 Hamas used huge amounts of weapons on October 7th attack. Now some of these weapons are exposed by the Israeli army, Omar Rabi reports. Inside this tent, the full array of Hamas firepower, vast in size, and very sophisticated. The Israeli army invited the foreign media to come and see for themselves the weapons the terrorists used in their October 7th onslaught on southern Israel. Some of these weapons were left by the terrorists before they withdrew and went back to Gaza. Other arms were captured after terrorists were killed in battles. This tire filled with explosives was specially made for the border fence posts. I open it now, it can be closed like this so that it surrounds the fence post on all sides. It is connected to a detonator from this side and when it is detonated the column will collapse and Hamas militants will be able to infiltrate the Kibbutzim on the Gaza Strip. This means that they had the exact measurements beforehand. Yes, they took the measurements of the fence posts under the pretext of demonstrations and other civil activities. This frame is handmade. Some 80% of Hamas' weapons are made locally. The remaining 20% Russian made from the Soviet era or North Korean, Egyptian, and Iranian. Russian, North Korean, and Egyptian weapons were smuggled to Hamas through a third and perhaps even a fourth party. They were dismantled and parts of them were hidden in food and aid shipments. And Hamas manufactures their duplicates. They made the Gaza Strip and even explosive devices. This is a list of medical equipment, explaining everything that this bag contains. It is intended to enable wounded Hamas' terrorists to continue fighting. The large quantities of this equipment were intended to allow Hamas to continue the fighting inside Israeli territory for a long period of time. A huge amount of weapons indicates the amount of intelligence and financial resources that Hamas invested in its military action throughout the years. But it also shows the extent of the difficulties and dangers facing the Israeli forces now during their measured ground advance in Gaza. Now live to the city of Zderot in southern Israel, Mary McCullough-Iton for news correspondent is standing by, Mary. That's right, Yaakov. So we're here on the Gaza border where we continue to hear the IDF acting heavily inside the Gaza Strip. But we're here at the northern portion of the Gaza Strip, which is an area that Israeli military conquered and took over within the past two weeks that they push further deeper south into the Gaza Strip. So it's unclear right now exactly what the activity here is on the northern border, but heavy Israeli artillery as well as mortars throughout the evening here now. We can also see the signs of them operating inside the central Gaza Strip area, dropping a number of different light flares over the sky that have been illuminating the area as forces are working on the ground. This comes as Israeli military has thoroughly encircled the Shifa Hospital. As of course, as we also heard in that report just mentioned, the IDF continues to warn about the weapons and how these hospitals are being used by Hamas inside the Gaza Strip, bases for their attacks. We continue to see the IDF trying to operate in this area. We know it is fully encircled. There are tanks that can be seen in the streets outside the hospital. Right now, the IDF is also trying. They say they're working to bring incubators, mobile incubators that can be moved to some of these infants who are besieged inside this hospital. The Gaza Hospital for the Palestinian Ministry of Health for its part says that they have not received any contact and they're not exactly sure where to go. IDF is also trying to give fuel to the hospital, trying to keep some of these generators running. But that did not transpire as far as we have heard. The Palestinian Ministry saying that they were unable to actually access the location that they were given. Those inside the hospital say that they are unable to leave and hearing shots firing out in the area. Mary, thank you very much for this report. It's now raining in southern Israel and in the Gaza Strip, which may affect the activities over there, by the way. With me here in the studio is Ambassador Danny Ayalon, formerly Israel's ambassador to Washington. By the way, we'll go to Washington live soon. There's a huge rally in the works over there. But I want to ask you about the hospitals issue in Gaza. Israel tried to make the point that there were maybe hostages there under the hospital and their weapons and all of that. At the same time yesterday, literally at the same time, President Biden said that Israel should not get too intrusive to inside the hospitals. That, of course, caught the headlines, not the Israeli version of things. And no coordination there, apparently, between the Biden and the spokesperson of Israel's IDF. So the point being, is Israel going to take this risk of getting in there, doing the job in the IDF's view, as opposed to public opinion? Well, at the end of the day, Jacob, I think we have no choice. We have no alternative. Because in order to take Hamas out, that means to really dismantle their entire infrastructure and leadership institutions, I think they're doing a very good job with their institutions. They are encroaching meter by meter, very, very careful. I don't think there would be any other military operation in the world with taking so much care, painstaking care not to hurt civilians. We just heard your reporter, Jacob, saying that actually the IDF, I don't know of any other soldiers in their gear who are carrying babies incubators. And they're taking them into the Shifa in order to facilitate taking out all the patients. It will take patients, but at the end of the day, I think that the siege will continue. And I think it would be best for the international community in order to put the pressure on Israel, put the pressure on Hamas. Hamas is hurting their own population. They should, if Hamas will understand, that Israel will not be criticized for doing what they have to do for self-defense, then maybe they will have less incentive to actually hijack and keep under gun points their own population and patients in hospitals. All right. Let's listen to what President Biden said just a short while ago about the possibility of a hostage deal with Hamas. President, can you please introduce yourself? Yes, I can. I've been talking with people about every single day. I believe it's going to happen, but I don't want to get any details. What's your message for the families? Hang in there. We're coming. So Ambassador Ailon, the president has been talking to people every day, he says, and he's hopeful. What do you make out of this? Well, he has been hopeful now for the last 30 or so 38 days. And we all are, but we have to understand we are dealing with a very devious, conniving, most pernicious organization that will love to keep playing with the sentiments of the families of the hostages. They have no regards. And I think the International Red Cross also failed in putting the pressure so the international community will demand that at least they get a list until now they did not give a list. Who do they have? Let alone having ICRC people, the Red Cross, coming and visiting them to see what conditions they are in. It's a brutal, brutal situation, and it's a very frustrating engagement with them. But at the end of the day, we'll have to do what we need to do. And hopefully, the tension is that they want as few hostages to be released trickling down, drip, drip, so they can prolong the ceasefire, so they can regroup. That's the game of Hamas. Right. Well, recent reports talked about maybe 70 or 80 hostages for five days of Israel stopping the attack. IDF was quoted. IDF sources were quoted as saying, no way. We are not going to stop for five days. So this is going to be the give and take and hard choices for Israeli government. Very hard choices. Five days ceasefire could really, it's a huge change. Because right now, Hamas are on the run. And we know, at least in northern Gaza, we have not really dealt in a severe or thorough way the southern part, like Hanyunas and the Rafa areas. But in Gaza itself, and all the areas north of Gaza, they are not there. I mean, they are there as individuals, but not as a commanding formation of a military operation. And if you give them some time, they will continue, they will regroup and put, they will connect all the dots together and will be another threat. Including supplies during on land and under land. Now, that brings me to the question of what's happening in the Egyptian Gaza border. I mean, Israel will have to take control of that if Israel wants to eliminate Hamas. Yes, it seems like the whole paradigm of actually closing Gaza to the world and opening it to Israel with the workers who come to work in with getting all their supplies through Israel, this did not work. And I believe that it should be have to change the paradigm where Gaza is closed up. And the visa for Israel, maybe even a security buffer, will have to be created so they're not next door to our southern border communities. No more Palestinian workers crossing the border? No. I mean, maybe not everybody in the world knows, but for the past years, thousands of Palestinians cross the border almost every day to Israel to work in Israeli businesses. Right, right. That's not gonna happen anymore. No, and we were just amazed, flabbergasted by the accuracy of intelligence that Hamas had. And this is because of they had thousands of people here who were either working for them or they were forced to work for them, but they gave them the information. Some of them participated in the looting also. They knew exactly where everything is directing the Hamas death squads, nothing less, but death squads on the terrible day of October 7th. So there will have to be a regime. I don't know yet what, whether it's an international regime, whether it's an Arab League, whether the Egyptians will play a major role in the administration. The Saudis maybe will have to give money, but Gaza will have to be close to Israel. No more relationship at all, but there will have to be a very, very, I would say, effective monitoring mechanism that everything that comes into Gaza will have to be checked, that they will not be bombs, not be rockets, not be mines, and all the explosives that they have been accruing for 30 years almost. Yeah, well, supposedly we thought there was some inspection, but it wasn't good at all. No, no. Yeah. We'll talk about that more in a minute. Meanwhile, the West Bank. IDF has been attacking Hamas operations and people belonging to Hamas over there. The I-24 news, Robert Swift, has more on that. While Israel fights in Gaza, it's striving to prevent its northern border from erupting. But the North isn't the only potential new front that is simmering. Violence in the West Bank has spiked since Hamas's October 7th assault. We're done. We're done. We're done. Eight Palestinians killed in an overnight raid by the Israeli military in Tulkarem were claimed by the Hamas terror group. Israeli troops entering the West Bank city on an arrest operation were confronted with live fire and explosives. Palestinian medics said that three of the killed were struck by a drone. IDF bulldozers tore up roads inside the town to mitigate against improvised explosive devices in the second raid into Tulkarem in a week. Similar raids and clashes have taken place elsewhere in the West Bank, with an operation into Janine last week sparking a firefight and drone strike. 