the hostage crisis as it stands on the ground in the latest updates in the war that said we are out of time for now but stay tuned for our next broadcast for more updates on Israel at war thanks for watching in news edition I'm Benisa Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv this is a photograph of 12-year-old Liel Khatzroni official confirmation today that she was killed by Hamas terrorists during the terror assault at Kibbutz Baeri in southern Israel on the 7th of October her remains have now been formally identified her family had last week held a ceremony for her and her aunt Ayala even though at that time there had been no official identification her family buried her personal items Liel and Ayala were killed along with Liel's twin Yanai and the twins' grandfather Avir Khatzroni the grandfather and grandson had been laid to rest in Rivivim two weeks after the attack meanwhile the families of 236 hostages being held by Hamas are still waiting for answers more than six weeks since they were abducted by the terror group and taken into Gaza they include babies, children women and the elderly the prime minister of Qatar says a deal to free hostages now hinges on minor practical issues Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Tani was speaking at a joint press conference with EU foreign policy chief Joseph Burrell he didn't give details or any timelines reports suggest the release of some of the hostages will involve a temporary ceasefire meanwhile rocket fire continues to be fired from Gaza towards southern Israeli communities and from southern Lebanon into northern Israel on day 44 of the war on the ground the IDF continues with its retaliatory operation to eliminate the Hamas terror group with the death toll in the ground operation now at 60 Israeli soldiers inside Gaza the Hamas run health ministry is claiming thousands of Gazans have been killed these numbers have not been independently verified and it's not clear how many of those killed are terrorists from Hamas or Palestinian Islamic jihad northern part of the strip the IDF says it's working to evacuate as many patients as possible from the Shifa hospital compound which it says is located above a Hamas terror command centre now let's find out what is happening on the ground we go to our correspondent Robert Swift and he joins us from northern Israel and Rob you're at the funeral of 23 year old warrant Major Jamal Abbas from Pekin a platoon commander in the 101st battalion of the paratroopers brigade a member of the Druze community devastating indeed tell us more what can you share right now that's right the funeral of Major Jamal Abbas is taking place now I'm just going to step to the site so you can see a little bit of the crowd that are gathering here now you can see turning out here we've actually had to wade through cars to get here because the number of families coming together for this funeral is in the there's several hundred people here it seems to me and the majority of the people here from the Arabic speaking Druze minority who are one of Israel's I would say in terms of their contribution to the state they're one of the larger minorities even if in terms of actual population they're not now Jamal was killed in one of the battles taking place in the Gaza Strip he was one of five IDF soldiers identified as having been killed by the IDF yesterday now the story behind that is somewhat tragic and this company commander was serving in Gaza for so long since the fighting began several weeks ago he was in touch with his father who is himself a colonel in the reserves and it's understood that just a short while before he was killed in battle his father was able to reach out to him actually getting in touch through the army's own chain of command and discussing the situation in Gaza with his son however obviously there was time for family words whilst tactics were being discussed and his father passed on his best wishes asked him to be careful but tragically the situation you can see behind me is evidence to what the outcome of that was tragic indeed thoughts are with the family of Major Jamal Abbas devastating indeed thank you very much for that update correspondent Robert Swift in Northern Israel thank you Rob the broader Israeli security cabinet meanwhile has approved the daily transfer of a limited amount of fuel into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian purposes rather stamping the decision made by the top level war cabinet far-right ministers but Salel Smotridge and Itamar Ben Gavir and Likud Transportation Minister Miri Regev voting against it given Saar from Benny Gantz's National Unity Party abstaining Israel initially refused to allow fuel into Gaza amidst concerns that Hamas would use it for terror purposes but now has changed its stance in order to avoid a humanitarian disaster with the breakdown of the sewage system there now for the latest we go to our senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev and he joins us from Southern Israel so Jonathan despite the rain throughout the day rocket siren sounding in southern Israel including Kisufim Niram and Mephal Sim in recent hours what is the latest where you are also in Ashkelon the latest red alert siren coming in Ashkelon about an hour ago no injuries or damage reported there but Hamas still proving that they have the ability to fire and all these at least Ashkelon you can assume fired from the northern Gaza Strip which is quite close to Ashkelon Ashkelon roughly eight miles or so north of the border Hamas proving that it still has the ability that Israel has not been able yet to strike all of its infrastructure which is in the northern Gaza Strip but step by step it is happening if we're speaking of Ashkelon let's remember in the first three weeks of this war this was a city that was targeted more than any other city taking in more than one thousand rockets now we're speaking of sirens here and there clearly a difference but still that ability has not been taken away all together from Hamas they're still firing rockets and inside the Gaza Strip the army step by step working to take on more neighborhoods of Gaza today we're speaking of actions mostly in the Jibalia and Sajia neighborhoods in eastern Gaza actually closer to the border with Israel the IDF first encircled the entire northern Gaza Strip and then step by step taking more and more neighborhoods if we spoke a lot last week about the Shifa hospital that is in the western part of Gaza almost on the coast now the IDF is taking on the eastern neighborhoods and it's a process that takes time the aim is to take away all of the Hamas capabilities in the area of northern Gaza before the IDF heads further south not only the capabilities and the infrastructure Jonathan but we also hearing the IDF raiding the homes of senior Hamas commanders talk us through the latest on that front yes and that happens in the Rimal neighborhood Rimal is the upscale neighborhood of Gaza city where it's not surprising that this is where the Hamas leadership was leaving they're very rich they're asking the people to sacrifice of course that's not something they're doing themselves what is but something they are doing is putting all of their neighbors in danger because right next to their homes there were depots of ammunition and headquarters and we can also assume that some of the rockets were fired from the nearby area of the Rimal neighborhood and as the IDF forces came in there also a lot of weapons and the weapons that depots were found showing even they were putting their own children and their own neighbors in danger any civilian infrastructure is a place used by Hamas for its operations. Thank you so much senior defense correspondent Jonathan Rigev live from southern Israel appreciate the update thanks Jonathan and while the fighting continues on the ground as Jonathan has been outlining Hamas leader Ismail Khania is calling for a new meeting of Arab and Muslim countries following a summit earlier this month in Riyadh the final declaration from that summit in the Saudi capital demanded that the United Nations Security Council adopt a quote decisive and binding resolution to stop what it calls Israel's aggression and rejected Israeli claims that it is acting in self defense and now for more on all the latest developments welcome to studio senior editor guy Israel guy thank you so much for being here so much on the go at once and at the same time we're hearing Ismail Khania once a summit of Arab and Muslim leaders to reconvene all the while fighting continues as we speak inside the Gaza Strip. Yes obviously not surprising from Hamas to seek more aid from fellow Arab states also not surprising to see the denial of the Palestinians as to the atrocities that took place on October 7th those 1200 Israelis slaughtered at the hands of those 3000 Hamas terrorists and just a shorter while ago the Palestinian official foreign ministry statement claims that it was in fact Israeli helicopters who bombed the victims at the Nova Festival also casting doubt on the fact that the Palestinians were in in charge of the destruction in the Israeli kibbutz when you hear those false claims from the Palestinians the the mere denial of what we seeing here in front of our eyes that the destruction the testimonies the victims that were left on the ground mercilessly murdered tortured beheaded etc the fact that the Palestinians have not acknowledged what Hamas has done in these atrocities not to mention deny them you know really stands out I think and so perhaps not a surprise but nonetheless something for the world to hear and perhaps it's worth reiterating once again that the footage that is collected from the 7th of October is footage taken by the Hamas terrorists themselves it's from go-pros on the attackers it's from cameras on the phones of people who were perpetrating these atrocities and yet as you are outlining questions are being asked within the Palestinian community as to exactly what happened how is this possible well you can ask many questions about the moral standards of Hamas who initially was bragging about the atrocities that they have committed filming them the most well documented massacre in modern history excuse me and at the same time having the nerve of trying to put themselves away from what they have done even attempting to delete many of those videos on social media shortly after posting them so there's a real dilemma there between being so proud of slaughtering Jews and then having to tell a different story to the world unfortunately it's not just the Palestinians and the Palestinian authority the formal Palestinian authority the foreign ministry that takes these claims as they are but as we unfortunately see in many cases in social media many in the west also prefer to buy the claims of a murderous terrorist group who film those images themselves and not to hear the victims and the proof that is so valid on the ground and the