 Seven more troops have been killed in Gaza as the IDF engages in fierce battles in the south of the Strip. 104 IDF soldiers have now fallen in the fighting since October 7th. Hamas and Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets at northern central and southern Israel today. One man was lightly injured in Holon just south of Tel Aviv and the Israeli government has delayed another vote on whether to allow Palestinians from the West Bank to resume work in Israel. Well, we've been in the studio this hour. Yakov Lapin is a military and strategic affairs analyst at the Jewish News Syndicate and the Miriam Institute. Thank you very much for being with us, Yakov. So let's talk about the progress inside Gaza. We've got this ongoing, very dense, intense urban combat in the north, in the neighborhoods in the north and also now, of course, in Hanyunas. Just overall, how would you say it is progressing 66 days in? There are three core areas that the IDF has identified as being Hamas's core areas, the things that are necessary for it to exist as a terror army and as a regime. And that is Jabalia and Sejaya in northern Gaza and Hanyunas in southern Gaza. The IDF is highly active in all three of those places. It is slowly taking control. Overground is the first step. And of course, there's lots of activity to dismantle Hamas's underground infrastructure, blowing up tunnel shafts, striking tunnels from the air, etc. So this is a slow going thing because it requires the dismantling of an asymmetric terror army that is heavily impeded in built-up areas. There is no sort of six-day war instant victory here. It is slow, but I would say that it's certainly progressing. It's certainly moving in line with the overall Israeli war aims, which is the dismantling of Hamas. And as time goes by, time is playing here militarily speaking to Israel's advantage. And Hamas is slowly but surely being removed as a terror army eliminated, taken off the map. And it's on its way out of history, I would say, as Gaza's ruler and the predominant terrorist army in the Gaza Strip. Right. That's what the IDF chief says, Halsey Halevi. He says we're beginning to see the end of the Hamas ruling infrastructure in Gaza. I think 8,000 terrorists killed. That's what Israel is saying. So far, would you say that's around a third of the fighting force? And also we've seen dozens of surrender, haven't we? We've all seen the pictures of men who have been captured in Gaza. Is that contributing to hastening the collapse of Hamas, do you think? I think it's a reflection of the collapse of Hamas. The more that collapse and the crumbling occurs, the more morale will be crushed and more and more its operatives will surrender. We have hundreds, several hundreds of them already in Shin Bet custody. A lot of them have given very valuable intelligence information during their interrogation. On the eve of the war, the fighting force of Hamas was approximately 30,000. If we take this number of 8,000, which I'm not able to confirm, the last number that I knew of for sure was 5,000. And that was about a week ago. But it could easily be around 8,000 today. And if that's the case, we also have to add in how many of them are very seriously injured and are unable to fight. So I would say, Israel is certainly moving towards the benchmark of at least half of Hamas's fighting force unable to take part in this war, whether they've been killed or injured or they're surrendering. And that is really a mortal blow to Hamas. And as time goes by, that blow is going to deepen more and more until they cease functioning as an organized, hierarchical terrorist army with the ability to give commands, fire rockets, send cells with instructions. It's not going to exist in that form any longer after this war. I'm sure that it will continue to exist in other ways as sort of an underground terror movement and as a concept, but not with the capabilities that it has had until now. All right. Yakov, for now, thank you very much. It's not often here in Israel that the prime minister and the military want the same thing. And the security cabinet decides another, but that's what happened last night when Israel's security cabinet rejected a push to return Palestinian workers from the West Bank to jobs inside Israel. Our senior correspondent, Owen Altman, explains the reasons behind that move. Once upon a time, in an October 6th world, this was the heiress crossing, the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, with Palestinian traders and workers lining up to cross into Israel to do business or earn a living. But this is an October 7th world, and in that world, the Israeli security cabinet Sunday night rejected a move to return even West Bank Palestinian workers to building sites and farms inside Israel. Returning Gaza workers is a non-starter. The entry of workers from Judea and Samaria is exactly the continuation of the same concept that we warn against. We know what it is when they come full of hate and motivated. I'm not saying that all of them are, but it's enough that 10 percent of them are like that. For decades, West Bank Palestinians have been a key part of the Israeli workforce, filling jobs that Israelis don't want to do, an imported workforce, as in many developed countries. The establishment saw this as a win-win. The Israeli economy got workers it needs. West Bank Palestinians earned money to support their families. Then came October 7th, and reports that workers from inside the Gaza Strip helped the perpetrators navigate the Kibbutzim on which those workers had worked, and slaughter Israelis, whom those workers had known. Some experts still urge caution. During the Second Intifada, I was in charge of the Ramallah area, and I said that we need to let those people that are not involved with terrorism to come and work in Israel. Eventually, the government decided not to let them work, and I think that many people were pushed into terrorism. The security cabinet rejected the advice of the National Security Council and of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, making this a striking vote of no confidence. The politicians and likely the public do not trust those security services to keep out the bad guys, just like they didn't, on October 7th. Well, the Defense Minister, Joav Gallant, has also been speaking about that, and he stressed the importance of keeping quiet in the West Bank in order to focus on the mission of eliminating Hamas in Gaza. Here's what he had to say. The forces are doing their job well. It is very important that Judea and Samaria remain quiet so that we can complete our mission in the Gaza Strip, eliminate the Hamas organization, eradicate it, remove its military and governmental capabilities, and reach the desired result there. When it becomes clear what the IDF has done in Gaza, it will affect Judea and Samaria as well as all other places. Weak of laughing remains with us in the studio. We're also joined now by Samir Sinjilawi. He's a Fatah activist and a member of the Jerusalem Development Fund, the chairman of that group. Thanks for being with us, Samir. I'll start with you, if I may. A recent poll shows that support for Hamas and the October 7 attacks are high in the West Bank and around 75%. I mean, by allowing workers from the West Bank to return to Israel, wouldn't this be a major security risk for Israelis? Well, I guess it is sad to see that, again, the group of people that was working against the interest of Israel before the 7th of October through the Judical coup and reform, smotherage and empyrean are now also trying to work against the interest of Israel by blocking the advice of the professionals in Israel if the security and the National Security Council and the Prime Minister and the generals say that this is in the best interest of Israel from a security point of view. And I don't think that these guys do have an margin of mistake. Now, they are very sensitive after the incidents of the 7th of October. How can a group of people who have never been more than monkeys in politics and into cabinets like Smotherage and Empyrean over due the professional advice of the security? Sorry to interrupt you, but we've seen Hamas flags flying in towns in the West Bank. We've seen the hoarding of weapons. Would you think Israeli citizens would be happy to see Palestinians coming from the West Bank and working in their towns and cities when we've seen that there is support for Hamas and what happened on October 7th? Hasn't everything completely changed? Let me tell you something. Unfortunately, the Israeli public opinion and the media don't really read the Palestinians in the correct way. I am a Palestinian who has lost friends on the 7th of October. I lost Ophir Levinstein, who was my close friend, and I cried for him. And I lost Viviane Silver and I want to her funeral in Kibbutz Gezer. And I also cried for her. We also cry what's happening in Gaza now. There is a lot of anger or among both people. There is a lot of sorrow, of sadness. But this does not mean that the majority of Palestinians or the majority of Israelis are pushing us to war. They prefer the option of war. I am 100% sure that the majority of Israelis and Palestinians prefer peace to war. And this is by nature. Now, the idea of keeping more pressure on the West Bank, let me ask you a question. What prevents the West Bank to explode now? There has been more than 67 days of war against the Gaza. Why doesn't the West Bank explode? Because the majority of the Palestinians weren't in favor of what has happened on the 7th of October. This is a big difference between the war in 2021 when the catalyst for the war was al-Aqsa Mosque, which is a nerve that touches all the Palestinians. What has happened on the 7th of October does not get the support of the majority of Palestinians, even in the West Bank, even inside Gaza. So when the security people in Israel, when the cabinet members say that it's in the best interest of Israel, it is in the best interest of Israel. And Smoldevich and Benzir are working against the best interest of Israel. This is the equation, unfortunately. All right, Samir, thank you. And I just want to say I'm very sorry that you lost friends on October 7th. I just wanted to say that to you. And thank you for that point. Let me come to you, then, Yaakov. I mean, it seems the entire security establishment is saying you have to let Palestinians from the West Bank come into Israel and work. Would Israelis be happy with that, do you think? Yeah, we have a difficult decision junction here, because from a security perspective, the IDF is expressing confidence in its screening system. And it's saying that the same screening system that was able to keep terrorists out of Israel but let in Palestinian civilians who were interested in basically working, making a living and supporting their families. And at the same time, keeping the West Bank quiet, while especially now, the IDF can focus on the Gaza Strip. So the security establishment is expressing confidence in that screening system. At the same time, it's also possible to understand Israelis who are very wary of that after October 7th. After all, Gaza civilians were allowed to come into Israel. And some of them, according to, you know, suspicions, gathered intelligence for Hamas. So it's understandable. I think both sides of this debate are understandable. And the Cabinet is going to have to make a decision. Perhaps it could make the screening process more severe, let in a certain age group in, a married man over 35, et cetera, make it more difficult. But at some point, a decision is going to have to be made that will weigh all of the costs, all of the benefits. These are complicated, strategic long-term decisions. And it's the job of the Cabinet to weigh it all up and make a decision in the best interest of the country. All right. Thanks, Jacob. Just to draw our viewers' attention to what we're looking at now. These are live scenes right now coming to us from Gaza. It looks like flares going up over the horizon there. Samir, if I could bring you back in. I