 Hi, 24 News. At this hour, as we bring you the latest live updates from Tel Aviv on the Israel Hamas War and other regional threats to Israeli security today. First, the war in Gaza, a significant turning point last night, both a military achievement and a symbolic boost as the IDF seized control of Palestine Square in Gaza City raised the Israeli flag. The square is a highly symbolic location that's a hotbed of Hamas terrorism and the location where Hamas coordinated the Israeli hostage release videos to the Red Cross. And more videos out of Gaza show the surrender of dozens of terrorists who were ordered to strip down to their underwear to show they're not wearing suicide vests and hand over their weapons. The IDF Chief of Staff says Hamas is demoralized and the top spokesman says more terrorists are surrendering every day. In the last 24 hours, the IDF has deepened the fighting inside Han Yunus. We've located underground shafts, weapons, and eliminated many terrorists. Many terrorists have surrendered during the battles in Sajai and Jabalia and handed over weapons and equipment. Interrogations of terrorists have revealed the following intelligence. The condition of Hamas operatives on the ground is hard, and the Hamas leadership, headed by Sinwar, is denying reality despite having all the information. The operatives are complaining that the Hamas leadership is disconnected from the harsh conditions they face on the ground. They also feel that Hamas doesn't care about the Ghazan people. It is of great concern, even to Hamas's military operatives. The threats to Israeli security continue around the Middle East. The IDF Chief of Staff said in an interview with Israeli TV that Israel will not let Hezbollah fighters remain on the border fence, and that Israel will implement UN Resolution 1701 to force Hezbollah to the north of the Latani River. It can happen diplomatically. If it doesn't, the IDF says it will happen by force. And in Yemen, the Iran-Bakht-Houthi rebel group says it will attack any and all vessels headed to Israel. Israeli media reports Netanyahu told Biden it is a threat that the IDF will take action against unless the U.S. doesn't act. The head of the Houthis says Israeli-bound ships are legitimate targets. The Yemeni armed forces hereby announce the prohibition of the passage of ships heading to the Zionist entity of any nationality if the Gaza Strip does not receive the food and medicine it needs. These ships will become legitimate targets for our armed forces. In our effort to ensure the safety of maritime navigation, we warn all ships and companies against dealing with Israeli ports. With me now is retired IDF Colonel Mary Eisen, now the Director of the International Institute for Counterterrorism at Rachman University. Good to see you, Mary, as always. I want to start, if we could, with the viral video of the mass surrender of Hamas terrorists that's being played on news screens around the world. Your reaction to the implication that not everyone in this video is a terrorist. We have heard that there are journalists or known civilians according to family members who just were unable to leave that combat zone for whatever reason and the decision to keep everyone in their underwear through the entire process and not allow anyone to put clothes back on. Some reaction against the IDF process here, from a counterterrorism perspective, can you react to what we're seeing here? The first thing we're seeing is that we're seeing people who have people inside the Gaza Strip, both terrorists and not terrorists who have surrendered. When somebody is surrendered, that means that they came with their arms out, including with weapons. The reason that they are stripped is because somebody can come out, surrender, and blow themselves up. And in that sense, the first thing you do is you make sure that they are not with suicide belts. We're talking here, both in the Gaza Strip, let alone in the Middle East or in Israel, suicide belts are something that Hamas have used for the last 30 years, not for the last two months of this fighting. Booby traps, booby trapping people is part of what they do as a terrorist organization. Having said that, once they have surrendered, once they have shown that they are not with that, we're not showing the follow-up pictures in that sense. They're going to be interrogated and there are already those that are going to be in that sense released later on, Jeff, we're in a war. Just like I don't know who is a terrorist. And in that sense, it's going to constantly be the challenge of trying to pinpoint with the weapons on who we are attacking. They don't write it in front. They don't say who they are. They don't wear uniforms in the terrorism world. They use civilians. They wear suicide belts. This is something that they've always done. So I say hand in hand, it's war. It's not a comfortable picture. I don't enjoy it, but it is most definitely for the safety of all of the people in that group, because if somebody there is a suicide bomber and blows themselves up, they're going to blow up all of those prisoners together with these Israeli soldiers. Let's make sure that they don't have those capabilities. And from that step onward, we can go on. This is also very much part of what happens in war. Usually we're not used to seeing it close up with these different videos. Mili, the sheer volume of terror infrastructure that we're seeing in Khan Yunus, according to IDF commanders and soldiers, it's different than what the fighting has been in Gaza City. Khan Yunus is a unique hotbed of Hamas terrorism and weapons and storage. What to do about the threat of an organized insurgency? So the organized insurgency is more or less what I would call what we need to expect at this or a further stage. But as mentioned before, in the gaps, gaps of perception, Sinwar would like to do an organized insurgency. But Sinwar is not running the show. As we see right now, the Northern Gaza Strip is already not under his capabilities. And we're systematically slowly taking apart his man man made over 16 years. He's been in control for the last six years. But he was out from 2011. They've built lots of tunnels. They've built the piers, the shafts that go down to the tunnels. They built the different positions, the booby traps. They've amassed an enormous amount of weapons. We are systematically taking this apart, trying to do so carefully to minimize, when I say minimize the loss of lives that's both Israeli soldiers and civilians on the Gaza side. We're seeing also the surrender of Hamas terror fighters inside Khan Yunus, not only in the Northern Gaza Strip. And as it is ongoing, we may not be seeing the pictures. So I say we take it at a time. The insurgency is if we do not continue to act against Hamas. To me, the biggest challenge right now is that Hamas leadership, Sinwar, Diff, Aisa, these are the different names that we throw out in the air. They're surrounding themselves with the hostages. They understand for them that the hostages are their protection. And that puts in a whole different challenge for the idea, for us as Israeli citizens, that they're using this as their final, can I call it, get out of jail free card, which is a horrible aspect of terrorism and of what they've done. Mary, stay with us. I want to note that we're looking at live images now inside Gaza. It appears the aftermath of a strike as thick smoke billowing into the sky. Let's go live to I-twif a news correspondent, Ariel Osiron, who's near the Israel Gaza border area. The war continues. The idea of strikes continue. And we are seeing big surrender mass surrender of Hamas terrorism. The idea says Hamas is demoralized, but they are still fighting. Indeed, Jeff, they are still fighting and pretty much in all areas of the Gaza Strip. Now the plume of smoke that you talked about that's above my right shoulder. That's in the eastern part of Gaza City. Not quite clear if it's Jabalia or Shia, those areas, but those are considered key places where there has been significant fights, firefights and Israeli strikes throughout the night and continuing to this morning. Same thing. We've been hearing the cannons for going on constantly Israeli artillery and but also strikes reports, Palestinian reports of airstrikes in the middle of the Gaza Strip as well as firefights in Chanyunes in the south. So pretty much all across the Gaza Strip, significant fighting. And yeah, the mass surrendering took place in the areas of Jabalia and Shia, the eastern and northern parts of Gaza City. And according to the idea, as you said, from the information that they're receiving from those interrogated Hamas terrorists, they're also describing a disconnect from leadership gaps in command and control, if you will, between the commanders underground and the Hamas terrorists to fight above ground in small units, but also a sense of disconnect, not only in terms of communication, but as you spoke earlier in studio about the situation under war. However, situation on the ground indicates that fighting is continuing with reports in Israel that the estimate estimation of the fighting will prolong for the next two months after which there's expected there won't be a ceasefire, but limited Israeli military operations with military forces staying in the area of the Gaza Strip. But obviously that's a long ways down the road as for the situation this morning and tense fighting in multiple areas of the Gaza Strip. All right, stay safe, Ariel. Thank you so much for that update live for us along the border. And now to a big update to a major scandal after a congressional hearing heard around the world, the president of the University of Pennsylvania has resigned amid that global uproar over her congressional testimony where she among other elite university leaders refused to give a clear direct answer when repeatedly asked if calls for genocide against Jews can be considered harassment. U Penn President Liz McGill has now stepped down two other university presidents who also gave rather disastrous testimony. The head of Harvard and head of MIT. They remain at their posts with us here in studios. I 24 news senior correspondent Owen ultimate Owen kind of a developing story here. Liz McGill stepping down. Give me your first impressions here to this decision that she has resigned her post on the epitaph of her career, Jeff, the words were written that she just couldn't teach. And when you can't teach, it's awfully hard to be a university president. I said last week viewers may remember a lot may not agree, but may remember that her position in principle, including, including on the questions about calls for genocide were the correct answers. She said that Penn has a policy that it voluntarily took on to allow speech on campus to the outer bounds of the First Amendment. The calls for genocide could be within the First Amendment and therefore they were defensible speech on campus. That's what she said. And in principle, I believe that's the right position. I'm not by the way alone in saying that. And I believe that it's the right position for Israel and for pro-Israel students and for Jewish students students in the long run in the long run. And we can talk about that if we have time. The problem is, Jeff, that she wasn't able to explain to those members of Congress and more importantly to the public and to those connected to the university who were so hurting by these vile and hateful comments made towards Jews and made about Israel. And the feeling of some students they were unsafe, she was not able to go out there and teach and explain why this policy was necessary. And then beyond that to really truly express empathy with people who are hurt by these comments, which she had every right to do within her First Amendment rights as a university president. She needed to express empathy for Jewish students and a love die who were hurting and who were angry. And at the same time defend her university's policy and teach the public and explain why it's the correct policy, why it's a necessary policy and why in the long run, Jeff, we're all better off with that policy. You mentioned the McGill in particular, what she said there's a difference between what she said and how she said it in particular, her smirk and that's the most accurate and dispassionate use here, her smirking when talking about this, which as you mentioned, there was clear examples of Jewish students on her campus feeling harassed, bullied, unsafe, singled out. Whether in her legal ex-answer, it was the smirk, her facial expressions that kind of perhaps put the pin in her academic career there. Well, listen, I think there are two issues. Number one, people don't agree with the policy. I vigorously disagree with them. Again, I'm not alone in this, by the way. We can talk about it if we have time. But she needed to defend that policy. She needed to teach. She's a law professor. She needed to go there and teach in an effective way why that policy is necessary and why it's right. And you're right, she just simply did the opposite and alienated people. And that's the opposite of what a university president is charged with doing. She's there to bring her community together. She's there to lead, maybe take courageous positions, but to explain them and to teach. It's fundamentally at the heart of the university's mission and what a university president is there to do. And yes, she needed to do more to express empathy and certainly body languages is an important part of that. Let's listen to a little bit of that testimony that rather disastrous here and here. Here is Liz McGill in her own words. Ms. McGill at Penn, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penn's rules or code of conduct? Yes or no? If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment. Yes. I am asking, specifically calling for the genocide of Jews, does that constitute bullying or harassment? If it is directed and severe or pervasive, it is harassment. So the answer is yes. It is a context dependent decision, Congresswoman. It's a context dependent decision. That's your testimony today. Calling for the genocide of Jews is depending upon the context. That is not bullying or harassment. This is the easiest question to answer. Yes, Ms. McGill. Oh, and I want to ask about, feel free to elaborate on that argument of what she said technically, because she had to be advised carefully by lawyers understanding to navigate the complexities of a university code of conduct and First Amendment protections therein. What she said may not have been wrong. Why is that? Well, first of all, again, going back to the style, and we just saw it, Jeff, she acted as if she was under a deposition, right? If she was in a cross-examination, which of course, in the sense she was. But I think certainly in a congressional testimony, it seems to me that she has the freedom to go beyond the one sentence answers, right? And to explain and to give the context that she was talking about. Not context for calls or genocide, but context for why the policy is the right policy and to explain that. And again, importantly, to express empathy to her students, to members of her community. And that was obviously so lacking. As for the substance, what Pena is a private university, it doesn't have to allow speech out to First Amendment to First Amendment limits. But the way she explained it, Penn voluntarily takes that on. I think that's the right decision. I think universities should allow free expression out to those limits, because that's what a university is about. It's about free and open debate and allowing a variety of views. And that's the best way to allow that and to facilitate that. Why is it the correct decision to do that? Because a few things, Jeff, any decision that's more restrictive puts more power in the hands of the university leadership to make very, very difficult decisions, right? And it's true that even at the First Amendment limits, they're going to be close calls. There aren't any legal standard. But at least there, Americans have more than 200 years of court decisions to go back on. So the scope of argument will be narrower and the sophistication of the argument will be greater. But again, I think that universities should err on allowing more speech, because I think that's part of allowing a free and open debate. And yes, it's going to create hurt for a lot of students, by the way, not just Jewish students. But if this policy is applied uniformly, and of course that's one of the major arguments against the presidents of the universities, that there's been a double standard, that there's been speech that has not been allowed against other minority groups that is being allowed against Jews. And a sense that the rules aren't being uniformly applied and that I've said before, that is by far the strongest argument against these college presidents. But the remedy is not to restrict speech against Jews, but to expand speech against everyone or for everyone. And that's the best way to allow free and open debate. Just to give you an example, an example given by the fire organization that acts in terms of individual expression on college campuses. Tell us a story about the 1970s from Britain, that Zionist organizations on campuses asked for rules against racist speech. And Jeff, they got them. And then what happens a few years later? Well, the Student Union defines Zionism as racism, and bans the Zionists hoisted by their own petard, if you will. What I'm saying is that in a sense, Jewish students, the American Jewish community, and Israel, if you will, have won this battle. But I fear that what has started is a devastating war, that in the long run, we will lose at. Because as Peter Bainard, an anti-Zionist Jewish intellectual, pointed out, pro-Israel Jewish students may want the phrase globalize the anti-Fatah band, but what's to stop a Palestinian student from trying to ban the flying of the Israeli flag? Claiming that person says that that flag represents a racist entity that kills their family and so forth. Again, this is very much a double-edged sword, and enabling universities, or encouraging universities, already enabled it, encouraging universities to take these powers on themselves and restrict speech, I think is a dangerous road to go down. And I think will lead to the great disadvantage and to great damage to Jewish students, to Israel in the long run. Last question, do you believe that the acts will continue to fall? There were three university presidents, already very wealthy donors to UPenn in particular, saying we're not going to perhaps spying up the the decision of the board to ask for her resignation, Liz McGill, but Harvard, MIT, are they going to fall as well the presidents? And if not, could there be more federal investigations perhaps into the tax status, or that kind of thing to preempt some of that? Well listen, there's going to be more action in Congress. I mean, I think everybody wants to be at least Stefanik at this point, right after the airtime that she's gotten, again, with very, very effective. And let's begin with very fair questions to those presidents. No one has, should not me included, any problem with the line of questioning and the interrogation that she used to try to get at the truth. Look, every university has its own internal dynamics, and MIT at least a part of the board has come out in support of the presidents. At Penn, you had the Wharton School of Business, a very powerful entity in there come out against it and some key donors. So each university may be different and have its own internal dynamics, so we'll have to see, but certainly more action in Congress and in the public debate in the United States. All right, Owen, thank you so much. As the war goes on inside Gaza, concern grows about the health of the remaining hostages in Gaza. More testimony now from Israeli survivors of Hamas captivity who were released during the ceasefire last month. Take a listen. I was released in October due to the ceasefire. I used to be a nurse at night and I took her with me, so that I could sleep. And he, the other one who was with me and took the nurse with him, so it was very difficult. I told him that it was my room and I spoke to him in Arabic and he understood, but it wasn't enough. He took her and went to the other room. He saw me at the beginning, he brought me to bed, to change the head like this, to get used to it, and that I would take the nurse with me. But I could take the nurse with me, but I didn't want to. 49 days ago I didn't leave. There were interactions. There were interactions with nurses, there were interactions with physicians, and every day that was more and more difficult. But the situation of being infected in hospitals or where they are not, it is a very difficult situation. And if patients are not patients, and they need to return to people as much as possible. Back here now with Colonel Mary Eisen. I want to talk here in the remaining time about the threats, not just from Hamas, but the other regional threats. A player, if we can use that term in terms of attacking Israel, threatening Israel. It's been kind of in the background the last two months now emerging in the foreground. The Houthi rebel group, they've been firing rockets at a lot. They've been threatening ships, attacking ships. Now they're saying that we're going to target any vessel that is headed to drop off supplies and goods to Israel. That is a real grave threat that cannot stand. Of course, how can Israel proceed, do you think? This isn't about Israel, Jeff. This is about the entire international community. This is about a terrorist organization, completely a proxy of Iran, totally backed, armed and trained by Iran all of the years is now threatening international shipping. This has nothing to do with Israel. And in fact, what does the Houthi do? He says, undoing any ship that's coming to Israel. And again, turning that into the focus that this is about Israel. No, this is about terrorism. This is about the different ways that they use, that they use just horrific ideas in that sense. If before we saw the woman who was held by the Hamas terrorists in tunnels for 49 days, and as I said, that's another technique, bargaining to do now. Bargain with the Houthi Yemenites, who are the ones who control in that own sense the main international shipping path that is going to affect every single person. How do they know which ship goes where? That I'll put aside. How do you do this is like you get to attack any ship because you choose to do so. That is hardcore terrorism almost into piracy. And Jeff, in that sense, to me, you know it's worse than the world today. If we called it piracy, all of the international community would be up in arms. But they say it's an attack against Israel. Maybe I need to think about it. We need to be very clear. This is something which is unacceptable to the world. And I do expect not Israel alone, but Israel, the United States, France, the UK, anybody who has the capabilities to be acting against the Houthi. They're not rebels. They're Houthi terrorists, a proxy of Iran inside Yemen who are doing something that is going to impact the entire world. And that leads me to the other major threat if you can elaborate your analysis here on Hezbollah. We now have according to Israeli media interviewing top IDF commanders saying that we understand the risk in the northern communities we will make sure Hezbollah is on the other side of the Latani River. Will there be a confrontation or perhaps this can be achieved diplomatically in some way, a temporary negotiation for a border resolution? So it depends who you ask. And I'm smiling only because there is no yes, no answer. Wouldn't we all, Jeff, approve and abide, including by the way against Hamas and the Gaza Strip, if Hamas would all lay down their arms and immediately give back all of the hostages, you could say that would stop, but nobody's pressure on Hamas. When it comes to Hezbollah, there are more pressure points on Hezbollah. First of all, you could pressure Iran. Nobody's doing that. That's kind of like the words that we don't like to say. But the other aspect is that Hezbollah is not only an Iranian proxy. It is also Lebanese Arabic speaking. It is the local Shiites who in their organization in Hezbollah are back to train and inspired by Iran. But perhaps Lebanon and the Lebanese can impact them. There are other forces that impact Lebanon like the French, for example, and the fact that there's a 15,000 strong force inside Lebanon called UNIFIL. Mayor, sorry to jump in here to cut the answer, Shrupa, we're almost out of time. I want to thank you, Mayor Niazim, for being with us. And stay with us on I-24 News. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have to be as our soldiers are fighting on the front lines. But the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Attack. News 24 in Spanish brings the analysis and the information of the events of the war, Spades of Iron. Exclusive interviews and reports from the war zone. The reaction of Spanish-speaking countries. News 24, the only medium in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected to Israel. News 24, only in I-24 News. Tonight, 24 News at this hour, as we bring you the latest live updates from Tel Aviv on the Israel Hamas war and other regional threats to Israeli security today. First, the war in Gaza, a significant turning point last night, both a military achievement and a symbolic boost as the IDFC's control of Palestine Square in Gaza City in the Israeli flag. The square is a highly symbolic location that's a hotbed of Hamas terrorism and the location where Hamas coordinated the Israeli hostage release videos to the Red Cross. And more videos out of Gaza show the surrender of dozens of terrorists who are ordered to strip down to their underwear to show they're not wearing suicide vests and hand over their weapons. The IDFC's chief of staff says more terrorists are surrendering every day. In the last 24 hours, the IDF has deepened the fighting inside Han Yunus. We've located underground shafts, weapons and eliminated many terrorists. Many terrorists have surrendered during the battles in Sajaiya and Jabalia and handed over weapons and equipment. Interrogations of terrorists have followed intelligence. The condition of Hamas operatives on the ground is hard and the Hamas leadership headed by Sinwar is denying reality despite having all the information. The operatives are complaining that the Hamas leadership is disconnected from the harsh conditions they face on the ground. They also feel that Hamas doesn't care about the Gazan people. It is of great concern even to Hamas's military operatives. The Israeli security continue around the Middle East. The IDF chief of staff said in an interview with Israeli TV that Israel will not let Hezbollah fighters remain on the border fence and that Israel will implement UN Resolution 1701 to force Hezbollah to the north of the Latani river. It can happen diplomatically. If it doesn't, the IDF says it will happen by force. And in Yemen the Iran-Vakht-Houthi rebel group says it will attack any and all of Israel. Israeli media reports Netanyahu told Biden it is a threat that the IDF will take action against unless the U.S. doesn't act. The head of the Houthi says Israeli bound ships are legitimate targets. The Yemeni armed forces hereby announce the prohibition of the passage of ships heading to the Zionist entity of any nationality if the Gaza Strip does not receive the food and medicine it needs. These ships will become legitimate targets for our armed forces. In our effort to ensure the safety of maritime navigation, we warn all ships and companies against dealing with Israeli ports. With me now is retired IDF Colonel Mary Eisen, now the director of the International Institute for Counterterrorism at Rachman University. Good to see you Mary Eisen. I want to start if we could with the viral video of the mass surrender of Hamas terrorists that's being played on news screens around the world. Your reaction to the implication that not everyone in this video is a terrorist. We have heard that there are journalists or known civilians according to family members who just were unable to leave that area and the decision to keep everyone in their underwear through the entire process and not allow anyone to put clothes back on. Some reaction against the IDF process here from a counter terrorism perspective, can you react to what we're seeing here? The first thing we're seeing is that we're seeing people who have people inside the Gaza Strip both terrorists and not terrorists who have surrendered. When they came with their arms out including with weapons, the reason that they are stripped is because somebody can come out, surrender and blow themselves up. And in that sense, the first thing you do is you make sure that they are not with suicide belts. We're talking here both in the Gaza Strip, let alone in the Middle Eastern Israel, suicide belts are something that Hamas have used for the last 30 years, not for the last two months in this country. We're talking about movie traps. Movie trapping people is part of what they do as a terrorist organization. Having said that, once they have surrendered, once they have shown that they are not with that, we're not showing the follow-up pictures in that sense. They're going to be interrogated and there are already those that are going to be in that sense released later on, Jeff, we're in a war. We're going to pinpoint with the weapons on who we are attacking. They don't write it in front. They don't say who they are. They don't wear uniforms in the terrorism world. They use civilians. They wear suicide belts. This is something that they've always done. So I say hand in hand. It's war. It's not a comfortable picture. I don't enjoy it, but it is most definitely for the safety of all of the people in that country. We have all of those prisoners together with Israeli soldiers. Let's make sure that they don't have those capabilities and from that step onward, we can go on. This is also very much part of what happens in war. Usually we're not used to seeing it close up with these different videos. The sheer volume of terror infrastructure that we're seeing in Khan Yunus, according to IDF commanders and soldiers, Khan Yunus is a unique hotbed of Hamas terrorism and weapons and storage. What to do about the threat of an organized insurgency? So the organized insurgency is more or less what I would call what we need to expect at this or a further stage. But as mentioned before, in the gaps, gaps of perception, Sinwar would like to do an organized insurgency. But Sinwar is not running the show as we see right now. The northern Gaza Strip is already not under his capabilities and we're systematically, slowly taking apart his man-made, okay, over 16 years. He's been in control for the last six years, but he was out from 2011. They've built lots of tunnels. They've built the piers, the shafts that go down to the tunnels. They've built the different positions, the three traps. They've amassed an enormous amount of weapons. We are systematically taking this apart, trying to do so carefully to minimize, when I say minimize, the loss of lives. That's both Israeli soldiers and civilians on the Gaza side. We're seeing also the surrender of Hamas terror fighters inside Hanim. It's not only in the northern Gaza Strip. And as it is ongoing, we may not be seeing the pictures. So I say, we take it at a time. The insurgency is if we do not continue to act against Hamas. To me though, Jeff, the biggest challenge right now is that the Hamas leadership, Simla, Diff, Issa, these are the different names that we throw out in the air. They're surrounding themselves with the hostages. They understand for them that the hostages are their protection. And that puts in a whole different challenge for the idea, for us as Israeli citizens, that they're using this as their final can I call it, get out of jail free card, which is a horrible aspect of terrorism and of what they've done. Mary, stay with us. I want to note that we're looking at live images now inside Gaza. It appears the aftermath of a strike as thick smoke billowing into the sky. Let's go live to I-Twitter News correspondent Ariel Osiron, who's near the Israel-Gaza border. Ariel, the war continues. The idea of strikes continue and we are seeing big surrender, mass surrender of Hamas terrorism. The idea says Hamas is demoralized, but they are still fighting. Indeed Jeff, they are still fighting and pretty much in all areas of the Gaza Strip. Now the plume of smoke that you talked about, that's above my right shoulder, that's in the eastern part of Gaza City, not quite clear if it's Jabalia or Shiaia, those areas, but those are considered key places where there have been significant firefights and Israeli strikes throughout the night and continuing to this morning. Same thing, we've been hearing the cannons going on constantly Israeli artillery. But also strikes reports, Palestinian reports of airstrikes in the middle of the Gaza Strip as well as firefights in Yunus in the south. So pretty much all across the Gaza Strip, significant fighting and the mass surrendering took place in the areas of Jabalia and Shiaia, the eastern and northern parts of Gaza City and according to the idea, as you said, from the information that they're receiving from those interrogated Hamas terrorists, they're also describing a disconnect from leadership, gaps in command and control, if you will, between the commanders underground and the Hamas terrorists to fight above ground in small units. But also a sense of disconnect, not only in terms of communication, but as you spoke earlier in studio about the situation under war. However, situation on the ground indicates that fighting is continuing with reports in Israel that the estimate of the fighting will prolong for the next two months after which there's expected, there won't be a ceasefire but limited Israeli military operations with military forces staying in the area of the Gaza Strip, but obviously that's a long ways down the road as for the situation this morning and intense fighting in multiple areas of the Gaza Strip. Stay safe, Ariel. Thank you so much for that update live for us along the border and now to a big update to a major scandal after a congressional hearing heard around the world, the president of the University of Pennsylvania has resigned amid that global uproar over her congressional testimony where she among other elite university leaders refused to give a clear direct answer when repeatedly asked if calls for genocide against Jews can be considered harassment. U Penn president, Liz McGill has now stepped down two other university presidents who also gave rather disastrous testimony, the head of Harvard and the head of MIT, they remain at their posts. With us here in studios, I-24 News senior correspondent Owen Alderman Owen, kind of a developing story here, Liz McGill stepping down give me your first impressions here to this decision that she has resigned her post. On the epitaph of her career, Jeff, the words were written that she just couldn't teach. And when you can't teach, it's awfully hard to be university president. I said last week viewers may remember, a lot may not agree, but may remember that her position in principle including on the questions about calls for genocide were the correct answers. She said that Penn has a policy that it voluntarily took on to allow speech on campus to the outer bounds of the First Amendment. The calls for genocide could be within the First Amendment and therefore they were defensible speech on campus. That's what she said and in principle, I believe that's the right position. I'm not by the way alone in saying that. And I believe that it's the right position for Israel and for pro-Israel students and for Jewish students in the long run. In the long run and we can talk about that if we have time. The problem is, Jeff, that she wasn't able to explain those members of Congress and more importantly to the public and to those connected to the university who were so hurting by these vile and hateful comments made towards Jews and made about Israel and the feeling of some students they were unsafe. She was not able to go out there and teach and explain why this policy was necessary and then beyond that to really truly express empathy with people who are hurt by these comments which she had every right to do within her First Amendment rights to university presidents. She needed to express empathy for Jewish students and alumni who were hurting and who were angry and at the same time defend her university's policy and teach the public and explain why it's the correct policy. Why it's a necessary policy and why in the long run, Jeff, we're all better off with that policy. And you mentioned, you know, the McGill in particular, what she said, there's a difference between what she said and how she said it in particular. Her smirk and that's the most accurate dispassionate use here. Her smirking when talking about this, which as you mentioned, there was clear examples of Jewish students on her campus feeling harassed, bullied, unsafe singled out. Whether in her legal it was the smirk, her facial expressions that kind of perhaps put the pin in her academic career there. Well listen, I think there are two issues. Number one, people don't agree with the policy. I vigorously disagree with them. Again, I'm not alone in this by the way. We can talk about it if we have time. But she needed to defend that policy. She needed to teach. She's a law professor. She needed to go there and teach in an effective way why that policy is necessary and why it's right. And you're right, she just simply did the opposite and alienated people. And that's the opposite of what a university president is charged with doing. She's there to bring her community together. She's there to lead maybe take courageous positions but to explain them and to teach. It's fundamentally at the heart of the university's mission and what a university president is there to do. And yes, she needed to do more to express empathy and certainly body languages is an important part of that. Let's listen to a little bit of that testimony that rather disastrous here and here. Here is Liz McGill in her own words. Ms. McGill at Penn does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penn's rules or code of conduct? Yes or no? If the speech turns into conduct it can be harassment. Yes. I am asking specifically calling for the genocide of Jews. Does that constitute bullying or harassment? If it is directed and severe or pervasive it is harassment. So the answer is yes. It is a context dependent decision that's your testimony today. Calling for the genocide of Jews is depending upon the context. That is not bullying or harassment. This is the easiest question to answer. Yes, Ms. McGill. I want to ask about feel free to elaborate on that argument that what she said technically because she had to be advised carefully by lawyers understanding to navigate the complexities of the university code of conduct and First Amendment protections therein. What she said may not have been wrong. Why is that? Well first of all again going back to the style and we just saw it Jeff she acted as if she was under a deposition. She was in a cross examination which of course in a sense she was but I think certainly in a congressional testimony it seems to me that she has the freedom to go beyond this answers right and to explain and to give the context that she was talking about. Not context for calls for genocide but context for why the policy is the right policy and to explain that and again importantly to express empathy to her students to members of her community and that was obviously so lacking after the substance of Penn as a private university. It doesn't have to allow speech out to First Amendment to First Amendment limits but at the way she explained it Penn voluntarily takes the right decision. I think universities should allow free expression out to those limits because that's what a university is about. It's about free and open debate and allowing a variety of views and that's the best way to allow that and to facilitate that. Why is it the correct decision to do that? Because a few things Jeff any decision that's more restrictive puts more power in the hands of the university leadership to make very very difficult decisions right. And it's true that even at the First Amendment limits they're going to be close calls there are any legal standard. But at least there Americans have more than 200 years of court decisions to go back on so the scope of argument will be narrower and the sophistication of the argument will be greater. But again I think that universities should err on allowing more speech because I think that's part of allowing a free and open debate and yes it's going to create hurt for a lot of students by the way not just Jewish students but if this policy is applied uniformly and of course that's one of the major arguments against the presidents of the universities that there's been a double standard that there's been speech that has not been allowed against other minority groups that is being allowed against Jews. And a sense that the rules aren't being uniformly applied and that I've said before that is by far the strongest argument against these college presidents but the remedy is not to restrict speech against Jews but to expand speech against everyone or for everyone. And that's the best way to allow free and open debate just to give you an example an example given by the fire organization that acts in terms of individual expression on college campuses tells us about the 1970s from Britain that Zionist organizations on campuses asked for rules against racist speech and Jeff they got them and then what happens a few years later well the student union defines Zionism as racism and bans the Zionists hoisted by their own petard if you will what I'm saying is that in a sense Jewish students the American Jewish community and Israel if you will have won this battle but I fear that what has started is a devastating war that in the long run we will lose at because as Peter Baynard an anti-Zionist Jewish intellectual pointed out pro-Israel Jewish students may want the phrase globalize the anti-fata ban but what's to stop a Palestinian student from trying to ban the flying of the Israeli flag claiming that person says that that flag represents a racist entity that kills their family and so forth. Again this is very much a double-edged sword and enabling universities or encouraging universities already enabled and encouraging universities to take these powers on themselves and restrict speech I think is a dangerous road to go down and I think will lead to great disadvantage to great damage to Jewish students to Israel in the long run. Last question do you believe that the acts will continue to fall there were three university presidents already very wealthy donors to UPenn in particular saying perhaps spying up the decision of the board to ask for her resignation was McGill but Harvard MIT are they going to fall as well the presidents and if not could there be more federal investigations perhaps into the tax status or that kind of thing to preempt some of that. Well listen there's going to be more action in Congress I think everybody wants to be at least a phonic at this point after the airtime that she's gotten again with very very effective and let's begin to have very fair questions to those presidents no one has should if not me included any problem with the line of questioning and the interrogation that she used to try to get at the truth. Look every university has its own internal dynamics and MIT at least a part of the board has come out in support of the presidents at PEN you had the Wharton School of Business a very powerful entity in there come out against it and some key donors so each university may be different and have its own internal dynamics but certainly more action in Congress and in the public debate in the United States all right over thank you so much as the war goes on inside Gaza concern grows about the health of the remaining hostages in Gaza more testimony now from Israeli survivors of Hamas captivity who were released during the ceasefire last month take a listen October we're going to I'm a little she's not I'll cut the she she's I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm is more and more difficult, but the situation of being exposed in buildings or where they are not, it is a very difficult and difficult situation, and if they are not, they have to bring back the people as much as possible. Back here now with Colonel Mary Eisen, I want to talk here in the remaining time about the threats, not just from Hamas, but the other regional threats, a player, if we can use that term in terms of attacking Israel, threatening Israel, that's been kind of in the background the last two months now emerging in the foreground, the Houthi rebel group, they've been firing rockets at a lot, they've been threatening ships, attacking ships. Now they're saying that we're going to target any vessel that is headed to drop off supplies and goods to Israel, they are all legitimate targets, that is a real grave threat that cannot stand, of course, how can Israel proceed, do you think? This isn't about Israel, Jeff, this is about the entire international community. This is about a terrorist organization completely a proxy of Iran, totally backed, armed and trained by Iran all of the years, is now threatening international shipping. This has nothing to do with Israel and in that sense, what does the Houthi do? He says undoing any ship that's coming to Israel and again turning that into the focus that this is about Israel. No, this is about terrorism, this is about the different ways that they use, that they use just horrific ideas in that sense, if before we saw the woman who was held by the Hamas terrorists in tunnels for 49 days, and as I said, that's another technique, bargaining card, what are we supposed to do now? Bargain with the Houthi Yemenites, who are the ones who control in that own sense the main international shipping path that is going to affect every single person. How do they know which ship goes where? That I'll put aside, how do you do this? It's like you get to attack any ship because you choose to do so, that is hardcore terrorism, almost into piracy. And Jeff, in that sense, to me, you know, it's worse than the world today. If we called it piracy, all of the international community would be up in arms. But they say it's an attack against Israel, maybe I need to think about it. We need to be very clear, this is something which is unacceptable to the world. And I do expect not Israel alone, but Israel, the United States, France, the UK, anybody who has the capabilities to be acting against the Houthi. They're not rebels. They're Houthi terrorists, a proxy of Iran inside Yemen who are doing something that is going to impact the entire world. And that leads me to the other major threat, if you can elaborate your analysis here on Hezbollah. We now have, according to Israeli media, interviewing top IDF commanders saying that we understand the risk in the northern communities. We will make sure Hezbollah is on the other side of the Latani River. Will there be a confrontation, or perhaps this can be achieved diplomatically, in some way, a temporary negotiation for a border resolution? So it depends who you ask. And I'm smiling only because there is no yes, no answer. Wouldn't we all, Jeff, approve and abide, including by the way, against Hamas and the Gaza Strip? If Hamas would all lay down their arms and immediately give back all of the hostages, you could say that would stop, but nobody's pressuring Hamas. When it comes to Hezbollah, there are more pressure points on Hezbollah. First of all, you could pressure Iran. Nobody's doing that. That's kind of like the words that we don't like to say. But the other aspect is that Hezbollah is not only an Iranian proxy. It is also Lebanese, Arabic speaking. It is the local Shiites who in their organization in Hezbollah are back to train and inspired by Iran. But perhaps Lebanon and the Lebanese can impact them. There are other forces that impact Lebanon, like the French, for example. And the fact that there's a 15,000 strong force inside Lebanon called Unifield the United Nations. Mayor, sorry, jump in here to cut the answer, Shropa. We're almost out of time. I want to thank you, Mayor Eisen, for being with us, and stay with us. And I, 20 for News. In a state of war, families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where we see as our soldiers are fighting on the front line. But the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well. For news at this hour, as we bring you the latest live updates from Tel Aviv on the Israel Hamas war and other regional threats to Israeli security. First, the war in Gaza, a significant and symbolic victory last night is the IDF seized control of Palestine Square in Gaza City. This is the location where Hamas coordinated and handed over Israeli hostages in those propaganda videos. More video out of Gaza shows the surrender of dozens of terrorists who are ordered to strip down to their underwear to show they're not wearing any suicide vests and then hand over their weapons. The IDF Chief of Staff says Hamas is demoralized. A top army spokesman says more terrorists are surrendering every day. In the last 24 hours, the IDF has deepened the fighting inside Han Yunus. We've located underground shafts, weapons and eliminated many terrorists. Many terrorists have surrendered during the battles in Sajai and Jabalia and handed over weapons and equipment. Interrogations of terrorists have revealed the following intelligence. The condition of Hamas operatives on the ground is hard. And the Hamas leadership headed by Sinwar is denying reality, despite having all the information. The operatives are complaining that the Hamas leadership is disconnected from the harsh conditions they face on the ground. They also feel that Hamas doesn't care about the Gaza people. It is of great concern, even to Hamas's military operatives. The war continues in Gaza. Let's go now to Ariel Oseron, our correspondent, joining us from Steyroth near the Israel-Gaza border. Are we all the IDF appears to have turned the corner? More terrorists surrendering daily, but the fighting, intense urban battles still going on even this morning. Right, Jeff. So I'll let our cameraman, Daniel Bulk, show you the picture in Gaza as I draw you the wider picture of what's going on in the Gaza Strip right now. So according to the IDF over the past 24 hours, no less than 250 targets have been struck across the Gaza Strip. This is also artillery, air force, as well as Navy. Now what you see now are images coming from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, either Jabalia or Shadjaia. Those are the northern and eastern outskirts of Gaza City, where there has been intensive fighting throughout the night, as well as in the morning you mentioned the surrender of the dozens of Hamas terrorists as the fighting continues now. Overnight also, in addition to the 250 targets that were struck so far, there were the IDF saying that also they managed to uncover a calm center in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, as well as uncovering some tunnel shafts near a mosque. And so another evening, another night and morning of operations by the IDF across the Gaza Strip as the forces continue to advance, according to the Palestinians, there are at least 15 points inside the southern city of Kanyunas, where Israeli tanks are concentrating. That indicates significant advancement and wide scale operation on the ground inside the southern city. The last remaining hub of Hamas, a significant hub, the second largest city in the Gaza Strip after Gaza City and the next main target of the IDF. But as the forces continue to advance on the ground in Kanyunas, continued fighting in the northern outskirts of Gaza City, as I explained, but also Palestinian reports of Israeli airstrikes also in the central part of the Gaza Strip. So indeed, another morning of fighting here inside Gaza. Hello, Siran. Thank you for that live update. And with me now in studio, I'm joined by Daniel Shek, the director of diplomacy for the hostage and missing families forum, also a former Israeli ambassador to France. And I want to ultimate our senior correspondent here at I-24 News. Thank you both for being with me. Then I want to start with you on the timeline here, the IDF and Prime Minister Netanyahu hinting that the ground operations, the intense phase will last a few more weeks, according to an IDF source quoted across Israeli media that the intense high combat phase is going to last perhaps one more month, which either by coordination or by coincidence is exactly the timeline reportedly that the U.S. gave. I'm sure it's just a coincidence. What do you make of that? I mean, that this perhaps timeline and then a draw down of high intensity, active combat. Well, first of all, it has to be said that there are all sorts of dates, target dates that are being said. In the end, as we know from experience, it's the situation on the ground that decides it's not Washington, it's not Jerusalem. And in a sense, it's not a Hamas alone that will decide it. There is there are evolving situations on the ground and they will they will in the end decide if and when the fighting stops. I just like to add because of my hat as a as the hostage forum to say that at the forum, there's no argument about the need to continue military pressure. But the assumption is that if the slightest opportunity arises for a negotiated agreement, a negotiated deal for exchanges for the return of hostages, that the IDF and the Israeli government will not hesitate to take it. It is for the moment there are 114 or 13 hostages that have been freed, only one not through negotiations. So that is the avenue to free the hostages. And if the opportunity arises and we hope that Israel is actively seeking such an opportunity, then the fighting might have to stop again for a few days. How do you feel about rescue attempts as the one that happened over the last couple of days? Look, I'm not a military expert. And, you know, I'd love to see such operations succeed. The fact is that until now it has not been successful. And I know that this was not the only attempt, as I'm sure you do, too. There were many others that were not publicized. It's not a complaint, obviously. It's a fact of life. It's a very difficult battlefield and Hamas is probably doing quite well in hiding the hostages, moving them around. We don't know exactly what. But the fact of the matter is that out of 113 hostages that have been freed, only one was freed not through negotiations. Is your sense that if the ground operations that we're seeing in the communists and elsewhere, the intensity of this needs to go on for a few more weeks, do you think the hostages have that much time? Their health conditions, the fact that they're being moved around, as you mentioned, the fact that they're in such close proximity likely to fighters, do you think that they have that much time? Many of them, you know, these are two different questions. There are, first of all, the fragile hostages, and there are still many of them, elderly men, chronic sicknesses, women, children still there. For them, every day counts, every hour might count. So certainly I'm not in a nobody's in a position to say, OK, we'll wait for another six weeks and we'll see what happens. No, the effort has to be constant. And as I said, every opportunity to free hostages should be taken immediately. We're seeing dozens and dozens of Famos terrorists every day in recent days. Correct. That may present an opportunity. Do you believe it may present an opportunity? It