 The continued injustice to the Palestinian people, who were solemnly promised a state in 1948, fuel serious terrorist and extremist sentiments, and at the very least, it allows terrorists to exploit dissatisfaction amongst Palestinians and other Arab peoples to recruit more and more supporters of armed struggle and terrorist structures. The only way for this problem to be justly resolved for good is to hold an international conference with the participation of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, representatives of the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Gulf Cooperation Council, given that Saudi Arabia is the author of the Arab Peace Initiative, which envisages normalization of relations between all Muslim countries in Israel once a viable, functional Palestinian state is established. More on that now with John Hardy from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Thank you very much for joining us. First of all, Mr. Hardy, to get lectured by Russia about the ceasefire is really another world record, wouldn't you say? It is a bit hypocritical. Thanks for having me on. But I think really this is Moscow's longstanding position, borders at 67 lines, Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem, et cetera, et cetera. I think what's perhaps different about the current situation is obviously the war with Hamas, which Russia is exploiting to ingratiate itself with Arab capitals and other countries that support the Palestinians, and also to demonize the West and especially the United States and sort of cast the current crisis at the United States feet. What's the Russian thinking here, siding with Hamas? How does that serve their goals? Well, I should say the war in general is very favorable for Russia because it distracts attention from Russia's own war and brutalities in Ukraine. It offers an opportunity, as I mentioned, to ingratiate and curry favor with Arab capitals and other countries in the so-called global south that maybe might be anti-Israel or just more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. Russia can use the Israel-Palestinian issue to sort of present itself as an important player in the Middle East. Long tried to do that as sort of a pillar of its relations with certain Arab countries. And it looks very skeptically, and it does not want to see a peace process that is led solely by the United States, and especially one that would cut Russia out. Lavrov mentioned this in his remarks, focusing on the need for a process that's led by the UN. And I think in Russian thinking, if it's led by the UN, they'll have a major seat at the table given their spot in the Security Council. So except for talking, you see the Russians want to get involved more deeply in the future of Gaza or the Middle East? Ultimately, Russia is a fairly marginal player in this crisis. Obviously, they have good relations with Iran and actually increasingly close ties with Iran. You know, we've seen some reports of possible sending a panzer missile air defense system to Hezbollah. So far, I've not seen any evidence of direct Russian military technical support for Hamas. And obviously, that would mark a sea change, but I view that as unlikely. So for now, at least it seems to me, Russia's role is primarily diplomatic and really using this crisis as a cost-effective way to support its interests without getting too heavily involved. All right. John Hardy, thank you very much. Let's go to New York now. The UN General Assembly voted on a motion demanding ceasefire in Gaza, 24 years senior U.S. correspondent Mike Wagenheim joins us from New York. What's next, Mike? In terms of the resolution itself, there's nothing really next there except the Palestinian authority and its allies within the United Nations kind of leveraging the resolution to try to pressure Washington to change its policies. These are the Israel. But keep in mind, while Security Council resolutions out of the UN are internationally legally binding General Assembly resolutions like the one that we saw yesterday, they're about worth the paper that they're written on. There's no binding matter to them. They can demand all they want. They can't really force anybody's hand in the matter. So the Palestinian authority and the Arab League set up that resolution as a message. That international support for Israel is lessening based on the output of previous resolutions. They got what they wanted in terms of vote totals, but in terms of actually pressuring Washington utilizing that resolution, it doesn't seem like it's going to do the trick. Okay. Speaking of tricks, the Israeli ambassador waived his sign with Iqia Sanwar's phone number. Did that get any attention there? Certainly. So I think Gilad Erdan, the Israeli ambassador, has taken lessons from Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of his Likud Party in terms of using visual props and aids at the United Nations. Netanyahu is famously known for doing at the annual General Assemblies and Erdan has incorporated those visual aids and props into his repertoire as the full-time ambassador. Certainly grabbed some headlines, but again, Israel found itself rather isolated at the General Assembly yesterday. Only 10 countries, including Israel and the United States, voting against this resolution yesterday. Again, it's a signal that the Palestinians and their allies can use. But in terms, and we heard Joe Biden, the U.S. president speaking yesterday, that he will continue to do whatever is necessary to give Israel what it needs to take care of Hamas again. I'm just not sure that the message is really going to resonate inside the halls there in the White House. But following the criticism of Biden often to nail government, is there a crisis coming? I'm not so sure there's a crisis. These differences of opinion, these differences of philosophies between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu in terms of how the Middle East should run, in terms of how the Israeli Palestinian conflict should be resolved or not resolved, have been ongoing now for decades. And it's been going on throughout the presidency of Biden, while Netanyahu has been in charge of the Israeli government. This is nothing new whatsoever. It's put under even more of a microscope than usual because of the war. It's put under a microscope more than usual because of what's to come after this war is over, whether that's in a month, whether that's in six months, whatever it is. But these differences of opinion are not a crisis. They are the normal course of business for Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu. We can argue all day whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Both men have their own country's interest at heart. Both men have their own governments to lead and their interests are not supposed to align. They're supposed to diverge at certain points. But no, I don't think this signals any sort of new crisis. I think both men just stating clearly what their policy positions are, which is probably for the best in the end anyway. Meanwhile, there's a series of US officials coming to Israel. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is expected on Thursday and Secretary of Defense later. What's expected from them? Jake Sullivan trying to get answers as to what the near term and the more long term policies and strategies are for the IDF and the Israeli government vis-a-vis Gaza in terms of how much longer the war may take. What are the strategies for the IDF in terms of how to wind this thing down while achieving its objectives and making sure that the US interest in terms of keeping humanitarian aid flowing through in terms of protecting civilians are considered and wrapped up in those policies. And also, again, try to extract answers or at least some sort of vision as to what a post Hamas Gaza is going to look like. Benjamin Netanyahu was quite clear as to what he thinks it should not look like, which is the Palestinian Authority coming in and running things when he says clearly they can't run their own territory right now there in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank. I think Sullivan is looking for fewer knows and more yeses or more will work toward this to try to figure out where Israel's head is in terms of moving forward. So just some clarity here, I think, is what Sullivan is seeking. In terms of Lloyd Austin, it'll be interesting to see what he gets first out of Qatar. Remember, that'll be a stop along the way as well. I think that might roll into his discussions with Israel. All right. Mike, in New York, thank you very much. Abigail E. Don turned four years old when in Hamas captivity and was released a few days ago. She went home to her two older siblings who hid in a closet during the October 7th massacre. But their mother and father were both murdered. Here's her story. A lawyer came yesterday. He said it's my granddaughters. She said to give it to Avigal. She penetrated her heart. That's all for Avigal, Mikhail and Amalia. My son has much more. Carmel, Avigal's grandfather, no longer finds a place for all the gifts he's received from people he doesn't know, the embrace of love and perhaps an attempt to compensate for her collective feelings of guilt, how a mischievous girl only four years old found herself a prisoner of Hamas for 51 days immediately after her parents were murdered. How is the family after Avigal returned? Very short joy. I thought it would be celebrations and parties and something like that. I think after an hour we realized it was not that at all. In the end there are three children without parents. How was Avigal when she came back? Mostly shocked from all the faces, from all this happening around her, really shocked. It was also late you know and to arrive at the end of the day is to go through a journey. Your removal from the place of the kidnapping and the crossings and the border and all the time you see the terrorists again and she just arrived already broken and didn't speak at all for the first hour. She wants to drink grape juice and eat pretzels, mostly requests from someone who suddenly realizes that maybe she's no longer in captivity and can ask. Avigal didn't approach me, didn't look in my direction, didn't speak, fine another day will come and the kiss and the hug will come. How did Michael and Amelia, Avigal's siblings react? They knew Avigal was in Gaza and suddenly she came back to them. I think they're feeling joy, there was joy but it's still not the same. They have a deep sadness. So it was really one very happy moment that they came together and now the confrontation what will happen from here, time will do its thing. A month before Avigal's release we accompanied the families of Smodar and Roy to a family meeting trying to embrace Michael and Amelia to give a feeling of family. Why don't you call me? Smodar's family are coming here and our family with Roy's children. We have a meeting with everyone. First time since it happened, yes. No one there was able to forget what happened to these children on the black Sabbath, the unimaginable fact that nine-year-old Michael, six-year-old Amelia and four-year-old Avigal saw their parents murder before their eyes. When the alarm started, Smodar was with Michael and Amelia in the safe room. Roy, who works as a winet photographer, still had time to go out to the balcony with Avigal in his arms to photograph the terrorists approaching the kibbutz on paragliders, infiltrating right in front of the house. You've been with Roy