 officially in a state of war. This is a very active scene, and we need to get in the car as we're talking. Within 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped. Help us, we don't want to do it. We just don't know anything. Entire families, including babies and children and elderly, were butchered in their beds. Awaken the giant, and we are ready, and we are strong. Everyone is showing up. This is the unity. Come to this special broadcast here on I-24 News as we continue our rolling coverage, Day 19 of the war in Israel. Some progress and a certain breakthrough. This is how Qatari officials, yes. The same Qatar that sponsored Hamas terror for years are suggesting positive momentum in the attempt to release over 220 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. For the first time, Israeli acknowledgement of those efforts, the head of Israel's National Security Council, Tzachya Negbi, saying he's pleased to say that Qatar is becoming an essential party and stakeholder in the facilitation of humanitarian solutions. And as long as the diplomatic hope exists, it seems that ground operation is on hold. I think that if we compare where we started and where we are right now, there is some progress and some breakthrough, and we will remain hopeful the negotiations are still ongoing. And at any moment of time, I think that if we will be able to get along between the two parties, I think we will see some breakthroughs hopefully soon. Crossing now down south, I-24 News senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev, standing by there with the I-24 News team. Jonathan, let's begin with Hamas launching of a long-range rocket from the Gaza Strip at Israel's most southern city, Eilat, where many displaced Israelis from the Gaza border communities are currently there, rushing or relocating from this war zone to a relatively safe location, which today seems to be far from it. Yes, Hamas did two things today. One is that rocket towards the Eilat area, which exploded in an open area outside of the city, didn't make it to the city. But distance of roughly something like 250 kilometers from the Gaza Strip in, just moments before that, sending another long-range rocket to the area of Haifa. Also, some distance of 200 kilometers or so. Hamas were well aware that each of those rockets will not make any damage. These are not very sophisticated rockets. The one launched to the north, even basically disintegrated in the air. But it's a message. The message is we can cover the entire state of Israel with our rockets. More of a statement. And the statement, as far as they're concerned, has been made. As far as Hamas is concerned, they can say that they cover the entire state of Israel from Eilat in the south to Haifa in the north, practically the entire state of Israel. And I think that is the statement that they wanted to put. And Jonathan, it seems that as long as there are still ongoing diplomatic efforts to release hostages, taking naturally, perhaps, the center stage of this war, the ground operation, more or less, and hold, maybe despite the commitments to achieve both at the same time earlier in earlier phases of the war, perhaps it is not feasible to do both? Maybe not. And Israel understanding that if there is a time to do something for the hostages, it is now, before the ground operation begins. And Hamas understanding that as well. Hamas, of course, very cynical in their psychological game. And the hostage card is quite a big card that they hold. And they're playing with it with the help of Qatar. Qatar, for years, funding Hamas, being their main supporter. And now pretending to be the good angel trying to help solve this crisis. And Hamas doing very good use, unfortunately, for us of this very big card they have in hand. Yeah, creating the problem in order to be seen as a solver, Qatar, that is. I-24 News, senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev, thank you very much for this. And from the southern front to the northern one, the president, the head of the Alma Institute with the fresh assessment of what is really unfolding between Israel and Hezbollah, and not just on the northern border, let's take a listen. I am among those who believe that there is a master plan of Iran to execute a multi-front campaign against the state of Israel. Not necessarily at the same time. Maybe for some operational reasons, for example, maybe to exhaust us in the south and then to come up north. Maybe for legitimacy reasons. Maybe Nasrallah needs more legitimacy in Lebanon because it wants to take over Lebanon. And that's why it didn't want to initiate the massacre, but to present as if it was dragged into the massacre. I don't know. There could be more reasons we can think of. But when I'm looking at a situation at the border, since all of that started, that every day there are more and more attacks of Hezbollah on the border, and they pick their targets, meaning their targets are specifically to create the preparedness of Hezbollah to invasion to Israel. When I look at what happened on the Israeli-Lebanese border in the past year, from the ground, I was there every day. And I saw Hezbollah military operatives on the border, Spine on IDF landing our routine, Spine on civilians, when I see the positions that they have built and all the infrastructures they have built. When I look at Hezbollah invasion of offensive plan that was published a decade ago, and the similarity, the unbelievable similarity of this plan to what actually happened in the south, I understand that we are actually watching a master plan that we are just in the middle of it. So Israel has said essentially that it can't live with Hamas on its doorstep after what's happened, that it has to destroy Hamas. Do you think that that's equally true of Hezbollah? As a resident of the Galilee, yes. I am not willing to live with the master anymore. I think the conception of deterrence failed. I think the conception of containers failed. I think that we cannot rely always on intelligence to give us a strategic alert that something will happen at this day and at this time. And it is clear to all Israelis that the army cannot be drafted fully, like it is now because it is paralyzing the everyday life here. Everybody is drafted. We need to find a different way to eliminate the capabilities of Hezbollah that are endangering Israelis and Lebanese alike. And heading now up north, I-24 News correspondent Robert Swift standing by there, Robert. You've