 across major parts of the country, including above our own new studios here in Jaffa. Motorists needing to stop their vehicles lie on the ground, or if time allowed, get from their car to a shelter. The Israeli military targeting Palestinian Islamic jihad rocket launching sites across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, hitting more than 50 targets, including a drone strike on a vehicle headed to a rocket launch site near Karnunus in the southern Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling senior security officials, quote, we are ready for the possibility of the expansion of the campaign and for severe blows against Gaza, saying all in all, quote, I think we have the upper hand. Now for the latest in Tel Aviv, we go live to Correspondent Batia Leventhal on the promenade. So we could hear the loud interceptions overhead in recent hours, siren sounding in parts of Tel Aviv. What is the latest there on the boardwalk? Right. Well, at least that interception and that siren in Tel Aviv happening at around 2.30 p.m. local time and around that time, all the way until about now, it was relatively quiet on the promenade in the boardwalk, including the beach. The beach is still very quiet, but at least activity behind me, as you can see, is starting to pick up. And you can almost tell the difference between Israelis and tourists beneath. A lot of the tourists are taking more towards the hotels, staying close into the pools as well as the shelters, or at least staying closer to the beach cafes and bars, which are right near the public bomb shelters that are open at the moment in central cities including in Tel Aviv. But the locals seem to be a little bit more on the less cautious side in the sense of this is their daily reality, this is something that they are used to. And so they're not going to stop living their life in that sense for that. And just before I speak to you a little bit about one of the locals that I spoke to in terms of the tourists, what I mean by there's a difference, there almost seems to be, and again, it's not everyone, but there almost seems to be a sense of obliviousness when it comes to some of the tourists in terms of what's going on. I spoke to a tourist earlier today and asked her when we interviewed her what she thinks of the situation in the south, and the answer that we got instead of what was actually happening with the security situation was that the beaches in South Tel Aviv are filthy and people need to start cleaning up their litter. And so there very much seems to be almost this era of not knowing necessarily, but when it comes to the locals, there's more of an era of this is something that we need to continue. I spoke to a local from Ranana in the central suburbs in Israel who was in Tel Aviv for a conference earlier today, but take a listen to what he had to say. The conference is on, and I phoned my partner who's coming from Jerusalem and asked if he was coming in the light of the rockets, and he said he's coming, carrying on as normal, and I decided to do the same thing. So I came in from Ranana this afternoon after having heard that there were rocket sirens in Tel Aviv and in Rishon, and here I am. As you say for many people, their routine does continue despite the extraordinary circumstances. Correspondent Bacha Levithal in Tel Aviv, thank you very much for that update. Now for more here in studio, we welcome Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserves, Doron Avital, a former commander in the Special Forces in the IDF and our correspondent, Guy Azrael. Thank you so much for both being here on this day, Guy. I want to get to you first any updates on the latest developments on this day, this operation day two. Yes, I think the main thing and everybody's minds now are these reports about possible ceasefire and so many conflicting reports coming in just over the past hour. And most of our sources are actually Arab media sources quoting both the Israelis, the Palestinians, and yes, we're going to catch you there just in terms of a technical sound problem in Doron. I want you to pick up in your take an assessment on day two of this operation, your assessment of what we are seeing and hearing. I think the strategy to really strike a wedge between Hamas and the Islamic jihad works in the meantime. You see jihad is Islamic jihad is shooting those rockets. We see Hamas standing by, so it's working in this sense. Cease fires and from the perspective of Israel in this moment or in a day or two is a sensible way of closing this level of violence. So it's all. So I think this is the this is the assessment right now on all sides. The idea is saying the purpose of this operation was to kill the senior members of the Palestinian Islamic jihad. Obviously, as we all know, there's been much controversy over this targeted killing, some calling that operation a success. Others criticizing the fact that civilians were killed as well. Your take on the start of this operation and how it's likely to unfold in the coming hours. Okay. So first of all, of course, it's a terrible tragedy to see those youngsters and civilians getting killed. As I know the idea and I know the general as I'm sure all the precautions were taken. But in the context of battle, things like this can happen. It's a tragedy. In terms of hitting those militant or those leaders of the Islamic jihad, this is of course a success. It was a simultaneous attack of three jihad leaders, a very successful strike in this respect and in this respect and then hitting, of course, other targets in this respect. If this is contained and if Hamas is out of the equation, Israel would think that this is a nice exit from the situation. We're going to continue with that thought a little later. I want to come back to you, Guy. You were talking about conflicting reports about a potential ceasefire. Yes, Doron was speaking about an exit point and this is exactly where we stand with these reports about the ceasefire. Well, a source is telling the Arab Al-Jadid that the Palestinian factions are examining an Egyptian proposal for ending this latest round of escalation and we're also hearing from Palestinian factions speaking to Al-Jadid channel that it is possible that the ceasefire will come into effect already tonight. This is not very surprising. We kept hearing from the IDF over and over that the goals of this operation have been accomplished. We'll actually hear it directly from the IDF spokesman in just a few minutes. And this is something that they have been reiterating that killing those three senior operatives of Islamic jihad was the goal of this operation for the IDF and also striking all these launching sites across the Gaza Strip. So for Israel, that is a good point. And as mentioned, very luckily, very fortunately, also thanks both thanks to the IDF, thanks to the Iron Dome, thanks to the resilience of these really people, the fact that so many of them follow the instructions, go to shelters, et cetera, et cetera. There are no Israeli casualties, no serious injuries, no one from direct impact of those rockets. And that is a great achievement for Israel if this latest round of escalation ends this way. Obviously, this is not the end of the story and that's an open question for much greater debate whether this is enough for Israel, whether this will be enough for the residents of the south who, of course, were very pleased with the fact that Israel finally initiated an operation, finally attempted to return the deterrence that has been lost in recent weeks, in recent months, after ongoing rocket fire. Yes, this was a major blow to the Islamic jihad, not just in terms of its operatives, but also in terms of its infrastructure. What would that mean for the future of the conflict with all those factions in Gaza? That question remains to be asked and we still have to wait and see whether the ceasefire goes into effect tonight. And that question will be asked after the very short break we're about to take. Our breaking news coverage continues. Doron and Guy stay with us in studio and we will be going to our team of reporters out in the field, bringing us the latest developments on the ground from the seven parts of Israel. Back in a bit, breaking news coverage continues. Stay tuned. Ashen's in Jerusalem, breaking down the financial trends, shaping the global economy, giving you key contacts, not just headlines, with the stories from Israel that touch the US and those across the region with impact far beyond its borders. Sunday to Thursday on I-24 News, catch the run with the Middle East. It's the world. Imagine being able to see into the future. We can take you there. What innovations will change the world as we know it? Where can you get the most bang for your buck? I'm Natasha Kirchuk, journalist, traveler and the host of Israel Business Beat. Join us as we meet the people changing our planet and discover the inventions shaping tomorrow. Israel Business Beat Sundays and Wednesdays, 9 30 PM GMT. The Middle East is changing. Old alliances make way for new partnerships. Bigger threats lead to new relationships and shared goals, meaning new opportunities. We speak to those who know the inside story and are at the heart of the changes. Don't get caught up with the same old story. Find out what's happening in Middle East now. Middle East now on I-24 News. Breaking news coverage continues. This is I-24 News. Israel under fire more than 270 rockets have been launched from the Gaza Strip towards central Israel on this day, with siren sounding as far north as Tel Aviv. Millions of residents racing to shelters in the border communities in the South, in Ashkelon, Ashdodh, Storot and Surround and further north in Bakyam, Holon and Ramat Gan. Let's find out exactly what the latest is in On the Ground. We go live to our correspondent, Pierre Kloshender. He is on the Israel-Gaza border and a very scary few hours for communities close to the Israel-Gaza border there. Describe what is happening right now, Pierre. Well, we are in Zderot, a few kilometers away from the Gaza border. And look what's going on. Roy Platsman, our cameraman, showing you a ghost town. Empty streets in spite of the occasional driver. The streets are empty. Most shops are closed as well. We've cruised around the city. We've seen the mall at the entrance of the city, which was completely empty. And the shops were all closed. There is absolutely no visitors in the street. You can see it's really looked like a ghost town. And although Zderot hasn't been hammered for the past couple of hours, I would say the feeling is that most residents are either in their apartment in their protected rooms or have just simply left Zderot already yesterday because there was a program of evacuation. Now, we know that the home from command of the Israeli army just extended the state of emergency in a semicircle of around 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip until Friday at 2 p.m., which would mean that at least on the Israeli side, on the Israeli army point of view, the operation is going on. And even though there might be some mediation efforts, there is no much belief that those mediation efforts can bear fruit at this moment. We still hear the roar of shoppers, jets, drones flying over the Gaza Strip. We know that the operation is going on. But for the past three quarters of an hour, there haven't been a single rocket salvo on the Israeli territory. Well, it's certainly hope it stays that way. Our correspondent here, Klaus Schindler, live from Zderot. Thank you for that update, Pierre. Still with me in studio, Lieutenant Colonel in the reserve, Daron Avital and our correspondent, Guy Azrael. So I want to pick up, Daron, what we just heard there. It sounds that there are certainly contingency plans until at least Friday, despite what we were just talking about, potential breakthrough in terms of progress and a ceasefire, your take. That's the way. I mean, the military has to be prepared to any contingencies. And of course, they are prepared to even incursion if it would be required. I mean, the whole setup is there and everyone is alert. On the other side, of course, you have the diplomatic negotiation through the Egyptian, the Hamas, the Egyptian. And I would say also us Israelis have an interest, a vested interest in having this cycle ending. I think we got our objectives achieved. And as long as there's no casualties in our side, as due to the wonderful defense mechanism we have, the Iron Dawn and the behavior of the population, which was really very disciplined. So it can end here, but things can change. I mean, one event and it takes you to a different. It's certainly a very precarious situation on the ground. You mentioned the Iron Dome missile defense system, something we mention often when we have situations like this. But now we're also hearing about David Sling helping in terms of interceptions, right? Yeah, so talk to us about how much of a game changer that is. I think overall, we have a wonderful defense mechanism. And all the time improving. I think if somebody who I was, I know a little bit about the debates that were escorting the whole issue of the Iron Dome and to see how effective it is. And then you have the new mechanism. So it really gives us a lot of sense of security to the public. And it works. What can we say? In the mid 2000s, when the idea of an Iron Dome was first raised, many in the defense establishment were in disbelief that there could be such a system that would blow up missiles, meet the air. The budget was astronomical. And many opposed that plan. Eventually, the defense minister at the time insisted on it. Thank you, Amir Perot. It's a good friend of mine. He insisted on the Iron Dome. And the resident of Zderot. Exactly, the resident of Zderot. So he was very much aware to the need of this thing. A short story, 2014. There was those shooting missiles here. And my young son was surfing on the... And then there was a missile coming. The mother was ecstatic about him coming out of the water and says, no, no, no. The Iron Dome computes. If it doesn't... Don't worry. Well... Very often, the Iron Dome does let those rockets land in sea. If you're in the water... So the young kids, they were very... They felt secure. I mean, this sense of security is very important to the population in the South. But of course, the routine of their life is all the time disturbed. And this is part of the price. They pay also economical price. And of course, this situation cannot be held for too long. And this is why you have those military operations. Stay with us, gentlemen. We've got more to discuss on that front. But right now, let's go to our correspondent, Pia Stegobach. She's in Ashtod in southern Israel. And of course, schools in some southern cities closed today due to the rocket fire earlier. A frightening few hours on Wednesday afternoon. What is the latest where you are, Pia? We're in Ashtod. We're less than 40 kilometers away from the Gaza envelope. Also, schools have been closed here today. There were other restrictions in place. Basically, since yesterday morning, since a retaliation was expected from Gaza, there were restrictions on gatherings, not more than 10 people outside, not more than 100 outside. Some train services were suspended, as well as some roads were blocked here in the southern area of Israel. And people were advised to stay as close to the shelters as possible. Now, these instructions from the home front command was just announced that they will be extended at least until Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. So residents will have to stick or advise to stick to these regulations some more. Now, when you speak to residents here in Ashtod, Benita, you are met with a certain level of resilience because people are used to that very frequent rounds of escalations between Gaza and between Israel that many times they're also affected by. Now, we are here in a shopping area and a shopping center. As you can see, it is very empty, and that is not only because it's getting late, but it has been like that throughout the day. As I said, Benita, people were advised to stay as close to shelters as possible. Now, you have one public shelter here in this area, and there are some shops that have safe rooms within the shops. Those are the shops that were allowed to open today. More than half of the shops that you see here in this area had to remain close today. Also, the cars that you see, Benita, most of them are the cars of the employees that came here to work today. We also had the chance to speak to a few of them. They were telling us, again, that they are used to these situations, but that there were not a lot of customers, not a lot of people came out to shop today. As I said, because of the special instructions in place, no schools today, people are supposed to stay as close to shelters as possible. Now, here in Ashtod, there were at least eight rockets fired. There was one alarm in the afternoon hours. One rocket fell into an open area, not far away from the local hospital here. So, again, this is a calm situation that we're seeing here right now, but it is a very tense one. As an alert could go off again any minute. Less than an hour ago, there was, again, red alert in several areas surrounding Ashtod. We did not have another red alert here, but, Benita, it could happen again any minute, basically. And because of exactly that fear that something could happen at any time, despite what we've been discussing here in the studio, apparent advance negotiations over a possible ceasefire, residents where you are here, what kind of preparations would they make ahead of nightfall? It could be a very long few hours ahead. Well, Benita, we know that many people really do stay close to their shelters, but not everyone has a shelter in their home. Not everyone has a safe room in the apartment. So, there are public shelters. They are, of course, open since yesterday morning, here in the south. And not only in the south, we know that they are also open and central Israel, but here, especially in the south, where people are used to those situations, people were also prepared to look upon this as something that could turn into a multi-day campaign into something that will take longer. Now, we also know that families from southern Israel are fleeing, are taking shelter, if you will, in other areas of Israel. Now, here in Ashtod, we're still 40 kilometers away from Gaza. These special instructions are still in place, but many people here, as I said, they go about their day as usual also. Although schools are suspended, shops are closed, but we have also spoken to a young student earlier on, and he told us that he was just on his way to the bank, and he will not let these things stop his everyday life. So, you basically have these two parts, people who do try to stick to the instructions of the Home Front Command, stay close to their shelters, stay at home, don't leave the house or the shelter for any unnecessary activity, but you also have other people who say that they're so used to these situations and they really trust the missile defense systems that Israel has, they trust what they say the Israeli Defense Forces, so they do not want to be impeded by that security situation. So, you really have these two camps beneath you and these two types of reactions to that very tense, still security situation. Live from Ashtod, that's our correspondent, Pierre Stechelbach. Thank you so much for that update, Pierre. Still with me in studio, Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserves, Doron Avital, former commander in the Special Forces in the IDF, and our correspondent, Guy Azrael. So, Doron, I want to come to you about the United Front of terror groups in this region. At the moment, Israel is dealing with Palestinian Islamic jihad, but there is a concern that Hamas might be on board and also a concern up north about Hezbollah. I think we have our focus now on the Gaza Strip, but a minute ago we had our focus on the West Bank. That is all the time we have terror attack every day or two. And of course, the northern front, I think the greatest fear is the merging of those fronts. This became a common concept, a common token of speaking about the merging of the different terror organization. What we are trying to do is all the time to divide between those two organizations. And in the meantime, between Hamas and Jihad, we are successful. Of course, Hamas might try to initiate operation in the West Bank. And terror operation from his operative in the West Bank. So this might, we have all the time to have our eye also on the West Bank because if something happens in the West Bank, it can ignite the whole situation. So a very delicate situation on all fronts. And given that it is so delicate, when it comes to these apparent ceasefire discussions, do you have faith, so to speak, that Egypt is the right player? Who else is on board in terms of trying to quell tensions right now? Of course you have Qatar and so on, but in the end, the Egyptians, they are there, they are part of the equation. The Egyptian intelligence is really a partner for years. We've asked, so I think they are the best partner to negotiate ceasefire and I trust them fully and I think the Israelis trust them fully. So if there's a venue for a ceasefire, it's through the Egyptian. This would be my take. They are a major venue. Yes, Qatar and the UN were also mentioned in that circle of messages. There's a lot of messages going around. Of course, Israel does not engage directly. So it continues to say with these terror factions, but the reality on the ground is the fact that it does need to do that even if it goes through mediators. Yeah, Israel needs to decide now as Israel at least portrays it as if it is the Islamic jihad that is calling for the ceasefire. Obviously the Palestinians would say the opposite, but if that is indeed the case, Israel needs to decide whether it is content with the situation as it is now or would it want to achieve anything more while it still has the chance. You know, Israel has been reacting very moderately, very mildly to rocket launches out of Gaza for so many weeks and months, a reaction that was not much of a deterrence, really. And so for many Israelis, that was almost meaningless, that was firing at empty posts, at little hills, et cetera, et cetera. At the end of the day, Israel will need to decide whether that's enough or not. Guy Azrael, thank you so much for that update and Daron Avital, Lt. Colonel in the Reserves, former commander of Special Forces in the IDF. We appreciate your insight on this day. Thank you for being here for this Breaking News Edition. 