 From Tel Aviv and welcome to I-24 News' ongoing coverage of Israel at war, I'm Arielle Levin-Waldman. We're in the 27th day of the war now, and military officials have declared that Israeli forces had breached Hamas' first line of defense in our approaching Gaza city. Airstrikes eliminated the commander of the terror group's anti-tank missile array, Mohammed Assad. The IDF said Israeli forces have destroyed much of Hamas' capabilities and attacked its strategic facilities, its array of explosives, and its underground tunnels. This has come at a price. 17 Israeli soldiers have fallen in the fight against evil. The latest name is Lieutenant Yval Zilver of the Jerusalem Brigade. Rockets in the south not a long time ago after a quiet night, and the Rafa crossing remains open for foreigners and the injured to get to Egypt. In the north, his bullet terrorists fired a surface-to-air missile at an IDF drone on Wednesday night. According to the IDF, the drone was unharmed, and they responded by striking the cell which fired the missile. President Joe Biden said he thought there should be a humanitarian pause in the Israel-Hamas War. It's a departure for Biden and top White House aides who have been steadfast in stating they will not dictate how the Israelis carry out their military operations, but the president has faced intensifying pressure from human rights groups, fellow world leaders, and leftist members of his own Democratic Party who tend to take the Palestinian side. The political report denied by the White House says Joe Biden has considered that Benjamin Netanyahu's political days are numbered and that the president has conveyed the sentiment to the Israeli Prime Minister. Netanyahu has so far been the only member of Israeli leadership who has not accepted blame and responsibility of the October 7 massacre. And Israeli President Isaac Herzog has a message of resilience for Israel at war. This monstrous enemy is trying with all of its might to wage against a psychological war with the most nefarious tools we have seen this week again and again, and I expect we'll see it in new and different ways. It aims to terrify us with video clips, rumors, and lies. It wants to unsettle us psychologically, to hit our spirit, our personal and national spirit. The enemy seeks to kindle hatred between us, between Jewish citizens and Arab citizens. We have to fight back against this without compromise and single-mindedly. We have to reject every urge towards hatred and racism for different groups among us to recall the dozens of Arab citizens who paid with their lives. Those at home and those in battle. And the most important is to recall the responsibility and mutual respect that exemplifies the Arab community in Israel. And we move directly to the southern front where our correspondent Pierre Kloschenler is standing by. Pierre, give us the updates. What's happened overnight in Gaza? Right, they were intense bombing tonight, overnight, over the Gaza Strip as the tighties, as the noose is tightening around Gaza City. The forces are progressive on the coastal road on one hand, on certain enclaves in the north of the Gaza Strip, Beth Hanun, Beth Lahia, and cutting Gaza almost close to cutting Gaza City from the east to the west. We hear explosions. We can't see much, not only because of the fog of war, but because of the fog, really. That is just dissipating slowly but gradually over the Gaza Strip at this point. You've heard the Brigadier General in charge of the 162 division. He said, we are at the gates of Gaza City. We've broken through the lines of defense of Hamas. We've eliminated much of the anti-tank array, including its commander. We've eliminated much of the IED explosives array, the tunnels array on the northern part of the Gaza Strip surrounding Gaza City. This is the first line of defense. But this is a very dense line of defense with sniper nests, weapon storage, ammunition storage, anti-tank missile units getting out of tunnel shafts, rocket launching positions, et cetera, et cetera. So the battle is very hard. And we've heard just a few moments ago that the 17th soldier, since the start of the operation last Friday, we're in day six now, was killed in battle. This is the first reserve soldier to have been killed in battle. Pierre, it's a long road ahead for Israel. But Israel is finally gaining ground. Thank you. And we will be returning to you throughout the course of the day as the situation on the ground developed. We're going to discuss this further with us in studio. He's our senior correspondent, Owen Ultraman. And with us on the line is Colonel Murray Eisen, director of the International Institute for Counterterrorism at Franklin University. Mary, I want to open with you. We are seeing these reports that Israel is gaining ground, capturing objectives. Where does Israel currently stand in the war against Hamas? How much progress has been made in the grand scheme of things? One of the things about a war, Arielle, is that it's very difficult to put a number on it. How far have we gone? You have to look at what our aims are. We have stated very clearly that we are going after, in that sense, both the terror operatives, the terror leaders. We're targeting them. We have to find them. They're both within the Gaza Strip, underground, above ground, all over. We're trying to get into a decade of a subterranean arena. This is something that has been built over such a long time period that what we're doing it is systematically. And as the commander of the 162nd Division said very clearly, it's something that you do in a systematic way where you're going after all of the booby traps that they have prepared over a decade. So yes, we're going forward. We're doing systematically. We're closing in. But when you say closing in, the Gaza Strip has 2.3 million people. And that closing in, Israel tried as much as possible consistently to tell the civilians of the northern Gaza Strip to go south. But we're trying to do it systematically and as much as possible to save those civilian lives. So there's a lot of balance here. And don't forget the hostages. I actually want to focus on that. Israel doing its best to preserve civilian lives but meeting some challenges on the way. As we move in from the north, as you can see on the map right here showing where Israel's forces have moved into northern Gaza, we're uncovering more and more facts about Hamas's underground infrastructure. So much of it buried underneath hospitals, buried underneath government buildings, buried underneath very heavily populated civilian areas. Ultimately, does Israel have a strategy for that while maintaining its commitment that it's shown so far to preserving civilian lives? That is the commitment, Arielle, in that sense. And that's why we're doing this slowly and systematically. And as I say that, think of what we've been saying over the last three and a half weeks, almost four weeks about the challenges of what Hamas did and Hamas did this on purpose. This is part of the Hamas plan. It is doing the attack, denying the atrocities and then putting the whole onus of what comes after that on their defense system being underground under the civilians, but also above ground within that civilian arena. So you take it one step at a time. You tell the civilians, you warn the civilians, nobody in the world anywhere has ever done that. And yet what we're seeing right now is that everybody is focused on the civilians. That is the Hamas defense plan. That doesn't mean that because of that we attack the civilians, we're targeting the terrorists. It does mean that we need to understand that as there have been casualties, we didn't go in, it just dropped bombs and do it in that way, clear it out in that sense. We're going in with soldiers like the way that you're showing, putting it in such a way to be able to save civilian lives. But does that give Hamas some level of impunity in their attacks? If they hide in these very dense civilian population centers, and Israel cannot strike some of these areas and because of the cost can't exactly send soldiers into the underground tunnels, what is the strategy from dislodging them from that? Arielle, that's one of those things where I say I can't be cynical on TV right now. They are a terror organization. It is built into their whole idea that they both do the massacre. They deny the massacre and sell out a totally different story and then they use what they built upfront, both their civilian population, but that overwhelmingly pouring out in the world, looking only at the civilian population as Israel the one doing the attacks. That is part of their built-in strategy. I don't want to say impunity. It gives them, that's what they're trying to sell to the world right now. And that's why for us, look at what it's done. It's put us on the defense. And I'm like, we are in a war against Hamas terrorists. Hamas terrorists built their whole structure into the civilian structure is part of the civilian structure. We have consistently told them to move. World, tell them to move. Tell them to go south. Tell them to go to the safe zones. Don't allow Hamas to hold them there. Don't make us into the ones who are trying to remove and eliminate the Hamas terrorists are the ones who find themselves in these different civilian confrontations. And we're going to continue this discussion in a little bit, but first we are going to turn our eye to the Northern border. Our correspondent, Robert Swift is standing by there. Robert, it's good to have you with us. Can you walk us through what the most recent developments along that front are? Yeah, overnight there was an exchange of fire in the Eastern end of Israel's Northern border. Hezbollah Sal says that it shot down an Israeli UAV, a drone. This is an account which is disputed by the Israeli military. They say a surface-to-air missile was fired at one of their drones, but it did not strike the aircraft and that they in turn fired upon the team that was firing this missile. Separately, but in the same area, it's understood that rockets were fired around Mount Dov and Mount Hermon and the Israeli military responded with artillery to these attacks. Now, this is the second time in a week that Hezbollah has claimed to shoot down an Israeli UAV. The same thing happened last time where they claimed they'd hit the vehicle, but the IDF said that this was not the case. The fact that they are now firing missiles from ground positions towards UAVs suggests that they are attempting to remove the surveillance and the strike capability that these aircraft provide to Israel. Essentially, Hezbollah is one of their main attacks on the northern border is to use anti-tank teams, but these are often spotted by Israeli drones, so it now appears that Hezbollah are attempting to hit these drones themselves to give them more freedom of movement to continue their anti-tank attacks. Well, it's definitely a long road ahead on that border as well. Thank you very much, Robert, for that report from the front. And as that situation develops, we will be returning to you. I want to turn back to Mary Eisen for a brief moment with another question. We've been talking about all the tactical side of things, Mary, but we have been talking really much about the intelligence side. We've seen the Israeli government and the military releasing these clips of interrogations with various terrorists from October 7th and arrests that have been made since that time. What sort of information are we getting out of them and how is that being used on the battlefield? In the battlefield, the information is being used to be able to find the targets, to understand the underground subterranean arena, to understand all of the different types of surprises in that sense. The Hamas terror organization, it has prepared over the last decade underground. But the clips themselves as they're coming out is also part of the ongoing media manipulation that Hamas is trying to do. I remind everybody, Hamas from Saturday, October 7th, in media manipulation has been denying everything that they did in the massacres on October 7th. They've never stated in a clear way about the hostages themselves, so that in that sense, when we are interrogating and showing what the acts are, how these terror operatives who came into Israel describe what they did on October 7th, and the other side of it is for them