 Final hours as context to achieve a ceasefire, brokered by Egypt appear to be nearing their concluding stages, but in the past hour alone, the rocket fire intensifies and the fire range expands. Sirens being heard in the central Dunn metropolitan, including in the city of Tel Aviv, right here at the I-24 news studios. Nearly 1,000 rockets fired towards Israel from the Gaza Strip in the past three days, targeting Israel's south, Jerusalem, and central Israel. Also dispensed our another apparent errant Islamic Jihad rocket launch in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinians reporting three killed, bringing the total to 34. This number includes both casualties from IDF fire and Palestinian errant fire. Hamas still staying out of the battlefield. Israel's prime minister saying loud and clear today, the goals have been achieved. There is no benefit in continuing the operation. We have so much to unpack and I-24 news teams are spread across the country and the region to bring us all the latest developments. But let's begin with a recap of how we got to this point. Only 15 months since the last major conflicts between Israel and Gaza, and we are back here again with the Israeli Defense Forces striking targets in the Gaza Strip and rockets being fired back into southern and central Israel. But how did we get back here so quickly? On Monday 1 August Israel arrested Basem Al-Sadi, the leader of terrorist organisation in Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Amid fears of retaliatory attacks from the Pij, Israel closed roads near the Gaza border following threats of rocket attacks. And then on Friday 5 August Israel launched a targeted air strike at a building in Gaza wiping out Pij commander Taisir Jabari. Ten people were killed in this strike including numerous Pij militants as well as a five year old girl, the daughter of one of the militants. In return the Pij fired hundreds of rockets into southern Israel and also launched a salvo at Tel Aviv. The majority of projectiles were intercepted by Israel's iron dome air defence system. On Sunday Israel agreed to an Egyptian mediated ceasefire. The Pij have reportedly accepted the offer and thus the ceasefire is set to go ahead. So far over 30 Palestinians have been killed including Jabari, a military commander Khaled Mansour and despite hundreds of rockets being fired into Israel no Israelis have been killed thus far. Yes and as we've just been reporting at this past hour a barrage towards the Tel Aviv metropolitan would sirens being heard all across the region this of course while the barrages of rockets continue to Israel's southern community earlier in the day also sirens being heard in Jerusalem all of this happening while contacts to achieve a ceasefire mediated by Egypt are still underway but hurdles seems still seem to be intact. Now let's focus now on a major player that is taking center stage at this current round of escalation outside of Israel the name is virtually unknown the Palestinian Islamic jihad estimated to only be a few thousand strong they have become the face of this new military campaign in the Gaza Strip just who are they and what do they want to achieve by 24 news reporter are we 11 Waldman explains Israel's breaking down military operation continues hunting down the leadership of the Palestinian Islamic jihad in Gaza but just who are the terrorists who have had Israel under the gun. You hurt shake for samsadi who is not just a commander of the Islamic jihad here he is a religious figure this is a religious issue this situation will not go on we are awaiting instructions from Gaza how to respond we are in this war with Gaza together armed with rockets advanced drones and anti-tank weapons the Palestinian Islamic jihad is second only to Hamas and its power and influence in Gaza and it is part ally and part rival vying for control of the same term. Pij spawned from the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood Party in 1981 and immediately began to wage war against Israel with a group charter that calls for the total annihilation of the Jewish state and it received funding and weapons directly from Israel's arch enemy Iran. Our fight is not with the people of Gaza Islamic jihad is an Iranian proxy that wants to destroy the state of Israel and kill innocent Israelis. The head of Islamic jihad is in Iran as we speak Iran's fingerprints can be found on the funding but also on the weapons the group is armed with Iranian made missiles and advanced armed drones that Gaza cannot domestically produce and in direct meeting between Pij leadership and Iran's regime but the group manages to surpass even Hamas and radicalism calling any political solution a betrayal. We share the same Islamic identity from a strategic point of view there's no difference between us and Hamas only a tactical difference we reject participation in the elections because we believe that the basis of the Palestinian authority is the Oslo agreement. Unlike Hamas the Pij rejects even long cease fighters as beneficial to Israel. This has put the group at odds with Hamas in the past notably in 2019 after Pij leader Baha Abu Al-Atta was assassinated and the Pij launched attacks on Israel even as Hamas didn't want escalation but escalation is the group's identity. I don't agree with Hamas's idea of a long cease fire with Israel because Israel would only use the time to make things worse. Now three years later Israel finds itself in the same struggle