mean, from the point of view of the Palestinians, I mean, this is a very precarious way to live, isn't it? You know, every time there is going to be this explosion in violence, hopefully not on a scale we saw on October 7th, but for your livelihood to depend on that, would it not be better for the Palestinians to look elsewhere for their economic opportunities? I don't know, perhaps in Jordan or elsewhere. Well, this brings us again. I want to take you back to the day of 6th of October. At that day, everybody was engaged in discussing the option and the possibility of a peace treaty between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Everybody was very optimistic that there will be a huge change politically and economically in the region. There was talks and the Americans were investing a lot of efforts and all these diplomats coming from Washington DC that are using their talents and diplomacy and muscles into trying to control this war, were investing their time into trying to push peace. So I guess this war has managed to stop this effort, has managed to distance us from the possibility of progress in the region and went us into a dark tunnel of hatred and revenge. If we can stop it immediately and bring back the momentum of the Saudis to the area where the Saudis come with all the Arabs and with the Israelis, with the Egyptians, with the Jordanians and with those moderate Palestinians that are looking towards a progress with Israel and try to work first of all through diplomacy, a solution that will bring back the hostages to Israel and stop the war in Gaza and then the money to rebuild Gaza and then a possible path towards diplomatic progress with the Saudis engaged in the Abraham Accords with the Palestinian entering into this process. Maybe then all of us will live in prosperity in a good economic relation, in a good political relation. So this war is preventing and distancing us from this progress. We need to end it and we need to replace military options with peace options. Maybe it's time to say that maybe it was not correct. Do you agree on the need to destroy Hamas? Well, I'll tell you something. Maybe the way to end the rule of Hamas in Gaza can be achieved by diplomatic means when all these big players come and enforce a certain arrangements in Gaza. This is much better. It will save a lot from black. You are losing a lot of soldiers every day and we are losing a lot of kids every day in Gaza. Maybe it's time to stop this and to use political muscles. Hamas will not be able to continue in Gaza. They know this more than any other ends. Who do you think will be able to reconstruct Gaza? Are they able to raise 30 billion USD now that is needed for the reconstruction in Gaza? There is no life. Gaza now is not capable for people to live in and they know that they need to deliver the keys. So let's use the political path instead of the military. It will achieve better results and quicker results. Okay. If you'd like to respond briefly, Iakov. Well, look, again, regarding the core question here of allowing workers in, there is a complex dilemma here. The security community, the security establishment is expressing confidence in its ability to screen and keep terrorists out, let civilians who want to work in and they think that this will stabilize the West Bank and serve both the security interests and the economic interests of everybody in the region. The weariness of sections of the Israeli public is also understandable. We're in a new reality and I think the cabinet is going to have to weigh up between these two opposing viewpoints and reach some sort of solution that can somehow satisfy them both. All right, Iakov. And Sam Esindjilawi, thank you very much indeed. Well, Israeli citizen Sharon Aloni Cuno survived 52 days as a hostage in Gaza. She was held with her 23-year-old Juliet Emma before being released under a one-week ceasefire deal with Hamas. She's since been speaking out about her experience. Sometimes when there was a power cut, they let us open the door and they drew the curtain and then we had to whisper. How do you retain a little girl whispering for 12 hours? Every moment you have to be angry at her. Tell her, quiet, quiet, don't, don't. We had to tell the children that it's dangerous outside and here we're safe. But with this safety comes rules. We need to be quiet. We must not be heard because the bad guys will come. You need to make up lots of stories and behave in a way that you would never behave at home to make them keep quiet in this situation. We were together almost until the end in unbearable conditions. You need to knock on the door to leave to the toilet to ask for basic things. My daughters were already toilet trained and I had to revert to using nappies because you knock on the door and you don't know when they'll open it. They had to pee in the sink and pool in a trash bin. You don't know if there will be food or not. You don't know. We all have so many triggers. Every little noise, every door slam, every airplane flying. The girls get charged and cling on to me. Tantrums, because they had to be so quiet for 52 days, closed up in a single room. This is not a normative situation for a three-year-old. It means not to stay in a crowded, loud place because it reminds them of it. It means not knocking on doors next to me. Not to sleep with a door shut. Life has changed. This is not life. I think none of the returnees came back to being themselves as they were before October 7 on so many levels. The inability to sleep, the nightmares, the triggers, speaking quietly is just one of the habits that stuck with us. Three days before we were released, they separated David from us. They took him into a different hiding place and since then I don't know what is happening to him. The girls are torn. I'm torn. He's been my partner for 10 years. He's my other half and the love of my life. He's the father of my girls who are asking every day, where's daddy? Where's daddy? I need to explain to them that he is still there. Every minute we're waiting is like a Russian roulette. Will they live through the day or not? And the conditions are difficult. Conditions that no one needs to live in, especially not children or adults without medicine. We saw that many have already lost their lives in captivity. So each moment is critical and we need to do everything to put the aim of releasing all hostages prior to anything else. And over 100 hostages were freed by Hamas under that deal. Many of them though still have family members in captivity and they are desperate for any sign of life from Gaza. I'm more in this report from Channel 12. It's been 65 days since Yoni's daughter Naama was kidnapped to Gaza. The chilling video of her abduction has become a symbol of cruelty and harm to young women and the danger they are in. When the children began to return from captivity, some of the girls returned with braids in their hair, braids that Naama's parents know closely. Maybe it's stories we tell ourselves. Naama did a lot of triathlons in her youth and this is exactly the way they used to do these braids. Imagining her sitting and doing braids for a little girl she took care of is something that could actually sound normal. Yes, it certainly warms the heart but for a relatively limited time. Since then a real sign of life has arrived. Abductiz who saw Naama and were with her before they were released called Yoni and said they had met her. She is injured but alive. The first feeling is there is air. You can breathe again but it lasted a few hours until the evidence came. Naama is 19 years old. She's a girl. She has quite a few girls with her, young girls. We all understand their vulnerability, their potential harm that can be done to them and the feeling that those who are running the war does not want to trust. They're the only ones we can put our trust in but as long as they don't give the most basic sense of security it actually causes this cry to be doubled and doubled. All right we're going to interrupt that report to bring you the defense minister Joav Galen he's speaking now. Lighting the candles all over the Gaza Strip in the north and in the south. It's going to enhance and we'll reach all the points we want to get to in the Gaza Strip. We are now in the midst of a very harsh war, a just war, a war on our right to live in this place a life of prosperity, a war for the future of the Jewish people and the future of the Israeli people. This is a just war and this is a war that we with the help of God will win. In the beginning of the war we determined two aims to eliminate the Hamas as a military and governing body and to bring back the hostages to their homes and families and country and we are going to keep these two aims. I promise you we're going to keep these two aims. We are advancing in the battles, we are deepening our achievements, we are encircling the last post-holes of Hamas in Jebelia and Sajia, two places that the regiments over there were considered invincible by Hamas. These are the very harsh nucleus that were prepared for years in order to fight us and I'm telling you there are now on the verge of dismantling. The number of people who surrender in these places show us what's happening and when those who surrender come out from the bunkers and the tunnels they say to us we don't have weapons, we don't have food, we feel isolated and they say another thing. We know that our commanders betrayed us, they are hiding deep down under the tunnels and they sent us to our death and I'll tell you something else. Among those who surrender there are also terrorists who participated in the 7th of October massacre. Those same people who went out on murderous voyages who killed children and raped women are now in a situation that they have only one possibility to die or to surrender and when they choose surrender they lift their hands up, they put the weapons aside and they hand themselves to the IDF forces and they tell us very interesting things. We are now towards the paint of collapse in the city of Gaza and we shall continue in other places as well. The fate of the other regiments, those who are fighting against us and those we haven't reached yet is the same. We are going to eliminate them, it's going to happen in Chamyunas and the Anvierons and I call upon all those regiments and battalions, the terrorists, the commanders surrender, give in. If you do you will be able to save your lives, otherwise your death is imminent. A terrorist who is in the opening of the tunnel has no alternative. He can choose one of two either to surrender without any conditions or die. Recently I keep hearing about a discourse in the fact that the heads of Chamas are preparing for their future and I want to tell them, the fate of a head of Chamas, or any other senior commander, and the same thing goes for the terrorist, to the surrender or die, there's no third possibility. Those who will surrender, we will deal with them in a certain way. All the others, their fate is definite, they are going to die. Therefore anybody who prefers surrendering, as it's happening to hundreds recently in the north of the strip, we are going to save his life. All the others are going to find their death in the battlefield and we will know how to win and how to fight and how to hit Chamas wherever we are fighting. I'd like to take this opportunity on the Hanukkah Festival, the Festival of Light, to thank our great friend the United States. America as America shows greatness of spirit. We see the equality and identity both in the values and the interests. We, this is a war of the sons of light against the sons of darkness, the makhabians against the enemy. I know that with the help of the United States, we shall prevail. I thank profusely for the military, security, political assistance to the President Biden and the Secretary of State Austin. They are really real friends in a time of stright. And also I want to say at the time, for all those leaders of countries who vote differently, you cannot call with their right hand to eliminate the evil, the ISIS of Gaza, the murderous, brutal