many many harrowing accounts from the survivors as well lots to unpack guys stay with us because we now take a deeper look at how this war is being perceived inside the west bank itself an opinion poll conducted by Berizet University revealing that a majority of Palestinians surveyed in the west bank support the Hamas massacre on October 7th an attack that saw more than 1200 people butchered tortured or shot at that music festival or in their homes plus more than 236 people are still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza more than six weeks later the research by the university's Arab world for research and development finding there is strong Palestinian support for the military wings of the terrorist organizations our customs brigades with the highest at 89% support Palestinian Islamic jihad with 84% our Aksa Martins brigade with 80% and Hamas receiving a lower 76% support still with me in studio senior editor Guy Israel I think very often we do make the distinction between Hamas who perpetrated, executed this attack and the rest of the Palestinian people but namely the Fatah movement who controls the Palestinian authority we are hearing constantly both from the Biden administration that the Fatah movement while the Palestinian authority controlled by the Fatah movement is the one that should control Gaza as well after this war the problem for many Israelis including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many of his coalition partners is that the same Fatah movement is supporting many of them do support the atrocities committed by Hamas out with their voice we can just take a listen to something said by the Fatah secretary in Holland Zaid Tayyam maybe let's take a listen So for more reaction we now welcome Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves Morris Hirsch director at the initiative for Palestinian authority accountability and reform in the Jerusalem center for public affairs thank you so much for joining us from Jerusalem you heard the sentiments shared right now we will continue to talk about the from Jerusalem you heard the sentiments shared right now and since that October 7th terror onslaught the latest survey showing 98% of those surveyed in the West Bank felt more proud to be Palestinian does this surprise you what is your take Absolutely not unfortunately we've seen this trend going now for a very long time it is a product of the 30 years of the Oslo Accords of the Palestinian Authority brainwashing generation after generation of Palestinians to seek the death of Israelis to seek the murder of Israelis to seek the destruction of Israel so when they see terrorist organizations carrying out what they've been taught and educated to them to seek then they express their pride without reservation they are happy to see mothers being murdered they're happy to see babies and all the scenes of the soldiers being kidnapped into Gaza and the crowds shouting Allah wakba this is something it's a source of pride all the time the Palestinian Authority now we're not talking about Hamas we're talking about Palestinian Authority the moderate so-called Abbas leadership who say that these are acts of heroism acts that they should be proud of so we can't really be surprised when we see that the Palestinian people these acts we just have to stop trying to find in Palestinian society what we would like to find there and rather just take them for what they are saying all the time they seek Israel's demise they seek the death of Israelis and that's what their goal is Well to that exact point then President Joe Biden saying in an op-ed that a revitalized Palestinian Authority his words should eventually govern Gaza West Bank talk us through your response and what do you think a revitalized PA should look like So I think a revitalized PA that President Biden is referring to can only be a Palestinian Authority in which there is no place for either Hamas, Palestinian Islamic jihad or Fatah all of these organizations are terrorist organizations that seek the destruction of Israel Fatah Abbas's party actively took part in the massacre itself it wasn't only Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad so too the popular front for the liberation of Palestine a communist organization that's one of the members of the PLO also headed by Abbas all of these organizations cannot be part of any future solution we tried that approach once in the past in 2005 Israel completely retreated from the Gaza Strip handed the keys to the Palestinian Authority and was in months Hamas had taken control Hamas had won the elections and Hamas was then running the Gaza Strip this failed approach cannot be adopted again nothing has changed on the Palestinian side the opposite also is possibly true the Palestinian Authority is now far weaker than it ever was in 2005 and so really that idea of a revitalized Palestinian Authority looked like I would offer the answer that it can only look something that is nothing that resembles the Palestinian Authority today meanwhile Morris Hamas leader Ismail Khania is calling for a new meeting of Arab countries and Muslim countries following that summit earlier this month in Riyadh all of this happening while Qatar is ostensibly brokering a deal for the hostages what do you think Israel needs to do right now to secure the release of all the hostages I think the first thing that we as an Israeli society and Israeli public should do is to ignore all these overtures from Qatar Qatar is a terror supporting country Qatar has been supporting Hamas to the tune of billions of dollars Qatar is part of that whole entire mechanism of propaganda against Israel and to really try and undermine the whole fabric of Israeli society that's why their Prime Minister recently said we're almost there we'll have an agreement very shortly this I would take with a real big dose of caution this is aimed at putting the blame on Israel when really the truth is the terrorists have no interest in releasing any of the hostages we don't even know how many of them are still alive and their goal is now to just implement their terror having slaughtered, decapitated raped, murdered now they're just using their propaganda terror in order to try and tear apart Israeli society knowing that the subject of the hostages is so fundamental is so sensitive in Israeli society that's what they're trying to do just play with our sensibilities play with our feelings cause us to eventually blame Israel's government for the failure of these negotiations when really they have no real intention of releasing the terrorists devastating situation indeed devastating Lieutenant Colonel of the Reserves, Morris Hirsch live from Jerusalem, thank you very much for being with us on I-24 news and now for more we welcome Udi Gorin whose cousin Tal Cheney was abducted by Hamas during their terror onslaught on the 7th of October and Udi has been taking part in the hostages and missing families forum march, Udi thank you so much for talking to us today as you well know the global spotlight is on the hostages held captive for more than six weeks it is truly unimaginable so to start tell us about your cousin Tal a family man we've seen the pictures a beautiful family how are you doing and how is Tal's family doing right now you know I can't really I don't really feel appropriate to talk about myself you know he has a wife and three young children his wife is pregnant and she had just had to tell her little children that she is pregnant with their fourth child when their father is missing and we don't know at this point what's Tal doing is he coming back is he still alive we're still you know in the dark from day one so you know my portion of depression and anxiety doesn't parallel theirs with great fear for what they're currently feeling with great fear whether or not their father is coming back it is truly unimaginable and we're seeing the pictures while we're talking to you of Tal and the family cannot imagine expecting another child it is just truly harrowing these moving images and messages in recent days with marches from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem highlighting of course to the world that these hostages are still in captivity talk us through the latest meetings I understand from the war cabinet was there what assurances or update can you share with us so I want to be very precise about the the goal of the march the goal of the march was not to highlight to the world because the world at this point is not the one who's going to bring them back we are trying to talk directly to the Israeli government that at the end of the day they will be the ones they are the ones that are responsible to bring them back we can talk our heads off with the Americans and the Danes and whoever but at the end of the day the people who have to broker a deal approve it and make sure that compromisers reach because at the end of the day they will all come back through negotiation is the Israeli government and so far we have not seen any progress we don't know anything more than we knew in day one of the war the Red Cross still hasn't visited them the people that we know went in with injuries with severe injuries we have elderly people who are not getting their medicine we have chronically ill people that are not getting their medicine let alone little children the situation is when you really think about the people is unbearable and what we hear is that they are doing everything in their power and you know what I want to believe them first because I have no other choice but second because I think that they do care at the end of the day though we have not seen any progress my cousin is not here yet none of the children or the women are here yet we keep hearing and we know for fact that there have been deals on the table that have not been approved and this is something that we want to make sure that the decision makers understand perfectly clear this is the top priority taking down Hamas is vital so that Israel can continue to exist peacefully and so on but this would take months because they say it themselves these people don't have months we can't wait for months so if there is one goal that is going to take an extended period of time and there is one goal that if we don't perform it right now we will die and who knows if there are not who knows how many people already died in this 44 days we don't know and this is the key not only to winning this war because if we defeat Hamas and we haven't brought back the hostages we have not won we have completely lost not only have we lost the war we have lost the virtue of the Israeli state on October 7th and if they have not done everything in their power everything in their power everything to bring our loved ones back home they have no right in upholding or in keeping their chair and Israel in a state has lost its moral ground Udi the hearts of the nation are with you we wait for word, we wait for an update