176 Palestinians have been killed in confrontations with the IDF since the beginning of October, according to the UN Commissioner for Human Rights. Attacks by Palestinians have continued with one Israeli reserve soldier killed in the West Bank. And friction between Palestinians and Israelis living in the West Bank is soaring with several Palestinians killed by settlers since the outbreak of war. With the IDF focused on Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in the north, its resources are not limitless. But if the West Bank violence escalates, this could impact Israel's wider war effort. With us now is Colonel Dr. Moshe Elad, former coordinator to Palestinian Authority on security issues from the IDF. Thank you very much for joining us. What is exactly going on in the West Bank in terms of Hamas influence these days, these hours? Well, I think that most of the population is watching what's going on in Gaza and doesn't want to have the same scenarios inside the West Bank. But here and there, for example, mostly in the area of Samaria, there are so I would call the resistance enclaves, like some in Janine, some in Kulkarev, a little bit in Nablus. And they are still trying to fight. This is why the fighting brings so many killings and injuring people. And they suffer a lot, I guess, today. Everybody understand that. But I should say it's not a kind of an intifada. It's not something that takes every people's together inside, just here and there. Now Hamas has been creating some support for itself in the West Bank over time. Maybe thanks to the fact that the PA was getting weaker. Is this an Israeli goal now to dismantle Hamas in the West Bank the same way it's been done in Gaza? It is done. I guess that in these very days we see that, together by the way with the coordinated areas, security, people from the PA. I mean, there is a lot of coordination and cooperation with the Palestinian Authority. And they are doing together, like in the last years, I guess, we have a common, in this area, we have a common enemy. It is called Hamas. Now more than ever before, I guess that the Palestinian Authority is involved and integrated in this work. And if you ask me about before October 7th, I would say there was always a threat to the Palestinian Authority from Hamas today. After the arrest of about 1,000 people, after the suffering that they had in couple of areas, the whole picture changed and no more. So those who entertain the idea of having elections in the West Bank, including Hamas, this is all history. Definitely, I guess that also the PA is getting also weaker and weaker. I don't know who is suggesting that they will probably take over in Gaza because they have problems and hard time taking over in the West Bank. Maybe the only area that they are running is Ramallah a little bit in Bethlehem and that's it. So I don't see a way that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority will be able to rule efficiently the West Bank and of course, not Gaza. They are very weak, both. All right, Dr. Moshe, thank you very much for that. Daniel Elon here in the studio, let's talk a little bit about the day after if the PA is so weak, who is going to take control of business for the Palestinians? Well, certainly not Israel. We should not get into this trap again, not in Gaza and certainly not in Judea and Samaria and in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority cannot be trusted. Unfortunately, not only they are weak, they are corrupt and basically they are very much anti-Israel. They have a different tactic than Hamas but also they are held bent on the demise of Israel. You see it in their curriculum, what they teach their children. There's no compromise for them. There's no peace for them. There's no coexistence. Actually, they're talking about one Palestinian state when probably we'll talk about it later, Jacob, about the battle cry of the BDS and of all the Islamist and Palestinians abroad in the United States and Europe is from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. This is the battle cry also of the Palestinian Authority. It's not just Hamas, we have to understand that. So it is a dilemma and again here there may have to be some kind of an interim where maybe some international organization will have to take over. No trust in the UN but I have a lot of trust because the Egyptians, the Georgians, they have a lot of problems with the Hamas in their own countries or Muslim brothers and they know how to take care of them. They know them very well. If we brought some kind of the practices of Egypt and Jordan into the Palestinian Authority with some money from the Saudis or the Gulf, maybe then we have a chance for a real revolution but it will be very slow and it has to be from the grassroots and we don't see it yet. I'll be a little bit skeptical about this with your permission, about the Egyptians and Jordanians. You have full permission to be skeptical. As you said, it's complicated and it's gonna be very challenging but we'll wait and see. Meanwhile, a new protest in Tel Aviv read by Avi Dan Friedman went on a hunger strike and locked himself in a circle until the Red Cross visited Israeli hostages. More in the next report. The white plaza outside Tel Aviv Museum of Art has been turned into hostages square. Over the past few weeks, several installations, protests and public events dedicated to the 240 Israeli hostages have become a regular feature but this particular spot is quite unique. On Friday, November 10, Rabbi Avi Dan Friedman decided to draw a circle and to stay inside it until the Red Cross visited the Israeli hostages Hamas is holding in Gaza. I came here to say I'm not moving from this spot. Drew a circle around myself and I'm not moving from this spot and I'm not eating until we have a visit from the Red Cross and my call is to the state of Israel to tell it that the people of Israel insist that there cannot be selective humanitarian aid and as long as there is not humanitarian visit of the Red Cross to all of the captives, we cannot continue to allow humanitarian aid to Gaza. Friedman originally from Montreal, Canada is known for his activities in the organization which asks Israel to stop selling arms to human rights violators. He's now calling on other people to join him and spread his message. My wish is that there should be 240 circles here, 240 circles of people sitting and hunger striking and saying we will not move from here until this happens and definitely people are already starting to join. Rabbi Friedman also referred to Hania Meagel, a Jewish sage from the first century CE who according to tradition drew a circle, sat inside it and told God he would not move until it rained. I pray to God that he helps us but I think God is also depending on us and wants us to do what we need to and so I call on the state of Israel to stand by its citizens in the strongest way possible. The Red Cross told Israeli media recently that it's their job to provide humanitarian assistance to all civilians but in order to do so, they need to be given access inside Gaza. Meanwhile, families of the abducted Israelis and those who are helping them continue their struggle. Back to Ambassador Alon here in the studio talking about hard decisions. The hostages issue, Hamas has been playing Israel, maybe the world, some sorts of deals are coming up and down all the time, very hard dilemma for the Israeli government and the Israeli public seems to support some sort of broad deal. Yes, I think it goes part of a victory is bringing back our hostages home. It's the Jewish thing, it's Israeli thing, it's our ethos and this is akin to winning any battle on the ground and Hamas understands it, that's why they are playing in such an evil way against us but I think as hard as it is to analyze and to hear it seems like the first choice was to try to get a deal. In the very first days, Jacob, of the war, but it was quite clear that Hamas was procrastinating, buying time and actually wanting the ceasefire and then the tactic changed to more military pressure. Actually going into Gaza, the penetration, the ground invasion to Gaza started almost two weeks after the massacre of the 7th of October. This time was actually given to Hamas to see if we or to the Americans and the Qataris, the Egyptians to see if a deal can be done. Only then when they realize there is no deal with the Hamas, with the ground invasion, I think this is maybe the only way to put the pressure on them when they understand that maybe their own survivability is at stake unless they effect a major deal. Maybe this is the only way because there is no other. Yeah, well, we're talking about deals. We're six weeks into this thing. We should remember there are children there, women, babies, and IDF believes according to its intelligence that a woman gave birth in captivity during these weeks. And they keep playing with deals, no deals or conditions, those and others and no Russian international community. Not at all. And you see, where's the ICRC, the International Red Cross? Where is Gutierrez that was so happy to criticize us and to put a context, how can you put a context into the Nazi-like barbaric, sadistic murder? We don't hear any pressure for the release, as we mentioned, not even to visit them. This is the ABC of humanitarian law. And another thing is, I think Qatar is a key, maybe more pressure on Qatar, because Qatar, they are the bloodline, the oxygen, if you will, for the Hamas. If they were to lose out of not having a deal, maybe then they would become more aggressive negotiating with Hamas. Right now, it seems like Hamas is calling the shots and we should change this. So the Hamas will be on the receiving end, not on the deciding end. That way or another, Israel is determined that Hamas will never be back in power in Gaza. This is a clear cut, right? Yes. Nobody should expect anything else. No, and even the American, from day one, Jacob, all the way down, President Biden said that, Lincoln said it, and until now they say it, because they understand that Hamas not only is ISIS, that with Hamas there will never, ever be a chance for peace. Just like now, I believe that the timing of this attack was not accidental. And in coordination, whether it's a direct coordination or by understanding, broad understanding, it was to scuttle the Saudi deal. The moment there is any chance for peace in the region, whether with Israel or the Saudis, whether it was with Israel and the Palestinians, Hamas already in the 90s, had all this suicide bombing because they do not want to deal. All right, we'll take short break. When we come back, we'll see the families of the Hossages here in Israel marching from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. And also we'll be in Washington, D.C., where a major rally in support of Israel is shaping up. Short break, we'll be right back. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Back to item 24 news, special coverage. Israel's police commissioner, Kobi Shaptai, has given a detailed briefing on the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7th of October. Item 24 News defense correspondent, Jonathan Regev, filed this update, Jonathan. More than five weeks into the swore, the focus is now naturally on what is happening in Gaza, the IDF advancing the situation in the Shifa hospital. But as far as Israel is concerned, it is extremely important to make sure that the whole world remembers why this war broke out. And that is the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists on that terrible morning of October the 7th. And for this purpose, the Israeli police is conducting a major investigation. By far the biggest investigation the Israeli police has ever conducted. We're speaking of tens of thousands of video files, more than 1,000 testimonies, all of them relating to those events happening on that Saturday morning. And foreign members of the media were present this morning as the Israeli police unveiled some of the files and some of the testimonies that it has in this investigation. And we were able to speak with Dudi Katz, who is the officer in charge of this investigation, of this major investigation. Let's listen to what he had to say. Well, after the events of the 7th of October this year, it was decided by the Israeli police to allocate the investigation to LAV, the National Unit for Serious Organized Crime. We are dedicating ourselves for the last month to collect evidence for all the atrocities and all the actions committed by Hamas in Israel on the 7th and 8th of October. As I mentioned before, we are gathering evidence, first of all, against Hamas members who have been arrested here in Israel during their actions. Second of all, we are proving what happened in every establishment, in every kibbutz, in every army base in order to provide the evidential ground, evidential base for the future prosecution of the arrested Hamas members here in Israel. Systematic killing, systematic kidnapping, and possibly even systematic sexual assault. All these are charges which the police is now investigating, and due to the very large scale of this investigation, it is supposed to take months, but as some hundreds of Hamas terrorists are held in Israel, the aim is of course to prosecute, to indict all of them, to make sure that they remain behind bars for the rest of their lives. This is just some of the aims of this major investigation, and more than anything, making sure that everybody here in Israel and around the world remembers the context of this war, all of it relating to the atrocities committed by Hamas. On October the 7th, Jonathan Regev, I-24 News. Thank you, Jonathan. We've got to Washington now, where a big rally in support of Israel is gathering steam right there next to the Capitol. With me, Daniel Lohn, former ambassador to Washington, you know this view, Danny, very well. This is going to be a very big rally, some sort of response from the Jewish community, the American Jewish community, the Jewish federations, and it's about time. Well, it is about time, yes, and we know how effective they are. Listen, the Jewish community in the United States is second to none. They are brothers. They have been so supportive, and they have the great stake, just like all of us, here in the well-being of the Jewish state and the Jewish people. So I think what they're doing is something which is necessary, effective, and the more that they gather, the better. I spoke with one of the leaders of the federations, and I know that they are expecting a lot of people. Thousands of buses are going to bust them in, and what's nice about it, that you see it's so peaceful. People are singing and raising American flags and Israeli flags. They are not going against anybody, and it's a strike difference between this and the Palestinian and the Palestinian supporters' demonstrations. And not only support for Israel. I think that this time, especially, it hits home for them, the demonstrations by Hamas supporters, anti-Semitism. People are scared. People are buying guns. This is the reality in the United States. Yes, and we have to see, what is this new anti-Semitism? It is mostly derived out of this hatred, senseless hatred of Palestinians and jihadist Muslims that come together against the state of Israel and against the Jews, wherever they are. This is kind of their creed. This is what they study in their studies from day one. And then, and what is really baffling here, is that they are actually connecting to those younger generation of progressives, you know, the starry eye that do not have anything, any understanding in history. And they are the ones joining this Islamists, actually, who would kill them next without even thinking. And this is what's so, they are the useful idiots by the Hamas supporters. And I think that there will be a reckoning and a wake-up in America, because at the end of the day, when you look at these demonstrations of the Islamists, the Palestinian supporters, Hamas supporters, they are anti-Americans. I mean, it's just shocking to see how they turn up and bring down American flags from Poles to put Palestinian flags instead of American flags, taking kafias and putting kafias on icons, like American historic figures, like on the statue of Lincoln or Washington or things like that. This is something that I believe at the end of the day, will bring America to wake up and actually put a limit to this wanton behavior of theirs, mostly their immigrants, many of them are illegal immigrants. So this is going to bring up again the issue of immigrants. And we know next year there's going to be elections in the United States and immigration is one of the big issues, dividing the two parties. But I think with this behavior of the Hamas supporters and the Palestinian supporters in America, I believe more and more Democrats, and I can hear already my friends in the Democratic Party will turn against it and may join force on a bipartisan basis to really limit and marginalize those immigrants. Right. We'll get back to that later. Meanwhile, in Europe, European countries are not all on the same page when it comes to this war. Here's I-24 news, senior correspondent Owen Alterman. For Israel, the word from Brussels is tempered with the 27 European Union member states clawing their way in recent days to a careful compromise on the Gaza war. We ask for an immediate poses. I'm saying that in plural, but it is an objective. It is immediate poses and humanitarian corridors. That focus on humanitarian pauses is a kind of center of gravity that positions the EU in line with the Biden administration, that tackles the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, and most important, that balances between Israel's supporters and critics in Europe. I understand the impulse for a ceasefire, but impulses are not enough to help people, to really guarantee security and peace. It is unacceptable that Hamas should again have the opportunity to re-establish itself. Gather weapons and attack Israel. And so Germany leads the camp in Europe against calling for a full-on ceasefire, another testament to the special relationship between a post-Holocaust Germany and Israel, now pitting Berlin against Paris in the wake of French President Emmanuel Macron's fiery interview last week with the BBC. So the two European powers are divided, with Austria and Hungary and Belgium and Ireland, also again taking different tax on Israel. As long as Israel keeps the support from a core camp, the European Union, as a whole, will not call for a ceasefire. Although the tone from Brussels could change. For more on the European position, we are joined by correspondent Alex Kadyr in Brussels. Thank you very much. Is there a one unified position towards what's happening in Gaza and Israel? Well, there is a unified European position, and we've seen that from a statement in the last few days from Josep Borrell. He is the EU's top diplomat, their foreign minister, effectively, in that position called for an immediate pause, or immediate pauses in hostilities in the establishment of humanitarian corridors, saying that the EU stands by Israel's right to defend itself within international law. They also condemned Hamas for the use of hospitals and civilians as human shields, and called for Hamas as the immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages held by Hamas. That is the official unified position, but as we heard in that report, the member states themselves become a little bit more divided as individuals. We've seen Spain, Portugal, Ireland that were mentioned there. They are calling for a full ceasefire. We saw the French president, Emmanuel Macron, saying that he hoped those humanitarian pauses would lead to a ceasefire, so changing language from the Elyse Palace. So those are some of the kind of divided positions within the member states. We also heard from the EU's foreign ministers. They were assembled in that building behind me, the European Council yesterday, as to what a lasting peace after the conflict would look like. They had six points that were agreed on, three, no to the forced displacement of Gazans, no to the reduction of the size of Gaza, and no to the return of Hamas. They also had three yeses, those yeses. Yes to Gazans being involved in the solution, yes to a single authority for both Palestinian territories, and yes for more involvement of the European Union. So certainly a difficult position, but it is 27 member states trying to agree on what is a very contentious issue in Europe. The EU, as such, would be interested to be involved in some sort of a solution in Gaza or elsewhere in the area, maybe in Lebanon, Israeli border, something like that. Well, they're certainly wanting to be more involved, trying to find a solution. We heard in the last few days, practical solutions being put forward by those European powers, most notably Cyprus, talking about that maritime corridor of aid to Gaza. That is something that Europeans are warming to, although, again, finding an agreement between 27 member states for solutions is quite complicated. But we saw from those proposals, or at least that common sentiment from the EU's foreign ministers assembled here on Monday, that the idea of more EU involvement is something that they are open to. We've seen an increase in humanitarian aid by the European Commission. For Gaza, we've seen practical solutions proposed by some member states, but consistently throughout, whenever they make any pronouncements or any statements on this conflict, they repeat that they stand very firmly by Israel and it's right to defend itself. Correspondent Alex Kader, thank you very much for that. Back to the studio here, Ambassador Dania Elon. The EU basically presents a balanced position at this stage, more in kind of way than sea. Yes, and of course, when you look into Europe, there is Northern Europe and Southern Europe. Southern Europe is more critical of Israel, has always been the case, you know, Portugal and Spain. In Northern Europe, we have a problem with one country, which is Ireland, which is pretty much in the pocket, I would say, of the Palestinians from the time the IRA and the PLO were cooperating on terror together. But it is difficult, the EU, 27 countries. It's like herding cats to get an EU position. It will always be the lowest common denominator and this is why it will be less effective. Now, there's another problem with Europe right now that, you know, the big elephant in the room is the Ukraine and Russia. This is where all their focus is. So for them, here, you know, what's happening in Gaza, it's something which commands attention, but not more than that. And they're very much gearing towards what to do in Europe, how to really bolster NATO countries and the collective security of Europe, especially after the Brexit when the United Kingdom is not part of the EU. And by the way, we see it already here with the arms. The weapons industry of Israel is booming because more and more European countries are looking for Israeli solutions. Yeah, just Finland bought the other day and other system from Israel, a defensive missile system and others as well. And definitely you see this. Let's go back to Washington and watch what's going on there. Very big rally, supporting Israelis shaping up there. And I'm going to ask you, Denny, about the Democratic Party you've mentioned and maybe the relationships between the Jewish vote and the Democrats. Is this something that might be looked at as well? Absolutely, you know, people are talking and I saw