and Smodar's children for the last month? Yes. How is it? Not easy. It's not easy what they saw. It's not easy for them. It's certainly not easy for us. The horrors they saw. I don't know if any of us would have emerged the same from such a situation. Never mind children aged six and nine. It's very, very tough. On Saturday, after their parents were murdered, Avigal ran outside. Michael and Amelia ran back into their house. They hid in the yellow closet in the safe room with the body of their mother, Smodar, lying right next to them. For 14 hours they hid, heard gunshots and waited in the inferno while the family tried to reassure them from afar. I picked up the phone to Roy. Roy didn't answer, so that's the agreement between us. If he doesn't answer, he's taking pictures. So I called Smodar to ask what happened. Michael, the nine-year-old grandson, answered. I told him, I want mom. He said, mom's dead and dad's dead outside. I asked, where's your sister, Amelia? He told me, with me, where's Avigal? He said, she's not at home. In short, a Holocaust. I was completely shocked. I was trying to think of how to help. How did the children sound in those moments? Listen, they were just brave. Michael answered the phones at first, then he stopped. And six-year-old Amalia, she was my contact person. She spoke. I'm in the safe room. Everything is fine. We're in the closet. Don't open the door for anyone. It won't open. They answered yes, and no, and good. At this time, Michael and Amelia did not know how Avigal was doing. Avigai, the neighbor across the street, was the last to see her before she was kidnapped with Hagar, his wife. She was white as a sheet, but covered in blood, drenched in blood. And I knew, I knew it wasn't her blood. I tossed her over to my wife and went back. Until 12 o'clock, one, I was still optimistic, sure, that the army would come and take them out. And we saw it was not happening, and it's not happening. And time was passing and moving on. We were already past midnight, and still, every hour, I spoke with them. And I heard that they're already starting. The mood is already dropping, and it's already going to be hard there inside this closet. And you know they're alone, and no agency can help you. Not the police, not the emergency services, not the IDF, only our connections. The civilians are in the war. At 7 in the evening, after I involved a friend, we managed to reach the team located in Kfar Azar. The military took Michael and Amelia under fire outside the kibbutz, and a meat came to pick them up. How was this meeting? It was very difficult, very hard. I let a friend drive. I sat in the back with them. Even though they had such a long journey, they didn't fall asleep. They were close to me the whole way and just told me what happened and what happened and what will happen and how it will happen. And this was a journey, a difficult journey. Since they've been with Liron, Smyadar's sister, her husband Zuli, and their three children who lived right next to them in Kfar Azar. They will probably stay with us, with the family, with my wife. This is a very natural environment for them. They grew up with these children. Of course, the whole family is involved from all sides. There is everyone's cooperation here, because in the end, there is a common goal that these children will have the best possible future. There's deep sadness for Mikhael. Very deep sadness. He knows everything that happened. He was always alone. A child who grew up in all these circumstances, a nine-year-old boy has already gone through more wars than people in the whole world go through. Amalia is more open, but there's also sadness in her eyes. How is Avigale? In her everyday life, when you look at her, she is happy. She's so little. Maybe she'll get through it somehow. Avigale had her fourth birthday in captivity. Yes, I don't know if she knew that. Will you mention it? We did something small, modest, cake-end, here and there, like that. At the simplest level there is, maybe next year. Do they understand that Roy and Smidar will not return? Yes, after what they saw, there's no way. It's not ambiguous. What do they mostly talk about? Toy is one moment, and then about mom and dad, and then they come back and fight about nonsense with the cousins. In the end, they are children. They have happy parts, and they have sad parts, and they have difficult parts. I call it a rollercoaster. There is a discourse around everything, of what happened, how it happened, and why it happened. I mean, we give them some of the space that we need to vent, and we need crying, and we need this. But in the end, we always face forwards. We'll give them everything they need, that's for sure. But we won't be able to give them the security. Let them go abroad, live in a place that will be good for them. I want them to grow up to understand that this is not their country. It's not safe to live in the state of Israel. Next, the UAE says a viable two-state solution plan needed before they commit to building Gaza again. Loyal Sharif is with us now. Thank you very much for joining us, Loy. Do we have more details on what that statement actually means? Well, hello, Jacob. So what it means is one important thing that the UAE kept on stressing, that the UAE cares about the Palestinian people, and the UAE wants to see the Palestinian people flourish in their land or on their land. And this is a very important thing that it is true that the UAE engaged very well with the Abraham Accords and still believes in the importance of the Abraham Accords. But at the same time, the Palestinian people as people, talking about the Palestinian people and their future, and the hope that they should be given to live in dignity is something very important that the UAE believes in. This is why it kept on stressing on that. Now, the viable two-state solution is something because the UAE said, okay, let's just invest our money in reconstructing Gaza, but we have to make sure that the events that happened will never be repeated. And this is why the UAE consistently stressed on the Palestinian people, not on militant factions that would disrupt the peace process. But I'll tell you what, Jacob, it's not that easy. It's very challenging. It's very challenging, especially that when the war ends, not so many Palestinian workers will be able to work again in Israel. That's what the Knesset of the Israel said. And you also have lots of challenging in terms of education, in terms of letting the Palestinians accept that they have a neighbor that is indigenous to the land, which is the Jewish people or the people of Israel. But the message was so clear that the UAE leadership stands with the Palestinian people and with their rights to live in dignity. Now, at Palestinian state, it's very complicated. It's a complicated goal. It has been elusive for decades. Gaza will need urgent rebuilding. The question is, how do you manage the two together? I agree with you. It's been going for years and now many opportunities in the past were lost, unfortunately. And now we're saying that what happened on October 7th and this unnecessary war that could have been avoided should be the final milestone in this conflict that the catastrophes should not be repeated. I believe that the first thing that we need to focus on right now is ending the war, ending the war in the right way, Jacob. Even when I personally call to end the war, I would never call to end the war in a way that October 7th be repeated. Of course, you have to end the war by eliminating all the threats that would prevent the repetition of October 7th. Now, when we move to the second phase, rebuilding Gaza, I believe the UAE said that Lana Nuseba, the UAE ambassador to the UN, she said that not only UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab countries should join forces in building Gaza. And I believe this commitment can be granted in hope if the hope to the Palestinian state is viable. How is this done? I think it's challenging, but I think it's the only way forward to give the Palestinians hope. Yeah, Loai, thank you very much. This time live from Florida. Thank you very much. Now to Dubai, it looks like a positive conclusion to COP28 in the UAE, but Stan Burin Dubai. It was about climate, but the war was very much present there. Yes, and in the end, it was decided that it's the beginning of the end. Doesn't sound very positive when you put it that way, but we're talking about the beginning of the end of fossil fuels that every country or entity in the world, without exception, which includes Israel, Iran, the Palestinian Authority, countries at war like Sudan, Russia, Ukraine, et cetera. All these countries agree to give up fossil fuels eventually. There's been for a long period of time a sort of misunderstanding that was quite difficult to overcome between on the one hand, mainly Western countries such as the US, the EU and small island states, et cetera, who absolutely wanted to include in the final agreement the mention of a dated fossil fuels phase out agenda. And on the other hand, southern countries, including Gulf countries who pretty much all agree that renewable energies are the future, but that this transition would jeopardize the development of these countries if this future arrives too soon. And without consideration for legitimate national, social and economic interests. So that was the main obstacle overcome by an unprecedented agreement to transition away from fossil fuels and it was hailed pretty much by the entire international community as an important and historic milestone, which definitely wasn't a foregone conclusion. Right. And how do you conclude the statements and environment atmosphere about the war in Israel, Gaza and Lebanon, Hezbollah? Well, Isaac Herzog, let's rewind. Isaac Herzog canceled his speech. Netanyahu didn't make the trip. Jordan has opted out of this big energy and water deal that included the UAE and Israel. Saudi Arabia has clicked pause in negotiations with Israel. Take Iran as well. A COP28 was the perfect opportunity for them to get a very political message across Iran's president, Ibrahim Raisi, opted out due to Israeli presence and this choice among others threw concerns on the success of COP28 since it broke the momentum of the climate negotiations which by definition must be global if they are to succeed. But in a surprising demonstration of global solidarity and agreement was reached, which even goes much further than COP26 in Glasgow, for instance, that was two years ago. Now what it means for Middle East future, it's a given, the Middle East and North Africa are among the most vulnerable places in the world to climate change, if not the most vulnerable. And if it's not tackled, we're not only talking about dramatic consequences on the region's water supplies and food production system, but also of new breeding grounds for terrorism, for violent extremism and no country would be spared. The Gulf nations face depleted freshwater resources within the next 50 years. Temperatures in Iraq are soaring at a rate that is four or five times faster than the global average. So to conclude, this COP28 is a reminder from the Middle East to the Middle East that climate change issues have to be among the top priorities for governments. Right. But Samber in Dubai, thank you very much. We'll take a short break and we'll be right back with more special coverage here on I-24 case. 