Udi Goreng live on I-24 News and that's a wrap I'm Benita Levine, stay tuned Israel is in a state of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where she is our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well Broadcasting from Israel with dozens of correspondence throughout the world bringing Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries completely done down in their beds bringing Israel the state of emergency and war in Israel bringing Israel's story to the world I-24 News channels now on hot this breaking news edition I'm Benita Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv this is a photograph of 12 year old Liel Khatroni official confirmation today that she was killed by Hamas terrorists during the terror assault at Kibbutzba area in southern Israel on the 7th of October her remains have now been formally identified her family had last week held a ceremony for her and her aunt Ayala even though at that time there had been no official identification her family buried her personal items Liel and Ayala were killed along with Liel's twin Yanai and the twin's grandfather Avir Khatroni the grandfather and grandson had been laid to rest in Rivivim two weeks after the attack meanwhile the families of 236 hostages being held by Hamas are still waiting for answers more than six weeks since they were abducted by the terror group and taken into Gaza they include babies children, women and the elderly the prime minister of Qatar says a deal to free hostages now hinges on minor practical issues Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Tani was speaking at a joint press conference with EU foreign policy chief Joseph Burrell he didn't give details or any timelines reports suggest the release of some of the hostages will involve a temporary ceasefire meanwhile rocket fire continues to be fired from Gaza towards southern Israeli communities and from southern Lebanon into northern Israel on day 44 of the war on the ground the IDF continues with its retaliatory operation to eliminate the Hamas terror group with the death toll in the ground operation now at 60 Israeli soldiers inside Gaza the Hamas one health ministry is claiming thousands of Gazans have been killed these numbers have not been independently verified and it's not clear how many of those killed are terrorists from Hamas or Palestinian Islamic jihad in the northern part of the strip the IDF says it's working to evacuate as many patients as possible from the Shifa hospital compound which it says is located above a Hamas terror command center now let's find out what is happening on the ground we go to our correspondent Robert Swift and he joins us from northern Israel and Rob you're at the funeral of 23 year old warrant officer Jamal Abbas from Pekin a platoon commander in the 101st battalion of the paratroopers brigade a member of the Druze community devastating indeed tell us more what can you share right now that's right the funeral of major Jamal Abbas is taking place now I'm just going to step to the site so you can see a little bit of the crowd that are gathering here now you can see the number of people that are turning out here we've actually had to wade through cars to get here because the number of families coming together for this funeral is in the 100 people here it seems to me and the majority of the people here from the Arabic speaking Druze minority who are one of Israel's I would say in terms of their contribution to the state they're one of the larger minorities even if in terms of actual population they're not now Jamal was killed in one of the battles taking place in the Gaza Strip he was one of five IDF soldiers identified as having been killed by the IDF yesterday now the story behind that is somewhat tragic in that this company commander was serving in Gaza for so long since the fighting began several weeks ago that he hadn't been in touch with his father who is himself a colonel in the reserves and it's understood that just a short while before he was killed in battle his father was able to reach out to him actually getting in touch through the army's own chain of command and discussing the situation in Gaza with his son however obviously there was time for family words whilst tactics were being discussed and his father passed on his best wishes and asked him to be careful but tragically the situation he could see behind me is evidence to what the outcome of that was tragic indeed thoughts are with the family of Major Jamal Abbas devastating indeed thank you very much for that update correspondent Robert Swift in Northern Israel thank you Rob the broader Israeli security cabinet meanwhile has approved the daily transfer of a limited amount of fuel into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian purposes rather stamping the decision made by the top level war cabinet far-right ministers but Salel Smotridge and Itamar Ben Gavir and Likud transportation minister Miri Regev voting against it given Sa'ar from Benny Gantz's national unity party abstaining Israel initially refused to allow any fuel into Gaza amidst concerns that Hamas would use it for terror purposes but now has changed its stance in order to avoid a humanitarian disaster with the breakdown of the sewerage system there now for the latest we go to our senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev and he joins us from Southern Israel so Jonathan despite the rain throughout the day rocket siren sounding in southern border communities including Kisufim near Am and Mifal Sim in recent hours what is the latest where you are also in Ashkelon the latest the latest red alert siren coming in Ashkelon about an hour ago no injuries or damage reported there but Hamas still proving that they have the ability to fire and all these at least Ashkelon you can assume that it was fired from the northern Gaza Strip which is quite close to Ashkelon. Ashkelon roughly eight miles or so north off the border. Hamas proving that it still has the ability still has not been able yet to strike all of its infrastructure which is in the northern Gaza Strip but step by step it is happening if we're speaking of Ashkelon let's remember in the first three weeks of this war this was a city that was targeted more than any other city taking in more than 1000 rockets now we're speaking of sirens here and there clearly a difference but still that ability has not been taken away all together from Hamas they're still firing rockets and inside the Gaza Strip the army step by step working to take on more neighborhoods of Gaza today we're speaking of actions mostly in the Jibalia and Sajaiya neighborhoods in eastern Gaza actually closer to the border with Israel the idea first encircled the entire northern Gaza Strip and then step by step taking more and more neighborhoods if we spoke a lot last week about the that is in the western part of Gaza almost on the coast now the IDF is taking on the eastern neighborhoods and it's a process that takes time the aim is to take away all of the Hamas capabilities in the area of northern Gaza before the IDF heads further south not only the capabilities and the infrastructure Jonathan but we're also hearing the IDF raiding the homes of senior Hamas commanders talk us through the latest on that front yes and that happens in the Rimal neighborhood Rimal is the upscale neighborhood of Gaza city where it's not surprising that this is where the Hamas leadership was leaving they're very rich they're asking the people to sacrifice of course that's not something they're doing themselves what is but something they are doing is putting all of their neighbors in danger because right next to their homes there were depots of ammunition and headquarters and we can also assume that some of the rockets were fired from the nearby area of the Rimal neighborhood and as the IDF forces came in there also a lot of weapons and the weapons depots were found showing that even they were putting their own children and their own neighbors in danger any civilian infrastructure is a place used by Hamas for its operations thank you so much senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev live from southern Israel appreciate the update thanks Jonathan and while the fighting continues on the ground as Jonathan has been outlining Hamas leader Ismail Khania is calling for a new meeting of Arab and Muslim countries following a summit earlier this month in Riyadh the final declaration from that summit in the Saudi capital demanded that the United Nations Security Council adopt a quote decisive and binding resolution to stop what it calls Israel's aggression and rejected Israeli claims that it is acting in self defense and now for more on all the latest developments we welcome to studio senior editor Guy Israel Guy thank you so much for being here so much on the go at once and at the same time we're hearing Ismail Khania wants a summit of Arab and Muslim leaders to reconvene all the while fighting continues as we speak inside the Gaza Strip yeah so obviously not surprising from Hamas to seek more aid from fellow Arab states also not surprising to see the denial of the Palestinians as to the atrocities that took place on October 7th 1200 Israeli slaughtered at the hands of those 3000 Hamas terrorists and just a shorter while though the Palestinian official foreign ministry statement claims that it was in fact Israeli helicopters who bombed the victims at the Nova Festival also casting doubt on the fact that the Palestinians were in charge of the destruction in the Israeli Kibbutz when you hear those false claims from the Palestinians the denial of what we're seeing here in front of our eyes the destruction, the testimonies the victims that were left on the ground mercilessly tortured, beheaded etc the fact that the Palestinians have not acknowledged what Hamas has done in these atrocities not to mention deny them what they stand out I think and so perhaps not a surprise but nonetheless something for the world to hear and perhaps it's worth reiterating once again that the footage that is collected from the 7th of October is footage taken by the Hamas terrorists themselves it's from GoPros on the attackers it's from cameras on the phones of people who were perpetrating these atrocities and yet surrounding questions are being asked within the Palestinian community as to exactly what happened how is this possible you can ask many questions about the moral standards of Hamas who initially was bragging about the atrocities that they have committed filming them the most well documented massacre in modern history and at the same time having the nerve of trying to put themselves away from what they have done even attempting to delete many of those videos on social media shortly after posting them so a real dilemma there between being so proud of slaughtering Jews and then having to tell a different story to the world unfortunately it's not just the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority the foreign ministry that takes these claims as they are but as we unfortunately see in many cases in social media many in the West also prefer to buy the claims of a murderous terrorist group who film those images themselves and not to hear the victims and the proof that is so valid on the ground and the many many harrowing accounts from the survivors as well lots to unpack guys stay with us because we now take a deeper look at how this war is being perceived inside the West Bank itself an opinion poll conducted by Berazade University revealing that a majority of Palestinians surveyed in the West Bank support the Hamas massacre on October 7th an attack that saw more than 1200 people butchered, tortured or shot at that music festival or in their homes and 236 people are still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza more than 6 weeks later the research by the university's Arab world for research and development finding there is strong Palestinian support for the military wings of the terrorist organizations our customs brigades with the highest at 89% support Palestinian Islamic jihad with 84% our Axa Martins brigade with 80% and Hamas receiving 76% support still with me in studio senior editor Guy Israel I think very often we do make the distinction between Hamas who perpetrated executed this attack and the rest of the Palestinian people but namely the Fatah movement who controls the Palestinian authority we are hearing constantly both from the Biden administration that the Fatah movement controlled by the Fatah movement is the one that should control Gaza as well after this war the problem for many Israelis including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many of his coalition partners is that the same Fatah movement is supporting many of them do support the atrocities committed by Hamas out with their voice we can just take a listen something said by the Fatah secretary in Holland, Zaid Tayyam let's take a listen so for more reaction we now welcome Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves Morris Hirsch director at the initiative for Palestinian Authority Accountability and Reform and he will speak in a few minutes he will speak in a few minutes he will speak in a few minutes he will speak in a few minutes he will speak in a few minutes he will speak in a few minutes he will speak in a few minutes he will speak in a few minutes he will speak in a few minutes he will speak in a few minutes he will speak in a few minutes trend going now for a very long time. It is a product of the 30 years of the Oslo Accords of the Palestinian Authority, brainwashing generation after generation of Palestinians to seek the death of Israelis, to seek the murder of Israelis, to seek the destruction of Israel. So when they see terrorist organizations carrying out what they've been taught and educated to seek, then they express their pride without reservation. They are happy to see mothers being murdered. They're happy to see babies being beheaded. We saw the scenes of the soldiers being kidnapped into Gaza and the crowds shouting, ala wakba. This is something it's a source of pride all the time, the Palestinian Authority. Now we're not talking about Hamas. We're talking about Palestinian Authority, the moderate so-called Abbas leadership who say that these are acts of heroism, acts that they should be proud of. So we can't really be surprised when we see that the Palestinian people support these acts. We just have to stop trying to find in Palestinian society what we would like to find there and rather just take them for what they are saying all the time. They seek Israel's demise. They seek the death of Israelis. And that's what their goal is. Well, to that exact point then, President Joe Biden saying in an op-ed that a revitalized Palestinian Authority, his words, should eventually govern Gaza and the West Bank. Talk us through your response and what do you think a revitalized PA should look like? So I think a revitalized PA that President Biden is referring to can only be a Palestinian Authority in which there is no place for either Hamas, Palestinian, Islamic jihad or Fatah. All of these organizations are terrorist organizations that seek the destruction of Israel. Fatah, Abbas's party actively took part in the massacre itself. It wasn't only Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad. So too, the popular fund for the liberation of Palestine, a communist organization that's one of the members of the PLA also headed by Abbas. All of these organizations cannot be part of any future solution. We tried that approach once in the past in 2005. Israel completely retreated from the Gaza Strip, handed the keys to the Palestinian Authority and was in months. Hamas had taken control, Hamas had won the elections and Hamas was then running the Gaza Strip. This failed approach cannot be adopted again. Nothing has changed on the Palestinian side. The opposite also is possibly true. The Palestinian Authority is now far weaker than it ever was in 2005. And so really that idea of what would a revitalized Palestinian Authority look like, I would offer the answer that it can only look something that is nothing that resembles the Palestinian Authority today. Meanwhile, Morris Hamas, leader Ismail Khania, is calling for a new meeting of Arab countries and Muslim countries following that summit earlier this month in Riyadh. All of this happening while Qatar is ostensibly procuring a deal for the hostages. What do you think Israel needs to do right now to secure the release of all the hostages? I think the first thing that we as an Israeli society and Israeli public should do is to ignore all these overtures from Qatar. Qatar is a terror-supporting country. Qatar has been supporting Hamas to the tune of billions of dollars. Qatar is part of that whole entire mechanism of propaganda against Israel and to really try and undermine the whole fabric of Israeli society. That's why their prime minister recently said, we're almost there. We'll have an agreement very shortly. This I would take with a real big dose of caution. This is aimed at putting the blame on Israel when really the truth is the terrorists have no interest in releasing any of the hostages. We don't even know how many of them are still alive. And their goal is now to just implement their terror, having slaughtered, decapitated, raped, murdered. Now they're just using their propaganda terror in order to try tear apart Israeli society, knowing that the subject of the hostages is so fundamental, is so sensitive in Israeli society. That's what they're trying to do. Just play with our sensibilities, play with our feelings, and then cause us to eventually blame Israel's government for the failure of these negotiations when really they have no real intention of releasing the terrorists. Devastating situation indeed. Devastating. Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserves, Morris Hirsch, live from Jerusalem. Thank you very much for being with us on I-24 News. And now for more. We welcome Udi Goren, whose cousin Tarkhini was abducted by Hamas during their terror onslaught on the 7th of October. And Udi has been taking part in the hostages and missing families forum March. Udi, thank you so much for talking to us today. As you well know, the global spotlight is on the hostages held captive for more than six weeks. It is truly unimaginable. So to start, tell us about your cousin Tull, a family man. We've seen the pictures, a beautiful family. How are you doing and how are Tull's family doing right now? You know, I can't really, I don't really feel appropriate to feel, to talk about myself. You know, he has a wife and three young children. His wife is pregnant. And she had just had to tell her little children that she is pregnant with their fourth child when their father is missing. And we don't know at this point how he's doing. Is he coming back? Is he still alive? We're still, you know, in the dark from day one. So, you know, my portion of depression and anxiety doesn't parallel theirs with great fear for, you know, what they're currently feeling with great fear, whether or not their father is coming back. It is truly unimaginable. And we're seeing the pictures while we're talking to you of Tull and the family cannot imagine expecting another child. It is just truly harrowing these moving images and messages in recent days with marches from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, highlighting, of course, to the world that these hostages are still in captivity. Talk us through the latest meetings. I understand Bailey Gantz from the War Cabinet was there. What assurances or updates can you share with us? So, I want to be very precise about the goal of the March. The goal of the March was not highlight to the world, because the world at this point is not the one who's going to bring them back. We are trying to talk directly to the Israeli government that at the end of the day, they will be the ones, they are the ones that are responsible to bring them back. You know, we can talk our heads off with the Americans and the Romanians and the Danes and whoever. But at the end of the day, the people who have to broker a deal, approve it and make sure that the compromisers reach because at the end of the day, they will all come back through negotiation is the Israeli government. And so far, we have not seen any progress. We don't know anything more than we knew in day one of the war. The Red Cross still hasn't visited them. We have people that we know went in with injuries, with severe injuries. We have elderly people who are not getting their medicine. We have chronically ill people that are not getting their medicine, let alone little children. The situation is, when you really think about the people, is unbearable. And what we hear is that they're doing everything in their power. And you know what? I want to believe them, first, because I have no other choice, but second, because I think that they do care. At the end of the day though, we have not seen any progress. My cousin is not here yet. None of the children or the women are here yet. We keep hearing and we know for a fact that there have been deals on the table that have not been approved. And this is something that we want to make sure that the decision makers understand perfectly clear. This is the top priority. Taking down Hamas is vital so that Israel can continue to exist peacefully and so on. But this would take months. We know, you know how we know, because they say it themselves. These people don't have months. We can't wait for months. So if there's one goal that's going to take an extended period of time, and there's one goal that if we don't perform it right now, people will die. And who knows if they're not, who knows how many people already died in these 44 days? We don't know. And this is the key not only to winning this war, because if we defeat