this Rashida Tlaib, this anti-Semite Congresswoman, Palestinian Congresswoman from Michigan, threatening Biden that he will not get their votes. Well, with all due respect, most of the votes that, let's say, come from this end of the political spectrum are from the Jews, not from the Muslims. And between 65, 70% of Jewish votes go to the Democratic Party. So they do have a lot of influence, let alone the main campaigners, finance campaigners, are big Jewish business people and philanthropists. So the Jews in America and the Democratic Party are pretty much almost one and the same. So I believe that what we see here in Washington today with these huge demonstrations will do something in the hearts and minds of the leaders of the party to continue and support Biden and Blinken on these two issues. First of all, to do away with Hamas all the way and to protect Israel from worldwide criticism. And secondly, anti-Semitism. I believe that this has become a national plague in the United States where maybe even tougher legislation and tougher enforcement has to be brought to bear. And I think this is also part of the importance of these demonstrations and the goals and objectives of this demonstration. OK. Now let's go live to Mike Weikenheim, Eton for News correspondent in Washington, DC, with the rally over there. Mike, how does it look from there? Absolutely packed out here in Jacob, I apologize in advance. If I can't hear you speaking to me, it is packed to the brim here at this rally right now. Israeli music superstar Shai Rebo is performing for the crowd this rally. But the national ball here entertainers here today, Broadway. Yeah, Mike, we're losing here, unfortunately. But we can get the atmosphere over there. Ambassador Ayalon, we see a major support of the Jewish community over there. And as we said before, more than ever before, it struck home. The anti-Semitism wave in America, as you said, is something that maybe we haven't seen in a long time. Yes. And what I'm waiting to see is this gallery of speakers. I know that there was a long list of leaders bipartisan-based Republican, Democratic leaders that will come and speak out. This is very important. Also, what is important is that we will have the entire, I would say, all segments of the American demography. And we will see their Hispanics. We will see their Afro-Americans. This is also very important because anti-Semitism is a plague, not only against the Jews, but against everyone. It always starts with the Jews, and then it ends up with everyone else. So it is very important for them to stand up firmly, to have as many people as come, and to have these speeches from the leaders. I think that would be very, very important to hear what they have to say. Yeah. We are just under one year to elections. Things are changing in the United States. And how would that affect the policies also here in the Middle East? Oh, very much so. I think if until this war, I think all the focus was on internal issues. And usually we know that elections are being lost or won in the United States on domestic issues. It's the economy's stupid mostly. But with such instability in the world, with such threats around the world, you know, starting with Ukraine, but also China vis-à-vis Taiwan. And of course what we see here now with Iran, we have to remember the war with Hamas is actually a war with Iran. Iran is the mastermind, and there still are planning actually to take the entire region over. So this may play a part in the elections as well. And here I also believe we will see a bipartisan support for Israel against anti-Semitism when it comes to U.S. internal domestic politics. And hopefully we will see Jacob. And this would be the real test for the Democratic Party, whether they will marginalize the progressives. Because part of the progressives are, as I said, some of them are either useful idiots, some are them downright anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic, which is one and the same. So hopefully maybe this will be an opportunity for the Democratic Party to rise above this fray and to become more coherent when it comes to decency, when it comes to morality, and to side with the right side of history. Right. Now let's go to I-24 News. Zach Andrews, who is with the families of hostages in the city of Tel Aviv tonight. We're going live to you, Zach. We've had to move positions here because of a rocket strike on Southern Tel Aviv, and it's right over my shoulder. The damage is quite extensive. We've learned at this hour that a 20-year-old young man was injured seriously, and a 43-year-old woman suffered minor injuries. That 20-year-old man I spoke to someone who rushed up to provide life-saving aid said that a bit of the rocket had lodged itself inside his stomach that his hand was severely injured. One of the people that ran out was actually a doctor, and that woman said she does not think that hand is going to be saved. The injuries were so severe. I'll step out of the shot here so you can see some of the damage that we're seeing. The crater is behind this vehicle that is severely burned. It started a fire with the vehicle, but the crater itself actually hit a water main, and some of the people that were here say they saw water shooting up several feet into the air, and that actually helped put out the fire. Now, the crater itself is several feet deep. You can see the puncture to the wall is also quite extensive damage there, and the tree behind it has most of its limbs on the side facing the road blown away. It's quite a bit of shrapnel damage, as well to the home behind it. You can see, obviously, some of these folks are taking a look at the damage. Some of the homeowners are trying to assess what's been lost, what can be saved. There's a man right now who's looking through a sizable hole that's punched inside into the house. The force of some of the damage here is quite incredible. A 20-year-old injured and a 43-year-old woman also injured, not as seriously, but that 20-year-old seriously injured. The ambulance service here, McGon Dovedam, said they rushed him to a nearby hospital. We're waiting to receive word. This was from the earlier rocket barrage that came in around between 6 and 7 o'clock. All right, Zach, thank you very much for this report. There's now a siren in the southern city of Latt, the most southern city of Israel, and according to previous experience, that might be something that is coming out of Yemen. We're not sure at this point. We'll see in a few minutes when we keep finding out what's happening in the city of Latt, the most tranquil city in Israel, Danny. Yes, this is where... And be attacked regularly now. Most of the evacuees from the Gaza border towns were going to Latt for a little bit of R&R relaxation and relief, and this is what they see. And again, you see, it's all Iran. The Houthis of Yemen, they have nothing to do with Israel. We have never been at war with them. They're thousands of miles different, you know, distance between us and them. What are they doing here? It's only because of the Iranian policy and grand strategy of uniting the fronts against Israel, of actually keeping Israel under siege from the south, from the north, from the west and from the east. Right now, we're just trickling down. It's more kind of a bother, something. It's not something which is a serious security threat, but there should be some reckoning there as well. Yeah, just a thought. All roads lead to Iran. All roads. Which is on the verge of being a nuclear power. Yes. So what's going to be the end? Well, you see, the Iranians, you know, they fight, and they will fight until the last Palestinian, the last Yemeni, the last Syrian, the last Iraqis, the last Lebanese. And until and unless the countries in the region here will understand, most of them, they do understand. But when the people will understand that Iran is not their ally, Iran is just using them as cannon fodder. Only if there is a major change there, then we will see Iran getting back into their natural size. That includes countries like Saudi Arabia. Absolutely. But Saudi Arabia just welcomed Raisi. Yes, it's a part of the game, you know, what you call it, the thrones. Games of thrones. The games of thrones, absolutely. And there's no love lost between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Still, the Saudi see Iran and the Ayatollahs as their main existential threat. But, you know, they have to hedge their bets. And when it was seen as the United States may be leaving the region, they had no choice but going to Iran. But I think things may change now. All right. Ambassador Daniel, thank you very much for being with us. Stay tuned for more special coverage shortly with Kaleb Bendavid here on I-24 News. Have a good night from Tel Aviv. Each of war families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where Raisi is. Our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. To this special broadcast on I-24 News, I'm Kaleb Bendavid. It is day 39 of Israel's war against Hamas. And IDF troops continue to make progress in North Gaza, striking over 200 military targets of that terror group, taking over key government buildings, and seizing full control of the Shatti neighborhood just north of Gaza City. But this, at the cost of the lives of two more soldiers, bringing the number of the fallen in combat in Gaza now to 46. Exchanges of fire continue on the northern front, with his Bala launching anti-tank missiles across the Lebanon border and the idea of striking back at its positions there. Missile launches from the Gaza Strip also continued, with one person seriously injured from rocket trap right here in Tel Aviv this afternoon. The IDF confirming today the death of 19-year-old corporal Noah Marciano, who apparently died shortly after being kidnapped into Gaza on October 7th, but did appear in a hostage video released by Hamas yesterday, filmed right before her death. Two other deaths from October 7th also confirmed today, with a positive identification of the bodies of the 12-year-old Liel Hatzroni and 74-year-old Vivian Silver, both murdered in Kibbutz Berry. May their memories be a blessing. Also taking place in Washington D.C. right now is a March for Israel rally, as you can see there. It looks like even hundreds of thousands of people have gathered on the National Mall to both express support for Israel and to march against, take a stand against anti-Semitism, the wave of anti-Semitism we've seen. We will bring you parts of that rally later in the program, including Israeli President Isaac Herzog expected to speak. In the meantime though, let's go up north on our correspondent, I'm sorry, Pia Stechubach, who is in northern Israel. And the Pia rainy weather in Israel and unfortunately rockets, fire, anti-tank missiles continue to rain down on northern Israel from south Lebanon. Right, Kalev. Well, those cross-border attacks continue coming from southern Lebanon. There were several anti-tank missile launches throughout the day, we're speaking about communities like Metula, like Mar-Galiot being targeted in the eastern part of the Upper Guernelie area but also the west, Arab al-Ramshah was targeted as well. So we're speaking about continuous cross-border attacks really alongside the Israel-Lebanon border. The idea of issuing a statement earlier today saying that a squad attempting to launch another anti-tank missile close to the community of Yiftah was targeted. Now Yiftah as a community where about a week ago Israeli civilian was killed by an anti-tank missile. Also at noon, a suspicious object was shut down in the skies above the city of Aker in the shore area not triggering any alert. So that really shows you that those scumishes