to say how they deploy the anti-tank units, how they deploy the IEDs, where they put in all the different things. To be clear, Ariel, it's very important information. There is no such thing as 100% proof. And the sad reality of soldiers inside the Gaza Strip fighting in so many different places is at the end that's what Hamas prepared for. We're doing very well. Very well still means that Israeli soldiers are gonna be killed and that Hamas is still able to fire both rockets and mortars out of the Gaza Strip. Here we are after so many days into the state of Israel. That's what Hamas prepared for. They wanna show that they can continue to go on. So the interrogations are very important information. They add both in our understanding of what's inside the Gaza Strip, but also our need at this stage to remind the world of the atrocities that were planned as part of the pre-plan with the hostages on October 7th. And I want to thank you for that analysis and I want to bring in another angle now as well. And that is of course the American position. We have seen various statements from President Joe Biden about the importance and the American diplomacy's role in securing a humanitarian corridor that would allow aid to flow into the Gaza Strip through the Rafa crossing in Egypt. Let's hear from the president first. This is a result of intense and urgent American diplomacy with our partners in the region. I personally spent a lot of time speaking with the prime minister Netanyahu of Israel and President Sisi of Egypt and others to make sure that we could open this access for people to get out. I wanna thank our partners in the region and particularly Qatar. We've worked so closely with us to support negotiations to facilitate the departure of these citizens. We're gonna continue to affirm that Israel has the right to respond to responsibility of defending citizens from terror and it needs to do so in a manner of those consistent international and humanitarian law that prioritizes protection of citizens. We've all seen the devastating images from Gaza. Palestinian children crying out for lost parents, parents reasoning and writing their children's names on their hands and legs to be identified if the worst happens. And with us in studio to help us understand the American position better is our senior correspondent Owen Ultriman. Thank you very much for being here and waiting patiently while we got to this discussion. The American position throughout the war hasn't changed but there are some challenges. We're hearing new reports every single day of Hamas stealing just about every form of humanitarian aid, fuel from hospitals directly calling up UN agencies demanding their fuel and discussions even of how much can be supplied at that time. How is the United States supposed to guarantee that anything meant for the civilians in Gaza doesn't immediately go to Hamas the moment it crosses the border? It's a huge challenge. The United States needs to be aware of it and the international media needs to be aware of it, right? That even if Israel allows or to the extent that Israel allows humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip it's not necessarily getting to the people to whom it's needed, right? The civilians there in the southern part of the Strip and might actually get into bad hands. Look, the Israeli government has said it is still taking a strong position against fuel going into the Strip because that's especially essential for Hamas without fuel the terror tunnel network can't operate. And if the tunnel network can't operate then Hamas loses the war, right? And Israel wins it. So it's central to Israel's military objective. Israel's argument is the fuel is not going to go to the civilians, it's going to get to Hamas. And the question is what to do in terms of the hospitals which need fuel and of course there are injured civilians there. So again, the plan that Israel wants to implement is to get those patients out of the hospitals in Gaza move them over to hospitals in Egypt or even in boats offshore. I want to point out to our viewers that they're looking at some live images of the Rafa crossing right now where you see various forms of dual citizens and the injured are trying to pass through into Egypt to reach treatment in hospitals there and where trucks carrying humanitarian aid are crossing into Gaza from Egypt. I want to bring you another question Owen. We've seen President Biden pushing for Israel being able to do whatever it needs during this war and not stressing to push military strategy on them. But now recently coming out saying that he supports a humanitarian cause in operations and that Israel has been against to prevent Hamas from regrouping. Well, a couple of things. First we just saw the pictures from the Rafa crossing. We could put them up for a second again. This is the second day where we're seeing pictures such as these, right? Of foreign nationals. There we go. Of foreign nationals being able at least to trickle out, right? A multi-day plan with a few hundred foreign nationals being allowed to cross out of Gaza and into Egypt. A heavily negotiated, by the way, Israel was not the obstacle to these foreign nationals going out. The obstacles were Hamas for obvious reasons, essentially wanting to keep them there as leverage and the Egyptians who are just paranoid, if you will, about any human flow out of the Gaza Strip. Even if it's a very small number of foreign nationals, of course that seems to have been overcome again as Joe Biden told us through extensive negotiations. And you're right, Arielle, also going to what I said, injured Gazans in hospitals, being able to leave the Gaza Strip to safely get treatment in hospitals in Egypt and elsewhere. And for those civilians who are injured, of course, we wish them all a speedy recovery. As for the US position, look, you're right. The United States not asking for a ceasefire, but asking for a humanitarian pause. What does that mean? We've seen it in past rounds of fighting in Gaza, where the fighting stops for a number of hours, both on Israel's part and on Hamas's part. And during those few hours, it gives a chance for Palestinians to go and stock up on supplies. And in this case, for the humanitarian aid to enter the Strip and for civilians to be able to get it. The Israeli government has not entirely ruled this out. An Israeli official told Politico that Israel could agree to a humanitarian pause of a few hours. So watch this space. It might be something that would happen. But again, it's important to emphasize that this is different from the ceasefire that you're hearing calls for from the UN and elsewhere. And you're getting a split in Joe Biden's own party himself. On one hand, you have people like Hillary Clinton say any humanitarian pause would just be a gift to Hamas. But on the other, you have Michigan Democrats saying if there's more support for Israel at this point, it's gonna cost Joe Biden the election. Well, a few things. Hillary Clinton, I don't think was coming out against humanitarian pause. I think she's coming out against a ceasefire, right? And a ceasefire would mean essentially ending the war and allowing Hamas to regroup in a sense to clear victory. So obviously, the Israeli position, obviously Israel opposes that and the Biden administration has as well. As for the political sensitivity of this issue within the United States, Joe Biden's approval ratings have taken a hit. The election, of course, is still a year away. So there's no immediate risk. And this may well have receded in the headlines, at least among the wider public before you get to November of next year. But it is true, Michigan is a particular obstacle, if you will, for Joe Biden. Because again, of the large presence of Arab-American voters in Michigan and the many who vote for Democrats and the fact that Michigan is a swing state and the argument that were those Arab-American voters either to stay home or to vote for a third party candidate, say a Cornell West, that that could enable Donald Trump to win the state and thereby win the election. Again, we don't know exactly where the numbers are and how the argument stacks up, but I'm sure Democrats will be watching it closely. Well, we're gonna have more discussion in a brief moment, but first I wanna bring in another angle. That's one that's been central to Israel's goals in this conflict. That's the liberation of over 240 hostages taken by the Hamas terror group. But the enemy has held more hostages than those kidnapped during the October 7th massacre. Some have been held by Hamas for many years, subject to unspeakable abuses. Does Israel's ground operation finally provide an opportunity to bring them home? We are joined by Beza Babe, a social activist who has championed the cause of one such hostage, Averak Menjitzu, who was kidnapped by Hamas back in 2014. Beza, it's good to have you with us. Here's the big question. Do we finally have an opportunity to bring back another one of Israel's children? Thank you, thank you for having me. Yes, we think this is a critical moment to bring all Israeli citizens back home. Averak Menjitzu is an Ethiopian-Israeli young man held by Hamas for nine years since 2014. Avera is also mentally unstable and his family and the community has been trying to raise awareness about his situation for the last nine years. We all know about the horrifying incident that happened on October 7th and the hostage situation. And now there has been a lot of international awareness about all the hostages internationally and a lot of diplomatic, military, and other actions are being taken to bring back everybody. And we just urge that the Israeli government and the international community doesn't forget Averak Menjitzu. His mom and his family, his community has been going through these horrifying moments of knowing, not knowing and being uncertain about his condition for the last nine years. And in the beginning of this year, Hamas has released a video of Averak that has been verified by officials and his family that it's him. And we know that he's alive. In addition to Averak Menjitzu, there is also another Israeli citizen named Hashan al-Said held by Hamas for eight years since 2015. So we're hoping also that him will get the opportunity to be back. If they don't get this opportunity to come home right now when there is a lot of awareness raising and a lot of diplomatic movement, we feel like we will never see Averak Menjitzu again. So we urge everybody to raise their voice and not be selective about this humanitarian crisis. Have the families of these two people mentioned Averak Menjitzu nine years, the Bedouin man who has been held for eight years, have their families been involved in the negotiations the way the family is from October 7th? So Averak Menjitzu's family hasn't been aware of his situation for quite some time, but after that, they were trying to reach out to the government and international media and they've been really literally begging everybody to intervene. But as you know, lobbying and raising these kinds of campaigns require a lot of resources and connections. So unfortunately, they were not successful to push and put enough pressure on the government and other bodies to take action. But right now we think since there are more people and there is much more intervention, we think it will be the best time for them to come back home and we urge that all of the hostages will come and reunite with their family. What is your message right now to the Israeli government? Now they have this opportunity in front of them. And the Israeli people as well. For the Israeli people and the Jewish community and all the international community all over the world, I urge you to raise your voice and speak for Averak, speak for the people who voices hasn't been heard. And this is the opportunity where already in Gaza and all the families are praying and hoping to see their family. So we want you to take all the actions possible, all the efforts possible to bring back everybody and to just not be selective about whose causes we worry about. Thank you very much, Beza, for that discussion, for talking to us and showing us an angle that many people have forgotten about over the past nine years. That's true and we really thank you for bringing me here and we really beg that the forgotten hostage will not be left forgotten