with its neighbors. Islamic jihad wants more calling the shots on the border and Hamas trying not to bring Israel's wrath down on their own leaders. Is there a way out? And we will dive in further into this later on in the broadcast but now let's cross on live to I-24 News Defense Correspondent Jonathan Raghiv standing by in the southern city of Sderot. Jonathan before we talk about what's the current situation down south past our major barrage of rockets targeting the Tel Aviv metropolitan from what we understand successful interceptions but it did manage to disrupt the International Ben-Gurion Airport scheduling. What can you tell us? Yes so IDF are confirming that there have been three successful interceptions in the skies over Tel Aviv once the rockets get to that area of course they can interrupt planes in and out of Ben-Gurion Airport so passengers in one plane have been taken off the plane for quite some time now they're meant to go back on the plane at least for now the schedule is back to normal at Ben-Gurion Airport. That's regarding that siren in Tel Aviv roughly 30 minutes ago down here at the south if anyone expected a ceasefire at 8 o'clock local time that did not happen at 8.05 which is about five minutes ago we already saw a barrage of rockets coming from the Gaza Strip over there to the city of Ashkelon which is to the north west of us so 8 o'clock has gone by ceasefire none to be seen the past hour was clearly a more active than the hours before we ran here to shelter at least five times and we could see behind us plenty of rockets making their way first to central Israel that barrage about 30 minutes ago but also rockets making their way to Ashkelon and coastal towns and other locations here on the Gaza border area at least for now no ceasefire to be seen. Yes Jonathan and we will have more on the efforts to broker a ceasefire and the hurdles that appear to be intact but before we let you go Jonathan at the home front command reinstating essentially the current orders to citizens down south essentially telling them do not leave shelter. First of all for the entire country all the restrictions are in place at least until tomorrow at 6 o'clock at 6 p.m. everything is in place up until then the residents here in the Gaza border area have been instructed now to stay very close to protect the shelters understanding that these could be perhaps the final hours of this operation the final hours are always characterized by a large barrage of rockets the terror organizations in the strip try to maximize the effect as the operation comes to an end this is the case or not we'll have to wait and see. I'm fortunately familiar to Jonathan Regev I-24 News Defense correspondent who will be back with you later on in the show out for a two minute break back with all the latest right after Don't Go Anywhere. Sometimes it's tough to get past all the noise and get to the heart of the story even tougher to make sense of it all I'm David Matlin and each weekday I'll take on the most important topics breaking down the issues so you can decide for yourself. Zoom in each weekday here at I-24 News. The Middle East. I-24 News is a witness. Our journalists live and breathe there every day. Get all the latest global news from our studios in Tel Aviv, New York, Washington and Paris. Any time anywhere. Download the I-24 News app available on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple and Google stores. I-24 News, see beyond. 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. Made for me, official dresser of I-24 News. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back to I-24 News, a special rolling coverage of Operation Breaking. Don, possibly the final hours of this operation is a context to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Islamic jihad, brokered by Egypt, are gaining momentum. And let's turn now here in studio where I'm joined by Mr. Dan Perry, International Affairs Analyst and former Middle East editor at the Associated Press and calling on the reserves Mr. Grisha Yacobovic, Israeli-Palestinian Relations Expert and former head of the civilian department of Kogut of the IDF. Thank you gentlemen very much for coming in studio this evening. So I'm saying it with great sorrow, a very familiar dynamic, so to speak, those heavy barrages of rockets leading up potentially to a ceasefire, right Dan? Yeah, I mean I'm afraid it's a bit of a kindergarten dynamic that you have with the militant groups in Gaza. We expect that as a ceasefire becomes more probable, indeed even after one is agreed, at the very last minute they try to create as we say an image of victory and maybe cause some damage on the ground. For Islamic jihad, I think it is from their perspective a bit of an embarrassment that there has been no damage in Israel. Almost all the rockets have been intercepted, the ones that landed, landed harmlessly. That is no good for their PR. Clearly they're trying to even the score. Yeah, to maximize their achievements. And Mr. Yacobovic, you know, if the Islamic jihad is nothing to lose at this point in time, Israel definitely has a whole lot to lose at what we call furgy time, injury time. You know, all those mistakes, it takes one shrapnel to go the other way and create greater chaos and by that Israel could lose control over the situation. Would the Israeli Prime Minister saying loud and clear, we need to end it as swiftly as possible? Of course. Yeah, I think Israel achieved all