conducted this interview. We've just heard with the CEO of the Alma Institute. And indeed, it seems that if anything, what was perhaps perceived on behalf of Israel for a long while is poking or small provocation, much more than that. And today, fire exchange on the border continues all the time, not just Lebanon, Syria as well. Yeah, indeed. The fact that Syria is now starting to come into play here, that's alarming some people, just to update our audience. So around about an hour and a half ago, there was, according to Syrian media reports, Israeli airstrikes against Aleppo Airport, which is in the north of Syria. This is allegedly the fourth time that Aleppo Airport has been struck by Israeli jets, but this wasn't the only incident involving the Syrian Lebanese. The Syrian-Israeli border with rockets being fired from Syrian territory into Israeli space yesterday evening and then Israeli military jets responding overnight, killing eight Syrian soldiers. Now, these are just a handful of the numerous security incidents that have taken place along this northern border in the last 24 hours. The majority of them have taken place between Lebanese territory and Israeli territory, but those voices that are concerned about a regional conflict, the fact that now there's some fire coming from the Syrian border is starting to make those voices a little more nervous. Yeah, and to that point, exactly Robert, if in recent days though, was still in an attempt to assess and reassess the coordination or commitment or unity, you name it between Hezbollah and Hamas today, now that we needed further proof, but Nasrallah meeting with Hamas and PIJ leaders, what do we know? That's correct. Well, the first thing I think that is worth noting with this is the fact that not only did they announce it, but they published photographs with it. So it's worth bearing in mind that not only do they want to coordinate, but they want the outside world to be aware of the fact that they're coordinating. And how you read that depends on how you view Hezbollah's actions. Is Hezbollah merely trying to throw its weight around to appear more menacing on the northern border than it actually is? Or is this them getting ready to escalate for greater military actions on the border? That very much remains to be seen. Yes, remains to be seen. Indeed, I 24 news correspondent, Robert Swift on the northern front. Thank you very much for this. And changing tune now, tunes now, rather. Over 100,000 Israelis displaced refugees in their own country, no other way to put it. And they had to leave everything behind, let it be in southern communities, obviously, but also from northern communities. Tried to deal with the trauma, to face the grief and get some sense of control, renewed control over their lives. Impossible, truly impossible. But in a bit to help, JDC has been establishing alternative education programs at kindergartens and schools for some 2,000 displaced children at currently in Dead Sea Hotels after their communities in the south have been evacuated. And joining us now in studio, Neil Pal, head of the youth program at the JDC. Thank you very much, Esther, for coming in. So tell us a bit about the programs you had created really in a split second, more or less, already up and running. Yeah, really, thanks for having me. Maybe a quick word about the JDC, the organization to understand the context of what we're doing. And the JDC is the largest Jewish humanitarian organization working worldwide. We're been working a little bit over 100 years in over 70 countries. And in Israel, our role is a little bit different. In Israel, we are working as an R&D organization, developing needs, social and educational needs with the government and with a lot of partners, organization partners from the civic society. And as we were exposed to the horrifying images and news flashes coming, it's Saturday, this terrible Saturday in 7th of October, we understood we need to react and less than 48 hours after this arriving occurred two weeks ago, we were asked to come and coordinate the education operation in the sites, one site that the refugees were moved to in the Dead Sea. Actually calling it now the Dead Sea in Hebrew, it's a different word, but calling this place the Dead Sea, there is a lot of living over there, a lot of life over there. 8,000 refugees and 2,000 children were placed over there. And we just came, our first staff member moved along 48 hours after everything began and started to understand what is needed. First of all, to understand who is over there, people didn't know what is happening over there and trying to start building schools. The first school of the odd was operating 48 hours after they being moved from their place, from their town. So yeah, trying to perhaps begin the rebuilding of a community through rebuilding the younger generation and then set some sort of a sense of normalcy in this so abnormal reality, surreal reality. And you're staying with us, we're making a quick jump and we'll get back to all the good things that are happening on the ground as we speak, but we do want to turn now to Professor Bosgno, the president of Rachman University, joining us now live at Professor Gno. Thank you very much for your time. We do need to address some of the pressing issues at this 19 day of the war, perhaps most notably the Qatari question, if you will. Heavily engages in attempts to release hostages, but to an extent, if not to all extents, part of Qatari's double game, sponsoring terror only to emerge as its solver, or is there maybe a change, a genuine change in the Qatari perception of its own position? Well, it's not new. This is Qatar policy for decades. On one hand, they seem to be trying to get closer to the Western society, to United States. On the other hand, they are one of the main villains that actually supports the Islamist jihadists from all sorts all over the world. Even in our region, if we take Gaza for that matter, Hamas was sponsored, excuse me, Qatar was sponsoring Hamas for many years, supporting the military branches and other things all together. And also at the same time, by the request of the Israeli government, they gave a lot of money to Hamas in order to keep them quiet, to buy time. And that seemed to be serving the Israeli interests all together. As for the current situation, Qatar plays as a broker, I don't want to say honest broker, in a possible humanitarian deal, i.e. on one hand, the Israelis will be given, probably, a lot