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Don't get caught up with the same old story. Find out what's happening in Middle East Now. Middle East Now on I-24 News. This breaking news edition, I'm Benito Levine. Our coverage continues live in Tel Aviv. Israel under fire, more than 270 rockets have been launched from the Gaza Strip towards central Israel on this day, with sirens sounding as far north as Tel Aviv. Millions of residents racing to shelters in the border communities in the south, in Ashkelon, Ashdod, Storot, and Surround, and further north in Baghyam, Cholon, and Ramat Gan. The Iron Dome missile defense system and the David Sling defense system intercepting many of those rockets and mortars, loud, booming noises could be heard from above, many parts of the country, including above our new studios here in Jaffa. Motorists needing to stop their vehicles, lie on the ground, or if time allowed, to get from their car to a shelter. The Israeli military targeting Palestinian-Islamic Jihad rocket launching sites across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, hitting more than 50 targets, including a drone strike on a vehicle headed to a rocket launch site near Konyunas in the southern Gaza Strip. Now, just a short while ago, the IDF spokesman Brigadier General Daniel Higari commenting on day two of Operation Shield and Arrow. Let's take a listen. She'd come in the midst of the second day of Operation Shield and Arrow, launched by the IDF and the Shin Bet Security Agency. The goal of the operation was to take down the senior officials of the Palestinian-Islamic Jihad, those who undermine security and stability in the region. In the 48 hours since then, the following achievements have been made. We attacked infrastructure targets in the Islamic Jihad. We thwarted rocket production capabilities. We thwarted squads. We thwarted cells that intended to launch anti-tank missiles into Israel. We killed cells that intended to fire rockets. And in the last few hours, our Air Force fighter jets are launching a significant attack on rocket launchers buried underground across Gaza. Roughly a quarter of the Islamic Jihad's launches failed to cross the border and fell within the Gaza Strip. Now, let's go back to Tel Aviv. Our correspondent, Batja Levinthal, is on the promenade. And the last time we spoke, Batja, it seemed some semblance of normality had returned to Tel Aviv. What is the latest there? What can you tell us right now? Probably even more so at this hour beneath that people are getting off work. And it seems like the locals have hit the promenade for their late afternoon or early evening run, as well as just walking back from their offices. There are a lot more tourists coming out now that we've been seeing on the promenade. Not necessarily on the beach, but we're being told that's because, as you can probably tell, it is incredibly, incredibly windy. But there is a lot more activity in the area. And again, when we have been speaking to people, walking past us, a lot of the times asking them where they were when the siren went off. And a lot of people making reference to the fact that, again, this is a rarity to occur when a siren goes off in the central areas of Israel as far north, as you mentioned, in Tel Aviv. Of course, we do have the bomb shelters that are open to the public along the beachfront here that are, of course, open. And we've got people that have said that they were taking shelter there early today. But again, that was one interception over Tel Aviv. A lot of people saying that this is almost a luxury to be able to walk on the promenade at this hour where people in the south, at least around Gaza and in that envelope, just outside of that have 15 seconds and are consistently in the bomb shelters due to threats. So the fact that this is happening on the boardwalk, the fact that they can go outside and get some air, is what they call not only a rarity, but a luxury as well, because this is not the south. And obviously there's a very different sentiment in the air when something happens, like an escalation in Gaza, knowing that the south, of course, is far more impacted than they are in Tel Aviv. And as you mentioned earlier, it seemed like things were going back to normal, but even more so now as the day seems so, at least the workday seems to be coming to an end. Thank you so much. We will be coming back to you. That's Batja Leventhal live from the promenade in Tel Aviv. Appreciate that update. Now we welcome to studio our senior correspondent, Owen Ultiman, who has been following all developments on this day, and Martin Himmel, International Security Analyst. Thank you both for being here in studio. Martin, I want to start with you. Day two of Operation Shield and Arrow, there's talk and it's just talk, reports of a potential ceasefire, some kind of breakthrough inroads have been made. Your take on what's going on right now. Well, Jihad doesn't have, Islamic Jihad doesn't have the depth of weapons, logistics and firepower that Hamas does. So while it's under attack from Israel and with the lack of that capability, the chances are they'll probably look for a ceasefire pretty soon because they don't want to deplete whatever resources they have too severely. On the other hand, Israel might feel that it's an incentive to actually attack further. The question is how long this will continue. I don't think Israel wants it to continue much further because it really damages the economy. They've achieved their major goal, which is to eliminate part of the, or significant part of the Islamic Jihad leadership. If they continue to, I think the point has been made that whoever is going to replace them will have to look over their shoulder for quite a while and some deterrence has been reinforced. So I don't think this will go on for too much longer. And yet Benjamin Netanyahu telling senior security officials, and I'm going to quote this Owen, we are ready for the possibility of the expansion of the campaign and for severe blows against Gaza. In his words, all in all, I think we have the upper hand. How is the Prime Minister handling this current situation? Well, look, Benjamin Netanyahu over the course of time, Benita, as I've often said, it doesn't like to take a lot of risk, right? In military operations, he has tended to be cautious, tended to be more responsive. In this case, decided to be more proactive and in that sense took on more risk, right? Israel, in a sense, initiating the round. Of course, the killing of those three Islamic Jihad operatives, along of course, with the deaths of the 10 civilians killed in that attack, was of course a response to things that Islamic Jihad was doing to Israel. But at the same time, it was Israel taking the initiative, escalating with full knowledge that it could lead to a wider operation and the Prime Minister just said just as much in the hours following the operation. So Netanyahu took on some risk at the beginning of the campaign. The question is, and Martin, I think hinted at it, how much risk is Netanyahu willing to take on as the campaign goes forward? And again, that question, what is there actually for Israel left for Israel to achieve if the campaign goes forward? How the benefits would then potentially outweigh the costs and the costs are many, not just to the economy. We also know potentially to Israel's international standing. And of course, the longer a campaign goes on, the more risk of something going wrong and not going Israel's way. So even if it's the case that Israel's the upper hand right now, as the Prime Minister said, may not be sustainable over the course of a longer campaign. Anyway, these are tactical questions. They don't really get to grand strategy in Gaza. I suspect the Army grass is simply gonna have to sit around the table and crack their knuckles and try to look at what the target bank is and look what's been achieved and what might be left to do or might not be left to do and just make the calculation of whether this inspires Israel's interest. Many living in the Southern communities have been critical of the government for not responding harshly enough in the past. Is this not perhaps a response to exactly that call? I think it is a response to that call. I don't think they'll be happy if it ends too soon. I think they would like to see much more aggressive action but that's an understandable response given where they live but it's not necessarily something that would end the conflict for them or solve the problem. The problem is really a problem of management. As long as Israel doesn't want to take over Gaza, doesn't wanna wipe out Hamas, doesn't wanna control the region, then it's a management problem. It's to limit conflict as much as possible but not to eliminate it. If 270 rockets are sent towards Israel as happened on this day, there has to be a response surely. There is a response, a very significant response but if you notice Hamas doesn't seem to be involved in it and Israel's not quick to try to get Hamas involved in it. So there's only so many targets when it comes to Islamic jihad and I'm sure they're hitting them very hard and very thoroughly. How concerning is it though that Hamas potentially could get on board? How would that change the way things are unfolding on the ground? Well, we all know how conflicts start. We have no idea how they end. A slip up, rockets hitting the wrong place, killing a lot of civilians, hitting accidentally Hamas areas could change the whole equation and then the longer it goes on, maybe they'll feel there's a pressing need to get involved because if Islamic jihad is putting a tough resistance and if Israel doesn't squash that resistance pretty fast, Hamas would feel left out and feels that maybe it has to join the bandwagon but I think Hamas is very cognizant that the price it would pay, the price Gaza would pay and I think they're highly reluctant to do that at this stage. Martin Himmel, Owen Ultiman, stay with us. We are going to go out now for a very quick break but our breaking news coverage continues in just two minutes. We will be going back to our team of reporters out in the field as well. So stay tuned to I-24 News, Breaking News Edition. Okay, a kind of treatment, meditation. When you're talking about problems, we have a lot of problems in Syria. So you're talking about a problem in front of hundreds of people. So you're laughing at them and they're laughing at the treatment. Because people are hearing the same problem and you're talking about a problem, so you're getting better. I-24, anti-semitism and the support of Palestine against Israel in Spain, are they going to increase? We interviewed Angel Mas, Director of the UNG, ACOM. The book of Buenos Aires, Carlos Gurovich, presented Operation Pajarito, a fiction about the murder of the Fiscal Alberto Nisman. Nuestra bronca, documental acerca Daniel Balgauto, que vive en Israel sospechado de crímenes durante la dictadura militar en Argentina. News 24, el magazine Semana en Español de I-24 News. We're on the inside of political and religious passions in Jerusalem, breaking down the financial trends, shaping the global economy. Giving you key context, not just headlines. With the stories from Israel that touch the US, those across the region with impact far beyond its borders. Touch the Runda, where the Middle East meets the world. Come back to this breaking news edition. I'm Denise Levine, coming to you live from Tel Aviv. A new development just in reports out of Egypt of a breakthrough in terms of a ceasefire. These are just reports at this juncture, something we were discussing here in studio just a short while ago. Obviously we'll wait to have confirmation, but that certainly will be an interesting development. Let's find out how that will go down in the southern communities. Our correspondent, Pierre Kloschendler, is in Storot. So that is news. It could be music to many people's ears. Is this something they would trust and believe? What is the latest there, Pierre? No, I don't think that they will trust and believe any rumor of a ceasefire until there is a really ironclad ceasefire. But right now, there's been a lull, not just in Storot. In Storot, I think Storot hasn't been hammered for the past two hours, but also in the whole of Israeli territory that was targeted up until Tel Aviv. Since 5.24 p.m. local time, there hasn't been any server of rockets on Israeli territory. Now I can show you with Roy Platsman, our cameraman, how the city looks right now. That's the center of town, by the way. And it pretty looks like a ghost town. Although this is a treacherous visual feeling, I would say, because you still have some drivers, you still have some people walking around, breathing some fresh air, and you even have a public transportation which is still working, although the trains are not working since yesterday. But given that, the skepticism is not only shared by the residents of this city. It's shared also by the Home Front Command of the Israeli Defense Forces, which has extended the emergency situation at the radius of something like 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. That means that there's no kindergarten, no schools. Only specialized schools near protected areas will be able to function. So it's, and it's extended until Friday, Friday, May 12th at 2 p.m., which shows the skepticism also of the Israeli Defense Forces. One certainly could understand the skepticism for people living right there, close to the border. Thank you so much. That is our correspondent, Pierre Kloschendler. Live from Storot, we'll be coming back to Pierre, of course, in our upcoming broadcast. Still with me in studio, Martin Himmel, International Security Analyst, and our senior correspondent, Owen Altman. So Owen, I want to come to you about that new development just a few moments ago. It's something we were talking about a short while ago, a potential ceasefire. It seems like there have been inroads, some kind of breakthrough. It's not official, but even if it were, how do people trust that, given the last few weeks, how would people believe and respond the residents to news like that? Well, listen, ceasefires have worked in the past and the level that the fire actually ceases, right? That at least for a period of time, there won't be fire from each of the two sides. As of course, over time, the ceasefires do break down. That's the history of this relationship, as it were, between Israel and the factions in Gaza, and the ceasefire will erode. And no one has any illusions otherwise. The question is going to be, what will the feeling be in those communities, and for that matter, across Israel? And certainly among the politicians and within the coalition, will there be a feeling that enough was done here, that Israel's ending this operation safer than when it began it? Of course, we'll have to wait and see. I suspect there's always frustration in many of the communities, particularly Places of Stiroate, which politically is right-leaning. It's seen as a Likud bastion, in any case, Benjamin Netanyahu's, from Benjamin Netanyahu's party. So I suspect there will be continued frustration there in a sense that the government hasn't done enough. On the other hand, it's the responsibility of the leadership, as we were saying before, to look at this and say, what more can actually be achieved by continuing to go forward? By the way, just one word about Egypt that's become part of the ritual of Gaza operations is that there is an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire. Of course, the UN and Qatar have also been mediators in the past. There are reports that they're out and again, although it seems that the Egyptian channel has moved forward more quickly. And of course, it's not by accident, Benita, because Egypt has a strong stake in seeing stability on the two sides of the Gaza border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, has a good relationship with Israel, certainly under President Abduffat al-Sisi, and also ties and contacts inside the Gaza Strip, and again, has a real priority and a real national interest in seeing calm restored. So it's a natural mediator because it really brings strong relationships to the table and has a strong interest in getting the sides to yes. Your thoughts on how realistic it would be to hear about some kind of ceasefire at this juncture? I think there's a reasonable possibility because I think that the two sides, while they are saber-rattling and not just rattling, they're actually fighting, still have an interest in stability. That's the key thing. And Israel's hoping that the new leadership or the replacement leadership of Islam Ejihad is going to remember quite well what happened to their predecessors. And if that happens, they might be thinking twice or three times before they launch other attacks. As far as Islam Ejihad, I think that they know the limits of their power, the limits of their strength, the depths of what they have. Though I'm sure they're getting lots of phone calls from Tehran saying, keep going as long as you can go, but they want to survive enough to come back at another date. Ms. Hrithne, we'll be watching. Stay with us, gentlemen. More to discuss right now. I'd like to go back to Ashdod, our correspondent, Pierre Stekelbacher there. And you may have heard us discussing these reports, Pierre, of a potential ceasefire in the works, likely to be announced, hopefully in the coming hours or days. We will have to wait to see for the confirmation. How is that likely to go down in Ashdod where you are right now? Well, Vanita, the owner of this restaurant here behind me, who I've just have spoken to, he would certainly be happy about a ceasefire. He just told us that since he opened this restaurant today at four, these are the only customers you see over there, and these are his friends. He really suffers in his business. They suffer from that security situation. As you can see, it is a Wednesday evening in Ashdod. We are right across from the sea. This is really an area where there are lots of bars and restaurants. You would usually see people being out and about. The weather is beautiful, but today everything is empty because of the security situation and the instructions of the home front command. The instructions basically tell people to stay as close as possible to shelters. Now this restaurant behind us has a shelter inside. This is also why it could open today. Also only shops that have safe rooms inside were allowed to open today. Residents are advised to stay as close to their shelters as possible, to public ones. Also schools were closed today. Also be close tomorrow here in Ashdod. These instructions will be in place since, in fact, Friday at two if nothing changes. Now, Benita, residents here, I would say you meet two kinds of people in their way of how they react to that situation. Those are really adhered to the home front command instructions who try to stay at home, to stay close to shelters, either at home or to public shelters. And there are others who go out and about their lives because they say they are so much used to that situation. Benita, we're less than 40 kilometers away from the Gaza Strip. Whenever there is an escalation between Gaza and Israel, Ashdod many times is affected too. So people here, they have about 45 seconds to go to a shelter when there is an alert. Now today that happened here once. There were about eight rockets fired towards Ashdod. One landed in an open area very close to the local hospital. Here we did not hear about any casualties. But people here have seen these scenes many times before. That's why some of them are quite, I would even say indifferent about the situation. Now others, of course, also business owners who suffer, who are really impeded by that situation, they of course suffer from it, from the lack of people here being outside. And of course, if we think about schools being closed, this also poses major challenges for parents in the region. Now we know from other areas even closer to the border that families are thinking about leaving, are thinking about seeking shelter in other areas of the country in the eye of the current security situation. And because although there are now talks about a possible ceasefire, the situation is really volatile and we really don't know what is there to expect. Now these people here have been in a very tense situation since yesterday morning, basically since we are waiting for some kind of reaction from Gaza also yesterday. There were restrictions in place. People were already advised to stay close to shelters and we were waiting for that reaction for more than a day. These people here have been waiting. And nobody tells you when it is over or if it is over. So another allot could really happen any second. This is also why the streets here are so empty and why most of the people really do adhere to the instructions from the Home Front Command and stay inside Benita. Thank you so much. Live from Ashdod in southern Israel, our correspondent, Pia Stecklbach. Thank you, Pia. And still with me in studio, Owen Ultiman and Martin Himmel. And I want to pick up on the psychological trauma, Owen, of a situation like this. We talk about the fact that on paper there have been no casualties, no injuries, as such a couple of people were taken to hospital. But for the most part, we're talking about people who are frightened, anxious, racing for cover, worried about how their families are doing, how much of an impact is this waiting to see if there's going to be a retaliation effect the way communities are handling their current situation. Well, first let's stipulate to one thing, Benita, no matter how difficult and what the challenges are on the Israeli side, it's much better than the challenges on the other side. And if you're a civilian, you'd much rather be on this side of the border than the side of the border in Gaza, at least the past is any guide. I don't know exactly what the situation is on the ground Gaza city today, but we've seen in past escalations between Israel and the factions in the Gaza Strip. So civilians in Gaza have suffered a lot more than civilians in Israel. Certainly that's backed up by the numbers and there are many reasons for that. Of course Hamas doesn't care all that much about its civilians and about protecting them. It's also, of course, a much poorer place than Israel and also given the massiveness of Israeli operations and Israeli airstrikes, it obviously creates a tougher atmosphere and has led to some civilian casualties. As for the Israeli side, listen, you're right that here it's largely psychological. Your chance of actually being killed or injured by a rocket are quite slim given the shelters that are available and given the Iron Dome of course. That said, psychologically it's difficult especially on young children who may not be able so easily to understand what's going on and puts a lot of pressure obviously in parents to explain it and of course it's highly disruptive for those frontline communities right near Gaza who have 15 seconds to go to a shelter which means essentially in a situation like this, they're restricted to the shelter from the first place. They're living, working, sleeping, eating in that one room of the shelter and not leaving including again potentially small children because of the situation. So it's obviously disruptive, it's obviously psychologically difficult and obviously prevents a challenge for children even if again it has to be said the situation on this side of the border much better than it is in the Gaza side. And Martin, obviously a lot of the focus in the last 24 hours or so has been specifically across the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory, but there have been concerns flagged about potential flare-ups in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. How worrying is this right now? Well that's an ever-present concern because we have to look at the wider region. Iran has a definite interest in heating up this area. It's trying to solidify a hold in Syria and a strong presence in Syria, frontline presence and it's having a very difficult time doing that because Israel is focused on trying to stop them by having the West Bank heat up by having the fighting in Gaza it diverges Israel's attention from their forces in Syria. And so Islamic jihad being a proxy of Iran, they're very very they're under a lot of pressure from Tehran to deliver strikes in the West Bank and Jerusalem as well as Gaza. And we don't have a lot of time left but Owen on that exact point the Iranian threat something flagged by Benjamin Netanyahu, Yohav Galant in the last 24 hours. Israel is a united front in terms of its leadership right now but making it very clear that the enemy putting the strings is Iran. Right obviously there's impetus inside Gaza for military action if you will against Israel so that happens independent of Iran but obviously Iran can make the situation much more dangerous can put money in, can help coordinate can help with training. Obviously it's a great concern for Israel which is also a great concern but the reality is at least for now the Iranian regime is a reality and Israel needs to face the situation with that understanding and is doing so that's what we've seen over the course of the last two days again where that all leads is of course a big question but obviously Israel is trying to contend with the reality as best at things it can. Wherever it leads we will be covering all the developments as they happen senior correspondent Owen Ultiman thank you both so much for being here in studio and that is where we wrap up this breaking news edition for now but our coverage continues stay tuned I'm Denise and I've been in Tel Aviv and this is I-24 here. Imagine being able to see into the future. We can take you there. What innovations will change the world as we