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. Come back to our special coverage. The first fighting in Gaza is going on, door to door, I-24 news defense correspondent, Jonathan Regev has the latest. Four soldiers from the Israeli infantry's Gulani Brigade became isolated when ambushed in Shuzaiyah, east of Gaza city. Attacked with grenades, explosives and small arms fire, the trapped soldiers were wounded. Fearing a kidnap attempt, the IDF flooded fighters into the area, including from the Air Force's specialist rescue unit, 669, troops who found themselves similarly attacked. When the fighting ended, nine Israeli soldiers were dead. Among them, the four initially trapped, making it one of the deadliest clashes for the IDF since it entered Gaza nearly two months ago. Among those killed were several officers, including a battalion commander and a colonel. There was a point in the war when I asked you when it will be over. You said that for you, it is over when all the hostages return and the last of the terrorists are eliminated. You meant every word you said. Yesterday, you proved in practice that after me is not a slogan, but an order for us commanders to lead the troops forward even when there is a heavy, very heavy price. The bloody incident deepens the Gulani Brigade's connection to Shuzaiyah, where it suffered losses in 2014. Israeli commanders did not comment on how many Hamas were killed in the fight, but the use of a complex and coordinated ambush might show an adaptation in its tactics, with Hamas previously focusing on hit-and-run attacks with small anti-tank teams. It might also suggest Hamas is less broken than images apparently showing surrenders would imply. There was a report by Robert Swift and we'll go live later to Jonathan Regov in the southern part of Israel. With me here in the studio is Dr. Fadi Ismail. Thank you very much for coming. 80 or rather 68 days into the war, where are we standing? Well, this is not an easy day. My former outfit Gulani has just lost several troops. Takes me back to our days when I was a young officer in that brigade, and that is the kind of things that I was worried about for the last week or two hours. I just spoke about this two days ago here about the dangers now of feeling too safe because things are going relatively smooth. I said, this is a time when big mistakes will happen, when big incidents can happen, and there you go. And it's typical, the ambush, the, we didn't pay attention, something happened, and so on. So in that sense, this is a moment that we have to not lose the focus and do what we have to do tactically speaking. It is easy after two months to kind of get out of concentration and so on. Now let's go higher. The wider context, it is clear that this war is beginning to see its end, days, weeks, whatever. I mean, this is what's happening now. The international dynamics are such that there's simply no political time, no political oxygen for much, much, much more. It is, I think, clear now to everyone. Now, is it two weeks, a month? What it means is that everyone will push now to gain the latest possible gains before a real ceasefire is declared. And this is a moment when everything becomes really dangerous because everyone will be rushing to do things, to improve their positions before the next stage. The pressure come from the fact that the war is not only between Israel and Hamas. Yes, there is a dimension. That is the actual clashing force. But every one of them, of these two parties, represent a whole axis, a geopolitical axis that is global one. And now the war there is beginning to influence economies in the region. And even further, it influences in a bad way the efforts of the United States to create a straight line between India and all the way to Northern Europe, which is very important to re-establishing the American presence in the region, which is also good for Israel, of course. It also causes a lot of trouble to the other axes, which is why the Iranians are so reticent about joining the war because they have many things that stop them from doing that. So there are issues that are way bigger than Israel. Just to make it clear to people, let's just talk about what's happening in Babel Mandib, the Red Sea. What the Houthis are doing there, they're becoming a pain in the neck for the entire economy of the world. And this is not an Israeli problem. It's a world's problem. The first casualties actually are Egypt and Jordan because their waterways are now used less, which means they are making less money. Egypt relies very heavily on this west canal. And then other countries as well are suffering. So now you have all these navies roaming around Babel Mandib because of a few guys in flip-flops. So that can keep on going. That needs to stop. There's global economy here. Another question is within this period of time, the last two or three, four or five, six weeks, how do we not make any more mistakes like happened today or as few of them as possible? And what is the end game? I mean, militarily, what's the goal? When will Israel say this is it? Okay, we won. I think, okay, first of all, I think there's a, let's speak very honestly. Part of the war was to punish. And that's okay. I'm not, I'm not woke. Okay. In wars, sometimes you have to do that. You have to punish. Somebody hurt us. They came into our homes. They did all the things we know they did. Okay, that's retaliation. That's part of it. Many people don't like talking about it. It's in polite society. You don't say that. But that has been accomplished very loudly. The official goal was destroying Hamas. You can. I mean, of course we can. So how much that takes longer? It's been 25, 30 years in the making. Hamas, he wasn't born yesterday. And actually, Hamas, if you really want to go for it, it's 50 years old, since the beginning of the Mujama Islam in 1971. So we can get to that. But again, this has to be much smarter over the years. Okay. Also, there's the Munich model, which I really believe in, and so on. So now the idea was, first of all, re-establish all these deterrents. Now everybody around is saying, well, these Israelis are nuts. That's good, because that really pushes people back. Now, as far as President Biden and Blinken, all these talking about Palestinian state, and with this... Hold that thought, we'll get to that. Now I want to go live to Jonathan Regev in the south with the update from there, Jonathan. Yes, the fighting in Gaza ongoing, and just judging also by what you spoke in the studio, and the fact that American officials are coming, whether it's Jake Sullivan or others, I think there's also an understanding in the Israeli security establishment that there's not a lot of time to achieve whatever there is to achieve. If the promises were to eradicate Hamas altogether, at least in the first phase of this war, I think there's an understanding that it's not something that is going to happen completely. Hamas now, finally we can say after so many, so many various operations in the past, when Israel said, Hamas took a serious blow, this time it is for real, Hamas took a very serious blow, but in order to make sure that Hamas doesn't reappear, Israel will have to strike stronger and stronger and constantly and constantly inside the Gaza Strip even after the official ending of the war. All right, Jonathan, thank you very much for that. With us now is Ambassador Dennis Ross, Mr. Peace Process in the Middle East. Thank you very much for joining us. Sure. Ambassador Ross, you dedicated most of your career to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, you know everything about it. What should be the future of Gaza then? Look, the key is that Hamas can no longer be in control of Gaza when this is over. If Hamas is in control of Gaza when this is over, the rejectionist ideology will be given a huge boost throughout the whole region. The imagery that Hamas's way of work will be cemented, the idea that those who talk about wanting to have two states, you can't have Hamas in control of Gaza and even have the potential for two states because Hamas is completely against two states. That's been its position all along. In the 1990s, when there was a possibility, whenever there was progress, we would get a suicide bombing to disrupt the progress. So we saw Hamas now act in no small part because of the prospect of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. So Hamas is about A, no peace. It's not about ending occupations, about ending Israel. So nothing can happen with regard to a more hopeful future for Israelis and Palestinians if Hamas remains in control of Gaza. That's really the measure. You asked the question earlier, how will Israel know when it's succeeded? You will know it's succeeded when it's destroyed enough of the Hamas military capability command and control so that the organizational coherence of Hamas is gone and it's too weak to resist what might be some kind of interim arrangement. There will have to be a regime in Gaza. Israel's not gonna stay. So you're gonna have to have some kind of regime that manages Gaza and it needs to be connected to what will be a longer-term approach to Israelis and Palestinians trying to work out what will be the essence of coexistence between the two. I have to apologize because we have to break live to the White House to hear the families of the hostages. I hope you stay with me, Dennis Ross. Let's take a listen, short listen. Terrific, terrific meeting, conversation. I think we all came away feeling that as families of hostages, of American Israeli hostages, which are eight out of a total of 138 hostages, we felt that, and we felt before and we were only reinforced in seeing and believing that we could have no better friend in Washington or in the White House than President Biden himself and his administration. Hope Francis today called for an immediate release of all the hostages. Do you believe that Vatican can help bring your loved ones home? I'll add, I'm Liz Hershnoff-Tally. I'm Abigail Edonmore's great aunt and we are blessed because she is back with her family after she was a hostage for 50 days and witnessed both of her parents being murdered on October 7th. And what I can tell you is that Abigail is a miracle. She is a light in this very dark time and metaphorically, a lot of our families that are here today and we are all one big family looking to get all of these people's sons and fathers and mothers out that we are here because the president and his team have been bringing out light in this dark time. And Abigail who is a four-year-old is a symbol of that light. And as we come to the Christmas holiday, I hope that the Pope continues to speak and others around the world, not only pray, but pray for us, pray for our families, pray for our leaders, pray for the president and that the Pope and all that he can do is to push. We love a Christmas miracle. We would love all of our loved ones to come back and be with us for Christmas. So when you talk about the Pope, our hope is that he and others like himself will influence these people in the Middle East that are all actors in this part of getting these hostages out. And that is all of our hope for a Christmas miracle. Can you talk about what kind of communication you guys have been getting and you're getting updates on a daily basis? What kind of communication are you getting from the White House? And thank you of course for talking with us. Yeah, well I can say this. Since day or two after the massacre on October 7th and the mass hostage-taking by Hamas, we all began to be contacted by representatives of the United States government, the