between Israel and Hezbollah are continuing. Also the Israeli leader of the National Unity Party and also member of the war cabinet, Benny Gantz has been visiting, has been touring some border communities today such as the city of Kiryat Shmona, a city that has been widely evacuated and also the community of Mithula and the very eastern part of the Upper Gadile area community that is really sitting on the Israel-Lebanon border has been touring these communities and he said that the country will not go back to the situation of October 6th of course referring to the reality here at the northern border before the war and that the goal is to restore security here because I want to remind you that the scumishes and threats by Hezbollah were also very much real on the northern border here before the war broke out. Hezbollah just placed on the Israeli side of the border in summer, also there triggering major tensions here in the region and this is also Benny Gantz speaking to the concerns of the residents of those who have been evacuated from their homes not knowing when they'll be able to come back how the reality will look like after this war ends and Joav Galant, sorry, Benny Gantz is saying that they will speak to those concerns but he's not issuing any concrete military plan for that as of now. And we are actually expecting the defenseman to speak this evening and we will bring you that live. Maybe he'll refer to these matters. Peter Stechelbach there on the northern border. Thank you for that. And let's focus back now on the Gaza front. The IDF said today that it is coordinating the transfer of incubators for newborns from an Israeli hospital to the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City as its forces continue to operate closer to a facility that also houses Hamas' key command center in northern Gaza. Now this comes as the IDF released footage from within the basement of another Gaza medical facility, Rantisi Hospital showing stashes of weapons there and also evidence that it possibly held hostages kidnapped on October 7th. Our Middle East correspondent, Ari Oswan, has more on how Gaza's hospitals and what lies beneath or adjacent to them have become crucial battlegrounds in the war against Hamas. We are now in the area of the basement of the hospital. I want to show you a room where we found all the gear, the operational gear of Hamas. Hamas is using hospitals like we showed the evidence in Shifa Hospital in other hospitals. We are now seeing it in life in Rantisi Hospital. A operation still conducting right now. As fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas edges deeper into the heart of Gaza City, hospitals have become a key focus of the IDF. The reason they're used by Hamas terrorists to hide weapons and possibly hold any of the 239 hostages kidnapped on October 7th. This kind of gear is a gear for a major fight. These are explosives. These are vests, vests with explosives. It's a body vest for terrorists to explode on forces. Among hospitals, among patients, we have hand grenades, Kalachnikovs, and then we have the RPGs. People shooting RPGs from hospitals. This is Hamas. The booby-trapped hideout beneath the Rantisi Children's Hospital in northern Gaza is located near the home of a senior Hamas commander. It was uncovered by the IDF's navy elite Cheyate 13 commando unit and the 401st Armored Brigade. As they raided the hospital, which was evacuated days earlier, they came in contact with Hamas fighters hold up in there. A woman, clothes and a rope. A rope next to the legs. And look above this. Look above it. It's a baby bottle. It's a baby bottle in a basement. Above a World Health Organization sign. This is a suspicion for area where hostages were being held. A few feet away was a motorcycle believed to be used to transport hostages from Gaza into Israel on October 7, as well as what appeared to be makeshift bathrooms, a kitchenette and improvised ventilation pipes. In this room, there is a list. This list in Arabic, in Arabic this list says, we are in operation. The operation against Israel started in the 7th of October. This is a guardian list where every terrorist writes his name and every terrorist has his own shift, guarding the people that were here. Meanwhile, amid growing criticism over Israel's fighting near hospitals, the IDF said it is coordinating with Shifa's management the transfer of incubators for newborns from an Israeli hospital to Gaza's biggest hospital and released a phone call with the manager. Did you tell me today that you have a child in your family? God forbid. We are preparing any help. If you want to take care of these children and these people, we are preparing any help. If I bring an incubator and put it in the hospital's door, will it give you help? I told you, there are 37 today, right? 37. Okay, okay, okay. Let me see what is possible. And so as the fighting continues and nears Gaza's hospitals, used by Hamas as their above-ground shields, Israel will continue to send in special forces, rather than airstrikes, to avoid hurting patients and also to uncover further evidence that can shed light on the situation of its hostages. And with us in studio, I've seen a diplomatic correspondent, Owen Altman, and Owen, those hospitals, not only a military problem, but as made clear in that report, it's a diplomatic, it's a public diplomacy problem. Israel is taking every care it can before it actually will have to go, and especially in Shifa Hospital, and launch a military operation there. And it's frustrating. It's frustrating. After that briefing from IDF spokesperson Daniel Higari last night, one would have thought that the Israeli view of what's happening in the hospitals, the Israeli proof of what's happening in the hospitals, would have in a much more determined way have penetrated the international consciousness. It hasn't happened. The international media has reacted very, very skeptically, including reporters who were there with Higari, right? While he was there filming that video, he had a long time in reporting back on what they saw, and Steve had done it very skeptically. At the same time, when relatively speaking, they're much more trusting, it has to be said, of the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. And in a sense, at best, presenting the Israeli military's claims on the same footing as the Hamas health ministry. I have to say, I'm not sure what more the Israeli military could have done, and what more the Israeli government could have done, and what more Israel's advocates could be doing. There's so much hand-wringing in this country. During this war, there always is about the performance and the investment and the effectiveness of Israeli public diplomacy. But you look at an event like last night's briefing, you look at the 24 hours, or almost 24 hours that have elapsed since then, and you just ask yourself what more could be done. I guess the only hope is that once the dust has finally settled, right? Once the situation at Chief of Hospital has resolved itself, and once the information there has been made clear and the documentation there has been done, and we can finally maybe speak to some of those civilians and some of those hospital staff in a way where they won't feel intimidated by Hamas. Maybe then, maybe only then, that's maybe our last hope. The truth of what happened there will be clear to all, but it hasn't happened yet, and I think that's to the collective frustration of all of us. All right, and of course, even after that, there will be those who will dispute the version that comes out of Israel of those things. Well, let's go now to the south and our correspondent there, Mary McAuliffe. In steroid and Mary, we've seen rocket fire today from within Gaza, here in Tel Aviv, even. But of course, even as the fighting, even as there's real progress being made there in North Gaza by the IDF. That's right, Clevus. We'll begin first with the sirens. They've been ringing out in Gaza border communities throughout the day today, at least 15 different times. Also, in the past hour, sirens ringing out in a lot. It is unclear yet exactly what transpired in a lot. Local paramedics say they didn't receive any injuries of reports from the most recent sirens that were activated in the area, but footage online now emerging, showing what appears to either be missiles or air defense working to intercept the missiles that were fired at that southern city. We do know the Yemeni Houthis have been firing missiles at the southern city for some time now, and we do know they gave harsh words today warning Israel about its actions and saying that their response was going to continue. We will still be checking these updates and bringing to you later, but all in the meanwhile, fighting is clearly ongoing, especially also in the northern parts of the Gaza Strip in areas where allegedly Israeli military has already moved far past as they continue to encircle in parts of Gaza City. Here in the north, right on the border, we are seeing some of these ongoing war, ongoing battles still happening very near these border areas. Mostly Israeli tanks will continue to be firing from around this area, but we can hear the constant sounds of mortars, Israeli airstrikes also currently going on, and this does come, of course, as Israeli forces are inching closer to the El Shifa Hospital within two or three blocks, it is said, from that hospital complex. Right, and the idea of saying it completed the capture of the El Shafi Camp in Gaza right to the north of that Shifa hospital. We should know, you're down there in the rain. Rain is complicates matters, both for the Israeli troops, both for air operations in Gaza, and yes, also for the civilians, especially the displaced civilians in Gaza. Absolutely, I mean, here on the border, I think I'm sorry. Y'all have got to speak. We'll have to go to the defense minister now. Second stage of the war in Gaza. During the first stage, we attacked with heavy fire, and in the second stage, for two weeks now, we've been operating with many forces inside the city of Gaza. We have breached the defense lines and the fortifications, both from north and from south. And I'd like to say something about these fortification lines. This is a very broad strip of fortifications, some of them beneath the ground and others above the ground. It includes bunkers, munitions, warehouses. They're connected through piers to the underground, and there, they are interconnected through tunnels. Every such pier reaches the upper floor and the forces of terrorists come out of it trying to strike our forces. The lethality and the precision displayed by the forces was very impressive and the breaching enabled them to reach the city center. You saw the Golanese soldiers sitting in the parliament of Gaza. This is of great significance. I can tell you that in the north of the Gaza Strip, Hamas has lost control, and actually we are in control of the entire area above the ground and the central area in the north of the Gaza Strip, and especially the city of Gaza. For every pier, and there are over 500 such piers that we've discovered, we saw a connection. And this connection is a connection to a school, to a mosque, to a hospital. And yesterday you saw how things looked like at the Rantisi Hospital. That's where motorcycles with the hostages arrived and the forces also arrived there and our hostages were held there and there are hundreds of such places throughout the city of Gaza. This entire city is actually one fortress of terrorism which the IDF manages to carry out its mission in an exceptionally good way. Exceptionally well, I approved the IDF's operation. I gave my approval for the Army to continue to progress today