 breaking news edition I'm Benisa Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv. Israel's war cabinet is set to meet in the coming hours to discuss a possible deal brokered by Egypt that could see the release of more hostages from Hamas captivity. Security leaders are also expected to discuss the high intensity phase of the fighting inside Gaza with the Israeli death toll in the retaliatory ground operation now at 172 it's more than 12 weeks since the Hamas terror onslaught in which more than 1200 people were murdered in southern Israel most of them civilians 129 people remain in captivity inside Gaza senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev has this update two months into the IDF's ground operation in Gaza questions are rising as to the end strategy of the current high intensity phase and a move on to the next phase on one hand there's still constant firefights with Hamas terrorists especially in the area of Chanyones we found here plenty of enemy infrastructure there was a terrorist here with a Kalachnikov that tried to shoot at our soldiers we killed him and caught another terrorist and took him for interrogation along with that Hamas officials are also being killed one of them is Abdel Fattah Mali the closest associate of Ichiya Yash who was known as the engineer and responsible for various terror attacks in the 1990s on the other hand there's a feeling that in the current phase the IDF is not able to reach the hostages or the Hamas senior leadership and some other way is now needed when will Israel head for that other way the prime minister may have set the goal for that the Philadelphia corridor or to put it more correctly the southern end of Gaza must be in our hands no other solution can ensure the demilitarization we seek the Philadelphia corridor separates Gaza from Egypt and the assumption is that huge amounts of weapons were and maybe still are smuggled to Gaza in tunnels running under it on paper Egypt seems to refuse any such move and Israel needs Egyptian backing for another crucial move a hostage deal families and protesters believe the government is not doing enough in that field i'm afraid that the government of Israel has prioritized otherwise it's it's political ambitions and the hostages is not on the top priorities a possible hostage deal the control of the Philadelphia corridor the effectiveness of the IDF's current tactics many critical issues for the future of this war but none of them with a concrete solution at hand and still with the story day 86 of the war correspondent Nikol Zedek is in southern Israel and filed this update it's another day of war here in southern Israel near the Gaza border as the IDF continues to strike hard in the Gaza strip and Hamas continues to fire back we already saw some red alert rocket siren sounding in some of these southern Israeli border communities although it does come after a 24-hour lull and this is what we seem to be seeing as the weeks go on Hamas the rocket launching capabilities do seem to be weakening but they are still capable and a new report coming out of the Israeli army radio talking about some unnamed IDF officials says they're not sure if Hamas's rocket launching capabilities will ever completely be eliminated the IDF is currently working to to really reduce their capabilities not only destroying different Hamas terrorist launch sites different terrorist infrastructure and also seizing and raiding uh so many different weapons and rocket launchers as well but while they might be reducing the Hamas's capabilities to fire long-range weapons specifically targeting some central Israeli towns and hot spots like Tel Aviv these border communities that are right along the the Gaza border in southern Israel where you have 10 to 15 seconds to run into their shelter according to this new report the IDF isn't sure if they'll ever completely eliminate the threat and so many of these residents as they're wondering when they might be able to come back to these southern border communities this new report might shine a little bit of light onto what the future of living here might look like now all of this comes as the IDF continues to operate deep in the Gaza Strip really moving some of their focus from the northern part of the Gaza Strip towards central and southern the IDF earlier today publishing a statement that the elite paratroopers brigade that happened operating for the past two months in the northern part of the Gaza Strip now moving towards Canunis in the southern section of the Gaza Strip which is a terrorist hot spot even after several weeks of fighting we continue to see very very heavy clashes a new IDF statement coming out this afternoon talking about this close combat face-to-face encounters that these soldiers are getting with these terrorists many of them firing from civilian buildings this is something we continue to see with Hamas terrorists specifically now according to this new statement in Canunis using civilian infrastructure to fire at IDF soldiers and that's war continues the IDF continuing to fight their hardest but Hamas says they're continuing to use human shields civilian infrastructure it proves difficult and we have seen a heavy loss more than 170 soldiers killed so far in this ongoing fighting as we come close to the fourth month of this ongoing war in the Gaza Strip reporting from southern Israel for i24 news i'm Nicole Zedek so for more reaction and insight we welcome to studio colonel in the reserves Olivier Refovich the IDF spokesperson for international media and our senior diplomatic correspondent Owen Altonman gentlemen thank you so much for both being here in studio right now new year kicks in in a few hours time still a while to go in this part of the world right now as we speak fireworks already in the air in Australia right now but not many celebrations Olivier in this part of the world with many waiting to see will the start of this new year mean an end for this war it's day 86 right now Benita thank you to have me here on your in studio the war is still moving and going on very harshly very toughly against Hamas still fierce fights in different parts of the Gaza Strip in the center in the north and we're actually meeting sometimes I would say pockets of opposition both from Hamas terrorist we are eliminating them we are killing them when we meet them face to face almost but we have also casualties as you know we lost two reserve soldiers yesterday and we have also wounded some of them badly wounded and we pay a price in this war but there is no alternative for Israel we have to continue to fight to destroy military capability the from us also the governmental I would say capability the from us all over the the the Gaza Strip in the same time we are still continuing to bring on to and to help to to bring a humanitarian assistance to the people mostly in the southern part of the Gaza Strip Muassi area between Hanunez Muassi and Rafa big concentration of people there from Gaza they left the north to the southern part but fights are still going on we are revealing new tunnels underground facilities have been destroyed we are finding weapons explosives we are also aware of the possibility that our stages are in the area so we must I would say move in a very I would say vigilant and and a clever way to do what we have to do against terrorists but to prevent that the hostages will be hurt by the combats the search in Hanunez particularly involves not only the concern around the 129 hostages somewhere in the Gaza Strip but specifically about terror leaders that are believed to be hiding potentially in those tunnels that you spoke of what can you share about these searches that conducted every single day right now in those tunnels what does it mean and what kind of technology is being used to make sure that civilians and hostages aren't hurt first of all we have to be aware that the tunnels are only used by hama separatifs not by the garden people they could have find the way to protect themselves using such underground facilities but Hamas actually is preventing them to get there so it's only