know it? Where can you get the most bang for your buck? I'm Natasha Kirchuk, journalist traveler and the host of Israel Business Beat. Join us as we meet the people changing our planet and discover the inventions shaping tomorrow. Israel Business Beat Sundays and Wednesdays 9.30pm GMT. So what we've developed is effective the world's first robo able to swim through assemblies of granular media and go into the bulk of the grain to measure conditions. Today we're making meat falafel or what we call in Hebrew falafel basal. It's a meatball made from three different fresh chunks of beef wrapped in a falafel mixture. Our homemade mixture is free of any preservatives and made from fresh ingredients only. Such as chickpeas, coriander and more. The result is a falafel ball very crispy on the outside and tender inside. We're in Rishon Lezion in central Israel. I opened falafel basal to offer people a whole new concept of falafel filled with meat. I'm a big food lover and one of my all time favorites has always been falafel being the national food of Israel. Falafel is perceived as a sacred cow in the culinary field but in the past years I felt it should be somehow recreated. I'm sure many people have thought of that before me but I know I'm the only one who turned it into a business. I don't have a professional culinary background. I was working in construction before I entered this world. It took me six years to research, experiment and reach just the right recipe for this new concept. When the meat falafel comes out of the fryer it served in a high quality pina bread with hummus we make and on top of that we add sauerkraut and our vegetable stir fry made from peppers, tomatoes, onions and a special Moroccan spice. It's a completely different way of serving from the traditional falafel. My plan is to take this concept and go world wide. We want to spread the word to all falafel lovers offering them the option to eat this great dish only this time with meat inside. It's a very irregular surface where the bodies are strengthened and then they are thrown on top of the stones but they are not buried. Breaking news edition of the broadcast of Middle East now. I'm Hamza Salhout in Tel Aviv. We begin with our top story, the Israeli military continuing with its newest operation, shield and arrow. Around three hundred rockets were fired by armed factions in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian health ministry says that at least 21 people have been killed and 64 others injured, many of them in critical condition. It all comes after an intense couple of days. In the early morning hours of Tuesday, the Israeli warplanes targeted three senior members of PIJ assassinating them and killing other civilians. And yesterday, a tense waiting period as the country braced itself for the Palestinian response. And this afternoon, Israel targeting operatives heading to rocket launching sites, triggering a response from Palestinian Islamic jihad, sirens and alerts continuing in the south of the country at this hour as the fighting rages on. The joint operations room of Palestinian factions releasing a ceasefire, announcing an operation of their own, coined revenge of the free. But in the last couple of hours talks of a potential ceasefire underway, Qatar, Egypt and the UN all in the mix to try and facilitate with all parties. But Israeli leadership says they will continue to respond to the rocket fire coming from the Gaza Strip as they see fit. Take a listen. We are in the second day of the Arab World War. The Israeli military has been launched by the IDF in the Shin Bet security agency. The goal of the operation was to take down the senior officials of the Palestinian Islamic jihad, those who undermine security stability in the region. During the 48 hours since then, the following achievements have been made. We attacked infrastructure targets of Islamic jihad. We thwarted rocket rockets and in the last few hours our air force jets are launching a significant attack on rocket launchers buried underground across Gaza. A quarter of the Islamic jihad's launches failed to cross the fence and fell within the Gaza Strip. We will continue to prepare for both defense and offense and thwart any terrorist activity against us. In this campaign we acted in a targeted manner against the Islamic jihad, against its leaders who tried to cross the fence and to seize fire. Until there is an official announcement, we are strongly prepared in defense and offense. Otherwise I would not be here now. Let's cross out 24 news correspondent Pierre Klochendler live for us in the country's South Pierre. Talk to us about the latest. What are the situations where you're at, any interceptions we know earlier, you were experiencing that? Well, you know, there's something quite extraordinary here within half an hour. They're out from a ghost town is starting to live again, at least outside in the street. Platsman can show you the people that are going to shops and there's a pizza parlor here and people are going to buy pizza. There's even a line or there was a line here of people waiting to buy their pizza and half an hour earlier it was simply a ghost town here. Now, this is because of rumors of the ceasefire. I'm saying rumors of an immediate ceasefire because Israel has not confirmed the existence of a ceasefire. But nonetheless I spoke to one of the residents and he seemed pretty convinced that there was a ceasefire. You know, wisdom of the street you might say, wisdom of somebody who's been under rocket fire for many, many years and he says Israel provoked Islamic jihad so they came out with their rockets and now it's an even game and everybody can go home. That's what he said. So let's cross finger maybe there is a ceasefire at least in the street where the city is living again. Thank you. Let's bring in Lieutenant Colonel in reserve Zaron Avital, former commander of the special forces for the Israeli military joining us live in studio. Thank you so much for being with us. I want to ask you about this potential ceasefire. So Hamas or speaking to what we are ready for a ceasefire Egyptian media in the last hour of negotiations in Israel, but you just heard from the Israeli military spokesperson saying that they're actually not ready for that. They're ready for attacks, both offensive and defensive. What's going on? I think the idea would not acknowledge a ceasefire until it's a complete fact, but the prospects are there. I think the negotiations are there. I think what we hear from the news outlet, I think a ceasefire is on the way, it seems and I think it's in the interest of all sides. From the perspective of Israel, Hamas didn't participate in this cycle of violence, so it's Islamic jihad was hit very hard, so from the perspective of Israel it makes sense to negotiate a ceasefire or to accept a ceasefire that is being requested by the other side. So I think this might be the exit point that everybody is looking for, but things can change if some event will take a different trajectory. Well look, a lot of conflicting reports here also in the last 15 minutes, Islamic jihad leader Ramzi Al-Halabi quote, no ceasefire agreement has been reached in the Gaza Strip until now. Look, Hamas is the one who was speaking to media saying that they're ready for a ceasefire. They have not entered in on this round of conflict according to Israel, but the joint operations room of these Palestinian factions in Gaza said that this is a unified effort. So what does that mean? I think Hamas has an interest for a ceasefire and he would put the force on Islamic jihad to accept. Islamic jihad made this case by shooting those almost 300 rockets to Israel, so he showed his hand. I don't think he has too much more to show in terms of capabilities that can really hurt us. So I think ceasefire is in the horizon. The question is the timing. It can be ours. It can be a day or two. Let's hope this is where things go right now. Something important to note is that Palestinian Islamic jihad said this morning that this rocket fire was simply a response to the Israeli air strikes earlier today, not to the assassination of their three commanders. Where does that come into play? Are they trying to ceasefire just this current situation so they can gear up for what's next? I think they had to react to the moment three of your leaders are being killed in a strike in this fashion. They didn't have any other choice but to react. And I think this is the reaction, so I'm not sure whether I would take them by their words. This is the reaction they made. I hope this concludes this, this cycle. What does it mean for Israel when rockets not only reach the southern Gaza border towns but reach places like Tel Aviv, back in Yemen? Certainly. This is an issue. This is a sign of strength on Islamic jihad. Three rockets were shot in the area of Tel Aviv. One of them was intercepted by a new defense mechanism, this David Slings and successfully intercepted. Talk to us about that a little bit. In terms of the defense mechanism for Iron Dome to the David Slings we are showing more and more capabilities. It gives security to the people and luckily for us no civilian got hurt in this cycle of violence. So sure. Earlier this week you and I were speaking about what's in it for Hamas, what's in it to get involved in this round of fighting especially since a lot of civilians were killed. Israel went to assassinate these three leaders but more than three times the amount of civilians were killed. So what's in it for them? First of all this is of course a terrible tragedy as a military man. Of course we are trying to take any precautions to avoid collateral damage. It's a terrible tragedy. It's part of the cost of war. In terms of Hamas, I think Hamas right now is trying to rebuild the Gaza Strip. So from the perspective of Hamas as the sovereign of the Gaza Strip, the last thing on his mind right now is to see destruction due to an Israeli military campaign. So this is the incentive of Hamas to keep its sovereignty of the Gaza Strip and to see that things are calming the Gaza Strip and if he can instigate terror attacks in the West Bank. So this is the strategy for Hamas. Islamic jihad had to act due to the death of the hunger striker and so on. And Israel from its perspective of course has so many fronts to handle right now that they would prefer to go into a ceasefire now in Gaza. Daron Avital, former commander of the Special Forces for the Israeli military. We're going to keep you here with us. We're going to take a quick break now. More from our teams all across the country and here in studio. This is a special edition of the broadcast. Stay with us. Sometimes it's tough to get past all the noise and get to the heart of the story even tougher to make sense of it all. I'm David Matlin and each weekday I'll take on the most important topics breaking down the issue so you can decide for yourself. Zoom in each weekday here at I-24 news. Hey, it's you again. Ready? Let's go. One show, a whole lot of perspectives. He is part of the problem. You want to talk about deep platforming? People are losing their lives. Not just what happened but why does it matter? I'd like to finish my point. You're the one switching terms. You could be a fantastic CNN reporter. Join us every night, 8 p.m. eastern on Global Eye. The Global Conversation starts here. We're on the inside of political and religious passions in Jerusalem breaking down the financial trends shaping the global economy. Giving you key context, not just headlines with the stories from Israel that touch the U.S. and those across the region with impact far beyond its borders. Hatch the rundown where the Middle East meets the world. Should I go to Viva Tech in Paris this June? Viva Tech is Europe's biggest startup and tech event. This is where business meets innovation. Jumpstart business deals with the leaders in tech. Discover cutting edge innovation. Meet the brightest minds changing the world. Is it worth it? Weren't you listening? It's the number one startup and tech event in Europe. Be there. Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us. This is a breaking news edition of the broadcast from Middle East. We're live in Tel Aviv. We're going to cross now to Batia Leventhal, I-24 News' International Affairs correspondent live for us in Tel Aviv. Batia some siren sounding in Tel Aviv. Interceptions happening. I even saw them over my house here in neighboring Yaffa. Talk to us about the latest. Right. Well, relative quiet in Tel Aviv. Those interceptions and strikes that you mentioned happening at around 2 30 p.m. It's like it's returned to normal life here. You can see behind me that it's relatively busy on the promenade or the boardwalk in Tel Aviv. It was completely quiet earlier today, especially straight after that interception. A lot of the locals ended up going closer to the bars and the cafes which is where the public shelters are located along the beachfront. Whereas a lot of the tourists went for cover straight into their hotels and a lot of them have actually been able to see quite a lot of tourists hanging out there as opposed to coming down to the beachfront. And so very much quiet at the moment. But again, after speaking to so many people here, tourists and locals alike, it almost seems that Tel Aviv has the luxury, so to put it, of not necessarily needing to be close to a shelter. Again, people here have around one and a half to two minutes to get to a bomb shelter when those red alerts and sirens go off. That luxury has been around for 16 seconds. And so while you're seeing quite a few people, the fitness freaks out and about here in the early evening on the promenade, that is not the case in the border communities around the Gaza envelope, having to stay in those bomb shelters throughout the day. But again, a little calm, I would say people are really watching the news in terms of the ceasefire that we're hearing, possibly the talks between Qatar, the United States. But as we've seen in the past, any time a ceasefire does come into effect, there's always last minute rockets coming from both sides, by the way, both in the early hours before the ceasefire and also normally straight after the ceasefire sometimes just as it goes into effect. I'm done. But 11th all live for us in Tel Aviv. Thank you. All right, we're going to go ahead to the south now. We're going to take a quick break. Thank you so much for joining us this evening. Talk to us about some of the things you've experienced today. You are no stranger to these types of events living along the Gaza border in one of those towns. Talk to us about what happened today. What happened today was what we all knew was going to happen, which are a barrage of rockets on 30 to today and went on for about two hours at least in my that's the way it felt to me like two hours of constant firing and I don't know why this time it really got to me. I thought, you know, I talked to your producer before we aired before we joined, before I started this show, the broadcast and I told her I was a bit shook and she said aren't you a bit numb for everything I've been living here for years and I said I thought I was. I really did but it sort of creeps up on me and kind of got me again. Was there anything specific about this round of violence that made you feel extra emotional, cautious this time? No, I don't think there's anything special. It's just like we all say, like we've said before it just keeps going on and on and nothing is changing. There are rounds of escalations we fire at them, they fire back nothing and nothing changes and we go back to it after a few months or a year or two years but the situation stays the same. So I guess maybe just because it's like it's the 20th year maybe even more than that but there's going to be going on. There are children here who don't know a reality without this condition, which is not their situation. It's just horrible. Is there anything that you would like to see change, specifically with the government? You mentioned that there's no change. It's just one fires, the other one fires back. What is it that you, a resident of this southern town what message do you want to convey to the government on how to stop this cycle of violence? Well, first of all we are happy that our government is active and not passive. Last week they were very passive at least we felt probably they were just planning what is going on right now. We are happy that they are active in finding a solution and retaliating which is fine. It's one way to go. What we ask them to do is to go all the way whether it will be an operation, whether it will be conquer of Gaza, whether it will be talk process, a peace process with the international community. Either way they choose to go, they decide to go all the way make a difference. Don't exit this escalation round don't stop this war without serious and lasting results that will change the situation here. In addition to that we wish for our boys to come back there are two soldiers in the Gaza Strip and two civilians in the Gaza Strip they have to come back. If we are already clashing with Hamas with Jihad we must not stop until our boys are back all of them. Ghanayim, a resident in the southern city of Starot joining us live this evening. Thank you. I want to bring back Daron Avital, former commander of Special Forces for the Israeli military. I've just gotten an alert here on my iPad saying that Egyptian media is reporting that the ceasefire has gone into effect. However there were alerts as this was happening you mentioned Israel doesn't acknowledge when it enters ceasefires with groups like Jihad and Hamas. Knowledge when it's final when it's like after the fact not before the fact we have to be very careful we have to have all the contingencies in place in case things don't happen as predicted or as expected but I think this is this is the exit point right now that makes the most sense and the Egyptian are the key players here and I hope it goes like this it doesn't change to the overall if we zoom out security landscape in Israel even if this cycle of violence ends tonight or in the we have the West Bank it is all the time active. We have the issue of the north I think the security landscape in the Middle East in Israel in the context of the conflict is very much alive and we shouldn't expect I heard the guy from Zderot talking about a solution coming we have to expect many more cycles of assault until some direction could change add to this the political situation in Israel which is not easy and it's interesting how this how those events in Gaza would affect the political landscape in Israel the demonstration and the positioning Let's talk about the political situation for a little bit the Prime Minister said that Israel would be ready to expand the Gaza operation while there is a bid to limit the conflict while there are these ceasefire negotiations reportedly ongoing Israel says their military has the upper hand but the fear in their citizens is clear when these factions from Gaza choose to fire on Israel and not just these southern towns their rockets are reaching places like Tel Aviv causing a sort of psychological warfare where in that sense you can say the factions are winning how does Israel respond how does the government respond to its people how does the political situation tie in here I think what a government can and should do is instill some confidence in its citizen that it's doing the best it can in order to improve the situation so right now what adds to this pile of those security events is the insecurity or the disarray in Israeli politics so if you add the two you get a very complex situation so I think now reaching a ceasefire would be in the best interest of all but then what's the next chapter and where the next chapter comes from whether it comes from the West Bank or the North or in Gaza again it's hard to anticipate but the situation is fragile well mediators for the ceasefire are saying that they're trying to get Palestinian Islamic jihad in on the ceasefire that Hamas has agreed to it we know they're responsible for everything that goes in and out of the Gaza Strip but Islamic jihad is not quite there yet what do you think it would take for them to agree I think first of all the strategy of Israel is that Hamas is the sovereign of the Gaza Strip but Hamas is holding the responsibility for the economical situation in the Gaza Strip which is improving and also for the security issues or attacks coming out of the Gaza Strip I think Hamas would force the measure that it can force but he would exert all his energy and capabilities to have the Islamic jihad concede to the ceasefire Daron Avi Tal special forces for the Israeli military thank you we're going to head to Gaza City now on the phone where Hiba Mahmood is standing by for us Hiba thank you so much for being with us I want to ask you about the feeling and the energy inside of Gaza today I'm still hearing the other is under the real pressure mainly as they look at the feeling from the extension of the conflict between Israel and it's why the situation is a little bit quite now right now and in the news issued by some Egyptian officials that are at the root of the ceasefire will be reached between the Islamic jihad soon in the upcoming a few hours that that was the locals to feel optimistic maybe they will return to their normal life as soon as possible and by the way we are talking about at least 22 Palestinians killed from yesterday up to now and such a big amount because people also pushed the locals to feel and even to ask the both sides to put an end to their military tension right now how are people feeling about this round of escalation specifically we do know that some people are not really in favor of the factions to feel about Palestinian Islamic jihad getting in on a conflict once again okay to be honest when we talk about the people they are inside about the Islamic jihad or even any other infection we can we are talking about different things and different ideologies the people or the residents so what life mainly these demons would like to live their normal life and support and for all the conflict between and the armed factions not only in these days but also forever and maybe to reach a real agreement between the two sides that they maybe can ensure a security life for the government we will talk the people under the military tensions we are talking about close the ships the life completely is suspended in Gaza so now the civilians and the gaza as well as also has don't like to extend or to see it means a long time a military tension or even support themselves under the rockets and attacks Hiba Mahmoud a journalist in gaza city thank you so much for being with us we hope you're safe we're going to take a quick break now more from this breaking news edition of the broadcast right after this com Carlos Gurovich presented a fiction about the murder of the Fiscal Alberto Nisman our documentary about Daniel Balgauto who lives in Israel suspected of crimes during the military dictatorship in Argentina on 24th of the Spanish magazine of I24 News audio live stream of the television network with world headlines every 30 minutes starting from 7am tune in for top news magazines editions while in the car in your office join us from your smartphone tablet or desktop to stay connected in the middle east and around the world don't wait any longer head to our website or mobile application and click on I24 news radio to subscribe if you're living as a child then in the meantime that's going to be your adult you can be a student so I think it's going to be a time to feel responsible what it's like it's unbelievable just to be able to they're happy we're happy everybody's happy it's about an endless loop of life that it's very fragile and we have to be responsible for our nature. A woman who dresses this way. I have to do ten times the work of the average woman because for people to even listen to me, I must have gotten to a certain stage. Imagine being able to see into the future. What innovations will change the world as we know it? Join us as we meet the people changing our planet and discover the inventions shaping tomorrow. Israel Business Beat. Sundays and Wednesday, 9.30 p.m. GMT. Thanks for