forever. Absolutely, thank you very much. We're gonna return now to Owen Alterman in the studio. Obviously the hostage thing has hung heavily over Israel for the past three and a half, almost four weeks now. I guess the question is, is there an acceptable terms under which we are going to get people back? I don't think so. And I think that's the bottom line. Look, Tzaki Nekb, the national security advisor, at his press conference two days ago, essentially said Hamas, as he reads it, is not interested in freeing Palestinian prisoners. So the idea of a prisoner exchange, right, of the sort that we had in the disastrous 2011 Gilad Shalit deal, for example, even if Israel were to want something like that, it's Hamas that wouldn't want that. What Hamas actually wants, Tzaki Nekb says, is to keep the hostages as a kind of insurance card for its own survival. But what's the problem with that from the perspective of getting to a yes of an agreement? Israel doesn't want Hamas to survive. So why would Israel want to trade for the hostages in exchange for letting Hamas survive when the core goal of the entire operation is at least to end Hamas' control over the Gaza Strip? So it's hard to see a zone of possible agreement because there just is no way, if Hamas' condition is, that it wants to be able to extend its lease on life in controlling the Gaza Strip, and Israel wants to end that lease on life, then there's simply no way for the two parties to get to common terms. It's a very harsh set of circumstances ahead. These are going to be discussed much further in the future. We're going to be back with you in about a half hour. So until then, thanks for watching. We'll see you again soon. 1,300 people murdered and more than 3,000 injured, and the war with Hamas continues. We bring you first-hand testimonies from the front lines, from those who survived, and all the records of the atrocities by Hamas. Follow us as Israel fights terror from the South and North. Get the inside scoop on what's going on. Only on I-24 News. In I-24 News. Phrases, ¿qué sabes desde dónde viene? Ve acá. Y el paquete y copacuando. Y recargas, ¿qué ya sabes hacia dónde van? En día, recargas internacionales, Altiz a tu gente en rd. Accede a nuestra página web, recargas.altiz.com.be. Selecciona Recargas, y digita el número al que deseas colocarle la recarga. Además, ellos reciben el doble de balance en recargas de 8 dólares o más. Altiz, la red global de los dominicanos. Of Israel at war, I'm Ariel Levin, and I'm David Luldman. We're in the 27th day of the war now, and military officials have declared that Israeli forces had breached Hamas' first line of defense in our approaching Gaza city. Airstrikes eliminated the commander of the terror group's anti-tank missile array, Mohammed Assar. The IDF said Israeli forces have destroyed much of Hamas' capabilities and attacked its strategic facilities, its array of explosives, and its underground tunnels. This has come at a price. 17 Israeli soldiers have fallen in the fight against evil. The latest named is Lieutenant Yval Zilver of the Jerusalem Brigade. Rockets in the south not a long time ago after a quiet night, and the Rafa crossing remains open for foreigners and the injured to get to Egypt. In the north, his bullet terrorists fired a surface-to-air missile at an IDF drone on Wednesday night. According to that IDF, the drone was unharmed, and they responded by striking the cell which fired the missile. President Joe Biden said he thought there should be a humanitarian pause in the Israel-Hamas' war. It's a departure for Biden and top White House aides who have been steadfast in stating they will not dictate how the Israelis carry out their military operations, but the president has faced intensifying pressure from human rights groups, fellow world leaders, and leftist members of his own Democratic Party who tend to take the Palestinian side. And the political report, denied by the White House, says Joe Biden has considered that Benjamin Netanyahu's political days are numbered and that the president has conveyed the sentiment to the Israeli prime minister. Netanyahu has so far been the only member of Israeli leadership who has not accepted blame and responsibility of the October 7th massacre. And Israeli President Isaac Herzog has a message of resilience for Israel at war. This monstrous enemy is trying with all of its might to wage against us a psychological war with the most nefarious tools we have seen this week again and again, and I expect we'll see it in new and different ways. It aims to terrify us. With video clips, rumors, and lies, it wants to unsettle us psychologically, to hit our spirit, our personal and national spirit. The enemy seeks to kindle hatred between us, between Jewish citizens and Arab citizens. We have to fight back against this without compromise and single-mindedly. We have to reject every urge towards hatred and racism, toward different groups among us. To recall the dozens of Arab citizens who've paid with their lives, those at home and those in battle, and the most important is to recall the responsibility and mutual respect that exemplifies the Arab community in Israel. And we move directly to the southern front where our correspondent, Pierre Kloschenler, is standing by. Pierre, give us the updates. What's happened overnight in Gaza? Right, they were intense bombing tonight, overnight, over the Gaza Strip, as the tighties, as the noose is tightening around Gaza City. The forces are progressive on the coastal road, on one hand, on certain enclaves in the north of the Gaza Strip, Bet-Hanoun, Bet-Lahiyah, and cutting Gaza, almost close to cutting Gaza City from the east to the west. We hear explosions, we can't see much, not only because of the fog of war, but because of the fog, really, that is just dissipating slowly, but gradually over the Gaza Strip at this point. You've heard the Brigadier General in charge of the 162 division. He said, we are at the gates of Gaza City. We've broken through the lines of defense of Hamas. We've eliminated much of the anti-tank array, including its commander. We've eliminated much of the IED explosives array, the tunnels array on the northern part of the Gaza Strip surrounding Gaza City. This is the first line of defense, but this is a very dense line of defense with sniper nests, weapon storage, ammunition storage, anti-tank missile units getting out of tunnel shafts, rocket launching positions, et cetera, et cetera. So the battle is very hard, and we've heard just a few moments ago that the 17th soldier since the start of the operation last Friday, we're in day six now, was killed in battle. This is the first reserve soldier to have been killed in battle. Pierre, it's a long road ahead for Israel, but Israel is finally gaining ground. Thank you, and we will be returning to you throughout the course of the day as the situation on the ground develops. We're gonna discuss this further with us in studio, as our senior correspondent Owen Ultraman, and with us on the line is Colonel Murray Eisen, Director of the International Institute for Counterterrorism at Reikman University. Murray, I wanna open with you. We are seeing these reports that Israel is gaining ground, capturing objectives. Where does Israel currently stand in the war against Hamas? How much progress has been made in the grand scheme of things? One of the things about a war, Arielle, is that it's very difficult to put a number on it. How far have we gone? You have to look at what our aims are. We have stated very clearly that we are going after in that sense, both the terror operatives, the terror leaders. We're targeting them. We have to find them. They're both within the Gaza Strip, underground, above ground, all over. We're trying to get into a decade of a subterranean arena. This is something that has been built over such a long time period that what we're doing it is systematically, and as the commander of the 162nd Division said very clearly, it's something that you do in a systematic way where you're going after all of the booby traps that they have prepared over a decade. So yes, we're going forward. We're doing systematically. We're closing in. But would you say closing in? The Gaza Strip has 2.3 million people and that closing in Israel tried as much as possible consistently to tell the civilians of the Northern Gaza Strip to go south. But we're trying to do it systematically and as much as possible to save those civilian lives. So there's a lot of balance here and don't forget the hostages. I actually want to focus on that. Israel doing its best to preserve civilian lives but meeting some challenges on the way as we move in from the north, as you can see on the map right here showing where Israel's forces have moved into Northern Gaza. We're uncovering more and more facts about Hamas' underground infrastructure. So much of it buried underneath hospitals, buried underneath government buildings, buried underneath very heavily populated civilian areas. Ultimately, does Israel have a strategy for that while maintaining its commitment that it's shown so far to preserving civilian lives? That is the commitment, Arielle, in that sense and that's why we're doing this slowly and systematically. And as I say that, think of what we've been saying over the last three and a half weeks, almost four weeks about the challenges of what Hamas did and Hamas did this on purpose. This is part of the Hamas plan. It is doing the attack, denying the atrocities and then putting the whole onus of what comes after that on their defense system being underground under the civilians but also above ground within that civilian arena. So you take it one step at a time. You tell the civilians, you warn the civilians, nobody in the world anywhere has ever done that and yet what we're seeing right now is that everybody is focused on the civilians. That is the Hamas defense plan. That doesn't mean that because of that we attack the civilians, we're targeting the terrorists. It does mean that we need to understand that as there have been casualties, we didn't go in. It just dropped bombs and do it in that way, clear it out in that sense. We're going in with soldiers like the way that you're showing, putting it in such a way to be able to save civilian lives. But does that give Hamas some level of impunity in their attacks? If they hide in these very dense civilian population centers and Israel cannot strike some of these areas and because of the cost can't exactly send soldiers into the underground tunnels, what is the strategy from dislodging them from that? Ariel, that's one of those things where I say I can't be cynical on TV right now. They are a terror organization. It is built into their whole idea that they both do the massacre. They deny the massacre and sell out a totally different story and then they use what they built up front, both their civilian population, but that overwhelmingly pouring out in the world looking only at the civilian population as Israel the one doing the attacks. That is part of their built-in strategy. I don't want to say impunity. It gives them, that's what they're trying to sell to the world right now. And that's why for us, look at what it's done. It's put us on the defense. And I'm like, we are in a war against Hamas terrorists. Hamas terrorists built their whole structure into the civilian structure is part of the civilian structure. We have consistently told them to move. World, tell them to move. Tell them to go south. Tell them to go to the safe zones. Don't allow Hamas to hold them there. Don't make us into the ones who in trying to remove and eliminate the Hamas terrorists are the ones who find themselves in these different civilian confrontations. And we're going to continue this discussion in a little bit, but first we are going to turn our eye to the Northern border. Our correspondent, Robert Swift, is standing by there. Robert, it's good to have you with us. Can you walk us through what the most recent developments along that front are? Yeah, overnight there was an exchange of fire in the Eastern end of Israel's Northern border. Hezbollah Sal says that it shot down an Israeli UAV, a drone. This is an account which is disputed by the Israeli military. They say a surface-to-air missile was fired at one of their drones, but it did not strike the aircraft and that they in turn fired upon