embassy in Israel, State Department, Secretary Blinken and within just a few short days, President Biden was on a video call with us and since that time, we've been in frequent and very transparent contact with administration officials and we've also really benefited I think and most importantly, our sons, daughters, fathers, sisters, brothers, mothers have also really seen how in a very divided time, members of Congress, members of the Senate from wall to wall have shown solidarity with us. We're still waiting, we're not assuming we're going to hold the hostages back. We're still waiting, we're on your loved ones in their release. Was the president able to share anything about their condition, about where they are? We're going to keep the content of the conversation private and it was a private meeting. Those are families of the hostages after meeting President Biden in the White House. Back to you Ambassador Danny Strauss. You have established that Hamas can no longer be in Gaza at least not as a governing entity. How do you reinvent the Palestinian authority as the Biden administration wants to? Well, first I don't think you reinvent it, you transform it. It is corrupt, its governance is terrible. It has no real legitimacy with its own public. Go back to 2007, at that time, the National Empire was empowered as a prime minister. It was just as right after Fatah had lost, I mean the PA had lost Gaza. The West Bank was characterized by complete lawlessness. You had a prime minister who came in, cleaned everything up, reestablished security. If you end up with decent governance, if you have a Palestinian authority that has been completely transformed, if you end up creating institutions and a rule of law with it, and you also have a Palestinian authority that unmistakably commits itself to coexistence, then you're in a different place. And that's in a sense what one has to hope for for the future. You know it's gonna be hard to sell two state solutions to Israeli public right now after what happened on October 7th. I think that's very true. But the idea that one can control the Palestinians forever on Israeli terms and think that Palestinians will remain quiescent is also not realistic. But to ask Israelis right now to come to grips with what's gonna be the future with the Palestinians is also unrealistic. Israel suffered a terrible trauma. It has to work through that. You have to, you're still in the middle of fighting Hamas. Hamas is still in Gaza. So we have to get beyond that. Once we get beyond that, then you begin to think about, okay, what is the relationship with Palestinians going to be? Arab states will want to play a role, I think in terms of transforming the PA, even reconstructing Gaza, but only if they see it's part of a larger approach that also has some kind of political horizon, some kind of political destination. The reality is they will pay more attention to the Palestinians as part of this new reality. And Israel wants to have ultimately normalization with Saudi Arabia and others. There's gonna have to be serious soul searching in all parts. But there needs to be very serious soul searching on the Palestinian side. They need to prove to the Israeli public that Hamas is not the Palestinians and it doesn't represent the Palestinians. Israelis need to see that. So this is a process. It's gonna take time. Anybody who thinks that this is a life, you can flip it, and suddenly we're a new day, no, Israel has to work through. Exactly, and my next question is, my next question is, can the Biden administration pull this off during an election year? You know, you heard something interesting from the hostage families. They talked about how united at a time of great division in the US, there was great unity they saw from Republicans and Democrats. I don't think, if in fact, you could make a major breakthrough, I think that would have the support of Republicans and Democrats alike. So if the Biden administration believes that this is important enough, and it also understands that not acting can contribute to this continuing to be a source of great instability and turmoil, the administration will make the effort and I suspect that it can have support. There are a few issues in foreign policy that have bipartisan support. One is China. This is another one that has bipartisan support. All right, Ambassador Danny Strauss, I thank you very much. You're welcome. Thank you. Back to Dr. Fadi Smail here in the studio. Are the Americans too ambitious on this? Is this something they can really pull it off in the Middle East? What do you say I mean? Palestine State, two-state solution. Right now, Palestine State. Transforming, as he said, the Palestinian Authority. As far as transforming the Palestinian Authority, that's a necessity. I mean, it can't go on like this. The place is completely, and everybody agrees on that, completely corrupt. If, for example, there's a new framework that is guaranteed by the Arab League and other bodies like that, and we say, okay, let's finally hold those elections. You need something that will create a beginning. We're all elections. You're gonna get the Hamas, are you kidding? No, wait. That's the beauty of it. When you do elections again, and you say everybody who's involved so far is out in terms of the people, the individuals. And once again, Hamas is not gonna go away very fast, okay? It's not that easy. If you wanna get rid of Hamas, which we have, hey, Israel has been talking to them for 50 years now. What will you get them from instead of them? The Islamic jihad, the front, the people's front. I mean, there are entities in Gaza and in the West Bank and elsewhere that you do not want, believe me, more than you don't want Hamas. You have to do something. Now, even promising elections, where everybody is going to, you say everybody now in power would go away, that would be a beginning. Now, you don't wanna do this, fine. So what does transforming the PA mean? It's changing the people. That's what it is. Placing it under some kind of- I think there's a lot of name game going on. We know them, Hamad Dahlan, or Bala Uzi. By the way, everybody's so upset about the name of Bala Uzi. But he's not gonna go well on Israeli public, you know? It won't, but to the truth, again, we know him. This guy will be much easier to deal with than I'm gonna hold up about. I don't know, I don't know him. He's not, well, I can't say that, I know him, but. He's not, well, we've seen what he does. All he knows to do is blow up buses, okay? That's what he knows to do. Right. I didn't see any amazing, if you really want a real leader that they have, is Mohammed Dahlan, that's for obviously, maybe you will- I wrote it down, well, we'll see. And Halahlan has good connections with Hamad, so maybe it will be some kind of compromise. And the Emirates as well. Yes, so maybe it's a compromise, who knows. Maybe. Meanwhile, the economic side, the war has a big economic impact all over, and it will have even more in the future. Our economy expert, Dr. Alice Coman, is here in the studio. Hi, Alex. Well, let's start with the Israeli economy, and that's gonna have a serious impact on the Israeli economy, what's in store? Well, in order to estimate the expense, you need to come up with a scenario. So the scenario that I will use is that the war would continue for something like eight more months, maybe not with the same intensity. And also that in Lebanon, we would not have a similar situation, that Lebanon somehow will be settled. In that case, we estimate that it's something like $500 billion, 200 billion shekels. And this is money that is required for the war, money for the casualties, money for recovering damage, et cetera. This money is not so much a problem because it's not just signing the check. The money needs to actually reach its destination. So if you're talking about the military, it's no problem. But if you're talking about people who were, for instance, in the North, who were removed from their homes, these people do not get money. So you see that the money is allocated, but it does not reach its destination. Because the government says we do not know where people are, we do not, so there's a big gap between signing the check and actually solving the situation. We saw this problem during the COVID years, the same thing the government said we can allocate budgets, the money did not reach its destination. And another problem with money is that while we're talking about the fact that United, we will win this war, the way money is treated right now, it splits the public. Because when you see that money goes to destinations that completely unrelated to the war, to some extent rejoice with the catastrophe that happened in the South, this basically splits the public. And I'm astonished by this use of money. Yeah, this is the political side you're alluding to. Now let's talk about Gaza, rebuilding Gaza. There's a lot to reveal there, what's the price on that? Well, this is going to be a great thing if you think about afterwards, we always see a boom because money comes in. In the case of Gaza, I'm not concerned at all, I'm sure that the whole world would rejoice to help Gaza recover. So I believe that money would flow in very generously. And so there'll be a construction boom, whether there are tunnels or recovering the houses infrastructure. So I'm sure that they will do extremely well. And I'm sure that Israel economy also, after the war would take off, with the exception maybe of the tourism sector, which is completely... Yes, yeah. And other international impact, from shipping around Yemen to oil prices, whatever. Well, the thing with Yemen, I think that it is like with medicine that Yemen has been a problem, I mean, the Houthis have been a problem to the whole world. Right now I believe that if things escalate, I mean, they've attacked tankers and other ships, maybe there will be a solution to that problem, a more robust solution. Some aggressive reaction. Yes, that's what I hope. Once and for all. Yes, I've never seen a problem being solved once and for all. So it's easy to talk about it, less easy to see. But I ask you about the price tag of Gaza. Can you put a price tag on that? No, because, first of all, the standard of living in Gaza is much lower. So rebuilding a house like the houses that we've seen here, compared with rebuilding them in Israel is dramatically different. So expenses are going to be much lower. And the question is, of course, how much of the money that goes in is actually funneled to bank accounts in Switzerland or are there other shelters? And how much money actually goes directly to solving this problem? But I believe that this will be from an economic point of view, the recovery would be very advantageous. There's still another war going on, the Ukraine-Russian war, right? Yes. So two wars at the same time and the world economy is still there. Yes. Well, actually, this is a scenario. There were very few wars before the Soviet Union broke down because there was stability. There was Moscow and Washington. Once the Soviet Union broke down, we see the number of wars escalating. We see how Russia and China are actually contributing to this phenomenon. And I'm afraid that we'll see more and more wars, not just here, but around the world, because it would satisfy their ambitions and their aspirations to be part of the global politics. Yet inflation is going down. Yes, well, of course, war is good to stopping inflation, so. Really? In the sense that you see this in Israel, you see the people do not go to buy things, they do not go to restaurants. So the economy is slowing down. Dr. Alex Kalman, thank you very much. Dr. Fadi Ismail, thank you too. This would be it for my part. Stay tuned for more special coverage with Khaled Ben-David here on 924 News. Have a good night from Tel Aviv. 