staying with us on this breaking news edition of the broadcast. Let's head now to the south to Ashdod where Pia Stekelbach is standing by live for us. Pia, talk to us about some of the things you've been seeing and hearing today and what residents they are feeling. Well, Hamda, certainly today Ashdod is a quite empty city where less than 40 kilometers away from the Gaza Strip and special instructions have been in place also here since basically yesterday morning, which means that educational activities are suspended. Some roads are blocked in the south. Citizens and residents are advised to stay as close to shelters as possible. Many of them have a shelter or safe room in their own apartments. Others are advised to stay as close to public shelters as possible. So we see that not many people are out and about today. Early on we've been at a shopping center. Not a lot of people were there. Only those shops and restaurants are allowed to open and have a shelter within their space. Now, what we're seeing here is that we're right across from the sea. This is a street that has many restaurants and bars. And for Wednesday evening it really is empty. So really the majority of the people, they adhere to the recommendations of the home front command and they stay home. They stay close to shelters, but still there are some who decided to come out today and we want to ask why Ilon Ja Noun, you met here with a group of friends at this restaurant despite the home front command says that it is recommended to stay as close to shelters as possible and to remain at home. Why did you decide to come out today? It's a very stressful day for everyone, but I still go to the work. To my work I still go as usual. But some people would like to stay at home to feel safer. But me and my friend just wanted to eat some pizza. So we go out and we are... Usually we got used to it in this country. So it was important for us to act normal as long as we can. Now here in Nostod you have about 45 seconds to run to the next shelter. And you're somebody who grew up here and already said that many people here are used to that situation. Now there are talks about a possible ceasefire and now we actually have a red alert, so we need to run. We were told that there is a shelter here in Nostod. Our PSC Life Forest in Nostod seeking shelter there losing the connection. A red alert happening in southern parts of Israel now. Instead of in Nostod, barrages of rockets reportedly fired there, siren sounding in several parts of the south. This all comes as a ceasefire is reportedly underway. Palestinian Islamic jihad still not confirming the Israeli side. Not confirming just yet. It comes after nearly 300 rockets were fired into Israel today. I want to bring in our guest now in studio, Yaakov Lapina, military and strategic affairs analyst for the Jewish News Syndicate. Thank you so much for being with us. And I'm also going to bring in Madhwa Mazyad, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland. Madhwa, let's start with you. Egyptian talks underway. Talk to us about Egypt's role in all of this. Well, Egypt's role has been kind of a constant forever in brokering some ceasefires and talks between the Palestinian side and the Israelis. But I think on this round, the Egyptians are quite frustrated that that escalation had to happen at all at this juncture. The statements coming from Egypt is that these attacks only exasperate the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and they undermine the efforts to achieve common reduced tensions in the region within the framework of the Sharm al-Shir and al-Aqaba meeting just a couple, like a month ago. So I think the Egyptian side is frustrated that Israel would have to assess the security situation that they would start this now and then wait for a response from Hamas so that Egypt would have to come. And it's just a cycle of a little bit of undoing the work that is done just shortly, a couple of months ago. So I think that's Egypt's side, but as you already see, the contribution is a constant. Egypt is always going to be on this file because of its own national interests in the border with Gaza and the border with Israel. So it's going to be there, but I think there is a level of frustration that this had to happen right that quickly. And Yaakov, these talks underway with the Israeli military says that if we can go back actually to Ashdod, P.S. Tegelbach standing by for us there in the South. P.A., you just had a red alert. We lost connection with you. We saw you there running. Talk to us about what's going on. Hamna, that definitely was a moment of tension. As of now it is quiet. The alert has stopped. Now we quickly ran into the kitchen of that restaurant over here. We're being told that this is a protected area here. Now people are already starting to come out. People have already returned to their tables and this is really how it goes here. There's a red alert. People quickly run to the next safe area, to the next shelter in the best case. In a less good case, you go to the kitchen of a restaurant that is considered to be safe. And people come out again. People take a deep breath, come out again and continue their dinner. But in general, Hamda, the streets here are quite empty here in Ashdod because the Home Front Command also advises people to stay as close as possible to shelters. And in the best case, not to go out if they don't have to. Now there's also still some public transportation here. But we're across from the sea. This is a street that has many residents. I'm going to cut you off here. I'm going to cut you off here. We're going to head to Sderot now where Pierre Kloschendler is live for us. Pierre, thank you so much. Pierre, red alert in Sderot as well. Active interceptions happening above you. What's going on? There's been a few salvos of rockets. I think there's been about three salvos of rockets, about, I would say, 15 rockets all in all, which have been intercepted over the city of Sderot, aiming at Sderot. And that was quite of a surprise in the sense that everybody's talking about a lull toward a ceasefire. Pierre, we're also hearing some explosions here over. We're also hearing explosions here from the Iron Dome over the I-24 news studios. We know you're hearing them there as well. Were there sirens or were there simply just the sounds of explosions? No, there was simply the shriek of the Iron Dome anti-missile missile system. And then a few seconds later, you see like a spark of white smoke directing itself toward a rocket that you cannot see actually. And then a black smoke and an explosion, a lot of sound and a black smoke and this is what you get. Now obviously this is quite of a surprise because everybody thought here in Sderot that there was going to be a ceasefire and indeed people were starting to get into the streets to breathe some fresh air. And then suddenly out of the blue after almost over two hours of lull over Sderot there was these three salvos of rockets something like 15 even more of interceptions of rockets that were just over us. But now what we hear is only the alarm of some of the shops because shops are closed and they have an alarm system and the vibration of the explosion has ignited the alarm system. But there was no announcement per se. It was only the shriek of the Iron Dome anti-missile system. Hemda? Pierre-Claude Schendler live for us in Sderot. We're going to head now to Tel Aviv. Batya Leventhal standing by for us there. I-24 News's diplomatic correspondent. Per an Egyptian source to I-24 News no agreement has been reached. No ceasefire yet underway. Perhaps the talks are in place but there's just been a lot of reports. Islamic Jihad saying they're not ready. Israel says they're in for the offensive and defensive game. Missiles reaching Tel Aviv, missiles reaching several parts of this country. What's it going to take for a ceasefire to be mediated? What types of countries are usually involved other than Egypt here? Right, so Egypt is known for being the brass mediator here. They normally bring the sides to the table. Obviously being the ones to speak and have that connection with both the Palestinian-Islamic Jihad, Hamas as well as Israel officials. Again, a reminder of you is that there is no official direct contact at least between Israel and the PIJ or Hamas. But what is quite amazing, Hamza, as we were standing here getting ready for this live, we were hearing interceptions overhead but absolutely no sirens were going off in the center of Tel Aviv. Now I understand from some of our colleagues that the sirens were going off in Japan further down in Batiam and some even heard it within South Tel Aviv. But here on the promenade not a single siren was heard, our applications were telling us otherwise we heard the explosions. In fact, just over my shoulder we were able to even make out sort of those white flares that almost looked like the iron dome did make an interception. But again, it seems like life has continued at least normally as normal as can possibly be here on the boardwalk because as you can see there are people behind me walking and just continuing and carrying on. No sirens being heard in the center of Tel Aviv, although that's not what the applications, both the red alert application and the home front command were telling us just moments ago before coming to you live. Again, there were reports that a ceasefire was underway but with all these interceptions as well as rockets continuing to be fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel, it's unlikely that this is the case but again I'll add onto that by saying that normally when a ceasefire is supposed to be reached between the two sides there is normally sort of like the last round of firings that happen just shortly before it goes into effect and sometimes even after the ceasefire goes into effect. Thamda. Bati 11th, I'll lie for us in Tel Aviv. Thank you. I want to bring back in Madhva Meziath professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland and also an affiliate scholar of strategic foresight at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. Madhva, an Egyptian source telling I-24 News that no agreement has been reached. There have been these reports going on for the last several hours with Qatar reportedly involved the United Nations, Palestinian Islamic jihad, speaking to media saying that they're not ready yet. This is actually just the beginning of their operation. What's going on? I think what's going on is Israel decided that it wants to do this pre-emptive move because supposedly there were some intelligence that something is in them making and that would have been from the Palestinian Islamic jihad side, of course, and that would have reached the truth and the ceasefire that was started in April, which was Egypt's work, right? After this Sheik, meeting and following Passover and Ramadan and all of that. So in this move, I think that two parties, the Israeli and the Palestinians are undermining everything that was done last month. And Egypt, I think, is going to just say, okay, you want to play this out? You want to face the music? It all depends, I think, right now whether Hamas wants to be dragged into something, whether it's capable, whether it's really want to show some force or not. And if it doesn't, then Israel has a way of saying, well, I'm just targeting the Palestinian Islamic jihad. You are not Palestinian Islamic jihad and maybe this will be rounded and ended soon. But if Hamas takes an opportunity in this and say, okay, you're already breaking the ceasefire since April, you're escalating, and I have some capabilities that I want to show you. And these are the rockets you're seeing on those screens. Then the Israelis and Palestinians are going to play it out. And Egypt might not be in a position of saying anything to either because they've already made the decision to have this confrontation, at least for a while. And of course, soon enough, Egypt will be brought in to have an eventual ceasefire at a bandaid based on what Israel wants right now and whether Hamas wants to engage or not. We're going to keep you here standing by and we're going to turn in studio Yaakov Lapin, a military and strategic affairs analyst at the Jewish News Syndicate. I want to talk to you about winners and losers of this conflict. It doesn't seem like it's anywhere near over. PIJ is saying that this is actually only the beginning of what they are preparing to do. We're looking at live images now of the skyline in Gaza where some rockets were just fired into places in southern Israel. Interceptions even heard overhead here in Tel Aviv and EFA. Talk to us about who the winners are, who the losers, who has the upper edge in a conflict like this. Okay, so right now I would say that PIJ is looking for a victory picture. It has not achieved that from its perspective since this began. It was stunned. I think it was shocked by Israel. Five images now of rockets continuing to be fired from the Gaza Strip. You can see now we have entered the evening hours. It's a little bit darker, but those rockets still flying in the air, making their way into southern Israel. The iron dome intercepting more than 90% of the projectiles that are usually coming into Israel if they don't land into open fields or should the projectiles just fail and fall into the Gaza Strip. Yaakov Lapini, we were talking about winners and losers in this conflict. A lot going on. Continue your thoughts, please, on PIJ. So right now PIJ is looking quite desperately for a victory picture because it has not been able to achieve that. It took it about a day and a half to recover from the shock of Israel's preemptive strike, which it was not expecting. This is a week after Palestinian-Islamic jihad took a gamble and fired over 100 rockets at Stilot and southern Israel in response to the death of one of its hunger strikers security prisoners. And then it thought that the escalation that it had initiated had ended. And then when a week later Israel took this preemptive action it decided that it needed to come back and the real question I think is what Hamas' next move will be because as far as Hamas' concern I think it's very important for everybody to take notice of the fact that one, Hamas has not joined this escalation just like it has not joined previous similar rounds involving Palestinian-Islamic jihad risk taking escalatory attacks. We saw this in 2019. Hamas stayed out. We saw this in 2022. Hamas stayed out. And again it's doing the same thing now and then we have to ask why. So I think one of the reasons that it's staying out is because PIJ is a thorn in many ways in Hamas' side. It undermines its authority in the Gaza Strip. It challenges its sovereignty and PIJ is not bound by the same, let's say governmental considerations that Hamas has to juggle as being sovereign of 2 million people. And I think Hamas is quite happy for PIJ to show that when it's on its own against Israel it will not get results. There have been thankfully no Israeli casualties until now. So the most PIJ is able to say right now that it is causing millions of Israelis to take shelter. It's certainly disrupting daily life across the country. And right now that's the most it's able to present as a victory picture. I think ultimately Hamas comes out on top here. Israel has come out fairly well here in terms of its operational capabilities, its intelligence. And PIJ has so far emerged as the loser of this current round of escalation. I want to cross now to Marwa Masyadeh, professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland. I want to get your thoughts on if you think that Palestinian Islamic Jihad would consider listening to Hamas. Now these reports are saying that Hamas is interested in the ceasefire and is trying to convince PIJ. Do you think that with the help of Egyptian mediators this is something they would be able to listen to given all of the context of what happened yesterday, the assassination of three of their leaders? Well, from the Egyptian side, what I hear from Egyptians is that this is going to be the usual, yes, they will play the role and they will mediate and they will do this and that and what you're mentioning that maybe there would be I mean Hamas might then refrain from doing any response. I don't know really whether they will make that decision or take an opportunity given their capabilities. They will have to make this decision for the Israel. But I agree with your other analysts that there is a distinction made between Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and for Hamas purposes this distinction is good so it's as if if Israel is taking care of some of those leaders then it's as if that somehow ends up in the interest of Hamas but it all depends on what Hamas wants to weigh in in this juncture. I think the fact that they didn't want this coming right now including the Egyptians as I said, no one wanted this escalation. The fact that they didn't want it either they will just like de-escalate and that goes away or because they are provoked enough that Israel had to create the show right now this juncture they might just like feel that Israel brought it on onto both of them and they go through a round of fighting that can get escalated just because the two sides are are provoked into a situation that they have to respond to. So we really don't know I think it's very fluid and many scenarios can shape up in the next few days and then you know lay the way forward on how that will play out. Thank you both so much for your insights. I want to bring in now Samir Sinijlawi Fatah Aktaves joining us from Jerusalem and the chairman of the Jerusalem Development Fund. I want to ask you three quarters of Palestinians living in the West Bank say that they support armed resistance. Palestinians in East Jerusalem echo that same sentiment. Palestinians in Gaza are kind of just caught in the crossfire. While some people support these factions they just want to live their own kind of life. What is the Palestinian perspective when these rounds of escalation happen between the factions and the Israeli military? Well just I'm listening a lot from the media that there are efforts for ceasefire. Ceasefire until when? For one week for one month what's the validity of the ceasefire that the Israelis are requesting because you know we continue to play this game. We are into war and it's open war some break between escalations here and there and there does not mean that we are in a normal truth long term. We are into a war this is the third Intifada and it comes as attacks in the different areas in the West Bank and it comes as rockets from Gaza and this comes all of it under the umbrella of a choice that Israelis are taking strategically since 1967 that they will continue military forcing their occupation on the Palestinians. A military choice has been taken by the Israelis at the very beginning in 1967 and it continues. What's happening from the Palestinian side is just reactions maybe some polls shows that out of frustrations Palestinians think that they have no other choice but violence but deep inside the Palestinians and I can tell you this because I am a very active Palestinian in the community. I am a mainstream Palestinian. I get engaged with every angle of the Palestinian society Palestinian is by nature. They want peace. They want to live a normal life. They want dignity. They want to be prosperous. They want to have a good economy. They want to be open to the world. Look what's happening in Gaza. I was in Gaza two weeks ago and I was almost crying in every moment when I have seen the misery of the people. There is no drinkable water five hours of electricity every day 80% of the Gazans are under 36 years old. 50% are under 18 years old. 50% of the Gazans were born under the siege that is imposed by Israel. Israel is the sovereign not Hamas. I've heard your guest comparing Hamas to Jihad that they are the sovereign. They are not sovereign. The only sovereign from the Mediterranean sea to the river of Jordan is Israel. It's controlling the airspace the borders. It's controlling one civil registry for everybody. So there is a root for what's happening here. Every rocket that is launched every victim that is harmed from both sides every suffer on both sides has a root has a reason and has something that caused it which is the the the the wrong term occupation occupation by definition in the international law is a permanent status. Now the raid occupation became to be indefinite. It doesn't have a dead end. It doesn't have a deadline and it's continuing and the Palestinians are frustrated the Palestinians want to live normal life. So if we are smart enough why do we continue asking for siege fires for one week two weeks and then something happened. Sometimes the Palestinian initiated sometimes the Israeli calls it. Let's go into political settlement for this deadly conflict that is taking a lot of innocent lives until now 23 people have been killed in Gaza among them lots of children and women and just civilians. I know that also the Israeli side is suffering from from the rockets is suffering from violence is suffering from the the attacks but there is a cause and the cost should end when we end the occupation the two peoples will be able to live peacefully and safely and there will be respect for any innocent life in both sides. Samir Sinjali, I've got the hacktivist joining us from Jerusalem. I want to cross now to one of our reporters controller in whichever reporter is available please throw them up on our screen for us as we continue to get these red alerts Pierre Klochendler live for us in the country's south. You are now inside the bomb shelter. We are seeing red alerts in communities in the south. We've got about two minutes left. Talk to us. Right. There's been three salvos about 20 minutes ago over the city of Derot. Three salvos of about five or six interceptions you have usually 15 seconds to run to a shelter but interceptions are occurring earlier. There was no red alert through loudspeakers. We were alerted by the shriek of the anti-missile missile system the iron dome which was targeting the rockets and we saw black clouds with a spark and deafening sound which ignited the alarms of some of the shops that are still closed here in Derot the city looks again like a ghost town when people started to see on their TV screen that there was a ceasefire being sued between the Islamic jihad and the Israeli government people started to go out and even standard in queue at the pizza parlor but again after that salvo it's an empty town now again an empty and dark town because now people realize that as long as there is no iron class ceasefire there's going to be no ceasefire and now the idea is retaliating over the Gaza Strip Pierre Gluchendler live for us in the southern Israeli city of Sarod reports of continuous Israeli airstrikes inside the Gaza Strip saying that a tower was hit that perhaps a commander of Palestinian Islamic jihad according to Gaza's sources were there all of the updates as they come along this round of violence continuing and escalating be sure to tune into the rundown with Kalev bin David coming up right after this I'm Hamza Sadhout in Tel Aviv thanks for watching my name is India Naftali and welcome to our newest edition of Discover Bahrain join us as we bring you the most thrilling sports attractions Bahrain has to offer from motor sports to an indoor skydiving to the diving adventure of a lifetime active is an outfit that looks good in Bahrain part of the secure desert stands a regional trophy the Bahrain International Circuit there's something for everyone here as this famous racetrack is known for some of the most awaited motor racing events in the region and the world this self-described ultra-modern facility hosts more than 400 racing events every year including international motor racing events like the Grand Prix and FIA World Endurance Championship after a decade in action it's known as the home of motor sport in the Middle East 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world as we know it join us as we meet the people on our planet and discover the inventions shaping tomorrow Israel Business Beat Sundays and Wednesdays 9 30 p.m. GMT Welcome to this special breaking