the team that was firing this missile. Separately, but in the same area, it's understood that rockets were fired around Mount Dov and Mount Hermon and the Israeli military responded with artillery to these attacks. Now this is the second time in a week that Hezbollah has claimed to shoot down an Israeli UAV. The same thing happened last time where they claimed they'd hit the vehicle but the IDF said that this was not the case. The fact that they are now firing missiles from ground positions towards UAVs suggests that they are attempting to remove the surveillance and the strike capability that these aircraft provide to Israel. Essentially, Hezbollah is one of their main attacks on the Northern border is to use anti-tank teams, but these are often spotted by Israeli drones. So it now appears that Hezbollah are attempting to hit these drones themselves to give them more freedom of movement to continue their anti-tank attacks. Well, it's definitely a long road ahead on that border as well. Thank you very much, Robert, for that report from the front. And as that situation develops, we will be returning to you. I wanna turn it back to Mary Eisen for a brief moment with another question. We've been talking about all the tactical side of things, Mary, but we have been talking really much about the intelligence side. We've seen the Israeli government and the military releasing these clips of interrogations with various terrorists from October 7th and arrests that have been made since that time. What sort of information are we getting out of them and how is that being used on the battlefield? In the battlefield, the information is being used to be able to find the targets, to understand the underground subterranean arena, to understand all of the different types of surprises in that sense. The Hamas terror organization has prepared over the last decade underground, but the clips themselves as they're coming out is also part of the ongoing media manipulation that Hamas is trying to do. I remind everybody, Hamas from Saturday, October 7th in media manipulation has been denying everything that they did in the massacres on October 7th. They've never stated in a clear way about the hostages themselves so that in that sense, when we are interrogating and showing what the acts are, how these terror operatives who came into Israel describe what they did on October 7th and the other side of it is for them to say how they deploy the anti-tank units, how they deploy the IEDs, where they put in all the different things. To be clear, Ariel, it's very important information, there is no such thing as 100% proof and the sad reality of soldiers inside the Gaza Strip fighting in so many different places is that at the end that's what Hamas prepared for. We're doing very well, very well still means that Israeli soldiers are gonna be killed and that Hamas is still able to fire both rockets and mortars out of the Gaza Strip. Here we are after so many days into the state of Israel. That's what Hamas prepared for. They wanna show that they can continue to go on. So the interrogations are very important information. They add both in our understanding of what's inside the Gaza Strip but also our need at this stage to remind the world of the atrocities that were planned as part of the pre-plan with the hostages on October 7th. And I want to thank you for that analysis and I want to bring in another angle now as well. And that is of course the American position. We have seen various statements from President Joe Biden about the importance and the American diplomacy's role in securing a humanitarian corridor that would allow aid to flow into the Gaza Strip through the Rafa crossing in Egypt. Let's hear from the president first. This is a result of intense and urgent American diplomacy with our partners in the region. I personally spent a lot of time speaking with the Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and the President Sisi of Egypt and others to make sure that we could open this access for people to get out. I wanna thank our partners in the region particularly Qatar who've worked so closely with us to support negotiations to facilitate the departure of these citizens. We're gonna continue to affirm that Israel has the right to respond to responsibility of defended citizens from terror and it needs to do so in a manner that was consistent with international and humanitarian law that prioritizes protection of citizens. We've all seen the devastating images from Gaza. Palestinian children crying out for lost parents, parents reasoning and writing their children's names on their hands and legs to be identified if the worst happens. And with us in studio to help us understand the American position better as our senior correspondent Owen Ultraman. Thank you very much for being here and waiting patiently while we got to this discussion. The American position throughout the war hasn't changed but there are some challenges. We're hearing new reports every single day of Hamas stealing just about every form of humanitarian aid. Fuel from hospitals directly calling up UN agencies demanding their fuel and discussions even of how much can be supplied at that time. How is the United States supposed to guarantee that anything meant for the civilians in Gaza doesn't immediately go to Hamas the moment it crosses the border? It's a huge challenge. The United States needs to be aware of it and the international media needs to be aware of it. That even if Israel allows or to the extent that Israel allows humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip it's not necessarily getting to the people to whom it's, to who need it, right? The civilians there in the southern part of the strip and might actually get into bad hands. Look, the Israeli government has said it is still taking a strong position against fuel going into the strip because that's especially essential for Hamas without fuel the terror tunnel network can't operate. And if the tunnel network can't operate then Hamas loses the war, right? And Israel wins it. So it's central through Israel's military objective. Israel's argument is the fuel is not going to go to the civilians, it's going to get to Hamas. And the question is what to do, what to do in terms of the hospitals which need fuel? And of course there are injured civilians there. So again, the plan that Israel wants to implement is to get those patients out of the hospitals in Gaza move them over to hospitals in Egypt or even in boats offshore. I want to point out to our viewers that they're looking at some live images of the Rafa crossing right now where you see various forms of dual citizens and the injured are trying to pass through into Egypt to reach treatment in hospitals. And where trucks carrying humanitarian aid are crossing into Gaza from Egypt. I'm going to bring you another question, Owen. We've seen President Biden pushing for Israel, being able to do whatever it needs during this war and not stressing to push military strategy on them. But now recently coming out saying that he supports a humanitarian pause in operations and that Israel has been against to prevent Hamas from regrouping. Well, a couple things. First we just saw the pictures from the Rafa crossing. We could put them up for a second again. This is the second day where we're seeing pictures such as these, right? Of foreign nationals, there we go. Of foreign nationals being able at least to trickle out, right? A multi-day plan with a few hundred foreign nationals being allowed to cross out of Gaza and into Egypt. A heavily negotiated, by the way, Israel was not the obstacle to these foreign nationals going out. The obstacles were Hamas for obvious reasons, essentially wanting to keep them there as leverage. And the Egyptians who are just paranoid, if you will, about any human flow out of the Gaza Strip. Even if it's a very small number of foreign nationals, of course that seems to have been overcome again. As Joe Biden told us through extensive negotiations, and you're right, Arielle, also going to what I said, injured Gazans in hospitals, being able to leave the Gaza Strip to safely get treatment in hospitals in Egypt and elsewhere. And for those civilians who are injured, of course, we wish them all a speedy recovery. As for the US position, look, you're right. The United States not asking for a ceasefire, but asking for a humanitarian pause. What does that mean? We've seen it in past rounds of fighting in Gaza, where the fighting stops for a number of hours, both on Israel's part and on Hamas's part. And during those few hours, it gives a chance for Palestinians to go and stock up on supplies. And in this case, for the humanitarian aid to enter the Strip and for civilians to be able to get it, the Israeli government has not entirely ruled this out. And if Israeli official told Politico that Israel could agree to a humanitarian pause of a few hours. So watch this space. It might be something that would happen. But again, it's important to emphasize that this is different from the ceasefire that you're hearing calls for from the UN and elsewhere. And you're getting a split in Joe Biden's own party himself. On one hand, you have people like Hillary Clinton say any humanitarian pause would just be a gift to Hamas. But on the other, you have Michigan Democrats saying if there's more support for Israel at this point, it's gonna cost Joe Biden the election. Well, a few things. Hillary Clinton, I don't think, was coming out against humanitarian pause. I think she's coming out against a ceasefire, right? And a ceasefire would mean essentially ending the war and allowing Hamas to regroup in a sense to clear victory. So obviously, the Israeli position, obviously Israel opposes that and the Biden administration has as well. As for the political sensitivity of this issue within the United States, Joe Biden's approval ratings have taken a hit. The election, of course, is still a year away. So there's no immediate risk. And this may well have receded in the headlines, at least among the wider public before you get to November of next year. But it is true Michigan is a particular obstacle, if you will, for Joe Biden. Because again, of the large presence of Arab-American voters in Michigan and the many who vote for Democrats in the fact that Michigan is a swing state. And the argument that were those Arab-American voters either to stay home or to vote for a third party candidate, say a Cornell West, that that could enable Donald Trump to win the state and thereby win the election. Again, we don't know exactly where the numbers are and how the argument stacks up, but I'm sure Democrats will be watching it closely. Well, we're gonna have more discussion in a brief moment, but first I wanna bring in another angle. That's one that's been central to Israel's goals in this conflict. That's the liberation of over 240 hostages taken by the Hamas terror group. But the enemy has held more hostages than those kidnapped during the October 7th massacre. Some have been held by Hamas for many years, subject to unspeakable abuses. Does Israel's ground operation finally provide an opportunity to bring them home? We are joined by Beza Babe, a social activist who has championed the cause of one such hostage, Averak Menjitzu, who was kidnapped by Hamas back in 2014. Beza, it's good to have you with us. Here's the big question. Do we finally have an opportunity to bring back another one of Israel's children? Thank you. Thank you for having me. Yes, we think this is a critical moment to bring all Israeli citizens back home. Averak Menjitzu is an Ethiopian Israeli young man held by Hamas for nine years since 2014. Averak is also mentally unstable and his family and the community has been trying to raise awareness about his situation for the last nine years. We all know about the horrifying incident that happened on October 7th and the hostage situation. And now there has been a lot of international awareness about all the hostages internationally and a lot of diplomatic, military, and other actions are being taken to bring back everybody. And we just urge that the Israeli government and the international community doesn't forget Averak Menjitzu. His mom and his family, his community has been going through these horrifying moments of knowing, not knowing and being uncertain about his condition for the last nine