of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza in return for humanitarian hostages. What does it mean, humanitarian hostages? It means kids, it means women, it means civilians, maybe wounded people, and so on and so forth. The question is, why should Hamas go for such a deal? Because probably they assume, if not know, that after conducting the deal, Israel will probably hit them again and hit them hard, maybe with ground operation. The answer is, A, Hamas would like to improve its status, to improve its image internationally wise after the savage, inhuman attack on Israeli civilians. Now they want to be regarded as peacemakers who are ready to free civilians unharmed. The second reason is, because they do like to have a lot of aid to relieve some of the problems that Palestinians have. And the third reason is, because they still would have a lot of other hostages, more than 100, in their hands. They can use them for other purposes furthermore. Hamas intentions here, or bids to utilize its remaining leverage when it comes to the hostages is clear, but I do want to insist, Professor Gunoz on the Qatari issue, because we're seeing an Israeli acknowledgement of these efforts today. Perhaps there is confusion in Jerusalem mixing up between the problem and the solution? I don't think so. I think that Israeli decision makers, definitely Israeli security services, know exactly this double meaning, double policy, double role of Qatar. But when it seems to serve us, and sometimes they seem to have, not just the only, to be, not just the only track to Hamas, but the main track to Hamas, the Israelis are saying, okay, let's close our eyes, swallow our saliva and actually work with them just in order to free a large group of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. Then afterwards, we'll go back and remember exactly who Qatar is and what is the negative role that they have in our region. And speaking on deceiving positions to an extent, Professor Gunoz, let's talk a bit about Turkey, because Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish president, of course, was on some sort of a crusade to mend fences after beefing with more or less everyone. We've seen a clear path to cool things off, or rather warm it up, even with Israel. And then came the war and the wolf to an extent ditched the sheep's clothing. Here's what Erdogan had to say this morning. Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but a group of liberators and Mujahideen fighting to protect their land and their citizens. Dear brothers and sisters, of course we had good intentions, but they abused them. We had a project to go to Israel, but it was canceled. We will not go. Professor Gunoz, until now, the Palestinians were crossed with Erdogan for not being harsh enough. Are the Israelis crossed with Erdogan for being delusional? But what is the end goal from the Turkish president's standpoint? What would he want to position himself like in this new Middle East, if you will? Here again, there is no big change in what we knew about Erdogan. Erdogan is a certain version of Muslim brotherhood. Hamas is a certain version of Muslim brotherhood. They are a sister organization, if you wish. But I would like to go back to the statement that he gave today, that Hamas is not a terrorist organization because they are trying to free their territory. Well, maybe in his eyes, Hamas is trying to free his territory. In my view, they want to demolish a sovereign state like Israel. But let me remind Erdogan that there is another organization which is called the PKK, who is trying to free its territory. And the difference between Hamas and the PKK is that PKK mainly attacks military targets, sometimes also civilians, but mainly military targets. And Hamas always attacks deliberately civilian targets. That's what they make Hamas a terrorist organization and the PKK with a big question mark. Yeah, the double standard is just screaming nowadays, no matter where you look. Professor Bos Ganon, the president of Rachman University, the founder of the International Counterterrorism Institute. Thank you very much, sir, for your time, for your insight. We appreciate it as per always. Thank you. And while the bad might be filled with interests and different stakeholders and players, when the good is good, it's good. And we're going back to Neil Pal, head of youth programs area at JDC. Thank you, Neil, for staying with us. So earlier in the broadcast, you were telling us about the initial plea or the initial need to set up some sort of life routine for over 2,000 kids currently in Dead Sea Hotel, relocating with the rest of their communities. And obviously, the perhaps main dilemma is how you tackle trauma because those kids, they've been through hell and back. Sense of certainty in their short lives are completely erased at this point in time. So how do you address it? Do you address it at all or do you just try to give them time off worries? What do you do? Well, as you move to, Professor Gonal, you mentioned normality. Yeah. I think that's our main mission over there. Look, there are amazing communities, communities from Kibbutz, from Esderot, from Ofakim over there. And our main mission is to give tools and to allow them to get back to normality in this abnormal situation that they're in. I used two examples to demonstrate it. One is an operation that we're done partnering with the whole education network. In battle, the CEO of this network, her sister, Fromberry, the first thing she done, like many other Israelis, just went to the Dead Sea Hotels and she reached us and we understood together that the children need kindergarten because addressing trauma and helping children is getting back the day routine and you can give back treatment through a day routine with professionals, like their kindergarten teachers, like their psychologists that can work around with them. And in a matter of 48 hours, six kindergarten classes complex was founded in the David Hotel using 10-seric condition that we found in and together. There are even bottles and hats with their names. The kindergarten class get the signs that they haven't buried. So the same name of the kindergarten garden they had in Berry, Berry by the way, one of the hardest hit communities with scenes that again remind us of East Europe way back when. So those same names and those same... When they came back in the morning, they saw the same sign and they had bottles and hats and drawers for their paintings