for Hamas and only for Hamas operatives to be there and to use them we have to remember that some of these tunnels are 50, 60 meters beneath the ground very well unsophisticated organized and built for preserving for I would say serving as a security for Hamas leaders so intelligence is collected we got a lot of intelligence when we arrest terrorists when they surrender to our troops we get new information new documents even when we get to schools or mosques or even some facilities so-called civil facilities we are finding a lot of intelligence material all this stuff actually used by our agencies like the Shabbat and 504 intelligence unit in the army to collect information to analyze it and then to to go forward but it's still a challenge for the army to arrest the top the heads of Hamas we talk about Iqiz in war Mohammed def on other ones but we will find them and we will arrest them or we will eliminate them but they will not leave this Gaza Strip alive something we will discuss in more detail in a short while gentlemen stay with us because as you alluded to there are several fronts in this war and on Israel's northern border tensions continue to simmer with Israel and Hezbollah seemingly locked into fighting that nonetheless is below the point of a full-scale war the Biden administration wants to keep it that way which is why as our senior diplomatic correspondent Owen Ultiman explains the administration's envoy is on his way to the region let's take a look America's point man on Lebanon trying to do on land what he did at sea with Amos Hockstein reportedly set the flight back into Beirut this week to try to broker a deal that would bring quiet to the land border between Lebanon and Israel the way he did last year with the border between zones at sea the most important piece of this agreement is that it is the entirely in the interest of each country to not violate it and to move forward the background now of course is the war and the element of it on the Israel-Lebanon border where the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah has been firing for months at communities on the Israeli side and the Israeli military has responded by firing at Hezbollah targets the Biden administration wants the situation contained below the threshold of a wider war as does the French government Israel has killed more than 130 Hezbollah fighters Israeli attacks have intensified and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a warning we have approved operational plans for the continuation of the fighting if Hezbollah expands the war it would absorb blows that it has not dreamed of and Iran as well Hockstein's apparent plan to incentivize Hezbollah to move its troops away from the Israeli border in exchange for apparent Israeli concessions on marking that border in at least some of the 13 points of dispute the Biden administration does not want a full-scale war Israel's plan A is not to have a full-scale war and the Lebanese public does not want a full-scale war which all point to the sides getting to a deal that forestalls a full-scale war at least for now and that report by our senior diplomatic correspondent Owen Ultiman he's here in studio for more insights and Owen Amos Hockstein certainly has his work cut out for him right now talk us through the players he needs to get involved to make sure that there is a diplomatic resolution up north and so that there isn't an unfolding escalation that everyone across the region appears to be so concerned about right now well listen at the personal level Benita there seems to be no one better place than Amos Hockstein to make it happen right again against the odds although of course there is logic that did surround it but still against the odds brokered that deal on the border between the seizons between Israel and Lebanon which has enabled at least the exploration for gas in the two countries and in their two economic zones and again dense the odds at least it was it was seen from the outset and was able to do it and therefore built up significant contacts on the Lebanese side it means formal titles are all about energy right and the gas deal was about energy I just think by virtue of his personal connections in Lebanon and his affinity to the Israeli side he is someone who is potentially uniquely placed to be a go between between the two countries and that's what he's done since October 7th and that's what he continues to do including reportedly by being headed to Beirut over the next few days he certainly has his work cut out for him on the other hand and again I know there are many people who disagree with me on this I think there is a logic for these parties to get to yes there is a real zone of possible agreement right the Biden administration certainly doesn't want a war that is clear to all of us I think on the Israeli side there are a lot of restraints for a potential war this is a country that would go into a full scale war in the north absolutely exhausted socially I think there are questions about whether there would be legitimacy for this government to initiate a war whether it would be the kind of consensus in the country that of course was present on October 7th when Israel was brutally attacked but were there to be a more ambiguous set of circumstances in the Lebanese border how would the public here feel about that and then on the Hezbollah side obviously you've heard from Hassan Isra'la in the past but how much damage the 2006 war caused we know from polling in Lebanon that the Lebanese public as a whole and it stands to reason not a small portion and possibly a majority of Hezbollah's own constituency don't want to see a full scale war of course there may be outside actors like Iran who have different designs and different ideas but there are plenty of players who do matter who want to see this get to yes of course that Benita just punts the question down the road kicks that can down the road for another day Olivia your thoughts on exactly that because much of the focus obviously has been on the Gaza Strip and eliminating the threat out of Hamas but every day we hear more and more concern about Hezbollah's potential full scale role it's very important to remind the issue that Hezbollah has entered this war assisting Hamas against the interest of Lebanon on the interest of the Lebanese so what now they are doing what the Iranians are asking them to do against the Lebanese interest from the state of Israel side we are fighting back we don't want escalation we don't want war against Lebanon but in the case that even that Hezbollah sorry will continue and will escalate this situation Lebanon will pay the price so now there is a possibility that the French and the American parties will play a very important role diplomatically speaking to prevent such a conflagration between state of Israel the army of Israel and Hezbollah depends of many many elements Iran Lebanese a stunning point Hezbollah willingness to do so and there is maybe also the issue of mistake because Hezbollah made mistakes in the past but in any case for us it would be totally impossible to continue to have such a situation where and if the diplomatic and political assistant will not be successful so there will be another option and let's say that this option will be decided by the political isolation there's another front I want to discuss gentlemen stay with us because shipping giant Merck has announced it will suspend its vessels passage through the Red Sea for the next 48 hours following two attacks on one of its merchant ships while transiting the Bab Amman Deb Strait now the shipping company recently reversed a similar decision following the formation of the US-led naval coalition in the area a coalition that is now being put to the test as our Middle East correspondent Ariel Osirian explains in this report a moment of truth for the US-led naval coalition in the Red Sea American naval forces sank three hoothy small boats as they attacked a commercial vessel off the coast of Yemen on Sunday hours after the same vessel was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile in a