news edition of the rundown on I-24 news I'm Kaleb and David reports at this hour of a possible ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Gaza mediated by Egypt that could go into effect sometime this evening but in the meantime a fresh barrage of rockets launched from Gaza and targets all over southern Israel just in the last 30 minutes now all this follows an unexpectedly quiet night last night as the Israel Defense Forces did intensify its offensive against Palestinian Islamic Jihad on the second day of its operation shield and arrow the IDF this morning carrying out a drone strike on a vehicle that says was ferrying Pij militants on their way to rocket launch sites the response from Gaza was a barrage of at least 270 rockets fired at both southern and central Israel with sirens ringing out as far north as the Tel Aviv suburb of Rabat Gan now most were intercepted by the iron dome and the David sling missile defense systems many falling also in open areas there were no Israeli injuries there was no direct rocket fire the IDF continued to strike at launch and military sites in Gaza through the day with Palestinian sources saying now at least 21 people were killed there since the IDF kicked off this latest round by eliminating three senior Pij militants well for more let's jump down to the Gaza border town of Sterot and our Pierre Klosch handler and Pierre we're hearing reports of sirens even a direct hit on a one house power Pierre you with us well half an hour ago indeed there were three salvos of rockets flew over Sterot and they were intercepted very quickly you have 15 seconds to rush to a shelter but actually the interception occurs like five seconds after you hear the shriek of the iron dome anti-missile missile system with a black smoke and hitting the rocket that you cannot see with a spark of light and a black smoke they were about I would say 15 or 17 rockets that were intercepted over the city of Sterot there's been reports of a direct hit on a house in Sterot but there's no casualties that would be the second direct hit on a house with no casualties only damage just south of here in Netivot there's been also a direct hit on a Talmudic school with only minor damage and no casualties but people here were starting to go out in the streets in Sterot because of the rumors of a ceasefire and people were already standing in line at the pizza parlor which is just across the street here and it's open because not all the shops are open some of the shops which are closed the alarm system of those shops was ignited by the explosion of the interception but now suddenly again in Sterot as you can see we're in the middle of the center of town in the middle of the street and there's barely any traffic barely any individuals walking in the streets half an hour ago there were people in the street they were extremely surprised in some sort of a state of shock because there were three salvos not just one but three salvos one after the other and that obviously was a shock for the city of Sterot well that shouldn't be because we've seen in the past that Michael for a ceasefire sometimes there's an intensification of rocket fire so people hopefully staying close to their their sealed rooms their protected rooms and shelters at this hour in Sterot let's go to our correspondent Bacchia Leventhal on the streets of Tel Aviv and Bacchia Sirens also ringing out in the Tel Aviv area rockets intercepted in the skies above what's the scene there absolutely Kalev but the weird thing is is that although the interceptions were heard above the rocket sirens were not heard I'm standing here with the resident Dan Adadi from Tel Aviv and Dan I asked you earlier just before we went live if you heard any sirens going off at 2.30 today and then again a few minutes to go here in Tel Aviv yes so I've been here in Tel Aviv for the rest of the day and I heard nothing we always take care and look for those alerts this time I haven't heard anything did you feel nervous at all you never heard anything in Tel Aviv but you saw it on the applications so I didn't get it in the apps as well because I don't have those apps and yeah I got nervous when I heard that it's been and I'm fine so and just lastly Dan the residents that are living in Sterot and areas just outside Gaza are obviously in bomb shelters all day today do you feel lucky that you live in Tel Aviv do you have any idea how residents go through in a situation like this yeah of course and always my family are hosting families from the south of the country and we are their feelings and we are hope for them and for health and that's it I am lucky to be here and I feel sorry for them as you can hear a lot of residents including ourselves here on the border can tell Aviv not hearing those red alerts but obviously hearing the interceptions on at 230 just above our channel in Jaffa but also here in Tel Aviv a few moments ago this evening all right despite that not hearing sirens people should be staying close to some kind of protected area about 11th fall on the streets of Tel Aviv thank you for that and with us in studio retired IDF Colonel excuse me that is a red alert going off retired IDF Colonel Murray Eisen a former head of combat intelligence and former advisor to prime minister Marc our senior correspondent Owen Altman and our Middle East correspondent Ariel Osiron Mary we're hearing right now those are red alerts going off across southern Israel a rocket fire but at the same time like I said we've seen this happen before ceasefires is that what you think is developing here this evening it seems that the Palestinian Islamic jihad were seriously heard over the last 24 almost 48 hours we're always going to try to show at the end we're at that stage of what we call the picture of victory they need to show that they fired that they were the ones who gave the last shot and sadly this is something that could go on now for literally an additional 24 hours where they're going to try to show that last victory shot we are not going to take that we will attack those launchers the different capabilities that they have and there will be a bit of a cycle right now sadly I do hope it'll be over quickly though Ariel let's talk about reports of Egypt mediating the ceasefire the question is if Palestinian Islamic jihad is going to be ready to accept that without having delivered the kind of blow they certainly would have wanted to against Israel right so we're seeing multiple outlets across the region reporting that Egypt has really stepped up its mediation efforts and that they have reached some agreement between the sides now we're still seeing rocket launches and Israeli strikes go on until this very moment so nothing appears to be signed and agreed upon as of now which even after it is there could still be a spillover but an interesting quote in the Saudi newspaper it publicized a quote from the joint operations room of the Palestinian factions saying that if there is a ceasefire it could possibly start at 9 usually also could drag on until midnight 30 minutes from now 9 local time we should say I think we should avoid the guessing game of when it goes in because it comes into effect because again from previous rounds of escalation we have seen that it does get dragged out but I think if we're looking at this picture of victory I think the side that can be most pleased with how things have gone so far are actually Hamas because they are part of this joint operation we're looking at live images now rocket siren, alert siren sound in southern Israel we're hearing interceptions these are rockets we're hearing in the what's called Ote Faza around the Gaza Strip they wrote where we just were with our Pierre Klosch handler Niaram it really looks like it kind of continuous we are also hearing we're also getting reports of Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip reports of an apartment building that was struck there okay now we're seeing these are live images reports of rocket fire on the southern town of Neti vote we did hear earlier that a religious school of Yeshiva was hit got a direct hit fortunately nobody present there again this could be the last flurry before a ceasefire we don't know yet but the question is whether Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government is ready to accept a ceasefire feeling they've achieved their aims yeah I'm sure it's a dilemma it's obviously a tactical decision kind of much more than a strategic one but we do know it's a general matter about this Prime Minister as he's been cautious about military operations doesn't seem inclined and hasn't seem inclined to take on much risk tends to be risk averse that said of course opening this operation was taking on risk this was Israel having an escalation and initiating an escalation in a way that Prime Minister Netanyahu generally although there have been exceptions in the past too but generally has not done to the argument being that Israel should take control of the timing have an element of surprise and attacking the enemy and so we saw the strike that killed those three Islamic jihad commanders and also of course those 10 civilians as well but how much risk is Prime Minister Netanyahu willing to take on going forward maybe he'll feel that it's time to fold the cards that he's been able to achieve that the army has been able to achieve what it has been able to achieve and there's not much more in the target bank that can be done without real cost for Israel and that this is the best time for Israel to exit obviously a tactical decision one that's taking place before our eyes although of course there is this element the emotional element not just the rational but the emotional element of the picture hold these thoughts because we're going to jump to our correspondent Pia Stechobach with the two sirens there we're hearing reports and of course hearing of rocket interceptions throughout southern Israel well Kalev about half an hour ago we had a red alert here this is when we ran into that restaurant here right behind us this is one of the very few places open in the city this evening we didn't see any interceptions we did not hear or see any reports about injuries but this has been going on this tension for many hours now here in Ashtod there were about eight rockets fired earlier this afternoon there was of course a red alert too the residents here Kalev are under special instruction since yesterday morning which means that educational activities are suspended public larger gatherings are banned people are advised to stay as close to the shelters as possible and this is what most of the people here in Ashtod are adhering to this is really behind us one of the very few places that we have seen is open we are standing right across from the city with a lot of restaurants and bars the vast majority of them are closed only those shops and restaurants that have a safe room inside of them are allowed to open we're less than 40 kilometers away from the Gaza Strip as I mentioned eight rockets earlier this afternoon one landed into an open in an open area very close to the local hospital here in Ashtod our experiencing SF now a very tense calm nobody knows how the situation is going to unfold most of them are indeed inside their apartments the hope front command advises people to stay as close to public shelters as possible but many residents also have a safe room in their apartments we had the chance also to speak to those people who are sitting here some of them say that they do not want this situation to take control over their life they say that they haven't grown up in Ashtod they're used to these rounds of escalations and many times also target the city of Ashtod the owner of this restaurant where we're staying in front of he says that of course he hits them economically this is a new restaurant he did not have any customers almost throughout the afternoon now it is filling up with a couple of friends of his he also says that he very much supports a ceasefire he wants the situation to end as soon as possible so although residents are used to that situation it is very tense still and another alert can go off any minute as we have seen only half an hour ago all right P.S. Takhabak there in Ashtod Mary there's a political decisions that the Israeli government has to make prime minister there's also the security the military establishment that has to tell the prime minister and the political echelon whether the goals of this operation shilda now have been achieved I mean is that an assessment do you think would be reasonable at this time not only reasonable but didn't we achieve what we wanted to achieve when we killed the three top palestinian Islamic jihad horrific terrorists and as along said and it's important to say with 10 civilians which is terrible but when you do so you've achieved that aim the fact that it took them so long to respond I think has to do with the delay that they could not believe that these top echelons were the ones who were killed the ones who were supposed to have been giving the instructions it took them time until they could respond and it's going to take them a long time until they rebuild themselves but let's be clear they're going to rebuild themselves how do you deter a terror organization let me let me let me go on to that palestinian Islamic jihad did say that today's rocket fire was not a response to the killing of those three senior commanders yesterday but a response just to the fire this morning and one vehicle indicating that they want to deliver a bigger blow to Israel in response to that empty thread or they just sort of storing their ammunition keeping it dry until they're ready to make a bigger move isn't it kind of funny that in Israel were the ones who listen to their threats more than they listen to them themselves palestinian Islamic jihad is a terror organization it is a small one in the Gaza Strip it also has a lot of impact in the West Bank at the moment certainly in the northern West Bank but in that sense their rhetoric is part of who they are they are ideological they need to show that they take action they are a terror organization that are very difficult to deter the only way you actually can deter them and it's horrible is to actually kill the top people because they're not going to stop in any other way they are different in their own way from the terror organization Hamas who is fully responsible maybe not accountable maybe not an authority in that sense but they are the ones right now responsible for the Gaza Strip they took it over and you see that one of the things that's being done right now is very clearly Israel is differentiating between Hamas as the ones who are responsible in the Gaza Strip even if they don't take that responsibility in the way that we'd like from the Palestinian I want to say a pretty dramatic change in policy for years I've heard Israeli spokespeople including yourself say Hamas is responsible for every action in the Gaza Strip and here Israel as this government has been differentiating between Palestinian Islamic Shia and Hamas in its own way I look this is a prequel to what may happen on the northern border when Chisbala does whatever Chisbala does are we going to hold Lebanon accountable Hamas is going to be there tomorrow morning Hamas is going to be there next week what you need to do with Palestinian Islamic Jihad is to deter them in a way because it's impacting the youth both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank that's an additional aspect there that you want to show that those who are going out now and think that they have something that's going to protect them the iron dome that we have for ourselves when they go out and they fire rockets and they're trying to do much more targeted things all of us have felt over the last few days there was nothing additional going on I kept waiting for a different kind of attack something that would be directly against one of the communities that are right next to the Gaza border those kind of things are things that inspire and we've deterred them from doing something like that they inspire a younger generation that looks at us in a completely different way so in differentiating I'm all for Hamas having to be the responsible authority I'm all for the fact that we look at it and say they're there let them be responsible for what's happening certainly don't hold them accountable at least let's show that they're the ones there that if they're quiet quiet we've said that for so many years quiet will be answered with quiet so let's differentiate if Hamas doesn't join in that is good for us they have tens of thousands of rockets but this is a government that came in saying it was going to change that calculus because of course that's the calculus Prime Minister Netanyahu has taken over a dozen years but of course and this government has been saying we need to change that calculus take more offensive action take on groups like Hamas more directly but that certainly is not how this operation is being conducted I think what's fascinating coming out of our discussion is when you look at how to end and whether to accept the ceasefire and try to get in the heads of the policy makers there are two ways of thinking about it one is the rational way right have the objectives of the operation been achieved what can be achieved going forward the cost benefit analysis that's one way the other is the picture of victory which isn't a rational calculation it's a psychological calculation right giving the Israeli public a sense of confidence and a sense of security and a sense of belief that something was achieved which is a part from the rational so how exactly do you balance those two and I think that that's something that policy makers are going to have to juggle as to the strategic question the reality is the Israeli strategy in the Gaza Strip has not changed in the last 15 years mowing the lawn strategy a somewhat dehumanizing term but still an apt metaphor meaning to say the terror groups can't be defeated the grass is there it's growing it has to be periodically mowed meaning hitting assets whether they be human or whether they be material and then once the grass grows more hitting them again it obviously is a strategy that doesn't have much imagination to it has not brought about a victory but the reality is nobody has been able to present a real alternative which like continues to be what Israel does this government that government it doesn't matter including this one as well I just want to say we are getting a statement that the prime minister Benjamin that's now will make an address at 840 local time in 20 minutes could be a sign of a ceasefire going into effect and I'm PM but we're speculating here but that certainly seems development I'm going to say that I'm in that sense I mean I'm going to put a little bomb into the room at the end this prime minister would very much like right now to be on TV to talk about things that he feels very secure about after four months where he went on to TV and he didn't get the same reaction alright Ariel yeah I mean there's no point in guessing whether the goals were achieved because that's what Israeli Defense Minister Yav Galant said yesterday in the press conference all our goals were achieved yesterday so it's kind of not clear what is going on right now because Israelis learn about the intentions of its leaders through Arab media and so that could be the case well hopefully we will get some clarification in 20 minutes if the prime minister is on time which is not always the case but you're correct in that making up and that's one thing and we also we talked about the picture of victory what I started saying earlier is I think the big winners so far have been Hamas as ironic as it sounds they are part of this joint operations room that sent out the statement claiming that these rocket launches are a response they said already yesterday that there will be a joint response so here they're showing that they're part of the response but none of their militants went out in the field and launched the rockets they have the PIJ and small organizations during the dirty work for them so on the one hand they don't have to get their hands dirty on the other hand they're once again portraying themselves as part of the resistance of the defenders of the Palestinian people and this is something that is really the defense establishment is going to have to take a long hard look at moving forward right and the role of Hamas has been really fascinating we talked about changes in the Israeli government's approach clearly a change in Hamas's approach basically differentiating itself from these other groups in Gaza I don't want to belittle it in any way but that's kind of like when you get to middle age right okay they've already been ruling over the Gaza Strip from 2007 where in 2023 you go to a stage where your people actually want to have running water and sewage and jobs and electricity and not just to be about the resistance and in that case because of that I slightly disagree with you just in the sense that I think that Hamas because they have turned into something which was much more I mean in its own way we're more comfortable with it in a bit is that because they're more just the ruling ones who are out there right now I think that they are losing some of their people I think that that younger generation looks out and is inspired by the actions and the actions have been taking place in the West Bank not from the Gaza Strip in the action out of the Gaza Strip they all know that it's coming from the Palestinian Islamic jihad and not from Hamas so yes they do gain a little bit more in the sense certainly opposite us in the fact that they didn't participate I'm not sure versus their own youth if they actually gain popularity I don't think it really matters to us at the end of the day it's Hamas who's going to be sitting on the other side when I want to pick up a point Mary made about the Prime Minister speaking about something he's comfortable with we saw a striking photo today of Prime Minister Netanyahu sitting across the table from Yair Lapid the opposition leader who and the two have been at odds as the country has been at odds over the past three months on the table but still at least sitting there yes sitting in the short way but that picture of them sitting together what a striking difference from what we've seen over the last three months both not just them but in the country itself and certainly Prime Minister Netanyahu who has seen his party sinking in the polls it has to be conscious of that I mean he made a conscious decision to bring Yair Lapid in the office and let that picture be taken and put out right well listen there may be a legal obligation to update the opposition leader but you're right not necessarily to put out a picture oh listen I'm sure this is not lost on the Prime Minister his team and I'm sure it plays a role in the decision about whether he will or won't speak of course this is the eight o'clock hour here in Israel this is the hour of the big newscast of course I'm sure a lot of people are watching news throughout the course of a day like today but I'm sure it plays a role in that decision but just to do away with conspiracy theories I would find it hard to believe I know you didn't but I'm sure this is going to other people's minds an important correction I would find it a stretch to believe that this was a calculation in deciding whether to launch this operation because Netanyahu knows better than anyone that you know how an operation starts but as the cliche goes you don't know how it's going to end and I'm not sure that in terms of launching his comeback and it is a comeback Netanyahu has a couple broken political ribs he was laid up in the hospital and he needs to do some rehab okay I'm not sure that in making that political comeback he would have chosen a strategy as risky as launching a military operations especially when he has strategies that are much much much lower risk strategies he was starting to implement over the course of the last few weeks that could get him to where he needs to be and wants to be in the polls for the past two days the Israeli government has been commended for the initiative it took in this