with their names, waiting for them with the best equipment and now trying to get their routine. Another example, 24 hours after being moved there, a principal from Zdod opened her school for the children with her staff and understanding that she need another staff you have to understand, the teachers are suffering the same as the whole population. They're not disconnected from what is happening so understood what they need. The principal showed us a video conference that she made with a WhatsApp with a group of soldiers and three trucks of movers that extracted the chairs and the desks from the road from her school that the children 48 hours after being moved there can sit on the same chair that we're sitting in their schoolings there with all the time understanding what the needs and giving the community the way to deal with the trauma. Yesterday, I came back yesterday from the Dead Sea, waited for the silence, I rode my bike towards there and happily my battery on my speaker went dead from the old talking on the way over there and I waited to get back to the center of Israel. Our staff there is 24 seven and as I put it my lace my helmet on and I tried riding upwards to a rod for the curves uphill. I found out that my visor is open letting the wind dry out my tears cause the minute it got silence I thought of the kids that we saw yesterday in very kindergarten classes being normal. They played, they played catch, they draw and I just thought about what the images they were exposed to this is trauma that their teachers, their parents the whole community is dealing right now and probably will deal with the older life. Tire nation for certain and on that note it's also important to mention that this, I wouldn't say time off for children but time on for children is time off for parents who are obviously dealing with again scope and scale of grief and pain that is unimaginable and you mentioned this, this personal journey you had the back yesterday and those sad yet happy tears to an extent all mixed together because the only answer to the scope and scale and depth of death of death that we've experienced is life and what you are creating now and the dead sea for this community is a sense of life. We are but we are not alone. There are so many organizations the original Council of Tamau over there, offices and there is a lot of doing from the manager of the hotels. Yeah, they see themselves as responsible for everything there is so much doing over there but there is so much needed over there. We're in the JDC, we're developing programs we have a phrase in the JDC that it takes us nine months to develop a program from understanding what is the need to running on the field. That's a speedy program. We are developing in less than nine hours. We're developing answers in less than nine hours, not alone with an amazing community and civil servants over there. And before we let you go briefly near if you can, you come from the ground, you're seeing those people there. What do they need the most at this point in time? I think the need most is time together. They need to mourn their mourning. Even the one that haven't lost from the first circle, but they need the time to mourn and they need to understand that we are all with them to listen to them. They know what they need and that's what we're all trying to do, not just to shove our trucks over there but really to be a second line and helping them to start build up their life again. And to learn from them what the strength of community means as a community, they're sticking together in better and unfortunately and the worst we can possibly imagine. Mirpal, head of youth programs at the JDC. Thank you so very much for what you're doing and for sharing it with us. Thank you very much. We are back at the top of the hour with all the latest updates until then you can always stay connected online or in social media. Stay strong, stay resilient. We're here. 1,300 people murdered and more than 3,000 injured and the war with Hamas continues. We bring you first-hand testimonies from the front lines, from those who survived and all the records of the atrocities by Hamas. Follow us as Israel fights terror from the South and North. Get the inside scoop on what's going on. Only on I-24 News. Welcome to this special broadcast here on I-24 News as we continue our rolling coverage, day 19 of the war in Israel. Some progress and a certain breakthrough. This is how Qatari officials, yes. The same Qatari that sponsored Hamas terror for years are suggesting positive momentum in the attempt to release over 220 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. For the first time, Israeli acknowledgement of those efforts, the head of Israel's National Security Council, Zakhia Negibi, saying he's pleased to say that Qatari is becoming an essential party and stakeholder in the facilitation of humanitarian solutions. And as long as the diplomatic hope exists, it seems that ground operation is on hold. I think that if we compare where we started and where we are right now, there is some progress and some breakthrough and we will remain hopeful the negotiations are still ongoing. And at any moment of time, I think that if we will be able to get along between the two parties, I think we will see some breakthroughs hopefully soon. Crossing now down south, I-24 News senior defense correspondent, Jonathan Regev standing by there with the I-24 News team. Jonathan, let's begin with Hamas launching of a long range rocket from the Gaza Strip at Israel's most southern city, Eilat, where many displaced Israelis from the Gaza border communities are currently there, rushing or relocating from this war zone to a relatively safe location, which today seems to be far from it. Yes, Hamas did two things today. One is that rocket towards the Eilat area, which exploded in an open area outside of the city. It didn't make it to the city. But distance of roughly something like 250 kilometers from the Gaza Strip in, just moments before that, sending another long range rocket to the area of Haifa. Also some distance of 200 kilometers or so. Hamas were well aware that each of those rockets will not make any damage. These are not very sophisticated rockets. The one launched to the north, even basically disintegrated in the air, but it's a message. The message is we can cover the entire state of Israel with our rockets. More of a statement and the statement, as far as they're concerned, has been made. As far as Hamas is