organization. You're also what it does. And on the left hand, to ask for the ceasefire, you have to make a decision. And the decision is very simple. It's value-based up to the victory. You cannot live with phenomena of such evil close to humans, close to culture. It cannot happen in Israel or any other place in the world. The IDF will continue to act and will do whatever is needed, will turn every stone in order to bring back the hostages to their home. We are committed to that. The entire security system is committed. And so am I personally. This is an opportunity to demand again from the Red Cross to live up to what is expected of it. We came to an agreement that there will be a visit of the Red Cross in the place where the hostages are. And I call upon all the organization, especially the Red Cross, to bring a sign of life from our hostages. Women, elderly, soldiers, men and women, they should reach all of them, to visit them, and to bring a sign of life. This is the humanitarian basic deed. And humanitarian is not just what's happening in Gaza. Humanitarian is also what is happening to our hostages. This is your duty. You should live up to it. This is a difficult battle. It's a battle that's going to take time, but this is a battle we shall win. Victory will be achieved because of our national determination and the need of all of us to unite around our goals as one people, one society to bring about victory. And I want to tell you that I see recently an unusual phenomena of national determination. Yesterday I went to the basic training base. I saw the new recruits of Golani Regiment and other soldiers who were just recruited. And I saw that they were battling for their place. They know that they're going to places where they have to sacrifice maybe their life. And they say we want to get to the spearhead. And they say another thing. We are continuing the way of our grandparents, of our parents, and our parents, and our brothers and sisters and friends. They say, if I don't go there, who's going to go? That's what they told me. And at the same time, sometimes their siblings or their parents are fighting here and now in the Gaza Strait, both in the North and in other missions. And I think this is an incredible reflection of national resilience. But I also meet the reservists every day in the North and the South, in the center. I saw the determination and they say to me, we're going to continue to the victory if it takes a month or two or a year. And I say to them, Shapo, Shapo to you. You're the reflection of the most beautiful thing in the people of Israel. And I say to the hundreds of thousands of the reservists and their families, you deserve three things from us. One, clear missions. The second, all the resources in order to materialize the missions. And the third, a decent attitude. We should listen to you, take care of your needs, your welfare. We'll take care of your education if you're not in the university and we'll take care of your families who are now alone while you are already two months in the field. This is our obligation as a society in order to enable you, the reservists, to make these very important missions and succeed. To conclude, let me say again, this is a just war. It's essential. It is a war on our future. We have who to rely on. The citizens, the soldiers, the commanders, the people of the Shin Bet and the Mossad, the Israeli police and the border patrol and those who command them. I want to express my appreciation to the chief of staff, Halevi, the way he manages the war, Ronen Bar, the head of the Shabak, the head of the Mossad. Daddy, I want to thank all of you for everything you are doing. You are just giving us great love to our heart and the sense of confidence that we shall win. I'm sure we shall prevail and with the help of God we're going to implement all our goals. Happy holiday. Questions. We hear about an American pressure to finish the war until the beginning of 24. What's your position? I think that the war will end when the goals will be obtained. Since I really consider everything that the United States is asking and says, because of the friendship, but also because of the partnership and the interests, I take seriously together with all my colleagues in the Cabinet. I really take very seriously what America is saying and will find a way in order to implement the goals in order to help the Americans to help us. Channel 12, due to the military pressure, is there a way for a new deal of the hostages return and did Israel actually use phosphor bombs in the north? As for the first question, let me say the following. When I initiated the logic that says we're going to maneuver into the midst of the Gaza Strip, some people doubted and they said that may be about the fact that we'll never see the hostages. And I said it's the opposite. If we stay on the line, we'll never see them again, because for the Hamas it doesn't make a difference. Whether a hostage, a soldier of theirs is 20 years in jail, they'll play with us. But when we'll maneuver, we'll obtain two goals. First of all, we'll hit them. Second, we'll have something to give them. And to give them is that they'll continue to harm them and give them a minute of peace. That showed, proved itself, and 113 hostages came back. 110 alive. This is a great achievement. And I believe that if we enhance the pressure, the offer will come. And when they come, we shall consider them. The second question, the IDF and the entire security force, we act according to the international law. We did and we shall. All right, the Defense Minister, Yoav Galant, they're taking questions in a speech. He praised the courage of the troops and the reservists. He said that Hamas was on the verge of collapse, and he also had a message for the international community. You cannot support the collapse of Hamas on one hand and call for a ceasefire on the other. Yachov Lapin from the Miliam Institute is with me in the studio. What did you make of that? He says Hamas is now on the verge of collapse. That will be, you know, music to the ears of many in Israel tonight, won't it? Of course. And, you know, very interestingly, in response to the question about American pressure, he, of course, expressed a lot of gratitude for American support, but he said this war will end when its goals are achieved and not before. I think that's an important statement, which is showing that Israel remains completely determined to dismantle Hamas. And even if it takes longer than January 1, which it will, by the way, there's no question that it will, it's going to continue to do that, even if it's at a lower intensity, but it's going to continue. So I thought that that was actually probably the most important part of his statement. And everything else is, you know, obviously, he's giving a situation update and he's telling Israeli people that slowly but surely what we were saying earlier here in the studio, the Hamas terror army is being dismantled in its core areas and its three core areas in the Gaza Strip. It's slow, steady work, but it is paying results. Yep. All right. Yeah. Well, for now, thank you very much. Well, the UN General Assembly is set to meet tomorrow to discuss the situation in Gaza this after the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire. The UAE, pushing through the latest diplomatic measure in the UAE, has also arranged for delegation of foreign ministers from Security Council countries to visit the Rafa crossing between Gaza and Egypt. For more on that, we can go to New York. Our senior U.S. correspondent, Mike Wagenheim, joins us. So, Mike, first of all, the General Assembly, the resolutions from the UNGA, of course, are non-binding, but this is yet more pressure, isn't it, on Israel to agree to a ceasefire? Yeah, I think it'll be interesting not so much whether it passes or not, but who flips their vote. We've already gotten indications that Albania and Japan, who abstained on the last United Nations General Assembly vote on the Israel Hamas war, are going to vote in favor of the resolution to be floated tomorrow. In fact, Japan is signed on as a cosponsor. Poland, a non-security council member, unlike Albania and Japan, it looks like they are also going to support tomorrow's resolution in the UN General Assembly, and some other countries who either abstained or voted no last time around on the UNGA are indicating that they'll flip their vote this time around. So I think that will be much more of an indication still. As you say, unlike the Security Council, the General Assembly resolutions are non-binding. Israel will do what it usually does with those resolutions, which is give their speech from their representative, walk out and don't look back. All right. Well, meanwhile, we've got officials from Russia and China, among others, visiting the Rafa crossing. This UN Security Council delegation is about overseeing the aid into Gaza. But just in terms of protocol, how unusual is this move? It's fairly unusual. It's not unprecedented for the member of the Security Council at this time, the UAE, to organize a delegation like this, try to round up all of the representatives from the Security Council members and get them in one location to focus in on an agenda item. However, I'm not really sure what they're getting out of this particular visit. They're not heading into Gaza. They're only at the Rafa crossing. They're getting briefed by officials, but those same officials brief fairly regularly. It seems like more of a photo opportunity or an attempt to put the item on the global agenda even more so than really any kind of opportunity to get an insight into what's actually going on or not going on in Gaza. It is notable, though, that one Security Council member sent nobody to this particular event earlier today in Rafa. That's the United States. Linda Thomas Greenfield is elsewhere in the world, handling other agenda items. Her deputy, Robert Wood, said he would not be attending, and even the U.S. did not send even a low-level representative to this event. It seems that the Americans are more and more isolated on the Security Council on this particular issue, but are holding their ground for the moment. Mike, thanks very much indeed. Mike Wagenheim there. While the French, German and Italian foreign ministers, meanwhile, are pushing for the European Union to impose new sanctions against Hamas for the October 7th attacks, the three calling on the EU High Commissioner, Josep Borrell, to take a strong stand against the terrorist group and show solidarity with Israel. Let's take a listen to the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaking earlier. The suffering of the Palestinian civil society in Gaza saddens us. Humanitarian aid for civilians must improve. Mark and I are convinced that the two-state solution is the only way for Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace. Well, Jakob Lapin is here with us in the studio, and this goes to Defense Minister Gallant's point, doesn't it, you know, about there are calls for a ceasefire, but some countries are making that call publicly. But while secretly hoping that Israel does go ahead and destroy Hamas pretty quickly. Sure. I mean, there's a great deal of hypocrisy in the international community. A lot of pressure is being applied in some Western countries, and in the region we see a lot of doublespeak. And at the end of the day, I think that a majority of sane governments understand even if it's behind closed doors, that it's in the interest of regional and international security to eliminate a jihadist genocidal terrorist army from the Middle East's map to replace it with some sort of autonomy and a regional setup that's promoted by moderate players like Saudi Arabia, like the United Arab Emirates, like the Egyptian government. And that would actually also strike a blow against Iran and its entire radical access. So, you know, real politic push comes to shove. I think most governments understand what's in the interests of regional and global security. But, you know, we have other factors at play, pressure, political