the planned achievements that were taken in considering the operational IDF targets. But to the dynamic that was just mentioned here, I think this is a different dynamic if you ask me. This event is an event to help Hamas, to achieve achievements to Hamas. This event actually made Hamas stronger coming out of this round of escalation. And this is exactly what they needed. So there are two players here, Hamas in Israel, that achieved a lot from this round of escalation by actually attacking Palestinian Islamic jihad. Coming from the Israeli perspective, excellent targets, commanders that were killed, chain of command actually was destroyed at Pidge, making them look weaker when it comes to the people, when it comes to the street, when it comes to the future. And the future is the day after Muhammad Abbas. It means we have two approaches, two narratives, one Hamas and Pidge. Let's say the others, that believes in a violent, that believes in mukawama, what we say resistance. And there's the other narrative of Fatah, Muhammad Abbas, that believes or that leads a narrative of the only way to reach or to gain something is by negotiation, by peace, by that dynamic. And this growing achievements to Hamas and Pidge, actually growing the narrative of mukawama, of resistance, is Pidge threatened on Hamas. So in the future, there will still some voices when it comes to future elections. So why dance around the point that you're trying to make, sir, if there was this hidden agenda or speculation of a hidden agenda to strengthen Hamas on its way to become the Palestinian Authority at some point. Now this operation you're suggesting is essentially paving the way for a kosher stamp for Hamas? Well, this is not a kosher stamp that will be given by Israel, okay? We have a reality. And according to this reality, Hamas is the strongest organization and they are here to stay. And you prefer to have somebody strong in Gaza that will contain and restrain the others like Pidge. So Israel did a great job to help Hamas by forcing, restrainment or forcing them to behave nice to Hamas. So actually, in a way, we are enemies, Israel and Hamas, but we share the same interest by hitting Pidge and this is exactly what happened. Well, remember, there's two Israel's. There's an Israel, just like there's two Palestinians or maybe two and a half. There is a part of Israel that wants to have partition and that part of Israel does not want Hamas in charge in Gaza. There's another part of Israel that wants to kill a two-state solution or at least limit it to Gaza only and that part of Israel, right wing Israel, is kind of happy with Hamas and Gaza, I think. There's sort of unspoken allies. But it is, I agree with you. This makes Hamas look better. No doubt about it. I mean, in two ways, ironically. One, you can clearly see the difference between the Islamic jihad's ability to supply rockets at Israel and in general to do damage on Hamas's. I mean, everyone in Israel should be very happy Hamas did not join in, at least as yet they haven't. And it's clear. So they look tougher. On the other hand. Not just Israel being happy, Hamas has a lot to lose if it joins in. In the past, that hasn't deterred them. But on the other hand, and in the other direction, they look more reasonable than Islamic jihad. They behave according to a certain narrative responsibly. If anyone in Israel wants to look forward to a day when there is maybe not an official kosher stamp, but some kind of plausible narrative excuse to do business with Hamas, I think the past five days or four days have enabled them, have contributed to that. So is Hamas on its way to become the responsible adult and Islamic jihad, the bad boy, the troublemaker of the neighborhood, similarly to what we've seen a few years ago with the Palestinian Authority, Fatah, and Hamas? Everything is relative in this world. Right, right. So the big question is where do we go from here? And we do know about context to achieve ceasefire, as always, mediated by Egypt. But Egypt is not merely a mediator here. Obviously, has an interest when it comes to this conflict. Neither Hamas nor Cairo are too upset to see the Islamic jihad being hard hit. From what I understand, the ones who are leading the negotiation to ceasefire are actually Hamas, dressed Egyptian uniform. This is their move. This is their pressure. This is their interest. And they pushed so hard to get there. And this is actually their way of doing whatever they can to avoid from entering to this round of escalation. Because the pressure on Hamas was so huge, it reached to this, let's say, to critical moments that if a ceasefire would not be achieved tonight, Hamas will probably, and if it would not be achieved, OK, we are not there yet. But if it will not be achieved, and Israel will continue with the operational, let's say, targeting, or targets, and doing a great job, I think that this will force Hamas to join to the rest of the round of escalation. And this is what we, Israel, and Hamas wants to avoid. In two different ways. One is the more longer it goes on, the more they look a little bit foolish from their perspective to not join in and allow Islamic jihad. Collaborators, as simple as it sounds. They look that way. The other thing is, of course, the longer it goes on, the more eventually there will be some air into missile that kills a whole bunch of people. And then the pressure on them politically will break. Like we've seen this past hour in other