 I-24 News Channel broadcasting from Israel, with dozens of correspondence throughout the world, brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries. They have already completely gone down in their beds. De la frontière qui sépare l'Israël, the state of emergency and war in Israel. Bringing Israel's story to the world, I-24 News Channels, now on Hot. Welcome to I-24 News. We're coming to you live from Tel Aviv on this day 74 of Israel's war with Hamas. Two more Israeli soldiers have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, bringing to 131 the number of troops who have fallen. They are Master Sergeant Daniel Yakov Ben Harash, 31 years old from Alon, and Captain Rotem Yosef Levy, 24 years old from Oranit. The IDF says it has killed one of the top financial backers of Hamas, Subbi Farawana, transferred tens of millions of dollars to the terrorist group from Iran. He was killed in an airstrike on Rafa in the south of Gaza. And Yemen's Iranian Bakhtouzi rebels say they will continue to attack shipping in the Red Sea even after the United States announced a new maritime protection force. Those are the headlines this hour and we're going to begin in the north of Israel, where the IDF says it has been shellet. We have got the sirens blaring at this hour. I will stay in the studio with you. Rockets being fired at Tel Aviv, including Jaffa, sirens blaring. Israelis headed to the shelters first time in a while. We have had rockets fired at Central Israel. But there you are, the sirens blaring here in Central Israel in Tel Aviv. Let me find out where exactly we are. Yeah, Central Tel Aviv, Jaffa. So there we are. Israelis headed to the shelters as the fighting continues in Gaza. We can move, though, to the north of Israel now, where the IDF says it has been shelling sites in southern Lebanon this morning amid ongoing skirmishes with the Lebanese-backed terrorist organisation Hezbollah. Our Zach Anders is in northern Israel for us. Now, Zach, we've got the sirens blaring here in Tel Aviv. Rockets being fired at us from Gaza. It's been a busy morning in the north as well, hasn't it? Right, we've got a little bit. All right, we've got a little bit of a technical problem there. We're going to move on to... Oh, we just heard the blast. That is the Israeli missile defence system, Iron Dome intercepting a missile over Central Tel Aviv. And another one that's two. All right, so as you can see, this is the first time in a while that we have had Hamas rockets fired. We've got this report for you now. All right, we're going to take a short break. We'll be with you shortly. Welcome back. You're watching I-20.20 News. We're coming to you live from Tel Aviv. Apologies for that interruption to our broadcast rockets fired at Central and Southern Israel in the last 20 minutes from Gaza. And we can go to Southern Israel now for an update on what is happening. Our senior correspondent Pierre Klossendler joined us live. Pierre, we were getting ready to come and talk to you about the latest on the fighting when there was yet another barrage of rockets fired at Central Israel. I believe this is the first time in just over a week. It's the first time just over a week, but it's the first time in 24 hours. That's the first time that Israel was free of rocket barrage for 24 hours. The last rocket salvo was on one of the communities facing the Gaza Strip, and it was exactly at this time. So it's a netto benefit, I would say. But that shows also that Hamas still has the capacity to launch rocket fire with long range rockets. Yes, quite 74 days in, and they still have the capabilities to fire rockets. Any idea what part of the strip this came from? Usually, when they launch rockets either to Jerusalem or to Tel Aviv, we could see it emanating from Gaza City. This time it wasn't the case. We haven't seen the trail of the rocket fire, so it was probably longer range rockets from the central or southern part of the Gaza Strip where fighting is ongoing. Here behind me on the northern sector of the Gaza Strip, there's less and less fighting, although it's not completely clear. We don't know exactly what the situation is because of the fog of war just an hour ago. There was a major airstrike on a presumed terror target just behind me in Bed Hanun, which yesterday was stated to be clean of any terror infrastructure. So it's never 100% clear whether Israel has full control above ground and underground. But it seems that as fighting diminishes in the Jebalia refugee camp on the northern outskirts of Gaza City and in Shejaia on the southeastern outskirts of Gaza City, the tip of the balance is moving southward toward Hanunas. That's the make or break according to the IDF because they believe that the political and military leadership of Hamas lies underground in the tunnels. And the major thrust of the offensive that started on December 2nd after the break of the pose in the fighting in exchange for the liberation of hostages, the thrust is in Hanunas. We've been in the southern sector of the Gaza Strip earlier today. We saw airstrikes on the main access road to Hanunas from the north, the Salahadin access. We know also that there's a lot of fighting on the northwestern and eastern outskirts of Hanunas as well as inside Hanunas per se with the 98th Division of Elite Commando Units that are taking the brunt of the assault on the second largest city in the Gaza Strip. Pierre, thank you very much indeed. Pierre Kloshendler there with the latest on the fighting inside Gaza. Well, with me in the studio at this hour, Benjamin Antony is the CEO of the Miriam Institute. We're also joined in the studio by our Middle East correspondent, Ariel Ossaran. And as we heard there, Ariel's 74 days in already, aren't we yet? Hamas still has the capability to fire rockets at Central Israel. They still have the capability, but we need to make sure that we analyze this correctly because they will continue to fire rockets until the last day of the war, whether this is a 100-day war or a 100-year war. What they will do is they will spread it out. And that's why we haven't seen rocket fire to Central Israel over the past eight days because they're conserving the capabilities. Same thing with launching towards Jerusalem a few days ago, first time in a month and a half. And so if it were up to them, they would fire at Tel Aviv every day, perhaps even twice, three times a day as we saw in the beginning of the war. But now as the war is prolonging and there is no real end date in sight, so they're trying to conserve their capabilities. They launched, since the start of the war, 12,500 rockets towards Israel. They have about double that amount in their arsenal, perhaps even more. And so we shouldn't be surprised that they continue to fire at Central Israel or at Israel in general, but we do need to look at the rate of fire, the pace, and according to that, see what their capabilities are. They still can fire at Central Israel, they can fire still at Northern Israel, they can reach all the way to Elat. But the fact that the ground operation is hindering those abilities, as well as Israel's aerial superiority, it is limiting their capability, but they definitely have it if they choose to use it. All right, thanks, Ariel. So, Benjamin Atteney, the fighting continues. The rocket fire has slowed down substantially, but the terrorists are still getting aid, aren't they? They are still getting food and fuel, which is coming via Egypt and now via Israel as well. Yeah, the terrorists are still getting aid and also the broader citizenry over there in the Gaza Strip is receiving aid. There's a constant call for an increase in that aid in order to prevent what has been described as a pending humanitarian crisis. I actually think that that needs to be looked at and reviewed. The fact of the matter is that part of the reason that that aid went in was that there would be in return for that humanitarian gesture, the humanitarian gesture of the return of our hostages who were taken on October the 7th. Now, that's stopped, it's been paused. And I think until that starts again, the aid needs to be more heavily conditioned, quite frankly, because it's on that, that Sinwa and other leaders of Hamas are depending in order to calm their citizenry over there inside the Gaza Strip. I also want to say that we've just seen rockets being fired here towards central Israel and no surprise it was very well analyzed just a moment ago. Obviously the ground forces are impeding the ability of Hamas to launch those rockets, but what we should all take some encouragement from is the fact that there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that there is pressure right now coming from the Americans to stop or bring about a pause in the fighting or even a fixer timeline to the fighting. We had Lloyd Austin here yesterday speaking with Minister of Defence Joav Galant, his American counterpart, of course, Lloyd Austin, the American Secretary of Defence. And he said, this is Israel's war and he is not here to a fixer timeline. I think we should take them at their word and be encouraged by the fact that we have room to maneuver and smash this enemy over there in the Gaza Strip. Yes, because Western leaders are under a lot of pressure with these noisy protests, aren't they? Week after week, they're trying to make sure that it looks as though they're also acting in the existence of the Palestinian civilians. You've also heard from the British Prime Minister, the French President calling for a ceasefire, but perhaps now is not the right time. That's how they're putting it. Now is definitely not the right time. There's no question but for our need to continue to push on, press this offensive. We cannot have a situation where Hamas comes in, murders 1,300 innocents, kidnaps 240 members of our society and thinks that they can walk away and survive such an attack. They have to be destroyed. They have to be pushed back and it's incredible because the state of Israel, which has known war since the day of its inception, has never faced a dynamic where we've had 1,300 citizens killed and never faced a dynamic where we've had 240 hostages. Nor have any of these other countries throughout Europe and elsewhere yet with incredible, incredible temerity, these countries now turn to us and tell us how we have to fight, under what terms we ought to fight and when we should stop the fighting. And I think actually they should apply just a little bit of humility and a little bit of compassion and understanding to the one democracy here in the Middle East and continue to give us the room to manoeuvre. But remember one last thing, we're not asking them for permission. We're working with them, we're doing everything we can in order to placate the pressures that they feel at home, which is nothing compared to the pressure we have to end the days of this enemy in the Gaza Strip. All right, Benjamin, thank you. And Arielle, Israel is perhaps not asking for