might. I mean, there might be among them people who know things. There might be people who actually held hostages. I don't know that for a fact. But I'm again, nobody at the forum says that military pressure is not crucial, is not important in this fight, but the balance you have to keep in mind all the time that, as you said, it is probably more urgent to rescue hostages than it is to beat Hamas in Hanyunas. You could wait another week or two for Hanyunas. I'm not sure you can wait another week or two for some of the hostages. Meanwhile, the fighting goes on the intense ground to ground house to house combat that we're seeing an interesting development that flurry of phone calls in recent days between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu, not just touching on the Hamas threat, but other regional threats as well. And also Biden with a unique approach to ensure Israel has ammunition to continue the fight. That's right. The State Department, Jeff, OK, and green lighting, the setting of 13,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel, activating an emergency provision that means that these don't have to be subject to oversight by Congress. Why were they prepared for a purported layer? Why were they potentially worried about that? Because obviously there are some voices in Congress, especially the Democratic Party, who want to ask more questions about whether the Israeli military is doing enough to avoid civilian casualties. Is bypassing a congressional hearing or oversight on this using this rare invocation? Is it a political risk for President Biden as this election year for him heats up? To some degree. Again, first of all, we should say it is to some degree rare, but not all that rare, right? It was activated over the course of 2022 in the Ukraine war, activated before that in the Middle East in 2019 by then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Not for Israel. There is some political risk, Jeff, but I think the political risk is less in this decision and more in the overall Biden approach. And as I've said in our studio in the past, I actually think the political risk in practice for Joe Biden is quite low. His election is in 11 months from now is in 11 months time, this war will be in the rear view mirror, which I think could reasonably assume and that election will be fought on entirely other issues. He'll presumably be running against Donald Trump and that contrast I think is going to overshadow and swallow any other issues. And certainly this one, yes, there is the scenario that the entire election comes down to Michigan and the election in Michigan comes down to the votes of Arab American voters for them. This obviously this issue is more at the core of their voting decisions that potentially has a longer duration, even after it's left the headlines. And because of their decision to vote against Joe Biden, it's outcome determinative for Michigan and then outcome determinative for the whole election. But that whole scenario rests on a long series of ifs, right? If the election comes down to Michigan, if those votes are outcome determinative. So I actually don't think the political risk here is all that great for Biden. And it seems that he is looking at this in a much wider geopolitical frame as he has said in the past eloquently in his own voice, seeing this as part of the fight against Russia and China and for the American Alliance system, tying Israel together with Ukraine. And as I've said in the past, I think it would behoove Israel to take up that mantle and to change its policy on the war in Ukraine to help win the political center in the United States and especially in Europe. And the threats, of course, to Israel continue from around the Middle East. Now the threats growing from Hezbollah in the north. And now the IDF Chief of Staff says Israel will not let Hezbollah remain on the border fence and that Israel will force Hezbollah to the north of the Lutani River by force if necessary. Also in Yemen, the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group says it will attack vessels headed to Israel. Israeli media reports that Netanyahu told President Biden is a grave threat. And the IDF will take military action if needed. The head of the Houthi militia says Israel bound ships are, in his mind, legitimate targets. The Yemeni armed forces hereby announced the prohibition of the passage of ships heading to the Zionist entity of any nationality if the Gaza Strip does not receive the food and medicine it needs. These ships will become legitimate targets for our armed forces. In our effort to ensure the safety of maritime navigation, we warn all ships and companies against dealing with Israeli ports. Let's go live to the northern border where I'm joined by I, 24 News, a senior defense correspondent, Jonathan Regev. Jonathan, that at least is a clear call, a plan of action from an IDF, from the IDF to Israeli media forced Hezbollah north of the Lutani River. How might they do that and could that escalate into a regional conflict? Yes, the answer, the answer is yes, simply because Israel cannot live anymore with the Raduan forces, the elite Hezbollah forces right on the border fence. This was an unacceptable reality before October the 7th. It is clearly an unacceptable reality after October 7th, seeing exactly what could happen when you have these kind of forces on your border. Therefore, Israel wants to go back to the days of after 2006, after the Second Lebanon War. There's a UN resolution 1701, which is still standing, calling for all Hezbollah forces to be north of the Lutani River, at least 20 miles north of the border. It has to be done one way or another. Of course, Israel and along with it, the international community would rather have this be done now by diplomacy. But if it's not done by diplomacy, then it would have to be done by force. And if Israel would act forcefully against Hezbollah to force it north of the Lutani River, we could expect a retaliation. And then who knows how it can escalate from there. This is something that Israel will have to go through there was an ocean at the beginning of the war that Israel could perhaps take a preemptive strike against Hezbollah. That did not happen. He's not had plenty of chances to join this war in a much bigger scale than he did. That didn't happen. So I think that for the time being, the war is fought as it is almost completely on the border fence. But once this war ends, Israel wants to make sure that Hezbollah is way, way to the north, past the Lutani River. As you mentioned, only then will the residents of the north feel relatively safe and go back home. That is to be done one way or another. If diplomacy fails, the only other option is the military one. All right, John, the record force in the north. Thanks for that update and analysis and the health concerns over the health of the remaining hostages in Gaza continues to grow. We're hearing new testimony now from Israeli survivors of Hamas captivity who were released last month during the ceasefire. Take a listen. My name is Dina Moshe and I came back from Shebiel Hamas. And I stayed there with my good friends from the Kibbutz Niroz who stayed there for a very long time. They were all very angry with the difficult road and the unbearable pain. I'm off to Roytman in the 70's. I lived in Niroz from there. They took me in a tractor. I was in the tractor in the tractor's trailer. At home, they took me with a truck in a big truck in the yard. My name is Margalit Moses. I'm from the Kibbutz Niroz in Shabbat on October 7th. I was sent to Minhara. I spent the night in the tractor's trailer and I took it with me so that I could sleep. And it was the other day that I had to go to bed and take the trailer with me. My name is Ayar Egev. I was born with a small brother and one of my best friends. I'm Ayar Egev. I was 154 days old. My parents are here in Nitzach. My parents are very difficult. And I'm talking about whether it's the river, whether it's the whole family, whether it's the mentality, whether it's the difficult things. Every day there is a lot of sleep. It's not normal. It's 0 a.m. The neighbors are angry and the toilet is empty. It's just a mess. The truck driver went to the trailer. We went to the truck's trailer to eat rice and bread. I had a lot of first weeks. I thought that I would be angry. Because I was in bed, I was almost out of sleep, I was almost out of food. Food was very important to me. That I had a problem or a problem. I remember the story of the truck driver. I ate a piece of fruit that I had to eat. I didn't eat for 49 days. There were problems. There were problems with the doctors, there were problems with the physiotherapists. And every day that passes, it becomes more and more difficult. The situation of being in the buildings or where you are not, it's a very difficult situation. And if it's difficult, it's not difficult. I ask, I know that many workers are on this line, but there are more people who are very determined to live outside. I ask that you do a lot, a lot of work in order for everyone to get out of bed. The days are very difficult. One day it's like a peaceful week. And Anna, you should know that first of all, you have to leave everyone, to return home. And then you have to go to work. Omar is still there, and I know he will pass there. I know he will be there. I have to return to Omar and all of you will leave now. As much as you know. More than 130 hostages now in day 65 of their captivity inside Gaza, back here in studio. And the threats continue to emerge from across the region. This threat from the Houthi rebel group Iran Bakht, that any ship, any vessel headed towards Israel is traveling along the Red Sea, is a legitimate target. It's a grave threat. Oh, it's a grave threat. You know, Jeff, so far, the Houthis have been more of a punch line in Israel than anything. In fact, I know while we were playing that soundbite set, it's like a skit from the satire show Eritz Nehederit, the well-known Israeli satire show. And in fact, as Daniel may know, this has been a skit on Eritz Nehederit, the sort of North Korean style buffoon-like spokesperson standing there in what's essentially a funny looking hat, barking at the camera. Again, North Korean style is obvious material for satire in the case of Eritz Nehederit taking it to poking lighthearted fun of Israelis of Yemeni origin and then showing the lute, if you will, from the ship that they see is telling the presenter in studio, Al-Khidzah, that these are his pairs of underwear on the way to Israel. This has been a punch line for Israel and a kind of nuisance more than anything else, especially since the missiles launched from Yemen all the way to a lot from Yemen. Again, look at a map have all been shot down and the drones have all been shot down. But you're absolutely right. Get beyond the punch line. And this is potentially a threat if the Houthis actually do have the capacity to stop shipping going into the Red Sea towards Israel. It is a situation Israel is not going to be willing to live with, not going to be willing to tolerate. And it's within Israel's legal rights to take action against. I suspect or at least I hope that Israeli decision makers very much do not want to enter a kind of cycle in Yemen that Israel unfortunately has entered with the Palestinians and with Lebanon, right? Of Israeli attacks that cause civilian casualties, that embitter the local population, that give rise to more to broader opposition to Israel and then continue. I would hope we don't have to enter a situation like that in Yemen. Reportedly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone to Joe Biden and to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and said, we want you to handle this as a matter of global governance, threat to international maritime shipping through again the Indian Ocean, the maritime highway of the 21st century, right, leading to India and China growing economies, the oil centers of the Middle East. This is the international highway. This is not an Israeli issue. This is a global governance issue and we want you to manage it so far that argument has been convincing. Although again, the threat continues to materialize. But Netanyahu also warning them, if you're not able to handle this as a matter of global governance, then we will treat it as an issue that we have to manage as Israel. And again, managed to our rights to self defense. I think that that must be seen as a plan being as a last resort. And I think we in Israel have to hope and have to see those countries seeing it as in their interest that Israel doesn't act and their interest that this be resolved in some kind of other way. Daniel, all their shades of memory here to 1967, if Nasser closing the straits of Tehran costs us Bella for war. I mean, if there are acts of piracy on ships, more acts which have already happened. If ships are no longer willing to travel to Israel or they alter their course, if there is a disruption to shipping to Israel, what then, even if it's not just a downing of ships, but a major disruption. Yeah, so yeah, there is there is a reminiscent part to it. But I tend to agree with Owen that this should and it should be presented as and actually is a global problem. This this cannot be just Israel's problem. This is this is one of the major maritime routes and Israel might be buying the stuff that's going to Israel, but somebody's selling it to Israel. Somebody has so that somebody has an interest to. And I'd like to say one more thing, especially about the US and some other global powers involved here. It's true that the United States are coming to the defense of Israel. That is absolutely no doubt about it in many ways. But the United States are also very, very cautious about what's happening in the region, because the main objective maybe beyond defending Israel is avoiding a regional war. They just don't want this to spread. So it is in everybody's interest that Israel should not be left to deal with this problem alone. And I, you know, doesn't happen very often. But I definitely agree with Benjamin Netanyahu on this one. It should be the responsibility of the United States of other powers to ensure that the Houthis remain an anecdote. But then does that bring the United States into the fall into a tentacle of Iran? The US perhaps being more involved militarily in the Red Sea and defending ships and dealing with the threats of piracy doesn't work to bring them into possibly possibly. I don't know that anybody wants this to become a regional war with the United States actually fighting a war against Iran. I'm not sure that's in anybody's interest. But it's an opportunity to say something which we tend to forget. We keep talking about the many fronts, Hisbala and the Houthis and the and the rebels in Iraq and Hamas, obviously. Actually, it's one front. It's the front against Iran. There is a unifying force behind all these things. And we should never forget this. This is typically Iran. Nobody's talking or nearly nobody's talking about Iran. Everybody's fighting the wars of Iran and they sort of keep a clean slate. We're not involved. All right, Daniel Sheck and Owen Altman. Thank you so much for being with us in studio here. We're going out for a break, but more live coverage. We have live correspondents in the north on the Israel-Lebanon border as the threats with Hezbollah continue to heat up and there's exchanges of fire also in the south near the Israel-Gaza border. Our live correspondents providing these images now as IDF attacks continue. Major ground operations intensify in both the northern part of the Gaza Strip and in the southern part of the Strip in Hondunas where the IDF continues its assault. More live coverage and analysis on Israel-Lebanon border. Stay with us right here on I-24 News. In a state of war, families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where we see as our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. News at this hour as we bring you the latest live updates and other regional threats to Israeli security. First, the war in Gaza, a significant and symbolic victory last night is the IDF seized control of Palestine Square in Gaza City. This is the location where Hamas coordinated and handed over Israeli hostages in those propaganda videos. More video out of Gaza shows the surrender of dozens of terrorists who are ordered to strip down to their homes and not wear any suicide vests and then hand over their weapons. The IDF chief of staff says Hamas is demoralized. A top Army spokesman says more terrorists are surrendering every day. In the last 24 hours, the IDF has deepened the fighting inside Han Yunus. We've located underground shafts, weapons, and eliminated many terrorists. Many terrorists have surrendered to Syria and Jabalia and handed over weapons and equipment. Interrogations of terrorists have revealed the following intelligence. The condition of Hamas operatives on the ground is hard. And the Hamas leadership, headed by Sinwar, is denying reality despite having all the information. The operatives are complaining that the Hamas leadership is disconnected from the harsh conditions they face on the ground. The war continues in Gaza. Let's go now to Ariel Oseron, our correspondent joining us from Steyrout near the Israel Gaza border. The IDF appears to have turned the corner more terrorists surrendering daily, but the fighting intense urban battles still going on even this morning. I'll let our cameraman Daniel Gaza, as I draw you the wider picture of what's going on in the Gaza Strip right now. According to the IDF, over the past 24 hours, no less than 250 targets have been struck across the Gaza Strip. This is also artillery, air force, as well as Navy. Now what you see now are images coming from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, either Syria or Shadjaia. Those are the northern and eastern outskirts of Gaza City where there has been intensive fighting throughout the night, as well as in the morning you mentioned the surrender of the dozens of Hamas terrorists as the fighting continues. Now, overnight also, in addition to the 250 targets that were struck so far, the IDF saying that also they managed to uncover a calm center in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, as well as uncovering some tunnel shafts near a mosque, and so another evening, another night and morning of operations by the IDF across the Gaza Strip as forces continue to advance according to the Palestinians. There are at least 15 points inside the southern city of Chanyounis where Israeli tanks are concentrating that indicates significant advancement and wide-scale operation on the ground inside the southern city. The last remaining hub of Hamas, a significant hub, the second largest city in the Gaza Strip after Gaza City, and the next main target of the IDF, but as the forces continue to advance on the ground in Chanyounis, continued fighting in the northern outskirts of Gaza City, as I explained, but also Palestinian reports of Israeli airstrikes also in the central part of the Gaza Strip, so indeed another morning of fighting here inside Gaza. Thank you for that live update. And with me now in studio, I'm joined by Daniel the Director of Diplomacy for the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, also a former Israeli ambassador to France and Owen Alderman, our senior correspondent here at I-24 News. Thank you both for being with me. Then I want to start with you on the timeline here, the IDF and Prime Minister Netanyahu hinting that the ground operations, the intense phase will last a few more weeks according to an IDF source quoted across Israeli media that the intense high combat phase is going to last perhaps one more month, which either by coordination or by coincidence is exactly the timeline reportedly that the U.S. gave Israel. I'm sure it's just a coincidence. What do you make of that? This perhaps timeline and then a drawdown of high intensity active combat? Well, first of all it has to be said that there are all sorts of dates, target dates that are being set. In the end, as we know from the experience, it's the situation on the ground that decides. It's not Washington, it's not Jerusalem and in a sense it's not Hamas alone that will decide it. There are evolving situations on the ground and they will in the end decide if and when the fighting stops. I'd just like to add because of my hat as the hostage forum to say that at the forum there's no argument about the need to continue military pressure but the assumption is that if the slightest opportunity arises for a negotiated agreement a negotiated deal for exchanges for the return of hostages that the IDF and the Israeli government will not hesitate to take it. It is for the moment there are 114 or 13 hostages that have been freed only one not through negotiations. So that is the avenue to free the hostages and if the opportunity arises and we hope that Israel is actively seeking such an opportunity then the fighting might have to stop again for a few days. How do you feel about rescue attempts as the one that happened in the last couple of days? I'm not a military expert and I'd love to see such operations succeed. The fact is that until now it has not been successful and I know that this was not the only attempt as I'm sure you do too. There were many others that were not publicized. It's not a complaint obviously. It's a fact of life. It's a very difficult battlefield and Hamas is probably doing well in hiding the hostages moving them around. We don't know exactly what. But the fact of the matter is that out of 113 hostages that have been freed only one was freed not through negotiations. Is your sense that if this the ground operations that we're seeing in Khan Yunus and elsewhere the intensity of this needs to go on for a few more weeks do you think the hostages have that much time? Their health conditions the fact that they're being moved around and the fact that they're in such close proximity likely to fighters do you think that they have that much time? Many of them these are two different questions there are first of all the fragile hostages and there are still many of them elderly men, chronic sicknesses women, children still there for them every day counts, every hour might count. Certainly I'm not nobody's in a position to say okay we'll wait for another six weeks and we'll see what happens. No the effort has to be constant and as I said every opportunity to free hostages should be taken immediately. We're seeing dozens and dozens of Hamas terrorists every day in recent days that may present an opportunity Do you believe it may present an opportunity? It might I mean there might be among them people who know things there might be people who actually held hostages I don't know that for a fact but I'm again nobody at the forum says that military pressure is not crucial, is not important in this fight but the balance you have to keep in mind all the time that as you said it is probably more urgent to rescue hostages than it is to beat Hamas in Hanyunas. You could wait another week or two for Hanyunas I'm not sure you can wait another week or two for some of the hostages. I mean while the fighting goes on the intense ground to ground house to house combat that we're seeing in the interesting development flurry of phone calls in recent days between President Biden and Prime Minister not just touching on the Hamas threat but other regional threats as well and also Biden with a unique approach to ensure Israel has ammunition to continue the fight. That's right the State Department Jeff is presenting 13,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel activating an emergency provision that means that these don't have to be subject to oversight by Congress why were they potentially worried about that because obviously there are some voices in Congress especially the Democratic Party who want to ask more questions about whether the Israeli military is doing enough to avoid civilian casualties. Is bypassing a congressional hearing or oversight on this rare invocation. Is it a political risk for President Biden as this election year for him heats up to some degree again first we should say it is to some degree rare but not all that rare right it was activated over the course of 2022 in the Ukraine war activated before that in the Middle East in 2019 by then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for Saudi Arabia in the UAE not for Israel. There is some political risk Jeff but I think the political risk is less in this decision and more in the overall Biden approach said in our studio in the past I actually think the political risk in practice for Joe Biden is quite low his election is in 11 months from now is in 11 months time this war will be in the rear view mirror which I think it reasonably assume and that election will be fought on entirely other issues he'll presumably be running against Donald Trump and that contrast I think is going to overshadow and swallow any other issues and certainly this one yes there is the scenario that the entire election comes down to Michigan and the election in Michigan comes down to the votes of Arab American voters for them this obviously this issue is more at the core of their voting decisions it potentially has a longer duration even after it's left the headlines and because of their decision to vote against Joe Biden it's outcome determinative for Michigan and then outcome determinative for the whole election but that whole scenario rests on a long series of ifs right if the election comes down to Michigan if those votes are outcome determinative so I actually don't think the political risk here is all that great for Biden and it seems that he is looking at this in a much wider geopolitical frame as he has said in the past eloquently in his own voice seeing this as part of the fight against Russia and China and for the American alliance system tying Israel together with Ukraine and as I've said in the past I think it would behoove Israel to take up that mantle and to change its policy on the war in Ukraine to help win the political center and especially in Europe and the threats of course to Israel continue from around the Middle East now the threats growing from Hezbollah in the north and now the IDF chief of staff says Israel will not let Hezbollah remain on the border fence and that Israel will force Hezbollah to the north of the Latani river by force if necessary also in Yemen the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group says it will attack vessels headed to Israel Israeli media reports that Netanyahu president Biden is a grave threat and the IDF will take military action if needed the head of Houthi militia says Israel bound ships are in his mind legitimate targets the Yemeni armed forces hereby announce the prohibition of the passage of ships heading to the Zionist entity of any nationality if the Gaza Strip does not receive the food and medicine it needs these ships will become legitimate targets for our armed forces in our effort to ensure the safety of maritime navigation we warn all ships and companies against dealing with Israeli ports let's go live to the northern border where I'm joined by I, the senior defense correspondent Regev Jonathan that at least is a clear call a plan of action from the IDF to Israeli media to the north of the Latani river how might they do that and could that escalate into a regional conflict yes the answer the answer is yes simply because Israel cannot live anymore with the Radwan forces the Elitriz Bala forces right on the border fence this was an unacceptable reality before October 7th it is clearly an unacceptable reality after October 7th seeing exactly what could happen when you have these kind of forces on your border therefore Israel wants to go back to the days of after 2006 after the second Lebanon war there is a UN resolution 1701 which is still standing calling for all his Bala