apparent Palestinian air. It's not about the missiles. But gentlemen, we are sitting here having this conversation, thanks to nothing other than the Iron Dome anti-missile system. The IDF is hailing a 96% success rate from Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system. And our Mary McAuliffe has more on this truly game changer when we're talking about the rounds of conflicts between Israel and the Gaza Strip. In 36 hours, over 500 rockets were launched into Israel, mostly targeting communities along the Israel-Gaza border. The vast majority of them land like this. But many see a far more explosive end. Israel's Iron Dome air defense system engaging constantly to intercept rockets headed towards populated or high-value areas amid constant rocket fire. I heard an air raid siren. I stopped on the side of the road. This part fell in my car. As you can see, this is part of an Iron Dome. We are strong here in the state road. We are not afraid. We are strengthening the army. The army will do what it has to do. And we have the Iron Dome to protect us and stay strong. The Israeli defense forces said Sunday morning the Iron Dome had intercepted 185 rockets from Gaza since the beginning of the operation breaking down Friday afternoon, noting a 97% success rate. That's a massive improvement from earlier operations in the Gaza Strip. Used extensively along Israel's border with Gaza since it was first introduced in 2011, the IDF credits the Iron Dome with saving countless Israeli lives. Besides almost 300 rockets that landed in open areas, the IDF says it detected 115 launches that failed to cross into Israeli territory, landing instead inside the densely populated Gaza Strip. As Israel says it did, when a deadly hit in Gaza killed multiple children in Jabalia. Palestinians blamed an Israeli strike, but the IDF denied responsibility. There is video documenting the entire thing. There was no Israeli activity in the Gaza Strip, in that area, or at that time. One in four rockets fired from Gaza towards Israel lands inside the Gaza Strip. Now on the third day of fighting, the rockets are continuing as our Israeli strikes in Gaza. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed, including militants, terror leaders, but also civilians, women and children. In Israel, there have only been minor injuries and damage caused by the few missiles who managed to evade the Iron Dome. Dan Perry and Richard Kupovich are still with us here in the studio, Islamic Jihad is signaling there are no ceasefire talks. The confrontation continues, but is there a point where Hamas will no longer be able to stand idly by? I believe that we are almost there. When we look at certain events separately, so each one of them will be probably justified by Israel, by the international community, even by Hamas. It's like, okay, guys, you have the legitimacy to kill that guy because he is, let's say, an out, he's a guy that worked against our interests. But the moment the numbers grow and the events grow all together, when you calculate the numbers, I think that we are reaching to the point that Hamas will actually have no choice than to join and to defend the people of Gaza. It has nothing to do with Page or Bujahideen or Chohadah al-Aqsa. It's about Gaza. They are the sovereign entity. We need to remember that. This is why Israel, Hamas and the Egyptians are actually running. It's like a race towards the ceasefire. And I hope and I believe that Hamas will be able to oppose the ceasefire on Page tonight. So Dan, will Islamic Jihad tactic will be to drag it as much as possible so Hamas will have no other choice but to join it? The dynamic between Hamas and Islamic Jihad is very interesting, I find. Sure, on one hand, the rivals and Hamas does not want Islamic Jihad to get too much credit for being at the forefront of the fight. On the other hand, I have always felt, it's not only me, that Hamas uses sometimes Islamic Jihad for plausible deniability when they want stuff to happen if they don't want to get blamed. And Israel's response to that historically has been, you're in charge, we blame you anyway. I would agree that right now, Hamas is starting to look a little bit weak by not doing anything while Gaza's militants, not only militants are being killed by Israel from the skies and the pressure will mount on them. I agree with Grisha. I mean, one event, two events, one a day they can maybe contain, but there's a center of gravity past which they will feel pressure. On the other hand, these are Islamic fundamentalist militants, it's not a democracy and it's a pretty harsh hierarchy. And in the end, there's a few people at the side. We can make assessments but to a certain extent it's speculation what they will do. Yes, and as always, if we're talking about the clock taking backwards, there's also the issue of international credit until this point in time still facilitating this Israeli operation to persist. If it will drag longer, that might no longer be the case. Dan Perry and Grisha Kupovic, you're staying with us. We're out for another short break but we'll be back right after with all the updates from the ground and across the region. Also, of course, the analysis here in studio as attempts to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Islamic Jihad appear to be stalled at the moment. We're out for a short break, back with a bit with much more. Stand in Islamic Jihad, operation breaking for cover or huddling for safety in shelters. As rockets from the Gaza Strip rain down nonstop on southern and central Israel. And in the Gaza Strip, the IDF pounds the Islamic Jihad terrorist infrastructure and targets its leaders and assets. Operation breaking dawn on I-24 News as it happens, where it happens. 