assistance from Europe but it is dependent on the United States to restock its military capacities. In terms of the American pressure on Israel to do everything it can to limit civilian casualties and all the rest of it, is that hindering Israel's progress in the war and is it contributing to that very heavy death toll of Israeli troops? I don't think so. I think what is, or if we're looking at the immediate translation of American pressure that is more in the likes of increasing the capacity of humanitarian aid that enters the Gaza Strip. Yesterday we're talking about over 190, 196, if I'm not mistaken, humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip. This is after Israel allowed for trucks to enter Gaza directly through the Kerim Shalom crossing that opened just last week for the first time since the start of the war. And so while we're hearing, I think if we want to get the best understanding as to the sense in the Biden administration regarding Israel's advancements, we need to listen to the Pentagon spokesperson, John Kirby. I think he is illustrating in a very clear manner what is being portrayed by the Biden administration and that is a continuous call to Israel to avoid civilian casualties. Kirby said himself, we know that Israel is trying its best to reduce it and we continue to remind Israel or reiterate the importance of that. So in terms of that issue, there doesn't seem to be any disagreement between Israel and the Biden administration. I think the Americans would like to see more in the form of humanitarian aid going in. And obviously they would not like to see this drag on for months and months on end. They do want to see this and sooner rather than later. Is that a problem, though, putting a time limit on any kind of conflict? I mean, it reminded me of Afghanistan when the Taliban kind of had advanced notice of when the Americans were going to leave. So, you know, that very much worked in their favor. Do you see a similar situation with Hamas? Yes, I do. I think it's very problematic when we telegraph the idea that we're going to bring the most intense portion of this fight into a close by a certain date. People are talking about January, February. I don't know whether that will be or won't be. But we know that Hamas watches our media. We know that it analyzes the statements of our politicians. We know that it affects strategy in part as a consequence of what it garners from our public statements. The reality of the matter is, there does not need to be a timeline here. What there needs to be is a determined push to destroy an enemy that is committed to destroying the state and the people of Israel. That's point number one. And on the point of endangering the lives of our soldiers, one thing that I'm hearing murmurs about is the notion of returning Ghazan civilians back up to the areas that the Israel Defense Forces now controls, most specifically, Beit Hanun over there in the northern Gaza Strip, which is the first area that we began operating in. You start bringing civilians from Gaza back to those areas. You start to endanger the lives of our soldiers. It massively complicates our freedom of maneuver over in those areas. And one final note about that, we may say that we control that area, but there are still terrorists there. People can still come out with RPGs. People can still come out and launch attacks against our troops. We have to make sure that we have room to maneuver there without the encumbrance of Ghazan civilians being moved back up north. I agree with everything that was said regarding projecting to the enemy our timeline, Israel's timeline. Militarily, that is correct. However, there is another aspect here and that is over 100,000 internally displaced Israelis who do not know when they will be able to go home, how long they will be able to stay in these hotels or some are already starting to move to more temporary accommodations like apartment buildings in central Israel. These people, they don't know when they're gonna go back home. They cannot plan their lives. And so I think this is one of the internal challenges of a democratic state of, in the one hand, you wanna keep some veil of secrecy regarding your military intentions, but as far as your civilians are concerned, there does need to be some sort of transparency regarding what their future is gonna look like given that they've already paid such a heavy toll. And to this day, no one has told them when they're gonna go back or when they may be able to go back. But keep in mind, you are absolutely right. Keep in mind how you've raised a very important dilemma. One doesn't necessarily preclude the other. We can carry on intensively fighting inside the Gaza Strip and because of the success of that fighting, potentially move people back to homes in the South. No, for sure, but they don't know when that's gonna happen. They don't know when, but it may be that the intense fighting facilitates their return, I rather suggest it. I completely agree with that. Let's, thank you both. Let's move on to the other front in this war. The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen say they will continue their attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea despite the formation of a 10-nation coalition led by the United States, the U.S. Defense Minister unveiled this new force in response to a spate of attacks which have made shipping more costly and is now threatening to send up oil prices as well. Our Robert Swift has this report. The United States and nine other nations are forming an international naval coalition. Their task? To counter-escalating Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. A threat which is disrupting a transit route that accounts for 12% of global trade. We've launched Operation Prosperity Guardian under the umbrella of Combined Maritime Forces and under the leadership of Task Force 153. All countries have the right to move freely and lawfully in international wars. Canada, the UK, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, Spain, and Bahrain will participate. Either by contributing ships or through intelligence assistance. Actions the multinational force may take range from intercepting Houthi drone and missile launches to striking the group's assets in Yemen, a move the U.S. has so far appeared reluctant to make. Additional countries are involved in the formation but have declined to announce so publicly. States such as Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia are reportedly concerned with the blowback that could come from confronting the Houthis directly. Of course we are concerned about the potential for escalation. Our region is very complex and we do not need any other conflicts to erupt and therefore we hope that we will be able to avoid any further escalations in our region. The Houthis say they will continue attacking ships destined for Israeli ports as long as operations in Gaza continue. How the Yemeni group and its Iranian backers will respond to the naval coalition is unclear and may depend on how aggressively it confronts the Houthis. Well, to talk more about the threat from the Houthis, we're joined by Catherine Perret-Shaktan, Director of Forward Strategy and an expert on Iran, Yemen and radical movement. It's great to see you Catherine. I mean, everyone's been on at the Americans to do something about the Houthis who are now, you know, really harassing and threatening international shipping. They say they're undeterred, the attacks will continue. Well, yes. I mean, quite clearly, look, I think it's a great step that we now have, I would say the beginning, or at least the formulation of a plan in terms of opposing and maybe stopping those attacks from the Houthis. The issue is, you know, this fear that we continue to kind of perpetuate by saying that there's a fear that there will be an escalation that maybe will open another front. I think it's exactly what the Houthis and the Islamic Republic of Iran that is standing behind the Houthis and encouraging those attacks are hoping for. It's that fear would render Western capitals and regional powers in the Middle East, you know, incapable of doing anything and retaliating the way that they should. And we need to remember that this attack on the Red Sea, which is a major waterways, as you mentioned in the report, might potentially extend to the Strait of Olmos as well. We have to understand that this is a tactical move from the Islamic Republic, that they're flexing their muscles, telling us, and by us, I mean, you know, the Western world and the international community as a whole, that they can and that they will hold us hostage to their demands. And the only way to deal I'm afraid with bullies is to actually exert strength and show them that whatever it is that they're planning to do, we'll hurt them so badly that they cannot continue on. And I think that it's insane to me that a group that just a few years ago, the Houthis was prescribed as a terrorist organization, is now rising as a potential state actor, a legitimate state actor, because we're giving them a platform. We are actually negotiating with them as if they were responsible state actor. But yeah, just to point out to viewers, there are reports of negotiations between world powers and the Houthis via Oman. Oman is acting as a mediator, treating the Houthis a terrorist group as a state actor. It's bizarre, isn't it? And I think that was the point. I think that was exactly the point of this exercise, is that they needed to be legitimized. They needed to have a platform. They needed to be able to prove that, you know, through, by causing harm to the international community, we would have to deal with them. And the problem is we have had examples like this throughout history, I mean, only recently the Taliban and they won, essentially. So the problem is that we're not learning from the mistakes of the past. We're not learning that by engaging with terrorism and terrorist organization, the only thing that we're doing is empowering them. And you could see this with Hamas, you can see this with Hezbollah. You've seen this in Syria. I think that the only group that we were unwilling to negotiate with was ISIS and that was a good place to start. But the problem is we stopped for some reason by fear of an escalation. I'm afraid that the escalation is coming because we're not responding adequately to the threat. And it is fantastic that the coalition is now being set out to counter the Houthi threat. But again, we're not addressing the elephant in the room, which is the Islamic Republic of Iran. Rather than address the many fires that the Islamic Republic of Iran is starting in the region, I don't understand why we're not threatening them and holding them accountable for the terror that they continue to spread, add, and abate. And again, we would solve also the problem that Israel has with Hamas because it's coming out of the Islamic Republic of Iran. So there's