years. And in the beginning of this year, Hamas has released a video of Averak that has been verified by officials and his family that it's him. And we know that he's alive. In addition to Averak Menjitzu, there is also another Israeli citizen named Hashan al-Said held by Hamas for eight years since 2015. So we're hoping also that him will get the opportunity to be back. If they don't get this opportunity to come home right now when there is a lot of awareness raising and a lot of diplomatic movement, we feel like we will never see Averak Menjitzu again. So we urge everybody to raise their voice and not be selective about this humanitarian crisis. Have the families of these two people mentioned Averak Menjitzu nine years, the Bedouin man who has been held for eight years, have their families been involved in the negotiations the way the families from October 7th have? So Averak Menjitzu's family hasn't been aware of his situation for quite some time, but after that they were trying to reach out to the government and international media and they've been really literally begging everybody to intervene. But as you know, lobbying and raising these kinds of campaigns require a lot of resources and connections, so unfortunately they were not successful to push and put enough pressure on the government and other bodies to take action. But right now we think since there are more people and there is much more intervention, we think it will be the best time for them to come back home and we urge that all of the hostages will come and reunite with their family. What is your message right now to the Israeli government now they have this opportunity in front of them and the Israeli people as well? For the Israeli people and the Jewish community and all the international community all over the world, I urge you to raise your voice and speak for Averak, speak for the people who voices hasn't been heard. And this is the opportunity we're already in Gaza and all the families are praying and hoping to see their family. So we want you to take all the actions possible, all the efforts possible to bring back everybody and to just not be selective about whose causes we worry about. Thank you very much Beza for that discussion, for talking to us and showing us an angle that many people have forgotten about for the past nine years. That's true and we really thank you for bringing me here and we really beg that the forgotten hostage will not be left forgotten forever. Absolutely, thank you very much. We're gonna return now to Owen Alterman in the studio. Obviously the hostage thing has hung heavily over Israel for the past three and a half, almost four weeks now. I guess the question is, is there an acceptable terms under which we are going to get people back? I don't think so. I think that's the bottom line. Look, Tzaki and Agbe, the national security advisor, at his press conference two days ago, essentially said Hamas, as he reads it, is not interested in freeing Palestinian prisoners. So the idea of a prisoner exchange, right, of the sort that we had in the disastrous 2011 Gilad Shalit deal, for example, even if Israel were to want something like that, it's Hamas that wouldn't want that. What Hamas actually wants, Tzaki and Agbe says, is to keep the hostages as a kind of insurance card for its own survival. But what's the problem with that from the perspective of getting to a yes of an agreement? Israel doesn't want Hamas to survive. So why would Israel want to trade for the hostages in exchange for letting Hamas survive when the core goal of the entire operation is at least to end Hamas' control over the Gaza Strip? So it's hard to see a zone of possible agreement because there just is no way, if Hamas' condition is, that it wants to be able to extend its lease on life and controlling the Gaza Strip, and Israel wants to end that lease on life, then there's simply no way for the two parties to get to common terms. It's a very harsh set of circumstances ahead. These are going to be discussed much further in the future. We're going to be back with you in about a half hour. So until then, thanks for watching. We'll see you again soon. Is officially in a state of war. This is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking. Within 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped. Help us, we don't want to do it. We just don't know anything. Entire families, including babies and children and elderly, were butchered in their beds. Awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong. Everyone is showing up. This is the unity. I'm from Tel Aviv and welcome to I-24 News' ongoing coverage of Israel at war. 27 days into that war, and military officials declared Wednesday that Israeli forces had breached Hamas' first line of defense and were approaching Gaza City. Air strikes eliminated the commander of the terror group's anti-tank missile array, Mohammed Al-Sar. Overnight, terror cells in northern Gaza fired anti-tank missiles, detonated IEDs, and threw grenades from ambush positions. Heavy fighting saw the IDF utilize air support and artillery to dislodge Hamas from their fortifications and to kill dozens of terror operatives. This has come at a heavy price. 17 Israeli soldiers have fallen so far in the fight against the enemy since fighting began inside Gaza. The latest named as Lieutenant Yvonne Zilber of the Jerusalem Brigade. Rockets in the south just about an hour ago after a quiet night and the Rafa crossing remains open for foreigners and injured people to get to Egypt. In the north has bullet terrorists fired a surface to air missile at an IDF drone on Wednesday night. The drone was unharmed according to the IDF and they responded by striking the cell which fired the missile. President Joe Biden said he thought there should be a humanitarian pause in the Israel Hamas War. It's a departure for Biden and top White House aides who have been steadfast in sitting. They will not dictate how Israel carries out the military operation but the president has been facing intensifying pressure from human rights groups, fellow world leaders and leftist members of his own party. And a political report, one that's been denied by the White House says Joe Biden has considered that Benjamin Netanyahu's political days are numbered and the president has conveyed that sentiment to the Israeli Prime Minister in a recent conversation. So far Netanyahu has been the only member of Israeli leadership who has not accepted blame or responsibility for the October 7th massacre. And we are now going to go to the northern border where our correspondent Robert Swift is standing by. Robert, can you give us the latest developments on that front? Yeah, the latest development was the attack overnight surface to air missile being fired by Hezbollah squad towards an Israeli drone. Now Hezbollah claimed that they had shot it down something that the Israeli military have denied. That's the second time in a week that this has happened. It's a new development. And I think it's worth noting that everybody's concerned on the northern border about whether or not things are escalating and in terms of the frequency with which we're seeing attacks, it isn't really escalating. There's often one, two, three attacks every day. That's generally the pattern here but what is slightly escalating is the nature of those attacks. As the war continues they're becoming a little bit more advanced. If in the initial days of the war the main form of attack across the border was teams launching anti-tank missiles. Now those have developed into teams launching anti-tank missiles whilst they're supported by mortar fire as was seen yesterday around the community of Shdoula on the Israeli border. And also the fact that now surface to air missiles are being launched. This again is a more advanced form of attack because it's essentially Hezbollah trying to remove the eyes of the Israeli military, their surveillance drones which are monitoring the border so that they can increase their freedom of movement on the border potentially so that they can then get closer to launching those anti-tank weapons. And this is coming as we're expecting Hezbollah's leader Aslan Nasrallah to make a public address tomorrow on whether or not Hezbollah will be joining the war in earnest. Indeed, everybody's waiting to see what he has to say. You know, it might be the fact that Hezbollah's actions will speak louder than his words. Whether or not he says that Hezbollah's going to step up his attacks, I think the Israeli military will be most focused on the intelligence picture on what it's seeing on the ground. If it suddenly sees an uptick in attacks, then you know, that is significant. There's every chance that Nasrallah will, you know, speak, will speak in a loud voice, suggest that he's going to come out swinging, but it will be the actions on the ground that the Israeli military is most likely to take attention to. Well, thank you, Robert, for those updates from the Northern Front. We'll be back with you over the course of the day as that situation develops. We are now going to discuss these matters in studio with Amir Aran, Defense and Government Commentator. And we also have with us our Middle East correspondent, Ariel Osiran. Thank you very much for joining us. I want to begin with you, Amir, because we're hearing this report in Politico that Joe Biden, considering that Netanyahu's days are numbered, it's being denied by the White House, but what's ultimately the upshot of this? Well, it seems, of course, with no wiretapping authority in the Oval Office, where Netanyahu has rarely been lately, or in Jerusalem, it seems likely that Biden talked about Netanyahu's legacy whenever that starts, because eventually each Prime Minister must wind up his term willingly or not. And the question is, how will history judge it? Or here, as the case may be. And while Biden is too much the seasoned politician not to speak of the devil when he confronts Netanyahu, it is a sort of hint that national interests, the larger interest of the good of Israel rather than of the serving Prime Minister or a temporary government should prevail here. And Netanyahu, obviously, has taken the hint because, as your report indicated, he is the only one to refuse to take and then bear responsibility and accountability for the October 7th and for whatever preceded it over the preceding nine months. So Biden is actually indicating that he's thinking about Israel, not necessarily the Israeli government of the day, and especially not necessarily of the Prime Minister of the day. And I wanna move from the political side to some of the battlefield side with you, Ariel, because we've been seeing some of this fight in HD from all sides. We've seen videos coming out from the IDF and we've seen just as much propaganda videos coming out from Hamas itself. I wanna look at what these videos are ultimately saying about the conflict. Right, Ariel. So as the fighting progresses and Israeli ground troops continue to advance and break the front lines of defense of Hamas, we're getting a better picture as to what the situation is on the ground, but also what kind of threats they're facing. And the main threat that the IDF troops have been facing so far, it's not a new threat, but it's indeed a very deadly one and that's anti-tank guided missiles launched at Israeli armed vehicles, whether they're tanks or troop carriers. Now, I wanna point your attention to one of the videos that Hamas has been sharing, shared yesterday. And it shows a anti-tank missile cell climbing out of an underground shaft that was prepared in advance. They are out for, in the open, exposed just for about a minute or two. I'm gonna jump in so that we can point out to our audience that's exactly what you are seeing on the screen right now. That's the Hamas video showing that anti-tank team. Yeah, in Adidas track suits, but basically what they're doing is they're exposed for just one or two minutes. They locate the different forces, whether it's in an armored vehicle or a tank, launch the guided missile, and then head back into the underground shaft as fast as possible. This is one of the armored vehicles, Israeli armored vehicle that is identified in this video. And this threat has been the cause for the vast majority of troops' deaths since Friday, since the ground incursion began. And given that this was