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To get a true perspective on what's really going on. Back now, the course of a military conflict can naturally be unpredictable, but when it comes to Israel and Gaza, the course of diplomacy takes kind of a standard track, so to speak, and that at least is holding up in this round of fighting, as well with some differences that we will dive into in a short moment. But before that, as in your international affairs correspondent, Owen Alterman takes us through the countries calling for calm that now includes the United Arab Emirates. Take a look. Come Monday, the diplomatic focus for Israel will come back here. To the familiar round table of the United Nations Security Council, where behind closed doors, ambassadors will once again hash out an Israel-Gaza conflict. Don't expect a game-changing outcome. The news will be the diplomatic temperature in the hall. And here, a preview from a current council member, the United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates has emphasized the need to restore calm to the Gaza Strip, reduce escalation, and preserve civilian lives. The UAE expresses its deep concern over the current escalation and calls for exercising maximum restraint to prevent being drawn into new levels of violence and instability. The Emirati reaction is important for Israel, the UAE, a country at the heart of the Abraham Accords, and of Israel's push for normalization in the region. And in fact, the UAE decided to park itself on safe ground, the stances from Europe and from Washington. We're actively engaged with Israeli-Palestinian and regional partners to work towards achieving the calm and the weight of these strikes. And we certainly urge all sides to avoid further escalation. The US government adds a piece about Israel's right to defend itself, as does the statement from British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. A tweet from the German ambassador in Tel Aviv is especially friendly. The statement from the European Union gives a nod to Israel's self-defense rights. The French foreign ministry leaves them out. And then there's the reaction from Moscow, where Russia also has called for maximum restraint, showing that even in these tense international times, Russia in the West can agree on at least one thing. No one wants a war in Gaza. We want to take you back to the sirens that rang in Tel Aviv just a short while ago. Those alarms sounded while a protest of residents of Jaffa right here and where the I-24 news studios are located was taking place against Israel's operation and its rockets that were raining on Tel Aviv. You could hear many of the protesters clapping and cheering. Take a listen. Hey, watch the door, watch the door. This is after earlier in the day, Islamic Jihad leaders urged Arab-Israelis to launch a quote in Tifada against Israelis. But for now, let's go back in studio, Mr. Dan Perry is still with us and joining us Ambassador David Saranga, Director of Digital Diplomacy Division at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, for your time. So as we've been discussing earlier in the broadcast, a lot of similarities in the dynamic of this operation, international reactions included, but we do see some elements standing out, so to speak. And I would like to begin perhaps with what stands out to me, at least at the most, is the IDF releasing the footage from the incident in Jabalia and the northern part of the Gaza Strip. At first, Palestinians blamed Israel for the killing of civilians there, and after the IDF was quick to release footage showing it was an Arab-Palestinian missile, somewhat extending the oxygen line, I would dare to say, of the international credit to Israel, Mr. Saranga. You are totally right. We are fighting for the narrative. We, the State of Israel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in this round of fights, we see that the IDF is working fast, is releasing the information faster than before, something that helps us, helps us, the people of the foreign ministry, our people abroad, our people at the embassies, in order to convince people that we are trying to do our best in order to defend civilians. And yesterday's example is the best example. I mean, in one hour, or around one hour, in one hour, we had the footage which helped us explaining our counterpartners abroad that it's not us, it's to be blamed, it's them. Yeah, so we're definitely seeing a swifter mechanism, so to speak. Is that what is granting Israel this industrial quiet from the global community at this time? It's part of it, but also there has been no mass killing of civilians. There's been heartbreaking and tragic events, and there have been a number of children killed, mostly probably by the air and missile from the jihad. But not so much the pressure will mount on Israel. The fundamental, the foundation here is that the world does not have a lot of sympathy for the Islamic terrorist groups running Gaza. The world does have sympathy for Israel's efforts to prevent rockets upon its territory, and even to re-engineer the situation in Gaza if Israel ever wanted to do that. But the world does not have patience for massive killing