really one appointed enemy that nobody's willing to name, that nobody's willing to challenge. And again, we keep tiptoeing around the problem, not willing to address it fully. And until we do so, I'm afraid that escalation is definitely the name of the game. Well, there are some reports, I don't know what you make of them, Catherine, that Tehran is actually concerned that the Houthis may have gone a bit too far because this is a global problem now. There is a 10-nation response led by the United States. But in terms of disruption, Egypt is actually paying the highest price. This will cost Egypt billions of dollars in revenues from shipping. Yes, well, look, I think that Tehran is also playing, I would say, the PR game, trying to kind of put a distance between itself and the Houthis saying that, yes, it's a proxy and yes, they aligned ideologically, but that they're not fully responsible for whatever the Houthis are doing. Because again, I think they're trying to manage the threat against their own territory and against their regime because quite frankly, they can't take the heat. If anyone was to ever target Tehran, I would imagine that the opposition, which is boiling over in Iran, would act against the regime and topple the regime. So I think there's a fear there that the threat needs to be managed. But again, to assume that Iran is not behind the escalation of the Houthis, and yes, grant you, it's very possible that the Houthis are getting ahead of themselves and telling Tehran that, well, you give us a mission and now we're gonna go with it and we're gonna do whatever it is that we want because the Yemeni are not exactly completely under the thumb of Iran. There's an alignment, yes, but they're also quite unruly and independent when it comes to their own strategy. So it is possible that you have some disagreement. But I would say that overall, Iran is still responsible. The Iranian regime is responsible for what is going on. And I think it would be a mistake to assume that they're not in control of it in terms of the strategy and how they move with it. Katherine, thank you very much indeed. As always, Katherine Peres-Shakhtar. Great to talk to you. Well, we can talk about another front in the war on Israel now. This coming from the Northern border, not the Iranian bacteris group Hezbollah, but actually Hamas terrorists who were based inside Syria and Ariel Oteran, our Middle East editor, has more on that now. And Ariel, of course, Hamas has had a foothold in Syria for some time, but it was a pivot from Damascus, wasn't it? Because President Assad was opposed to Hamas and in recent years, he has embraced the group, hasn't he? Just give us an update on what's happening. Right, so the latest is that we're seeing an increasing military presence of Hamas in Syria, also in Damascus, but also in areas closer to the border-southern Syrian areas such as Qunetra and Dara. These are areas that, or this operation is, to our understanding, is limited. We're not talking about a big operation like we have seen in Lebanon, where we're talking about hundreds of Hamas operatives there. It's a more limited one, and that is also due to the fact, like you described, the civil war in Syria really created a wedge between Hamas leadership and the Syrian leadership. That started to cool down in 2017, when Yixit Sinoir, the Hamas leader in Gaza, rose to power, and it started to be a shift when both sides saw that the only backer that they have in an international arena is Iran, and that kind of formed joint interests. But we need to understand that it's not quite clear if these are Hamas operatives who were in Syria prior to the civil war and have our operatives from Lebanon who have been brought there. But in recent days, there's been meetings of Hamas senior officials like Khaled Masha, Al-Anzal-Haleruri in Turkey, where they formulated a plan, reportedly, to escalate tensions against Israel on the border with Syria to try and divert the attention not only from Gaza but from Lebanon and to try and create another front. This border is a very well-defended border, isn't it? The border between Israel and Syria. On the Golan Heights, Israel does have the advantage there. But what we're talking about is escalation is in rocket launches, mortar launches, maybe pinpoint attacks on the border. But given that we're not seeing anything more substantial by Hamas in Lebanon than rockets, we shouldn't expect to see something from a smaller military operation in Syria. But indeed, the plan of firing rockets to try and start another, or escalate another front against Israel that is not Gaza, that is something that Hamas has set its eyes on. All right, Ariel, thank you very much. Ariel, I'll have to run. There, well, almost three months after the attacks of October 7th, more and more testimony emerging from survivors among them, Alina Tovberg, a makeup artist who found herself on the front line of the attacks at the Nova Music Festival where at least 350 people were murdered. She survived, she says, only via a miracle. Uri Shapiro brings us her story. Alina Tovberg didn't believe in divine intervention until October 7th. For years, she's worked as a makeup artist and body painter. Working at the Nova Festival was only natural for her. We came to the field on Thursday and stayed for the entire weekend. We decided to stay at Nova. I was attracted to the wonderful people who came there, the perfect place and the unique atmosphere in the air. So I decided to stay. At 6.20 a.m., we saw this amazing sunrise. I was just finishing painting Eleanor, my last painting. I gave her a hug and a kiss and went on dancing on the floor. Everybody was waiting for the sunrise. 15 minutes earlier, my partner, Tomer, gave me a glass of tea and told me that he wanted to go to the car because he was tired. It seemed very strange to me because he never acts like that. But in retrospect, this is what for me resembled the first miracle that happened to me. I looked to the horizon and I saw heavy smoke, very dark. To see the smoke inside this beautiful place felt very strange to me and I immediately closed my makeup kit. Suddenly we started to hear booms. The music was still on. We could hear the bits. But we heard the shooting mixed with the trance music. After three to four minutes, they shut down the music. And the chaos began. It was a sharp transition. People were at their peak and suddenly everything was shut down. And you find yourself in a war. At a certain point, Alina's partner could not start his car. The group found itself in a survivor scenario. We split into two areas. In one place, I took care of girls who were in panic. In the other spot, Tomer tried to fix the car. He asked his brother to bring people to help. And he got a call from his brother and heard that he'd been shot. Tomer understood that there were terrorists in the area. He managed to find someone who helped him fix the car. This angel is not with us today. We drove like crazy to Kibbutzrayim. A black truck tried to crash into us, but Tomer managed to escape. It was another miracle. It was a matter of seconds. Then we managed to get to Rayim. God opened the gate for us. Alina says that everyone she's painted at night survived. One of the people Alina remembers the most is a young woman named Elinor. When the Hamas attack began, Elinor hid inside the fridge and survived. In this short soundtrack, we hear the moments of horror when Elinor is saying goodbye to her eight-year-old son. I painted on Elinor, an image of a woman, full of light and hope. More than two months after October 7, Alina took part in an exhibition in Tel Aviv dedicated to the Nova Rave. She rebuilt the boot where she walked at that night. I remember every painting I made that night. Each painting I made that night became a part of me. It became a part of my family. A part of my story. There is Alina and there is my art. And there is this night. And this night laid down roots. More testimony from that dreadful day, October 7. Well, in the last hour, Central Israel, including Tel Aviv, has been targeted by barrels of rockets fired by terrorists in Gaza. The authorities here say no reports of any direct hits. Or injuries. Let's get an update on what's happening in the north of Israel now as TIP attack clashes with the Iranian bacterus group Hezbollah based in Lebanon continue. Our Zach Andrews is with us. Zach, tell us what's happening. Well, last time we were set to speak, Laura, you had the rocket alarms and now we have the rocket alarms here in the north. Just about five minutes ago, one of the louder interceptions we've had with how close it was just overhead. This is being labeled as potentially a drone infiltration, but that has not been confirmed yet. All we can tell, unfortunately, from even it being just a close distance away, all we could tell is that bright white puff of smoke from the interception. We can't see exactly what that was if it was a rocket, although it didn't appear that there was a white streak that I sometimes see after some of these rocket launches. So potentially a drone still working to confirm some of that. Zach, this just a day after a start warning from Unifil, this UN alleged peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon doesn't seem to be keeping the peace at all, of course, but it did come out with a warning yesterday, didn't it? It did, and this is such an immense challenge for Unifil. The interim forces for Lebanon and when we say interim, they've been in southern Lebanon since the late 1970s. The force levels have fluctuated, but by last count, some 10,000 peacekeepers are in southern Lebanon with the goal of separating both the Hezbollah forces and assisting the LAF, the Lebanese Armed Forces, in southern Lebanon at trying to maintain the status quo since 2006, at least, since the end of that conflict. But their challenge is how can they, in a role where they don't have a mandate to use force unless they're fired upon, be involved in the efforts in the south, it's going to be a future role for them. And whatever happens during this conflict, they have to almost sit out, even though they're smack in the middle of it. Hezbollah has been firing from positions very close to their facilities as we're hearing some outgoing artillery now. And the IDF has been striking back at these Hezbollah positions that are close to the UN forces. The UN wants to see this solution, some solution here so that they can in the future be the ones responsible for... Yeah, there's a lot of talk about pushing... ...doing the... Yeah, there's a lot of talk about pushing the terrorist group back north of the Lutani River. That is one proposal that's being talked about. But Zach, for now, thank you very much indeed. Zach Andrews there in the north of Israel as Israel continues to battle the terrorist group Hezbollah, which has just fired at northern Israel once again. While Israel battles terrorists to the south, to the north, anti-Israel