and in the following days in order to complete the missions in line with the instructions of the cabinet. And I would like to say from this stage that no place in the Gaza Strip is immune until we complete our mission, to bring back the hostages home and to dismantle Hamas, to completely rid it of its military as well as governmental capabilities. We are indeed focused on the Gaza Strip and the Southern Front and we are acting there with tremendous success and with great forces. But at this time we also know how important it is to look out for the security and safety of the people living in the north of Israel. And I'd like to say this, the security of the civilians in the north and in the south is equally important. We are well prepared in the north as well and we will know how to take on any threat. Every few days I encounter the hostages. I encounter their families and I hear about them, the hostages. And these are heart-wrenching stories, stories about children, women, parents and also some very elderly parents. Sometimes I hear these stories from grandchildren and sometimes from their children and I think about these people, the generation of the founders of this country, Holocaust survivors who established these communities, these villages in the south of Israel and are now experiencing a second Holocaust. And I'd like to say to all of us, what moral right do we have to stop this battle as long as these people are held captive by these savages from Hamas? For me, every such meeting with the families, every conversation about the Holocaust survivors is not just a dialogue that stirs up some very strong emotions. For me, this is also a moral compass. For me, for the chief of general staff, for the IDF troops and for all those who are carrying out their missions. Today I saw the land of Israel in all its beauty and I saw the people of Israel at their best. I met in the south of country the troops, the civilians, the mayors and I also saw the entire system that's helping them with the assistance of the IDF and the Ministry of Defense to rebuild everything. And I look at this joint activity, a lot of volunteers, some of them senior officers, other civilians, former mayors, current mayors, as well as a lot of people coming from these communities, they all have one goal, to create the return to this region. They are all busy in solving the problems of destroyed homes and security lines and they're also very busy with agriculture and finding solutions. And I see all this strength and what I'm thinking is that this is a continuity. Am Israel Haide, Israel is the Jewish people lives and people are extremely committed to return to the region. The troops are committed to the defense of this region and I told them agriculture, settling the land and security are one and the same. We are going to carry out our mission and make sure that you are secure and you can plow the land, the fields until the very last acre. Our goal is to win this war and winning victory means that a military threat will no longer be posed from Gaza that Hamas will cease to exist and if any kind of threat is created we will be able to act against any threat with complete freedom of action. I think that this is our part. There's an unwritten contract between the government and the civilians. We are going to provide security so that you can live your lives and do whatever you need to do. And indeed, there are two components necessary for this victory. The first is a very powerful military and the second is a strong society. I think we have both and God willing we will win. Now we will move on to questions. Moti Castel from Channel 14. Good evening, sir. And with a backdrop of reports on an upcoming deal for the release of hostages and the visit of the chief of the Shin Bet in Egypt. I'd like to hear from you. What can you tell us about it and what can you promise Israelis that it won't include such a deal? For example, just like we had in the Glaciali deal and also the fuel issue. We are committed to two goals and two goals only. One is to win over Hamas and to completely demolish its military and governmental capabilities and infrastructure. And the second is to bring back the hostages. When I pressured to carry out the maneuver a few weeks ago, one of the main reasons was to increase our pressure over Hamas. The increase of pressure over Hamas. This is what brings up the options. Had we stayed near the fence these things would have lasted years. But in this situation there are options coming up and hopefully they'll be exhausted. Maria Asavolberg from Channel 13. Sir, the narrow cabinet is convening this evening to discuss the hostages deal. How long will it take until we reach a deal? And will it be realized over the next two weeks? And following the previous question the current deals include the release of terrorists. Even seen while the engineer of this massacre was released in the Shalit deal. The release of hostages as the government plans to do doesn't that bring with it some kind of security risk for Israel? I think that I've just provided a very accurate answer regarding what I intended. And I suggest that whatever has to do with processes that are related to future activities we wish to carry out let's leave it at that. And in that respect it's best to not disclose everything. What about the release of terrorists? I'm not getting into the terms or the actions. I don't think that this is the significant element. We have two missions and we're going to deliver both. Joav Evan from Channel 12 News. Sir, President Biden says that he believes that the hostages deal will happen soon. Do you also think so? And are we talking about five days of a ceasefire and wouldn't be a problem for the IDF to return in full swing? And also you've announced today that Noa Marciano was killed in the hands, had died in the hands of Hamas. You probably didn't only rely on the video. What can you tell us about it? As for your first question, we are going to continue to act and we are still acting as we're speaking in the heart of the city of Gaza in order to carry out all of our missions. This has two values. First of all, exerting pressure on Hamas and it makes it possible to perhaps reach various processes regarding the hostages. On the other hand, there is the main value which is related to breaking Hamas' ability to defend themselves from us. There's one thing that's clear. We can no longer live with this phenomena called Hamas at our border because we saw what that meant. What was your second question? My second question was about the fact that you have announced the death of Noa Marciano at the hands of Hamas and I can assume you didn't just determine that based on the video released by Hamas yesterday. What can you tell us about what happened? I think that the IDF statement is sufficient and the details it gave her family are accurate and true. Hadas Greenberg from Khan 11. All right. Well, we've just heard the defense minister of Gala give a briefing this evening, presumably in place perhaps of that given nightly by the IDF spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Higari. Much of it was about morale building on the home front but there was some interesting points. He did say that Israel is now in complete control of all of northern and central Gaza above ground implying that the next phase of the operation is to go to the tunnels. He also said that no place in Gaza is immune. This is maybe a reference to Southern Gaza, which Israel has said is a safer zone but has indicated that if there is a valid military target in South Gaza, it will act in there and there have been such operations that have been conducted. I want to go now to Washington DC. Of course, that big rally there, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands have gathered there on the mall. You see all Natan Sharansky, you see speaking now and I believe we have our correspondent there, Mike Wagenheim, maybe on the line. All right, let's listen to a little bit of Natan Sharansky. I'm sorry, we have the audio of Natan Sharansky. Remember all those faces of Jews from America, from Britain, from Canada, who were coming to us to Moscow to support us to understand that KGB is lying. Because you were bringing so much love and so much strength to us. This picture of one Jewish fighting family was always in my head and that is why it was so clear that whatever will be my personal faith, the outcome of our struggle can be only our victory. That as long as we all fight together, we will win in Israel. Both through difficult days. We go from one funeral of the soldier who fell. Natan Sharansky of course, the famed Soviet Refuse Nick. And seeing Natan there, it brings to mind another mass movement especially by US Jews, the movement to free Soviet Jewry. Now as he was the key symbol I think of that movement, now coming back to Washington for this event. It's incredibly emotional. Let's try to put Natan Sharansky back on the screen. We won't be able to hear him, but we'll be able to see him. Kalev, it's not only the connection to the fight for Soviet Jewry. It's the connection to the march. It's the connection to the march. Let's try to put Natan Sharansky back on screen while I talk so people can see him while I speak. Kalev 1987, right? This is the third in a series. Here we have Natan Sharansky on screen. Kalev, this is the third in a series of major marches by American Jews. There's this one, reportedly maybe 200,000 people there. Far exceeding expectations. Yeah, more because people were talking about 60,000, 70,000. Far exceeding expectations on a weekday, on a workday, people coming from the four corners of the United States to Washington DC. So there's this march. There was a march in 2002 at the height of the Second Intifada. I was there, I remember it. I was a student. And then there was the march in 1987. Maybe the biggest and most momentous of all, I was in elementary school. There were 250,000 people there. We flew in from Detroit on charter planes there to Washington DC and back in a day. I was so short, I couldn't see over the crowds of people. But it was, for me, a formative experience. It made a huge impression on me as it did, I think, on people in my generation. And here we have Natan Sharansky coming back full circle. Again, the symbol of that fight to free Soviet Jewry. A year before he had been freed. I saw him a few months before in a visitor to Detroit and to our synagogue. I shook his hand. He was an icon. He only had one thing to say to me in, I think, September of 1987. Are you coming to the march? And I was. I was there in December. Again, short enough that I couldn't see over the crowds. But now this new generation, there are other kids in elementary school who I'm sure are taking a day off school to be there in Washington DC. To be there for another momentous march of American Jewry mobilizing and really, I want to say one unprecedented way, but there is that precedent of the fight for Soviet Jewry. The people coming from across the United States, including from Detroit where I grew up, hundreds if not thousands of people, and again, hundreds of thousands in total we understand coming there together from across the political spectrum, Kalev, across the political spectrum. Americans for Peace Now is there on the ground. There on the ground because they understand just as all of us do that this is a true emergency. And the mobilization of American Jews that I think has been so inspiring has gotten attention here in Israel. In the face of rising anti-Semitism, to not only come out today, on this day in November, on the Mall in Washington and make their voices heard proudly together, but also in the fundraising, in the mobilization, and helping to make friends and neighbors understand the reality of what we in Israel and what they in the United States are going through. So tremendous pictures coming through from Washington, including what you're seeing on your screen, Natan Czarenski himself there at the podium in 2023, just as he was in 1987. Let's go to our senior U.S. correspondent, Mike Wagenheim, who is there on the ground. And Mike, it looks like impressive numbers to me bigger than some of the estimates that were originally being given. I've heard estimates ranging now from anywhere to 100 to up to 200,000 people. We won't know until it's all said and done, but just an incredible effort here by the American Jewish community. Everybody took off today. The Jewish community down here in America, the schools, the communal organizations, the after-programs, charter buses, trains rolling in from Antrack, all over the place. They've come from all over America to be here today. And the National Mall on the other side of our camera here is packed as far back. I mean, it's a pretty monumental scene out here. We spoke earlier with one of the co-sponsors of today's event, William Daroff, the CEO of a major American Jewish organization. Here's William Daroff earlier today. 