concerned, they can say that they cover the entire state of Israel from Eilat in the south to Haifa in the north, practically the entire state of Israel. And I think that is the statement that they wanted to put. And Jonathan, it seems that as long as there are still ongoing diplomatic efforts to release hostages, taking naturally perhaps the center stage of this war, the ground operation more or less unhold, maybe despite the commitments to achieve both at the same time in earlier phases of the war, perhaps it is not feasible to do both? Maybe not. And Israel understanding that if there is a time to do something for the hostages, it is now before the ground operation begins. And Hamas understanding that as well. Hamas, of course, very cynical in their psychological game and the hostage card is quite a big card that they hold and they're playing with it with the help of Qatar, Qatar for years, funding Hamas being their main supporter and now pretending to be the good angel trying to help solve this crisis. And Hamas doing very good use, unfortunately for us of this very big card they have in hand. Yeah, creating the problem in order to be seen as a solver, Qatar, that is. I-24 News' senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev, thank you very much for this. And from the southern front to the northern one, the president, the head of the Alma Institute with the fresh assessment of what is really unfolding between Israel and Hezbollah and not just on the northern border, let's take a listen. I am among those who believe that there is a master plan of Iran to execute a multi-front campaign against the state of Israel, not necessarily at the same time. Maybe for some operational reasons, for example, maybe to exhaust us in the south and then to come up north, maybe for legitimacy reasons, maybe Nassala needs more legitimacy in Lebanon because it wants to take over Lebanon. And that's why it didn't want to initiate the massacre but to present as if it was dragged into the massacre. I don't know, there could be more reasons we can think of but when I'm looking at a situation at the border, since all of that started, that every day there are more and more attacks of Hezbollah on the border and they pick their targets, meaning their targets are specifically to create the preparedness of Hezbollah to invasion to Israel. When I look at what happened on the Israeli-Lebanese border in the past year, from the ground, I was there every day and I saw Hezbollah military operatives on the border, Spine on IDF landing our routine, Spine on civilians. When I see the positions that they have built and all the infrastructures they have built, when I look at Hezbollah invasion of offensive plan that was published a decade ago and the similarity, the unbelievable similarity of this plan to what actually happened in the south, I understand that we are actually watching a master plan that we are just in the middle of it. So Israel has said essentially that it can't live with Hamas on its doorstep after what's happened that it has to destroy Hamas. Do you think that that's equally true of Hezbollah? As a resident of the Galilee, yes. I am not willing to live with the master anymore. I think the conception of deterrence failed. I think the conception of containers failed. I think that we cannot rely always on intelligence to give us a strategic alert that something will happen at this day and at this time. And it is clear to all Israelis that the army cannot be drafted fully like it is now because it is paralyzing the everyday life here. Everybody is drafted. We need to find a different way to eliminate the capabilities of Hezbollah that are endangering Israelis and Lebanese alike. And heading now up north, I-24 News correspondent Robert Swift, standing by there, Robert, you've conducted this interview, we've just heard with the CEO of the Alma Institute and indeed it seems that if anything, those what was perhaps perceived on behalf of Israel for a long while as poking or small provocation, much more than that. And today, fire exchange on the border continues all the time. Not just Lebanon, Syria as well. Yeah, indeed. The fact that Syria is now starting to come into play here, that's alarming some people. Just to update our audience. So around about an hour and a half ago, there was, according to Syrian media reports, there was Israeli airstrikes against Aleppo airport, which is in the north of Syria. This is allegedly the fourth time that Aleppo airport has been struck by Israeli jets, but this wasn't the only incident involving the Syrian-Lebanese, the Syrian-Israeli border with rockets being fired from Syrian territory into Israeli space yesterday evening, and then Israeli military jets responding overnight killing eight Syrian soldiers. Now, these are just a handful of the numerous security incidents have taken place along this northern border in the last 24 hours. The majority of them have taken place between Lebanese territory and Israeli territory, but those voices are concerned about a regional conflict. The fact that now there's some fire coming from the Syrian border is starting to make those voices a little more nervous. Yeah, and to that point, exactly, Robert, if in recent days there was still an attempt to assess and reassess the coordination or commitment or unity, you name it between Hezbollah and Hamas today, now that we needed further proof, but Nasrallah, a meeting with Hamas and PIJ leaders, where do we know? That's correct. Well, the first thing I think that is worth noting with this is the fact that they not only did they announce it, but they published photographs with it. So it's worth bearing in mind that not only do they want to coordinate, but they want the outside world to be aware of the fact that they're coordinating. And how you read that depends on how you view Hezbollah's actions. Is Hezbollah merely trying to throw his way around to appear more menacing on the northern border than it actually is? Or is this them getting ready to escalate for greater military actions on the border? That very much remains to be seen. Yes, remains to be seen. Indeed, I-2040's correspondent Robert Swift on the northern front. Thank you very much for this. And changing tunes now, rather. Over 100,000 Israelis displaced refugees in their own country, no other way to put it. And they had to leave everything behind, let it be in southern communities, obviously, but also from northern communities. Tried to deal with the