forces to be north of the Latani river at least 20 miles north of the border it has to be done one way or another of course Israel and along with it the international community would rather have this BB done now by diplomacy but if it's not done by diplomacy then it would have to be done by force and if Israel would act forcefully against his Bala to force it north of the Latani river we could expect a retaliation and then who knows how it can escalate from there this is something that Israel will have to go through there was a notion at the beginning of the war that Israel could perhaps take a preemptive strike against his Bala that did not happen his Bala had plenty of chances of war in a much bigger scale than he did that didn't happen so I think that for the time being the war is fought as it is almost completely on the border fence but once this war ends Israel wants to make sure that his Bala is way way to the north past the Latani river as you mentioned only then will the residents of the north feel relatively safe and go back home that is to be done one way or another if diplomacy fails the only other option is the military one John and Rega force in the north thanks for that update and analysis and the health the concerns over the health of the remaining hostages in Gaza continues to grow we're here in new testimony now from Israeli survivors of Hamas captivity who were released last month during the ceasefire take a listen we're going to see a big picture in the house my name is Margalit Mozes I'm from Tsunir Oz in Shabbat on October 7 I was born in Minhara I was in the hospital at night and I took him with me so that I could sleep and take him with me to bed they call me the best I wrote with a small brother and with one of my best friends I was the best I was 7, 154 days the women who work as a nurse the women who are very difficult but I'm talking about whether it's the love whether it's the support of the family whether it's the mentality, the difficulty the women are difficult every day he comes home and at night the women are angry and the mother-in-law is just afraid we found out that he went to the hospital we went to the hospital to eat rice I cried a lot for the first few weeks I thought that I would get sick because I was sick almost without food I was almost out of food food was very important for me that I had a problem or a problem I remember the story I ate healthy food because I had food 49 days I didn't do it it was when I was a nurse it was when I was a physiotherapist and every day that passes it becomes more and more difficult the situation of being sick in hospitals or wherever you are not it's a very difficult situation very difficult and if you are sick, you are not I ask I know that I am sick of this disease but there are other people who are very sick to live outside I ask that you do a lot, a lot of strength in order for everyone to be sick the days are very difficult one day it will be a good week and Anna you should know that first of all everyone should come back to their home and after that if you are sick I will still be there I will still be there I will have to come back and everyone will be sick as much as possible on Eritz North Korean style like a spokesperson standing there in what's essentially a funny looking hat barking at the camera North Korean style is obvious material for satire to poking light-hearted fun of Israelis of Yemeni origin then showing the lutes from the ship they see telling the presenter in studio pairs of underwear Israel. This has been a punchline for Israel and a kind of nuisance more than anything else, especially since the missiles launched from Yemen all the way to a lot from Yemen. Again, look at a map have all been shot down and the drones have all been shot down. But you're absolutely right. Get beyond the punchline and this is potentially a threat. If the Houthis actually do have the capacity to stop shipping going into the Red Sea towards Israel, it is a situation Israel is not going to be willing to live with, not going to be willing to tolerate. And it's within Israel's legal rights to take action against. I suspect or at least I hope that Israeli decision makers very much do not want to enter a kind of cycle in Yemen that Israel unfortunately has entered with the Palestinians and with Lebanon, right? Of Israeli attacks that cause civilian casualties, that embitter the local population, that give rise to broader opposition to Israel and then continue. I would hope we don't have to enter a situation like that in Yemen. Reportedly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was gone to Joe Biden and to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and said, we want you to handle this as a matter of global governance, threat to international maritime shipping through again, the Indian Ocean, the maritime highway of the 21st century, right? Leading to India and China growing economies, the oil centers of the Middle East. This is the international highway. This is not an Israeli issue. This is a global governance issue and we want you to manage it. So far that argument has been convincing, although again the threat continues to materialize. But Netanyahu also warning them, if you're not able to handle this as a matter of global governance, then we will treat it as an issue that we have to manage as Israel. And again, managed through our rights to self-defense, I think that must be seen as a plan B and as a last resort. And I think we in Israel have to hope and have to see those countries seeing it as in their interest that Israel doesn't act and their interest that this be resolved in some other kind of other way. Daniel, all their shades of memory here to 1967, with Nasir closing the streets of Tehran, you know, causes Bella for war. I mean, if there are acts of piracy on ships, more acts, which have already happened, if ships are no longer willing to travel to Israel or they alter their course, if there is a disruption to shipping to Israel, what then? Even if it's not just a dowry of ships, but a major disruption? Yeah. So, yeah, there is a reminiscent part to it. But I tend to agree with Owen that this should be presented as and actually is a global problem. This cannot be just Israel's problem. This is one of the major maritime routes. And Israel might be buying the stuff that's going to Israel, but somebody is selling it to Israel, somebody has so that somebody has an interest to. And I'd like to say one more thing, especially about the U.S. and some other global powers involved here. It's true that the United States are coming to the defense of Israel. That is absolutely no doubt about it in many ways. But the United States are also very, very cautious about what's happening in the region, because the main objective may be beyond defending Israel is avoiding a regional war. They just don't want this to spread. So it is in everybody's interest that Israel should not be left to deal with this problem alone. And I, you know, doesn't happen very often, but I definitely agree with Benjamin Netanyahu on this one. It should be the responsibility of the United States of other powers to ensure that the Houthis remain an anecdote. But then does that bring the United States into a tentacle of Iran? The U.S. perhaps being more involved militarily in the Red Sea and defending ships and dealing with the threats of piracy. Does it work to bring them into possibly possibly? I don't know that anybody wants this to become a regional war with the United States actually fighting a war against Iran. I'm not sure that's in anybody's interest. But it's an opportunity to say something which we tend to forget. We keep talking about the many fronts, Hezbollah and the Houthis and the rebels in Iraq and Hamas, obviously. Actually, it's one front. It's the front against Iran. There is a unifying force behind all these things. And we should never forget this. This is typically Iran. Nobody's talking or nearly nobody's talking about Iran. Everybody's fighting the wars of Iran. And they sort of keep a clean slate. We're not involved. All right, Daniel Shek and Owen Ulckman. Thank you so much for being with us in the studio here. We're going out for a break. But more live coverage. We have live correspondents in the north on the Israel-Lebanon border as the threats with Hezbollah continue to heat up and there's exchanges of fire. Also in the south near the Israel-Gaza border are live correspondents providing these images now as IDF attacks continue. Major ground operations intensify in both the northern part of the Gaza Strip and in the southern part of the Strip in Khan Yunus where the IDF continues its assault. More live coverage and analysis straight ahead. Stay with us right here on I-24. In a state of war, families completely gunned 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. This week on News 24, Israel under attack. News 24 in Spanish Spanish. 24 news at this hour as we bring you the latest live updates from Tel Aviv on the Israel Hamas war and other regional threats to Israeli security. We'll begin in Gaza a significant and symbolic victory last night as the IDF seized control of Palestine Square in Gaza City. This is the very location where Hamas coordinated and handed over Israeli hostages in all of those propaganda videos. Now it's fully in Israeli control. More videos out of Gaza overnight showing the surrender of dozens of terrorists and mass who were ordered to strip down to their underwear to show they're not wearing any suicide vests or belts. The IDF chief of staff says Hamas is demoralized, willing to lay down their weapons and a top spokesman says more terrorists are surrendering every day. In the last 24 hours, the IDF has deepened the fighting inside Khan Yunus. We've located underground shafts, weapons, and eliminated many terrorists. Many terrorists have surrendered during the battles in Sajaya and Jabalia and handed over weapons and equipment. Interrogations of terrorists have revealed the following intelligence. The condition of Hamas operatives on the ground is hard, and the Hamas leadership headed by Sinwar is denying reality despite having all the information. The operatives are complaining that the Hamas leadership is disconnected from the harsh conditions they face on the ground. They also feel that Hamas doesn't care about the Gazan people. It is of great concern, even to Hamas' military operatives. The threats to Israeli security continue from around the Middle East. Israel's national security adviser says Israel will not let Hezbollah fighters remain on the border fence any longer, and the Israel will force Hezbollah to the north of the Latani River. With us now is I-24 News senior defense correspondent Jonathan Rega, joining us from the Israel-Lebanon border. Jonathan, powerful words from top Israeli officials saying that what was in the north will not be any more, that we need to move Hezbollah further away, and we will do so. What are the options for Israel to achieve that? Yes, and Jeff, and just before I comment about that, I say that we're hearing the first siren here in the north this morning in the western Galilee, a possible UAV infiltration. This is coming in right now. This is to the west of us, the area of Stula and the other places which have been in the news for the past two months. The first, we have to say, the first such incident we're hearing today, actually since, I think, three in the afternoon yesterday, which is some 19 hours ago. No sirens here in the north, so now this is changing a possible UAV infiltration. Regarding your question, Israel said loud and clear, we will not accept the reality in which the Raduan forces of Hezbollah are sitting right on our border fence. This was the reality up until two months ago, and Israel says when this war is over, we do not only want to eliminate Hamas in Gaza, we also want to make sure that Hezbollah adheres to UN Resolution 1701, which was drafted after the Second Lebanon War in 2006, which calls for all Hezbollah operatives to be north of the Litani River, something about 15 miles north of the border, and not on the border fence itself. There are two ways to achieve that, one, the preferred way by Israel and also the international community to do it through diplomacy. France, with its very strong connections in Lebanon, is working for that solution. But if diplomacy doesn't work, the second option, of course, is doing it by force. Tell me more about the Hezbollah presence along the border fence. How do they operate near the border fence? How are they attacking Israel? And will they still pose a threat, even if they're on the other side of the Litani River? Yes, the answer is yes. UNIFIL, the UN force, which is meant to maintain the border, is not really doing its force. It's a very weak force, and they have no way of maintaining Hezbollah operatives disguise themselves as environmental activists. They have certain environmental foundations, and they build certain towers right along the border fence. These towers are used for nothing environmental, only for Hezbollah fighters. All right, Jonathan Recker, thanks so much for that update on the Northern border with Lebanon. Back here in the studio, I'm joined by former senior IDF intelligence officer Rafael Urashalmi. Rafael, good to see you. Before we even turn to the situation in Gaza, the ongoing ground offensive deep inside Gaza, I want to ask about the Hezbollah threat, because we have now confirmation from Israeli officials, top leaders, saying publicly we understand that Hezbollah cannot remain on the border fence, and while we allow Israeli families to return, they will be moved back. Do you believe that there is a risk of a wider regional war from this effort, or likely both Israel and Hezbollah have an interest on keeping it low flame contained and then not boiling over? Everything so far indicates that even Hezbollah is not interested in a wide-range conflict, only in a limited confrontation with the Israeli forces. Would it have been interested in such a conflict? I think it would have done it already because it had a few opportunities to do so, starting from the 7th of October. The Iranians do not seem to press the Hezbollah button, and they want to save this as ammo ammunition for a later stage, like if there would be a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran, then Iran would use this proxy. Then it would be a waste of ammunition to use it now, because a bigger confrontation with the idea would create a lot of damage to the Hezbollah. It wouldn't be such an asset anymore for the Iranian interest. The Hezbollah itself, Hassan Nasrallah, is making his own calculations as to his position inside the Lebanon, which is a sovereign state, and they have a political standing there. They are not interested. Of course, we are in the Middle East. Anything can change at any moment. This could generate into something more regional, something big. We do not think so right now. What we do know for sure is we have absolutely no choice but to operate militarily if the diplomatic discussions fail as to quieting down the situation. We cannot in any case allow the presence of Hezbollah armed terrorists along the border with Israel. That's a no-brainer. We have no choice there. We are delaying because we're giving a chance to the diplomatic moves that are being made right now, because also we want to choose our own timing. We are quite busy, as you know, in the South, so maybe we prefer to choose our own timing for this operation. A very complex operation. The objective is completely different from what is in the South. In the South, we want to dismantle the Hamas. In the North, the objective is just to push the Hezbollah a few kilometers, at least 10 kilometers away from the border, meaning at a range where anti-tank missiles and on the ground terrorists cannot pull the threat to the northern villages of Israel. That's the minimum that we care. Unfortunately, this is the minimum, because really, we should not make the same mistake that we make in the South to leave this threat hanging over our heads for so long, and these guys getting stronger and stronger day after day, week after week to pose an even worse threat in the future. So maybe we should think in terms of dismantling the Hezbollah, but in this case we would also try to imply to implicate other forces, the Americans, for instance, who are also not really being very assertive. I mean, American interests have been attacked in Iraq, in Syria, and the Americans are not answering also very powerfully like we do, and they're asking also us for restraint. This might be a huge, huge mistake to just satisfy ourselves with just pushing back Hezbollah a few kilometers away from the border, instead of having the same objective as in the South to dismantle that very, very dangerous force at our doors. Yeah, big decisions for the IDF if it comes to how to handle how aggressive to be in the days to come. We'll move to the threat out of Yemen where the Iran-backed, Iran-trained Houthi rebel group says it will begin attacking vessels headed to Israel. Israeli media reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu told Biden on the phone this is a grave threat, and he expects the U.S. and European allies to handle it, but that the IDF will take military action if needed. The head of the Houthi militia says Israel-bound ships are legitimate targets. The Yemeni armed forces hereby announce the prohibition of the passage of ships heading to the Zionist entity of any nationality if the Gaza Strip does not receive the food and medicine it needs. These ships will become legitimate targets for our armed forces. In our effort to ensure the safety of maritime navigation, we warn all ships and companies against dealing with Israeli ports. With me now is Middle East expert Dr. Elizabeth Kendall joining us from the Doha Forum in Qatar. Thank you so much Elizabeth for being with me. I want to ask first, this is a rebel group vowing to attack cargo vessels and international waters headed to Israel. Is this an Israel problem, something Israel will need to deal with, or is this going to be a global problem? I think what the Houthis are hoping is that they're going to broaden the conflict out beyond just being an Israel problem, to being more of a global problem. And as a result, this attack on shipping and on maritime trade is going to push up insurance premiums. It's going to hamper international shipping routes. Don't forget there are about 17,000 ships that go through this particular part of the Red Sea every year. So the Houthis are trying to broaden the conflict out beyond just being an Israel problem. Even if there isn't direct attacks, just the threat alone, we've already seen cargo ships and vessels alter their course, alter their routes to avoid being in the areas where the Houthis operate. The threat alone, could this have a devastating impact? And is there any real response to it if they're not actually going to attack, but just issue these threats that may still devastate, as you mentioned, areas of the global economy? The threat is specifically now on maritime traffic because it involves much broader global interest than the drones and the missiles that the Houthis were firing earlier. If you remember, the drones and the missile attacks that the Houthis were launching towards Elat were right at the edges of Houthi capability, which is, we believe, around 2,000 kilometres of range. By now involving this whole coastline along the northern bits of the Red Sea, along that Yemeni coastline, it is much easier for the Houthis to get good results and to worry a constituent part of the international community beyond just Israel, so that, as the Houthis perceive it, the actions of Israel in Gaza are going to have knock-on effects for the rest of the world, which will help to pressure Israel into perhaps raining in its operation. That's their ambition. Elizabeth, you mentioned here the Houthi capabilities. I mean, being able to operate their missiles and their military technology much closer to home, they may have capability, but do they have a plan? I mean, as you alluded to, there are dozens and dozens of cargo ships in this area of the Red Sea daily. Would this militia have a plan? Would they pirate every ship and ask who the crew is and where this particular cargo vessel is going to? How would they follow through on such a threat like this? Well, there may well be a plan, because, in fact, the Houthis were already demonstrating their capabilities. They were putting military material in place prior to the October 7th attacks by Hamas, and they had also taken over some of the islands in the Red Sea, so it does look like there's a grander design at work here, and that part of the plan had already swung into action prior to the Hamas attacks, which tends towards thinking about this as perhaps part of a broader strategy that the Houthi backers, Iran, had in mind. What in your analysis is the ultimate goal here? Why increasingly turn the focus of this rebel movement towards Israel, towards attacking Israel, attacking ships? What is the goal of the Houthi movement, and how does this play with their own domestic rebel goals here, their goals and objectives? Well, that's a very good question. Now, you keep mentioning the Houthis as rebels, and that is the perception of the international community, but don't forget that inside Yemen, they control territory in which two-thirds of the Yemeni population now lives, so they are going to have to be part, ultimately, of a governmental power sharing solution. And what this current stance by the Houthis does for them is that it revives their flagging base. They've now been at war for over nine years, actually for more like 20 years, if you include the first wars that started in 2004. So they're pretty war weary. It revives that flagging base. It also probably gains some broader support in Yemen because they're able to speak out against what's happening to the Palestinian people in a way that the internationally recognized government is not. So it plays to their advantage domestically. It also plays to their advantage internationally and regionally because they are framing themselves as the defenders of the Palestinian people. Dr. Elizabeth Kendall, thank you for joining us on I-24 News. You're welcome. And let's go now live to the Israel Gaza border, where I'm joined by I-24 News correspondent Ariel Osirand in the city of Steyroth. The IDF continues its offensive, expanding its operations on the ground backed by aero strikes all morning long. Ariel, give us an update, perhaps, on the state of the IDF attacks today, and as the progress continues to destroy Hamas. Right, Jeff. So the fighting continues within our artillery shelling almost every few seconds. We can hear and see plumes of smoke erupting in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. We see occasional strikes in Betlahia as well as Bethanoun in the northern parts of the Gaza Strip. We also hear exchanges of gunfire in these areas, but, indeed, the most intense fighting is still taking place in Jabalia and Shajia areas of north and east Gaza city that is in addition to fighting in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, in the city of Chanyounis. Now, overnight IDF forces uncovering in Chanyounis dozens of tunnel shafts. And this is part of the operational planning of the goals of the objectives, as the IDF continues in its push to try and uproot Hamas from above and below the ground. The tunnels, tunnel shafts, are a strategic tool of Hamas that the IDF is trying to thwart. Now, as this is taking place, there's also reports from this morning, images of additional wide-scale surrenders. Here you can hear, once again, the artillery shelling coming out, like I said, every few moments towards various targets in northern Gaza, but regarding the surrender of dozens of Hamas terrorists overnight, this is in continuation to similar images that we've seen emerge from the Gaza Strip over the weekend in indication, also the IDF saying of the weakening of Hamas capabilities, the crumbling of the command and control, but obviously, despite these wide-scale surrenders, fighting continues intensively across the Gaza Strip. With the update, thank you so much along the Israel-Gaza border. Stay safe for us, please, and stay safe. As the war in Gaza goes on, concern is growing about the health of the remaining hostages still being held inside Gaza. 137 Israeli hostages are still in Gaza, including the elderly, young women, and more. Thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv last night demanding that the government negotiate with Hamas now while the number of prisoners continues to grow to do whatever it takes to get all living hostages back home. I think that the war has to be end. It has to end, and then I hope that there will be some kind of a deal and they will bring all the hostages back. I don't think that another ceasefire right now will bring my son back. I really believe that the war should end as soon as possible. I really hope for this. I hope that it will end until the end of the year. So, you know, we can have him back with us for the new year. We have no time, and any meeting that I go with the Israeli government, I explain to them. When I was there Tuesday at the war cabinet meeting, I put this in front of them and said, we have no time, and you will be judged by the ability of how many and how soon hostages are able to bring back alive. Back here in the studio, Rafael, we are increasingly now turning to the question of what is victory? What will it take for the IDF II and the high intensity, ground offensive campaign involving entire divisions inside the Gaza Strip? What does it mean? Is it the capture of Sunwar or Muhammadif? Is it the release of hostages? Is it when Israeli flags are raised over Khan Yunus? What is victory? So, the victory will be in three stages. There will be first, a military victory, meaning like in a month or two we will have such a blow to the military branch of the Hamas that it will not anymore be in control. It will not be destroyed, but it will not be in control of the Gaza Strip at all. Do you still think that's two months away given the images that we're seeing of mass surrender, how demoralized Hamas is, how in control the IDF is in some of these major areas? Still two months away? As the mother of the hostage just said, I'm praying that it will be tomorrow morning. But realistically, let's say two months to be conservative with the hope that some people are seeing a month and a half, some Americans are asking us to finish by the end of the year. We do not decide the ground. We'll decide how long it will take. I think this even two months is way sooner than we thought it would be when we started this war. So, this will be a first victory, which will be a strategic victory, meaning the Hamas will lose its military control on Gaza. Then the Hamas are also to lose its administrative control, meaning there will be a few months of cleaning the Gaza Strip of the remaining pockets of resistance, but also of all the civil administration that was put in place by Hamas. The white color terrorists, the civil servants of Hamas, are also going to be neutralized so that Gaza is liberated completely from the Hamas rule. And the third stage is the day after is what do we put in place of the Hamas, because the victory will be that there is a brand-new Gaza situation after this war, a situation where Gaza rebits itself towards peace, towards a better future for the population there, on a better future for our existence next to them. This day after, if it succeeds into something that will be organized with the efforts of the international community, a lot of economic help to the Gaza people, of having some kind of a regime of a government of Gaza that is at least non-hostile to Israel, that will be the victory. So we're far, far away from that very goal, but the main goal now is, like again the