Hamas and we haven't brought back the hostages, we have not won. We have completely lost. Not only have we lost the war, we have lost the virtue of the Israeli state to exist because it failed us once on October 7th. And if they have not done everything in their power, everything in their power, everything to bring our loved ones back home, they have no right in upholding or in keeping their chair. And Israel in this state has lost its moral ground. Udi, the hearts of the nation are with you. We wait for word, we wait for an update. Thank you very much for speaking to us. Udi Goreng live on I-24 News. And that's a wrap. I'm Benita Devine. Stay tuned. Each of war families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where we see as our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. News edition, I'm Benita Devine coming to you live from Tel Aviv. This is a photograph of 12-year-old Liel Khatroni, official confirmation today that she was killed by Hamas terrorists during the terror assault at Kibbutz Baeri in southern Israel on the 7th of October. Her remains have now been formally identified. Her family had last week held a ceremony for her and her aunt Ayala, even though at that time there had been no official identification. Her family buried her personal items. Liel and Ayala were killed along with Liel's twin Yanai and the twins' grandfather, Avir Khatroni. The grandfather and grandson had been laid to rest in Rivivim two weeks after the attack. Meanwhile, the families of 236 hostages being held by Hamas are still waiting for answers more than six weeks since they were abducted by the terror group and taken into Gaza. They include babies, children, women, and the elderly. The Prime Minister of Qatar says a deal to free the hostages now hinges on minor practical issues. Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Tani was speaking at a joint press conference with EU foreign policy chief Joseph Burrell. He didn't give details or any timelines. Let's take a listen to more. When you come closer to the goal, you feel your confidence levels are increasing and we hope that we are reaching to that point. The sticking points honestly at this stage are more practical, logistical, not really something represent the core of the deal. Now let's find out exactly what's happening on the ground. We go live to our correspondent Zach Anders. He joins us from southern Israel and despite the rain, Zach siren sounding just moments ago in Kisufim and in other southern border communities earlier. What is the latest there? What can you tell us? Well, throughout this different weather day that we've had with a lot of wind and rain, there's been several alarms throughout the day as well as the IDF is saying their operations continue. They're ongoing. There has not been a pause or any sort of strategic change despite some of the wet weather in this high wind that we've experienced throughout the Gaza Strip and throughout Israel today, southern Israel. Now the IDF has said that they have taken one of the more affluent neighborhoods of Gaza. The special paratrooper grade was able to secure that neighborhood that they found dozens more entrances to tunnels in this neighborhood where several senior Hamas commanders live and that the IDF operations there did secure this neighborhood. So that was the big change in the last 12 to 24 hours. And Zach so much being made about the humanitarian corridor is allowing people to flee the fighting. What is the latest on that front given the weather conditions right now? Well, we've been seeing reports from several of the folks that are inside Gaza that are attributing this high wind. You'll have to remember that a lot of the people that have fled their homes are now in temporary structures inside tents or structures that they've covered with tarps. And some of the people are reporting that because of the wind they've been blowing away. So now they're exposed to the elements and that the conditions are worsening because of this wet weather as well. So we don't have much more that we're able to confirm independently confirm about where some of these large amasses or refugee areas are building. But we have been seeing several people posting online about the weather today and saying that it's making their situation much worse. Thank you so much correspondent Zach Anders updating us from Southern Israel more to come from Zach in the coming hours. And now news just in reports that the Houthis have claimed to have seized an Israeli ship in the Red Sea. The foreign ministry is reportedly aware of the incident but there are conflicting reports. So to that end we welcome to studio Colonel in the reserves Grisha Yakubovich the former head of the civilian department of Kogat in the IDF and Israeli Palestinian relations expert and our senior editor Guy Azrael. So Guy, there are conflicting reports about this vessel and exactly who it belongs to and what has happened. What can you share this hour? Right. So we first heard a report from the Saudi newspaper Al-Hadaf saying that this vessel by the name of Galaxy Leader. I hope you can see it on our screens very soon. This is the vessel it was taken by the Houthis with 22 crew members on board. The initial report said that this was an Israeli vessel. But as we're hearing from the IDF that is very far from the truth. Are we hearing from the IDF spokesman just a short while ago saying the hijacking of this cargo ship by the Houthis in the Red Sea is a very serious event on a global level. This is a ship that left Turkey on its way to India with an international civilian crew without Israelis. And this is not an Israeli ship as far as we can learn. The crew on board are actually Japanese. This was a boat that was leased from a British company, perhaps partly owned by an Israeli businessman by the name of Rami Unger. Regardless of that, the ties between this boat, leased by the Japanese with Japanese crew on board. The ties to Israel is very light to say the least. Nonetheless, the Houthis decided to do this. Obviously, this is a very serious incident in the Red Sea. One of the main routes of cargo boats in the world. And we can also say that earlier today the Houthis have threatened to attack Israeli ships in the sea. They've already done so before. They said that they would attack boats that trace the Israeli flag, that are operated by Israeli companies or that are owned by such. And we are expected to hear from the Houthis very soon, regardless of what they say. Israel, at least the idea of saying this is a very serious event on a global level. I'm sure we'll hear both from the Japanese and from other world leaders about this event. Certainly a very disturbing event. Grisha, your take on the implications right here and what the Houthis are up to right now. Well, there are two applications. One, and we've been talking about it here, the studio. And I told you that when the Houthis say something, they mean what they say. And this is why they are so unique. If I compare them, let's say to Hezbollah or to Iran or to others, they are the only ones that when they declare something, when they say something, they mean it and they do it. So, yes, Guy just mentioned that they've published, I think last night, four conditions to ships that if a ship will be, I don't know, one of those criterias, it will be, I don't know, hijacked or taken or whatever. And this is actually what they did. Okay. Now, the idea of spokesmen immediately published and announced that this is not in Israeli boat. And it's to make sure that the Houthis will understand that this is not such a big achievement as they are trying to show. But there are consequences to what they are doing. This is a proxy Iranian organization that is showing force at one of the most, one of the main, let's say, see, I may say, roads, okay, economical roads that lead goods from Europe, Turkey. This boat came from Turkey and to India. And let's see what will be the global applications to something like that. Will that include sanctions against Yemen when it comes to boats that will deliver goods to Yemen? We are hearing right now from the office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying we strongly condemn the Iranian attack against an international boat. The boat is owned by a British company operated by a Japanese company was hijacked by Iranian directions by the Houthi militia in Yemen. On board is our 25 crew members from various nationalities, including Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos and Mexicans. No Israelis were on board. And this statement further says this is another Iranian act of terror that is another jump in the aggression of Iran against the world citizens of the free world and has very important, significant implications for the security of the international cargo routes in the world. Just look at it. Everything works so coordinated. Two places with two escalations. One, the Houthis at the sea. Okay, this is an escalation of the situation. And two in the north. The moment the foreign minister affairs of Iran said that Hezbollah officially joined to the war of attrition. Okay, we also see the escalation on on in the sea and in the north. And I believe that we from today, we can mark another step of escalation in the Middle East. Let's see what it will put us in the following 24 hours. Where does it put the global stage right now? Because as guy is outlining, there are no Israelis on board this boat as per the latest confirmed information. But there are people from a whole range of different nations. What kind of outrage are you expecting to hear to the latest developments these Iranian proxies at sea right now? Will the world be outraged? Well, I think that not. The world shows weakness. And this is an enemy that when you show weakness, they ask the situation because they feel that they can. If we would look at all the attacks on American basis at the last only 24 hours. And the only thing that happens is somebody is saying that please stop doing that without showing them force. So we will see those escalation all over the Middle East in the following week. Talk to us about the implications across the board on all these friends. As you've spoken about up north, there've been developments across the Lebanon border throughout the morning and in recent days. We heard my colleagues at talking about the latest developments. Obviously the fighting continues inside the Gaza Strip. The West Bank also a place, a hotbed of concern. And now you add in the Red Sea is Israel able to handle all these threats at the same time right now day 44 of the war. As I see that this is a real war of attrition as we move deeper into the Gaza Strip. And I think that this is all connected as deep as we enter the moment we are now reaching to the eastern neighborhoods and in the south and part of Gaza. It means we are getting closer to the leadership in Gaza. We see the escalation in the north and we see the