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. Welcome to this special broadcast on 924 News. I'm Khaled Ben-David. It is day 68 of Israel's war against Hamas. Fierce fighting continues across the Gaza Strip, and that fighting is starting to take a heavy toll. The IDF announcing the deaths of 10 more soldiers, nine from just one battle in the Shujahiyyah neighborhood in northern Gaza, bringing the total number of combat deaths in Gaza to 115. Now, among those killed were senior army officers. Robert Swift has more in this report. Four soldiers from the Israeli infantry's Gulani Brigade became isolated when ambushed in Shujahiyyah, east of Gaza city. Attacked with grenades, explosives, and small arms fire, the trapped soldiers were wounded. Fearing a kidnap attempt, the IDF flooded fighters into the area, including from the Air Force's specialist rescue unit, 669. Troops who found themselves similarly attacked. When the fighting ended, nine Israeli soldiers were dead. Among them, the four initially trapped, making it one of the deadliest clashes for the IDF since it entered Gaza nearly two months ago. Among those killed were several officers, including a battalion commander and a colonel. There was a point in the war when I asked you when it will be over. You said that for you, it is over when all the hostages return and the last of the terrorists are eliminated. You meant every word you said. Yesterday, you proved in practice that after me is not a slogan, but an order for us commanders to lead the troops forward, even when there is a heavy, very heavy price. The bloody incident deepens the Gulani Brigade's connection to Shujahiyyah, where it suffered losses in 2014. Israeli commanders did not comment on how many Hamas were killed in the fight, but the use of a complex and coordinated ambush might show an adaptation in its tactics, with Hamas previously focusing on hits and run attacks with small anti-tank teams. It might also suggest Hamas is less broken than images apparently showing surrenders would imply. Well, in the wake of this devastating incident, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit today to the army cause 460th Brigade in southern Israel and had this to say to the troops. I want you to deliver the message to all soldiers. We will continue until the end, until victory, until Hamas is destroyed. Let there be no doubt about this. It is important. This is a message I want to reach every soldier. From all that's going on, our defense correspondent, Jonathan Regev, who is down south by the Gaza border in the town of Steroot, and Jonathan, unfortunately a tragic reminder that how much fighting still remains in northern Gaza, just a few kilometers from you over that border here, despite the fact that Israel has largely gained control of the area. Largely gained control of the area, yes, but can you gain control of every house and every alleyway and every street? It is very difficult. There was a lot of criticism on the Israeli army regarding the advancement of the ground operation. First, it took quite some time, a few weeks until the ground operation even began. And then the advance seemed to be very slow. And that is because there was a clear understanding in the IDF that after October 7th, Hamas realized that the Israeli army will come in for a major ground operation. And the IDF wanted to make sure that we see incidents of this kind. The least amount possible. There was a clear understanding that there are many booby traps and houses full of explosives just waiting for soldiers to come in. And that is why the whole process, the whole progress was quite slow, understanding that traps such as this one can exist in every alleyway. And yes, Sajaiyah and Jabalia and Betchanun, which is right behind me, they're all very densely populated. And every house can possess such a trap. That is why the progress has to be rather slow. Right. And in the meantime, Jonathan Hamas still retains the capability to fire rockets from the Gaza Strip, several launches today into southern and south-central Israel, including, for example, the down of Ashdod, which hasn't had that kind of barrage in recent weeks. That is correct. There's still ability, of course, the numbers are far, far smaller than the ones we've seen at the beginning of the operation. But still, you don't need more than two or three rockets to Ashdod or to Ashkelon or even further north to trigger sirens and to send everybody to shelters. Today, six interceptions over the city of Ashdod. But once again, the reminder of why it is so important to remain in the shelters and the protected rooms at least 10 minutes after the sirens and after we hear the interceptions, a part of an interceptor fell inside a commercial center causing damage, but there were no injuries because all of the residents there did what they had to do. They went to the protected shelter, waited for a few minutes, and this part of the interceptor fell inside the commercial center, again, causing damage, but no casualties. All right, luckily in that case, luckily in that case, so people really have to heed these commands of the home front and not to a mushroom shelters for at least 10 minutes. Jonathan Regev down in Stairoad, thank you for that. And joining us once again in our studio, we have Reserves IDF Major General Etan Dangot, he's the former military secretary, the three defense ministers, former coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian territories and our senior diplomatic correspondent, Owen Altman. A heavy blow, Etan, and I think the shock for a lot of people, I have to say, Seja'i is one of the neighbors in northern Gaza. And we have seen these pictures of IDF troops planting the Israeli flag in Kikar Falas in the Palestine Square in Gaza. There was a sense that Israel had gained, as I said, gained control of the area, even as it's going into potentially even much riskier areas such as Chanyounis in the south, and yet there nine soldiers killed in one blow senior commanders. I think for a lot of the public, a lot of questions being asked, how did this happen? Absolutely, first of all, it's during the combat, the maneuvering, it's a tragedy what happened there. And we lost nine soldiers from full colonel, lieutenant colonel, TIL, of course, fighters, everybody are together, most of the those who were killed are commanders. That shows you Kaleb, who are running and are coming the first to solve the problem and to lead the soldiers. By leading from the front, as they say. Secondly, I would like to pass my condolences to the families after what happened. These heroes are there for more than 60 days and what they are doing. The third is on the operative activities, we are the same condition, we are moving ahead. But I want to see if we have a map of the Sahaja'iya because it's important, as I said before, to see where it is. Few words about Sahaja'iya. In the north. Sahaja'iya is the south of the north part of Gaza, where was very close for what has been. Before Hamas took the entity in Gaza, the crossing of Karni, all the goods were entered from that time. Sahaja'iya is built as one of the main strong battalions from Hamas. It well organized, well armed. The battalion in Sahaja'iya is considered as the one, I may estimate one of the three, the best that Hamas has been deployed. Because from the past they studied that Israel, most of his entries, its entries under such kind of escalations are entering in this area. We remember what happened in 2014, while NPC of Golaniburgade entered from that part and was launched by anti-tank missile. But Sahaja'iya has been prepared well on the, under the ground, of course, on the ground with a lot of observation post anti-tank missiles, a lot of arsenal of weapon system. And it was recognized one of the main symbols for the entity of Hamas Army in the Gaza Strip that is well prepared, well trained and was involved also very deeply of what happened on the 7th of October. The faces of that area faces of Nakhaloz, Nakhaloz and a command, like the idea for the command center. Exactly, what happened yesterday, we were attacked that the event had happened in a place which is the center of Sahaja'iya. It's the main complicated place, we are there. But the maneuvering inside in Sahaja'iya today, there were a lot of casualties and dead terrorists. I may say, if you compare the number of estimation or proof that has been died, more than 50% of the battalion of Sahaja'iya has been killed. Maybe they got much more support from the tunnels, from those who escaped from other places. But the war in Sahaja'iya is not against battalion. It's already in all of the Gaza. It's against small number of terrorists, squads that we can call it. And this part shows you where we are. But we have to take lessons very quick from what happened, maybe to use much more fire. But there was some questions raised. Why wasn't there more airstrikes on that area before the actual soldiers went in? Initially, a four-man unit, which sounds quite a small unit to be put in that dangerous area. We said before that the war in Gaza, especially in Jibalia and in Sahaja'iya, will be very complicated because you cannot, each house, come with an aircraft and make a strike on it. On the other end, you have to be much more powerful and not take risks. The success of this operation, first of all, maybe I will give you my estimation. In three, four days, we will declare that this stage in Sahaja'iya has been completed. This is my estimation. Maybe one day or more, one day less. The moment we will get it, it means that up off the ground, we control all the north part of Gaza Strip with the eye-broken structure of the battalions of Hamas. The problem all over Gaza today, the change or dramatic fall in Hamas will be when we will have achievements on the tunnels underground. And I know that we are working on it and we have to continue to collect achievements step by step and to come to such a situation that even without you expect, you will hear about falling off Hamas. All right, well, that's optimistic. Let's hope that's correct, of course, report. It's reality. Okay, I understand that. But in the meantime, Prime Minister Netanyahu has to deal with the reality of 10 soldiers, 10 combat deaths in one day. Not surprising he ran down to the south to speak to the troops because this is going to be challenging now on the morale level, the national morale level, maybe the political level in terms of his leadership during the Gaza War. Right, I mean, the question of course is whether this is a one-off collab or this is going to be one of a succession of incidents like this. But again, I do think that the Israeli public has perspective. It's a kind of depressing perspective, right? On October 7th of the 1,200 Israelis who were massacred or killed that day, one-third were from the security services, right? 