operation but at the end of the day this is an event that we're in for already eight days because this is the Israeli operation so-called is a response to an unprecedented launch of rockets over a hundred rockets launched well that number isn't unprecedented we have had that and multiplied today but the fact that that was launched due to the death of a Palestinian detainee who died of hunger strike in Israeli detention that is a game changer and that is a change a game changer that was initiated on the Palestinian side they have changed the equation Israel tried to once again respond with a more creative unique perhaps response but it's not unprecedented we have seen this last year also in 2019 very similar limited operations and so I think once again Israel is actually responding and not on the initiative. Mary who will be leaving us soon just a final word before you go. The security establishment this kind of an operation is not something that you do overnight revenge because of politics this is something that takes months of capabilities and I just want to say in that sense to commend the capabilities of actually being able to do an operation like this to execute the operation itself with all the harsh price that it took this is something that really makes a difference for Israel's security for a moment I didn't think that Netanyahu would ever do that I absolutely agree in the security realm he takes cautious clear decisions and I hope it continues to be so. Alright Colonel retired Colonel Murray Eisen thank you for joining us I want to jump back to our Pierre Klosch Handler in Steyrout for an update Pierre we could be going to a ceasefire we don't know coming out of the mood there in Steyrout well that doesn't sound like a ceasefire Caleb for the past hour there's been five salvos of a few rockets that have been intercepted just above us on the in the sky with sparks of lights black smoke deafening sound of explosions and believe me people who were moderately optimistic that there would be a ceasefire have returned back to their protected room right now the pizza parlor was open just before the rocket were launched an hour ago and there were even people standing in line at this pizza parlor is just closed the only open shop here in the main street of Steyrout is that bakery that you can see maybe because bread is an essential commodity but basically there's been a state of shock especially that the first three salvos came out of the blue without the sounding of the alert when they shout in the loudspeaker red alert red color red alert there was nothing like that we just heard the shriek of the salvos and realized that there was an attack on Steyrout now one house has been damaged by either a heat or by the signals of that of that interception there was another house damaged but much earlier at the start of this round of violence at around two o'clock in the afternoon the house was inoccupied there's no casualties in Steyrout right now that's what we hear but yet a very stressful situation for citizens that have been used to that over the years and yet still a very stressful situation I don't think you can get used to it right now the question is Pierre again not unusual in the last minutes before a ceasefire for there to be a flurries of rockets the terrorist groups and guys are getting their last licks again we expect to hear from Prime Minister Netanyahu speak in the coming half hour are the residents of Steyrout going to be satisfied how this turned out for them as a result of this operation I think it's too early to assess what we've heard a boom because I think that the army is retaliating so I don't know if there's any ceasefire there's probably talks of ceasefire you don't sense a ceasefire right now you hear the drone buzzing you hear booms a faint booms probably emanating from the atmosphere because I don't have we are getting the reports of Ashkelon Pierre we're getting reports of sirens in Ashkelon and perhaps you're hearing the rocket and deceptions in Ashkelon not too far from you there absolutely not too far and we hear the drones the surveillance drones or the attack drones buzzing in the sky and during the lull of about an hour and a half when there were no rockets at all on on none of the Israeli cities and villages there was no sound of drones you could sense that there was a sense of optimism but now I don't think that Steyrout inhabitants can assess the situation I think that they're going to wait for the dust of war to assess what's going on and maybe maybe then they will be proud maybe that deterrence has been restored we don't know if deterrence has been restored there's two more dates that are critical on the calendar in the coming week 15th of May the Nakba Day the day of the catastrophe in inverted comma of the creation of the state of Israel by the Palestinians and the 18th of May with Jerusalem day Jerusalem marches right and that Jerusalem day the Palestinian Zama Jihad it actually made specific threats to that Jerusalem day march we'll have to see how that develops now Pia Kloschandler in Steyrout thank you for that joining us now in studio is reserve IDF major general Eitan Dangot former military secretary to three defense ministers and former coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian region we have a lot of rockets coming in that's live pictures of the skies above southern Israel we'll see if we can see anything usually you simply see the interceptions there flurry of rockets over the last hour Eitan again not unusual if they see fire it would go into effect even within a half hours time we expect prime minister Netanyahu to address the country I think that the procedure is bringing us to something that is really going to be stated by I don't believe the prime minister he never said about ceasefire with the organization but it will come from Egypt and there is already some news that are coming about bring it to let's call it an end but you know it's not finished till it finish first of all secondly it is always a procedure to identify from the lunchtime they start to launch the rockets it was very rapidly to launch to a short range coming to the long range to Tel Aviv in a very short time and that was for me that I smell it that the Egyptian are involved secondly Israeli used a lot of explanation that Hamas is outside of this kind of escalation something we've never really heard from Israel we heard here and there but it was really emphasizing in a way that I myself see too much on such occasion because if it come even to a ceasefire I think that as you said with your correspondent a few seconds ago the main question mark will be less than a week from now what will be next Wednesday with the Jerusalem day because the Jerusalem day is the day that Hamas will never give up to any organization to lead it we just saw a interception there a live image of an interception over the skies of southern Israel that was that flash you saw that would be most likely the iron dome system in southern Israel although the David Sling anti-missile defense system which is for more medium range and bigger missiles we're seeing now live images you see the flash there so obviously we are still in a situation of live fire between Israel and Gaza even as we're getting these reports of a possible ceasefire perhaps even within the coming hour even but without it it was if you identify the step by Israel to declare a loud situation for the population till Friday 2 o'clock lunchtime means that you take on a calculation that can be breaking of this kind of agreement and from now on knowledge is happening so it's a process when you reduce the fire so I'm not looking at it now as something that we have to defend we have to attack back we have to try to strike those who are launching the rockets now and I don't think that we will see it in about two hours we are close them but it's very very temporary a step if it's coming to end of using launching and fire it's temporary because the question will not what will be a month from now the question is four or five days from now when you are looking about the terror arena situation while again Jerusalem will be in the circle while again Hamas is to lead the main proxy of those terror organizations and above all you have to supply this population of Israel to defend them from Gaza that are suffering a lot around Gaza Strip till the area of Tel Aviv which we did see and we heard it in our own studios and Ariel some good points that Eitan Dango made about the coming Jerusalem day this week which is a march we want to describe it as a radical nationalist march sometimes going through Muslim areas of Jerusalem and both Hamas and Palestinian Islamagy had itself said even over the past day that they would be looking in some way to deliver a message to Jerusalem on that day a message that they delivered two years ago and the Jerusalem day march were six rockets to Jerusalem and that's what started Garden of the Walls 11 days which we did not see during Jerusalem no but again if we look at the I completely agree with what Eitan said about the wiggle room the leeway that Israel is providing Hamas is well it's not unprecedented because Israel does not want Hamas to be involved as it did not get involved in 2019 and 2022 similar pinpoint operations against the Palestinian Islamic jihad I think in this case this really raises them an opportunity to it shows that Israel whenever it strikes and Gaza it says Israel holds Hamas accountable for whatever happens or whatever originates from the Gaza Strip unless it's an operation with the Palestinian Islamic jihad and then it doesn't hold Hamas accountable I think that raises very big questions as to the Israeli policy because it shows that it is inconsistent and it chooses that policy when it raises the question is that we now say we hold Hamas responsible for every rocket fired the next time it happens when they didn't this case gentlemen stay put I do want to jump to our Piestak Obach in Ashtod and Pia another barrage of rockets there in southern Israel give us your response on the ground there well Kalev the last alert we had was about an hour ago that's when we also ran to the safe room in that restaurant right behind us empty Kalev we're about less than 40 kilometers actually away from the Gaza Strip there's special instructions in place people are advised to stay close to shelters the streets are relatively empty we are here in a street full with bars and restaurants and the one behind it is really one of the only ones open now of course this is taking a toll on people who have been under these special instructions since yesterday they are in place until Friday at 2pm and this right now is a very volatile come as everyone knows that another can now people here behind us in this restaurant they went out today in order for this situation not to take over their lives but of course also those who own businesses such as shops and restaurants are impeded by the situation we had the chance to speak to the owner of the restaurant behind us Kalev let's take a listen of course we can feel it the entire parking lot is empty it's Wednesday usually it's backed with people there's stores here that we're all friends with each other and the street is empty it's problematic since we're a new business only operating for six months and this will affect us financially deeply we have decided to stay open there is a shelter nearby and we hope people will continue to come outside of course it is not fun to run to the shelter or always look for a place that is close to a shelter it's not a fun experience but in a sense we are basically used to this for the past 10 years we used to this scenario once every few months and at least once a year again we want to go back to routine afterwards it's hard since every time we hear a motorcycle that is driving loud it gives us a mini heart attack a bad experience but one that we're used to I'm against every cycle of fighting every cycle of fighting I think we should sign a ceasefire as soon as possible so we can go back to routine and at the other side can go back to their routine as well give us and them quiet we're not looking to fight if it was up to me we would go back to routine today maybe even in 10 minutes as soon as possible well Kalev here a call forest ceasefire from that forest ceasefire from that restaurant owner people here in Ashdod they have about 45 seconds to run to a shelter in case of an alert yes the owner of the restaurant just said people here are kind of used to that rounds of escalation so that there are those who really adhere to the recommendations of the home front command and stay close to their shelters this is what we see that most of the people are doing given the fact that the city is quite empty but there also those like the people behind me sitting in the restaurant who say that they do not want to let the security situation take control over their lives there of course those who hope for a ceasefire there are others we've also spoken to it's time for Israel to really set a blow to Palestinian militant factions in Gaza but this is right now very volatile common everyone is looking for what's happening what's going to happen next all right thank you for that and we are getting further statements from the prime minister's office that prime minister Netanyahu will speak in the coming minutes along with the defense minister Joav Galant always like a time point that Israel doesn't say acknowledge that it negotiates with Hamas of course it doesn't do directly it doesn't even acknowledge that it's done indirectly through Egypt its policy is we don't negotiate with terrorists but if he does speak it's more likely to say whether Israel has this government and the IDF has achieved its aims for this mission a sign that a ceasefire will be going into effect soon right well obviously have to wait for the prime minister and see what he has to say by the way Collab of course the prime minister's office has said in the next few minutes as we all know from bitter experience please don't hold your breaths but please do stay with us tonight 24 news because whatever it happens we'll have it here in the meantime you'll have us look we don't know what he's going to say but it will be an important update one way or another it's a kind of crossroads at least in the meantime either he's going to say that there is a ceasefire that's going to go into effect or talks advanced talks or that Israel is going to expand the operation I don't really see the purpose or the ability to give speech that somewhere in the middle even taking into account what we talked about before the political interest of the prime minister to be out there in front of the public as for the policy toward Hamas as we all know Israel has a preference for there to be a quote address there to be someone in charge the Gaza Strip not to turn into a failed state type of territory and for that to be Hamas not partner but an entity that can be worked with or worked against in some cases but worked with and over the last few years and I'm sure you can speak much more to this given your experience directly in this kind of field even if it was after your tenure Israel giving more permits for workers from the Gaza Strip to work in Israel go back before the first Intifada hundreds of thousands of gods 20,000 a crucial we have to make and we can all address it that the big difference between Palestine, Islam and Jihad is basically a proxy of Iran but I think the process that brought the new a rena terror situation now is something new something that Hamas worked on it since 2021 and from that time it already came to a situation it started to fulfill its mission with terror activities physically but now when you are talking about Hamas I know Hamas very well the moment they decide that they are going to use the terror activities they will put the issue of the population in a second, third, fourth place and they will not count it so let's be realistic when you are dealing with terror organization it's very good for Israel that there is such activities in economy in Gaza because 20,000 are going to work and it decrees the functioning of humanitarian crash and let's call it low, rotational for it but on the other end Hamas as an entity still it serve its strategic it's going well since it's coming to an end for its decision because Hamas decide now this is the time coordinate with Iran coordinate with Hezbollah coordinate with others Hamas is an issue and I will put it in a proposal and to see it as for my opinion it's very good for the population I think that Israel had to demand before that instead of doing it directly it should demand back the bodies of the two soldiers and the two illegal prisoners but now it's on the side it's not the main issue the main issue is now if Hamas, what Hamas has to do with the Islamic to launch a rocket to Israel because of a prisoner that is in a medium level that belong to Jihad Islamic this is something that can be translated as an excuse on the other end on coming Wednesday it's a reason and in Jerusalem day and I really hope that during the discussion with the Egypt Israel demand from Egypt not to create any kind of escalation next week it should be a part of such agreement if not I think that we missed I just want to point out in the lowest part of your screen there that was from the prime minister's office we expect the prime minister and defense minister to speak soon let's broaden it out a little to the region we mentioned Egypt's role Qatar had a role here the Arab League today condemning Israel from a condemnation certainly from those Arab states that Israel sees either as it's open partners let's say or has diplomatic relations and even though some we do have the prime minister now coming to the party and let's take a lesson very moments our forces are striking with force in the Gaza Strip and taking a heavy toll on the terror groups and I want to reiterate anyone who hits us who hurts us anyone who sends terror against us will be doomed this principle that everyone who hurts us who attempts to hurt us will get hit the development of new intelligence and the new operational abilities in addition to our intelligence we have created a new equation we say to the terrorists and those who send them we see you everywhere you cannot hide and we choose the time and place to hit you we and not you both in times of calm it is our choice to serve the Islamic jihad the biggest blow in his history within seconds in the midst of the night we took down in three different spots the three members of the terror group we also hit its rocket manufacturing sites in reaction the Islamic jihad launched rockets towards Israel a quarter maybe a third of those rockets fell in their territory the vast majority of those rockets we intercepted with our defense systems and I want to congratulate the defense establishment that has brought new systems that came into force today successfully fortunately up to this moment no Israeli citizen has been hurt I ask all of Israeli citizens to listen to the orders of the home front command you are doing this well and it does save life overall in the past several months we took down 120 terrorists I want to thank the IDF the security establishment the work around the clock both in defense and in attack I want to thank the people of Israel for the trust that they give to our operation and to the residents of the south and to those who have spoke to the head of their municipalities the operation is not over yet we came into this together and we are standing through this together we will win together defense minister good evening people of Israel over the past two days the IDF the security forces have served a major blow to the Islamic jihad we opened the campaign with a series of attacks successful attacks precise attacks next to taking down the leadership of the organization through a coordinated and timely operation between the IDF and the intelligence and operation and air force and the Shinbat straight after an attack of hundreds of strikes over the air force of manufacturing sites storage of weapons and significant damage to the infrastructure of this murderous and lethal terror out of Gaza as a result of our moves of attack of attacking launching sites and rockets that were stored there hundreds of rockets were destroyed that were directed at the state of Israel groups of terrorists that plan to strike with anti-tank missiles were also taking down all of this left these murderous organization without an answer and without a reply towards the state of Israel some 400 rockets were launched about a quarter of those fell inside the Gaza Strip a large amount of them have fell in open areas and some of them were intercepted and unfortunately there were some hits to homes and I say this because of the achievements of the Israeli technology of the Israeli defense establishment come into effect once after another we will highlight this we have made tremendous achievements these achievements were made as a result of the force of the IDF of the Shin Bet and the coordination between them for many years I am part of the defense establishment such coordination and friendship and cooperation and the Shin Bet together with the Ministry of Defense under the leader of the prime minister and the cabinet there has never been such a cooperation and this is a most important part of our operation and a warning to our enemies we will continue to operate also in the Gaza arena any other factor that tries to challenge us and also against other threats that could develop we hold a powerful tool we will use it when needed we will not hesitate to do so when it turns out that someone is trying to challenge our existence in this place to hurt our citizens or hurt the sovereignty of the state of Israel which children Israeli children could be hurt is unacceptable I would not allow that and therefore in any such situation we will respond the response tonight was surprising and lethal we know how to duplicate this into other places and we know how to operate it as much as we need in every arena and every destination in the hours I spent over the past couple of days I can say to the people of Israel as a result of looking for a long time examining with a professional eye you have you have what to count on the soldiers, the commanders the fighters which to show my appreciation to the citizens who fulfill the orders of the Home Front Command saves lives good so our strength as a system that can beat anyone also depends on the behavior of the individual and in that sense I salute the people of Israel the operation is not over also the time of this battle has not ended I hope that we will see its end soon we are ready to extend it and will do whatever is needed to protect the people of Israel thank you and good evening well we just heard the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Joav Galant speak about the operation Shield and Arrow against Palestine, Islamic Jihad and the Gaza Strip the bottom line the Defense Minister says the operation is not over despite reports of an imminent ceasefire but he does say I hope it's over gentlemen it's just your quick reaction to that speech I think that I heard the first summary of this kind of escalation under the circumstances that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense emphasize the achievements and the thing that will lead in the future even without saying it I think that we are very close to final this kind of around under Egyptian agreement that will be declared in the coming hours maybe but till then as I say it's not finished till it's finished and it will take few hours the main test will be next week in Jerusalem and quickly Louie talked earlier about the two ways of thinking about ending the operation the rational calculation, the cost benefit analysis what is there more to gain versus what might there be more to lose and then the psychological calculation that picture of victory right of yourselves that a more psychological sense that you've come out on top the reality Kalev is the picture of victory can be influenced by the leaders and this we had two leaders the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister trying to convince the Israeli public that