also one of the main causes for military casualties in the last ground offensives, it does, I think, should require some examination on the part of decision makers as to, is this indeed the most efficient and effective way to carry in forces into the Gaza Strip? We know that ground forces are the most exposed infantry units, but indeed, this is a threat. It is not a new threat, and so it would be expected that there's some form of adaptation in the field given this significant threat. I will just add that you mentioned earlier that yesterday, IDF forces eliminated the head of Hamas' anti-tank array across the Gaza Strip, Mohammad Atsar, he was responsible for all anti-tank activity across the Gaza Strip, responsible for attacks carried out against civilians and soldiers, and so his elimination is a significant achievement in the battlefield, and yet this threat remains. Because certainly he's going to have his own set of lieutenants that have been trained for years under him, and going after them is going to be another long road ahead. Now, we are going to take a quick look at the southern border first, where our correspondent player Kloschenler is standing by just on the southern border. Give us the latest updates on the war in the south. Well, we are just hearing right now the roar of the fighter jets that are pounding targets, terrorist targets inside the Gaza Strip. I want to show you just one small sample of the destruction, which is in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip in the village of Bethanoun. You can see a building that has collapsed due to probably a fighter jet bomb on it. What we learned from the latest communique of the IDF spokesman unit is the fact that there is a tight coordination between the ground forces, the intelligence, the navy, the air force, as well as the artillery. There is an attempt, and more than an attempt, in this war effort to combine all the forces together. When a ground force encounter an anti-tank cell directing its anti-tank missiles at them, they call immediately and give the location to the air force or to the artillery, depending on where that anti-tank cell is located. And the artillery or the air force or the tanks are just directing their fire at those cells and eliminating them. And that's what happened overnight, a constant fight between terrorists, launching anti-tank missiles, early grenades at the IDF forces. And in order to try and prevent the heavy burden of loss of life amongst the IDF soldiers, those combined forces are very helpful. Now, there's been another casualty that has been confirmed by the IDF. It's a reservist, which means that reserve units are also inside the Gaza Strip. And as the chief of staff has said, the ground maneuver right now is only enlarging and intensifying as the noose on Gaza city is tightening. Gaza city is in this direction and it's tightening from the north, from Bethanoon, Bethlehia, Jebalia refugee camp, as well as from the east in Sajahia neighborhood facing Kibbutz na Halhaz, that was the site of the massacre. And at the same time, the army, the Israeli army is progressing on the coastal road toward Gaza city. Now, Pierre, one of the things that many of us have noticed that there have been reduced launches yesterday. Certainly, for those living in the center of Israel, we didn't get any of those 10 o'clock barrages like we've learned to expect over the past three weeks. As of this morning, also reduced numbers coming in. Have Hamas's rockets and other forms of artillery supplies been drastically reduced? It's difficult to know. You know, as Hamas is launching rockets, they're also fabricating rockets. They're also manufacturing rockets. And hence, the issue of the fuel is very important. And that's why Israel is staunchly opposed to allowing the entry of fuel reserves into the Gaza Strip. Now, according to experts, there's Hamas as an arsenal of 15,000 rockets, both close range and long range. And according to the estimates, about 8,000 of them have been already launched. Now, it's sure that for the past two weeks already into the war, Hamas has tried to save its arsenal. But based on what Israel faced in 2014 during the latest major scale operation against Gaza nine years ago, Hamas fired rockets until the last minute. And that could possibly be the case. So I wouldn't trust that Hamas right now doesn't have the capability. But given that, as the more the IDF is progressing from the north to the center and buttressing its forces and liquidating Hamas terrorists. And at the same time, bombing the south of Gaza, Hanunez, Rafar, then it will be harder for the terrorists to launch rockets and they will need longer range rockets because they will be toward the south of the Gaza Strip and the distance is longer to reach Tel Aviv, for instance. There's been a trickle of rocket fire this morning after a 10 hour lull on the communities facing the central sector and the southern sector of the Gaza Strip. But there hasn't been any casualty or damage that we can report on. Thank you very much, Pierre, for that report from the south. We're gonna be coming back to you over the course of the day as the situation changes. We're gonna return to the studio now. We're gonna continue our discussions. Amir, I wanna turn to you for some more military analysis. One of the things that Israel has learned in its previous wars is that their most vulnerable units have always been the armored corps on the ground. The majority of Israel's losses so far in Gaza have been anti-tank squads making strikes on APCs and groups of soldiers generally attending them. How is Israel supposed to counter this threat when fighting in a dense urban environment? Well, the Israeli Defense Forces have learned the lesson of 2014 of Operation Protective Edge where one lucky shot for the attacker, one very unlucky shot for us found an obsolete armored personnel carrier an M-113 which was supposed to be out of service already from the Golani Brigade and a whole squad was killed immediately. The lessons learned were both on the research and development as well as in the tactics and procedures, doctrine of fighting and therefore a new APC based on the Merkava tank, much more protected was put into service, especially in the Golani and Givati brigades. What we saw in this clip, if this is the very moment where we lost 10 or 11 soldiers in one anti-tank shot is that the tank had its guns towards another sector and its flank exposed. So perhaps had it been under better cover, the anti-tank squad couldn't have hit it. But be it as it may, in most engagements the IDF soldiers come out on top. It takes only one very unfortunate incident like that to change the balance of casualties. The Israeli public is casualty averse. But here, because we started the war, we's 1,400 killed or murdered, 300 soldiers killed, 1,100 civilians murdered and there are the hostages, perhaps the public's stamina regarding battle death will be a bit stronger, but not for very long. And this ties in with what you reported regarding the humanitarian pause because as the Biden administration sees it, another couple of days will not change much in the fight against the Hamas leadership but will change a lot in public opinion worldwide. It's definitely a sort of grim equation that has to be mathed out to the public. Before we go more into that, we are going to look at yet another attack of that they're facing Israel, chain of attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, including launching ballistic missiles and drones at Israel's southern tip. They haven't posed a direct strategic threat to Israel, at least not yet, but as our Middle East correspondent, Ariel Osiram reports, they could have some serious consequences on other fronts they could force the Saudis or the Americans to take a stance. As Israel deepens its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and with controlled but escalating clashes in the West Bank and with Hezbollah in the north, a new front is emerging, but not exactly on Israel's borders. Our armed forces have launched a large barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as a significant number of drones at various targets of the Israeli enemy. The Yemeni armed forces affirm that this operation is the third in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine. More qualitative strikes with missiles and drones will continue until the Israeli aggression ceases. The IDF said its aero air defense system intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen towards the southern city of Elat. Fighter jets downed multiple drones. Following another attack early Wednesday morning, the IDF deployed a Navy missile ship to the Red Sea. We are prepared on the Red Sea front as well as in every area of the state of Israel for defense. We also know how to attack in the place and time of our choosing for any security interest of Israel, anywhere we are required to operate in. This violent show of solidarity initiated by Iran comes to prove the existence of a united front against Israel. But maybe not entirely united as Iran's most hard-line newspaper, Kayhan, published on Tuesday in editorial titled, Iran does not go to war for the sake of others. In other words, let the people of Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen die into fighting with Israel, but not Iranians. If this war is not stopped immediately and joint attacks against civilians, the women and children of Gaza by America and Israel are not halted, then the consequences for those who are waging this war will be grave. The Houthis attacks are also meant to send a diplomatic message to neighboring Saudi Arabia and through it to Washington. And the match-lit in Yemen may force the Saudis and Americans to take a stance and perhaps even join the fray. I wanna turn back to our discussion panel instead. I'm gonna start with you, Arielle. The Houthi rebels are very well armed, very sophisticated weapons. We're seeing ballistic missiles. We're seeing cruise missiles. These aren't rockets with small warheads. These are very serious weapons, very serious range. And inevitably one of them is going to get through. When that does happen, what is Israel's response going to be? What is the American response gonna be? I think that remains to be seen so far. The interceptions have been oversea or rockets have landed in Jordan and in Egypt, not in Israel. And so we can ask also our partners to our borders how they've been handling it. The way Jordan decided to handle it is to expel the Israeli ambassador rather than talk to the Iranian ambassador. And so it does pose any rocket missile launch that Israel poses a threat to Israel, but it's not a significant one because of Israel's multi-layered aerial defense systems. You also have ships deployed in the area. You also have the Americans deployed in the area. The Americans already downed drones, missiles. The Saudis already downed missiles that flew from Yemen over their territory. This is an issue that I think is important to note and is under-reported. The Saudis, just like the Americans, have already fired shots in this war and to the side of Israel. This is something to remember moving forward as to what the Israeli response will be. We heard the past few days, Rear Admiral Daniel Agari, the spokesperson of the IDF, saying that Israel will respond in a time and manner of its choosing. That indicates that Israel does not see this as a significant threat, but rather an attempt by Iran to avert Israel's attention from the main campaign and the southern border. Also, that is what's going on on Israel's northern border. But also what we heard Iran say yesterday that as the war progresses, so will its response in the fields, meaning as its ground offensive deepens, as more troops enter Gaza, then we will see perhaps more arenas join the fray or exist in fronts such as Lebanon or now the Houthis from Yemen, their response will amplify. So this is a gradual escalation that we're continuing to see that goes in tandem with Israel's advanced forces in Gaza. Well, that's one possible interpretation. Let me suggest another one. And of course, the near future will decide who's right. Israel will not respond. Israel will pre-spond or pre-taliate. It will not wait for the next launch. It will attack the Houthis in a devastating way in order to signal to Iran, which has the