400 members of the security services in one day compared to 100 over the course of the war that is followed. Again, every life is an entirety to that person, to that family. Obviously, as you are discussing with Etan, it behooves the military to do what it can to save the lives of its soldiers while still respecting the rules of international humanitarian law. Of course all of that's true, but I do think Kalev, the public, still very much sees this as a war of no choice, understands the difficulties and the challenges of fighting in the Gaza Strip, not least of all Sajia. Obviously, I think there's some disappointment in the public because expectations had been set that the battles in the Northern Strip would be over by now. And they certainly aren't, to say the least, given the news of what happened in Sajia. And I think there is an element of frustration there, but hopefully, as Etan just said, it's a delay only of a few days, and then the military will be able to put its full focus in the Southern part of the Gaza Strip, even if I should say the diplomatic sandglass continues to have that sand flowing down, slow as it may be. But I don't think that this is, for Netanyahu, at the political level of strategic event, again, assuming that this isn't going to be one of a succession of events. By the way, again, I defer to Etan on this, but it seems to me that even after the intensive phase of the war is over, assuming the military stays in the territory of the Gaza Strip, and I think we all expect it will, at least in large parts of the Strip, there may well be more attacks like this and more deaths. Well, then, of course, you could have terrorism. You had terrorism while Israel was fully occupying the Gaza Strip, and all of those attacks, kidnappings, tunnels, rocket attacks, came when Israeli forces were occupying Gaza until 2005. Stay with us, gentlemen, because while we were focused today, of course, on Gaza, the shooting continued across the northern border. Hezbollah continues to fire rockets, anti-tank weapons and mortars across the Lebanese border, the IDF responding with airstrikes and Zaks. It's the kind of day when we're so focused on what happened in Gaza, corresponded Zach Anders up by the border in northern Israel, so focused on what happened in the south. It's almost a kind of routine, and we're forgetting that action is continuing there across the northern border. It has become routine, and sometimes that may not necessarily be a bad thing, because it means that this hasn't escalated into a full-blown conflict in that the IDF's scope of control is just strong enough to prevent mass Hezbollah congregation in the south from what we can tell through independent reports, sources in Lebanon. The Hezbollah forces aren't amassing in great numbers and trying to populate these southern cities in Lebanon that some of the civilians have left, but they still are coming in smaller bands, smaller numbers, and firing from positions in the south and then attempting to retreat to try and escape these IDF strikes. But the IDF strikes do seem to be having somewhat of an effect. The large plumes of smoke and explosions that people saw north of Haifa today were inside Lebanon, and that was the IDF striking from an earlier Hezbollah position that they had fired on a community near the coast and apparently no injuries or damage there. But from what we've been able to gather, Hezbollah has been using this terrain and the vehicles that they have to their slight advantage. They attempt to drive down close to the borders, close as they can get with this manned equipment, the mortars, the ATGMs, where they still need to be manned by personnel, takes a few minutes to set up and launch, and then they get in their vehicles and they drive away and try and escape these retaliatory airstrikes, not necessarily a successful position for them. Hezbollah yesterday announced over a hundred Hezbollah fighters have been killed. The number could be greater or less. That's a figure that has not been investigated or independently confirmed. It's just what Hezbollah is claiming. So it is a precarious situation here, but for the people, there's no real satisfaction in this constant tit for tat. They want the stability, they want to come back to their evacuated homes and towns, but for the meantime, if that doesn't mean that these strikes turn into a full-blown engagement and that the status quo, so to speak, is held, then that's just what they're gonna have to take at this point, and they're accepting that. All right, in the meantime, of course, tens of thousands of Israelis still living in Limbo after having been evacuated from those border communities. No end in sight yet for that, Zach Anders. Thank you for that. I do want to mention about the Northern Front. These reports coming out of the US and France trying to broker a diplomatic agreement that would resolve the border conflict with Lebanon. I don't know how realistic that is, but every day we're seeing more and more of these reports, the US envoy for the Middle East, Amos Haqstein supposedly dealing with it. A ton of realistic that we could, that it's hard to imagine Hezbollah backing down from the posture it's been taken in the wake of the fighting, ongoing fighting with Hamas. First, a lot of depend what will be the results from Gaza. If it will be that Israel succeed in a very strong way as it looks now to destroy and to defeat, and we need time. The Hezbollah organization, I think it will be first impact about the strategic way Iran and Hezbollah are looking because if it coming to higher escalation, the damage to Hezbollah is risking all the wing that is coming from Tehran to the Middle East. Secondly, another question to the other side, what is the parameter from Hezbollah to increase the involvement or maybe to create a wall that is in a high level of escalation because till now Hezbollah is still looking on the areas around the border and they are still keeping the main part, the main force of their capacities. And it means if they look and looking that Hamas is going to lose dramatically and to leave Gaza, whether they will involve or not involve, what we are looking is a Western country. What they are thinking is a terror wing and it's a different way of thinking. In my opinion, just to edit, I think that the solution will be under the diplomatic activities by United States, as you mentioned with the help of other countries. But after we will come from the achievement in Gaza, I think that we will have to increase the escalation in order to make rapid timetable that these two points will meet each other. You know, I actually, I think the context for this is I think Kalev that all of the states on all of the sides, I think have an interest in kicking this down the road. As we know, the Biden administration, the last thing they will want, and by the time we look at the timeline, right, for potential escalation to the North, we will actually be starting to get in towards the window of an election campaign where it actually could make a difference on Joe Biden's election chances. The United States won't want to see a wider conflict. I suspect Hezbollah may not want to see a wider conflict in Iran as well. And Israel, I think the country will be so exhausted socially, economically. You wonder to what extent there would be internal and domestic legitimacy for some kind of escalation on the Northern Front. Bottom line, I suspect we'll see some kind of diplomatic arrangement that lets everyone save face that's good enough to convince those who are living on the border communities on the Israeli side to go back. And I suspect a very much enhanced defensive posture and a much bigger presence of the military on the border, a new border regime. And obviously a lot, a lot, a lot of simmering tension around all of this, but maybe not a full-out war. Meanwhile, Hezbollah is showing the fact that 100,000 people around the border were left for them its first achievement. Secondly, according to this part, we have to mention that the Israeli government will have to look and to listen and to do things because 100,000 people in the North now are refugees. As I said, they are external refugees. So the meaning and the policy and the decisions of the Israeli government will be also under this group, and they are right. They demand to return as the South civilians demand to return back to the area. And that is bringing you more to the fact that I think that we will not be able to make only agreement without escalation. And it will come. And I think that Hezbollah in Iran are aware about it towards a point that Hamas is losing. Hezbollah is to calculate its steps very carefully. I just want to tell the viewers we do are expecting now that Defense Minister Yoav Galant will give an address. You see the podium there. No doubt this was spurred by the incident in the Gaza Strip in which nine soldiers were killed and an additional soldier, a 10th soldier, killed in another incident. So 10 in one day heavy blow in Yoav Galant obviously is going to want to address that. And maybe some of the other issues as well. For example, we'll be talking more about Israel-US relations in a bit. But the issue of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the US, the IDF, says it's ready to send in more aid into Gaza, including through the Karamshalom crossing, which has been reopened. And it's actually asking the UN and UNRWA, its organization, active in Gaza to help it distribute that aid. But there is a problem. And I think we have that clip where Hamas, you can see there, footage just released again today by the IDF, that is Hamas terrorists taking control of that aid that is going into Gaza, even fighting off or threatening off. Those of them you see with their weapons on top of the truck, the aid truck there, basically stealing it from the mouths of the civilians there in the Gaza Strip. Of course, Atad, you were the head of what's called Kogat. You were the one responsible for these kind of issues. Dealing with the civilian aid, it continues to be a problem. Israel Leave is now says it's the US. It's the UN that's holding up things. And yet, again and again, we don't see that aid getting to the civilians. It falls into the hands of Hamas. First of all, I don't think that we have to expect from the population to be a sensor or a parameter that will bring Hamas under pressure to live or to lose or to help the situation. This is not the DNA of the Gaza population. Secondly, concerning the situation of the main part of the population that are deployed, near Rafah crossing. And we have there almost 1 million people. And you don't see any humanitarian break. And what you see in the pictures are only few tracks. Don't take conclusion for what you say. It's only signs that give you aspect what is going there. Secondly, I think that Hamas, as from the ceasefire, enough food and enough thing for what enter to Gaza, they will prepare themselves logistic for the winter, from point of water and others in their tunnels. The third part is the civil organizations or the civil people. I think much more problematic will be the situation while we are coming to the coming two weeks with the winter time, while they are intense, et cetera. And this is a time or a bomb clock that we have to look at it very carefully. Because instead of Hamas, you can get thousands of civilians who are going towards the fence, to Israel, to Egypt. They are armed with rifles, for sure, because all Gaza is terrorism of Hamas. You have many of items of arms that they can use and then create, on the under umbrella of crime, they can be immediately like small terror groups by looking for the food. So what does it mean Kalev? It means that Israel has to be much more loudly and much more pragmatic in order to create the structure of what we call the day after and give these people