separate attack the US central command said gunmen on board the boats opened fire at the Danish owned Maersk Hangzhou and attempted to board it the gunmen then opened fire at US Navy helicopters responding to the distress call the helicopters returned fire sinking three boats and killing its crews a fourth boat fled the area this would be the 24th attack by the hoothies on international shipping since October and the first ship to be attacked since the naval coalition was formed the hoothies have emphasized many times in their statements that the actions taken in response to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are only targeted at Israeli ships or ships related to Israel or ships heading to Israeli ports therefore the United States and Israel should bear direct responsibility if any obstructions or delays happen to ships entering the port of Udeida in an interview with the Associated Press the commander of US naval forces in the Middle East Vice Admiral Brad Cooper said before Saturday's incident that quote we are clear eyed at the hoothy reckless attacks will likely continue the statement comes as Denmark becomes the latest country to sign on the more than 20 nation coalition highlighting the global importance of the threat by the Iranian back toothies Iran movila its Iran leads the axis of evil and aggression against us on various fronts this aggression is directed not only against Israel but against the entire free world the attacks on the mayor's kangaroo come as the shipping company announced it would resume sending its ships through the red sea due to the maritime coalition in the area a statement since reversed following the latest attack but continued attacks will test the coalition whether it's going to be more than a floating iron dome simply protecting ships or whether it will actually take proactive steps against the hoothy attacks still in the studio colonel in the reserves Olivier refovich the idea of spokesperson for international media and our senior correspondent oh and ultimate Olivier I want to come to you about this Iranian axis of evil that we hear so often about and right now Israel is being targeted by the hooties but so are a whole range of vessels heading towards Israeli shores is the IDF prepared for this eventuality another front in this potential development right now when we are talking the naval coalition led by the American but not only the American with French with Brits with the Spaniard the Italian I think also the Danes are actually moving in against hooty a threat in the red sea it becomes a real threat for freedom of commerce in this area but we see now the expression of the Iranian global threat not only against Israel interest but also against the world interest so this country between Hamas and the idea is in Gaza has actually reflected the huge impacts of Iranian willingness to get involved without being directly part of this conflict they are using the Hamas Palestinian they are using the Hezbollah now they're using the Yemenites but we know that the Yemenites are using Iranian weaponry like this ballistic missiles on drones all of them come from Iran so also at the end of the day the the the the major nations will have to decide if they want to continue to leave Iran as a threat supporting I would say rock states and rock groups again the interest of the area or go directly to the source of the problem which is Iran something that certainly Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu have repeated way before the 7th of October the threat remains Iran we're going to discuss that in more detail but I want to pivot to another part of the globe right now and specifically bring you in Owen because Benjamin Netanyahu had a message earlier about South Africa's response to the war let's take a listen in his own words and then I'd like your reaction I would like to say a word about the deceitful lie that South Africa made up saying Israel is committing a genocide no South Africa we are not the ones who came to commit a genocide but Hamas has who would have killed us all given the chance the IDF is acting in the most moral way and it does everything to avoid harming civilians but Hamas is doing everything so that we hurt Gazans by using them as human shields I want to ask where was South Africa and all the rest who are blaming us where were you when millions were murdered and displaced in Syria and Yemen and other arenas you weren't there everything you are doing now is lying we will continue in the war to protect ourselves which is the most justified a clear message there from the prime minister Owen your thoughts yeah uh listen obviously uh when your country is being accused of genocide it's going to generate a strong reaction from the prime minister and Benjamin Netanyahu is absolutely in his place to push back very very hard against this look obviously you know they're legal and diplomatic dimensions first of all in the legal dimension this is before the international court of justice not the international criminal court why does it matter well a few reasons first of all the ICJ international court of justice does not prosecute individuals right this was brought under the genocide convention a genocide treaty it's South Africa versus Israel in a sense right accusing the Israeli state of not doing enough to prevent genocide and of committing genocide through its organs and one of the interesting sort of twists here is that if you read the language of the genocide convention it's not a country a state that commits genocide it's persons it's individual people who do and it's the state that either enables them under the genocide convention or doesn't stop them so again it's not targeted at Israel per se it's targeted at Israelis or I suppose at a state that in the South Africans contention either aides and abets or or doesn't prevent but it's not actual prosecutions that's left to a different body the ICJ also just to just to zoom back for a moment ICJ prosecution or ICJ cases rather take a very very long time so this is something that even by the standards of international courts themselves a very low bar for timeliness ICJ cases are notorious for going on for years and years and years so don't expect this to happen in any kind of timeline that affects the war or its conduct or the fallout of course there's also the diplomatic angle South Africa's been one of the most unfriendly one of the most hostile governments toward Israel over the course of the war certainly among those countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations maybe on a par with Turkey let's say in terms of the rhetoric and here are the actions of course Benita it's the Jewish community in South Africa that's most caught in the crosshairs the heart really goes out to them maybe the strongest Jewish community in the entire diaspora what's 60,000 strong or so who are caught in this impossible situation of living in a country whose government is this unfriendly and is still having a very very strong affinity to Israel so obviously in a very very difficult position not only with the war in the background but with South Africa's own election coming out potentially very contentious one in April senior diplomatic correspondent Owen Altman thank you so much for that insight and now as 2023 draws to a close a large demonstration was held in Tel Aviv overnight with calls that the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza for 86 days now be released as soon as possible with the arrival of the new year let's take a listen my big wishes is to bring back all the hostages including the soldiers and the next thing is ending the war and the third thing is just go back to routine and normal life first of all obviously we want all and the rest of the hostages back as for me personally other than that I just want to get my life back I think we have to go to direct to ceasefire and bring them back and stop this war Olivia Rapovich the mood of the nation 10 seconds we want the hostages back home and when it will be the mood will be better Olivia Rapovich Owen Altman thank you both so much