pressure, domestic pressure, and that is skewing some of their ability to speak clearly on this issue, I would say. Okay. And I just want to talk about something that the war cabinet minister, Benny Gantz, brought up with the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Flinken, thanking him for that US veto at the UN Security Council over the weekend. But he also said, according to a statement that Israel will have to, sooner or later, remove the threats posed by Hisbollah. Of course, the Americans have said they don't really want that front to be opened up right now. So, it's interesting because on the one hand, it's in Israel's interest to prioritize the dismantling of the Hamas-Terra army and the Gaza Strip and to complete the lion's share of that task before thinking about what's going to happen in the North. And on the other hand, of course, there is US pressure. So how can this circle, you know, how can this all come together? And it does seem to be working because Israel is giving the US a chance to resolve the Northern tensions diplomatically, even though it thinks that there's not a lot of chances of success for this effort. But it gives everybody here the space and the time to focus on their goals. So Israel focuses on prioritizing the South. The United States gets its chance to try and use diplomacy to de-escalate. And at some point... But can you de-escalate with Hisbollah diplomatically? I'm extremely skeptical. But I think, you know, for the next several weeks, the stop clocks here are actually in sync. The American and Israeli stop clocks are in sync. At some point, the Israeli stop clock is going to count down to zero, and it's going to start focusing military resources that will free up from the South north. And then Israel is going to, in my opinion, declare that there's going to be some sort of buffer zone. We're already hearing comments in that direction. There's going to have to be a buffer zone on the Northern border, because tens of thousands of Northern residents will not come back to their homes if Hezbollah, Red Juan, death squads are there waiting just like they were, you know, up until October 7th and even after that. So clearly the status quo will not return. And then once Israel announces that, you know, decision to set up a buffer zone, which I think is likely, we'll have to see a Hezbollah response. I don't think they're going to take that quietly. So all of the signs point to an escalation, but not necessarily now. And so I think that's the situation we're looking at, at least in the immediate term future, an alignment of interests of Israel in the US. And at some point, that may change. And do you think there is a readiness here in Israel for another war? We would have had two, perhaps three, perhaps four months of war with Hamas and Gaza. Do you think that there is the morale and the steadfastness to go ahead with another war, one which could be a lot more serious? Right. And I mean, we don't we don't know what the scope of a Northern war will be, because there are various scenarios. It could be at an intermediate intensity. It could be at full scale intensity. So we don't know. But is the public ready for a full scale war with Hezbollah? I doubt it because the level of firepower that Hezbollah can rain down on the whole of the country is unprecedented. And of course, what Israel can do to Hezbollah and Lebanon is also unprecedented. And we have not seen that. The Middle East hasn't seen Israel use all of its firepower. So there's a lot of firepower that's being waved around in the background as threats. And we will have to see how much of that ends up being used once this buffer zone in the north will likely be established. All right. Yakov, for now, thank you very much indeed. Let's go to the north of Israel. Now, our correspondent, Ariel Ossiran, is there. And Ariel, if you want to pick up on those comments by a war cabinet member, Benny Gantz, when he was speaking to the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken. Indeed, Laura, in this conversation that they had a short while ago, Gantz reiterating the importance of the international community to try and de-escalate the situation along the Israel-Lebanon border, noting that the increased attacks by Hezbollah obliges Israel to act. This is what Gantz relate to U.S. Secretary of State Blinken. But this also comes pretty much coinciding with reports from Saudi Arabia, noting that Israel had relayed its conditions to international mediators regarding the situation along the Israel-Lebanon border. Now, according to this report, citing sources saying that Israel demanded that only the Lebanese army hold weapons south of the Litani River. This is already in accordance to UN Resolution 1701 that is not being enforced as we speak, because Hezbollah is firing at Israeli border posts from south of the Litani River. So a call to enforce that, but also openness for additional international forces, for the Lebanese forces to join alongside French forces to maintain, quote, all the points along the border between Israel and Lebanon, this in addition to UN peacekeeping forces already there. The report did say that Israel had allowed or was open to the possibility that Hezbollah could maintain some into monitoring capacity with the Lebanese army and French forces, but obviously this would not include being permitted to carry weapons south of the Litani. Not sure this is a condition that Hezbollah will agree to. Now, another interesting part in this report was that international mediators said that there's an American guarantee that if these conditions are kept, Israel will not act in Lebanon on the ground. Ariel, thank you very much. Ariel, lost around there in the north of Israel. Well, just to go back to that moved by the French, German and Italian foreign ministers, they're trying to pressure the EU's foreign policy chief to adopt a tougher line against Hamas. Foreign ministers from the EU have been meeting today in Brussels. We can go there now. We're joined by journalist Alex Cadier. And Alex, what is actually the foreign ministers calling for? Well, they're calling specifically for sanctions on the financial backing to Hamas, the financial structures that underpin that particular organization. And that is the big push by the German, Italian and French government, so there's very specific sanctions making sure certainly choking off Hamas's ability to wage any level of violence in the region. So that will be the big focus for those three foreign ministers. The issue they have is that the European picture is 27 member states trying to agree a common position on this. And we heard from Josep Borrell just a few moments ago wrapping up this meeting of EU foreign ministers talking about that particular proposed sanctions. There are quite a few member states in favor, but some are saying, well, actually, if we're going to do this, we also need to look at sanctions targeting Israeli settlers in the West Bank. That's namely Ireland, Belgium, Spain pushing for that. Now, it's not explicitly saying that they want to link the two together, but certainly that will be part of the broader debate. So on the one hand, targeting Hamas's ability to finance his terrorist activities. And on the other hand, looking at what the EU officials behind the scenes are calling extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank, Josep Borrell again pointing at 1700 new developments in the West Bank that he said were in breach of international law. That is a cause for concern for EU member states. So for now, it'll be a proposal that they will debate among themselves, certainly probably into the new year. Meanwhile, Alex, there has been increasing evidence about how UNRA, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees and their descendants in Gaza, has been kind of linked to Hamas. We've seen Hamas using UNRA infrastructure, for example, for terrorist purposes. European taxpayers are funding UNRA. We've seen some countries move towards cutting that funding or at least limiting it. What is the situation there? Well, it's certainly a cause for concern. Aid funding being used or misused is certainly a very big concern. We've heard just in the last day that the European Commission would boost its aid to Palestine by 20% based on what it did last year. And behind the scenes, EU officials saying we are really trying as hard as we can to make sure we can trace all of that money to make sure it doesn't go to the wrong places. And now EU officials still saying, at the moment, they are confident that their aid packages are not being misused. Now, situation on the ground, as our viewers I'm sure know, is so difficult and so tense that it is very difficult from some of these agencies to verify all of this. It is a concern behind the scenes. We've not heard the ministers here today commenting about it specifically, but at every time there is a new wave of funding for Gaza, for Palestine, from the European Union, that question does come up. How can you be sure the money isn't being misused? EU officials, at the moment, confident that it isn't. All right, Alex. Thank you very much, Alex Cadier, the journalist in Brussels. Well, as Jews around the world, like the fifth candle for Hanukkah, residents from some of the Kibbutz team that were worst affected by the terrorist attacks on October 7th are getting together to shed light on the darkness. Our Uri Shapiro has this report. It's Hanukkah, the festival of lights and Jews around the world are celebrating. Here in Kibbutz-Beri on the Gaza border, targeted by Hamas terrorists on October 7th, the celebrations are mixed with feeling of sorrow and despair. A group of volunteers and members of the Kibbutz gathered Thursday to light a first candle of Hanukkah. It's very chilling to be here. It's my first time here. This holiday is one of victory. Our victory will be completed when all the Israeli hostages will return home. This was a part of a project led by the Brothers in Arms organization. Special ceremonies took place in 25 communities of the Gaza envelope. In Bari, one of the participants was Kamelia Hotarishai, the grandmother of 13-year-old Gali Tarshensky, who was abducted on October 7th and later released. The moment I met Gali again was something I can't express in words. My heart exploded from happiness, but also from huge pain from all my granddaughter had to face. I see this event as an opportunity to light a small light which will become bigger and bigger each day, and hopefully will have a big light and all the hostages will be released and will eventually return to being a normal country. Another participant was former lawmaker Haim Yellen, who has become a popular public speaker since October 7th. We asked Haim about the meaning of the holiday, which represents hope and miracles, following the horrific events that occurred here. I don't understand miracles. I can only say that we buried many friends, and it was very hard for all of us. I hope that today, as we light the first light of Hanukkah, miracles will start to happen. At least 90 people were murdered in Bari on October 7th and 30 were abducted. As days go by, more and more evidence of the horrific attack comes to light, but residents of this small community are still determined to come here and to celebrate the Jewish holiday and to hope for a better future in the Eiree and the entire region. Well, children from the towns of Stelot in the south and Kiryat Shmona in the north have had to flee their homes because of the ongoing war, well, a bit of relief last night when they got to play a special football match against a team of artists, Fabio Shapiro and Emerol of our report. Amida Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, a spark of happiness for the displaced Israeli communities from the south and the north. The central town of Herzliya became the stage of a special game for children of Stelot and Kiryat Shmona, both facing the effects of Israel's war with Hamas and the daily provocations from the Lebanese Hezbollah group. The kids' adversaries, the Israel