of civilians. That's basically it. And also perhaps a global attention as well. One other thing I would like to underscore, Israel throughout its history has benefited from, I would say, a credibility gap vis-a-vis its Arab rivals, enemies, and so forth. In recent years, that gap has closed for a whole number of reasons. The Arab world has become not democratic, but more transparent, Al Jazeera, and so forth. Israel has lost social media. Israel has lost credibility, and for the past decade or so, the actions of the IDF and of the government of Israel seem to not recognize that, and they're always surprised when people don't believe what they say. What I've witnessed in the past couple of days, this event in Jabalia being the main instance of it, suggests they're starting to get it and that it really helps their case, gives them breathing room, wins them diplomatic time, if they really prove a point and not just state it. I think that another important point is the fact that the world perceives the Islamic Jihad as being partners or allies of Iran. And the moment the international community understands that the Islamic Jihad is a proxy of Iran, it also helps us in explaining what we are suffering him from. Talking about the credibility, one of the things that we found out is that we have to ask the Israeli civil society to be more presented on social media to bring the message, the Israeli message across, because when a government is saying something, people perceive it differently than when someone from civil society is saying the same thing. So in the recent years, one of the things that we are doing at the foreign ministry is trying to see how we can ask the civil society in Israel to bring the Israeli message across. And if anything was learned from the war in Ukraine is exactly that lesson. And Ambassador Seranga, before we take a short break, also another change I would say, not just Israel seeking to elevate its communication skills to the global community, also geopolitics. How would you say diplomacy is different in the post-Abraham Accords era in terms of social media, but also in terms of the more mainstream narrative, so to speak, and post-normalization? We're living in a different neighborhood, I can say. If we compare the situation today to the situation two years ago, you can't compare it. We are speaking about new alliances in the Middle East. Everyone understands also in the Arab countries who are the bad guys and who are the good guys. Talking about the region, it's true that we heard some of the governments in the region condemning Israel, but it was a very weak, a very, very weak condemnation, something that says a lot. So therefore, it's totally different what we see today, comparing with what we saw two or three years ago. And we will continue to that point exactly right after the break. Ambassador David Saranga and Mr. Dan Perry, you were saying with us after the break, we'll be taking you to our 24 new studios in Rabat and in Dubai to get their outlook on the current state of events. And we will, of course, continue to bring you all the latest developments and the attempts to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Islamic jihad through Egyptian mediation, and at this hour, not much progress, but the barrages of rockets continues through two, rather, towards different parts of Israel. We're out for a two-minute break and we'll back with all the latest developments right after Don't Go Anywhere. If you could travel to the Middle East right now without packing and without a plane ticket, would you? We are in Tel Aviv, Israel. Welcome to I-24 News Digital. Here, we bring Israel and the entire Middle East right to your social networks. On your phone. On your desktop. Here, I-24 News creates videos especially made for social media. And believe me, we are out there working hard. Right here. Israel and Nepal. For the very first time. Is how they begin. Making original content. Streaming live. Even in the hard moments. There are literally rockets going off in a bomb shelter. And filming docuseries. With us, you will find all the big stories you missed on television. So join I-24 News on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube and discover the Middle East with us. Welcome back to I-24 News. Special rolling coverage of Operation Breaking Dawn. And we want to take you now straight to life. To I-24 News Studios in Rabat. To I-24 News. Rabat correspondent, Reda Benes. Hello, Reda. So, you know it is not the first round of hostility since the Abraham Accords. But we can safely say, perhaps, that if it was speculated that such event would put a spoke in the Accord's wheels, reality suggests otherwise to an extent. Good evening. Of course, a lot of visits have been made from senior responsibles from Israel to Morocco during the last weeks. And a lot of partnerships have been signed since the last Accords. And special relationship between the both sides. Morocco has a respectful position from all the states. But today, official statements have been made from the Foreign Ministry of Morocco. And the headline by the Kingdom of Morocco is following with a great concern the significant deterioration in the situation in Gaza Strip as a result of resurgence of violence and fighting and the result capacity of loss of life and poverty. Morocco has its own situation of making peace, trying to convince all the sides to push the arm down and seize the fire. It is fighting for life for