protests have exploded around the world. Fast food chains, clothing stores, people taking their kids to see Santa Claus. Commuters just trying to get to work. All have been targeted by angry mobs of masked protesters who are brandishing Palestinian flags and wearing kafias. Take a look. Pretty intimidating to say the least, whether you're Jewish or not. Well, with me in the studio, Michala Kotler once, she's Israel's special envoy for combating anti-Semitism. Thank you very much for being with us, Michala. Let's talk about the clip we just saw. The first was in Toronto in a shopping mall. I mean, these scenes are becoming commonplace, aren't they? But in the second one, which was in Penn Station in New York... Union Station in New York. There's a mob of angry protesters shouting and being very intimidating. But there was one man standing silently with an Israeli flag. He was told to put his flag away. So look at the outrage. That one man happens to be Alicia Wiesel, son of Ellie Wiesel, whose living legacy he carries on clearly with his moral clarity and courage. The flag that he has in his pocket all the time came right out and he put it on him. And as you said, rather than the person that is harassing him having to remove his mask, Alicia was asked by the police to remove the flag because it became too dangerous. And you know, this connects very, very well with the previous item that we saw because the very same anti-Semitism, the fuel, the atrocities, the war crimes, the crimes against humanity perpetrated by Hamas, but one genocidal terror organization whose covenant calls for the annihilation of Israel and the murder of Jews alongside other proxies of the same genocidal Islamic regime in Iran. The Hezbollah, the Houthis that we've all become familiar with, they are all proxies of the same genocidal regime committed to the annihilation of Israel and murder of Jews. And unfathomably, the responses to 10.7 elicit exactly the same anti-Semitism, are fueled by precisely the same anti-Semitism, that is the strain of anti-Zionism, that de-legitimizes or calls into question Israel's very right to exist in response to a 10.7 attack. And those responses, as we have seen, not only are silent, not only deny, not only justify but attack Jews around the world, on campuses, on streets, in train stations, online in the wake of the atrocities perpetrated on 10.7. And that is the real awakening or the masks that have been pulled off, not only on that day, but in response to the atrocities of that day. And as the Israeli government keeps saying, you know, Israel is on the front line of this war against jihadist terror, but this is an anti-Western movement. And I think we're seeing that more and more, aren't we? You know, we're seeing people going to see Santa Claus with the kids getting screamed at, people trying to do their Christmas shopping, you know, just a few days away from Christmas. I mean, I wonder if this is actually turning a lot of people off, people who might have otherwise had sympathy with the Palestinian cause, and they're kind of seeing in their mind now the links to violent jihadism. I think that you're 100% right. I think that this is a moment not only of challenge but of tremendous opportunity to transcend and reach across real or perceived differences of politics, of religion, of geography. It is why, as Israel's special envoy for combating anti-Semitism, I've gone on six emergency trips abroad because you are 100% right that what 10.7 was clearly. And what the responses to 10.7 indicate to all of those publics in the various countries that are witnessing pictures of babies of a hostage being ripped down by an angry mob, what it has clarified is while Israel may be on the front lines of this war and the entire Israeli population is deployed to this war, this is not just about Israel or about Jews around the world. 10.7, like 9.11, indicated to all who cherish life and liberty that there is a war and it is raging and it is against civilization as we know it. And therefore whereas Israel may be on the front lines it is incredibly important that all those in the countries that recognize the severity of this attack as a continued war on our civilization become not only clear proponents of the imperative to end this war with Hamas returning all of the hostages with Hamas putting down its weapons with Hamas turning in all of those that perpetrated the atrocities, the burning, the rape the pillaging and the murder on 10.7 and the abduction, but also in western countries where this became the call from the river to the sea echoing Hamas charter on university campuses and on the streets and online that too has to be the war that we fight together. And some other intellectual arguments that we've seen on the American campuses for sure but also in Europe Intifada, it just means struggle Jihad, it just means struggle it means an internal struggle kind of ignoring the link to violent suicide bombing stabbing and all the rest of it but also this idea that clearly comes from the Soviet Union anti-Zionism you know Zionism is racism we're not against Jews, we're against Zionists, what do you make of that how do you counter that? So first of all that is a very important understanding that we have to make accessible to all of those publics but also to ourselves Zionism is racism 1975 UN resolution and I actually spoke about this at the UN in a never again is right now hearing that we held at the UN Zionism is racism UN resolution from 1975 Soviet propaganda live and well on 2023 university campuses under the guise of Zionism as you said being racism and Israel worse yet being since the 2001 Durban conference against racism libelously called an apartheid state and the most Orwellian inversion of all, Israel as committing a holocaust in fact the calls on those campuses are for genocide of Jews on those campuses where university presidents can say that that's a violation of the codes of conduct well let me tell you there would not be a call for the genocide of any other group permissible according to those rules of conduct and the Orwellian inversion in which all of those have been weaponized to turn Zionism into racism to turn Israel into an apartheid state and to accuse Israel of perpetrating a holocaust indeed a genocide on the day or in the aftermath of the war crimes against humanity and the makings of genocide the systematic targeting and murder and butchering and burning and rape of Israelis on 10-7 that has ripped off a huge mask in many ways it is one that we have to not only identify and expose but make accessible as I said before including to campuses university campuses including to public on around the world and including right here in our own understanding of this existential war and I'll call it an unconventional existential war that has been raging for decades as we have just said and in many many senses it is the demonization and the delegitimization and the application of double standards to the state of Israel the proverbial Jew among the nations that has enabled this rise in anti-Semitism that is so worrying around the world well sadly you have your your work cut out it seems Mikhail Kotlovich thank you very much indeed for talking to us thank you for having me on well as the fierce fighting rages on there is pressure on Israel to set out how Gaza should look once Hamas is defeated the Biden Administration wants the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas to take a leading role that has even proposed that the PA reactivate members of its security forces in Gaza to talk about that we're joined by professor Avner Benzaken chair of the Institute for Israeli thought thank you for being with us well recent polls show that 90% Palestinians want Abbas to resign and so why is the Biden Administration pushing for him to take power in Gaza well I don't think that it's only an interest of the Biden Administration I think that we should somehow order look the way the Israelis have conducted wars in the last 70 years and in most cases we find that Israel never really determined any political arrangement to the end of the war and as we've been taught by the theorist of war, von Klausowitz a war is only an instrument for a political goal now the war in Gaza it's a different war because we are not conducting a war against a sovereign that we're trying to deter or to retaliate to but we're actually we aim at wiping out that sovereign wiping out its political power and wiping out its military power now if you wipe out a sovereign you have to think about who would replace that sovereign and that's a pretty legitimate question and it's not because of any pressure of the Americans it's the greatest interest of the Israelis to determine in the war what would be the political arrangement at the end of the war and well what should Gaza look like in your view and how much of a role should Israel have and should there be an effort to keep Qatar out of it given what happened last time yes I think that we should we should first try to draw some kind of first principles for any political arrangement at the end of that war first it would be the principle of total separation of Israel from the Gaza Strip when I mean total I don't mean that total as it was before the 7th of October but even more than that Israel should not be responsible neither for its electricity, water or any employment or any humanitarian necessity that the Gazian population needs Israel should completely release itself from any responsibilities on the Gazians destiny they should somehow build up their life on the Israeli intervention now there is a very naked fact it's inexplicable fact there are two and a half million people there so if anybody thinks that he can really somehow relegate their lives either by using force in a military way or by taking care of their civilian needs it's a great challenge and I think that history has taught us in the last 50 years that we cannot really do it we couldn't do it in the West Bank we couldn't do it in Gaza before the Oslo Accords and we couldn't do it in Lebanon Professor Zakim we have to leave it there I'm afraid we're out of time but thank you very much indeed thank you time for a short break we'll be back right after this made for me official dresser of I-24 News good evening ladies and gentlemen Altis, the global network of the Dominicans this week in news 24 Israel under attack news 24 in spanish brings the analysis and the information of the events of the war, iron swords exclusive interviews reports from the war zone the reaction of the Spanish-speaking countries news 24 the only Spanish media that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel, news 24 only on I-24 News I-21 transferred tens of millions of dollars to Hamas from Tehran he was killed in an airstrike on Rafa in the south of Gaza today some of the family members of the three elderly hostages who were seen in a propaganda video that was released by Hamas