Football Artist Team, formed by Israeli singers, actors and influencers, including Guy Mazig, Tomer Cohen, Bard Sabari and Oshri Cohen. We have the privilege to bring smiles into their faces, beautiful young kids that, you know, get out of their homes and their life in a way is now stuck and if we can do that to them and if we can help in any way, we are more than happy to do that. I hug them, I love them, and I'm happy for what we did here today. Across the country, the war brought up the best people can offer to help the affected communities. Israelis are making a big effort to provide not only food and clothes, but entertainment to the thousands of displaced. The biggest thing that I feel in this war is that the people of Israel come together in so many ways and for me, when they asked me to come here and play, I didn't even think twice. I was just, yeah, of course, let's do it. In my neighborhood, I live in Tel Aviv, in the center of Tel Aviv, and I see so many people from the north and from the south and I meet them and I talk to them and I try to help as much as I can and from here, I want to hug them and tell them that hopefully we'll be all right and we are here for them. The score was 10 all, I hear. We'll stay with us tonight, 24 news, that's it from me, but Benita Levine will be with you next with all the very latest. Thanks for watching. Is in a state of war, families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where she is. Our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. This is Breaking News Edition. I'm Benita Levine. A major barrage of rockets has been fired from Gaza to central Israel on this day with a direct hit in the city of Holon just after midday. One man was injured. Rockets were also launched from Gaza towards parts of southern Israel and projectiles were launched at several northern communities from Lebanon. Day 66 of the war, more than nine weeks since the Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were killed at a music festival in their homes and on army bases. 137 hostages are still being held captive by the terror group inside the Palestinian enclave. Fierce fighting continues in southern Gaza right now as Israel works to eliminate the Hamas terror threat. The number of Israeli soldiers killed in the retaliatory ground operation is at 104. The IDF saying gunmen opened fire at troops from inside a school in Gaza earlier and in the north. Tensions between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group are intensifying as our correspondent Robert Swift explains in this report. Throughout Israel's war in Gaza, its military has kept one eye firmly fixed to the north. With the status quo shattered, Israel has indicated that it will not return to the security situation that existed prior to October the 7th. It fears that Hezbollah, more powerful than Hamas, could repeat the tactics used on that day. UN Resolution 1701 states that Hezbollah should contain its forces north of the Letani River, a declaration that's been ignored for years, but is now a priority for Israel in light of the daily skirmishing on the Lebanese border. Israeli leaders have not ruled out using military force inside Lebanon to secure the north and the communities there. The situation in the north needs to be changed. It will change. When the day comes, we will have to act. It could happen after the Gaza operation. You never know how long the Gaza operation will take. But we will need to bring the people back so that they will not be displaced in their country. They must be assured that the situation in the north is different. And reports in the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese paper Al-Aqbar said that unifil peacekeepers passed the message to Lebanese parties that Israel considers everything that moves on the border with Lebanon at a depth of up to three kilometers, whether civilian or military, a legitimate target for its forces, to which a Hezbollah official said that they would respond in kind. Israel is under increasing diplomatic pressure to curtail its military operations in the new year. But the possibility exists that it will in fact expand them. And that report by our correspondent, Robert Swift, he joins me now in studio. And we also welcome Shiri Fine Grossman, member of Forum de Vora, Women in Foreign Policy and National Security, former head of regional affairs in the Israel National Security Council. We thank you both so much for being here, so much to unpack. But before we get to that, let's find out what is happening on the ground right now. We go first to our Middle East correspondent, Ariel Oceran. So, Ariel, we know sirens were sounding in several parts of northern Israel earlier, including smaller communities like Shtullah. Several rockets were intercepted earlier as well. The idea of responding, what is the latest on the ground right now? Right, Benita, after intensive exchange of fire during the afternoon along the Israel-Lebanon border, a tense quiet here for the past few hours. The latest announcement by the IDF saying that its fighter jets carried out strikes against Hezbollah sites and targets in southern Lebanon as well as artillery shelling towards the sources of those launches that you mentioned earlier in the day. Now, the IDF also said that it managed to, it found a cell that had been planning to carry out an attack against Israeli border posts, but they were thwarted. And on the Lebanese side, we're also hearing reports of previously in the afternoon there were reports of widespread artillery shelling across the Israel-Lebanon border in all the different western, central and eastern sectors. This also in the eastern sector in the border village of Taiba resulted in the death of the village head there in southern Lebanon. Over and above these tensions on the ground, as we mentioned a little bit earlier in the broadcast, Israel and Hezbollah trading these threats over border area control, the Al-Aqban newspaper reporting that Israel told the terror group any target within a certain perimeter of the border will be eliminated. Hezbollah responding with a similar threat, break down how this rhetoric could impact developments on the ground up north. Right, Benito. So following that rhetoric, there have also been steps on the ground to try and bring forward perhaps a diplomatic avenue with a previous phone call a short while ago between Israel's Benny Gantz and U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in which minister Gantz reiterated the importance of the international community to act and to stop these attacks by Hezbollah along the border. And also saying that Israel would have to act if Hezbollah does not do so, but this also coincided with reports from Saudi Arabia that Israel was open to some sort of agreement that would push Hezbollah's weapons past the Litani River in accordance to UN Resolution 1701. They would be able to maintain some sort of capacity observing alongside Lebanese and also French and other international forces. I'm not quite clear whether this is a demand that Hezbollah will be willing to agree to, but this report also saying that there was an American guarantee that if these conditions are met, Israel will refrain from acting militarily against Southern Lebanon. Thank you so much. Middle East correspondent Ariel Osaran live from Northern Israel, more to come from Ariel, of course, in the coming hours. And still in the studio, Shiri Fine Grossman and our correspondent, Robert Swirtz. So Shiri, I'm going to come straight to you about exactly what Ariel was describing. These tensions on the ground up north have been simmering for a while, but now we're hearing increased rhetoric. What do you make of Israel's push to make sure that Hezbollah moves away from that border? Well, the message to our counterparts in France and the US were the major allies we have on the ground in Lebanon and have the most influence on what's going on in Lebanon on some of the fractions. Obviously, Hezbollah is limited. So the main messages, we either go to war or we can solve this diplomatically. It's a very fierce message. I've been consulted with former diplomats from France as well. And I tell them, look, we're very determined to do this. You've seen what happened. Basically, what we should say and what we are saying is, what Hamas did on October 7 is expose Iran great plan. The great plan was to attack us from all these fronts, from Gaza, from Lebanon, from Iraq, from Yemen. And we expose that. And we're not going to set aside and let that happen again in our northern border. Hezbollah is in clear violation of the 1701 resolution. And we're very determined. So we're getting to the place where we have to make a decision. We either go deeper with the military operation, the IDF, or we let the diplomacy do its job. But we're not hopeful it will do its job. Like it usually fails us. But this is now, this is the money time for US and France to see what they're capable of bringing diplomatically. And Rob, you have been covering the developments up north for many weeks now since this war started. Talk to us about what it means for the communities up there. Thousands of people have had to evacuate since this war started. Obviously waiting to find out when it will be safe to go back there. But that is a long way off. It is indeed. And it's worth bearing in mind that it's not just the communities that are officially evacuated, which are empty. There's many of the communities which are beyond that zone, which people have voluntarily left, just because the conditions of life there were not sustainable. It wasn't safe for them to be there. It's interesting, actually, that we're talking about this whole notion of making a three-kilometer buffer zone, because I think it was about three, four weeks ago, that the mayor of one of the northern communities, he actually said that essentially what Israel has done is allowed Hezbollah to create a border in the north of the country where no civilians go because it's not safe. And he was saying that what the IDF should do is to make sure that that buffer zone is on the northern side of the border, which is essentially what we're now discussing with these reports in the Lebanese press. Something we're going to unpack in more detail very shortly. But right now, let's check in with the latest developments in southern Israel. We go live to our correspondent, Peer Stekelbach and Peer. There was that major rocket barrage towards central Israel just after midday, more recently in the south parts of the Gaza envelope had sirens, including near Yitzhak and Kisufim. What is the latest? What can you share right now? Right, Benito. Incoming rocket alert sirens resounding several times throughout the day here in these southern communities really alongside the Gaza border. A few times specifically in the southern part in parallel to the city of Ha'un is where we know that the Israeli military activity is focused now. You mentioned that heavy barrage onto central Israel, onto Tel Aviv, the surrounding suburbs. This is Hamas showing that despite the heavy fighting that is ongoing really throughout the Gaza Strip, it is still capable of firing and bringing those barrages, not only onto these communities surrounding the Gaza envelope, but also onto the center of the country. In the meantime, the Israeli army is saying that its offensive is advancing. We just saw that the Israeli chief of staff, Herzli Alevi, met with the head of the Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security agency Ronan Bar in Ha'un Yunus today. They met there with the division commander of the 19th Brigade, which is operating specifically in the south of the Gaza Strip. They were saying that they're continuing to apply pressure to make the, not only Hamas militants, but also the members of other militant groups in Gaza to surrender to pressure, to apply so much pressure that they will of course surrender, but also that they will get to those leaders that they're still looking for, that they're estimating to hide out in those tunnels that they're aiming to destroy. First