civilians and also about the real negotiation. Morocco has a respectable position from both sides, the Palestinians and the Israelis, and also maintain special relationship with Israel. So for today, Morocco has a big concern about the situation also. Yes, and Red Abenes, it remains to be seen whether our robot will seek a more proactive role, perhaps, in mediating between the sides in the future. We will be back with you later on in this broadcast. But for the time being, Red Abenes, the I-24 News studios in robot, thank you very much for this. And let's cross now straight to I-24 News Dubai correspondent, Bastian Bori. And before we do that, gentlemen, here in the studio. So we've just heard our correspondent in robot. Definitely, the region altogether in the post-Abraham accords reality is different, but we also need to take into consideration the, I would call it, special circumstances. Israel is currently at amidst yet another election season and no other way to put it down, Perry. Major test for Israeli interim Prime Minister, Yair Lapid. Sure. I mean Netanyahu has done everything in his power to delegitimize this government and to trivialize Lapid. They suggest every possible way that he is incapable of leading a security operation that he can't be trusted with the situation as combustible as Israel's. Should Lapid survive these several days, should this end, more or less, as things are looking now with a success that caused no significant damage to Israel and did not embroil Israel in any particular, did not carry a cost on the international scene, that will look good for Lapid. And I think probably it carries some political dividends. I don't, for a second, suspect, as I have in the past, that elements of- That it's a wag the dog type of situation. Yeah, I don't think this is a political thing, but- If it wasn't Netanyahu, I would believe Pundit could have potentially suggested that. I, myself, last year had more than some speculation about how the timing of what was an Israel-induced event might have had political aspects to it. But here I do not think so. Nonetheless, I think he stands to benefit. And I must say he has done so well to date that he's even getting some begrudging compliments from the liquid side, which is not something you see every day. In a Netanyahu meeting earlier in the day, Lapid is Prime Minister and Netanyahu is a position leader for security briefing, and also something interesting in terms of the political dynamics. The Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, potentially a rival for Lapid, but he has over the premiership, but this is perhaps too much inside baseball for the time being. One thing that should be noted is that Netanyahu, for a year, refused to come to the head of the opposition briefings of the Prime Minister. This, I don't think, has ever happened in Israel. And it was part of a campaign to make the government look trivial. Again, for us, political junk is here in Israel every single detail is stimulating. But in the broader sense, and obviously Ambassador Serango, you're a civil servant, so I will not ask you about politics, but such security escalations, how major of a role do they play in the ballots? When Israelis head out to cast their votes, do they vote over security? You know, as an Israeli, I can tell you that I think that in the days we are living today, one of the issues that people are looking is the economy. And we all forgot that still two weeks ago, one week ago, people were dealing here with the cost of life here in Israel. So therefore, I don't, I mean, I don't want to speculate, but I assume that if we see that this round of escalation will end as it is now, I don't see any effect in the future. Yes, well, hopefully this round will be concluded swiftly and we're still waiting to hear updates on the stalled, what appears to be stalled contacts to achieve ceasefire, but as we all know, those dynamics are rapidly changing. But for the time being, let's cross now to Bastion board. I 24 years at Dubai correspondent. Hello, Bastion. So we were talking earlier in the broadcast about the international leeway or credit Israel is that getting to an extent at this point in time? With that said, Bahrain is showing a condemnation earlier. Help us read between the lines here and also the UAE chiming in, of course. Well, no comment so far on the ceasefire, but it's quite unusual. The United States and the United Arab Emirates clearly decided to party itself on safe grounds among the signatories to the Abraham Accords. The UAE has not the most detached, but rather the most restrained response to these clashes that the Emirates condemn the situation and simply say they reject any form of violence, meaning whoever the perpetrators are. So we have known times when the UAE was much more clear cut from that, especially since the Emirates, in fact, are only reiterating what they've already said in Israel at the negative summit two months ago, namely that they still support a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, and that they are ready to help the Palestinians, but this must be taken in its proper context, considering that the UAE does not plan to resume, for instance, funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. So a very restrained response, and it's interesting to compare it with other Gulf countries' reaction, especially the non-signatories to the Abraham Accords, because there are differences in the severity of their