largest arsenal of ballistic missiles that it can hit Iran to. Is that because Israel sees this as a significant threat? They're statements saying it's not strategic, but these aren't Hamas rockets. Hamas rocket will blow up an apartment. But one of these missiles is gonna level a city block. Right. And also there's the issue of deterrents. Israel has always spoken about a credible military deterrents asking the United States to pose one to Iran in order to dissuade Iran from going nuclear. If Israel sits still and doesn't employ its air force, it always says, Galant, for instance, the Defense Minister several times said, our air force is in ready reserve in the North, meaning we are not planning a ground incursion into Lebanon, but we can hit any target at any time, regardless of our investment in Gaza or in the skies above Gaza. I need to jump in because this is all happening when the backer of all of these militias attacking Israel, Iran, is weeks away from being able to assemble a nuclear bomb. Are they able to use this time as the last space, the last breathing room they need to become a nuclear power? And if they do, what next? What can you do with one single bomb? You need at least six warheads for a missile, if not a wing, a squadron, and you must be ready for a preemptive strike. So the first mythological bomb is not really that. Only if you want to trade your new status against some benefits that you demand from the United States or others. No, Israel, of course, is keeping an eye on Iran for that, and that mad dash towards the first FESIL warhead doesn't seem a realistic scenario. I mean, ultimately, it sounds like that we're praying that Israeli intelligence doesn't fail yet again, and that's a tall order what we've seen so far. Strategic intelligence is one thing, and also because Israel focused on Iran, it may have neglected what seemed like minor threats. Well, we're certainly hoping that Israel's eye in Iran is a much more clear picture. That's just about all the time we have, so I thank both of you for being with us to break down all of these strategic, these tactical, and these political debates that we're having right now. So thank you both for being here. For everyone else, we are out of time, at least for now. We're gonna see you again at the top of the next hour, so we're gonna see you in just about 30 minutes. So definitely come back for that, and until then, thank you all for watching. We'll be back soon. 1,300 people murdered and more than 3,000 injured, and the war with Hamas continues. We bring you first-hand testimonies from the front lines, from those who survived, and all the records of the atrocities by Hamas. Follow us as Israel fights terror from the South and North. Get the inside scoop on what's going on. Only on I-24 News. Off-war, this is a very active scene, and we need to get in the car as we're talking. Within 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped. Help us, we don't want to do it. We just don't know anything. Entire families, including babies and children and elderly, were butchered in their beds. Awaken the giant, and we are ready, and we are strong. Everyone is showing up. This is the unity. I'm from Tel Aviv, and welcome to I-24 News' ongoing coverage of Israel at war. I'm Ariel Levin-Waldman. We're now 27 days into that war, and military officials declared Wednesday that Israeli forces had breached Hamas' first line of defense and more approaching Gaza City. Air strikes eliminated the commander of the terror group's anti-tank missile array, Mohammed Assad. Overnight terror cells in northern Gaza fired anti-tank missiles, detonated IEDs, and threw grenades from ambush positions. Heavy fighting saw the IDF utilize air support and artillery to dislodge Hamas from their fortifications and to kill dozens of terror operatives. This has come at a heavy price. Seventeen Israeli soldiers have fallen so far in the fight against the enemy since fighting began inside Gaza. The latest named as Lieutenant Yvonne Zilber of the Jerusalem Brigade. Rockets in the south just about an hour ago after a quiet night, and the Rafa crossing remains open for foreigners and injured people to get to Egypt. In the north has bullet terrorists fired a surface to air missile at an IDF drone on Wednesday night. The drone was unharmed according to the IDF, and they responded by striking the cell which fired the missile. President Joe Biden said he thought there should be a humanitarian cause in the Israel Hamas War. It's a departure for Biden and top White House aides who have been steadfast in sitting. They will not dictate how Israel carries out the military operation, but the president has been facing intensifying pressure from human rights groups, fellow world leaders and leftist members of his own party. And a political report, one that's been denied by the White House, says Joe Biden has considered that Benjamin Netanyahu's political days are numbered and the president has conveyed that sentiment to the Israeli Prime Minister in a recent conversation. So far Netanyahu has been the only member of Israeli leadership who has not accepted blame or responsibility for the October 7th massacre. We are now going to go to the northern border where our correspondent Robert Swift is standing by. Robert, can you give us the latest developments on that front? Yeah, the latest development was the attack overnight, a surface-to-air missile being fired by Hezbollah squad towards an Israeli drone. Now Hezbollah claimed that they had shot it down, something that the Israeli military have denied. That's the second time in a week that this has happened, it's a new development. And I think it's worth noting that everybody's concerned on the northern border about whether or not things are escalating. And in terms of the frequency with which we're seeing attacks, it isn't really escalating. There's often one, two, three attacks every day. That's generally the pattern here. But what is slightly escalating is the nature of those attacks. As the war continues, they're becoming a little bit more advanced. If in the initial days of the war, the main form of attack across the border was teams launching anti-tank missiles. Now those have developed into teams launching anti-tank missiles whilst they're supported by mortar fire, as was seen yesterday around the community of Shedullah on the Israeli border. But also the fact that now surface-to-air missiles are being launched, this again is a more advanced form of attack because it's essentially Hezbollah trying to remove the eyes of the Israeli military, their surveillance drones which are monitoring the border so that they can increase their freedom of movement on the border, potentially so that they can then get closer to launching those anti-tank weapons. And this is coming as we're expecting Hezbollah's leader Aslan Nasrallah to make a public address tomorrow on whether or not Hezbollah will be joining the war in earnest. Indeed, everybody's waiting to see what he has to say. It might be the fact that Hezbollah's actions will speak louder than his words. Whether or not he says that Hezbollah's going to step up his attacks, I think the Israeli military will be most focused on the intelligence picture on what it's seeing on the ground. If it suddenly sees an uptick in attacks, then that is significant. There's every chance that Nasrallah will speak in a loud voice, suggest that he's going to come out swinging, but it will be the actions on the ground that the Israeli military is most likely to take attention to. Well, thank you, Robert, for those updates from the Northern Front. We'll be back with you over the course of the day as that situation develops. We are now going to discuss these matters in studio with Amir Aran, Defense and Government Commentator. And we also have with us our Middle East correspondent, Ariel O'Sharan. Thank you very much for joining us. I want to begin with you, Amir, because we're hearing this report in Politico that Joe Biden, considering that Netanyahu's days are numbered, it's being denied by the White House, but what's ultimately the upshot of this? Well, it seems, of course, with no wiretapping authority in the Oval Office, where Netanyahu has rarely been lately, or in Jerusalem, it seems likely that Biden talked about Netanyahu's legacy whenever that starts, because eventually each Prime Minister must wind up his term willingly or not. And the question is, how will history judge it? Or here, as the case may be. And while Biden is too much the seasoned politician not to speak of the devil when he confronts Netanyahu, it is a sort of hint that national interest, the larger interest of the good of Israel, rather than of the serving Prime Minister or a temporary government, should prevail here. And Netanyahu obviously has taken the hint because, as your report indicated, he is the only one to refuse to take and then bear responsibility and accountability for the October 7th and for whatever preceded it, over the preceding nine months. So Biden is actually indicating that he's thinking about Israel, not necessarily the Israeli government of the day, and especially not necessarily of the Prime Minister of the day. And I want to move from the political side to some of the battlefield side with you, Ariel, because we've been seeing some of this fight in HD from all sides. We've seen videos coming out from the IDF, and we've seen just as much propaganda videos coming out from Hamas itself. I want to look at what these videos are ultimately saying about the conflict. Right, Ariel. So as the fighting progresses and Israeli ground troops continue to advance and break the front lines of defense of Hamas, we're getting a better picture as to what the situation is on the ground, but also what kind of threats they're facing. And the main threat that the IDF troops have been facing so far, it's not a new threat, but it's indeed a very deadly one, and that's anti-tank guided missiles launched at Israeli armed vehicles, whether they're tanks or troop carriers. Now, I want to point your attention to one of the videos that Hamas has been sharing, shared yesterday, and it shows an anti-tank missile cell climbing out of an underground shaft that was prepared in advance. They are out in the open, exposed just for about a minute or two. I'm going to jump in so that we can point out to our audience that's exactly what you are seeing on the screen right now. That's the Hamas video showing that anti-tank team. Yeah, in Adidas track suits, but basically what they're doing is they're exposed for just one or two minutes. They locate the different forces, whether it's an armored vehicle or a tank, launch the guided missile, and then head back into the underground shaft as fast as possible. This is one of the armored vehicles, the Israeli armored vehicle that is identified in this video. And this threat has been the cause for the vast majority of troops' deaths since Friday, since the ground incursion began. And given that this was also one of the main causes for military casualties in the last ground offensives, it does, I think, should require some examination on the part of decision makers as to, is this indeed the most efficient and effective way to carry in forces into the Gaza Strip? We know that ground forces are the most exposed infantry units, but indeed this is a threat, it's not a new threat, and so it would be expected that there's some form of adaptation in the field given this significant threat. I will just add that you mentioned earlier that yesterday, IDF forces eliminated the head of Hamas's anti-tank array across the Gaza Strip, he was responsible for all anti-tank activity across the Gaza Strip, responsible for attacks carried out against civilians and soldiers, and so his elimination is a significant achievement in the battlefield, and yet this threat remains. Because certainly he's going to have his own set of lieutenants that have been trained for years under him, and going after them is going to be another long road ahead. Now, we are going to take a quick look at the southern border first, where our correspondent, Claire Kloschenler, is standing by just on the southern border. Give us the latest updates on the war in the south. Well, we are just hearing right now the roar of the fighter jets that are pounding targets, terrorist targets inside the Gaza Strip. I