and foremost, of course, Hamas's leader, Yahya Sinwar, but also one of the major goals obviously is to get to the hostages that the Israeli security establishment estimates are also located now in the southern part, possibly in those tunnels that eventually need to be destroyed after all those hostages will be brought back as this is one of the major goals of this operation. What we've been witnessing here, Benidah, all throughout this evening is heavy activity in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. We're looking here into Bet Lahia and Bet Hanun behind us. A number of flares being thrown here to illuminate the sky. The Israeli engine corpse is operating here on the ground in the northern part to destroy Hamas's infrastructure, such as those tunnel shafts and ammunition depots. We can hear the booms, the Israeli artillery, but also the forces on the ground operating here in the northern part. The Israeli army has said that it has operational control over the northern part here and in the north, the main goal is to destroy the infrastructure. This is what the Israeli army is hoping to also extend to the other parts of the Gaza Strip in the coming time that this war will ask for. And Pierre also complicating the fighting. Israeli special forces located an RPG training facility full of weapons hidden, wait for it inside a mosque in the heart of a civilian neighborhood. It's very difficult for this fighting to continue when civilian places like a mosque, like a school, like homes, are actually hiding weapons. How does this all roll out? What can you tell us? Well, this is what the Israeli army has said basically since the beginning of the war that it encounters ammunition, depots, and other military infrastructure in the vicinity of civilian institutions, such as muscle residential areas. What also poses a major challenge to the fighting on the ground is, of course, the density of the area. We're speaking about Khan Yunus, where the activity is focused on. It is the second largest city of the Gaza Strip, the largest city in the south, and a place where major parts of the civilian population had fled to, coming from the center and from the north of the Gaza Strip. So, of course, when we speak about urban warfare, it poses a lot of challenges because it is a very, very close-knit environment that it is extremely difficult to operate in. The Israeli army just this morning published that yesterday six soldiers were killed in the area in the wider area of Khan Yunus in the south when it encountered explosives that were placed close to school there. So, of course, this is a major challenge for the ground forces to operate in such areas. We're also a major numbers of civilians are still located, Benita. Thank you so much. Correspondent Pierre Stekelbach, live from southern Israel, more to come from Pierre as well in the coming hours. Thanks, Pierre. Shiri, exactly what we're discussing. This fighting is unfolding and yet you've got mosques filled with weapons. How does it complicate not only the fighting on the ground but the fact that as Pierre is explaining, there are 137 hostages potentially hidden somewhere amongst where this fighting is unfolding right now? Well, the dilemma for the Israeli government in the army is impossible and I don't think there is a precedent in modern history for what they're going through and it's an impossible situation. What they're realizing now, there's really no deal on the table currently and not that we know of and it seems like Hamas is being very stubborn and persistent and I think it's under the assumption that the international community won't let Israel continue the ground offensive for much longer and I think it's a misconception. It's a misconception also of the Israeli public. There was a barrage of rockets today but I think the Israeli people are very strong and even though we had 104 soldiers died, which Hamas assumed we can't bear, people are determined, especially you hear soldiers that are in Gaza now coming out and saying, we know what we're here for. We're proud to be here. It's the most legitimate war we ever took part in and the morale is very, very high and that has a huge effect. It seems like every house basically in Jabalia and Chanyunis and every mosque, every unia installation, every school is basically filled with explosives with rockets and that is how IDF is unfortunately needs to act under that assumption and this is an outcry for international community for every world to say this is not legitimate, this is not okay, let's not weigh in that game because if you don't denounce Hamas when he does that, that makes every civilian installation, every facility eligible for terrorists to take over and hide weapons and hide from and use as human shields or any kind of shield and that's what's forbidden and I think the ICC, every UN organization should go out and condemn this kind of, well, we're seeing it's a systematic way of fighting for Hamas. And also hiding these weapons, launching rockets from civilian sites as well, so incredibly dangerous all around. We are expecting to hear in the next hour or so from, of course, IDF spokesperson Daniel Higari if and when there is an update, we will bring it to you live. But Rob, I want to pick up on something that is just so close to the heart of every Israeli and it will stay that way until all the hostages come home. And that is the fact that there are 137 hostages still somewhere in the Gaza Strip. There was a meeting earlier with relatives of the hostages and government organizations. What came out of that meeting? So this was essentially those, the CEOs of those governmental organizations trying to make the situation of the families who have hostages, trying to make them a little bit easier, smooth over the everyday life logistics of dealing with the situation that they're in. Because obviously this is not a short-term situation. This is something that is ongoing. And there are, you know, all these families who many of them are, it's difficult to talk about, you know, the money and things like these in a situation where you have family members trapped inside Hamas. But many of these are families who, A, have lost family members and B, are displaced from their homes. So there are basic needs that they require from the government. And this meeting was part of an effort to try and address some of those issues. And certainly the rhetoric out of that meeting also involved the assurance that all hostages would be brought home and every effort would be made to make sure they all come home safely. Stay with us. We've got much more to discuss. But let's take a deeper look now at the urban warfare inside Gaza that we were discussing a short while ago, fighting that has seen entire Hamas battalions caught or killed. The IDF is hoping to see similar results further south as their ground operation continues. Our Senior Defense Correspondent Jonathan Regev has the details in this report. House to house alleyway to alleyway. This is what urban warfare in the dense Gaza neighborhoods looks like. While the IDF forces are massive but exposed, the small Hamas squads, much more familiar with the narrow streets appear from the tunnels for just a few seconds. They hope to score with an explosive device or an anti-tank missile. The IDF's aim is to hit them from the ground or from the air before they do it. Hundreds of terrorists have been killed just in the past few days. Hundreds more understand this will be their fate if they continue fighting and choose instead to surrender among them some top officials. A group of crazy people led by Yaya Sinwar destroyed everything. They destroyed the Gaza Strip and took it 200 years backwards. Hamas itself may be trying to portray images of resilience in Gaza, but the former minister is telling a different story. Hamas, the Qasam Brigades and especially Yaya Sinwar are responsible for the situation. This is my opinion, but also the opinion of the people. They are saying that Sinwar and his people destroyed us and we have to get rid of them. The images of surrender are coming from the north of the Strip. The hope is to see them soon in the south. That is why the IDF is pushing forward towards Chanyunes. In order to keep this going, supplies are constantly provided to the forces. For those deep inside, they come from the air. The 98th Division is operating in Chanyunes. We keep providing them in every way possible. Together with the Air Force and the technological and logistical unit, we provide them with all types of supplies from the air. Our division is able to do that even when there is no way to reach our commando fighters by land. The constant logistical assistance along with a massive firepower should eventually lead to victory in Chanyunes as well. And still in studio, Shiri Fine Grossman and our Robert Swift and Shiri, I want to come to you about those recurrent images we've seen in recent days of scores of Hamas operatives surrendering. Controversial because they were shown naked. It has been explained numerous times they are naked to make sure that they aren't carrying explosives or guns or any other kind of weapon. Nonetheless, there was some kind of outcry about those videos. What do you make of the messaging though when you see that many members of Hamas putting their hands up and saying we are done? Well, it's a major development in the war and we have to understand we're a country at war. This for many Israelis is a small victory in a very, very harsh times. And, you know, we've seen Minister Galen say it's that among the people that surrenders are people that perpetrated the onslaught on October 7th. So from the Israeli public perspective, it is something that is important for them to see and see that we're winning in spite of major losses. Having said that, I mean, I wouldn't choose to take out those videos. I mean, I'm sure there is definitely an operational need for that to happen, but the photo students have been distributed and I think the Daniel Agarria has addressed that and said it's not officially from the IDF Spokesman person's office. And I've seen, you know, in recent days, we've seen those images stop. And I think there is a better way to show Hamas that people are surrendering and try to encourage that trend which we're seeing on the ground in Jabalia and other places. But it's a major development because we're they're coming out. They're saying we're hungry. We don't have enough weapons. Basically, the leaders of Hamas are hiding in the tunnels like like mouse or rat rats. And we're we're sent to our deaths. And they understand that. And I think that is kind of contagious. We hope that's contagious. You have to understand the estimates are anything between 30,000 to 50,000 Hamas operatives. It's it's hard for us to to figure out who's in military terrorists and who's on the more on the Homeland Security or the police side or some sort of, you know, a clerk in the Hamas government. You never know. And they don't make any effort to distinguish, right? They're not wearing any uniforms. Everyone is in civil civil clothes, civilian clothes, using RPG, using rockets and firing at the Israeli defense forces. So it's hard to to distinguish between and you have to really understand the tactics to understand the pictures. I regret the pictures and I think the IDF spokesperson and the Israeli government understand that as well. You have to understand also where they're coming from. When you hear more and more Palestinian civilians speaking out against Hamas, does that speak to a sign that Hamas is in fact crumbling inside Gaza right now? Well, yes and no, I don't think Hamas really cares about its civilian population. The leaders, the people that are perpetrating this and plan this attack and everything that we're seeing, the treatment of hostages, which we were hearing testimonies from people who came back about sexual violence like a food, you know, not seeing. Beyond horrific. Beyond horrific. Little toddlers, no diapers. Just imagine I'm a mother of a three year old. Just imagine every mother or parent