that picture of victory is already in their hands again laying the groundwork for implementing the ceasefire and having the public embrace it Prime Minister Netanyahu said that this was the biggest blow in PIJ's history if we look at the operation last August much more terrorists killed a lot more significant damage to the infrastructure and if we look at what Galan said the fact that it's not over again I'm reminding that yesterday he said the goals were achieved so I don't know if the Israeli public understands why the fighting is continuing is it just because they're launching rockets and we need to respond I think the goals need to be presented to the Israeli public a lot clearer. Alright gentlemen thank you all for joining me on this special broadcast the bottom line is we'll see the coming hours whether a ceasefire will bring to a close this chapter of violence between Israel and terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip continue breaking news coverage on I-24 news I-24 news radio discover I-24 news radio now you can listen to I-24 news anywhere any time for free I-24 news radio is the audio live stream of the television network with world headlines every 30 minutes starting from 7 a.m. tune in for top news magazines editions while in the car in your office join us from your smartphone tablet or desktop connected in the Middle East and around the world don't wait any longer head to our website or mobile application and click on I-24 news radio to subscribe an organism that pulsates through millennia touch it listen to it smell it taste it experience the holy land like never before holy land uncovered on I-24 news today I'm making baklava a sweet pastry made from layers of dough filled with chopped nuts it's believed that baklava dates back to the times of Ottoman Empire while nowadays it's common all across the Middle East the dough can be made in different variations depending on location and taste the filling is very as well in the Arab cuisine it's considered to be a fancy dessert served for special occasions we're in Kalanswa an Arab city located in Central Israel my brother and I opened this family bakery five years ago and named it the king of sweets we serve Middle Eastern classics like knafe and baklava some of them with interpretations like the baklava I'm making today which is filled with Oreo cookies and Lotus Biscoff all our sweets are handmade every day every pastry chef has their own personal touch I was taught how to make these desserts the traditional way but I wanted to take it up a notch instead of classic fillings like pistachio I make some of them with popular modern sweets when you love what you do your mind never stops working and inventing you can be as creative as it gets and experiment on a daily basis my goal is to have people who come here enjoy the little details I put my soul in every platter of baklava I serve some to the special broadcast here on I-24 news operation shield and arrow day two rocket fire from the Gaza Strip towards Israel south continue this hour as we speak red alert our big herd along the communities on the Israeli side near the Gaza border heavy barrages targeted the country south and center earlier this evening the IDF Air Force planes hitting back terror targets in the Strip and it all comes as the talks of a ceasefire being restarted gaining momentum this very hour the O2 familiar final push if you will right before the calm while Hamas is helping Egypt to get the Palestinian Islamic jihad on board Israeli officials are saying a truce will only be tested by actions not words our teams are on the ground to bring us all the latest developments and here with us in the studio for all the analysis Mr. Jonathan Conriquez, former international spokesperson for the IDF and journalist and Erie Zilber fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy from Ramallah will be joined by Mr. Azhar Filajrami, former Palestinian authority minister of detainees and ex-detainees affairs but before we begin Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu you have got it facing the cameras a short moment ago with the Premier saying this is only the very beginning take a listen fortunately up to this moment no Israeli citizen has been hurt I ask all of the Israeli citizens to listen to the orders of the Home Front Command you're doing this well and it does save life overall in the past several months we took down 120 terrorists I want to thank the IDF, the Shin Bet the security establishment that work around the clock both in defense and in attack I want to thank the people of Israel for the trust that they give to our operation I wish to thank the residents of the south and to those who have spoke to the head of their municipalities the operation is not over yet we came into this together and we're standing through this together we will win together let's cross now live to I-2040 is a political correspondent Batya Leventhal standing by for us in Tel Aviv you're seeing now live images of the Gaza Strip on your screens as it appears the rocket fire continues there and potentially also Israeli airstrikes hitting back Batya Leventhal joining us all of this is coming we're hearing talks of a ceasefire a pending ceasefire what can you tell us it's not just mixed reports coming out of the media and officials involved in the ceasefire obviously being Egypt who's always at the forefront of mediation between either the Palestinian Islamic Jihad or Hamas terror organizations in the Gaza Strip and Israeli officials but that also seems to be the case amongst the government I'll remind our viewers that just yesterday the Defense Minister Yoav Galan saying that the operation has reached its targets that there has been a lot of operational success and even tonight hearing and thanking citizens particularly in the south for putting their trust in the government and in the IDF but not really indicating whether or not this is going to be over the Prime Minister himself even saying that the operation is just at the very beginning so no real clarity and mixed messages to citizens of Israel of exactly what operational goals there were and what has been achieved we know that the PIJ has been dealt a massive blow because that is what citizens are being told in these messages but again not clear whether this is the end or the very beginning now that ceasefire obviously also coming and being mediated by officials within the United Nations the United States as well as Qatar the international community very concerned even the UN holding a security council meeting an emergency one today on the situation that's going on and unfolding on the Gaza and Israel border there's no clarification whether or not a ceasefire is actually imminent or will go into effect as you just mentioned the skyline of Gaza we're seeing rocket fire there we've been hearing rocket fire as well as interceptions overhead throughout the evening here in Tel Aviv another really interesting thing though that has been happening is a lot of the times when the interceptions are over central Israel predominantly Tel Aviv as we've been standing here the application seems to be alerting us to the fact that there is a red alert that there is rockets coming towards us but we haven't actually heard the sirens in the city ourselves and that seems to be the case for many residents that just continued walking along the boardwalk even when we were being told that there were rocket fire coming towards Tel Aviv Ellie. I-24 news political correspondent Bati Leventhala in Tel Aviv thank you very much for this joining us now in studio 10 conundrums Jonathan Conricus, Nareed Zilber in Ashrafilal, Jeremy joining us Ramallah, Mr. Conricus I do want to begin with you we continue to see those live images of the Gaza skyline there and what can I say we said as we were entering the studio not our first rodeo and in disrespect this lack of clarity, this ambiguity Bati Leventhala was just speaking about is part of a very familiar tango if you will this choreography that we know right before a ceasefire what do you make of the current state of the dynamics? Yes, we have been here before and Israeli citizens have been here before unfortunately many times running to shelters and having their lives disrupted and being in danger what I think is difficult is when a terrorist organization is left wanting not having achieved anything that makes it difficult for a specific terrorist organization to indeed agree to a ceasefire because they have to have something to show for their efforts they sustain the first blow they had casualties and so far thankfully have not been able to achieve anything of substance substance yes Israelis have been running for shelter that is of substance and they are terrorizing Israeli civilians but in terms of real achievement not so much and therefore I think they still would want to try to do something and bottom line what I am really concerned with are the special attempts attacks and the type of strikes that are not ordinary rocket fire but attacks on the ground perhaps via the sea perhaps using other types of means those are the things that I think the idea is really making sure or hoping to make sure that they won't happen rocket fire as we have seen is very capable of dealing with and also David Slang joining the effort today and we will elaborate on that further but speaking of this minimal victorious image if you will that the PIJ is in need for Ashraf al-Adrami this time around it's not just Egypt in the mix of mediation here but also Hamas what do you make of it I think Hamas is not involved totally in the clashes between Israel and Gaza Strip but Hamas is a very important party in this issue I think Hamas the only party maybe has the decision and what happens in Gaza Strip is this fire or even not change rockets Hamas is involved of the decision and the important party and because of that all parties who have this influence on Hamas movement are part of this intervention or mediation between Israel and Gaza Strip and the Islamic jihad will obey the collective decision mainly the decision from Hamas movement to stop fire or to continue launching rockets from Gaza Strip Neri Zilber we were talking about no achievement of substance so to speak but and I was going to call it because it did allude to that isn't the epitome of terror that way is to a sense an entire country paralyzed as of last night people sitting in their homes many of them in Israel south not leaving the proximity of a shelter elsewhere again people simply stop the normal life routine sounds like terror to me yeah it is an achievement for Islamic jihad but it's not new this isn't the first or even second or even third round that the IDF is fighting with Islamic jihad it's the number three in the past three or four years so again in and of itself nothing new yes the capabilities of Islamic jihad and by the way Hamas too out of the Gaza Strip have to target Israel and Israeli civilians and Israeli military have been limited over the past few years they used to try to dig tunnels cross-border tunnels to launch attacks they've had a naval commando unit that was trained up and invested in that's never been effective they've had drones that they've tried to fly over across the border those are shot down they're left with rockets and what we've seen today after a delay of 36 hours since the initial Israeli airstrikes were Islamic jihad rockets so effectively they've only been fighting really now it's nine o'clock local time they've been fighting and firing rockets for about seven or eight hours during the course of today this is likely the last barrage they're trying to get the last hits in to maintain at least pretense one song of the right the pretense that they've actually achieved something out of this round they really haven't it's that standing up to the IDF my expectation is that this will end in the coming hours if not tomorrow at some point in the morning or afternoon let's do get a bit deeper into the differences between Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad capabilities in previous rounds we've seen both engage in the fighting vis-à-vis Israel this time PIJ left alone and we're seeing the scope and scale of their military capabilities totally different ballgame and it's not the first time that they're left alone to fight against the mighty and powerful IDF I think it's the third time in the last three and a half four years that Hamas decides internal messaging in Arabic to their population we are unified and we will fight together lots of jargon of resistance and a fierce response but then actions are different and Hamas decided this time like they did before out of their own considerations of staying alive for tomorrow and understanding knowing very well what the consequences of fighting against the IDF are they still have a strong reminder from May 2021 the capacities of the two organizations are different in size quality and staying power as in Hamas has exactly Hamas has more firepower longer range more sophistication and can continue to operate using its vast infrastructure underneath the cities in Gaza the tunnel infrastructure that they have also Islamic Hamas uses Islamic Jihad uses but what we are talking about is an organization that is larger has more capacities can fire for a longer period of time and reach targets that are further away and now it seems also perhaps discovering the power of of restraint but we will address that further in a second I do want us now to go live to our 24 news correspondent Pierre Kloschen learning the southern city of Sderot Pierre you've been there throughout the day only this past hour several barrages of rockets towards the city of Sderot and other communities along the border what's the situation at the moment well just two minutes ago there was another salvo the seventh in since 7 30 p.m. seven salvos of rocket and it seems there's a direct hit in Sderot that's what we hear maybe somebody injured we don't have confirmation right now but indeed it's a difficult situation for the past hour and a half here when people started thinking of you know the the possibility of this fire they started to go out in the streets some shops were reopened and suddenly there were these salvos of rockets and it doesn't seem to be ending seven of them up until now and the situation is difficult I can hear the alarm system of some of the closed shops that have been activated due to the loud explosion of the interception of the rockets and Roy Platsman can show you there's still some shops open there is a kiosk here which is open with some of the residents of Sderot that are sitting here and each time that there is a rocket fire and an interception they fly to the shelter which is just where I was standing they fly there and they stay in the shelter for maybe two minutes until the end of the interceptions and they don't stay the home front command says you gotta stay in the shelter for ten minutes but they don't do that they're used to it probably they just run 50 meters go back sit again in the kiosk smoke a cigarette drink a little drink eat a little and that's the routine of the abnormal the abnormal normal and I can assure you that they don't get used to it even though Sderot has been hard hit for about 22 years by rocket fire they don't get used to it you can hear shouts of fear as they run to the shelter and basically that's something that you cannot get used to yeah and if I'm not mistaken by trying to take a look at those people behind you at this kiosk most of them youngsters some of them perhaps born into this reality they are not familiar with a different type of reality in this respect up here you know many years for many years we've been hearing anger on behalf of southern citizens that the south is one story but Tel Aviv or central Israel is a different one 100 rockets on the south are not matching one on Tel Aviv if you will this time it was different the Israeli reaction in this respect are southern residents reassured to an extent a bit I don't think so they reassured there is no equality of victimhood in this country you know Tel Aviv has been already hit or targeted even hit two years ago during in may two years ago exactly today two years ago and you know people know that Tel Aviv is also targeted that doesn't mean anything this is a population which has been hard hit security wise but also economically wise because it's difficult to attract investment in a city which is harmed hit it's not like Tel Aviv it's not the same reality I don't know right now what people think about this particular operation there was a sense of pride by the fact that Israel within second eliminated three senior commander of Islamic Jihad there was a sense of pride that at last Israel is taking the initiative at the price of rockets that for sure is a sense of pride that many people share in southern Israel but now what will be the result after the fog of war dissipate I don't know we don't know and it will depend on the results I24 news of course by Pierre Couchender there on the ground take care and we will get back to you later on in the broadcast thank you very much we'll get back with us here in studio before we jump back to Ramallah to Mr. Asher Filadromy Pierre mentioned this the intelligence the operational success on the Israeli side we can't really deny that this demonstration of capabilities but this is on the tactical level if you will on the strategic level in the sense of whether deterrence was restored was it? Mary Silver? well the thing about deterrence is that we only know in respect it's a question of not necessarily with regard to Islamic jihad Islamic jihad was the test case here Islamic jihad was a low hanging fruit inside Gaza that was used as a demonstration for all the other groups all over the immediate region to show number one that this Netanyahu government with all the domestic troubles in recent months that we all know about essentially also firing the defense minister and so on and so forth this is part of the PIJ's calculations? it might have been part of the PIJ but not only PIJ Hamas, Hezbollah, other Iranian back groups in Lebanon, Syria and beyond we're all looking at Israel in recent months and seeing a very wounded animal done to itself domestically this was a demonstration effect number one by the Netanyahu government that it was willing to enable both politically and socially and militarily to actually conduct an operation like this two days now and maybe more and number two to show the Israeli public that the Netanyahu government was acting and responding to a lot of public anger especially right wing public anger in places like Derot from Netanyahu's own voting base that they weren't doing enough to stop rocket fire from Gaza and other places they weren't doing enough to stop terrorism that was rising up in recent months and so all of that combined was a very useful decision by the Netanyahu government yes and we are seeing on the screen now live images from the southern city of Ashkelona, direct hit there in the recent barrage that we've seen this past you can see the scope and scale of the damage one can only imagine what would have happened if people were there at the moment we speak tactical leverage strategic thinking the reality on the ground is images would be larger those images are precisely the reason why Netanyahu and the senior leadership in Israel were very willing to accept the ceasefire an hour ago and two hours ago when it was first announced, semi-announced by the Egyptian mediators and to that point exactly Mr. Ashraf al-Adrami obviously there's a range of elements to take into consideration but what would you say was the determining factor if you will that triggered Hamas not just to stay out of this round of escalation but get hands on in trying to restore calm the situation in Gaza Strip is more complicated because there is a difference between Islamic jihad and Hamas movement Hamas behaves as a full authority as responsible of Gaza Strip Islamic jihad behaves as only a resistant movement and because of that Hamas wants to be engaged in any connection with the regional and international forces even to have some kind of legitimacy and to be a very important factor in security and stability in Gaza Strip and also to gain benefits of any ceasefire that can be reached in this round or in every round between Gaza Strip and Israel so I think Hamas is interested to have all connections that can be done with all parties even and directly with Israel to get the effect of it if it is some maybe procedures or facilities or even achievements here and there Yes and let me just update you that Al Jazeera is now reporting that there is no ceasefire at this point in time I would carefully say also part of a familiar dynamic to an extent but contacts are still under way of course Mr. Konrikis I think two things are relevant to speak about again when we mention ceasefire negotiations and we praise or speak of Egypt in a positive sense as a mediator somebody who helps de-escalate the situation I think it's worth mentioning that all of the weapons inside the Gaza Strip today both in the Hamas bunkers and Islamic Jihad bunkers they came in through Egypt they don't come in via sea and they sure don't come in through Israel all of those weapons and all of this fire at Israel is made possible due to a lack of action by Egypt something that I think is a bit isn't spoken about enough and I don't think that we in Israel are demanding of our Egyptian neighbors which are security partners we have a peace treaty and we cooperate on security matters we aren't demanding stop the flow of rockets into Gaza because eventually all of the rockets in Gaza are fired at our civilians so if I understand correctly compensating the lack of action of preventing weapons by proactive approach when it comes to mediation well I think they're having their cake and eating it at the same time are there any points for being peace negotiators or mediators while also facilitating the violence? Yes, look Egypt has been a constructive partner to stop these escalations I think it is true that there is massive smuggling from the Egyptian Sinai into Gaza I think it's more raw materials and less actual rockets but yes it's a huge problem right along the southern Gaza border we also have to take into account that Islamic jihad as we were mentioning earlier is alone in this in this particular operation Hamas despite its rhetoric chose to stay out of it I think it's a real test but a failed test for this thesis that we've heard down in recent weeks that Israel, the Iran axis was building this united front this iron ring around Israel whether Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and beyond that was growing tighter and tighter around Israel Hamas and Gaza didn't get involved so that front was not united Lebanon has remained quiet Syria has remained quiet the West Bank has remained relatively quiet so Islamic jihad has been left alone I think much of the chagrin of its patrons in Iran So as we slowly but surely expand or broaden our conversation to the multiple fronts Israel is facing you know when one round ends that will be the case soon the hourglass to an extent is turned and we're merely nearing the next the next round. Question being Mr. Konrich, can this broken record be fixed? I think your spot on that was what I wanted to speak about what I think is lacking, at least officially is an Israeli strategy as to what do we want to achieve with the Gaza Strip what are the Israeli targets vis-à-vis Hamas, not immediate short term. What do we want to do? Do we want to achieve regime change? Do we want to continue to live alongside an IES wannabe organization that has rockets aimed at our civilians and can at will fire at our civilians or do we want to change the situation fundamentally what I find lacking is that the elected leadership in Israel over many years has not defined neither a strategy nor a priority of what we need to do and therefore we find ourselves in conflict after conflict where the IDF along with or especially led by the Israeli Air Force but with ISA, Shabbat Intelligence do phenomenal work but at the end of the day what is the strategy? What do we want to achieve as a country? What do we want