want to show you just one small sample of the destruction, which is in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip, in the village of Bethanoon. You can see a building that has collapsed due to probably a fighter jet bomb on it. What we learned from the latest communique of the IDF spokesman unit is the fact that there is a tight coordination between the ground forces, the intelligence, the navy, the air force, as well as the artillery. There is an attempt, and more than an attempt, in this war effort to combine all the forces together when ground forces encounter an anti-tank cell directing its anti-tank missiles at them. They call immediately and give the location to the air force or to the artillery, depending on where that anti-tank cell is located. And the artillery or the air force or the tanks are just directing their fire at those cells and eliminating them. And that's what happened overnight, a constant fight between terrorists launching anti-tank missiles, early grenades at the IDF forces, and in order to try and prevent the heavy burden of life amongst the IDF soldiers, those combined forces are very helpful. Now, there's been another casualty that has been confirmed by the IDF. It's a reservist, which means that reserve units are also inside the Gaza Strip. And as the Chief of Staff has said, the ground maneuver right now is only enlarging and intensifying as the noose on Gaza City is tightening. Gaza City is in this direction, and it's tightening from the north, from Bethanoun, Bethlehia, Jebalia refugee camp, as well as from the east, in Sajahia neighborhood facing Kibbutz na Halhuz. That was the site of the massacre. And at the same time, the army, the Israeli army, are advancing on the coastal road toward Gaza City. Now, Pierre, one of the things that many of us have noticed that there have been reduced launches yesterday. Certainly for those living in the center of Israel, we didn't get any of those 10 o'clock barrages like we've learned to expect over the past three weeks. As of this morning, also reduced numbers coming in. Have Hamas' rockets and other forms of artillery supplies been drastically reduced? It's difficult to know. Hamas is launching rockets. They're also fabricating rockets. They're also manufacturing rockets. And hence, the issue of the fuel is very important. And that's why Israel is staunchingly opposed to allowing the entry of fuel reserves into the Gaza Strip. Now, according to experts, there's Hamas as an arsenal of 15,000 rockets, both close range and long range. And according to the estimates, about 8,000 of them have been already launched. Now, it's sure that for the past two weeks already into the war, Hamas has tried to save its arsenal. But based on what Israel faced in 2014 during the latest major scale operation in Gaza nine years ago, Hamas fired rockets until the last minute. And that could possibly be the case. So I wouldn't trust that Hamas right now doesn't have the capability. But given that, as the more the IDF is progressing from the north to the center and buttressing its forces and liquidating Hamas terrorists, and at the same time bombing the south of Gaza, Hanyunas, Rafah, then it will be harder for the terrorists to launch rockets and they will need longer range rockets because they will be toward the south of the Gaza Strip and the distance is longer to reach Tel Aviv, for instance. There's been a trickle of rocket fire this morning after a 10-hour lull on the communities facing the central sector and the southern sector of the Gaza Strip, but there hasn't been any casualty or damage that we can report on. Thank you very much, Pierre, for that report from the south. We're going to be coming back to you over the course of the day as the situation changes. We're going to return to the studio now. We're going to continue our discussions. Amir, I want to turn to you for some more military analysis. One thing that Israel has learned in its previous wars is that their most vulnerable units have always been the armored corps on the ground. The majority of Israel's losses so far in Gaza have been anti-tank squads making strikes on APCs and groups of soldiers generally attending them. How is Israel supposed to counter this threat when fighting in a dense urban environment? Well, the Israeli Defense Forces have learned the lesson of 2014 of Operation Protective Edge, where one lucky shot for the attacker, one very unlucky shot for us, found an obsolete armored personnel carrier, an M-113, which was supposed to be out of service already from the Golani Brigade, and a whole squad was killed immediately. The lessons learned were both on the research and development as well as in the tactics and procedures doctrine of fighting. And therefore, a new APC based on the Merkava tank, much more protected, was put into service, especially in the Golani and Givati brigades. What we saw in this clip, if this is the very moment where we lost 10 or 11 soldiers in one anti-tank shot, is that the tank had its guns towards another sector and its flank exposed. So perhaps had it been under better cover, the anti-tank squad couldn't have hit it. But be it as it may, in most engagements the IDF soldiers come out on top. It takes only one very unfortunate incident like that to change the balance of casualties. The Israeli public is casualty averse. But here, because we started the war, we've 1,400 killed or murdered, 300 soldiers killed, 1,100 civilians murdered. And there are the hostages, perhaps the public's stamina regarding battle death will be a bit stronger, but not for very long. And this ties in with what you reported regarding the humanitarian pause, because as the Biden administration sees it, another couple of days will not change much in the fight against the Hamas leadership, but will change a lot in public opinion worldwide. There's definitely a sort of grim equation that has to be mathed out for the public. Before we go more into that, we are going to look at yet another attack of the actor facing Israel, chain of attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, including launching ballistic missiles and drones at Israel's southern tip. They haven't posed a direct strategic threat to Israel, at least not yet, but as our Middle East correspondent, Ariel Oceran reports, they could have some serious consequences if they could force the Saudis or the Americans to take a stance. As Israel deepens its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and with controlled but escalating clashes in the West Bank and with Hezbollah in the north, a new front is emerging, but not exactly on Israel's borders. Our armed forces have launched a large barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as a significant number of drones and various targets of the Israeli enemy. The Yemeni armed forces affirm that this operation is the third in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine. More qualitative strikes with missiles and drones will continue until the Israeli aggression ceases. The IDF said its Arrow Air Defense System intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen towards the southern city of Elat. Fighter jets downed multiple drones. Following another attack early Wednesday morning, the IDF deployed a navy missile ship to the Red Sea. We are prepared on the Red Sea Front, as well as in every area of the State of Israel for defense. We also know how to attack in the place and time of our choosing for any security interest of Israel, anywhere we are required to operate in. This violent show of solidarity initiated by Iran comes to prove the existence of a united front against Israel. But maybe not entirely united, this is Iran's most hard-line newspaper, Kaihan, published on Tuesday in editorial titled, Iran does not go to war for the sake of others. In other words, let the people of Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen die into fighting with Israel, but not Iranians. If this war is not stopped immediately and joint attacks against civilians, the women and children of Gaza by America and Israel are not halted, then the consequences for those who are waging this war will be grave. The Houthis attacks are also meant to send a diplomatic message to neighboring Saudi Arabia and through it to Washington. And the match lit in Yemen may force the Saudis and Americans to take a stance and perhaps even join the fray. I want to turn back to our discussion panel. I'm going to start with you, Ariel. The Houthi rebels are very well armed, very sophisticated weapons. We're seeing ballistic missiles. We're seeing cruise missiles. These aren't rockets with small warheads. These are very serious weapons, very serious range. And inevitably, one of them is going to get through. When that does happen, what is Israel's response going to be? What is the American response going to be? I think that remains to be seen so far. The interceptions have been oversea or rockets have landed in Jordan and in Egypt, not in Israel. And so we can ask also our partners to our borders how they've been handling it. The way Jordan decided to handle it is to expel the Israeli ambassador rather than talk to the Yemeni or the Iranian ambassador. And so this is... It does pose... Any rocket missile launch at Israel poses a threat to Israel, but it's not a significant one because of Israel's multi-layered aerial defense systems. You also have ships deployed in the area. You also have the Americans deployed in the area. The Americans already downed drones missiles. The Saudis already downed missiles that flew from Yemen over their territory. This is an issue that I think is important to note and is under-reported. The Saudis, just like the Americans, have already fired shots in this war and to the side of Israel. This is something to remember moving forward as to what the Israeli response will be. We heard the past few days, Rear Admiral Daniel Agari, the spokesperson of the IDF, saying that Israel will respond in a time and manner of its choosing. That indicates that Israel does not see this as a significant threat, but rather an attempt by Iran to avert Israel's attention from the main campaign and the southern border. Also, that is what's going on on Israel's northern border. But also what we heard Iran say yesterday that as the war progresses, so will its response in the fields, meaning as its ground offensive deepens, as more troops enter Gaza, then we will see perhaps more arenas join the fray or exist in fronts such as Lebanon or now the Houthis from Yemen, their response will amplify. So this is a gradual escalation that we're continuing to see. That goes in tandem with Israel's advanced forces in Gaza. Well, that's one possible interpretation. Let me suggest another one. And of course, the near future will decide who's right. Israel will not respond. Israel will pre-spond or pre-taliate. It will not wait for the next launch. It will attack the Houthis in a devastating way in order to signal to Iran, which has the largest arsenal of ballistic missiles, that it can hit Iran too. Is that because Israel sees this as a significant threat? They're statements saying it's not strategic, but these aren't Hamas rockets. A Hamas rocket will blow up an apartment. But one of these missiles is going to level a city block. Right. And also there's the issue of deterrence. Israel has always spoken about the credible military deterrence asking the United States to pose one to Iran in order to dissuade Iran from going nuclear. If Israel sits still and doesn't employ its air force, it always says, Gallant, for instance, the Defense Minister several times said, our air force is in ready reserve in the north, meaning we are not planning a ground incursion into Lebanon, but we can hit any target at any time, regardless of our investment in Gaza or in the skies above Gaza. I need to jump in because this is all happening when the backer of all these militias attacking Israel, Iran, is weeks away from being able to assemble a nuclear bomb. Are they able to use this time as the last space, the last breathing room they need to become a nuclear power if they do? What next? What can you do with one single bomb? You need at least six warheads for a missile, if not a wing, a squadron, and you must be ready for a preemptive strike. So the first mythological bomb is not really dead. Only if you want to...