of a three year old in a room without, you know, what do you do all day and you have to be very quiet not to disturb them and on and on. So I think it's starting to crack. But again, I don't think Hamas cares about its people too much. Something we're going to discuss in more detail. Shiri and Robert after the break, stay with us. We are taking a very short break now, but our rolling coverage continues on this breaking news edition back in a bit. Stay tuned. Don't go anywhere. This is breaking news coverage from Israel with dozens of correspondence throughout the world, brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries bringing Israel's story to the world. I 24 news channels now on hot interviews exclusively reports from the war zone, the reaction of Spanish-speaking countries. Welcome back to this breaking news edition. I'm Bernice Levine, day 66 of the war and IDF spokesperson Daniel Higari is expected to deliver his daily briefing soon. If and when that happens, we will bring it to you live. But before then, let's find out more about the latest reactions out of the United States. We go to our senior US correspondent, Mike Wagenheim. He joins us live from New York. So many developments on the go, Mike. Let's start with the 137 hostages still in captivity, more than nine weeks into this war. What kind of pressure is the United States putting on Qatar right now to help secure their release? What can you tell us? It seems from what we're understanding that the U.S. is kind of throwing up its arms a little bit here in terms of trying to pressure Qatar, because Qatar is replying that, you know, there's got to be a will between the two warring parties here to get something done and what Qatar keeps relaying to Washington at this point is that, well, it doesn't seem like we can negotiate an agreement between Israel and Hamas and just applying one sided pressure on Hamas isn't really the way to go here. And it's not in anybody's interest. And certainly not something Hamas is willing to go along with. If you're the United States, you know, you're caught here in a sense in that the U.S. relies on Qatar in so many different ways, not only as an interlocutor rather with Hamas, but also in terms of defense, in terms of regional security. Qatar is seen as a valuable partner there. We've seen visits in recent days by Bill Burns ahead of the CIA. Anthony Blinken was there not long ago trying to negotiate a further deal here, but the message from Doha over and over and over again over the past few days is listen, if Israel and Hamas aren't even willing to discuss a deal at this point, then there's not a whole lot that we can do from one sided thing. So there's very little pressure right now from Washington doesn't mean more can't be exerted, but they're just not applying it as they did in the head of your days of the hostage for prisoner exchanges. And talking about Anthony Blinken, we know Benny Gantz from the war cabinet has been speaking to him specifically about this Hezbollah threat and moves by Israel to try and push Hezbollah away from that northern border. What is the latest on that front? What can you share? Certainly not what Tony Blinken wanted to hear at this point in time is to hear a member of the war cabinet say that they've got to remove the threat from the from the north. It's not music to Tony Blinken's ears right now. But it's something that I think needed to be said there by Benny Gantz. They're dealing with multiple fronts here. Hezbollah is becoming more active on that front. And it's best I think if the US and Israel are on the same page, probably Washington sees it that way as well that at least they know they're not going to be surprised. They can exert their influence. They can provide advice and counsel as they've been doing over the last few months and not be surprised by anything coming up around the bend here. So it certainly adds to the complications in the US-Israel relationship right now. Washington wants Israel to focus on humanitarian aid, going into Gaza. Wants it to focus on putting out the fires in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank. It certainly doesn't want to see it open up a new front right now just to complicate things so many different areas. But it's best for partners to be coordinated. I think that view is the same from Jerusalem as it is from Washington. Live from New York, thank you so much. Senior US correspondent Mike Wagenheim. Meanwhile, just a little earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant addressing the nation. Let's take a listen to some of his messaging. We are advancing in the battles. We are deepening our achievements. We are encircling the last post-holes of Hamas in Jebelia and Sajia, two places that the regiments over there were considered invincible by Hamas. These are the very harsh nucleus that were prepared for years in order to fight us. And I'm telling you, there are now on the verge of dismantling the number of people who surrender in these places. Show us what's happening. And when those who surrender come out from the bunkers and the tunnels, they say to us, we don't have weapons, we don't have food, we feel isolated, and they say another thing. We know that our commanders betrayed us. They are hiding deep down under the tunnels, and they sent us to our death. And I'll tell you something else. Among those who surrender, there are also terrorists who participated in the 7th of October massacre. Those same people who went out on murderous voyages who killed children and raped women are now in a situation that they have only one possibility, to die or to surrender. And when they choose surrender, they lift their hands up, they put the weapons aside, and they hand themselves to the IDF forces, and they tell us very interesting things. We are now towards the pain of collapse in the city of Gaza, and we shall continue in other places as well. Still in studio, Shiri Fine Grossman, member of Forum de Vora, Women in Foreign Policy and National Security, and the former head of regional affairs in Israel's National Security Council and our correspondent, Robert Swift. So, Shiri, I want to come to you about exactly what we were talking about a little bit earlier, the number of people who are surrendering. In terms of intelligence value, what kind of information is Israel able to glean in terms of not only the operations inside the Gaza Strip right now, but also, of course, in terms of information about the whereabouts of the hostages? Yeah, I'm not sure how much intelligence-specific people, but I think the most important, look, all the operation right now, everything that we're seeing, the most important thing is are the tunnels, are destroying the tunnels. You have to understand from a strategic point of view, the fact that Hamas has built those tunnels in order to kind of level the playing field between the IDF and Hamas. It clearly can't defeat the IDF when they're on the ground, so they built this underground metro, and that underground metro creates some sort of symmetry between the IDF and Hamas, and what the IDF really needs to do right now, and that's what it's doing, is destroy as many tunnels as possible in order to bring that asymmetry back, to bring people to come out of those tunnels in order to destroy as many operatives as possible, and that's what they're concentrating on, and if we can do that in a few weeks and get into a good situation, there is a critical juncture in this war. It's worth bearing in mind that any guerrilla fighting force in history is whenever it's gone up against a more powerful opponent, it's always essentially just not fought it. They've gone and hidden in the mountains, the forests, or the city, whatever, and the IDF are clearly so powerful that they dominate the surface of Gaza. The tunnels represent that territory, that terrain that Hamas are trying to retreat into, and at the moment it seems like the only strategy that Hamas has is essentially to hide in those tunnels, to hide in that terrain until the threat goes away. That's why the whole question of how much time does Israel have to conduct its operation, that's why that's so significant, because at the minute it seems it's likely Hamas is only lifeline. So the more intelligence we get out of those operatives getting out, the better the job, the quicker we get the job done. No doubt about that. I want to turn our attention to news just in confirmation from the IDF that anti-tank guided missiles have been fired at the northern town of Matula, that's up north near the border with Lebanon. No injuries. You know this region well. You've been covering this region. Rob, talk to us about what is unfolding there right now, the significance of this development. So Matula is right on the border. Actually, I mentioned the mayor of one of the towns earlier. I believe it was actually the mayor of Matula who was in question. So this is a community that is constantly under threat. At the minute it's mostly been depopulated. The vast majority of people there are IDF and has in the past been IDF casualties there, usually from anti-tank missiles. They are by far the biggest threat up there. Because of the open, the hills there, it's possible for the Hezbollah anti-tank teams to get into positions where they can then fire down upon the IDF positions. And although the Israeli tanks do have probably some of the best defences against anti-tank missiles in the world, at times casualties have happened and it's a constant threat for those operating there. And we were talking about it earlier on. Hezbollah needs to move back beyond the Lutani River. Israel is pushing for that. And here's why. We had a, there was a casualty among in Lebanon today, but I think a mayor of one of the, yeah, 75 year old mayor. Yeah, I think he's a mayor. He's connected politically to Hezbollah. So it's probably, we were expecting some sort of a response and we don't know maybe, they like to make equations, an eye for an eye. So they probably won't stop until they kill a civilian from the Israeli side. That's kind of the Hezbollah tactics, unfortunately. But Sharia does raise the question about Israel being able to handle full escalations on more than one front. Obviously the focus since the 7th of October has been the operation inside the Gaza Strip and simmering tensions up north, so to speak. But if this had to accelerate into something that even Hezbollah would describe as a full out war, can Israel handle both of those threats unfolding at the same time? Right now, the answer is yes. If you ask me this question, I was in the studio in many times. So a few weeks back, I would say, you know, the objection is still to keep it all in one front. I think as soon as we're, you know, advancing Morchan units, you have to understand, it's the biggest stronghold of Hamas in Gaza Strip. It's where Eiches and Iwar is from, and then Mohamed Def and the assumption is that they're there behind the tunnels. It doesn't say that we're very, very close to them. Maybe we are. I don't know. But I don't think it will take much longer. And I think the situation in the Gaza Strip is now getting to this place where we can handle more than one front. And, you know, and we have a clear justification for it, and there's a kind of momentum. And an important point, look, before October 7, we didn't have as many soldiers with such, you know, combat experience on the ground. I mean, one of the Hezbollah messaging was in the recent years, even when I was in the National Security Council, they say, hey, we fought Daesh, we fought ISIS in Syria, and in other places, we fought Jabhat al-Usa al-Qaeda in Syria. So they had battle experience that the idea of soldiers didn't have. Now they have it, unfortunately. And I think the whole game now has changed, and the whole, you know, the way you calculate things is changing. And it's an opportunity, I'm sure the government sees this as an opportunity to change what's going on on the border. You have to understand, people are afraid to go back home. I have friends in the kibbutz right on the border saying