trauma, to face the grief, and get some sense of control, renewed control over their lives, impossible, truly impossible. But in a bit to help, JDC has been establishing alternative education programs at kindergarten and schools for some 2,000 displaced children currently in Dead Sea hotels after their communities in the south have been evacuated. And joining us now in studio, Neil Palhead of the Youth Program at the JDC. Thank you very much, Esther, for coming in. So tell us a bit about the programs you had created, really, in a split second, more or less, already up and running? Yeah, really, thanks, firstly, for having me. Maybe a quick word about the JDC, the organization, to understand the context of what we're doing. The JDC is the largest Jewish humanitarian organization working worldwide. We've been working a little bit over 100 years in over 70 countries. And in Israel, our role is a little bit different. In Israel, we are working as an R&D organization, developing needs, social and educational needs, with the government and with a lot of partners, organization partners from the civic society. And as we were exposed to the horrifying images and news flashes coming, it's Saturday, this terrible Saturday, and 7th of October, we understood we need to react in less than 48 hours after this arriving occurred two weeks ago. We were asked to come and coordinate the education operation in the site, one site that the refugees were moved to in the Dead Sea. Actually calling it now the Dead Sea in Hebrew, it's a different word. But calling this place the Dead Sea, there is a lot of living over there, a lot of life over there. 8,000 refugees and 2,000 children were placed over there. And we just came. Our first staff member moved along 48 hours after everything began. And started to understand what is needed. First of all, to understand who is over there. People didn't know what is happening over there and trying to start building schools. The first school of Zdeot was operating 48 hours after they were being moved from their place, from their town. So yeah, trying to perhaps begin the rebuilding of a community through rebuilding the younger generation and then set some sort of a sense of normalcy in this so abnormal reality, surreal reality. You're staying with us, we're making a quick jump and we'll get back to all the good things that are happening on the ground as we speak. But we do want to turn now to Professor Bosgono, the president of Rachman University, joining us now live at Professor Gono. Thank you very much for your time. We do need to address some of the pressing issues at this 19 day of the war, perhaps most notably the Qatari question, if you will. Heavily engages in attempts to release hostages. But to an extent, if not to all extents, part of Qatar's double game, sponsoring terror only to emerge as its solver. Or is there maybe a change, a genuine change in the Qatari perception of its own position? Well, it's not new. This is Qatar policy for decades. On one hand, they seem to be trying to get closer to the Western society, to United States. On the other hand, they are one of the main villains that actually supports the Islamist jihadists from all sorts all over the world. Even in our region, if we take Gaza for that matter, Hamas was sponsored. To me, Qatar was sponsoring Hamas for many years, supporting the military branches and other things all together. And also at the same time, by the request of the Israeli government, they gave a lot of money to Hamas in order to keep them quiet, to buy time. And that seemed to be serving the Israeli interests all together. As for the current situation, Qatar plays as a broker, I don't want to say honest broker, in a possible humanitarian deal. I.e. on one hand, the Israelis will be given probably a lot of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza in return for humanitarian hostages. What does it mean, humanitarian hostages? It means kids. It means women. It means civilians, maybe wounded people, and so on and so forth. The question is, why should Hamas go for such a deal? Because probably they assume, if not know that after conducting the deal, Israel will probably hit them again and hit them hard, maybe with ground operation. The answer is, A, Hamas would like to improve its status, to improve its image internationally wise after the savage inhuman attack on Israeli civilians. Now they want to be regarded as peacemakers who are ready to free civilians unharmed. The second reason is, because they do like to have a lot of aid to relieve some of the problems that Palestinians have. And the third reason is, because they still would have a lot of other hostages, more than 100, in their hands. They can use them for other purposes furthermore. Hamas intentions here, or bids to utilize its remaining leverage when it comes to the hostages, it's clear. But I do want to insist, Professor Gano on the Qatari issue, because we're seeing an Israeli acknowledgement of these efforts today. Perhaps there is confusion in Jerusalem mixing up between the problem and the solution. I don't think so. I think that Israeli decision makers, definitely Israeli security services, know exactly this double meaning, double policy, double role of Qatar. But when it seems to serve us, and sometimes they seem to have not just the only to be, not just the only track to Hamas, but the main track to Hamas, the Israelis are saying, OK, let's close our eyes, swallow our saliva, and actually work with them, just in order to free a large group of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. Then afterwards, we'll go back and remember exactly who Qatar is, and what is the negative role that they have in our region. And speaking on deceiving positions to an extent, Professor Gano, let's talk a bit about Turkey, because Rajip Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish president, of course, was on some sort of a crusade to mend fences after beefing with more or less everyone. We've seen a clear path to cool things off, or rather warm it up, even with Israel. And then came the war, and the wolf to an extent ditched the sheep's clothing. And here's what Erdogan had to say this morning. Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but a group of liberators and Mujahideen fighting to protect their land and their citizens. Dear brothers and sisters, of course, we had good intentions, but they abused them. We had a project to go to Israel, but it was canceled. We will not go. Professor Gano, until now, the Palestinians were crossed with Erdogan for not being harsh enough. The Israelis crossed with Erdogan for being delusional. But what is the end goal from the Turkish president's standpoint? What would he want to position himself like in the new Middle East, if you will? Here again, there is no big change in what we knew about Erdogan. Erdogan is a certain version of Muslim brotherhood. And Hamas is a certain version of Muslim brotherhood. They are sister organization, if you wish. But I would like to go back to the statement that he gave today that Hamas is not a terrorist organization because they are trying to free their territory. Well, maybe in his eyes, Hamas is trying to free his territory. In my view, they want to demolish a sovereign state like Israel. But let me remind Erdogan that there is another organization, which is called the PKK, who is trying to free its territory. And the difference between Hamas and the PKK is that PKK mainly attacks military targets, sometimes also civilians, but mainly military targets. And Hamas always attacks deliberately civilian targets. That's what they make Hamas a terrorist organization, and the PKK with a big question mark. Yeah, the double standard is just screaming now a days, no matter where you look. Professor Bosgno, the president of Rachman University, the founder of the International Counterterrorism Institute. Thank you very much, sir, for your time, for your insight. We appreciate it, as per always. Thank you. For having me. And while the bad might be filled with interests and different stakeholders and players, when the good is good, it's good. And we're going back to Neil Pal, the head of youth programs area at JDC. Thank you, Neil, for staying with us. So earlier in the broadcast, you were telling us about the initial plea or the initial need to set up some sort of life routine for over 2,000 kids currently in Dead Sea Hotel, relocating with the rest of their communities. And obviously, the perhaps main dilemma is how you tackle trauma. Because those kids, they've been through hell and back. This sense of certainty in their short lives are completely erased at this point in time. So how do you address it? Do you address it at all? Or do you just try to give them time off worries? What do you do? Well, as you move to Professor Gonell, you mentioned normality. I think that's our main mission over there. Look, there are amazing communities, communities from Kibbutz, from Esderot, from Ophakeem over there. And our main mission is to give tools and to allow them to get back to normality in this abnormal situation that they're in. I used two examples to demonstrate it. One is an operation that we're done partnering with the whole education network. In battle, the CEO of this network, her sister from Berry, the first thing she done, like many other Israelis, just went to the Dead Sea hotels. And she reached us and we understood together that the children need kindergarten. Because addressing trauma and helping children is getting back the day routine. And you can give back treatment through a day routine with professionals, like their kindergarten teachers, like their psychologists that can work around with them. And in a matter of 48 hours, six kindergarten classes complex was founded in the David Hotel, using 10 air condition that we founded. And together, there are even bottles and hats with their names. The kindergarten class get the signs that they haven't Berry. So the same name of the kindergarten garden they had in Berry, by the way, one of the hardest hit communities with scenes that, again, remind us of East Europe way back when. So those same names and those same interesting. When they came back in the morning, they saw the same sign, and they had bottles and hats and drawers for their paintings with their names, waiting for them with the best equipment, and now trying to get their routine. Another example, 24 hours after being moved there, a principal from Zdeot opened her school for the children with her staff and understanding that she need another staff you have to understand the teachers are suffering the same as the whole population. They're not disconnected from what is happening, so understood what they need. The principal showed us a video conference that she made with a WhatsApp with a group of soldiers and three trucks of movers that extracted the chairs and the desks from the road from her school that the children, 48 hours after being moved there, can sit on the same chair that were sitting in their school in Zdeot, all the time understanding what the needs and giving the community the way to deal with the trauma. I came back yesterday from the Dead Sea, waited for the silence, I rode my bike towards there and happily my battery on my speaker went dead from all talking on the way over there, and I waited to get back to the center of Israel. Our staff there is 24-7. And as I put it, I laced my helmet on and I tried riding upwards to arad for the curves uphill. I found out that my visor is open, letting the wind dry out my tears because the minute it got silent, I thought of the kids that we saw yesterday in very kindergarten classes, being normal. They played catch, they draw, and I just thought about what the images they were exposed to. This is trauma that their teachers, their parents, the whole community is dealing right now and probably will deal with the whole little life. And that's a dire nation for certain. And on that note, it's also important to mention that this, I wouldn't say time off for children, but time on for children is time off for parents who are obviously dealing with, again, scope and scale of grief and pain that is unimaginable. And you mentioned this, this personal journey you had back yesterday and those sad yet happy tears to an extent all mixed together because the only answer to the scope and scale and depth of death, of death that we've experienced is life. And what you're creating now and the Dead Sea for this community is a sense of life. We are, but we are not alone. There are so many organizations. The Regional Council of Tamao, their offices and there is a lot of doing from the manager of the hotels that see themselves as responsible for everything there is so much doing over there, but there is so much needed over there. We're in the JDC, we're developing programs. We have a phrase in the JDC that it takes us nine months to develop a program from understanding what