mother of the hostages said very bravely, I think, from her part, we have to strike this huge blow now militarily in the hope that we will, this will entice the Hamas to ask for a ceasefire, but the ceasefire that we agree upon, because at that point we will have achieved our military goal and then release the hostages. I don't see right now any other hope because we do not hear a word. There's not one single indication that the Hamas is willing to negotiate yet again the liberation of some more hostages. Speaking of hostages, what is your analysis of live attempts to see, to get to the hostages via rescue operations, active military rescue operations to areas where the IDF intelligence believes hostages are being held, is that a good idea or not? It's a good idea. If you succeed and it's a bad idea if you fail, it's a good idea. The decision has to be made. It's a good idea and if you do have the intel and if you think that you can do it militarily then do it, but it will only be isolated cases. You're talking more than 130 hostages. So we might be able here and there to pick a few out of the hands of the Hamas, so very daring operations, command operations on Israel is known to be able to pull up these kind of operations, but still it will be a limited result. I don't see how can we break all the hostages this way. The main way is the pressure being applied on the leaders. The leaders, first of all of the Hamas, do not intend whatever happens to liberate all the hostages at any point because they're using them as a human shield, a life insurance, so they will keep a minimum in my estimate of 50, maybe more, but 50 for sure they will never liberate because they need them to save their own skin when it comes to it and to ask for maybe even safe passage to Egypt in exchange of these hostages. So that's why unless there is again some kind of improbable success of the pressures from Egypt, Qatar and whoever else, we have no other choice than to apply military pressure and to try and terrify maybe or disquiet the high political branch of the Hamas into wanting to negotiate yet another truth. Right now their message is that they're not ready for any truth, only ceasefire. Their medication right now, their claim will only be for complete ceasefire because they see they're losing the war. Do you think there will be a counter insurgency from this terror group, a second wind, a second rise in these urban areas after the IDF operation is concluded? Yes, because you have two different kinds of fighters in the Hamas. You have the ones that we see now the images surrendering and putting their weapons down. These are the small fry of the Hamas terrorist organization. A lot of them have been recruited because they were unemployed or they were just radicalized in some fanatical way by the religion in the mosque, but they're not the real professional mercenaries. There are two different kinds of people. The Hamas has professional mercenaries, nothing to do with Islam, nothing to do with Allah, he's got to do with money, he's got to do with training, with fanaticism, Jew hatred. These guys will fight to the last. They will probably prefer to die than to admit defeat. Rafael, thank you so much for your analysis here at I-20 for News. We're going out for a break. More live coverage coming up. We have reporters in the north of Israel where the threat comes from Hezbollah and along the Israel-Gaza border where the war against Hamas continues. More analysis and in studio reporting. Stay with us here on the channel. We'll see you soon. Is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well. 24 news at this hour as we bring you the latest live update from Tel Aviv on the Israel-Hamas war and other regional threats to Israeli security. We'll begin in Gaza a significant and symbolic victory last night as the IDF seized control of Palestine Square in Gaza City. This is the very location where Hamas coordinated and handed over Israeli hostages in all of those propaganda videos. Now it's fully in Israeli control. More videos out of Gaza overnight showing the surrender of dozens of terrorists and mass who are ordered to strip down to their underwear to show they're not wearing any suicide vests or belts. The IDF chief of staff says Hamas is demoralized, willing to lay down their weapons and a top spokesman says more terrorists are surrendering every day. In the last 24 hours the IDF has deepened the fighting inside Han Yunus. We've located underground shafts, weapons, and eliminated many terrorists. Many terrorists have surrendered during the battles in Sajai and Jabalia and handed over weapons and equipment. Interrogations of terrorists have revealed the following intelligence. The condition of Hamas operatives on the ground is hard and the Hamas leadership headed by Sinwar is denying reality despite having all the information. The operatives are complaining that the Hamas leadership is disconnected from the harsh conditions they face on the ground. They also feel that Hamas doesn't care about the Gaza people. It is of great concern even to Hamas's military operatives. The threats to Israeli security continue from around the Middle East. Israel's national security advisor says Israel will not let Hezbollah fighters remain on the border fence any longer and that Israel will force Hezbollah to, well Israel will force Hezbollah to the north of the Latani River. With us now is I-24 News senior defense correspondent Jonathan Rega joining us from the Israel Lebanon border. Jonathan, powerful words from top Israeli officials saying that what was in the north will not be any more, that we need to move Hezbollah further away and we will do so. What are the options for Israel to achieve that? Yes, and Jeff, and just before I comment about that, I say that we're hearing the first siren here in the north this morning in the western Galilee, a possible UAV infiltration. This is coming in right now. This is to the west of us, the area of Shtula and the other places which have been in the news for the past two months. The first, we have to say, the first such incident we're hearing today, actually since I think three in the afternoon yesterday, which is some 19 hours ago. No sirens here in the north, so now this is changing a possible UAV infiltration. Regarding your question, Israel said loud and clear we will not accept the reality in which the Rad 1 forces of Hezbollah are sitting right on our border fence. This was the reality up until two months ago. And Israel says, when this war is over, we do not only want to eliminate Hamas in Gaza. We also want to make sure that Hezbollah adheres to a UN resolution 1701, which was drafted after the Second Lebanon War in 2006, which calls for all Hezbollah operatives to be north of the Litani River, something about 15 miles north of the border, and not on the border fence itself. There are two ways to achieve that. One, the preferred way by Israel and also the international community to do it through diplomacy. France, with its very strong connections in Lebanon, is working for that solution. But if diplomacy doesn't work, the second option, of course, is doing it by force. Tell me more about the Hezbollah presence along the border fence. How do they operate near the border fence? How are they attacking Israel? And will they still pose a threat, even if they're on the other side of the Litani River? Yes, the answer is yes. UNIFIL, the UN force which is meant to maintain the border, is not really doing its force. It's a very weak force and they have no way of maintaining it. Hezbollah operatives disguise themselves as environmental activists. They have certain environmental foundations and they build certain towers right along the border fence. These towers are used for nothing environmental, only for Hezbollah fighters. All right, Jonathan Recker, thanks so much for that update on the Northern border with Lebanon. Back here in the studio, I'm joined by former senior IDF intelligence officer Rafael Rashalmi. Rafael, good to see you. Before we even turn to the situation in Gaza, the ongoing ground offensive deep inside Gaza, I want to ask about the Hezbollah threat because we have now confirmation from Israeli officials, top leaders, saying publicly we understand that Hezbollah cannot remain on the border fence and while we allow Israeli families to return, they will be moved back. Do you believe that there is a risk of a wider regional war from this effort or likely both Israel and Hezbollah have an interest on keeping it low-flame contained and then not boiling over? Everything so far indicates that even the Hezbollah is not interested in a wide-range conflict, only in a limited confrontation with the Israeli forces. Would it have been interested in such a conflict? I think it would have done it already because it had a few opportunities to do so starting from the 7th of October. The Iranians do not seem to press the Hezbollah button and they want to save this as ammo ammunition for a later stage, like if there would be a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran, then Iran would use this proxy. Then it would be a waste of ammunition to use it now because a bigger confrontation with the IDF would create a lot of damage to the Hezbollah and wouldn't be such an asset anymore for the Iranian interest. The Hezbollah itself, Hassan Nasrallah, is making his own calculations as to his position inside the Lebanon, which is a sovereign state, and they have a political standing there. They are not interested. Of course, we are in the Middle East. Anything can change at any moment. This could generate into something more original, something big. We do not think so right now. What we do know, for sure, is we have absolutely no choice but to operate militarily if the diplomatic discussions fail as to quieting down the situation. We cannot in any case allow the presence of Hezbollah armed terrorists along the border with Israel. That's a no-brainer. We have no choice there. We are delaying because we're giving a chance to the diplomatic moves that are being made right now because also we want to choose our own timing. We are quite busy, as you know, in the south, so maybe we prefer to choose our own timing for this operation, a very complex operation. The objective is completely different from what is in the south. In the south, we want to dismantle the Hamas. In the north, the objective is just to push the Hezbollah a few kilometers, at least 10 kilometers away from the border, meaning at a range where anti-tank missiles and underground terrorists cannot pull the threat to the northern villages of Israel. That's the minimum that we care. Unfortunately, this is the minimum because really we should not make the same mistake that we make in the south to leave this threat hanging over our heads for so long and these guys getting stronger and stronger day after day, week after week to pose an even worse threat in the future. So maybe we should think in terms of dismantling the Hezbollah, but in this case we would also try to imply to implicate other forces, the Americans, for instance, who are also not really being very assertive. I mean, American interests have been attacked in Iraq, in Syria, and the Americans are not answering also very powerfully like we do. They're asking also us for restraint. This might be a huge, huge mistake to just satisfy ourselves with just pushing back the Hezbollah a few kilometers away from the border instead of having the same objective as in the south to dismantle that very, very dangerous force at our doors. Yeah, big decisions for the IDF if it comes to how to handle how aggressive to be in the days to come. We'll move to the threat out of Yemen where the Iran-backed, Iran-trained Houthi rebel group says it will begin attacking vessels headed to Israel. Israeli media reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu told Biden on the phone this is a grave threat and he expects the U.S. and European allies to handle it, but that the IDF will take military action if needed. The head of the Houthi militia says Israel-bound ships are legitimate targets. The Yemeni armed forces hereby announce the prohibition of the passage of ships heading to the Zionist entity of any nationality if the Gaza Strip does not receive the food and medicine it needs. These ships will become legitimate targets for our armed forces. In our effort to ensure the safety of maritime navigation, we warn all ships and companies against dealing with Israeli ports. With me now is Middle East expert Dr. Elizabeth Kendall joining us from the Doha Forum in Qatar. Thank you so much Elizabeth for being with me. I want to ask first, you know, this is a rebel group vowing to attack cargo vessels and international waters headed to Israel. Is this an Israel problem, something Israel will need to deal with or is this going to be a global problem? I think what the Houthis are hoping is that they're going to broaden the conflict out beyond just being an Israel problem to being more of a global problem. And as a result, this attack on shipping and on maritime trade is going to push up insurance premiums. It's going to hamper international shipping routes. Don't forget there are about 17,000 ships that go through this particular part of the Red Sea every year. So the Houthis are trying to broaden the conflict out beyond just being an Israel problem. Even if there isn't direct attacks, just the threat alone, we've already seen cargo ships and vessels alter their course, alter their routes to avoid being in the areas where the Houthis operate. The threat alone, could this have a devastating impact and is there any real response to it if they're not actually going to attack but just issue these threats that may still devastate, as you mentioned, areas of the global economy? The threat is specifically now on maritime traffic because it involves much broader global interest than the drones and the missiles that the Houthis were firing earlier. If you remember, the drones and the missile attacks that the Houthis were launching towards Elat were right at the edges of Houthi capability, which is, we believe, around 2,000 kilometers of range. By now involving this whole coastline along the northern bits of the Red Sea, along that Yemeni coastline, it is much easier for the Houthis to get good results and to worry a constituent part of the international community beyond just Israel so that, as the Houthis perceive it, the actions of Israel in Gaza are going to have knock-on effects for the rest of the world, which will help to pressure Israel into perhaps reining in its operation. That's their ambition. Elizabeth, you mentioned here the Houthi capabilities. I mean, being able to operate their missiles and their military technology much closer to home, they may have capability, but do they have a plan? I mean, as you alluded to, there are dozens and dozens of cargo ships in this area of the Red Sea daily. Would this militia have a plan? Would they pirate every ship and ask who the crew is and where this particular cargo vessel is going to? How would they follow through on such a threat like this? Well, there may well be a plan because, in fact, the Houthis were already demonstrating their capabilities. They were putting military material in place prior to the October 7th attacks by Hamas. And they had also taken over some of the islands in the Red Sea. So it does look like there's a grander design at work here and that part of the plan had already swung into action prior to the Hamas attacks, which tends towards thinking about this as perhaps part of a broader strategy that the Houthi backers, Iran, had in mind. What in your analysis is the ultimate goal here? Why increasingly turn the focus of this rebel movement towards Israel, towards attacking Israel, attacking ships? What is the goal of the Houthi movement and how does this play with their own domestic rebel goals here, their goals and objectives? Well, that's a very good question. Now, you keep mentioning the Houthis as rebels and that is the perception of the international community. But don't forget that inside Yemen, they control territory in which two thirds of the Yemeni population now lives. So they are going to have to be part ultimately of a governmental power sharing solution. And what this current stance by the Houthis does for them is that it revives their flagging base. They've now been at war for over nine years, actually for more like 20 years if you include the first wars that started in 2004. So they're pretty war weary. It revives that flagging base. It also probably gains some broader support in Yemen because they're able to speak out against what's happening to the Palestinian people in a way that the internationally recognized government is not. So it plays to their advantage domestically. It also plays to their advantage internationally and regionally because they are framing themselves as the defenders of the Palestinian people. Dr. Elizabeth Kendall, thank you for joining us on I-24 News. You're welcome. And let's go now live to the Israel Gaza border where I'm joined by I-24 News correspondent Ariel Osirand in the city of Steyroth. The IDF continues its offensive expanding its operations on the ground backed by aero strikes all morning long aerial. Give us an update perhaps on the state of the IDF attacks today and as the progress continues to destroy Hamas. Right Jeff, so the fighting continues within artillery shelling almost every few seconds. We can hear and see plumes of smoke erupting in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. We see occasional strikes and as well as in the northern parts of the Gaza Strip. We also hear exchanges of gunfire in these areas, but indeed the most intense fighting is still taking place in Jabalia and Shadjaia areas of north and east Gaza city that is in addition to fighting in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, in the city of Chanyounis. Now overnight IDF forces uncovering in Chanyounis dozens of tunnel shafts and this is part of the operational planning of the goals of the objectives too. As the IDF continues in its push to try and uproot Hamas from above and below the ground, the tunnels, tunnel shafts are a strategic tool of Hamas that the IDF is trying to to thwart. Now as this is taking place there's also reports from this morning images of additional wide-scale surrenders. Here you can hear once again the artillery shelling coming out like I said every few moments towards various targets in northern Gaza but regarding the surrender of dozens of Hamas terrorists overnight this is in continuation to similar images that we've seen emerge from the Gaza Strip over the weekend in indication also the IDF saying the weakening of Hamas capabilities, the crumbling of the command and control but obviously despite these wide-scale surrenders fighting continues intensively across the Gaza Strip. I don't know with the update thank you so much along the Israel-Gaza border stay safe for us please and stay right thank you so much. As the war in Gaza goes on concern is growing about the health of the remaining hostages still being held inside Gaza 137 Israeli hostages are still in Gaza including the elderly, young women and more thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv last night demanding that the government negotiate with Hamas now while the number of prisoners continues to grow to do whatever it takes to get all living hostages back home. I think that the war has to be end it has to end and then I hope that there will be some kind of a deal and they will bring all the hostages back I don't think that another ceasefire right now will bring my son back I really believe that the war should end as soon as possible I really hope for this I hope that it will end until the end of the year so you know we can have him back with us for the new year. We have no time and any meeting that I go with the Israeli government I explain to them now was there Tuesday at the war cabinet meeting I put this in front of them and said we have no time and you will be judged by the ability of how many and how soon hostages are able to bring back alive. Back here in studio Raphael we are increasingly now turning to the question of what is victory what will it take for the IDF2 and the high intensity ground offensive campaign involving entire divisions inside the Gaza Strip. What does it mean is it the capture of Sunwar or Muhammadif is it the release of hostages is it when Khan Yunus when Israeli flags are raised over Khan Yunus what is victory. So the victory will be in three stages there will be first a military victory meaning like in a month or two we will have a stroke of such a blow to the military branch of the Hamas that it will not anymore be in control it will not be destroyed but it will not be in control of the Gaza Strip. Do you still think that's two months away given the images that we're seeing of mass surrender how demoralized Hamas is how we eat how in control the IDF is in some of these major areas still two months away. As the mother of the hostage just said I'm praying that it will be tomorrow morning but realistically let's say two months to be conservative with the hope that some people are saying a month and a half some Americans are asking us to finish by the end of the year. We do not decide the ground we'll decide how long it will take I think this even two months is way sooner than we thought it would be when we started this war so this will be a first victory which will be a strategic victory meaning the Hamas will lose its control military control on Gaza then the Hamas are also to lose its administrative control meaning there will be a few months of cleaning the Gaza Strip of the remaining pockets of resistance but also of all the civil administration that was put in place by Hamas the white color terrorists the civil servants of Hamas are also going to be neutralized so that Gaza is liberated completely from the Hamas rule and the third stage is the day after is what do we put in place of the Hamas because the victory will be that there is a brand new Gaza situation after this war situation where Gaza rebits itself towards peace towards a better future for the population there on a better future for our existence next to them this day after if it succeeds into something that will be organized with the efforts of the international community a lot of economic help to the Gaza people of having some kind of a regime of a government of Gaza that is at least non-hostile to Israel that will be the victory so we're far far away from that very goal but the main goal now is like again the mother of the hostages said very bravely I think from her part we have to strike this huge blow now militarily in the hope that we will this will entice the Hamas to ask for a ceasefire but the ceasefires that we agree upon because at that point we will have achieved our military goal and then release the hostages I don't see right now any other hope because we do not hear a word there's not not one single indication that the Hamas is willing to negotiate yet again the liberation of some more hostages speaking of the hostages what is your analysis of uh live attempts to uh see to get to the hostages via rescue operations active military rescue operations to areas where the IDF intelligence believes hostages are being held is that a good idea or not it's a good idea if you succeed and it's a bad idea if you fail it's a good idea if you do have the intel and if you think that you can do it militarily then then do it but it will only be isolated cases you're talking more than 130 hostages so we might be able here and there to to pick a few out of the hands of the Hamas so very daring operations command operations and Israel is known to be able to pull up these kind of operations but still it will be a limited result I don't see how can you break all the hostages this way the the main way is the pressure being applied on the leaders the leaders first of all of the Hamas do not intend whatever happens to liberate all the hostages at any point because they use they're using them as a human shield a life insurance so they will keep a minimum in my estimate of 50 maybe more but 50 for sure they will never liberate because they need them for to save their own skin when it comes to it and to ask for maybe even safe patches passage to Egypt in exchange of these hostages so that's why unless there is again some kind of improbable success of the pressures from Egypt Qatar and whoever else we have no other choice than to apply military pressure and to try and terrify maybe or disquiet the high political branch of the Hamas into wanting to negotiate yet another truth right now their message is that they're not ready for any truth only ceasefire their vindication right now their claim will only be for complete ceasefire because they see they're losing the war do you think there will be a counter insurgency from this terror group a second wind a second rise in these urban areas after the IDF ground operation is concluded yes because you have two different kinds of fighters in the Hamas you have the ones that we see now the images surrendering and putting their weapons down these are the small fry of the Hamas terrorist organization a lot of them have been recruited because they were unemployed or they were just radicalized in some fanatical way by the religion in the mosque but they're not the real professional mercenaries there are two different kinds of people the Hamas has professional mercenaries nothing to do with Islam nothing to do with Allah he's got to do with money he's got to do with training with fanaticism uh jew hatred these guys will fight to the last they will probably prefer to die than to admit defeat rafael thank you so much for your analysis here tonight for news we're going out for a break more live coverage coming up we have reporters in the north of israel where the threat comes from hezbollah and along the israel Gaza border where the war against Hamas continues more analysis and in studio reporting stay with us here on the channel we'll see you soon in a state of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where she has our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well thanks for watching i'd point for news this hour as we continue to bring you the latest live updates from televieve on the israel hamas war and other regional threats to israeli security today first the war in gaza a significant victory last night as the idf seized control of palestine square in gaza city this had been a hotbed of hamas terrorism and the location where hamas coordinated their hostage handoffs in those propaganda videos now under israeli control more videos out of gaza show the surrender of dozens of terrorists who are ordered to strip down to their underwear to show they're not wearing suicide vests the idf chief of staff says hamas is demoralized and a top spokesman says more terrorists are choosing to surrender each and every day in the last 24 hours the idf has deepened the fighting inside han yunus we've located underground shafts weapons and eliminated many terrorists many terrorists have surrendered during the battles in sahaja and jubalia and handed over weapons and equipment interrogations of terrorists have revealed the following intelligence the condition of hamas operatives on the ground is hard and the hamas leadership headed by sinwar is denying reality despite having all the information the operatives are complaining that the hamas leadership is disconnected from the harsh conditions they face on the ground they also feel that hamas doesn't care about the gaza people it is of great concern even to hamas's military operatives let's go live to i-24 news correspondent ariel osir on in the southern city of steroat with the gaza border behind them where the idf continues to attack hamas targets and expand its ground operation today ariel give us an update on the war this