yesterday say the men looked like they have lost weight and may not last much longer I'll be speaking to the granddaughter of 80 year old Yoram Mezgar in a few moments Yemen's Iranian backs who the rebels say they will continue to attack shipping in the Red Sea even after the United States announced a new 10 nation maritime protection force but first a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza at Central Israel including Tel Aviv this lunchtime let's go to the south of Israel for the very latest our Pierre Kloschendler is with us Pierre, what's the latest well from the IDF spokesperson unit that the ground forces operating in Atatra which is on the northern eastern tip of the Gaza Strip which is at the western entrance of the Gaza city they've been operating there although there is operational control all over the northern sector and they found a lot of ammunition for instance a workshop of manufacturing weapons and they found hundreds of rockets so you've mentioned the rockets to Tel Aviv and it's true that for a week there hadn't been any rockets and for 24 hours in a row there hadn't be any rockets on Israeli territory but that doesn't mean that they do not have the capability to launch rockets and they have still hundreds thousands of rockets maybe ready for launching on Israeli territory but at this point there's a lot of pressure on Hamas not just in the northern sector but also south of Gaza city in the southeast outskirts of Gaza city in Shejaia there's still ongoing operations trying to dismantle totally the battle-hardened battalion of Hamas there as well as in the Jebalia refugee camp at the northern outskirts of Gaza city there as well a battle-hardened battalion and still street fighting inside those places now south of Gaza city there are also lots of battles around and inside Hanyunes the 98th division of elite commando unit that has taken the brunt of many of the fatalities amongst the IDF are operating in the heart of Hanyunes trying to map out all the houses in which there are weapons depot weapons cache, manufacturing of rockets sniper position, launching pad position for rockets and also the underground because it's believed that the political and military leadership of Hamas hides in the underground now Orange Meiser our cameraman is making a sign there is a strike on Bet Hanyun it seems that it's more like an engineered explosion probably on the segment of a tunnel because this is a place that has been hard hit many times in the past two weeks and it's very possible that there's still neutralizing segments of tunnels we know that there was this huge tunnel network very close to the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip that was uncovered in the past few weeks and it was announced earlier a couple of days ago but the IDF spokesperson also said that they knew about three other tunnel networks just in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip now in Hanyunes for instance that's also a hub of tunnel networks in beneath the ground where the political and military leader of Hamas according to the IDF is probably hiding. Pierre, thank you very much indeed, Pierre Klosschendler there with the latest on the fighting in Gaza well with me in the studio this hour Colonel Olivier Raffewitz is the IDF spokesperson for international media thank you for being with us Olivier so we just got a bit of an update on what's going on inside Gaza today fighting in the north and in Hanyunes are we in a different stage of the operation now there has to be a lot of destruction of Hamas infrastructure these tunnels weapons even money and cash being uncovered as well. First of all thank you to have me here in the studio the war is still ongoing and it's not over yet as you just said on your from your correspondent in the south there are fierce fights in mainly three points, two in the northern part Jebalia and the Sahajaia where still we meet Hamas opposition and we are killing many of them we are arresting also many of them but still going on and also in the area of Hanyunes in the south which is the second bigger city in the Gaza Strip and in last days we actually found a lot of intelligence material within different Hamas houses and infrastructures beneath the ground but also in different headquarters and it is very important for us to actually find such a material because with this intelligence material we know more details about where Hamas is hiding What is the purpose of these kind of you know announcements we found this tunnel in such and such a house or we found this explosive hidden under a school and the surprise is it that Hamas embeds its weapons and its terror activities within the civilian population What is the purpose of that? I think it is a very good question because actually we are a democracy a democracy in war and it is very important to be transparent to the population to the people of Israel they should know what is going on and when we are moving on without troops when we are meeting terrorists when we are arresting them what is the situation on the ground and actually the people need to know this war because most of it is within the Gaza Strip it is very difficult to get pictures from inside so we announce what we are finding in order to make the people of Israel actually aware about what is going on People also want to know why so many soldiers are dying, two more soldiers killed overnight in the fighting 131 Israeli soldiers have fallen so far I want to ask you two things first of all is the aid that is going in and we have seen that it is going to Hamas we have seen armed men taking over these these trucks is that prolonging the life of Hamas on one hand and also the Americans they are sending one official after another they are supporting Israel but are they also tying Israel's hands we are in a war against Hamas and against terrorists within the Gaza Strip we are not in a war against the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip actually they are also like stages for years now from Hamas horrific and terrorist policy against them but we are losing people unfortunately because we are fighting and our soldiers are really heroes and I won't by your means if I could all of them now fighting in the Gaza Strip fighting like really hero against terrorists wherever they are in mosques, in schools, in UN facilities they are also hiding themselves behind just people, women and kids like a human shield you know I would like to point out that lately when you know that we actually killed by mistake the war from the Hamas side to actually to manipulate the general I would say combat area they are actually using even puppets with depth recorders using Hebrew they are putting booby traps in buildings which is why we lost 9 soldiers from the Gholani regiment so my question is Israel taking so many precautions to protect Palestinian lives that it is putting more troops at risk, it could have been an airstrike rather than sending troops into these houses to go building by building we are taking precautions first of all to prevent our soldiers to be wanted to be killed but it's a war, a very difficult and very complex war in a very difficult area it's like urban guerrilla and we have to be aware about many things that could happen concerning the population the civilian population, you know that we are also giving all the the precautions on the means, on the assistance to them not just to be like caught by the combat themselves and to your questions of course our ally our friend the American are also asking us to take all the precautions to prevent the Palestinian civilian population still civilians in Shijai for example in Bet Hanun not so many, most of them have left so why do the troops have to go building by building because we have to find the terrorists who are still hiding themselves within houses you cannot just pass through and they are staying there and then we are getting to the south and then we will attack from the back we have to destroy all of them all their surrender, all their kill but we cannot just leave them without doing no, the airstrike is not good enough because the airstrike is actually doing bombing but bombing sometimes is not enough to eliminate terrorists hiding themselves in some places like that thank you very much indeed, let's go to the north of Israel because of course the IDF is fighting on another front against the Iranian backed terrorist organization Hezbollah which is firing at Israel from southern Lebanon, our Zach Anders is in northern Israel drone infiltration alert sounding where you are this morning within the last hour we saw the interception overhead it's still unclear exactly where in southern Lebanon this might have been fired from because for our position in the Galilee finger it's a bit of a unique almost like a peninsula a land peninsula between southern Lebanon and northern Israel so it has been one of those positions that's harder for Hezbollah to approach upon in southern Lebanon the IDF has made it a parent focus to preemptively hit some of these positions that Hezbollah tries to use in this specific area so to see them some red alerts in communities near to this area we're still unsure where exactly this projectile potentially a drone was launched but a rare red alert for some of these communities in this particular area and of course these communities are pretty much emptied out aren't they so many thousands of Israelis have had to leave their homes and don't know when they can go back yeah many of the communities on one side of the road that is closest to the border have basically emptied out but these communities down in the valley where the farms the farmland is are still some of these kaboots are still somewhat full with people many of them have left from their homes that are very close to the border and moved into these kaboots just down into the valley so there's still quite a few evacuated but of those that did not want to leave the north or could not for their work or their life they're in this area that's considered just safer based on proximity distance away from the border itself and out of range of particular weapons like these ATGMs the anti-tank guided missiles they're not out of range of artillery mortars, heavy rockets and drones Zach thank you very much Zach Anders there in the north of Israel Olivier Raffewitz is with me spokesman for the international media for the IDF Israel is going to have to deal with Hezbollah at one point the question is what is that going to look like are we going to see a diplomatic solution to this or is it going to be yet another war For now from the 8th of October there is a very serious fight between Israel and Hezbollah along the border between Lebanon and Israel concerning the figures we have said that around 120 Hezbollah terrorists have been killed by Israeli operations backing the the army against Hezbollah you mentioned people who have been evacuated we talk about almost 