for being here in studio and that is where we wrap up for this edition of our breaking news coverage I'm Benita Levine back in a bit stay tuned more on i24 news breaking news edition thank you for watching date of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well news edition I'm Benita Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv Israel's war cabinet is set to meet in the coming hours to discuss a possible deal brokered by Egypt that could see the release of more hostages from Hamas captivity security leaders are also expected to discuss the high intensity phase of the fighting inside Gaza with the Israeli death toll in the retaliatory ground operation now at 172 it's more than 12 weeks since the terror onslaught in which more than 1200 people were murdered in southern Israel most of them civilians 129 people remain in captivity inside Gaza so for the latest on the ground we start in the south we go first to our correspondent Zach Anders and he joins us live from southern Israel so Zach intense fighting continues inside Gaza it's coming at a massive cost 172 Israeli soldiers killed in the ground operation so far what is the latest what update have you got this hour Benita the calendar year comes to a close three months of war here thousands dead and the fight continues inside I'll take a step out so you can see Gaza city today continues to smolder with the strikes that continue in these areas where the IDF says it has more operational control in northern Gaza now the Gaza strip has been essentially split in two with two arenas the northern Gaza strip and Gaza city and the second largest city inside the Gaza strip con unis in the southern Gaza strip both arenas are seen heavy fighting and this smoke that you're seeing on your screen now is Gaza city where we continue to see strikes inside this populated area now the IDF says many of the civilians have fled south and at the IDF's urging have done so through these humanitarian corridors that have opened up for several weeks at a time allowing people to stream to the south and this operation in the south that is picked up in scale considerably since the start of December has allowed for the IDF to begin an assault on a con unis where they say that Hamas has continued a stronghold that they've been able to control parts of con unis continued with that subterranean that the tunnel network where they continue to encounter fierce fighting but that's not to say that what you see behind me is not still as fierce fighting as we're seeing in the south here in Gaza city this is where the IDF has been now since early November and they continue to fight we can continue to see the airstrikes and the outgoing artillery targeting these positions where again Hamas is using these tunnels to their advantage throughout the city and continue to engage with the IDF meanwhile Zach humanitarian aid still coming into the strip talk us through the efforts to ensure that it gets to the civilians needing that aid and not to the terror organization for terror purposes well as the UN continues to call for more and more aid humanitarian aid to make its way into the Gaza strip the early days we saw a lot of those resources allocated through what appeared to be a structured people bringing those trucks in deeper to the strip but now as some of the UN officials that are on the ground have posted images even today it appears that as soon as these trucks have been entering in through the Rafa crossing that they're swarmed with people trying to get at these resources the UN says 40 percent of the civilian population this southern Gaza strip is at risk of acute hunger that they've had trouble accessing basic necessities food and water so these trucks as they have been making their way in at obviously not at great of a scale as is necessary for roughly two million people but it does appear that as soon as they have been coming in through the Rafa crossing they've been a bit basically picked clean by crowds of people who are attempting to get at this vital aid correspondent Zach Anders live from southern Israel thank you for that update and now for more reaction and insight we welcome to studio retired Colonel Amit as a former member of the Israeli security agency Amit thank you so much for being here in studio as we all well know it's a few hours out until the start of 2024 not much celebration or reason for celebration in this part of the world nonetheless many are asking will the new year bring an end to this war we know securities top brass the echelon there saying it's many months out your assessment of the current situation yeah of course we will see some error is getting in and the change will be very big change in the aspect of Israelis state of mind in this region so what we experience will not be forgotten and with our experience I think 2024 will look like a start of a new beginning of an era that Israel will face some other values and some other operational activity with our neighbors that will not be the same as the past what exactly do you mean by that I think that now most of the people in Israel know and walk up from a dream from a good dream because we are good people and we are looking for peace that somehow our neighbors wants to live without with us with a peace and this dream we walk up as a nightmare because we we understood that what is in front of us is a nation that wants killing that wants violent that maybe also educate the children from the very first beginning for hatred of Israel and they think that this land is for the Palestinian from the sea to the river so means that delegitimate fully delegitimate of Israel here in the region and this nightmare that we walk up from it make us change our thinking our reality and now we have to act some other way not with gloves not with with the soft maybe approach we thought that we will give them prosperity we will give them opportunities we will give them any opportunity that we could give in the in the past but still they didn't use it and this hope was smashed I think and we realized that we have to deal with it with another approach there are hundreds and thousands of Israelis who had to evacuate their homes since the 7th of October many of them of course waiting for the word the green light so to speak knowing that they could go back to their homes I understand that some residents in certain parts of the country have had a notification that it's not going to happen until at least the end of February what do you make of that message I think the the timing we can't be sure about the timing because it can be tomorrow Hamas will be smashed okay Hamas will be smashed and the what IDF need to do in Gaza Strip is to build something new without our responsibility was the responsibility of the nation of the world of the world community to make something else with Gaza Strip but first we have to be sure that no missile and no weapon and no nobody will want to use a weapon against Israel and this is IDF what is going to do now and after it will happen and after it will conquer this aim of war then everybody will go back to their homes and build again the beautiful homes and the beautiful country that we had across the border of Gaza Strip but we will have to hold on with security and secure measures inside Gaza Strip that in the future will not grow the any kind of Hamas terror organization or other name of organization that wants to launch some missile or shoot some some fighting action against Israel and also in the north side you know it's the same Hezbollah is the same they want to kill us they want to Israel getting out of the place this is their agenda the Islamic the radical Islam agenda they have to leave this agenda and to convince them to leave this agenda we need to do it by force this is what we have to do talking of exactly that amidst stay with us because on Israel's northern border tensions continue to simmer with Israel and Hezbollah seemingly locked into fighting that nonetheless is below the point of a full scale war at the stage the Biden administration wants to keep it that way which is why as our senior