the principles about what they have to expect in the future. Because the unknown is one of the things that push people to create, let's say, violence or other things. You don't need Hamas in such circumstances. All right, I just want to give an update. We have some news out of Washington. President, U.S. President Joe Biden just finished. They apparently, what seemed to have been a fairly short meeting with families of Israeli hostages, a group that was there in Washington. A member, Jonathan Dekelchen, who spoke with reporters after the meeting said, let's go to Yoav Galant, the defense minister is starting to speak. We'll get back to this. I came here a few hours ago from Mount Herzl, from Tomel Green, who fell in Gaza Strip with nine additional combatants. Beside his tomb, over the last two months, a whole row of new graves have been added. Beside the last ones, the flowers have not withered beside those, which is true evidence of these dark times. Eighty-six fatalities and new tombs have been added on Mount Herzl alone in Jerusalem since the 7th of October massacre. It's a very, very heavy price. But the aim that they fell for is definitely a worthy one. There is no juster one or more worthy. Alongside the management of the war, I have been following very, very closely the stories of those fatalities. At Hanukkah, we will say that the chain of generations is continuing, and we will speak about our ancestors who fell as well and the grandfathers who are accompanying their grandchildren as they embark on their way to the battle proudly. Israel has been following with deep recognition and, in mourning, Gal Eisencott, who, the son of Major General Eisencott, the son who fell, his son, generation to generation, they are passing on that service with such honor and the pictures that accompany them. One picture drew my attention most significantly today that of Tommel Greenberg, who was not only the lieutenant colonel and such a wonderful leader. He'd only joined that battalion, and he's holding his daughter, Arbel, up high in his arms. He and his uniform with his beret and with his arms. And she is in her little flip flocks and sunglasses and showing such a wonderful smile showing her love for her father. True, wonderful, happy moments of a father and a daughter. The 13th Battalion lost so many of its combatants on the 7th of October. The tragic story that day is a paragon of determination, valor, and courage of the combatants, the fighters of that battalion, and of all the IDF fighters, men and women alike. Hundreds of meters separate between Nachal Oz and Sajeyi, the neighborhood in both places. The 13th Battalion fought with such courage, and they didn't leave Nachal Oz until they had absolutely killed the last standing terrorist. And that is the way they will fight along their friends until they have destroyed all the infrastructure in that neighborhood and all the terrorists, just as they did not lose their valor and their courage on the 7th of October. They will continue fighting against the Hamas terrorists now as well. They are doing so at this very moment, all over the Gaza Strip and in Sajeyi as well. For over two months, they have been fighting throughout the Gaza Strip in terrains that for many years were prepared for defense and as booby traps and traps for our troops. The Gaza Strip has been revealed to be the biggest terror camp in the entire world. Under the schools, under the hospitals, all of them disguise a murderous terror organization who are willing to come back again and again to kill and murder just as they did so on the 7th of October. Our combatants are not allowing that. They are fighting because they see this evil and fighting against it. Behind them, the settlement of the Ortef and the Kibbutzim and the whole state of Israel is their tailwind. We are fighting for life, for our combatants and the continuation of the state of Israel. It is imperative. It is incumbent upon us to complete this mission along that dark path, but a just path that was paved for us by the combatants to destroy the Hamas, bring back our hostages for the sake of our future and for the future of our children in this country. These are terribly difficult hours, but these challenges that we face, we will. It is enough just to know if we look backwards what we have already achieved and we must continue marching ahead until we have destroyed and dismantled Hamas, they are continuing to progress with their missions, but the soldiers will win over that evil. It is a matter of perpetuating it, continuing with determination, because this is a national task on our shoulders. And their courage, with that courage, we will win. We will win also for Arbel, the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Amtomel, and for all those who have sacrificed their lives for their children and for the future generations. And I am calling upon all the combatants and all the security forces and the families. And I would like to say, Am Israel is behind you. We are standing strong behind you, and we are proud of what you are doing. We trust you, believe in you, and we are proud of you. And on this important day, such a sad day, I will conclude with the words with Ben-Suya and his brother fighting against the Ammon in Samuel II in the Bible. We are strong, and we will fight for the. We are the forces of God, and we will win. And now, questions, please. Minister Gallant, why didn't they actually bomb that place before the combatants went in? Why aren't they actually demolishing those houses with from the air before? We are working with tremendous force from the air and in every possible way. And I trust that the decisions made by the commanders in the sea and in the air and the commanders, unfortunately, whatever their decisions are, there are casualties. Minister Gallant, after that, terrible. Last night, are perhaps are we actually losing using the Air Force less? And perhaps is that dose not sufficient? And are you also actually discussing and striving towards some kind of solution with the hostages, or are you only continuing with the military maneuver at the moment? First of all, we are hitting out very strongly at the Gaza Strip in the north and the south. But to my chagrin, there are prices. No one tells us what to do. All those decisions are made by the IDF, and they are carrying out their work and are very impressive and very and in an excellent, outstanding way against a very cruel enemy. And vis-a-vis the hostages, the pressure that we have created and are wielding. And we did so on the first four weeks of the maneuver, brought back 110 hostages back, Israelis and 24 nationals. I'm sure with the continuation of this pressure and this maneuver, it will also bring results. I suggest that we do not deliberate issues of this negotiation so that we do not endanger those negotiations or the hostages. Is Israel doing correctly when it is sort of clashing with President Biden about what's going to happen the day after all? Instead of wielding pressure about stopping the fight, wouldn't it be better if we sort of thought of a way to actually manage this conflict as we go along? I respect Defense Minister Austin and of course President Biden and the entire administration. They are doing so much far and beyond in order to help the state of Israel if we're talking about diplomatic aid, we're talking about military supplies. And of course the way the American troops are also here with us. And I believe that we will find the way in order to help the Americans help us. That is the key. They want us to succeed. And we are aware of the fact that we must do so while taking into consideration their needs as well without waiving what we need in this war. Is Egyptian pressure what is actually sort of preventing you from creating more sort of pressure on the Philadelphia Axis? Now when we're talking, how can we ensure that all the weaponry will not be flooded into the Gaza Strip after we stop? I think that this program is a very good one. It is now progressing very well. We started in the north and then we'll continue in the south of the Gaza Strip and we'll continue acting wherever we want to. There's nothing that's going to stop the IDF troops other than a decision of our military command. And there's no one who's going to come and help the Hamas in any possible way by the Hezbollah or by Iran, no international assistance through the pressure on Israel. If you're talking about the Philadelphia Axis, we, of course, have our interests on the map and we will eradicate those who are threatening us and threatening our peace in the future. So of course, we will make sure that they will not be able to. And now directly to your answer about the prevention of the, for example, of their re-arming themselves and the demilitarization. Of course, we will make sure that there will be troops there and we will prevent that renewing of the armament of Gaza. Well, we've just heard the Defense Minister Joav Garland there, most of his prepared remarks. We're basically, I guess, along the lines of what you could call morale boosting in the wake of the ambush that in the northern Gaza we've been discussing, which nine IDF soldiers were killed. And of course, Defense Minister Garland giving his sympathies for the family but trying to give his encouragement for the home front. Now during those remarks, there was an announcement released by the IDF announcing the death of one of those individuals who went missing on October 7th. In this case, it is Tal Haimi, 41 years old. He was living on Kibbutz near Yitzhak when Hamas terrorists invaded that Kibbutz on October 7th. Only now has his death been confirmed. We don't have the details yet. Presumably his remains or bodies were recovered, perhaps even in Gaza. He lives behind a wife and three children. Tal Haimi may his memory be a blessing. Now a few other questions directed against Defense Minister Garland had to do with pressure, diplomatic pressure, being exerted on Israel, particularly by the US. And whether, in fact, that may have been a factor in the IDF not using more air power in northern Gaza, for example, ahead of this ambush that just happened the other day, an issue we discussed here in the studio. The defense minister seemed to brush that off. Nevertheless, there are growing disagreements between open disagreements between the Biden administration and the Netanyahu government. Well, this is coming ahead of the visit by US national security adviser Jake Sullivan. To Israel in the coming days where he will meet again with Prime Minister Netanyahu and sit with Israel's five-man war cabinet. Our senior diplomatic correspondent, Owen Altman, has more on the backdrop for Sullivan's visit. And of course, a big one next week by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the simmering dispute between Washington and Jerusalem on the conduct of the campaign in Gaza and especially what may lie ahead for Gaza after the fighting stops. Joe Biden said Tuesday that he once wrote to Benjamin Netanyahu, BB, I love you, but I don't agree with a damn thing you have to say. Well, yes, there is a disagreement about the day after Hamas. I will not allow Israel to repeat the mistake of the Oslo Accords. I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism, and finance terrorism. And so the argument breaks out into the open. With that video from the Israeli Prime Minister and comments at a campaign fundraiser by the US president about the two-state solution and whether the Palestinian Authority should