100,000 people who have just been obliged to leave their communities villages they would see because of Hezbollah so to your question there is a big problem there we are now actually containing the situation by fighting back by reprisals along the border but we hope that some parties will influence Lebanon and Hezbollah to respect the UN Security Council resolution 1701 means that Hezbollah has to leave the border and to be back but do you have any faith in that because the international community has failed time and again to deal with Hezbollah they are right on the border they control the border we don't talk about faith we talk about facts if Hezbollah continues and endangers like now the state of Israel the border not only the border if for the population of Israel they are not capable to get back in spite of diplomatic means they believe so you are right this situation could not continue to be like it is and the governor of Israel will take the decisions as you know where the army and the army will actually get the orders and the instructions from the war cabinet like in all democracies Olivier thank you for now the Iranian backed Houthis in Yemen meanwhile say they will continue their attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and of a 10 nation coalition led by the United States the US Defence Minister Lloyd Austin unveiled the new force yesterday in response to a spate of attacks which have made shipping more costly and are threatening to send up oil prices as well our Robert Swift has this report the United States and 9 other nations are forming an international naval coalition their task to counter escalating Houthi attacks in the Red Sea is disrupting a transit route that accounts for 12% of global trade we've lost operation prosperity guardian under the umbrella of combined maritime forces and under the leadership of Task Force 153 all countries have the right to move freely and lawfully in international wars Canada the UK, France, Italy the Netherlands, Norway Seychelles, Spain and Bahrain will participate either by contributing ships or through intelligence assistance actions the multinational force may take range from intercepting Houthi drone and missile launches to striking the group's assets in Yemen a move the US has so far appeared reluctant to make additional countries are involved in the formation but have declined to announce so publicly States such as Egypt, Jordan the UAE and Saudi Arabia are reportedly concerned with the blowback that could come from confronting the Houthis directly of course we are concerned about the potential for escalation our region is very complex and we do not need any other conflicts to erupt and therefore we hope that we will be able to avoid any further escalations in our region the Houthis say they will continue attacking ships destined for Israeli ports as long as operations in Gaza continue how the Yemeni group and its Iranian backers will respond to the naval coalition is unclear and may depend on how aggressively it confronts the Houthis well Hamas released another hostage video last night in its three elderly men who were kidnapped from Kibbutz near Oz on October 7th they were seen sporting muslim style beards they are 79 year old Haian Perry 84 year old Amiram Cooper and 80 year old Yoram Mezger I-24 News will not broadcast the video which has been described by the Israeli government as deplorable psychological torture the video that Hamas released is a criminal terror video it testifies to Hamas' cruelty towards innocent elderly civilians who are in need of medical care the world must act in order to deliver medical aid and check on the state of the hostages we are morally obliged to do every and all efforts in order to bring the hostages back home our heart is with all the hostages and their families all the time Haim, Yoram and Amiram I hope you hear me tonight know that we are doing everything everything in order to bring you back safely some of your family members are already home we will not rest until you too are returned well with me now, Ofir Mezger is the granddaughter of Yoram one of the gentlemen seen in that video Ofir, thank you very much for being with us I'm terribly sorry for what you're going through it's absolutely horrific listen your grandfather he's 80 years old you haven't heard from him or seen him for more than 70 days now just describe for me how did you feel when you saw that video for the first time yesterday it would make feelings we were happy to get a sign of life to know that he's alive but on the same time we know the time is running out and we know that I watched the video and he doesn't look good he looks older and he got skinnier than he was before so he lost weight we see that time is running out and you can see it on them in the video also Haim and Amiram we know them from the kibbutz they don't look good the video is a psychological terror like anything else that Hamas is doing and the video doesn't change the statement that we hear to say and we said it before and we will say that today and until they will come back that they need to come back fast and we need to return them as soon as possible because time is running out and in the last two weeks we just heard more and more names of hostages that were killed murdered by the Hamas most of them we don't want it to end like this of course I can't imagine what you are going through but it must be so much anguish when we have reports about a possible ceasefire deal another one to try and get hostages back and then the reports are denied are you getting the information that you need are you getting the support that you need we hear the information from the news we don't get much more than that and like you said we hear all sorts of things and then we hear that it's not going to happen and it just changes all the time so we are trying not to be overwhelmed by the news because we know that when something will be serious then the army will let us know but until then we can just say all over the news how much it's important and how much we need to hurry to bring them home because time is running out yeah it's urgent was it any comfort to you to see that he wasn't alone he was with the two other guys from near Oz yeah of course and also because my grandma came back and I know that she was with him until she came back so your grandmother was also taken wasn't she but she was returned under that deal yeah she was returned on the fourth on the fourth day of the deal she was very nervous to hear about this video because unfortunately she heard about it from the news before the army let before the army sent us the message so that was surprising and she she was very nervous from this video and yeah I just hope the situation will end of course is that the first time she's seen her husband then imagine it is they weren't held together she didn't see him I guess she didn't even know if he was alive until yesterday no so they were held in unfortunately we've lost Ophir there and that was Ophir Metzger her 80 year old grandfather is being held by terrorists in Gaza and she just got proof of life yesterday when they released another propaganda video so she knows her grandfather is alive Yoram but of course for all the other families it is becoming increasingly urgent to get those people home 74 days after they were taken by terrorists among the hostages 30 year old he's the boyfriend of Noah you remember that horrible video she was screaming she was taken away by terrorists on the back of a motorbike was taken by terrorists alongside her his mother has been speaking to Alpia Stechelback about her hopes for her son's release and she's not been part of this more high profile campaign which is attacking the government for not doing enough to bring back her son here's what she had to say Dietza you decided to come here to the Kyria today why are you here what are your demands I would like to begin by telling you who I am and why I'm here Avinatan O a familiar face in many corners of the world by now he was kidnapped from the festival at Reim along with his girlfriend Noah Agamani she was kidnapped on a motorcycle as the video shows and Avinatan is forcibly led after her since that morning we have no information concerning him we don't know where he is what he's going through, who he's with his medical condition we know nothing and we're here because it's a central location for leadership and we want to make an impact what are your demands what can be done at this point what do you think first of all the word demand doesn't resonate with me I think our job is for each one to do the work with themselves internally and introspectively that is right for them when someone wants a big business and a lot of money he doesn't stand outside the bank and shout about it it wouldn't help, he wouldn't become rich that way similarly when I wish to bring my son back home outside and screaming my lungs out won't do me any good we need to be reminded of who we are and what we are doing on this earth if we reconnect with our deepest truth there are no limits we have a mission on this earth we have the power of the divine, the infinite when we reconnect with that we will achieve everything easily and yet you came here I did I'm here because my voice is a different one and it's shared by many hostages families who cannot grant at the center stage and are underrepresented the small, loud minority is taking over the people as well as popular opinion it lets Jews here in Israel think that this is what it's about we are a different people we must remind ourselves of our truth I would also like if you'll allow me another example when practicing martial arts from the far east you need no muscles or force and certainly not weapons what you need is spirit a focused and precise spirit you have a mission with yourself and that specific place within you and then you can do anything without force that should be our aim stay tuned for more updates here on i24 news Israel is in a state of war families completely gunned down in their beds we have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well there have been countless memorable moments broadcasting with i24 news in the past six years but for me the one that stands out the most was the first time that I had ever personally heard a rocket siren sounding in Tel Aviv and at that moment we were live on air in studio I will never forget the moment our senior producer said to me in my ear the sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv the control room is going to the shelter with me in studio at the time were Michael Herzog a former Brigadier General today the Israeli Ambassador to the United States and Arsena Strafsky an international human rights lawyer and their responses were completely different Michael Herzog was calm composed and on the other hand Arsena Strafsky was trying to phone his family and check in to make sure that his loved ones were okay the camera that