diplomatic correspondent Owen Ultiman explains the administration's envoy is on his way to the region let's take a look America's point man on Lebanon trying to do on land what he did at sea with Amos Hoxton reportedly set the flight back into Beirut this week to try to broker a deal that would bring quiet to the land border between Lebanon and Israel the way he did last year with the border between zones at sea the most important piece of this agreement is that it is the entirely in the interest of each country to not violate it and to move forward the background now of course is the war and the element of it on the Israel-Lebanon border where the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah has been firing for months at communities on the Israeli side and the Israeli military has responded by firing at Hezbollah targets the Biden administration wants the situation contained below the threshold of a wider war as does the French government Israel has killed more than 130 Hezbollah fighters Israeli attacks have intensified and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a warning we have approved operational plans for the continuation of the fighting if Hezbollah expands the war it would absorb blows that it has not dreamed of and Iran as well Iran Hoxton's apparent plan to incentivize Hezbollah to move its troops away from the Israeli border in exchange for apparent Israeli concessions on marking that border in at least some of the 13 points of dispute the Biden administration does not want a full-scale war Israel's plan A is not to have a full-scale war and the Lebanese public does not want a full-scale war which all point to the sides getting to a deal that forestalls a full-scale war at least for now so let's find out exactly what is happening on the ground we now go live to our correspondent guy Israel he joins us from northern Israel so guy Amos Hoxton is heading to Beirut in the coming days but what is the latest on the ground up north what can you tell us this hour I submit the efforts to find a political solution to this problem the fire has just renewed just a few minutes ago the terrorist of Hezbollah fired two anti-tank missiles towards an IDF post on the ridge of Ramim that is basically just behind us to the left of your screens there that is the area very close to the border were those terrorists fired that anti-tank missile no word yet about any casualties or damage in in that instance but it really does go to show how close those terrorists are to the border to those Israeli communities of course well we are no no residents are at home all of them were evacuated most of what you see here is IDF forces guarding the area stationed right on the border engaged in those many battles with Hezbollah we saw IDF striking Hezbollah targets in the village of Ramya earlier this morning this is an area where the IDF says Hezbollah has been using the civilian population for both terror infrastructure launching rockets towards Israel and this is one of the many skirmishes that we're seeing on the border in the recent months and we heard today from the deputy of Hezbollah saying that no Israelis will return to their homes unless Israel ends its war in Gaza of course Israel will not return its civilians back to their homes until Hezbollah is deterred until it is moved away from the border and Netanyahu said that just this morning at the government meeting we will achieve that goal whether by political or military means so far it seems like the political solution is very far from happening Benita. So Benita seem far from happening correspondent Guy Azrael live from northern Israel thank you very much for that update more to come from Guy in the coming hours meanwhile shipping giant MERSC has announced it will suspend its vessels passage through the Red Sea for the next 48 hours following two attacks on one of its merchant ships while transiting the Bab Al-Mandab Strait. Now the shipping company recently reversed a similar decision following the formation of the US-led naval coalition in the area a coalition that is now being put to the test as our Middle East correspondent Ariel Oceran explains in this report. A moment of truth for the US-led naval coalition in the Red Sea American naval forces sank three Houthi small boats as they attacked a commercial vessel off the coast of Yemen on Sunday hours after the same vessel was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile in a separate attack the US central command said gunmen on board the boats opened fire at the Danish owned MERSC Hangzhou and attempted to board it the gunmen then opened fire at US Navy helicopters responding to the distress call the helicopters returned fire sinking three boats and killing its crews a fourth boat fled the area this would be the 24th attack by the Houthis on international shipping since October and the first ship to be attacked since the naval coalition was formed the Houthis have emphasized many times in their statements that the actions taken in response to the Palestinian Israeli conflict are only targeted at Israeli ships or ships related to Israel or ships heading to Israeli ports therefore the United States and Israel should bear direct responsibility if any obstructions or delays happen to ships entering the port of Udaida in an interview with the Associated Press the commander of US naval forces in the Middle East Vice Admiral Brad Cooper said before Saturday's incident that quote we are clear eyed that the Houthi reckless attacks will likely continue the statement comes as Denmark becomes the latest country to sign on the more than 20 nation coalition highlighting the global importance of the threat by the Iranian back to these Iran move illyat sir Arisha Iran leads the axis of evil and aggression against us on various fronts this aggression is directed not only against Israel but against the entire free world the attacks on the mayor's kengshu come as the shipping company announced it would resume sending its ships through the Red Sea due to the maritime coalition in the area a statement since reversed following the latest attack but continued attacks will test the coalition whether it's going to be more than a floating iron dome simply protecting ships or whether it will actually take proactive steps against the Houthi attacks still in studio retired colonel Amit Assad former member of the Israeli security agency and I met your thoughts on the fact that Israel goes into the new year 2024 with these threats on several fronts a range of arenas not only the Iranian proxies the Houthis in the ocean but also up north Hezbollah not to mention the fighting in the Gaza Strip and of course the top priority 129 hostages still somewhere inside Gaza your thoughts first I want to go back for our north and border what we saw that escalation in front of Hezbollah and maybe some kind of agreement that we want to see in the political diplomatic way but still we know Hezbollah and we know the problem and what we are seeking is not quiet if Hezbollah will move if but it's logically not going to happen because we know Nasrallah and we know his forces on the border but still if diplomatic way we will get the Hezbollah back to the north behind the Nilekani River or something like that that we are speaking about it's not solving the problem because the problem is still what we saw with Hamas is the idea of destroying Israel and they can do it in other ways in two years and three years from now so Hezbollah has to understand that they have to leave this idea and to leave this idea it's by force and we will have to deal with Hezbollah this is one another thing that we see about the hostages is something that we know now that happens in these days these few days because we hear that Sinwall is changing maybe his approach because he was very determined that he will not negotiate and anything before Israel we stop war and get out from the region and still we see now that Egypt is getting with the same deal that was on the table few weeks ago meaning Sinwall feels the knife on his neck he is now in the area of Hanyunas Hanyunas