44 years ago. We planned this before the big event that was here with a few thousand people last Saturday, but the idea generally is with tens and tens of thousands of people here on the mall, regular Americans speaking out, it'll make clear that this fringe group that you see are pro-Hamas activists who are on street corners, who are at Harvard Square, really represent a fringe. You'll see here the leadership of Congress. You'll see dozens of members of Congress. And as I said, tens and tens of thousands of Americans who stand up were saying, this is the real America. This is the America that's represented by the polling data that the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents released this morning that shows that well over 80% of Americans support the right of Israel. And in fact, the obligation of Israel to defend the people of Israel. It's war of terror and intimidation against the... And they've come from all over the country today. You look out into the crowd here and you see signs, people from Cleveland, from Chattanooga, from Los Angeles, and even Indiana, one rally goer. I think it's important as an Israeli-American to show my pride for being Jewish, show my support for Israel. Especially at Purdue, we don't have very many Jews and we've got a group to come out. I think bringing back the videos to school is just going to help reignite the pride for Israel and pride for Judaism being back at school. Very important for me to be here. All right, as you see, impressive crowd there. Bigger than anticipated. Three times as big as anticipated. On a weekday. On a weekday and of course, very important, the diversity of the crowd. I'm talking about religiously. You have reform and orthodox represented, not a constellation you see. Also, as you said, groups like American for Peace Now and the group like the ZOAs, I Know It's Organization of America, which is far to the right. You have to be impressed, obviously. Both on, I think, two fronts there. Both in reaction to what is happening here and the world's reaction to what is happening there, but also reaction to what's happening in the streets of America. The surge of anti-Semitism. What we're seeing, the harassment of Jewish students in major universities, the tearing down of those hostage posters on the streets of New York, I think has really energized the community there. You know, Kalev, in recent years, there was so much talk of distancing, right? Distancing between Israel and American Jews. And I always believed that while that was true and there was a lot to that, that there was an underlying and deep love that American Jews in the main had for Israel, had for the Jewish people, had for the Jewish tradition and had for the togetherness. That's what we're seeing in those pictures in Washington, right? That beneath it all, all of the angst, all of the political divisiveness, all of the concern, all of the assimilation that at the end of the day there is this deep love and this deep sense of connection that so many people had in them and wanted to express and are ready to mobilize for this genuine sense of emergency and come by the hundreds of thousands to Washington and not only come by the hundreds of thousands of Washington today, but to have mobilized over the course of the past month. It's really a remarkable experience, I think, for American Jews. And again, a tremendous amount of energy and some incredibly powerful pictures. All right, I'm sure many of our viewers in the US are at that demonstration, but for those who are watching, later in the program we'll bring you some of the speeches we're expecting. President Herzog to speak there, for example, but they are running a little behind the set schedule. Now, just a few minutes before that, we did hear the Defense Minister, Yoav Galant give a briefing. He was asked specifically about the hostages and comments that US President Joe Biden made today in Washington. It was at an event dealing with the climate crisis, but a reporter shouted out and asked a question about the hostages in Gaza. This is what he had to say. Yes, I can. I've been talking with people involved every single day. I believe it's going to happen, but I don't want to get into detail. And there was a response also from the Prime Minister's office, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this statement saying, quote, our hearts are always with the abductees and their families. Since the beginning of the war, we have been working continuously to free our hostages, including exerting, increasing pressure since the beginning of the ground maneuver. If and when there is something concrete to report on, we will do it. Again, being very cautious, not to raise expectations, certainly not making statements like we're coming. Obviously, even though there was this report Hamas claiming that negotiations had been broken off, there is something still cooking, but we must temper our expectations and our optimism because we've heard this from the beginning of the war and so far really, in terms of an exchange or a deal, nothing concrete. Right, by the way, should just update viewers a lot of activism still going on right as we speak, the march, literally the march, not the one in Washington but the one by hostage families of families of those who are in hostage from Tel Aviv walking uphill to Jerusalem. Again, to dramatize their plight, this is a protest tactic that's been used in the past in Israel and there's also we're expecting a press conference by the hostage families forum over the course of the next few hours. Obviously, we'll keep our viewers updated on what happens. As for the hostage, I want to go back to Yov Galin's press conference because there were two important points that I think he made about the humanitarian pause. Humanitarian pause, short-term ceasefire, although it's dangerous to use that word, it has so many meanings these days. He was asked about that and whether that would hurt the military progress and what I understood from his answer is essentially once the military wraps up the operation or materially wraps up the operation in the northern part of the strip, at that point there could safely be that pause that wouldn't interfere with the circle of achieving both of the goals, right? The victory over Hamas and the issue of returning the hostages. The second thing, the question of a public debate over the terms, on one hand the Prime Minister's office. Which Yov Galin was grilled about, going back to the Gilat Shalit deal under the use of terrorists. And it's a tricky balance because on one hand the government is saying something that's undeniably true. We don't want to talk about that, we don't want to show our cards. It certainly makes sense. On the other hand, Kalev, what about a public debate over an issue like releasing prisoners because of that history of the Shalit deal? And it was explained quite bluntly during that press conference the fact that over a thousand prisoners were released in the Gilat Shalit deal including Yahya Sinwar himself, right? Then going back to Gaza and building up the Hamas terror organization and infrastructure and the possibility, a real possibility of having a public debate, even a wrenching and difficult public debate over this deal while all of the conditions are being kept so secretive. It's a very, very difficult question. How do you balance the obvious need for secrecy with I think a real imperative for an open public debate, not after the fact, but before the fact? Well, I'm not sure we're going to have that open public debate given these circumstances, at least on the kind of deal that it would have to involve. A truly significant number of the hostages, certainly all the women elderly and children and even infants that are being held there in return and anything short of that certainly is not going to pass for any kind of prisoner. And we're not going back to the Shalit deal. Certainly not. Now we did bring you early reports from the West Bank. There was a another front in this ongoing conflict that is perhaps getting less noticed, and that is the West Bank. Now there was a raid into the Palestinian city of Tukaram overnight by Israeli army forces which did spark a big firefight there in which 8 Hamas terrorists were killed. And in a move that was once uncommon in the West Bank, but is now becoming a frequent occurrence, the IDF troops on the ground called an airstrikes to support their activity as the troops in Gaza are now doing. Correspondent Robert Swift explains how the West Bank has become a very active front over this past month and what is now truly a multi-front conflict for the IDF. While Israel fights in Gaza, it's striving to prevent its northern border from erupting. But the north isn't the only potential new front that is simmering. Violence in the West Bank has spiked since Hamas's October 7th assault. 8 Palestinians killed in an overnight raid by the Israeli military in Tulkaram were claimed by the Hamas terror group. Israeli troops entering the West Bank city on an arrest operation were confronted with live fire and explosives. Palestinian medics said that 3 of the killed were struck by a drone. IDF bulldozers tore up roads inside the town to mitigate against improvised explosive devices. In the second raid into Tulkaram in a week, similar raids and clashes have taken place elsewhere in the West Bank. With an operation into Janine last week, sparking a firefight and drone strike. 