normally faces us was hoisted from above there was an overhead shot of the three of us in studio you could see colleagues going to the shelter if you looked at the glass behind the studio and obviously we lost contact with our team on the ground reporters in Ashkelon and all the witnesses that we were speaking to during that time when rockets are coming towards a residential area they don't distinguish between race, religion, political views cultural views they just intend to harm civilians and that moment being in studio hearing those interceptions overhead the most real coverage I have ever been involved in Kermi you're watching i24 news we're coming to you live from Tel Aviv on this day 74 of Israel's war with Hamas and the IDF says it has killed one of the top financial backers of the terrorist group Subi Farwana transferred tens of millions of dollars to Hamas from Tehran he was killed in an airstrike some of the family members of the three elderly hostages who were seen in a propaganda video that was released by Hamas yesterday say the men looked like they have lost weight and may not last much longer I'll be speaking to the granddaughter of 80 year old Yoram Metzger in a few moments and Yemen's Iranian backed who the rebels say they will continue to attack shipping in the Red Sea even after the United States announced a new nation maritime protection force but first a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza at Central Israel including Tel Aviv this lunch time let's go to the south of Israel for the very latest our Pierre Kloschendler is with us Pierre, what's the latest well we've heard from the IDF spokesperson unit that the ground forces operating in Atatra which is on the northeast on the northern eastern tip of the Gaza Strip which is at the western entrance of Gaza City they've been operating there although there is operational control all over the northern sector and they found a lot of ammunition they found for instance a workshop of manufacturing weapons and they found hundreds of rockets so you mentioned the rockets to Tel Aviv and it's true that for a week there hadn't been any rockets and for 24 hours in a row there hadn't be any rockets on Israeli territory but that doesn't mean that they do not have the capability to launch rockets and they have still hundreds if not thousands of rockets maybe ready for launching on Israeli territory but at this point there's a lot of pressure on Hamas not just in the northern sector but also south of Gaza City in the southeast outskirts of Gaza City in Shejai there's still ongoing operations trying to dismantle totally the battle-hardened battalion of Hamas there as well as in the Jabalia refugee camp at the northern outskirts of Gaza City there as well a battle-hardened battalion and still street fighting inside those places now south of Gaza City there are also lots of battles around and inside Han Yunes the 98th division of elite commando unit that has taken the brunt of many of the fatalities amongst the IDF are operating in the heart of Han Yunes trying to map out all the houses in which weapons depot, weapons cache manufacturing of rockets sniper position launching pad position for rockets and also the underground because it's believed that the political and military leadership of Hamas hides in the underground now orange miser our cameraman is making a sign there is a strike on Bet Hanun it seems that it's more like an engineered explosion probably on the segment of a tunnel because this is a place that has been hard hit many times in the past two weeks and it's very possible that they're still neutralizing segments of tunnels we know that there was this huge tunnel network very close to the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip that was uncovered in the past few weeks and it was announced earlier a couple of days ago but the IDF spokesperson also said that they knew about three other tunnel networks just in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip now in Han Yunes for instance that's also a hub of tunnel networks beneath the ground where the political and military leader of Hamas according to the IDF is probably hiding Pierre thank you very much indeed Pierre Klosschendler there with the latest reporting in Gaza with me in the studio this hour Colonel Olivier Raffewitz is the IDF spokesperson for international media thank you for being with us Olivier so we just got a bit of an update on what's going on inside Gaza today fighting in the north and in Han Yunes are we in a different stage of the operation now there seems to be a lot of destruction of Hamas infrastructure these tunnels weapons even money and cash being so thank you to have me here in the studio the war is still ongoing and it's not over yet as you just said on your ear from your correspondent in the south there are fierce fights in mainly three points two in the northern part Jebalia and the Sajaya we still meet Hamas opposition and we are killing many of them also many of them but it's still going on and also in the of Han Yunes in the south which is the second biggest city in the Gaza Strip and in last days we actually found a lot of intelligence material within different Hamas houses and infrastructures beneath the ground but also in different headquarters and it is very important for us to actually find such a material because with this intelligence material we know more details about where Hamas is hiding what is the purpose of these kind of you know announcements oh we found this tunnel in such and such a house or we found this explosive hidden under a school I mean it's no longer a surprise is it that Hamas embeds its weapons and its terror activities within the civilian population what is the purpose of that? I think it's a very good question because actually we are democracy in war and it's very important to be transparent to the population to the people of Israel they should know what is going on and when we are moving on without troops when we are meeting a terrorist when we are arresting them when we are even losing people we have to explain where we are what is the situation on the ground and actually the people need to know this war because it's most of it is within the Gaza Strip it's very difficult to get as you know pictures from inside so we announce what we are finding in order to make the people of Israel actually aware about what's going on. Well on that note people also want to know why so many soldiers are dying two more soldiers killed overnight in the fighting 131 Israeli soldiers have fallen so far I want to ask you two things first of all is the aid that is going in to Hamas we have seen armed men taking over these drugs is that prolonging the life of Hamas on one hand and also the Americans you know they are sending one official after another and they are supporting Israel but are they also tying Israel's hands to a certain extent in terms of limiting how they operate in Gaza. We are in a war against Hamas terrorists within the Gaza Strip we are not in a war against the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip we have been in a war like a stages for years now from Hamas horrific and terrorist policy against them but we are losing people unfortunately because we are fighting and our soldiers are real heroes and I want by your means if I could salute all of them now fighting in the Gaza Strip fighting like really a hero against terrorists wherever they are in mosques in schools in UN facilities they are also hiding themselves behind just people women and kids like human shield I would like to point out that lately when you know that we actually killed by mistake three hostages there was from the Hamas side a ruse to actually to manipulate the general I would say combat area they are actually using even puppets with their precoders using Hebrew they are putting traps in buildings which is why we lost nine soldiers from the Golan regiment so my question is Israel taking so many precautions to protect Palestinian lives that it's putting more troops at risk it could have been an airstrike rather than sending troops into these houses to go and by building we are taking precautions first of all to prevent our soldiers to be wanted to be killed but it's a war a very difficult and very complex war in a very difficult area it's like urban guerrilla and we have to be aware about many many many things that could happen concerning the population the civilian population you know that we are also giving all the precautions and the means and the assistance to them not just to be like caught by the combat themselves and to your questions of course our ally our friend the American are also asking us to take all the precautions to prevent the Palestinian civilian population I mean are there still civilians in Shajai for example in Bet Hanun not so many most of them have left so why do the troops have to go building by building we have to find the terrorists who are still hiding themselves within houses you know you cannot just pass through and they are staying there and then we are getting to the south and then we'll attack from the back we have to destroy all of them all their surrender or they kill but we cannot just leave them with their weapons where we are of course but an airstrike could do the same job no no the airstrike is not good enough because the airstrike is actually doing bombing but bombing sometimes isn't enough to eliminate terrorists hiding themselves in some places like that thank you very much indeed let's go to the north of Israel because of course the IDF is fighting on another front against the Iranian backed terrorist organization Hezbollah which is firing at Israel from southern Lebanon our Zach Anders is in northern Israel Zach we've had drone infiltration alert sounding where you are this morning within the last hour we saw the interception overhead it's still unclear exactly where this in southern Lebanon this might have been fired from because for our position in the Galilee finger it's a bit of a unique almost like a peninsula a land peninsula between southern Lebanon and northern Israel so it has been one of those positions that's harder for Hezbollah to approach upon in southern Lebanon the IDF has made it a parent focus to preemptively hit some of these positions that Hezbollah tries to use in this specific area so to see them some red alerts in communities near to this area we're still unsure where exactly this projectile potentially a drone was launched but a rare red alert for some of these communities in this particular area and of course these communities are pretty much emptied out aren't they so many thousands of Israelis have had to leave their homes they don't know when they can go back yeah many of the communities on one side of the road that are the closest to the border have basically empty down but these communities down in the valley where the farms the farmland is are still some of these kaboots are