is very tight the action there with the IDF and we are pressing everything and it's comes to an end okay like in the northern side of Gaza when we finished and we are getting to the third stage what we are saying where we are all control of the area and now we are just dealing with few groups under the ground getting out from tunnels Hanyunas is going to be like that in few days and he feels the knife on his neck so we say now stop stop maybe I will get into some kind of negotiation and the Egyptians are going to lead this so maybe we will see some steps forward any kind of negotiation of some deal of what we wanted to have but Sinwall was stopped and was very forced but he knows now that in Israel there is no discussion now there is no deal except the basic deal that we put on the table few weeks ago certainly something that is top of mind for Israelis is waiting for the word on the hostages and that deal that you are talking about needs to happen as soon as possible your thoughts so on what we talked about a little bit earlier the Houthis and the Iranian proxies that keep on showing their muscle their firepower it's almost daily now and it's impacting global entities it's not just the Middle East I think I think we can see United States and the Iranian both of them doesn't want in every one of them have other aim and reason but neither two of them wants to get into regional a conflict neither both of them even United States are doing some steps in a Houthis issue and Iran what's doing is just showing themselves but Iran is using her fingers as the all militia the Shia militia in all the area are working under Iran command Houthis a militia in Iraq that attacks the Americans militia in Syria that comes from Iraq and attack Israel from the Syrian border a Hezbollah of course and also Hamas that we see a lot but Iran will not put like a formally involving this kind of a threat but because aesthetically they doesn't want to get into a regional war they know that they will lose in that timing a lot and yet they keep on targeting vessels almost daily there is one maybe it's look like a joke but now we are not joking about it that we say that Iran will fight until the last blood of the Hamas members not Iranian members not Iranian soldiers they will fight until the last drop of blood of Hamas and Hezbollah and then and then they will not do anything but still Iran is the most aesthetically problem for Israel in this region and we will have to deal with it but I'm optimistic if they will understand that there is no solution in the idea of destroying Israel maybe maybe Iran will lose this kind of thinking to the future but it's days to know because Israel they have to show the world show the Islamic radical that nobody can challenge this kind of nation here in the region and certainly that what happened on the 7th of October can never ever happen again amid us so thank you so much as always and as we've been discussing as 2023 draws to a close in the coming hours a large demonstration was held in Tel Aviv overnight with calls that the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza for 86 days now be released as soon as possible with the arrival of the new year let's take a listen my big wishes is to bring back all the hostages including the soldiers and the next thing is ending the war and the third thing is just go back to routine and normal life first of all obviously we want all and the rest of the hostages back as for me personally other than that I just want to get my life back I think we have to go to direct to ceasefire and bring them back and stop this war and talking of the new year new zealander's were amongst the first in the world to celebrate the arrival of 2024 with a fireworks display in Auckland just a short while ago revelers watching on through the drizzle as the brightly coloured fireworks shot into the night sky and we leave you with those images because that's a wrap for this edition of our breaking news coverage I'm Benita Levine our rolling coverage continues shortly stay tuned this is i24 news breaking news edition a state of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well entrevistas exclusives reports desde la zona de guerra la reacción de los países hispano parlantes what's exciting is what is about to happen is a tsunami of solar pan into the supply chain i'm benita levine coming to you live from tel aviv israel's war cabinet is set to meet in the coming hours to discuss a possible deal brokered by egypt that could see the release of more hostages from hamas captivity security leaders are also expected to discuss the high intensity phase of the fighting inside gaza with the israeli death toll in the retaliatory ground operation now at 172 it's more than 12 weeks since the hamas terror onslaught in which more than 1200 people were murdered in southern israel most of them civilians 129 people remain in captivity inside gaza so for the latest on the ground we start in the south we go first to our correspondent zack andes and he joins us live from southern israel so zack intense fighting continues inside gaza it's coming at a massive cost 172 israeli soldiers killed in the ground operation so far what is the latest what update have you got this hour benita the calendar year comes to a close three months of war here thousands dead and the fight continues inside i'll take a step out so you can see gaza city today continues to smolder with the strikes that continue in these areas where the idf says it has more operational control in northern gaza now the gaza strip has been essentially split into with two arenas the northern gaza strip and gaza city and the second largest city inside the gaza strip con unis in the southern gaza strip both arenas are seen heavy fighting and this smoke that you're seeing on your screen now is gaza city where we continue to see strikes inside this populated area now the idf says many of the civilians have fled south and at the idf's urging have done so through these humanitarian corridors that have opened up for several weeks at a time allowing people to stream to the south and this operation in the south that has picked up in scale considerably since the start of december has allowed for the idf to begin an assault on con unis where they say that hamas has continued a stronghold that they've been able to control parts of con unis continued with that subterranean the tunnel network where they continue to encounter fierce fighting but that's not to say that what you see behind me is not still as fierce fighting as we're seeing in the south here in gaza city this is where the idf has been now since early november and they continue to fight we can continue to see the airstrikes and the outgoing artillery targeting these positions where again hamas is using these tunnels to their advantage throughout the city and continue to engage with the idf meanwhile zack humanitarian aids still coming into the strip talk us through the efforts to ensure that it gets to the civilians needing that aid and not to the terror organization for terror purposes well as the un continues to call for more and more aid humanitarian aid to make its way into the gaza strip the early days we saw a lot of those resources allocated through what appeared to be a structured people bringing those trucks in deeper to the strip but now as some of the un officials that are on the ground have posted the images even today it appears that as soon as these trucks have been entering in through the rafa crossing that they're swarmed with people trying to get at these resources the un says 40 of the civilian population in the southern gaza strip is at risk of acute hunger that they've had trouble accessing basic necessities food and water so these trucks as they have been making their way in at obviously not at great of a scale as is necessary for roughly two million people but it does appear that as soon as they have been coming in through the rafa crossing they've been a bit basically picked clean by crowds of people who are attempting to get at this vital aid correspondent zack and is live from