efforts that Hamas are implementing in the West Bank. So we've seen for the first time last week terror attacks from people from Hebron, the hardcore of Hamas. We've seen the two huge operations with two brigades in Balata Nablus and in Geneva. We see now the escalation with the Houthis and we see the escalation in the northern part of actually in Lebanon with more than 12 attacks. If it was only eight till one o'clock, now it's already 12 or 13 events. And this is a real escalation. And again, I think that the following 24 hours, you know, this is this war we always look ahead 24 hours ahead. But the question is who will be the first not to continue restraining the situation? Will it be Hezbollah or Israel? As long as you call 12 attacks in one morning, not escalating the situation, they have escalated the situation a long time ago, Israel is the one that is for now keeping its response very mild to say the least. Stay with us, gentlemen. Lots more to unpack on this front right now. We take another look since the start of this war. Critics have been on the lookout for cracks between the United States and Israel. But on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden seemed to move closer to agreement on the nature of the Gaza Strip after the war. Our senior diplomatic correspondent Owen Ultiman takes a deeper look in this report. Israeli media made this the headline, a 50-minute press conference Saturday night with Israel's top leaders, with the Prime Minister saying this about the Gaza Strip on the day after. The Palestinian Authority in its current form cannot get control, cannot get control of Gaza after we fought and done all this to give it to them. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu choosing his words carefully, a week after commentators wrongly said he had closed the door on the Palestinian Authority ruling a post-war Gaza. I will not allow any party into Gaza that supports terrorism and paste terrorists and terrorist families and educates their children to murder Jews and to eliminate the State of Israel. And putting Netanyahu just maybe in line with U.S. President Joe Biden, whose op-ed in the Washington Post came out just as Netanyahu was speaking. As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work towards a two-state solution. A potential meeting of the minds at least on a post-war Gaza is important for Israel. Making it more likely Israel will achieve its core goals. And Israelis should also pay attention to the rest of Biden's op-ed. Normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia implicitly is still on. The red marker corridor from India through the Middle East is still on. And Israel and Ukraine are for Biden a common cause of defending American allies. Israel can think not only of what to take from that U.S. grand strategy, but also how to help it. Still in studio, Grisha Yakubovich and Al-Qaeda Israel. So President Joe Biden says a revitalized Palestinian Authority should eventually take over Gaza and the West Bank. Grisha, you know the region well. What exactly does a revitalized PA look like after this war? Actually, I think they both say the same thing. Prime Minister Netanyahu did not say that the PA will not return to the Gaza Strip. He said the current PA will not be able to take responsibility. President Biden said that the PA should take responsibility in the Gaza Strip. So it's actually in a way the same thing. The problem is with the leadership. I believe, I believe again, this is my personal analyze that Israel will be responsible when it comes to the Gaza Strip from the security. Let's say it will be contained by Israel, okay, with the IDF. It will be controlled security from the outside with the IDF. And I think that there will be a period of, I don't know, a week or few months that civil control will be under Israeli responsibility, okay? Not really managed by Israel, but responsibility. I think this will be the reality the day after the war. And only then, okay, after stabilizing the situation, the new entity, and I don't know who will that be. Will it be the PA with new people? Will it be the same PA with commitments? Will it be freelancers like Salam Fayyad, Dahlan that are not fatah today? They are independent parties. Will they be the ones that will be there in Gaza and prepare the Gaza Strip for the day after, okay? To be emerged with the future Palestinian authority and it depends how it will look like. So I think in a way, both leaders are saying the same thing with few nuances. The main issue here really, yes, obviously those who would lead the Palestinian authority after a bus is gone. That's an important question. But the main thing for Israel is to stop the incitement, to stop paying salaries to terrorists, to stop encouraging terror acts by the Palestinian authority. That is the main thing that Israel would not agree to, at least Prime Minister Netanyahu would not agree with. We do not know whether Ben Gantz, for example, shares the exact same opinions in the war cabinet. Regardless, the fact is that Israel has turned a blind eye for so many years to the fact that the Palestinian authority continues with this incitement. The hatred for the State of Israel is so inherited in the Palestinian people, as we saw in that survey that we spoke about just an hour ago, that massive support among the Palestinian street, even more so in the West Bank than in Gaza for the acts of Hamas on October 7th. 86% or so of Palestinians approve or support the acts of Hamas. That is the problem. When you educate your people to hate Israel or not to accept Israel's right to exist for so many years, that is a problem when you give them security control over areas that pose a major risk to Israelis. Obviously, Gaza is a major risk as we saw. But if the Palestinian authority had full control of the West Bank, well, that is just a few miles away from the Ben Gurion International Airport from Tel Aviv, just several dozen miles away, a much greater problem that Israel would not allow Palestinian security control over those areas. And just as much so when it comes to Gaza and that is the main thing that would need to change when we speak about any sort of international interference, involvement and the Americans and what expectations would they have of that future Palestinian leadership. And that is all for the day after the war. But right now, the priority Grisha remains. Where are the hostages and what is it going to take to get them home safely? Their families have been waiting. It's unimaginable for more than six weeks for answers. Look, I know Hamas well. I met in the past some of their leaders. And they are playing with us. And I think that this is what we need to understand. They are playing with us. And the only way, the only way to release all the people who are kidnapped, some of them. We don't know even how many of them are alive. They kidnapped kids and women and all the people. And we really don't know what is, are they, did somebody give them medicines? Okay. And then this is something that we need to stay to the whole world. Because when we arrest somebody from Gaza or from the West Bank, we make sure that the ICRC, the Red Cross, will enter to the prison, visit him, and we send a medical report and we do it according to the international law. And here we have 239 civilians that were brutally kidnapped in Gaza. And we know nothing about them. And after Hamas achieved what they achieved at October 7th, and I'm sure that they will not achieve anymore, the only way to release them, the only way to save them, the only way to get to a real deal, okay? And not just you know, something that is in the air is by force, by force and by force. Parting words for you guys on these efforts underway right now. Many reports about deals in the pipeline, but no confirmation, very briefly. Yes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was very curious today saying there's no deal as we heard from the Americans. Nonetheless, the deal that is being discussed is on the return of some 50 to 70 hostages, mainly children, and their mothers with Israel insisting that every child will return with his parents, with his mother, and will not leave, will not separate families in Gaza. Heartbreaking situation indeed. We wait for answers. Guy Azrael, Colonel, Reserves, Koshia Yakubovich, thank you both so much for being here in studio. And now there are several creative initiatives underway to highlight the plight of the hostages being held as we've been discussing for more than six weeks now, including one called This Is Us. Our Erica Jackson has more. Let's take a look. With paintbrushes in their hands, these artists in Israel are raising awareness for hostages that Hamas kidnapped in Israel on October 7th. They're doing it through creating portraits of them. When everything started, I felt kind of like I can't help with anything, and I was at home, um, pregnant. Ayelet has previously painted Daphna Eliakim, and is rarely kidnapped by Hamas, who's 15 years old. Today she's painting another hostage, Gali Tarshansky. She's only 13. My connection to a girl, like a small young girl that needs her mother, needs her parents, needs her family, has made me, like, heart went out to her. The opportunity to create these artworks is all thanks to a project called This Is Us, and whether it's through acrylic, charcoal, or watercolor, the mission is the same, allowing artists to use the skills they know best to give back. The fresh paint, art, and design fair, along with the nonprofit Yotsrim Sviva, which provides a platform for female artists in the Orthodox Jewish community, is behind the initiative. It's meant to raise awareness for those held hostage in Gaza by Hamas. We've just made contact with the artists that we were in regular connections with, and we invited them to do collaborative shifts here at the square of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv Museum of Art. As a painter, when I found out about this, so I wanted straight ahead to participate, it wasn't even a question. When I started to do this, it was like I could breathe again. For artists like Stella Lamichov, at times the process of creation isn't easy. When I heard about this project, I knew that it would be quite hard for me to look at someone who I know is over the border. Usually I paint from life and the thought of someone not being alive just killed me. Today Stella is painting Danielle Aloni, who was kidnapped in Kibbutz, near Oz. When I saw the videos in the 7th of October of Danielle and her daughter, her sister, her nieces in a truck led to Gaza, I saw the little girls in their pink dresses clinging to their moms with their little hands. The first thought as a mom was that could have been me, that could have been my daughter. I have families there, we could have been visiting. Here the stories of those taken captive are told through art with the hope that one day these paintings will be delivered into their hands. I'm full of hope that she will see the drawing, she will receive it and hopefully we will meet in better circumstances. I believe that I'll paint him and he will return. I hope he will put it in his room, his room here. Reporting from Tel Aviv, Erica Jackson, I-24 News. More than six weeks in captivity, truly no words. And that's a wrap for this edition of our breaking news coverage. I'm Benita Levine. Our rolling coverage continues shortly. Stay tuned. This is I-24 News. It is in a state of war. Families completely gone 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. This is a photograph of 12-year-old Liel Khatroni, official confirmation today that she was killed by Hamas terrorists during the terror assault at Kibbutzbaeri in southern Israel on the 7th of October. Her remains have now been formally identified. Her family had last week held a ceremony for her and her aunt Ayala, even though at that time there had been no official identification. Her family buried her personal items. Liel and Ayala were killed along with Liel's twin Yanai and the twins' grandfather, Avia Khatroni. The grandfather and grandson had been laid to rest in Rivivim two weeks after the attack. Meanwhile, the families of 236 hostages being held by Hamas are still waiting for answers more than six weeks since they were abducted by the terror group and taken into Gaza. They include babies, children, women and the elderly. The Prime Minister of Qatar says a deal to free the hostages now hinges on minor practical issues. Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Altani was speaking at a joint press conference with EU foreign policy chief Joseph Burrell. He didn't give details or any timelines. Let's take a listen to more. When you come closer to the goal, you feel your confidence levels are increasing and we hope that we are reaching to that point. The sticking points, honestly, at this stage are more practical, logistical, not really something represent the core of the deal. Now let's find out exactly what's happening on the ground. We go live to our correspondent Zach Anders. He joins us from southern Israel and despite the rain, Zach siren sounding just moments ago in Kiselfim and in other southern border communities earlier. What is the latest there? What can you tell us? Well, throughout this different weather day that we've had with a lot of wind and rain, there's been several alarms throughout the day as well as the IDF is saying their operations continue. They're ongoing. There has not been a pause or any sort of strategic change despite some of the wet weather in this high wind that we've experienced throughout the Gaza Strip and throughout Israel today, southern Israel. Now the IDF has said that they have taken one of the more affluent neighborhoods of Gaza. The special paratroop brigade was able to secure that neighborhood that they found dozens more entrances to tunnels in this neighborhood where several senior Hamas commanders live and that the IDF operations there did secure this neighborhood. So that was the big change in the last 12 to 24 hours. And Zach, so much being made about the humanitarian corridors allowing people to flee the fighting. What is the latest on that front given the weather conditions right now? Well, we've been seeing reports from several of the folks that are inside Gaza that are attributing this high wind. You'll have to remember that a lot of the people that have fled their homes are now in temporary structures inside tents or structures that they've covered with tarps. And some of the people are reporting that because of the wind they've been blowing away. So now they're exposed to the elements and that the conditions are worsening because of this wet weather as well. So we don't have much more that we're able to confirm independently confirm about where some of these large amasses or refugee areas are building. But we have been seeing several people posting online about the weather today and saying that it's making their situation much worse. Thank you so much correspondent Zach Anders updating us from Southern Israel more to come from Zach in the coming hours. And now news just in reports that the Houthis have claimed to have seized an Israeli ship in the Red Sea. The foreign ministry is reportedly aware of the incident, but there are conflicting reports. So to that end, we welcome to studio Colonel in the reserves Grisha Yakubovich, the former head of the civilian department of Kogat in the IDF and Israeli Palestinian relations expert and our senior editor Guy Azrael. So Guy, there are conflicting reports about this vessel and exactly who it belongs to and what has happened. What can you share this hour? Right. So we first heard a report from the Saudi newspaper Al-Hadath saying that this vessel by the name of Galaxy Leader. I hope you can see it on our screens very soon. This is the vessel it was taken by the Houthis with 22 crew members on board. The initial report said that this was an Israeli vessel. But as we're hearing from the IDF, that is very far from the truth. Are we hearing from the IDF spokesman just a short while ago saying the hijacking of this cargo ship by the Houthis in the Red Sea is a very serious event on a global level. This is a ship that left Turkey on its way to India with an international civilian crew without Israelis. And this is not an Israeli ship as far as we can learn. The crew on board are actually Japanese. This was a boat that was leased from a British company, perhaps partly owned by an Israeli businessman by the name of Rami Unger. Regardless of that, the ties between this boat, leased by the Japanese with Japanese crew on board. The ties to Israel is very, very light to say the least. Nonetheless, the Houthis decided to do this. Obviously, this is a very serious incident in the Red Sea. One of the main routes of cargo boats in the world. And we can also say that earlier today, the Houthis have threatened to attack Israeli ships in the sea. They've already done so before. They said that they would attack boats that raise the Israeli flag that are operated by Israeli companies or that are owned by such. And we are expected to hear from the Houthis very soon, regardless of what they say. Israel, at least the IDF, saying this is a very serious event on a global level. I'm sure we'll hear both from the Japanese and from other world leaders about this event. Certainly a very disturbing event. Grisha, your take on the implications right here and what the Houthis are up to right now? Well, there are two applications. One, and we've been talking about it here at the studio. And I told you that when the Houthis say something, they mean what they say. And this is why they are so unique. If I compare them, let's say to Hezbollah or to Iran or to others, they are the only ones that when they declare something, when they say something, they mean it and they do it. So, yes, Guy just mentioned that they've published, I think last night, four conditions to ships that if a ship will be, I don't know, one of those criterias, it will be hijacked or taken or whatever. And this is actually what they did. Now, the idea of spokesmen immediately published and announced that this is not in Israeli boat. And it's to make sure that the Houthis will understand that this is not such a big achievement as they are trying to show. But there are consequences to what they are doing. This is a proxy Iranian organization that is showing force at one of the most, one of the main, let's say, see, I may say, roads, okay, economical roads that lead goods from Europe, Turkey. This boat came from Turkey and to India. And let's see what will be the global applications to something like that. Will that include sanctions against Yemen when it comes to boats that will deliver goods to Yemen? We are hearing right now from the Office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying we strongly condemn the Iranian attack against an international boat. The boat is owned by a British company operated by a Japanese company, was hijacked by Iranian directions by the Houthi militia in Yemen. On board is our 25 crew members from various nationalities, including Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos and Mexicans. No Israelis were on board. And the statement further says this is another Iranian act of terror that is another jump in the aggression of Iran against the world citizens of the free world and has very important, significant implications for the security of the international cargo routes in the world. Just look at it. Everything works so coordinated. Two places with two escalations. One, the Houthis at the sea. This is an escalation of the situation. And two in the north. The moment the foreign minister affairs of Iran said that Hezbollah officially joined to the war of attrition, we also see the escalation on the sea and in the north. And I believe that from today we can mark another step of escalation in the Middle East. Let's see what it will put us in the following 24 hours. Where does it put the global stage right now? Because as Guy is outlining, there are no Israelis on board this boat as per the latest confirmed information. But there are people from a whole range of different nations. What kind of outrage are you expecting to hear to the latest developments these Iranian proxies at sea right now? Will the world be outraged? Well, I think that not. The world shows weakness. And this is an enemy that when you show weakness, they escalate the situation because they feel that they can. If we would look at all the attacks on an American basis at the last only 24 hours, and the only thing that happens is somebody is saying that please stop doing that without showing them force. So we will see those escalation all over the Middle East in the following week. Talk to us about the implications across the board on all these fronts. As you've spoken about up north, there've been developments across the Lebanon border throughout the morning and in recent days. We heard my colleague Zach talking about the latest developments. Obviously, the fighting continues inside the Gaza Strip. The West Bank also a place, a hotbed of concern. And now you add in the Red Sea is Israel able to handle all these threats at the same time right now, day 44 of the war. As I see that, this is a real war of attrition. As we move deeper into the Gaza Strip, and I think that this is all connected as deep as we enter the moment we are now reaching to the eastern neighborhoods and in the southern part of Gaza. It means we are getting closer to the leadership in Gaza. We see the escalation in the nose and we see the efforts that Hamas are implementing in the West Bank. So we've seen for the first time last week terror attacks from people from Hebron, the hardcore of Hamas. We've seen two huge operations with two brigades in Balata Nablus and in Genine. We see now the escalation with the Houthis and we see the escalation in the northern part of actually Lebanon with more than 12 attacks. If it was only eight till one o'clock, now it's already 12 or 13 events. And this is a real escalation. And again, I think that the following 24 hours, you know, this is this war we always look ahead 24 hours ahead. But the question is who will be the first not to continue restraining the situation? Will it be Hezbollah or will it be Israel? As long as you call 12 attacks in one morning, not escalating the situation, they have escalated the situation a long time ago, Israel is the one that is for now keeping its response very mild, to say the least. Stay with us, gentlemen. Lots more to unpack on this front right now. We take another look since the start of this war. Critics have been on the lookout for cracks between the United States and Israel. But on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden seemed to move closer to agreement on the nature of the Gaza Strip after the war. Our senior diplomatic correspondent Owen Ultiman takes a deeper look in this report. Israeli media made this the headline, a 50-minute press conference Saturday night with Israel's top leaders, with the Prime Minister saying this about the Gaza Strip on the day after. The Palestinian Authority in its current form cannot get control, cannot get control of Gaza after we fought and done all this to give it to them. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, choosing his words carefully, a week after commentators wrongly said he had closed the door on the Palestinian Authority ruling a postwar Gaza. I will not allow any party into Gaza that supports terrorism and pays terrorists and terrorist families and educates their children to murder Jews and to eliminate the state of Israel. And putting Netanyahu just maybe in line with U.S. President Joe Biden, whose op-ed in the Washington Post came out just as Netanyahu was speaking. As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority. As we all work towards a two-state solution. A potential meeting of the minds, at least on a postwar Gaza, is important for Israel. Making it more likely Israel will achieve its core goals. And Israelis should also pay attention to the rest of Biden's op-ed. Normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia implicitly is still on. The red marker corridor from India through the Middle East is still on. And Israel and Ukraine are for Biden a common cause of defending American allies. Israel can think not only of what to take from that U.S. grand strategy, but also how to help it. Still in studio, Grisha Yakubovich and Al-Qaeda Israel. So President Joe Biden says a revitalized Palestinian Authority should eventually take over Gaza and the West Bank. Grisha, you know the region well. What exactly does a revitalized PA look like after this war? Actually, I think they both say the same thing. Prime Minister Netanyahu did not say that the PA will not return to the Gaza Strip. He said the current PA will not be able to take responsibility. President Biden said that the PA should take responsibility in the Gaza Strip. So it's actually in a way the same thing. The problem is with the leadership. I believe, I believe again, this is my personal analyze that Israel will be responsible when it comes to the Gaza Strip from the security. Let's say it will be contained by Israel with the IDF. It will be controlled security from the outside with the IDF. And I think that there will be a period of, I don't know, a week or few months that civil control will be under Israeli responsibility. Not really managed by Israel, but responsibility. I think this will be the reality the day after the war. And only then, after stabilizing the situation, the new entity, and I don't know who will that be. Would it be the PA with new people? Would it be the same PA with commitments? Will it be freelancers like Salam Fayyad and Dahlan that are not fatah today? They are independent parties. Will they be the ones that will be there in Gaza and prepare the Gaza Strip for the day after, okay, to be emerged with the future Palestinian Authority and it depends how it will look like. So I think in a way, both leaders are saying the same thing with few nuances. The main issue here really, yes, obviously, those who would lead the Palestinian Authority after our bus is gone. That's an important question. But the main thing for Israel is to stop the incitement, to stop paying salaries to terrorists, to stop encouraging terror acts by the Palestinian Authority. That is the main thing that Israel would not agree to, at least Prime Minister Netanyahu would not agree with. We do not know whether Ben Gantz, for example, shares the exact same opinions in that war cabinet. Regardless, the fact is that Israel has turned a blind eye for so many years to the fact that the Palestinian Authority continues with this incitement. The hatred for the state of Israel is so inherited in the Palestinian people as we saw in that survey that we spoke about just an hour ago that massive support among the Palestinian Street, even more so in the West Bank than in Gaza for the acts of Hamas on October 7th. 86% or so of Palestinians approve or support the acts of Hamas. That is the problem. When you educate your people to hate Israel or not to accept Israel's right to exist for so many years, that is a problem when you give them security control over areas that pose a major risk to Israelis. Obviously, Gaza is a major risk, as we saw. But if the Palestinian Authority had full control of the West Bank, well, that is just a few miles away from the Ben Gurion International Airport, from Tel Aviv, just several dozen miles away. A much greater problem that Israel would not allow Palestinian security control over those areas and just as much so when it comes to Gaza. And that is the main thing that would need to change when we speak about any sort of international interference, involvement, and the Americans and what expectations would they have of that future Palestinian leadership. And that is all for the day after the war. But right now, the priority, Grisha, remains. Where are the hostages and what is it going to take to get them home safely? Their families have been waiting. It's unimaginable for more than six weeks for answers. Look, I know Hamas well. I met in the past some of their leaders. Okay. And they are playing with us. And I think that this is what we need to understand. They are playing with us. And the only way, the only way to release all the people who are kidnapped, some of them. Okay. We don't know even how many of them are alive. Okay. They kidnapped kids and women and all the people. And we really don't know what is, are they, are they, somebody gave them medicines? Okay. And then this is something that we need to stay to the whole world. Because when we arrest somebody from Gaza or from the West Bank, we make sure that the ICRC, the Red Cross, will enter to the prison, visit him, and we send a medical report, and we do it according to the international law. And here we have 239 civilians that were brutally kidnapped into Gaza. And we know nothing about it. And, you know, after Hamas, achieved what they achieved at October 7th. And I'm sure that they will not achieve anymore. The only way to release them, the only way to save them, the only way to get to a real deal. Okay. And not just, you know, something that is in the air, is by force, by force and by force. Parting words for you, Guy, on these efforts underway right now. Many reports about deals in the pipeline, but no confirmation, very briefly. Yes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was very curious today saying there's no deal as we heard from the Americans. Nonetheless, the deal that is being discussed is on the return of some 50 to 70 hostages, mainly children, and their mothers with Israel insisting that every child will return with his parent, with his mother, and will not leave, will not separate families in Gaza. Heartbreaking situation indeed. We wait for answers. Guy Azrael, Colonel Reservs Kosher Yakubovich, thank you both so much for being here in studio. And now, there are several creative initiatives underway to highlight the plight of the hostages being held as we've been discussing for more than six weeks now, including one called This Is Us. Our Erica Jackson has more. Let's take a look. With paintbrushes in their hands, these artists in Israel are raising awareness for hostages that Hamas kidnapped in Israel on October 7th. They're doing it through creating portraits of them. When everything started, I felt kind of like I can't help with anything. And I was at home, pregnant. Ayelet has previously painted Daphna Eliakim, an Israeli kidnapped by Hamas, who's 15 years old. Today, she's painting another hostage, Gali Tarshonsky. She's only 13. My connection to a girl, like a small young girl that needs her mother, needs her parents, needs her family, has made me, my heart went out to her. The opportunity to create these artworks is all thanks to a project called This Is Us. And whether it's through acrylic, charcoal, or watercolor, the mission is the same, allowing artists to use the skills they know best to give back. The Fresh Paint Art and Design Fair, along with the nonprofit Yotsrim Sviva, which provides a platform for female artists in the Orthodox Jewish community, is behind the initiative. It's meant to raise awareness for those held hostage in Gaza by Hamas. We've just made contact with the artists that we were in regular connections with, and we invited them to do collaborative shifts here at the square of Tel Aviv Museum of Art. As a painter, when I found out about this, so I wanted straight ahead to participate, it wasn't even a question. When I started to do this, it was like I could breathe again. For artists like Stella Lamichov, at times the process of creation isn't easy. When I heard about this project, I knew that it would be quite hard for me to look at someone who I know is over the border. Usually, I paint from life, and the thought of someone not being alive just killed me. Today, Stella is painting Daniella Loni, who was kidnapped in Kibbutz, near Oz. When I saw the videos in the 7th of October of Daniella and her daughter, her sister, her nieces, in a truck led to Gaza, I saw the little girls in their pink dresses clinging to their moms with their little hands. The first thought as a mom was, that could have been me, that could have been my daughter. I have families there, we could have been visiting. Here, the stories of those taken captive are told through art with the hope that one day these paintings will be delivered into their hands. I'm full of hope that she will see the drawing, she will receive it, and hopefully we will meet in better circumstances. Reporting from Tel Aviv, Erika Jackson, I-24 News. More than six weeks in captivity, truly, no words. And that's a wrap for this edition of our Breaking News.