is day 65 the idf very busy still rooting out hamas terrorists and fighting very intense battles tell us more indeed jeff key what you said right now the idf is very busy at work in fact i don't recall in all the 65 days of the war so few updates from the idf as to what's going on underground and that's an indication as to the significant fighting going on across the gaza strip but what you can see behind me and i'll ask our cameraman daniel bok to give you a closer look at what's happening right now in northeast gaza strip what we're what you're seeing now that plume of smoke that is coming out from uh bait hanun the northeast of the gaza strip it was one of the areas where there has been significant fighting between idf forces and hamas terrorists throughout the night and the morning but not only in hanunis and sorry in bet hanun and betlahia which is a little further back from there most of the intense fighting taking place in the outskirts of gaza city jabalia and shajia key strongholds of hamas in gaza city in the northern part of the strip but also reports of significant fighting in hanunis the major remaining stronghold of hamas in the southern gaza strip given its proximity to the uh to rafa and to the border with egypt allows it to have a lot of uh you know uh different material uh being transferred across the border and it helps uh underground of course and this is what is helping hamas maintain its uh holding at least uh as of now in the city of hanunis now assessments in israel is that the fighting in this southern city as well as across the gaza strip are expected to take another six to eight weeks um and following that there there is no expectation of a ceasefire but rather continued israeli operations with idea forces based near the gaza strip but we are still far from that uh finish line as uh the current situation right now we hear the constant rumble of uh artillery shelling as well as airstrikes every few minutes a new plume of smoke behind us also gunfire so as you can see another day of significant fighting across the gaza strip ariel thank you so much for that update for us from stay wrote with me in studio is retired idea of colonel dr zhak nare former deputy head of assessment with the israeli military intelligence thank you so much for for being with me we see these images and uh of mass hamas surrender of the idea of penetrating deep into hanunis and other areas that were hamas strongholds is hamas collapsing this is come out is as a capable fighting military militia force is hamas collapsing well i would repeat a very famous sentence this is the beginning of the end the but but the end is not near uh what we have seen in the last two months is the fact that the idea has maneuvered its main units in the gaza strip isolating most of the hamas fortifications being in the jibalia means sahaja hanunis now hanunis has been isolated from from dir al-bala and from rafa so uh so this was the main idea to isolate and to cut the the strip into salamis salami which would be easier for for the army to take to take care of now we go back after we have mostly finished the isolation of all those areas we are now concentrating on each and every fortification because they are they are called refugee camps but in fact they are not refugee camps they are bastions they are fortification huge fortification that has been built for more than 15 years so and so it's very difficult to go there without i mean having to risk lives and casualties on our on the israeli side what's happening now is what we see what we see in the picture is i hope it's an effect of contagion that this will spread this virus will spread to other to other camps other fortifications and they will understand that they have no other way but to surrender in order to survive but we this video another video is like it where we do see mass surrender i'd imagine there's different tiers of hamas fighters different levels of terrorists within the hamas organization who who is mass surrendering are these low ranking guys low level guys are these most trained mercenaries what does it indicate if you see the the picture you see that the guy who brought the weapon is a little bit more there is older than the other than the rest it seems that he is the commander of the battalion there or the commander of the the platoon that did that is in front of us i believe that as i said the virus is going to spread because this picture we should we should bear in mind that hamas is watching israeli tv they are watching all israeli publications and all israeli media so this this cannot escape their their their i mean their scrutiny and by seeing that they have a problem of morale in their troops and so i mean the the more we advance the more we will see the terrorists like these surrender because they would prefer to live and then and receive three times a day a meal where are they right now they don't have anything to eat there's still the lingering question here on where is yes and what where is muhammadif the leaders of hamas and where are the 137 hostages can come out can israel find any can find them as operations push deeper you know it reminds me it reminds me of the nazi the the dictator hitler well he hit in his bunker and finally committed suicide at the end of the war just a few days before the germany surrendered nazi germany surrendered we know that that's in war fled from gaza city to hanunis i mean and there it seems that he is he's he's hiding in in one of the tunnels maybe he has an access to an open tunnel to egypt this would be his way to flee from from from his destiny i mean the from his death but i mean this is this is more or less the intelligence that we have that he is right now in the hanunis area and this is why there's a fierce battle going on in in jubalia and the hanuns and this is why we have devoted the 98th division which is a commander division to take care of of hanunis and the the to the greatest surprise of of hamas we just obliterated his defenses and we threw into the deep into the city and now we are taking care of all those who are just fighting and hopefully this will take us a few a few weeks and we will finish with this this bastion god yes presses on but the threats to israeli security continue around the middle east israel's national security advisor says israel will not let hezbollah fighters remain any longer on the border fence where they have been firing anti tank shells and missiles from the fence israel will force hezbollah he says to the north of the latani river let's go live now to i-24 new senior defense correspondent jonathan regov where hezbollah attacks are continuing even today jonathan give us an update yes jeff just about an hour ago a uav infiltrated into israeli area as far as we understand it was taken down and shortly after minutes after we already heard a very strong israeli artillery response towards lebanon the first attack today unfortunately i can say it will probably not be the last one as we know the border area is the arena of some roughly ten daily attacks or so coming from libanese territory as far as what you mentioned we have tens of thousands of israeli residents who fled from this area the communities are virtually empty including the city of kairat the city of more than 25 000 people which is almost completely empty and israel wants hezbollah to go back north of the latani river as you mentioned some 15 miles or so north of the border as it should according to un resolution 1701 which was drafted after the second lebanon war in 2006 the two ways to do it one is a diplomatic way the preferred way by israel and the international community but if not by diplomacy then it will have to be done by force tell me more about the latani river how far back is it from you know hezbollah's positions along the border now and will hezbollah still offer a threat to life in the north when residents return from there if hezbollah operatives the the rodwan force or terrorists are on the border fence itself then of course it presents a threat a threat which we always had in mind and we saw in the south what can happen when you let these terrorists stay remain right on the border fence hezbollah disguises itself as environmentalists and they build towers right on the border fence disguising those towers as an environmental organization but we all know exactly what these towers are used for their their observatory towers by hezbollah terrorist hezbollah will pose a threat even if all the terrorists are are back behind the latani river as mentioned some 15 miles or so north of the border but of course it will not be an immediate threat to the border communities hezbollah has some 150 50 000 rockets to all ranges which can be fired especially towards the area this area the north so yes it does present a threat even beyond the latani river but it is not an immediate threat to the communities which are right on the border fence something that is happening today when those terrorists are right on the border fence itself right charlie regga thanks so much for that update along with the israel lebanon border and in yemen the iran back houthi rebel group says that it will attack vessels headed to israel the israeli media says netanyahu president biden this is a grave threat and that he expects the us and european allies to handle it but that the idf will take military action if needed the head of the houthi militia says israel bound ships are legitimate targets in his estimation but middle east experts warn that the threat to global shipping is going to grow i think what the houthis are hoping is that they're going to broaden the conflict out beyond just being an israel problem to being more of a global problem and as a result this attack on shipping and on maritime trade is going to push up insurance premiums it's going to hamper into the international shipping routes don't forget there are about 17 000 ships that go through this particular part of the red sea every year so the houthis are trying to broaden the conflict out beyond just being an israel problem what is the goal of the houthi movement and how does this play with their own domestic rebel goals here their their goals and objectives well that's a very good question now you keep mentioning the houthis as rebels and that is the perception of the international community but don't forget that inside yemen they control territory in which two-thirds of the yemeni population now lives so they are going to have to be part ultimately of a governmental power sharing solution and what this current stance by the houthis does for them is that it revives their flagging base they've now been at war for over nine years actually for more like 20 years if you include the first wars that started in 2004 so they're pretty war weary it revives that flagging base it also probably gains some broader support in yemen because they're able to speak out against what's happening to the palestinian people in a way that the internationally recognized government is not so it plays to their advantage domestically it also plays to their advantage internationally and regionally because they are framing themselves as the defenders of the palestinian people well one day after the us vetoed the un security council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in gaza the head of the un today says he will continue to explore new ways to push for a ceasefire saying he is not given up despite that failed resolution i said that we are facing a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system the situation is fast deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region and i reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared regrettably the security council failed to do it but that does not make it less necessary so i can promise i will not give up back here in studio i want to talk first about the threat from the north with hezbollah the national security council had saying if we don't succeed diplomatically we will intervene militarily to push hezbollah back do you believe there might be a diplomatic solution a temporary border arrangement perhaps involving a us us mediators since also after all it's us carrier groups and aircraft carriers hanging out in the sea just off the coast of lebanon anyway jeff i hate to disappoint you i hate disappoint you there there's no government in lebanon there's a government a transition government who has no powers at all to sign any agreement with israel because according to the constitution it should be illegal government so that it cannot be legalized in lebanon we don't have a president we don't have a chief of the army so we are we are talking about nonsense so we are just talking talking and there's no way we reach an agreement with such a government now if this is the situation would israel choose to go and fight another war now with hezbollah is it is it the time is it the time to begin another war with hezbollah i don't know i think that it's not the time because on the we should remember that the united states is holding us very tight and saying no you won't you won't expand this this conflict beyond a conflict between hamas and israel we don't want it to be to be widened to lebanon to syria and iraq i mean we the the u.s. has other interests international interests regional interests and we should not harm those interests so this is why i say that if at the maximum if we succeed if we succeed in fighting hezbollah and forcing him to leave a band or strip of land of five to six kilometers inside lebanon this is what's happening today where the israeli is hitting i mean the air force and the artery is sitting there then the army will have to deploy along the border along those localities and this would allow in a way to the inhabitants to go back there living under the threat of hezbollah but beyond the four kilometers that has been created a sort of no man's land that nobody would cross and if somebody would cross then he would be hit by fire by israeli fire but there are small provocations if israeli life returns in the north even an ak is building a tent what you know are having an individual individual spotter close i agree with you jeff but when i'm when i'm saying that if we clean up we clean up this this sort of strip of four to five kilometers along our border we will not allow any hezbollah fighter to come into this area this is this is the basis this is the base and because and if he crosses the lines which is a virtual line between far far four to five kilometers into our border then he would be at the mercy of fire so that raises the question if hezbollah is pushed back five six kilometers to the other side of the latani river they're no longer it's not the latani river it's well well below the latani river we're talking even of the zaharani which is really i mean it's five to six kilometers no more than that and then they still fire though they're still firing shells is this just the new way of life unfortunately in the north for for tens of thousands of families there will be as you mentioned a massive increase in the idea of presence to in the north but there still may be this constant risk of fire unless there is a wire war well the the u.s. administration will strive to reach a solution and in reforming lebanon as a whole with the president elected with the parliament newly elected with the government newly put in place and if this happens then the chances of reaching a diplomatic solutions are bigger than they are today and this is a long this is a long shot it is not going to be tomorrow or after tomorrow and i don't think that we have enough oxygen in our lungs in order to begin a new war with hezbollah it seems that you know for our international audience that there's maybe the possibility of a mirror image here that residents in the south may hopefully let's pray soon go back home and they won't be under rocket fire anymore families and stay wrote the national loan won't be under Hamas rockets but the 30 40 thousand families and then Kiryat Shmona let's say or mature they go back home they will be under artillery fire from hezbollah shifted dynamic jeff let us remember when uh when there was a ceasefire between us and Hamas hezbollah stopped firing so if we reach a ceasefire or if we reach a point of end of war end of hostilities with hezbollah with with Hamas most probably hezbollah would have wouldn't have the an argument to continue to the war with israel so this is a sort of free of an arrangement i mean a de facto arrangement on the ground without reaching without breaching on the one hand the the engagement visa be there at the american saying okay we will not expand the war we will we will just limit ourselves to what it is today and if we succeed in just pushing back hezbollah five to six kilometers then the army israeli army will have to deploy constantly there unlike in the past in order to protect the civilians that will go back to their homes and we should note also the threats in the south as well the war and Gaza goes on day 65 now and concern grows about the health of the remaining hostages many of them are known to be injured or elderly or infirm more testimony now from some of the survivors of Hamas captivity who were released earlier last month during the ceasefire take a listen in nidoz missham let go of the better actor i see better actor the respect of tractor by bite in a sully in rove Petzak Adol by Jad. My name is Margalit Mozes. I'm from Tsunir Oz. On Saturday, the 7th of October, I'm going to Minhara. I'm going to use a sign language at night. And I took it with me, so that I could read. And he was the one who was going to take the sign language and take the sign language with him, so... My name is Ayar Egeb. I wrote with a little brother and one of my best friends. I'm Ayar Egeb. I was in the 7th, 154 days. The days that pass like a miracle. The days that are very difficult. And I'm going to talk about whether it's love, whether it's the family's goal, whether it's mentality, the difficulty. The difficult times. Every day that he comes to Minhara, it's not normal for me. 0 years at night. The people are angry. And the lack of communication is simply terrible. The situation in the middle of the night was very bad. We were in the middle of talking, eating rice and bread. I was very scared. For the first few weeks, I thought that I would be angry. Because I was hungry. I was almost hungry. I was almost out of food. Food was very important to me. When I have a problem or a problem. I remember the story of Shoa. I eat healthy food when I have food. 49 days today I wasn't angry. It was painful. It was painful for me. It was a physical pain. And every day that passes, it becomes more and more difficult. The situation where there are conflicts in buildings or where they are not found, it's a very difficult situation. And if you are angry, you are not. I ask you. I know that there are a lot of people on this line. But there are other people who are very determined to live outside. I ask you to do a lot, a lot of strength in order for everyone to be happy. The days are very difficult. One day it's like a peaceful week. And Anna, you know, that first of all, we all have to return home. And after that, we have to go to the police. Omar is still there. I know he's still there. I have to return to him. And we all have to go now. As much as possible. Thank our guest, Dr. Jacques Mellier, for being with us at this hour. We're going out for a break. Stay with us here now in I-24 News. Live reporting here from the North, where we have a Hezbollah-unarmed aircraft attack, a drone attack already this morning. Also more live updates from the south where the IDF campaign continues. And the IDF troops advance deeper and deeper into North Gaza and South Gaza in the Hamas terrorist stronghold of Khan Yunus. More updates and live reporting coming up. you in just a minute. Thanks so much. In a state of war, families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where she has. Our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well. Thanks for watching I-24 News this hour as we continue to bring you the latest live updates from Tel Aviv on the Israel Hamas War and other regional threats to Israeli security today. First, the war in Gaza, a significant victory last night as the IDF seized control of Palestine Square in Gaza City. This had been a hotbed of Hamas terrorism and the location where Hamas coordinated their hostage handoffs in those propaganda videos now under Israeli control. More videos out of Gaza show the surrender of dozens of terrorists who are ordered to strip down to their underwear to show they're not wearing suicide vests. The IDF Chief of Staff says Hamas is the moralized and a top spokesman says more terrorists are choosing to surrender each and every day. In the last 24 hours, the IDF has deepened the fighting inside Han Yunus. We've located underground shafts, weapons, and eliminated many terrorists. Many terrorists have surrendered during the battles in Sajaya and Jabalia and handed over weapons and equipment. Interrogations of terrorists have revealed the following intelligence. The condition of Hamas operatives on the ground is hard and the Hamas leadership headed by Sinwar is denying reality despite having all the information. The operatives are complaining that the Hamas leadership is disconnected from the harsh conditions they face on the ground. They also feel that Hamas doesn't care about the Gazan people. It is of great concern, even to Hamas's military operatives. Let's go live to I-24 News correspondent Ariel Oseron in the southern city of Steyrout with the Gaza border behind them where the IDF continues to attack Hamas targets and expand its ground operation today. Ariel, give us an update on the war. This is day 65. The IDF very busy, still rooting out Hamas terrorists and fighting very intense battles. Tell us more. Indeed, Jeff. Key what you said right now, the IDF is very busy at work. In fact, I don't recall in all the 65 days of the war so few updates from the IDF as to what's going on underground. And that's an indication as to the significant fighting going on across the Gaza Strip. But what you can see behind me and I'll ask our cameraman, Daniel Bok, to give you a closer look at what's happening right now in northeast Gaza Strip. What you're seeing now, that plume of smoke. That is coming out from Beit Hanun, the northeast of the Gaza Strip. It was one of the areas where there has been significant fighting between IDF forces and Hamas terrorists throughout the night and the morning. But not only in Beit Hanun and Beit Lahiya, which is a little further back from there. Most of the intense fighting taking place in the outskirts of Gaza City, Jabalia and Shadjaia, key strongholds of Hamas in Gaza City in the northern part of the Strip, but also reports of significant fighting in Hanunis. The major remaining stronghold of Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip, given its proximity to Rafa and to the border with Egypt, allows it to have a lot of different material being transferred across the border. And it helps underground, of course. And this is what is helping Hamas maintain its holding at least as of now in the city of Hanunis. Now assessments in Israel is that the fighting in this southern city as well as across the Gaza Strip are expected to take another six to eight weeks. And following that, there is no expectation of a ceasefire, but rather continued Israeli operations with IDF forces based near the Gaza Strip. But we are still far from that finish line as the current situation right now. We hear the constant rumble of artillery shelling as well as airstrikes every few minutes, a new plume of smoke behind us, also gunfire. So as you can see, another day of significant fighting across the Gaza Strip. Ariel, thank you so much for that update for us from Steyroth. With me in studio is retired IDF Colonel Dr. Jacques Neret, former deputy head of assessment with the Israeli military intelligence. Thank you so much for being with me. We see these images of mass Hamas surrender of the IDF penetrating deep into Hanunis and other areas that were Hamas strongholds. Is Hamas collapsing? Is Hamas as a capable fighting military militia force? Is Hamas collapse? Well, I would repeat a very famous sentence. This is the beginning of the end. But the end is not near. What we have seen in the last two months is the fact that the IDF has maneuvered its main units in the Gaza Strip, isolating most of the Hamas fortifications being in the Jibalia, Minstajaya, Hanunis now Hanunis has been isolated from from and from so this was the main idea to isolate and to cut the the the strip into salamis salami, which would be easier for for the army to take care of. Now we go back after we have mostly finished the isolation of all those areas. We are now concentrating on each and every fortification because they are they are called refugee camps. But in fact, not refugee camps are bastions that fortification huge fortification that has been built for more than 15 years. So and so it's very difficult to go there without I mean having to risk lives and casualties on our on the Israeli side. What's happening now is what we see what we see in the picture is I hope it's an effect of contagion that this will spread. This virus will spread to other to other camps, other fortifications that they will understand that they have no other way but to surrender in order to survive. But we this video and other videos like it where we do see mass surrender. I'd imagine there's different tiers of Hamas fighters, different levels of terrorists within the Hamas organization. Who who is mass surrendering? Are these low ranking guys, low level guys? Are these most trained mercenaries? What does it indicate? If you see the picture, you see that the guy who brought the weapon is a little bit more is older than the other than the rest. It seems that he is the commander of the battalion there or the commander of the platoon that that is in front of us. I believe that as I said, the virus is going to spread because this picture that we should we should bear in mind that Hamas is watching Israeli TV. They are watching all Israeli publications and all Israeli media. So this this cannot escape there. I mean, there's scrutiny and by seeing that they have a problem of morale in their troops. And so, I mean, the more we advance, the more we will see terrorists like these surrender because they would prefer to live and receive three times a day a meal. Where are they right now? They don't have anything to eat. There's still the lingering question here on where is yes and what where is the leaders of Hamas and where are the 137 hostages? Can Israel find any can find them as operations push deeper? You know, it reminds me of the Nazi the dictator Hitler. Well, he hid in his bunker and finally committed suicide at the end of the war just a few days before the Germany surrendered, Nazi Germany surrendered. We know that that's in war fled from Gaza City to Hanu Nis. I mean, and there it seems that he's he's he's hiding in in one of the tunnels. Maybe he has an access to an open tunnel to Egypt. This would be his way to flee from from from his destiny. I mean, from his death. But I mean, this is this is more or less the intelligence that we have that he is right now in the Hanu Nis area. And this is why there's a fierce battle going on in in Jabalia and Hanu Nis. And this is why we have devoted the 98th Division, which is a commander division to take care of Hanu Nis and the to the greatest surprise of Hamas. We just obliterated his defenses and we threw into the deep into the city. And now we are taking care of all those who are just fighting. And hopefully this will take us a few a few weeks and we will finish with this this bastion. Nadia presses on. But the threats to Israeli security continue around the Middle East. Israel's national security adviser says Israel will not let Hezbollah fighters remain any longer on the border fence where they have been firing anti tank shells and missiles from the fence. Israel will force Hezbollah, he says, to the north of the Lutani River. Let's go live now to eye 24 new senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev, where Hezbollah attacks are continuing even today. Jonathan, give us an update. Yes, Jeff, just about an hour ago, a UAV infiltrated into Israeli area. As far as we understand it was taken down. And shortly after minutes after, we already heard a very strong Israeli artillery response towards Lebanon. The first attack today. Unfortunately, I can say it will probably not be the last one as we know the border area is the arena of some roughly 10 daily attacks or so coming from Lebanese territory. As far as what you mentioned, we have 10s of thousands of Israeli residents who fled from this area. The communities are virtually empty, including the city of Kiryat Shemona, the city of more than 25,000 people, which is almost completely empty. And Israel wants Hezbollah to go back north of the Lutani River, as you mentioned, some 15 miles or so north of the border, as it should, according to UN Resolution 1701, which was drafted after the Second Lebanon War in 2006. The two ways to do it. One is the diplomatic way, the preferred way by Israel and the international community. But if not by diplomacy, then it will have to be done by force. Tell me more about the Lutani River. How far back is it from Hezbollah's positions along the border now? And will Hezbollah still offer a threat to life in the North when residents return from there? If Hezbollah operatives, the Rodwan force or terrorists are on the border fence itself, then, of course, it presents a threat, a threat which we always had in mind. And we saw in the South what can happen when you let these terrorists stay, remain right on the border fence. Hezbollah disguises itself as environmentalists and they build towers right on the border fence, disguising those towers as an environmental organization. But we all know exactly what these towers are used for, their observatory towers by Hezbollah terrorists. Hezbollah will pose a threat even if all the terrorists are back behind the Lutani River, as mentioned, some 15 miles or so north of the border. But of course, it will not be an immediate threat to the border communities. Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets to all ranges which can be fired, especially towards the area, to this area of the North. So yes, it does present a threat even beyond the Lutani River, but it is not an immediate threat to the communities which are right on the border fence, something that is happening today when those terrorists are right on the border fence itself. Right, Jonathan Regga, thanks so much for that update along the Israel-Lebanon border. And in Yemen, the Iran-Bak Houthi rebel group says that it will attack vessels headed to Israel. The Israeli media says Netanyahu told President Biden this is a grave threat and that he expects the US and European allies to handle it, but that the IDF will take military action if needed. The head of the Houthi militia says Israel-bound ships are legitimate targets in his estimation, but Middle East experts warn that the threat to global shipping is going to grow. I think what the Houthis are hoping is that they're going to broaden the conflict out beyond just being an Israel problem to being more of a global problem. And as a result, this attack on shipping and on maritime trade is going to push up insurance premiums. It's going to hamper international shipping routes. Don't forget, there are about 17,000 ships that go through this particular part of the Red Sea every year. So the Houthis are trying to broaden the conflict out beyond just being an Israel problem. What is the goal of the Houthi movement and how does this play with their own domestic rebel goals here, their goals and objectives? Well, that's a very good question. Now, you keep mentioning the Houthis as rebels and that is the perception of the international community. But don't forget that inside Yemen, they control territory in which two-thirds of the Yemeni population now lives. So they are going to have to be part, ultimately, of a governmental power sharing solution. And what this current stance by the Houthis does for them is that it revives their flagging base. They've now been at war for over nine years, actually for more like 20 years, if you include the first wars that started in 2004. So they're pretty war weary. It revives that flagging base. It also probably gains some broader support in Yemen because they're able to speak out against what's happening to the Palestinian people in a way that the internationally recognized government is not. So it plays to their advantage domestically. It also plays to their advantage internationally and regionally because they are framing themselves as the defenders of the Palestinian people. Well, one day after the U.S. vetoed the UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the head of the UN today says he will continue to explore new ways to push for a ceasefire, saying he is not giving up despite that failed resolution. I said that we are facing a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system. The situation is fast deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region. And I reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared. Regrettably, the Security Council failed to do it. But that does not make it less necessary. So I can promise I will not give up. Back here in Syria, I want to talk first about the threat from the north with Hezbollah. The National Security Council had saying if we don't succeed diplomatically, we will intervene militarily to push Hezbollah back. Do you believe there might be a diplomatic solution, a temporary border arrangement, perhaps involving a U.S. mediator since also after all, it's U.S. carrier groups, aircraft carriers hanging out in the sea just off the coast of Lebanon anyway? Jeff, I hate to disappoint you. I hate to disappoint you. There's no government in Lebanon. There's a government, a transition government who has no powers at all to sign any agreement with Israel because according to the Constitution, it should be a legal government so that it cannot be legalized in Lebanon. We don't have a president. We don't have a chief of the army. So we are talking about nonsense. We are just talking and talking. And there's no way we reach an agreement with such a government. Now, if this is the situation, would Israel choose to go and fight another war now with Hezbollah? Is it the time to begin another war with Hezbollah? I don't know. I think that it's not the time because we should remember that the United States is holding us very tight and saying, no, you won't expand this conflict beyond conflict between Hamas and Israel. We don't want it to be widened to Lebanon, to Syria, Iraq. I mean, the U.S. has other interests, international interests, regional interests, and we should not harm those interests. So this is why I say that if at the maximum, if we succeed in fighting Hezbollah and forcing him to leave a band or strip of land of five to six kilometers inside Lebanon, this is what's happening today, where the Israeli is hitting, I mean, the air force and the artillery is hitting there, then the army will have to deploy along the border, along those localities. And this would allow, in a way, to the inhabitants to go back there, living under the threat of Hezbollah, but beyond the four kilometers that has been created, a sort of no man's land that nobody would cross. And if somebody would cross, then he would be hit by fire by Israeli fire. But there are small provocations. If Israeli life returns in the north, even if an act is building a tent or having an individual spotter I agree with you, Jeff. But when I'm saying that if we clean up, we clean up this sort of strip of four to five kilometers along our border, we will not allow any Hezbollah fighter to come into this area. This is the basis. This is the basis. Because if he crosses the lines, which is a virtual line between four to five kilometers into our border, then he would at the mercy of fire. So that raises the question. If Hezbollah is pushed back five, six kilometers to the other side of the Latani River, they're no longer. It's not the Latani River. It's well below the Latani River. We are talking even of the Zaharani, which is really, I mean, it's five to six kilometers, no more than that. And then they still fire, though. They're still firing shells. Is this just the new way of life? Unfortunately, in the north for tens of thousands of families, there will be, as you mentioned, a massive increase in the idea of presence in the north. But there still may be this constant risk of fire unless there is a wild war. Well, the U.S. administration will strive to reach a solution in reforming Lebanon as a whole with the president elected, with parliament newly elected, with the government newly put in place. And if this happens, then the chances of reaching a diplomatic solutions are bigger than they are today. And this is a long, this is a long shot. It is not going to be tomorrow or after tomorrow. And I don't think that we have enough oxygen in our lungs in order to begin a new war with Hezbollah. It seems for our international audience that there may be the possibility of a mirror image here that residents in the south may hopefully, let's pray, soon go back home, and they won't be under rocket fire anymore. Families in Steroz and Ashkelon won't be under Hamas rockets. But the 30, 40,000 families in Kiryat Shmonai, let's say, or Moutoula, they go back home, they will be under artillery fire from Hezbollah. It will be a shift of dynamics. Jeff, let us remember. When there was a ceasefire between us and Hamas, Hezbollah stopped firing. So if we reach a ceasefire or if we reach a point of end of war or end of hostilities with Hamas, most probably Hezbollah wouldn't have an argument to continue to the war with Israel. So this is a sort of an arrangement, I mean, a de facto arrangement on the ground without breaching on the one hand the engagement piece, the Americans saying, okay, we will not expand the war. We will just limit ourselves to what it is today. And if we succeed in just pushing back Hezbollah five to six kilometers, then the army, the Israeli army will have to deploy constantly there, unlike in the past, in order to protect the civilians that will go back to their homes. And we should note also the threats in the south as well. The war in Gaza goes on, day 65 now, and concern grows about the health of the remaining hostages. Many of them are known to be injured or elderly or infirm. More testimony now from some of the survivors of Hamas captivity, who were released earlier last month during the ceasefire. Take a listen. This is my mother's family. I was seven years old. I grew up in Neroz, from there to Tkhooti, in the tractor. I was in the tractor, in the trailer of the tractor. At home, they did me with a lot of pain, a lot of pain in the neck. My name is Margalit Mozes. I'm from Kibbutz, Neroz, in Shabbat, on October 7th. I was sent to Minhara. I spent the night in the tractor. And I took him with me, so that I could sleep. And he was the other one who was the driver of the train, and took me with the tractor. My mother's name was Regev. I wrote with a little brother, and with one of my best friends. I was Regev. I was 754 days old. My parents were working here in Netsakh. They were very difficult there. But I talk about whether it was love, whether it was the family, whether it was mental, it was difficult. The hard times. Every day he came to sleep. It wasn't normal for him. 0 a.m. The parents were angry, and the child was just sick. The train was there. We went to the train station. We arrived at the train station to eat rice and bread. I was very tired for the first few weeks. I thought that I would be sick. Because I was sick. I was almost out of energy. I was almost out of food. My food was very important to me. Whether I had a problem or a problem. I remember the story of the train. I ate new foods, because I was full of food. 49 days I didn't eat. It was painful. It was painful for me. It was painful for me. Physically. Every day it was more and more difficult. The situation of being sick in buildings, or where they are not there, it is a very difficult situation. And if you are sick, you are not. I ask, I know that there are a lot of workers on this line. But there are other people who are very willing to live outside. I ask that you do a lot, a lot of strength. In my opinion, everyone is getting sick. The days are very difficult. One day it will be like a peaceful week. In Anna, they went on like this. That first of all, they will leave everyone to return home. And then, after that, they will be written in a book. They say, I am still there. I still go there. I know it's painful there. I have to return home, and all the people are gone now. God bless you, gentlemen. Stay with us. We'll see you in just a minute. Thanks so much. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely gunned 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 be fought as well. Last night, the IDF seized control of Palestine Square in Gaza City, raising the Israeli flag. Over the Hamas stronghold where Hamas held and humiliated hostages in those propaganda videos before their release. Even more videos out of Gaza from overnight show the surrender of dozens of terrorists who were ordered to strip down to their underwear to show that they are not wearing a suicide belt. The IDF chief of staff says Hamas is demoralized and that more terrorists are surrounding every day. Just a few minutes ago, at the beginning of his political cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he frequently is consulting with American President Joe Biden on the war and other threats as well. In the last two days, I spoke with both Chancellor Schultz and French President Macron, as well as with other leaders. I told them that it is impossible to support the elimination of Hamas with one hand and pressure us to end the war with the other hand, which will prevent the elimination of Hamas. And I think that in this struggle, justice is with us and unity is with us. When we are united as a people and as a country, there is no force that can prevent us from doing the right thing. The threats to Israeli security continue from around the Middle East. Israel's National Security Advisor says that Israel will not let Hezbollah fighters remain on the northern border fence any longer and that Israel will force Hezbollah to the north of the Latani River before thousands of families will be allowed to return to their homes in the far north. With us now is I-24 News Senior Defense Correspondent Jonathan Regav. In the north of Israel, we're already this morning, there was a Hezbollah infiltration of some kind into Israel. Jonathan, tell us more about that and perhaps about the Israeli plan in the weeks ahead to force Hezbollah off of the border fence. That is correct. First, this morning, it was two hours ago when Hezbollah UAV was about to cross into Israel and was taken down. Sirens were heard in various communities in the western part of the Galilee. They're right on the border itself, but a little bit to the west of us. Regarding the Israeli plan, Israel is well aware that the residents here will not go back home if they will see images of the RAD-1 forces terrorists right on their doorstep, pretty much right on the border fence. We saw in the south what could happen and the residents here have no interest in returning to a situation that is similar here in the north. Two options, of course, to do it. One is the diplomatic route to force Hezbollah to go back to what is known as UN Resolution 1701. It was drafted after the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and it caused for all Hezbollah terrorists and all Hezbollah operatives to remain to the north of the Litany River, which is some 15 miles or so from the border itself. Of course, Israel is interested in the diplomatic solution. The Western nations, such as the U.S. and France, which has a strong leverage in Lebanon, are also interested in that. Hezbollah obviously is not interested in this kind of solution, so it's not clear if they really will agree to that. If the answer is no, then the only other way to do it is through force. Israel is hoping to put all of its attention now in Gaza not to open another serious front here, not to let things in this border escalate further than they've already escalated. But if there's no other choice, then Israel will have to act by force or else the border will remain hot and there'll be no return home of tens of thousands of people who are displaced from here. Jonathan Regan in the north, thank you so much for that update. With me now is Professor Kobe Mikhail, who is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies. Professor, thank you so much for being with me. Do you think that there will be ultimately a major military confrontation with Hezbollah to get them to abide by that UN resolution, to force them away from the border fence? And even if Hezbollah is 5, 10 kilometers away, will they still pose a daily threat to life, civilian life in the north? Good morning. It looks that we are in front of a higher probability of collision with Hezbollah, because I don't believe that they will be willing to withdraw even five or 10 kilometers from the border. I will be surprised if they will do that. I don't believe that the international pressures, be it American or French pressures, will convince them to do that. The only thing that might convince them in this regard is a very clear-cut defeat of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. And this is not something that is going to be seen in the very near future. It will take some further weeks. And I think that the residents of the north are totally right with regard to their demand to return to their homes only when they are secured. So we are in a sort of catch-22. Israel prefers that it will be done by a diplomatic move, but I'm not sure that this diplomatic move is really valid. Do you think that the tens of thousands of families who live in places like Matula or Kiryat Shmona, do you think they will be able to return home at all, even next year, in the year 2024, will they return home? If they will not be able to return soon, I mean in two months or so, then we are in a huge trouble as a state, as a country, because a state which is not able to reside its citizens in any territory, in any territory under its sovereignty, I would say that this is almost a failed state. And Israel is not a failed state, and Israel does not intend to be a failed state. And I'm sure that the IDF and the political echelon will do what they have to do in order to assure the realization of the full sovereignty of the state of Israel along all of its borders. Thank you, Professor. Stay with us. I want to bring into the conversation our correspondent in Steroot, where the battle is still raging in the South, Ariel Osiron in Steroot near the Israel Gaza border, where the IDF continues to intensify its ground offensive, but also Hamas' rocket attacks ongoing. Ariel, give us an update on the situation there. Yes, Jeff, just a short while ago, just a matter of a few minutes, red alert, incoming rocket sirens sounded in the communities just north of the Gaza Strip, Yad Mordechai, Nativa Sara. There are no reports of injuries, but this is the first barrage of rockets from Gaza in about 20 hours. And we have not seen such a low span of quiet regarding rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, since the start of the war, except for the week-long ceasefire. And so this is another indication, in addition to what we're seeing on the ground, that while Hamas maintains its capabilities to fire rockets at Israel, there are indeed spreading out their barrages also due to difficulty to launch these rockets, given that their areas of operation have substantially minimized, but also given the fact that they want to be able to launch rockets until the last moment of this war. And so given they don't know exactly how long to expect, they're extending the gap, the lull between these barrages of rockets that can explain this nearly 20-hour lull, obviously for the residents living beyond the evacuation point in southern Israel. That is a much-anticipated development, but indeed this does not mean that they can no longer fire rockets, but that they're spreading out their barrages even more. But beyond the rockets, we're seeing a continuation of fighting in the key sectors of Jabalia and Shadjaia, outside Gaza City and the northern part of the Gaza Strip, as well as the constant artillery shelling of the even more northern neighborhoods of Beit Hanun and Beit Lahia. All the while, main focus continues to be Chanyunis in the south, significant amounts of forces operating there, advancing there. And over the past 24 hours, the IDF saying they had targeted no less than 250 targets across the Gaza Strip. Ariel Osiron, thank you so much for that live update on the Israel-Hamas border. With me now in the studio is Avi Pasner, the former Israeli ambassador to France and to Italy. Avi, thanks so much for being with us. I want to play for us a sound bite on this, from a top IDF spokesman on the state of Hamas' morale, their mentality as the war goes on, and we are seeing these videos of mass surrender from Hamas. Here's what the IDF is saying today. Well, we're unable to play that sound bite at this moment, but the IDF spokesman saying that the Hamas is demoralized and they continue to surrender in mass. Do you vote, what does this mean in your estimation for the intense ground operations phase, and what does it mean for the effort to find and release hostages? I mean, Jeff, this is an encouraging development because for two months of war, we haven't seen these pictures of Hamas surrendering. There was heart-fighting also before, and they fought. And apparently, with days going on, they are becoming demoralized. They see our advance, they see our military successes, although slow in order to avoid casualties on our side, but those are first-time images that we see, people surrendering with their arms, with their arms. This is, in my view, an important development, and it is maybe the beginning of the phase where some of the Hamas units are breaking down. Maybe not all of them. It's a very complicated kind of war, and it will last. I mean, this is not a quick war. This is not the sixth day war. This is a grinding house to highs, road to road battle, face-to-face battle. This is the hardest military exercise that you can think of. Now that we are seeing dozens and dozens of surrendering Hamas fighters, is the chance now ripe for a new hostage negotiation to release? I hope so. I hope so, Jeff. I mean, obviously, the Hamas is getting weaker. The Hamas, again, needs some days of truth in order to reorganize. And the big question is, is the IDF ready to give them those some days of truth now that apparently some of their units are breaking down? That's a big question. Or can we have a release of hostages without the truth? Let's say only humanitarian aid. Let's say that. But I think it is important. I believe that if we can, if we have the opportunity to release hostages, we should do our utmost to do so. Even if this means stopping two or three days of fighting, not more than that. I believe now we do have the sound bite from the IDF talking about the Hamas breaking down the spirited state of the troops, of their militia, terror militias. Here is what the IDF is saying. In the last 24 hours, the IDF has deepened the fighting inside Han Yunus. We've located underground shafts, weapons, and eliminated many terrorists. Many terrorists have surrendered during the battles in Sajaya and Jabalia and handed over weapons and equipment. Interrogations of terrorists have revealed the following intelligence. The condition of Hamas operatives on the ground is hard. And the Hamas leadership, headed by Sinwar, is denying reality, despite having all the information. The operatives are complaining that the Hamas leadership is disconnected from the harsh conditions they face on the ground. They also feel that Hamas doesn't care about the Ghazan people. It is of great concern, even to Hamas' military operatives. Still with Professor Kobe Mikhail, Professor, what do you believe the impact will be within Gaza, these images? Dozens of surrendering Hamas fighters, some with laying down their weapons, is it going to be some kind of contagion event that will spread under the tunnels amongst other Hamas units? And do the other units even know what's happening? Is there such a breakdown that no one really understands, do you believe, underground? What's happening above? It's crucial to understand that we are engaged, not only in a kinetic war against Hamas. We are engaged also in a cognitive war. And in this regard, the images that came out yesterday and the day before yesterday, without a very broad scale of surrounding of Hamas, is very crucial, is very important. And it has a very significant impact. First of all, on the Ghazans themselves, on the citizens of Gaza. And this is something that releases the fear that they have from Hamas. And this will encourage them to demonstrate against Hamas and to voice their criticism against Hamas. And I assume that at the end of the day, this accumulating voicing will affect Hamas as well. In addition to that, it affects Hamas itself. Because I assume that if not all of them, at least part of them, see the images, see the pictures. And we have to understand that in their eyes, these pictures are very humiliating pictures. And I think that it has a psychological effect on them. And at the end of the day, this is something that supports the kinetic efforts and supports the entire efforts of the world. In your mind, as we approach this question, what is victory for the IDF in this phase of the war? Is it raising the flag in the Hanyunist? Is it the successful capture of Sinwar, the release of hostages? How do we make a mark of victory for Israel to know when to move forward to the next stage? First of all, with your permission, I would like to distinguish between victory and winning. Victory, it's a political term, not a military term. The military term is winning. With regard to the winning, we will know that the IDF won the war when Hamas will stop operating effectively as a military and governmental system. And I think that we are in the right direction, in the right way. And we are pretty close to this point and to declare winning over Hamas. The victory is much more complicated because the victory is related, as I said, to the political condition. And here we have to deal with the situation in the Gaza Strip and in the day after the war with the population of more than 2 million people and the humanitarian situation during the Gaza Strip. And with the idea of assuring that the Gaza Strip will never become once again what the Gaza Strip was until October 7th. Also, I want to get your take on the situation in Yemen where the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group says it's going to start attacking vessels headed to Israel. Israeli media reports that Netanyahu told Biden that this is a grave threat that he expects the US and European allies to handle. But the IDF will take action if needed. The head of the Houthi militia says any Israel-bound ships may be targeted. A top Middle East expert says that this is an opportunity for the Houthis to seize domestic popularity. I think what the Houthis are hoping is that they're going to broaden the conflict out beyond just being an Israel problem to being more of a global problem. And as a result, this attack on shipping and on maritime trade is going to