to do with Hamas? And Ashraf Aladrami as again we will try now to connect the dots if you will allow me to ask Bluntly, where is the PA? This is a good question the PA is not involved in any of what happens between Israel and Gaza Strip the only thing that the PA can do is to call the international community to intervene and to stop the Israeli aggression against Gaza and the civilians in Gaza Strip but nothing can be done by the Palestinian Authority and I think this is the vacuum that Hamas and other factions can fulfill with the mediation and even with talks with all parties if they are regional or international parties directly or indirectly. Yeah, and Harry Gilbert to that point when we're talking about international credit we did hear criticism or condemnation on behalf of global players yesterday let it be the UN and also Israel's European allies Yes, and I think that's not so much due to the actions taken by Israel with the airstrikes what Israel chose to do but more the collateral damage from those initial strikes targeting the three Islamic Jihad commanders for several years now probably Jonathan can correct me if I'm wrong but about 15 years now that kind of collateral damage via targeted assassinations by Israel has been extremely, extremely rare it's more common in the Second Intifada when there was all-out terror war against Israel and there was incursions in the West Bank and real military strikes hardcore military strikes in the Gaza Strip even in populated areas taking out senior Hamas leaders so we haven't seen that kind of collateral damage with women and children for quite some time and I think that's what triggered a lot of that international condemnation but just to go back to the initial conversation does Israel have a strategy for Gaza I would argue counterintuitively yes, for many years now especially under Prime Minister Netanyahu the strategy was to divide the Gaza Strip from the West Bank to prop up Hamas as this quote-unquote sovereign of the Gaza Strip and to weaken the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank so if you look at the track record of the Israeli government especially over the past decade plus a lot of the benefits both economic, financial and others to went to the Gaza Strip a lot more than they went to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and that to my mind very much weakened the Palestinian Authority in the Palestinian public weakened the Palestinian Authority's hold in the West Bank now Israel is dealing with pockets of instability in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was essentially left to Hamas and quiet was the only thing that was demanded of Hamas which most of the time was given to Israel and then we all forget about the Gaza Strip until there are escalations usually via Hamas sometimes by Islamic jihad as we've seen now but usually via Hamas demanding or negotiating via rocket with Israel and usually by the way Hamas received whatever it was asking for from the Israeli government so keeping in line with this train of thought is Hamas again taking into consideration it's a quote-unquote responsible behavior this time around is it a route to becoming the Palestinian Authority while the Palestinian Islamic jihad is somewhat becoming the old version of Hamas the bad boy if you will there is something to that it's like what Hamas was to the Palestinian Authority in the 1990s kind of a spoiler, a resistance movement the Palestinian Authority was supposed to be a state in the making now Hamas has responsibilities in the Gaza Strip it is the sovereign of the Gaza Strip it runs a government it's responsible for 2 million people Islamic jihad is a militant group that fires rockets and is not responsible for the welfare of 2 million people and so that is the fundamental difference between the two groups and explains why Hamas this time especially and also the two previous times has refrained from joining Islamic jihad to the detriment in their minds of the greater purpose or being of their government in Gaza so if that's so Lieutenant Colonel Conricus should Israel consider at some level Hamas as a negotiation partner of such I'd like to acknowledge the absurdity of the situation of the conversation yes I think it is absurd that we are, I mean I think I agree with the line of thinking but it is absurd that we are even thinking and dressing Hamas in the clothes of a rational decision maker and someone who is sovereign and responsible for an area it is a ruthless terror organization that also has significant military power and according to its charter wants to destroy Israel that's I think how I see it and to give it you know semblance of something different I think we're fooling ourselves in that aspect of course they're the ones in charge of the Gaza Strip and again I come back to the overall Israeli strategy I think that there's more than a grain of truth in what Neri says about what appears to be an Israeli strategy over the years what I feel missing is a strategy not defined only by small level politics but really a national strategy which the IDF, ISA Mossad Shabak and National Security Council are part of which states clearly what we want to do and in that then we can think how are we going to address this terror organization that also has army capabilities which is called Hamas not sure how well using this terminology will be received among a security expert but a holistic approach to security threats if you will and before we go back to Ramallah Tawash Filajami just following the recent barrage of rockets, two direct hits in the city of Askelon grave damage there physical damage thankfully no injuries no people injured there but again there appears to be stalling with their contacts to reach about a ceasefire back with Shafilajami in Ramallah Miser we were talking earlier in studio I hope you could hear us about the Israeli method or rationale if you will of divide and conquer so to speak make a distinction between the different arenas but if recent weeks taught us anything is that there are perhaps more entwined than Jerusalem I would like it to be the Gaza Strip the West Bank Lebanon and also on the domestic arena Israeli security prisons question being and all roads of course lead to Tehran in a sense at the end question being can or should Israel reconnect the dots to see the different arenas as a hybrid unit that operates in some sort of coordination Jerusalem of course I think the problem of Israel doesn't produce any kind of hope to have political horizon in this region so the conflict becomes more and more complicated from this point of view because without political horizon the only thing that Palestinian people think of is to resist the Israeli occupation and it gives Hamas and oil factions in Gaza Strip the strong support from the Palestinian population this is what all Polish that was where held in the Palestinian territories show recently that there are majority Palestinians more than 70% supports the armed struggle against Israel because there is no hope for peace or for having to state solution. Even Hamas in 2017 changed its political program by adapting for first time the establishment of a Palestinian independent state in 1960 on borders but no one welcomed this declaration or change from Hamas movement which is very huge one and because there is no Israeli government thinks of having a solution for the conflict without the solution without having breaking through this political process between the two sides I think the only thing will remain with us is the violence and the connection between France Gaza Strip with Bank Israel Lebanon Syria and maybe after all Iran. This is the situation unfortunately and the Palestinian leadership because of this situation is losing credibility and losing support within the Palestinian people and the only thing that we are going to more extremist atmosphere and maybe chaos is really the thing that we can see within maybe the four scenes Yes and allow me just to update you and our viewers indeed as was suggested earlier, reported earlier senior leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Mohammed al-Hindi is confirming that there is some stalling in the context of reaching about a ceasefire but is confirming that the the context are still underway so no ceasefire yet but efforts to reach about to break through are still underway and before we get back here in studio with all the analysis let's cross now live to I-24 news correspondent Pia Stekelbach in the southern city of Ashdod Pia you've been there throughout the day and as talks of pending ceasefire looming this is to an extent twilight zone danger zone if you will people get a bit less alerted if you will but the home front command guidelines are still very much intact You're right Eli and the home front command instructions are in place in fact until Friday 2 p.m. the instructions advice people to stay as close to shelters as possible the city of Ashdod is less than 40 km away from the Gaza Strip also here we had an alert about one and a half hours ago and of course in the afternoon in the afternoon there were about 8 rockets launched one fell very close into an open area close to a hospital the city here is very quiet it is a Wednesday evening we are here across the sea from Ashdod the city of Ashdod and this restaurant here behind me is one of the very few that is actually open you see a couple of people sitting here but if you look at the broader picture if you drive through the city it is indeed quite empty and of course this is taking a toll on the people they are waiting or they have been waiting for a response for retaliation from Gaza also throughout all of yesterday also the instructions from the home front command were already in place schools were closed public gatherings were restricted not more than 10 people outside not more than 100 inside now we have also seen that across the street from here is a wedding venue where a wedding took place but of course also with not more than 100 people so there are people who say that they do not want this 10 security situation to take control over their lives but of course another alert could possibly go off any second so only those shops restaurants are allowed to open or have a safe room within their space also here when we heard the alarm about one and a half hours ago we ran in fact into the kitchen of this restaurant all of us here those people those guests of the restaurants we also had the chance to speak to the owner of the restaurant who told us that also of course economically this is taking a toll on him this is a new restaurant he is worried because he also did not have many customers throughout the day so we went upon both sides to agree to a ceasefire the owner of this restaurant told us that he would support a ceasefire as soon as possible but we also spoke to people who say that this is the chance for Israel to cause a severe blow to Palestinian militant factions infrastructure in Gaza so of course different opinions here but do you really see two different approaches to this situation you see those who sit in this restaurant many young people who come out to the home front commands instructions yeah now we're just seeing images this past hour from direct hits in the cities of Asderot and Ashkelon great damage physical damage there and luckily or thankfully because people are adhering to the home front command guidelines there were no injuries or casualties but we can see again the level the scope the scale of the damage that is being caused when such direct hits are taking place Piaz Akalbach in the southern city of Asderot, thank you very much for this back here in studio with us, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conriquez and Airy Zilber in Ashkelon, Germany joining us from Ramallah we briefly mentioned that earlier but Lieutenant Colonel Conriquez David Sling in a debut today talk to us a bit about this system how is it different from the more familiar Iron Dome what do we know after today's performance if you will it's the less famous and less known bigger brother of the Iron Dome Iron Dome is the first and lowest tier in Israeli air defense above it is the David Sling which is designed and has successfully done so in the past intercept longer range missiles not the longest range but bigger incoming objects be it missiles or rockets fired at Israel and then above that is another layer of strategic defense but let's focus on David Sling has been used in the past I think it was in 2018 when there were missiles fired from Syria by Iranians at Israel it was fired then with mixed results in real world scenarios and I read it as perhaps Israeli defense establishment taking the opportunity to utilize this system that we have we all know how incredibly effective and capable the Iron Dome is we see that by the percentage rate and the interception rate which is phenomenal and David Sling is a system that has far less track record and I think that was probably part of the decision to use at this time so far what I'm hearing good results but we'll have to wait for official information from the idea I'll just add it really quickly I don't have any inside information but I imagine in addition to wanting to test it out in the real world conditions that we saw today I was in Tel Aviv when that rocket was fired by the David Sling and it was indeed intercepted and I imagine it was meant to send two messages to two different audiences number one this is a system David Sling that will likely have to be deployed to stop a lot of his Bala longer range as Jonathan said these heavier longer range missiles and so you would need David Sling to protect precisely those urban areas like Tel Aviv from any future conflict in Lebanon we talked earlier about the Iron Circle around the Iron Ring around Israel that might have been not by chance at this time very recently it was deployed, number two David Sling like Iron Dome is sold internationally and so you could do a lot worse for future potential customers than to actually show them in a real-world setting in a high visibility conflict with Gaza that this thing actually works Yeah Back with Ashraf Aladjami joining us from Ramallah as we were talking about the rising clout, rising influence not just Hamas but Piaget in the West Bank my question to you sir is whether the next step at some point will be rockets from the West Bank is that a far-fetched scenario It's in West Bank they can do all clashes with Israelis there is a direct confrontation with the Israelis in West Bank there is no need to use instruments to over the borders between the old methods are working well enough you're saying I don't think that Hamas and other organizations think of missiles or rockets in West Bank they can use their weapons guns everything they have money in West Bank and they can use them easily and they can get direct and physical connection with Israelis settlers and the army and the people here in West Bank and even in Israel and another component here is of course the political landscape on the Israeli side it feels like ages ago but it was only yesterday when Operation Shildanero was launched with the Israeli security cabinet not in the mix as in was not in the frameworks of the security cabinet with many government ministers learning about it only in retrospect or as it was happening shortly after and you will give the analysis from this point onwards National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to an extent took credit for applying pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch this operation security officials quickly dismissed those claims but this way or another the optics of it are there is an impact to Ben-Gvir's statement if you will. So I'm not one to defend Itamar Ben-Gvir but I will say this Ben-Gvir is a symptom and not the cause in terms of the politics of this operation and the calculations of Prime Minister Netanyahu Ben-Gvir like many other right-wing Israelis both inside this coalition and outside even on the streets were quite upset and demanding of this Prime Minister and this government to make a more forceful response whether it's rocket fire from Gaza or terror attacks in Jerusalem or the West Bank not just members of the coalition but also members of the opposition the opposition was to be expected but this is coming from the right again whether inside the government inside the cabinet or on the streets and you saw it with public comments by local officials and even people on the streets that you spoke to so Ben-Gvir like all of these other people were quite angry and were demanding of the Prime Minister to take more forceful action so this was even last week and even before last week and so Ben-Gvir's ultimatum later in the week was a symptom and not a cause for Netanyahu and hit the higher security echelon to actually make this decision by the way it pre-days Ben-Gvir's ultimatum but I should say this after last Tuesday's rocket fire 100 rockets were fired from Gaza in response to the Islamic Jihad prisoner in the hunger strike dying in Israeli prison the response by the IDF was very soft in terms of just firing on military targets inside Gaza and no real casualties and I tweeted out and I would said publicly in other fora that this was likely a faint by the Israeli military and Israeli government that they were probably biding their time to create a more operational capability to strike exactly like we saw two nights ago so if I knew this then other people should have known it and Ben-Gvir was trying to ride the political wave okay we're turning now back to Pirkel Shandler in the city of Steroot we were talking earlier about rushing to shelter and we're seeing those live images from a direct hit in the city of Steroot emphasizing how crucial this guideline is not just slip service absolutely it's a crucial it's a crucial instruction a crucial guideline in near arm which is just facing Steroot it's a a couple of hundred of meters from the exit of this city there was a direct hit on the house and there's heavy damage but the family in the house stayed in their protected room and they were unscathed so really definitely this saves lives there's two things which saves lives it's the Iron Dome but also the fact that you're in a protected shelter that's the most important thing probably Shandler live for us in the city of Steroot take care stay safe much more from up here throughout our rolling out coverage here and reports that the Israeli Air Force is launching fresh strikes in the Gaza Strip as again senior official from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad saying this past hour no ceasefire yet context are still underway but we did not reach a ceasefire with Israel Mr. Conrique speaking about next week sounds a bit far-fetched at this point in time but there is a big day next week Jerusalem Day with a traditional flag march usually a point of contention and I'm putting it in a very diplomatic manner here what should Israel do not conducting it in the traditional route is caving into terrorism according to some holding it and risking another uptick in violence you know the ramifications are clear what should be the Israeli policy here sorry my personal point of view is that if that is a tradition that we have in Israel to mark the day of the unification of our capital in modern times and to mark it with flags I think we should do so we should probably be smart in the way that we do it and we should probably communicate what we're going to do what we're going to tolerate and what we're not going to tolerate to all of the involved parties I don't think that it's so contended for our various enemies whether in Ramallah in Gaza or in Tehran something else that they latch on to and try to use as an excuse to fire against Israel or to engage against Israel regarding the route of where it should go which is always a topic here I really think it's better to be smart now than have to think about explanations afterwards so I think we should have a parade if you want to go and march that's great but be smart about where we lead it and make sure that everybody understands what we're doing and what we're not going to tolerate this region not lacking triggers or excuses if you will Mr. Arshaf Aladjami obviously watching the developments here the people of the Palestinians in the West Bank we have been seeing a month long counter-terrorism operation there on behalf of Israeli security forces and yet a wave of terror attacks are being conducted what will be the ripple effect in the West Bank according to your understanding I think the Palestinian people in large doesn't want to see the Israeli attack in Gaza Strip and civilians are created by this attack and they are in a position of solidarity of the people in Gaza Strip and West Bank and other places but also it's something bring people to think of how to react against the Israeli aggression and I think it also drives people young people mainly to engage in resistance against Israeli occupation in West Bank and East Jerusalem and if we are speaking about the flag march in East Jerusalem you should understand that Palestinians and the whole international community see East Jerusalem as part of the occupied territories it's not part of the Israeli capital that even if Israel annexed it in 1967 this is a matter of conflict and because of that Israel should behave in a clever way not to broken Palestinians and to bring more and more clashes between the two sides it will affect immediately the situation in West Bank and Gaza Strip and everywhere Palestinians and so it is somehow may bring explosion in the whole region. Mr. Ashraf Aladrami, former Palestinian Authority Minister of the Tunisian Exit Tunisia Afir, thank you very much for joining us throughout this hour from Ramallah, thank you. Sir Nariya Zilber, Jonathan Konrikes here with us in studio before we conclude it seems that both sides are interested in including this around and yet waiting for the right conditions if you will. Waiting for the conditions, whenever we've seen in the past, whenever a conflict starts, then as you said the sand starts the clock starts and it's a matter of time before the different dynamics are put into play and eventually combat is stopped by some type of negotiations and both sides need to have something to show for their activities. As of now, Israel has quite a few achievements, limited in scope but achieved more or less what they achieved both politically as Nari said and militarily speaking against Islamic jihad and keeping Hamas out of the fighting. The other side so far has not and that of course builds energy to either continue fighting or to build energy for another since they are frustrated and haven't made any achievements. You know how it starts, you don't know how it ends and if I'm not mistaken paratroopers, their main goal is to know the way back how you conclude an operation not just how you launch it and what they're doing during it. Nari has over Jonathan Conriquez, thank you very much for being with us, Benita Levine will continue with our rolling coverage at the top of the hour Thank you very much for watching. We're in south Tel Aviv in a neighborhood called Levinsky one of the largest Persian communities in Israel is found in this area growing up here, I remember that people around were mostly speaking Persian we were one big happy family my mother immigrated from Iran in 1964 and I was born here 20 years ago, she opened this restaurant and started cooking her own recipes these recipes are not written anywhere they're saved up in her brain every single person they're saved up in her brain every day I learn something new from her cooking techniques she claims the kitchen is a lab of very interesting and delicious food the Persian cuisine is known for slow cooked stews most stews are cooked for hours soaking in the different spices and flavors gourmet sabzi is the same the herbs are slow cooked with Persian limes which are different to regular lemons and acidic flavor when the stew is ready, it's served on a table with tadid a pan-fried Persian rice with a crust which is the layer at the bottom of the pot the outcome is a big sharing dish which makes everyone's full, satisfied and happy I can't believe what it's like