still somewhat full with people that some of many of them have left from their homes that are very close to the border and moved into these kaboots just down into the valley so there's still quite a few evacuated but of those that did not want to leave the north or could not for their work or their life they're in this area that's considered just safer based on proximity distance away from the border itself and out of range of particular weapons like these ATGMs the anti-tank guided missiles but they're not out of range of artillery mortars heavy rockets and drones. Zach thank you very much Zach Anders there in the north of Israel Olivier Raffewitz is with me spokesman for the international media for the IDF Israel is going to have to deal with Hezbollah at one point the question is what is that going to look like are we going to see a diplomatic solution to this or is it going to be yet another war? For now from the 8th of October there is a very serious fight between Israel and Hezbollah along the border between Lebanon and Israel concerning the figures we have said that around 120 Hezbollah terrorists have been killed by Israeli operations backing the army against Hezbollah. You mentioned people who have been evacuated we talk about almost 100,000 people who have just been obliged to leave their communities, villages, Kibbutzim because of Hezbollah so to your question yes there is a big problem there we are now actually containing the situation by fighting back by reprisals along the border but we hope that some I would say some parties will influence Lebanon and Hezbollah to respect the UN Security Council resolution 1701 means that Hezbollah has to leave the border but do you have any faith in that because the international community has failed we don't talk about it they are right on the border they control the border we don't talk about faith we talk about facts if Hezbollah continues and endangers like now the border not only the border if for the population of Israel they are not capable to get back and in spite of diplomatic means we are going to be used I believe so you are right this situation could not continue to be like it is and the government of Israel as you know we are the army and the army will actually get the orders and the instructions from the war cabinet like in all democracies Olivier thank you for now the Iranian backed Houthis in Yemen meanwhile say they will continue their attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea despite the formation of a 10 nation coalition led by the United States the US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin unveiled the new force yesterday attacks which have made shipping more costly and are threatening to send up oil prices as well our Robert Swift has this report the United States and 9 other nations are forming an international naval coalition their task to counter escalating Houthi attacks in the Red Sea a threat which is disrupting a transit route that accounts for 12% of global trade we've lost operation prosperity guardian under the umbrella of combined maritime forces and under the leadership of Task Force 153 all countries have the right to move freely and lawfully in international wars Canada, the UK, France, Italy the Netherlands, Norway Seychelles, Spain and Bahrain will participate either by contributing ships or through intelligence assistance actions the multinational force may take range from intercepting Houthi drone and missile launches to striking the group's assets in Yemen a move the US has so far appeared reluctant to make additional countries are involved in the formation but have declined to announce so publicly states such as Egypt Jordan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are reportedly concerned with the blowback that could come from confronting the Houthis directly the Houthis say they will continue attacking ships destined for Israeli ports as long as operations and Gaza continue how the Yemeni group and its Iranian backers will respond to the naval coalition is unclear and may depend on how aggressively it confronts the Houthis well Hamas released another hostage video last night in it three elderly men who were kidnapped from Kibbutz near Oz on October 7 they were seen sporting Muslim style beards a 79 year old Haim Peri 84 year old Amiram Cooper and 80 year old Yoram Metzger I-24 News will not broadcast the video which has been described by the Israeli Government as deplorable psychological torture the video that Hamas released is a criminal terror video it testifies to Hamas' cruelty towards innocent elderly civilians who are in need of medical care the world must act in order to deliver medical aid and check on the state of the hostages we are morally obliged to do every and all efforts in order to bring the hostages back home our heart is with all the hostages and their families all the time Haim, Yoram and Amiram I hope you hear me tonight know that we are doing everything everything in order to bring you back safely some of your family members are already home we will not rest until you too are returned well with me now Ofir Metzger is the granddaughter of Yoram one of the gentlemen seen in that video Ofir, thank you very much for being with us I'm terribly sorry for what you're going through it's absolutely horrific listen, your grandfather your Saba, he's 80 years old you haven't heard or seen him for more than 70 days now just describe for me how did you feel when you saw that video for the first time yesterday it would make feelings we were happy to get a sign of life to know that he's alive but on the same time we know the time is running out and we know that I watched the video and he doesn't look good he looks older and he got skinnier than he was before so he lost weight we see that time is running out and you can see it on them in the video also Chaim and Amiram we know them from the kibbutz they don't look good we the video is a psychological terror like anything else that the Hamas is doing and the video doesn't change the statement that we here to say and we said it before and we will say that today and until they will come back that they need to come back fast and we need to return them as soon as possible because time is running out and in the last two weeks we just heard more and more names of hostages that were killed murdered by the Hamas most of them and we don't want it to end like this so of course I can't imagine what you're going through but it must be so much anguish when we have reports about a possible ceasefire deal another one to try and get hostages back and then the reports are denied are you getting the information that you need are you getting the support that you need we hear the information like everyone from the news we don't get much more than that and like you said we hear all sorts of things and then we hear that it's not going to happen and it just changes all the time so we're trying not to be overwhelmed by the news because we know that when something will be serious then the army will let us know but until then we can just say all over the news how much it's important and how much we need to hurry to bring them home because time is running out yeah it's urgent it's urgent now listen was it any comfort to you to see that he wasn't alone he was with the two other guys from near Oz yeah of course and also I know because my grandma came back and I know that she was with him until she came back so your grandmother was also taken wasn't she but she was returned under that deal yeah she was returned on the fourth day of the deal she was very nervous to hear about this video because unfortunately she heard about it from the news before the army let the army send us the message so that was surprising and she was very nervous from this video and yeah I just hope the situation will end is that the first time she's seen her husband then I imagine it is they weren't held together she didn't see him I guess she didn't even know if he was alive until yesterday no so they were they were held unfortunately we've lost Ophir there and that was Ophir Mesko her 80 year old grandfather is being held by terrorists in Gaza and she just got proof of life yesterday when they released another propaganda video so she knows her grandfather is alive he's called 80 years old but of course as she says for all the other families as well it is becoming increasingly urgent to get those people home 74 days after they were taken by terrorists well among the hostages 30 year old Avina Tan he's the boyfriend of Noah Argamani you remember that horrible video where she was seen screaming as she was taken away by terrorists on the back of a motorbike Avina Tan was taken by terrorists alongside her well his mother has been speaking to our leader Stechelback about her hopes for her son's release and she's not been part of this more high profile campaign which is attacking the government for not doing enough to bring back her son here's what she had to say you decided to come here to the Kyria today why are you here what are your demands I would like to begin by telling you who I am and why I'm here this is my son Avina Tan a familiar face in many corners of the world by now he was kidnapped from the festival at Reim along with his girlfriend Noah Argamani she was kidnapped on a motorcycle as the video shows and Avina Tan is forcibly led after her since that morning we have no information concerning him we don't know where he is what he's going through who he's with his medical condition we know nothing and we're here because it's a central location for decision making and for the Israeli leadership and we want to make an impact what are your demands what can be done at this point what do you think first of all the word demand doesn't resonate with me I think our job is for each one to do the work with themselves internally and introspectively that is right for them when someone wants a big business and a lot of money he doesn't stand outside the bank and shout about it it wouldn't help he wouldn't become rich that way similarly when I wish to bring my son back home standing outside and screaming my lungs out won't do me any good we need to be reminded of who we are and what we are doing on this earth if we reconnect with our deepest truth there are no limits we are am Israel we have a mission on this earth we have the power of the divine the infinite when we reconnect with that we will achieve everything easily and yet you came here I did I'm here because my voice is a different one and it's shared by many hostages families that are not granted the center stage and are underrepresented the small loud minority is taking over the people as well as popular opinion it lets Jews here in Israel think that this is what it's about we are a different people we must remind ourselves of our truth I would also like if you'll allow me another example when practicing martial arts from the Far East you need no muscles or