we know that Hezbollah is looking at us from their windows. It's something that we didn't have before. It's something that progressed throughout time. They went south and south and nearer to the border, and it's something that Israel cannot live with anymore. So we either solve this diplomatically, as we said earlier, or we'll do it militarily. That's, you know, we're getting closer to the point where we can't wait any longer for that. I think there's an important issue of timing here. In terms of diplomacy, it's clear that for Israel it would like to, if it does need to conduct military operations in the north, it's more likely to be able to do that in a permissive environment if it does it as soon as possible. But then at the same time, in contradiction of the diplomatic issue, there's the strategic to military question. Israel, the idea of can likely handle a front in the north and a front in the south. They seem to have the manpower of the resources to do that. But just because they can doesn't mean that they should. Obviously handling one front at a time enables you to concentrate your forces. There are distinct advantages to that. And also, it's worth bearing in mind, the idea is clearly being able to handle the skirmishes that have been going on since the second day of this war in the north. However, if it was worth sending ground troops into the north in any form of invasion, then you're talking a whole different picture that that's fighting on Hezbollah's terrain. And that would be a different calculation. Throw into the mix the Iranian proxies operating out of Yemen right now. And what that means for not only the region here, but more broadly speaking, the vessels that are in the Red Sea, what this all means, what Yemen could do to exacerbate tensions in the region. Well, this ties again back into the diplomatic equation, because what the US is clearly concerned about is a spark which is going to turn into some sort of regional conflagration. And Yemen is possibly the easiest way for that to happen. If you're talking about attacks against shipping, suddenly you're bringing in dozens of countries into this equation, because there's all manner of nations having ships going through those cargo routes. So that's definitely a consideration. And then that indirectly brings pressure onto Israel, because like we've discussed, the window of time that the United States is giving to Israel, that's one of Israel's biggest strategic considerations right now. Well, that's one, definitely one option. The other option is it unites us against a common enemy, which are the Khutim, and they're against the UAE, they're against Saudi Arabia, and others in the region. And they're a threat to Egypt's economy as well and global economy. So I think it's kind of a strategic wrong move by Iran, but it's up to Israel to try to make a united front on that, and it could be a turning point, actually, if played right. And your thoughts on exactly that, the concerns that this would involve other players right now, we are looking at this zone, so to speak, but if it gets bigger and more players are involved, how dangerous is that for Israel right now? I think that the main threat of that for Israel is how that big picture zooms into affecting the actual considerations that Israel has here. Key to that is how permissive an environment does Israel have to operate on to achieve the objectives that it feels it needs to to secure the homes of its communities, whether that be in the envelope or in the north. In terms of big picture stuff, that is definitely a threat, but I think you'd put that in sort of worst case scenario type thing. It's certainly a consideration for the United States for larger regional players, but then they have the time to look at that big picture stuff because they aren't dealing with the tactical level considerations that Israel has to deal with right now. Well, the catch 22 for Prime Minister Netanyahu is really the two state solution. Once he would have, he's against obviously the two state solution, but if he would put up some kind of a diplomatic political plan that says I see a future for the two states, it would be easier for him to get legitimacy both from the United States, France and other places in the region. That's actually messaging that we've heard from French and American diplomats, but it doesn't seem like we're heading in that direction, exactly the opposite. And that's kind of a key point to where to look at from the legitimacy and the time clock that Israel has on this war and other potential. Certainly seems a long way off indeed. Shiri, Robert, stay with us much more to discuss, but let's go back first to our correspondent Pierre Stekelbach in southern Israel, the latest on the ground. What more can you tell us? What is the latest development there? Right, Benito. Well, fighting is going on in different areas of the Gaza Strip. In northern Gaza, this is where the Israeli engineering course are operating to destroy Hamas infrastructures such as tunnel shafts and ammunition depots. We could see and hear a bit of that really throughout the evening, the Israeli army throwing flares to illuminate the area, then the artillery, outgoing artillery firing from here. We could also hear the loud booms from the operations on the ground of those engineering corps there in the north. Now also fighting is continuing, especially in the Suja'i area of Gaza City and of course in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, where fighting is really focused on the biggest city of the south. There were many civilians that also fled to us, now also become an active combat zone. Now, we have seen that the Israeli chief of staff, Herzli Alevi, has met there with the Israeli chief of the internal security agency, the Shin Bet Ronin Bar. Today, they were saying that the goal of the Israeli operation in the south is to pressure Hamas to surrender more and more, and then in the final result, of course, to demolish Hamas. They're including its tunnel infrastructure. We are seeing that the Israeli army is focused on exactly doing that here in the north to demolish the infrastructure that is left. So in the south, first of all, they're expecting Hamas's leaders to still hide out in those tunnels. And of course also, the more than 130 hostages that of course it is one of the major goals of this operation to bring all of those hostages back. But we're speaking about several challenges there as these tunnels pose major risks for Israeli soldiers, but also the urban warfare circumstances, which means closed-knit environments densely populated and also built areas. We're basically talking about fighting in very, very dense neighborhoods. The Israeli army earlier today announced the death of six soldiers yesterday that got under fire, that they were met with explosives that were embedded in the area of a school in the wider area of Hanyun is there in the south. Now, the Israeli army's ground operation is focusing on that area, but again, there are major challenges that the army is facing. But if we listen to this Israeli security and political establishment, the goal of this operation hasn't changed. The complete dismantlement military and politically of Hamas in the Israeli army is sending signals that it estimates the Hamas leadership to tremble down more and more as this operation is advancing also in the south on the ground. And, Pierre, what is the latest on humanitarian aid? I'm going to stop you because IDF spokesperson Daniel Higari is about to speak. This deepening the battle in Gaza Strip. The chief of staff and the head of Shin Bet evaluated the situation in Hanyunis together with the commander of the central command and unit 98 in the area of Hanyunis where there are terror infrastructure of Hamas. They're dismantling these infrastructure underground and overground. The chief of staff strengthened the achievement of the combatants in the north and in the south and focused on how to continue underground in places where Hamas is hiding and coming out in order to fight the IDF soldiers. The soldiers will continue to locate all the points of Hamas and to exert the military force until they dismantle the infrastructure. Since the beginning of the war, the IDF detained 140 activists of Hamas. Just in the last month, they detained more than 500 terrorists. More than half were taken to interrogation in Israel. We interrogate them in their places and they tell us about more hiding places and give us reasons how to find the targets. The interrogation happens in real time in the battlefield when they surrender. We detain whoever we need to and we release those who we don't need and send them to the south where citizens can live. During the date, there were a fire exchange in the north towards the town of Maalot. The IDF sent fire focused to targets in Lebanon. The message is clear. The state of Lebanon, the terrorist organizations are going to pay a heavy price in Lebanon for every attack on civilian areas. We are going to act with determination. We will not enable firing against our citizens. That's how we will do in the north and we will take the price, especially the Hezbollah organization who is responsible. In the home front, I call upon the public to continue abiding by their directives. In the last two months, the reservists mobilized in most of its strength in an inspiring way. The reservists are taking a major part in the war. We are acting together with the municipalities in order to help and to make it easier for the families and the reservists. We want them to have the best conditions possible in order to open the academic school year. The reservists and the families are the most important to us. IDF owes them. We are working because of them and we are going to continue with that. Today we announced seven casualties, fatalities, five reservists who fought bravely in order to defend the home. This evening as well, we remember that we have the obligation to bring back all the hostages that are held in Gaza. The way we are doing the maneuvers on the ground this night, it's important that you know our aim is to locate and to bring about efforts in order to bring back hostages home. We are doing operations around the clock in order to get to this achievements and that's what we'll continue to do. Questions? IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagarri there delivering his daily briefing and Shiri, your standout moment because we were talking a little bit earlier about exactly that, the number of terrorist suspects surrendering, being interrogated and the information that they are giving to Israel right now, your thoughts? Yeah, it's exactly what we just discussed. I think it's important information saying 500 operatives already been caught. There's a dilemma what's going on in the south of Gaza with actually you know they're saying in northern Gaza how hungry they are and that's because IDF is being very tight with what's going in into the north while in the south it's a different situation, obviously a lot of civilians but we're seeing Hamas taking away the food that UN agencies and others are bringing to the civilians. This is a very tragic thing. It's a tragedy what the Palestinian people are going through right now because of Hamas and it's a very important development. I think he says most importantly that he's very determined to continue to deal with the tunnels and you know they're very brave I would say going into this stronghold of Hamas and I think you know when I was in the National Security Council we were worried we will see I think 10 times more casualties than we're seeing 66 days going into this so I think what we're seeing is relatively so you know people are in the IDF could be pleased relatively from what's going on. Cherifine Grossman we so appreciate you being here in studio we appreciate your insights thank you very much and Robert Swift you are going to stay with us we are going to be taking a very short break now but when we get back our rolling coverage will continue we'll keep unpacking all the developments we've been