176 Palestinians have been killed in confrontations with the IDF since the beginning of October, according to the UN Commissioner for Human Rights. Attacks by Palestinians have continued with one Israeli reserve soldier killed in the West Bank. And friction between Palestinians and Israelis living in the West Bank is soaring, with several Palestinians killed by settlers since the outbreak of war. With the IDF focused on Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in the north, its resources are not limitless. But if the West Bank violence escalates, this could impact Israel's wider war effort. Now, as we reported earlier, there was a rocket fire from Gaza today, including here in Tel Aviv this afternoon. And there were injuries here in Tel Aviv. Three people, two light and moderate, but one person seriously injured. Let's go to our Zach Anders, who was on, I believe, the scene of where that rocket or those shrapnel fragments landed. What happened exactly today at that spot, Zach? Well, from our location in southern Tel Aviv, a rocket strike that's originating in Gaza over 30 miles away from where it was launched. It has struck location in southern Tel Aviv. I'll step out so that you can see what we're seeing here. The damage to the wall is probably what you're able to see best, but underneath it is a large crater several feet deep that hit a water line. The water line then exploded and the water was rushing up and covering most of the road. Again, those two injuries, the 20 year old male was injured quite severely. I spoke to one person on scene who said they rushed over, applied a tourniquet to his arm and his hand was badly damaged and that a piece of the rocket had lodged itself in his stomach. Now the ambulance authorities are saying they were able to get here quickly and take him to a hospital so we don't know his condition presently, but the last we heard was very serious. A 43 year old was also minorly injured by the shrapnel and then in this home that you can see behind me we've been watching as the family has packed up their things, put them into suitcases and bags and it looks like they have left for the night as well because a lot of damage to their home. The tree in their yard, the tree facing the street has been all but blown away and the power lines are down all around as well. This obviously came in this came in at about 5 o'clock in the afternoon when we all got that red alarm, one of these rockets were not sure if this was a failed interception if this rocket struck this neighborhood directly, we just don't know that at this time. Alright, Zach And is there in Tel Aviv, not far from this studio. Zach, thank you for that. We're going to go back to the Washington rally, Israeli president Isaac Herzog speaking there. Above all, we come together to march for good over evil for human morality over bloodthirst we march for a light over darkness 80 years ago Jews came out of Auschwitz and vowed never again as the blue and white flag was hoisted over our ancient homeland. We vowed never again 40 days ago a terrorist army invaded the sovereign state of Israel and butchered hundreds upon hundreds of Israelis in the largest massacre since the holocaust let us cry out together never again never again never again is now the Hamas savagery and crimes against humanity bring to my mind as President Biden has said the worst rampages of ISIS we the people of Israel are grateful to President Biden his administration and so many members of Congress on both sides of the aisle the moral clarity and bold actions of our American allies demonstrate the depth of the U.S.-Israel alliance which is stronger than ever before since October 7th Israeli society and the Jewish people have truly come together in unison we feel our hearts beat as one we hear our brothers and sisters blood crying out to us from the ground called Meachikha and Adama once again in Jewish history we demand let our people go whilst our loved ones are held captive in Gaza and our soldiers are fighting for our beloved Israel Jews all over the world are assaulted for being Jewish the hatred the lies the brutality the disgraceful outbursts the extremism our an embarrassment to all civilized people and nations Jews in America must be safe Jews all over the world must be safe I salute you the women and men who stand up to massive hatred and pressure in the community or on campus just as you stand with us we stand with you brothers and sisters dear friends as president of the state of Israel Medina Tisrael I vow to you from Jerusalem from the Kotel that we will heal rise again phrase the prophet Zechariah once again playing the streets of Bari and Sderot and the elderly shall sit peacefully by the walkways of Nakhal of Hakim and the sounds of life and laughter return to the villages the kibbutzim and the cities our constant yearning for peace we return as well together together we pray for the safe return of our hostages together we pray for the full recovery of the wounded and together we pray for our beloved sons and daughters in the IDF may God bless them and keep them together we grieve and together we shall overcome God bless Israel God bless America in person from New York in the prayer for the IDF we just heard Israeli president Isaac Herzog speaking there at that Washington rally as we've been reporting the crowd there now estimated upwards of 150,000 maybe of 200,000 that's really almost more than triple the people that were expected largely because this was on a Tuesday during a week working day and yet as on Mike Wagenheim there you're scanning the crowd and you get a sense of it and I would say yes it definitely looks like more than even 200,000 I would say I'm just going to reference two things said by the Israeli president Isaac Herzog he used two expressions two phrases which are quite familiar to me growing up in the New York Jewish community in the 1970s one is let our people let my people go the famous words the prophet Moses says to Pharaoh in the book of Exodus and was adopted by the Soviet jury movement we just saw Natan Choransky speaking and now it's of course being applied to the hostages and again tying back exactly what you said this movement to the movement to free Soviet jury but the other expression he used was never again never again is now in the 1970s and I grow up with this expression used in the mainstream Jewish community because it was made famous by the late Rabbi Maya Kahane and his Jewish Defense League which was seen as kind of a fringe movement at the time in a somewhat radical movement and he popularized the phrase never again but you heard President Herzog do it and you're hearing it also from other mainstream political figures in response I think just to the October 7th the atrocities that for some people draw back to the Holocaust not to the Soviet jury movement it draws back to the Holocaust and of course that's what that expression brings to mind and references so you see that I think it's a kind of the impact of what has happened on October 7th. Yeah your Brooklyn accent gives you away right your memories in the 1970s look Kalev the echoes a very building on the national mall right now as we look at those pictures those echoes that incredible American Jewish tradition by the way in terms of numbers there were 250,000 there in 1987 at a protest that was on a Sunday and that was planned months in advance this is a protest that was neither it's on a weekday and it was planned from day to day right week to week in the course of this emergency and you're right there is the sense of emergency with the echoes not only of 1987 but the echoes of now the echoes of the Holocaust the feeling of genuine emergency and for so many of those people we see on our screens right now the personal experience I imagine of the rising anti-Semitism in the United States as for Isaac Herzog speech this isn't the most natural setting for him in his strength I think he's stronger in smaller forms than he is before a crowd of 200,000 but not withstanding the echoes of the Jewish Defense League of course a far right organization with it the vast vast majority of people you see on your screen do not identify under any circumstances the thrust of his speech was certainly tailored to a crowd that is by and large liberal by and large left leaning a forward looking optimistic close that was speaking more about peace and hope that it was about war and if you will victory of course wishing the best for the troops but at the same time looking not to the day after in Israel's politics but to the day after in Israeli society and I thought that was very very strong and exactly the right note to hit for this crowd coming out on this sunny at least although I imagine cold day in Washington to again show their love for the state of Israel and Kolev to show their connection to the Jewish people we should say also reflecting the personal political leanings of President Herzog who did come from the center left Israeli politics before yes becoming the attaining the was supposedly non-partisan position of Israeli president whether her of course the hostages of main focus of that speech and of that event there in Washington also the focus of an event here in Tel Aviv Owen made reference to it the families of the hostages they're having a press conference right now let's listen in now they are they at the event they have started speaking of course singing of course the national anthem the hostages we should by the way we should know this is actually sort of the second big event there was also in March to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv today though some very the first real big rainy weather stormy weather in Israel today probably did put a damper somewhat on the attendants though we did see crowds gamely making their way but certainly that lobby the hostages calling on the government to do everything we can not pushing necessarily for a deal but just trying to keep it in the forefront of the discourse here in Israel and making sure that it's on the agenda even more so than the stated goals say for example of destroying Hamas and the Gaza Strip and it's far beyond Israel Kalev no government anywhere in the world least not any government that's even remotely friendly to the state of Israel can ignore this it appears in just about every statement you see from foreign ministers from prime ministers from presidents this is a point of international consensus that these hostages many of them women young children even a baby of nine months we interviewed that family and I 24 news holocaust survivors that these people need to be freed and that Israel and the Israeli government saying both I think legitimately but also let's be honest cleverly that there is no justification for calling for a ceasefire as long as these people are in captivity in those tunnels we presume underneath the Gaza Strip so the capacity of this form of families establishes days after the war Kalev I was there for the press conference very crowded press conference in the days after the war started they tools that they have used to raise awareness in Israel and far beyond have been brilliant and I think have had a tremendous effect we can only hope that the hostages are brought home as soon as possible it is safely and truly a way as possible right and I just want to we're coming to the end of this hour to bring up again Noah Marciano the 19 year old soldier who was captured corporal Noah Marciano she was according to IDF statement it was only days some three four days after she was taken hostage perhaps suffering wounds in that that she she passed away those exact circumstances have not been made public there was a video released last evening in which obviously under duress or the old hostage video obviously being made to say certain things I should note that I 24 news along with the rest of the Israeli media did not air that video as has been the case with other hostage videos of course taking a concern primarily the concerns of the families who have asked in those cases that they not be broadcast so we just of course say in her memory you know may her memory be a blessing and of course wish to a safe return of all the other hostages on optimum stay with us we are going to continue into the second hour of this broadcast on I 24 news Israel at war against Hamas day 39 will be right back stay with us here on I 24 news Israel is at war make an investment in Israel bonds it is the most powerful and direct way to stand with Israel visit Israel bonds dot com this is the best now made for me a unique concept in Israel custom made men's fashion to your measurements made for me designer of all your events schedule your appointment at www.madeforme.co.il