southern israel thank you for that update and now for more reaction and insight we welcome to studio retired colonel amit as a former member of the israeli security agency amit thank you so much for being here in studio as we all well know it's a few hours out until the start of 2024 not much celebration or reason for celebration in this part of the world nonetheless many are asking will the new year bring an end to this war we know securities top brass the echelon there saying it's many months out your assessment of the current situation yeah of course we will see some error is getting in and the change will be very big change in the aspect of israeli's state of mind in this region so what we experience will not be forgotten and with our experience i think 2024 will look like a start of a new beginning of an era that israel will face some other values and some other operational activity with our neighbors that will not be the same as the past what exactly do you mean by that i think that now most of the people in israel know and walk up from a dream from a good dream because we are good people and we are looking for peace that somehow our neighbors wants to live without with us with a peace and this dream we walk up as a nightmare because we understood that what is in front of us is a nation that wants killing that wants violent that maybe also educate the children from the very first beginning for hatred of israel and they think that this land is for the palestinian from the sea to the river so means that legitimate fully legitimate of israel here in the region and this nightmare that we walk up from it make us change our thinking our reality and now we have to act some other way not with gloves not with with the soft maybe approach we thought that we will give them prosperity we will give them opportunities we we will give them any opportunity that we could give in the in the past but still they didn't use it and this hope was smashed i think and we realize that we have to deal with it with another approach there are hundreds and thousands of israelis who had to evacuate their homes since the 7th of october many of them of course waiting for the word the green light so to speak knowing that they could go back to their homes i understand that some residents in certain parts of the country have had a notification that it's not going to happen until at least the end of february what do you make of that message i think the the timing we can't be sure about the timing because it can be tomorrow it can be tomorrow hamas will be smashed okay hamas will be smashed and the uh what idf need to do in gaza strip is to build something new without our responsibility was the responsibility of the nation of the world of the world community to make something else with gaza strip but first we have to be sure that no missile and no weapon and no nobody will want to use a weapon against israel and this is idf what is going to do now and after it will happen and after it will conquer this aim of war then everybody will go back to their homes and build again the beautiful homes and the beautiful country that we had across the border of gaza strip but we will have to hold on with security and secure measures inside gaza strip that in the in the future will not grow any kind of hamas organization or other name of organization that wants to to launch some missile or shoot some some fighting action against israel and also in the north side you know it's the same khizballah is the same they want to kill us they want to israel getting out of the place this is their agenda the islamic the radical islam agenda they have to leave this agenda and to convince them to leave this agenda we need to do it by force this is what we have to do talking of exactly that i might stay with us because on israel's northern border tensions continue to simmer with israel and khizballah seemingly locked into fighting that nonetheless is below the point of a full scale war at this stage the biden administration wants to keep it that way which is why as our senior diplomatic correspondent oan ultiman explains the administration's envoy is on his way to the region let's take a look america's point man on lebanon trying to do on land what he did at sea with amos hawkstein reportedly set to fly back into beirut this week to try to broker a deal that would bring quiet to the land border between lebanon and israel the way he did last year with the border between zones at sea the most important piece of this agreement is that it is the entirely in the interest of each country to not violate it and to move forward the background now of course is the war and the element of it on the israel lebanon border where the lebanese terror group khizballah has been firing for months at communities on the israeli side and the israeli military has responded by firing at his bullet targets the biden administration wants the situation contained below the threshold of a wider war as does the french government israel has killed more than 130 hisballah fighters israeli attacks have intensified and israeli prime minister benjamin itin yahoo has a warning we have approved operational plans for the continuation of the fighting if hisballah expands the war it would absorb blows that it has not dreamed of and iran as well iran hawkstein's apparent plan to incentivize his bullet to move its troops away from the israeli border in exchange for apparent israeli concessions on marking that border in at least some of the 13 points of dispute the biden administration does not want a full-scale war israel's plan a is not to have a full-scale war and the lebanese public does not want a full-scale war which all point to the sides getting to a deal that forestalls a full-scale war at least for now so let's find out exactly what is happening on the ground we now go live to our correspondent guy asrael he joins us from northern israel so guy amos hoxstein is heading to beirut in the coming days but what is the latest on the ground up north what can you tell us this hour i submit the efforts to find a political solution to this problem the fire has just renewed just a few minutes ago the terrorist of hisballah fired two anti-tank missiles towards an idf post on the ridge of ramim that is basically just behind us to the left of your screens there that is the area very close to the border where those terrorists fired that anti-tank missile no word yet about any casualties or damage in in that instance but it really does go to show how close those terrorists are to the border to those israeli communities of course well we are no no residents are at home all of them were evacuated most of what you see here is idf forces guarding the area stationed right on the border engaged in those many battles with hisballah we saw idf striking his blood targets in the village of ramya earlier this morning this is an area where the idf says hisballah has been using the civilian population for both terror infrastructure launching rockets towards israel and this is one of the many skirmishes that we're seeing on the border in the recent months and we heard today from the deputy of hisballah saying that no israelis will return to their homes unless israel ends its war in gaza of course israel will not return its civilians back to their homes until hisballah is deterred until it is moved away from the border netanyahu said that just this morning at the government meeting we will achieve that goal whether by political or military means so far it seems like the political solution is very far from happening benita so it does seem far from happening corresponding guy israel live from northern israel thank you very much for the update more to come from guy in the coming hours meanwhile shipping giant musk has announced it will suspend its vessels passage through the red sea for the next 48 hours following two attacks on one of its merchant ships while transiting the bab amandab straight now the shipping company recently reversed a similar decision following the formation of the us-led naval coalition in the area a coalition that is now