condemnation, and the strongest reaction at the semantic level, at least, comes from Qatar. The Qataris consider that it's another step in the discrimination and occupation of the Palestinian territories, I'm quoting them, whereas on the Saudi side, the reaction is surprisingly measured, considering that the Saudis are usually the first to take up the cause at the hominem against the Israelis. Bastian Bori, I'm monitoring the tectonic shifts in the Gulf for us. We'll be back with more from you later on in the broadcast. Thank you very much for this, but we want to take you back down south here in Israel, I-24 News Defense Correspondent, Jonathan Regev, still in what seems to be the deserted Southern city of Sderot, one of the most heavily targeted areas. Cities, rather, with several direct hits this current round. Jonathan, we opened this broadcast in the hope for some progress when it comes to the ceasefire, but at the moment, it seems that there's a deadlock. What can you tell us? No ceasefire for the moment. Early negotiations are continuing. We're hearing of difficulties, especially on the part of the Islamic jihad, raising some more demands towards the Egyptians and Israel, which clearly had the upper hand when it came to military success, clearly not willing to give the Islamic jihad anything to go with. So for the moment, no ceasefire. Still negotiations continue. That ceasefire may break at midnight or maybe tomorrow morning. No one really knows. The past hour, we've seen two different barrages of rockets to the Gaza border area. It was clearly, this hour was clearly much, much more quiet than the hour before. Between seven and eight, we saw plenty of rockets all over the area. We here in Sderot ran at least five times to the shelter. Rockets were fired towards Central Israel, even towards Tel Aviv and towards Ashkelon. So the hour between seven and eight, it seemed as if the Islamic jihad was putting all of their pressure on that hour and maybe of what seemed to be the ceasefire. Now we know that for now, there's no ceasefire. We already saw rockets fired after 8 p.m. local time. We heard the IDF operating within Gaza. At least for the moment, there's no ceasefire and it's unclear, at least for now, if and when that ceasefire will take place. Well, no ceasefire for the time being Jonathan, but at least from the Israeli side, we're hearing officials from the security establishment and the prime minister himself saying very clearly, for us, the operation can be concluded. So from this point onwards, Israel will simply try and avoid any mistakes, quote unquote. Israel tried to avoid mistakes during the whole time and I think the other side is well aware that Israel now wants to put an end to it and it's quite clearly because militarily speaking, Israel had by every mean the upper hand so far, the Palestinian Islamic jihad has not been able to inflict any major damage on the Israeli side, not in casualties, not in property, the only damages, the disruption of life while Israel took out all of the official echelon, the upper echelon of the Islamic jihad in Gaza. Jonathan Raghive, I-24 News Defense Correspondent, stay safe, we will be back with more from you later on and now straight to I-24 News, Pierre Kloschenblur, the Israel-Gaza border pier. What can you tell us about what appears to be at another Arab-Palestinian fire that unfortunately ended with more fatalities? In Jibalia, yes. We're gonna show you the Gaza Strip right now. Please. And Jibalia is about, I would say, less than five miles away from where we are. But the Israeli army is saying it's another failed rocket that killed five young Palestinians, children and teenagers. As you can see, the lights of Gaza, we are barely, maybe, I would say 1,200 feet away from the border with Gaza. You see there's not so many electricity lights in the Strip simply because the last transfer of fuel to the Gaza Strip was on Friday before the hostility started. And now they're running out of fuel. There's only maybe four hours of electricity per day, which means that those lights are those that are held by private Palestinians who have enough money. Now, we can't cross to that shelter simply because this is a bit of a death alley. This is so exposed to Palestinian snipers and anti-tank missile operative that we are not allowed to cross that place. And actually we're a bit trespassing because here you have a red ribbon which shows you that you're allowed to go inside but not beyond that red ribbon. And we're just here to show you but the Home Front Command has already asked the people to stay in protected shelters all the time now because they fear there's gonna be an increase of attack, especially 9 p.m. usually is the time when Islamic jihad launches salvos after salvos of rockets. Yes, again, too familiar dynamic, so to speak. Pierre-Claude Schindler for us at Israel Gaza border. Thank you very much for this. Dear panelists, then, Perry and Ambassador David Saranga, unfortunately we will not be able to hear concluding our remarks as the event is still ongoing but this hour of the broadcast is nearing its end, so then, Perry, International Affairs Analyst and Ambassador David Saranga, Director of Digital Diplomacy at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thank you very much for your time. We're out for a four minute break but we'll be back with another breaking news edition right after with all the latest updates from the ground. Don't go anywhere.