push up insurance premiums. It's going to hamper international shipping routes. Don't forget there are about 17,000 ships that go through this particular part of the Red Sea every year. So the Houthis are trying to broaden the conflict out beyond just being an Israel problem. What is the goal of the Houthi movement and how does this play with their own domestic rebel goals here, their goals and objectives? Well, that's a very good question. Now, you keep mentioning the Houthis as rebels, and that is the perception of the international community. But don't forget that inside Yemen, they control territory in which two-thirds of the Yemeni population now lives. So they are going to have to be part ultimately of a governmental power sharing solution. And what this current stance by the Houthis does for them is that it revives their flagging base. They've now been at war for over nine years, actually for more like 20 years if you include the first wars that started in 2004. So they're pretty war weary. It revives that flagging base. It also probably gains some broader support in Yemen because they're able to speak out against what's happening to the Palestinian people in a way that the internationally recognized government is not. So it plays to their advantage domestically. It also plays to their advantage internationally and regionally because they are framing themselves as the defenders of the Palestinian people. Professor Kobe, what do you make of the threat from the Houthi militia here? Do you believe that they will start attacking, boarding your acts of piracy on ships? And will there be a big impact for global shipping? Unfortunately, in this regard, I'm a bit skeptic because as it was said just before, Israel tries to make the issue as a global issue and the global concern. I'm not sure that Israel is succeeding in convincing the international community to tackle this problem as a global problem. And eventually Israel suffers from the Houthis there in Babel Mandem. And I think that at the end of the day, we must understand that Iran is the direct responsible for the behavior of the Houthis and their operations in Babel Mandem. And I think that in this regard, the United States of America must change each policy towards Iran. And Iran must understand that they will pay a very high price if they will not restrain the Houthis. For the time being, Israel remains with the problem pretty alone. Yeah. Professor, thank you so much for being with us on I-24 News. Thank you very much. Bye-bye. Are there shades here, echoes of 67, when Nasser closing the Straits of Tehran, that when you start threatening global trade routes, this becomes no longer an Israel security problem. This is a global situation when the Professor Mikhail, they're mentioning that the world so far doesn't grasp the severity of the threat. What do you make of where this could go? It's clear that the blocking of international naval ways is a castle's belly, is a cause for war. It happened not only in 67, also in 56, by the way, the same. We had difficulties with Straits of Tehran, like we have with Babel Mandem. Now, in my view, this is really an international problem. It's not that Israel tries here to evade doing something. On the contrary, Jeff, I heard about a mysterious explosion a week ago somewhere in Yemen that the whole amount of a cave of ammunition was blown up. So Israel, thanks God, knows how to operate also far away, but it is not an Israeli problem. This is an international problem. And I have heard already that there is the beginning of the formation of an international force for being positioned at Babel Mandem. And by the way, there was an attack yesterday, I believe, on a French military ship which responded and shot down a drone, a Houthi drone. So I believe that- Isn't this exactly what the US doesn't want? I mean, they want to be seen as a show of force. We have the carrier groups here in the sea, but they don't want to actually be entangled into a conflict, to actually be responsible for preventing acts of piracy in the Red Sea. This could lead to what the US doesn't want, becoming a tentacle of Iran in the original war here, no? Yeah, you know, for the time being, Iran is behind the scene, okay? Iran is not a- It's obviously Iran who is ordering the Houthi to do that. And by the way, Jeff, that might be a dangerous precedent for the Strait of Hormuz, where 80% of the oil ships go, which can be threatened the same way by Iran itself, okay? So if you don't do anything in Babel Mandem, you will have problems in Hormuz. So I believe that at the end, America, not alone. I don't think that Biden wants to be alone in this operation. With others, with the British, with the French, with others, they will form an international force that will see to it that the streets are opened. And if they don't do that, if they don't do that, they take a very big risk of then seeing an escalation of the war, because Iran may believe that they can do more than just blocking the Strait of Babel Mandem. We've already seen the Houthis fire missiles all the way to a lot. Their capability as a fighting militia, do they pose a real danger? You know, we used to see them as a band of nobodies. Yeah. Just making noise, but not a real threat. It's not only a militia. It's an army. I mean, you know, you said a few minutes ago that two-thirds of Yemen was in the hand, meaning most of Yemen is in the hand. They are not anymore a militia. They are an army. I saw, for example, helicopters landing on the chip that they hijacked. They are an army. And they are capable of firing missiles to Israel. We can defend ourselves. We defend ourselves with the marvelous system, the arrow and the iron dome and whatever goes in between. But we have to take that seriously. It's not the band of nobodies 2,000 kilometers away. It's a country with an army. And we have to consider it as such. And when the time comes, and the time will come, and we can turn our attention from Gaza and from the north to the Houthi, we'll also do so. Avi Paso, thank you so much for being with us in the studio. Great to have you. Going off for a break. Stay with us here on I-25 News. We have more live team coverage coming up. More live reporting from the north with the Hezbollah threat. Already Hezbollah attacks today, incursions into Israel and also along the Israel Gaza border. We're Hamas, firing rockets once again into the southern part of Israeli territory. More live updates and reporting and in studio analysis. Stay with us. We'll see you soon. In a state of war, families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where we see as our soldiers are fighting on the front lines. But the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. News 24, Israel, bajo ataque. News 24 en español trae el análisis y la información de los acontecimientos de la guerra, espadas de hierro. Entrevistas exclusivas reportes desde la zona de guerra. La reacción de los países hispanoparlantes. News 24, el único medio en español que te mantiene informado y conectado con la comunidad latina en Israel. News 24, únicamente en I-24 News. Story to the world. Thanks for watching I-24 News at this hour. As we bring you the latest live updates from Tel Aviv. We'll begin with the war in Gaza, a significant and symbolic victory last night. The idea of seizing control of Palestine's square in Gaza City raising the Israeli flag over the Hamas stronghold where Hamas held and humiliated hostages in those propaganda videos before their release. Even more videos out of Gaza from overnight show the surrender of dozens of terrorists who were ordered to strip down to their underwear to show that they are not wearing suicide belts. The IDF chief of staff says Hamas is demoralized and that more terrorists are surrounding every day. Just a few minutes ago at the beginning of his political cabinet meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he frequently is consulting with American President Joe Biden on the war and other threats as well. In the last two days I spoke with both Chancellor Schultz and French President Macron, as well as with other leaders. I told them that it is impossible to support the elimination of Hamas with one hand and pressure us to end the war with the other hand, which will prevent the elimination of Hamas. And I think that in this struggle justice is with us and unity is with us. When we are united as a people and as a country, there is no force that can prevent us from doing the right thing. The threats to Israeli security continue from around the Middle East. Israel's National Security Advisor says that Israel will not let Hezbollah fighters remain on the northern border fence any longer, and that Israel will force Hezbollah to the north of the Latani River before thousands of families will be allowed to return to their homes in the far north. With us now is I-24 News Senior Defense Correspondent Jonathan Regav. In the north of Israel, we're already this morning, there was a Hezbollah infiltration of some kind into Israel. Jonathan, tell us more about that and perhaps about the Israeli plan in the weeks ahead to force Hezbollah off of the border fence. That is correct. First, this morning, it was two hours ago, when Hezbollah UAV was about to cross into Israel and was taken down, sirens were heard in various communities in the western part of the Galilee, right on the border itself, but a little bit to the west of us. Regarding the Israeli plan, Israel is well aware that the residents here will not go back home if they will see images of the Radwan forces terrorists right on their doorstep, pretty much, right on the border fence. We saw in the south what could happen, and the residents here have no interest in returning to a situation that is similar here in the north. Two options, of course, to do it. One is the diplomatic route to force Hezbollah to go back to what is known as UN Resolution 1701. It was drafted after the Second Lebanon War in 2006, and it calls for all Hezbollah terrorists and all Hezbollah operatives to remain to the north of the Litani River, which is some 15 miles or so from the border itself. Of course, Israel is interested in the diplomatic solution. The western nations such as the U.S. and France, which has a strong leverage in Lebanon, are also interested in that. Hezbollah obviously is not interested in this kind of solution, so it's not clear if they really will agree to that. If the answer is no, then the only other way to do it is through force. Israel is hoping to put all of its attention now in Gaza not to open another serious front here, not to let things in this border escalate further than they've already escalated. But if there's no other choice, then Israel will have to act by force or else this border will remain hot and there will be no return home of the tens of thousands of people who are displaced from here. Jonathan Regan, in the north, thank you so much for that update. With me now is Professor Kobe Mikhail, who is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies. Professor, thank you so much for being with me. Do you think that there will be ultimately a major military confrontation with Hezbollah to get them to abide by that UN resolution to force them away from the border fence? Even if Hezbollah is 5, 10 kilometers away, will they still pose a daily threat to civilian life in the north? Good morning. It looks that we are in front of a higher probability of collision with Hezbollah because I don't believe that they will be willing to withdraw even 5 or 10 kilometers from the border. I will be surprised if they will do that. I don't believe that the international pressures, be it American or French pressures, will convince them to do that. The only thing that might convince them in this regard is a very clear-cut defeat of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and this is not something that is going to be seen in the very near future. It will take some further weeks and I think that the residents of the north are totally right with regard to their demand to return to their homes only when they are secured. So we are in a sort of catch-22. Israel prefers that it will be done by a diplomatic move but I'm not sure that this diplomatic move is really valid. Do you think that the tens of thousands of families who live in places like Matula or Kiryat Shmona do you think they will be able to return home at all? Even next year, in the year 2024, will they return home? If they will not be able to return soon, I mean in two months or so, then we are in a huge trouble as a state, as a country, because a state which is not able to reside its citizens in any territory, in any territory under its sovereignty, I would say that this is almost a failed state and Israel is not a failed state and Israel does not intend to be a failed state and I'm sure that the IDF and the political echelon will find what they have to do in order to assure the realization of the full sovereignty of the state of Israel along all of its borders. Thank you, Professor. Stay with us. I want to bring into the conversation our correspondent in Steyrout where the battle is still raging in the south. Ariel Osiron in Steyrout near the Israel Gaza border where the IDF continues to intensify its ground offensive but also Hamas' rocket attacks ongoing. Ariel, give us an update on the situation there. Yes, Jeff, just a short while ago, just a matter of a few minutes, Red Alert incoming rocket sirens sounded in the communities just north of the Gaza Strip, Yad Mordechai, Nativa Sara. There are no reports of injuries but this is the first barrage of rockets from Gaza in about 20 hours and we have not seen such a low span of quiet regarding rockets launched from the Gaza Strip since the start of the war except for the week-long ceasefire. And so this is another indication in addition to what we're seeing on the ground that while Hamas maintains its capabilities to fire rockets at Israel, there are indeed spreading out their barrages also due to difficulty to launch these rockets given that their areas of operation have substantially minimized but also given the fact that they want to be able to launch rockets until the last moment of this war and so given they don't know exactly how long to expect their extending the gap, the lull between these barrages of rockets that can explain this nearly 20-hour lull obviously for the residents living beyond the evacuation point in southern Israel that is a much anticipated development but indeed this does not mean that they can no longer fire rockets but that they're spreading out their barrages even more but beyond the rockets we're seeing a continuation of fighting in the key sectors of Jabalia and Shadjaia outside Gaza City in the northern part of the Gaza Strip as well as the constant artillery shelling of the even more northern neighborhoods of Beit Chanun and Beit Lahia all the while main focus continues to be Chan'younis in the south significant amounts of forces operating there advancing there and over the past 24 hours the IDF saying they had targeted no less than 250 targets across the Gaza Strip Ariel Osseron, thank you so much for that live update on the Israel Hamas border with me now in the studio is Avi Pasner the former Israeli ambassador to France and to Italy Avi, thanks so much for being with us I want to play for us a sound bite on this from a top IDF spokesman on the state of Hamas' morale their mentality as the war goes on and we are seeing these videos of mass surrender from Hamas here's what the IDF is saying today we're unable to play that sound at this moment but the IDF spokesman saying that Hamas is demoralized and they continue to surrender in mass what does this mean in your estimation for the intense ground operations phase and what does it mean for the effort to release define and release hostages I mean Jeff this is an encouraging development because for two months of war we haven't seen these pictures of Hamas surrendering there was heart fighting also before and they fought and apparently with days going on they are becoming demoralized they see our advance they see our military successes although slow in order to avoid casualties on our side but those are first time images that we see people surrendering with their arms with their arms this is in my view an important development it is maybe the beginning of the phase where some of the Hamas unit are breaking down maybe not all of them it's a very complicated kind of war and it will last I mean this is not a quick war this is not the 6th day war this is a grinding house to highs road to road battle face to face battle this is the hardest military exercise that you can think of now that we are seeing dozens and dozens of surrendering Hamas fighters is the chance now ripe for a new hostage negotiation to release I hope so, I hope so Jeff I mean obviously the Hamas is getting weaker the Hamas again needs some days of truth in order to reorganize and the big question is is the IDF ready to give them those some days of truth now that apparently some of their units are breaking down that's a big question or can we have a release of hostages without the truth let's say only humanitarian aid let's say that but I think it is important I believe that if we can if we have the opportunity to release hostages we should do our utmost to do so even if this means stopping two or three days of fighting not more than that I believe now we do have the sound bite from the IDF talking about the Hamas breaking down the spirited state of the troops of their militia terror militias here is what the IDF is saying in the last 24 hours the IDF has deepened the fighting inside Han Yunus we've located underground shafts weapons and eliminated many terrorists many terrorists have surrendered during the battles in Sajaiya and Jabalia and handed over weapons and equipment interrogations of terrorists have revealed the following intelligence the condition of Hamas operatives on the ground is hard and the Hamas leadership headed by Sinwar is denying reality despite having all the information the operatives are complaining Hamas leadership is disconnected from the harsh conditions they face on the ground they also feel that Hamas doesn't care about the Ghazan people it is of great concern even to Hamas's military operatives still with Professor Kobi Mikhail Professor what do you believe the impact will be within Ghazan of these images of dozens of surrendering Hamas fighters some with laying down their weapons is it going to be some kind of you know a contagion event that will spread under the tunnels amongst other Hamas units and do the other units even know what's happening there's such a breakdown that no one really understands do you believe underground what's happening above it's crucial to understand that we are engaged not only in a kinetic war against Hamas we are engaged also in a cognitive war and in this regard the images that came out yesterday and the day before yesterday without the very broad scale of surrounding of Hamas is very crucial, is very important and it has a very significant impact first of all on the Ghazans themselves on the citizens of Ghazan and this is something that releases the fear that they have from Hamas and this will encourage them to demonstrate against Hamas and to voice their criticism against Hamas and I assume that at the end of the day this accumulating voicing will affect Hamas as well in addition to that it affects Hamas itself because I assume that if not all of them at least part of them see the images see the pictures and we have to understand that in their eyes these pictures are very humiliating pictures and I think that it has a psychological effect on them and at the end of the day this is something that supports the kinetic efforts and supports the entire efforts of the world In your mind as we approach this question what is victory for the IDF in this phase of the war? Is it raising the flag in the Khan Yunus? Is it the successful capture of Sinwar the release of hostages? How do we make a mark of victory for Israel to know when to move forward to the next stage? First of all with your permission I would like to distinguish between victory and winning Victory is a political term not a military term The military term is winning With regard to the winning we will know that the IDF won the war when Hamas will stop operating effectively as a military and governmental system and I think that we are in the right direction in the right way and we are pretty close to this point to declare winning over Hamas The victory is much more complicated because the victory is related as I said to the political condition and here we have to deal with the situation in the Gaza Strip in the day after the war with the population of more than 2 million people and the humanitarian situation there in the Gaza Strip and with the idea of assuring that the Gaza Strip will never become once again what the Gaza Strip was until October 7 Also I want to get your take on the situation in Yemen where the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group says it's going to start attacking vessels headed to Israel Israeli media reports that Netanyahu told Biden that this is a grave threat that he expects the US and European allies to handle and the IDF will take action if needed the head of the Houthi militia says any Israel-bound ships may be targeted a top Middle East expert says that this is an opportunity for the Houthis to seize domestic popularity I think what the Houthis are hoping is that they're going to broaden the conflict out beyond just being an Israel problem to being more of a global problem as a result this attack on shipping and on maritime trade is going to push up insurance premiums it's going to hamper international shipping routes don't forget there are about 17,000 ships that go through this particular part of the Red Sea every year so the Houthis are trying to broaden the conflict out beyond just being an Israel problem What is the goal of the Houthi movement and how does this play with their own domestic rebel goals here their goals and objectives? Well that's a very good question now you keep mentioning the Houthis as rebels and that is the perception of the international community but don't forget that inside Yemen they control territory in which two thirds of the Yemeni population now lives so they are going to have to be part ultimately of a governmental power sharing solution and what this current stance by the Houthis does for them is that it revives their flagging base they've now been at war for over nine years actually for more like 20 years if you include the first wars that started in 2004 so they're pretty war weary it revives that flagging base it also probably gains some broader support in Yemen because they're able to speak out against what's happening to the Palestinian people in a way that the internationally recognized government is not so it plays to their advantage domestically it also plays to their advantage internationally and regionally because they are framing themselves as the defenders of the Palestinian people Professor Kobi what do you make of the threat from the Houthi militia here do you believe that they will start attacking boarding the acts of piracy on ships and will there be a big impact for global shipping unfortunately in this regard I'm a bit skeptic because as it was said just before Israel tries to make the issue as a global issue and the global concern I'm not sure that Israel is succeeding in convincing the international community to tackle this problem as a global problem and eventually Israel suffers from the Houthis from the Houthis there in Babel Mandem and I think that at the end of the day we must understand that Iran is the direct responsible for the behavior of the Houthis and their operations in Babel Mandem and I think that in this regard the United States of America must change each policy towards Iran and Iran and we must understand that they will pay a very high price if they will not restrain the Houthis and for the time being Israel remains with the problem pretty alone Professor thank you so much for being with us on I-24 News Thank you very much Are there shades here, echoes of 67 when Nasser closing the Straits of Tehran start threatening global trade routes as this becomes no longer an Israel security problem this is a global situation that the world so far doesn't grasp the severity of the threat what do you make of where this could go? It's clear that the blocking of international naval ways is a castle's belly because for war it happened not only in 67 also in 56 by the way the same we had difficulties with the Straits of Tehran like we have with Babel Mandem now in my view this is really an international problem it's not that Israel tries here to evade doing something on the contrary you know Jeff I heard about a mysterious explosion a week ago somewhere in Yemen that the whole amount of cave of ammunition was blown up so Israel thanks God knows how to operate also far away but it is not an Israeli problem this is an international problem and I have heard already that there is the beginning of the formation of an international force for being positioned at Babel Mandem by the way there was an attack yesterday I believe on a French military ship which responded and shot down a drone a Houthi drone so I believe that... Isn't this exactly what the US doesn't want? I mean they want to be seen as a show of force we have the carrier groups here in the sea but they don't want to actually be entangled into a conflict to actually be responsible for preventing acts of piracy in the Red Sea this could lead to what the US doesn't want becoming a tentacle of Iran in a regional war here For the time being Iran is behind the scene Iran is not a... it's obviously Iran who is ordering the Houthi to do that and by the way Jeff that might be a dangerous precedent for the strait of Hormuz where 80% of the oil ships go which can be threatened the same way by Iran itself okay so if you don't do anything in Babel Mandem you will have problems in Hormuz so I believe that at the end America not alone I don't think that Biden wants to be alone in this operation with others with the British with the French with others they will form an international force that will see to it that the straits are open and if they don't do that they take a very big risk of them seeing an escalation of the war because Iran may believe that they can do more than just blocking the strait of Babel Mandem we've already seen the Houthis fire missiles all the way to a lot their capability as a fighting militia do they pose a real danger you know we used to see them as a band of nobodies just making noise it's not only a militia it's an army I mean you know you said a few minutes ago that two-thirds of Yemen was in the hand meaning most of Yemen is in the hand they are not anymore a militia they are an army I saw for example helicopters landing on the chip that they hijacked they are an army and they are capable of firing missiles to Israel we can defend ourselves we defend ourselves we have a marvelous system the arrow and the iron dome and whatever goes in between but we have to take that seriously it's not a band of nobodies 2,000 kilometers away it's a country with an army and we have to consider it as such and when the time comes and the time will come and we can turn our attention from Gaza and from the north to the Houthi we'd also do so Avi Paso thank you so much for being with us great to have you going out for a break stay with us here on iPoint4News we have more live team coverage coming up more live reporting from the north with the Hezbollah threat already Hezbollah attacks today incursions into Israel and also along the Israel Gaza border where Hamas fire and rockets once again into the southern part of Israeli territory more live updates and reporting and in studio analysis stay with us we'll see you soon