being put to the test as our middle east correspondent ariel osiran explains in this report a moment of truth for the us-led naval coalition in the red sea american naval forces sank three hoothy small boats as they attacked a commercial vessel off the coast of yemen on sunday hours after the same vessel was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile in a separate attack the u.s. central command said gunmen on board the boats opened fire at the danish owned mares kang ju and attempted to board it the gunmen then opened fire at u.s. navy helicopters responding to the distress call the helicopters returned fire sinking three boats and killing its crews a fourth boat fled the area this would be the 24th attack by the hoothies on international shipping since october and the first ship to be attacked since the naval coalition was formed the hoothies have emphasized many times in their statements that the actions taken in response to the palestinian-israeli conflict are only targeted at israeli ships or ships related to israel or ships heading to israeli ports therefore the united states and israel should bear direct responsibility if any obstructions or delays happen to ships entering the port of udeida in an interview with the associated press the commander of us naval forces in the middle east vice admiral brad cooper said before saturday's incident that quote we are clear eye that the hoothy reckless attacks will likely continue the statement comes as denmark becomes the latest country to sign on the more than 20 nation coalition highlighting the global importance of the threat by the iranian back toothies iran movila its ira resha iran leads the axis of evil and aggression against us on various fronts this aggression is directed not only against israel but against the entire free world the attacks on the mares kenju come as the shipping company announced it would resume sending its ships through the red sea due to the maritime coalition in the area a statement since reversed following the latest attack but continued attacks will test the coalition whether it's going to be more than a floating iron dome simply protecting ships or whether it will actually take proactive steps against the hoothy attacks still in studio retired colonel amit asa former member of the israeli security agency and i met your thoughts on the fact that israel goes into the new year 2024 with these threats on several fronts a range of arenas not only the iranian proxies the hooties in the ocean but also up north hezbollah not to mention the fighting in the gaza strip and of course the top priority 129 hostages still somewhere inside gaza your thoughts first i want to go back for our north and a border what we saw that escalation in front of hezbollah and maybe some kind of agreement that we want to see in the political diplomatic way but still we know hezbollah and we know the problem and what we are seeking is not quiet if hezbollah will move if but it's logically not going to happen because we know nasrallah and we know his forces on the border but still if diplomatic way we will get the hezbollah back to the north behind the nilikani river or something like that that we are speaking about it's not solving the problem because the problem is still what we saw with hamas is the idea of of destroying israel and they can do it in other ways in two years and three years from now so hezbollah has to understand that they have to leave this idea and to leave this idea it's by force and we will have to deal with hezbollah this is one another thing that we see about the hostages is something that we know now that happens in these days these few days because we hear that sinwa is changing maybe his approach because he was very determined that he will not negotiate and and anything before israel we stop war and get out from the region and still we see now that egypt is getting with the same deal that was on the table few weeks ago meaning sinwa feels the knife on his neck he is now in the area of hanionis hanionis is very tight action there with the idf and we are pressing everything and it comes to an end okay like in the north side of gaza when we finished and we are getting to the third stage what we are saying we are all control of the area and now we are just dealing with few groups under the the ground getting out from tunnels hanionis is going to be like that in few days and he feels the knife on his neck so we say now stop stop maybe i will get into some kind of negotiation and the egyptian are going to lead this so maybe we will see some steps forward any kind of negotiation of some deal of what we wanted to have but sinwa was stopped and was very forced but he knows now that in israel there is no discussion now there is no deal except the basic deal that we put on the table few weeks ago certainly something that is top of mind for israelis is waiting for the word on the hostages and that deal that you are talking about needs to happen as soon as possible your thoughts so on what we talked about a little bit earlier the hooties and the iranian proxies that keep on showing their muscle their firepower it's almost daily now and it's impacting global entities it's not just the middle east i think i think we can see united states and the iranian both of them doesn't want in every one of them have other other aim and reason but neither two of them wants to get into regional a conflict neither both of them even united states are doing some steps in a hooties issue and iran what's doing is just showing themselves but iran is using her her fingers as the old militia the shia militia in all the area are working under iran command hooties a militia in iraq that attacks the americans militia in syria that comes from iraq and attack israel from the syrian border his vala of course and also hamas that we see a lot but iran will not put like a formally involving this kind of a of a of a threat but because aesthetically they doesn't want to get into a regional war they know that they will lose in that timing a lot and yet they keep on targeting vessels almost daily the reason one maybe it's look like a joke but now we are not joking about it that we say that iran will fight until the last blood of the hamas members not iranian members not iranian soldiers they will fight until the last drop of blood of hamas and khizballah and then and then they will not do anything but still iran is the most a aesthetically problem for israel in this region and we will have to deal with it but i'm optimistic if they will understand that there is no solution in the idea of destroying israel maybe maybe iran will lose this kind of thinking to the future but it's days to know because israeli have to show the world show the islamic radical world that nobody can challenge this kind of a nation here in the region and certainly that would happen on the 7th of october can never ever happen again amid us so thank you so much as always and as we've been discussing as 2023 draws to a close in the coming hours a large demonstration was held in tel aviv overnight with calls that the hostages being held by hamas in gaza for 86 days now be released as soon as possible with the arrival of the new year let's take a listen my big wishes is to bring back all the hostages including the soldiers and the next thing is ending the war and the third thing is just go back to routine and normal life first of all obviously we want all and the rest of the hostages back as for me personally other than that i just want to get my life back i think we have to go to direct to ceasefire and bring them back and stop this war and talking of the new year new zealander's were amongst the first in the world to celebrate the arrival of 2024 with a fireworks display in Auckland just a short while ago revelers watching on through the drizzle as the brightly coloured fireworks shot into the night sky and we leave you with those images because that's a wrap for this edition of our breaking news coverage i'm bonita levine our rolling coverage continues shortly stay tuned this is i24 news breaking news edition