govern the Gaza Strip. We have to make sure that BB understands that he's going to make some move to strengthen the Palestinian Authority, strengthen it, change it, move it. You cannot say there's no Palestinian state at all in the future. The ultimate negotiation of a Gaza Strip day after will be a test of wills. The prevailing view is that the Biden administration along with allies in Europe and the Arab world will have the upper hand. With the power of the purse, the leverage of the money needed to govern the Gaza Strip and rebuild it. So in the long run, Netanyahu will need an out-of-the-box idea for how to swing the balance his way. In the meantime, the politics work for both Biden and Netanyahu, with each showing his base that he's pushing back on the other. As long as this spat is contained and doesn't deepen into a full-on falling out between Israel and its essential ally. Now, as we mentioned, the short time ago, President Biden completed a closed door meeting with family members of Israeli hostages being held in the Gaza Strip. We don't have no public comments yet being made about that. But earlier, President Biden was asked about Israel at a press briefing in Washington. And also discussed these reports in the media that the IDF has begun flooding Hamas terror tunnels in northern Gaza with seawater. He had these responses. I also asked Congress for funding for Israel to take on Hamas and confront multiple other threats backed by Iran in the wake of the October 7th assault. National Security Advisor Sullivan will travel to the region this week and meet with the Israeli War Cabinet, as I have met with. To emphasize our commitment to Israel, as well as the need to protect civilian life and ensure more humanitarian assistance flows and reaches in to Gaza for Palestinian civilians. With regard to the flooding of the tunnels, I'm not a li- Well, there is assertions being made that there's quite sure there are no hostages in any of these tunnels. But I don't know that for a fact. I do know that though every civilian death is an absolute tragedy. In Israel stated this intent, as I said, to match its words with its intent, with word, with actions. That's why I was talking about today. That of course was that meeting with Lord Miesolensky, President of Ukraine. The Ukraine issue has somehow become connected with Israel as Congress weighs an arms package submitted by the Biden administration to send arms to both Ukraine and Israel. And oh, and we seem to be now in a new phase. The day after is already upon us. Certainly the discussions about it and also the disagreements between the US and Israel about what's gonna happen then. Right, well the disagreements obviously aren't new for Lev. What of course is new is them breaking out into the open. It was really at the end of the day, Netanyahu, of course, who made the first very public move on this for his own reasons. We'll get to that in a second. I do, I think, wanna start with Biden. Even if Biden was the one who was in a sense responding here. I recommend to all of our viewers, if you can, get ahold of that transcript at that fundraiser yesterday and reader at least skim through the whole thing. You really get a sense of the full picture of where Joe Biden is on this. There's plenty in there that continues his full-throated support of Israel that he's had since the early days of the war. It hasn't made headlines to the same degree. Reasonably so, right? Because what's new, of course, are the points of disagreement. But there's plenty of full-throated support for Israel in there as well. You also see both the charm of Joe Biden, Scranton Joe right there with the big ticket donors, but still trying to relate to them in that very, very personal and intimate way and speak to the gut on the issues of Israel and from the heart as he always does. And you also see the sloppiness of Joe Biden. He wasn't sloppy in the sense of the two-state solution and the day after, as we discussed in that piece. There is an element of this, but I do think it's political for Biden, of course. He needs to show his base, particularly Arab-American voters right in Michigan, where they might have an impact on the outcome of the election. Let's say that he isn't in lockstep with the Netanyahu government, but I don't think that that's the primary motivation here. I think it actually is a matter of policy. The two-state solution has been American policy going back decades, especially under Democratic administrations. I think he still sees this strategically. There's another part of that, those comments though, by the way, which I think Israel should be potentially more concerned about, where Biden in a way off the cuff talks about, quote, indiscriminate bombing by Israel and the Gaza Strip. That is right. Let me go to a Tandangot about that, that comment by Biden. The one comment where he seemed to criticize Israel's conduct of the war, and of course, Defense Minister Galant was asked about that, is U.S. pressure to restrain maybe air attacks on Gaza to limit civilian casualties, a factor perhaps even in the failure to bomb that area in which this ambush took place? I think that we don't see any real obligation from the United States towards Israel, about the airstrikes. In my opinion, the Biden line that is taking the statements are signals, you have to continue, you have to reach your goal, but be aware we are dealing with you for this goal under humanitarian issue. And this is connecting to our other partners in the Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and others to show us what we are. This is coming from the first moment of this war. In my opinion, President Biden is going with a very clear line outside, and we don't know exactly what is inside. Behind closed doors. By under estimation, I think that from my point of view, the only one that is trying to use it and to create a conflict, unfortunately, is our prime minister. Because recently, you see Bibi Netanyahu is taking the two state solutions, the PA from West Bank to Gaza, and make with him statements. I would like to say in this time, we are on the top, we are coming to the top of the war. Please leave the political issue. Don't use it for your base with Smotrich and Ben Qvih. They are not the majority here. Our soldiers are fighting to use now the issue of the PA or Hamastan or other kind of things. It is going only when you have elections. And for this point of view, I see that Netanyahu adopted a line that is damaging Israel for the relationship with the United States and can bring a damage in the future. All right, well, I will add, though, that there are questions that are gonna have to be answered about the day after that are coming up. They're not just theoretical late on. They're already having these discussions. And that is a political question. Right, well, I mean, just going back to Netanyahu's strategy quickly, I think he has three objectives here. Right, again, you can argue whether they're appropriate or inappropriate. One, again, what's the core argument against him? Yeah, he was asleep on the Job Kaleb and left Israel vulnerable on October 7th. He's now throwing that back at his opponents. It's because of Oslo, that was even more dangerous. Second, to peel off center-right voters. And third, a kind of season two of what was that another league campaign, remember the big posters in one of the election cycles with BB with all the leaders. Again, the message, I'm the only one who's in, quote, another league who can stand up to Joe Biden. Again, whether that's wise or unwise. All right, I do think we have to keep in mind when we're talking about American pressure or resisting American pressure, the contributions the US are making here. It's on one level giving arms to Israel, which it needs quite seriously at this point, not only for the war in Gaza, but the potential of a extended war in the North. The deployment of US forces, the Sixth Fleet off the coast of Lebanon, intended to and deter his baller from widening its attacks beyond the border area. The deployment of US naval forces in the Red Sea to try to limit the attacks by the Houthi rebels. They ran back to Houthi rebels that they're launching of rockets and in a couple of cases we've seen, the US forces actually act to prevent rocket attacks on Israel, something we haven't seen since the first Gulf War over two decades, over, excuse me, three decades ago. So there's, and then there is the other, you might say the diplomatic iron dome that the US is providing Israel, especially at the United Nations. Because again, we saw the United Nations General Assembly yesterday passing a non-binding resolution calling for an immediacies fire in Gaza and the unconditional release of all the hostages. But there was no mention of Hamas or the October 7th attack with the GA rejecting US proposed amendments that would have added a condemnation of the terror group. Now the final vote, the member was a non-binding resolution, was 153 in favor, 23 abstentions and only 10 votes against it. Now those 10 votes were Israel, of course. The United States, Chechia, Guatemala, Liberia, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea and Paraguay, not powerhouses really there, except for the United States we have to say. Here are some of the comments from the debate over the resolution. Any ceasefire right now would be temporary at the best and dangerous at worst. Dangerous to Israelis who would be subject to relentless attacks and also dangerous to Palestinians who deserve the chance to build a better future for themselves free from Hamas. And I'm confident that this entire membership will not agree to place the blame only on Hamas, but not on Israel. That would be unjust, unfair and inequitable. Mr. President, when you deny people freedom and dignity, when you humiliate and trap them in an open air prison where you kill them as if they were beasts, they become very angry and they do to others what was done to them. A ceasefire means one thing and one thing only, ensuring the survival of Hamas, ensuring the survival of genocidal terrorists committed to the annihilation of Israel and Jews. This is no secret. Hamas's charter makes this clear and Hamas leaders have publicly stated that October 7th was just a rehearsal. A ceasefire is a death sentence for countless more Israelis and Gazans. By voting in favor of this resolution, you are supporting the survival of Jihadist terror and the continued suffering of people of Gaza. The exploitation of the Palestinians has made the UN a moral stain on humanity. Why are you continuing to allow them to make the United Nations irrelevant? Owen, there at the UN, it looks like, maybe with Papua New Guinea, the US is the bulwark stopping, for example, a security resolution against Israel, or binding one calling for a ceasefire. Right, not for the first time. And there were a few European countries who joined the United States in voting against Austria, Czech Republic, and maybe a couple of others. But I do think you're right, Colob, this has to be classed as a disappointment, not a disaster, but a disappointment to Israel to see abstentions from Britain, from Germany, for example. You see a bit of the evidence of the diplomatic erosion. Again, not a disaster, but I do think a disappointment. All right, I think the expectation from the United Nations has never been high and never been even in the medium level. United Nations is like we were educated on it. Unfortunately, it said, this is scenic, this is circus. Right.