is the need to running on the field. That's a speedy program. We are developing in less than nine hours. We're developing answers less than nine hours, not alone with an amazing community and civil servants over there. And before we let you go briefly near, if you can, you come from the ground, you're seeing those people there. What do they need the most at this point in time? I think the need most is time together. They need to mourn their mourning. Even the one that they haven't lost from the first circle, but they need the time to mourn and they need to understand that we are all with them, to listen to them. They know what they need, and that's what we're all trying to do, not just to shove our trucks over there, but really to be a second line and helping them to start build up their life again. And to learn from them what the strength of community means as a community, they're sticking together in better and unfortunately, and the worst we can possibly imagine. Neil Pal, head of youth programs at the JDC. Thank you so very much for what you're doing and for sharing it with us. Thank you very much. We are back at the top of the hour with all the latest updates. Until then, you can always stay connected online or in social media. Stay strong, stay resilient. We're here. Israel is officially in a state of war. This is a very active scene, and we need to get in the car as we're talking. Within 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped. Help us, we don't know what to do. We just don't know anything. Entire families, including babies and children and elderly, were butchered in their beds. Awaken the giant, and we are ready and we are strong. Everyone is showing up. This is the unity. The special broadcast here on I-24 News is we continue our rolling coverage, day 19 of the war in Israel. Some progress and a certain breakthrough. This is how Qatari officials, yes, the same Qatari that sponsored Hamas terror for years, are suggesting now that there's a positive momentum, if you will, in the attempt to release over 220 Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists and the Gaza Strip. And for the first time, Israel acknowledges those efforts ahead of Israel's National Security Council, saying he's pleased to say that Qatari is becoming an essential party and stakeholder in the facilitation of humanitarian solutions and as long as the diplomatic hope exists, it seems a ground operation, somewhat on hold. Let's take a listen. I think that if we compare where we started and where we are right now, there is some progress and some breakthrough and we will remain hopeful the negotiations are still ongoing. And at any moment of time, I think that if we will be able to get along between the two parties, I think we will see some breakthroughs hopefully soon. And now we begin this broadcast up north. Let's cross now live to I-24 News correspondent, Pia Stakl, while standing by there with the I-24 News team. Pia, thank you very much for joining us. Well, fire exchange on the border continue all the time and not just Lebanon, Syria as well. Syria as well. Ali, if we look at events here up north, we quickly look at first of all Lebanon and then Syria, but we also have to look at Gaza and then incident that happened a few hours ago. Rocket being launched from Gaza, triggering alerts in communities south of Haifa really show that we also have to look south when events here happen. We're talking about a long range rocket that Hamas set it fire from the Gaza strip. Up until the era here in Haifa, it exploded up in the air. There were no reports of casualties, but that really shows that and this is not the first time that Hamas also, and it really wants to show that and present that as well, has the capability to strike or to at least attempt to strike here up north. That of course happening against the backdrop of a meeting taking place between Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Palestinian Islamic jihad, Ziyat al-Nakhle, and one of the main Hamas official, Saleh al-Aroori today that Hezbollah itself published about saying that this meeting took place between the three major players here to really bring about the victory what they said of the resistance specifically looking at Gaza and the fact that Hassan Nasrallah also met with the Iranian foreign minister right at the beginning of the war shows that we are facing or possibly are facing a facing a wider escalation with Lebanon, with Iran and possibly also with Hezbollah as Hezbollah has been trying also throughout the recent months to combine the frontier. Now also looking at Syria, Israel has been striking military targets in Syria after two rockets were launched into Golan heads communities from Syria yesterday. Now not long ago also the airport in Aleppo being targeted for the fourth time since the beginning of this war, a strike that is attributed to Israel, Israel does not comment on that strike but Israel is known to strike those targets in Syria in order to prevent possibly Iranian weapon deliveries as Syria might as well join these fronts as there are many Iranian proxies also located there. Yeah, and if there was any need or proof for proof rather on the coordination level of coordination or more importantly commitment of Hezbollah to Hamas, there you have it in the form of today's meeting, low-key escalation on the northern border. That's perhaps how we should put it at this point in time. My 24 years correspondent P.S. Dekalbach, thank you very much for this, much more from P.O. of course throughout the day. Thank you. And joining us now in studio, Dr. Hayitanko and Yana Rokhak, thank you very much, Sarah Turkey expert at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security. Dr. Hayitanko, before we begin our conversation, let's hear it from the man himself. All masks are off, if you will. The wolf ditching the sheep's clothing. Yeah, all cliches apply and we're of course alluding to Turkish Prime Minister, Turkish president rather, Rajip Teyip Erdogan. Let's take a listen to his remarks earlier today. Hamas is not a terrorist organization but a group of liberators and Mujahideen fighting to protect their land and their citizens. Dear brothers and sisters, of course we had good intentions, but they abused them. We had a project to go to Israel, but it was canceled. We will not go. So, Dr. Kony and Rokhak, I will ask a question that might sound peculiar and yet since Palestinians were crossed with Erdogan for not being harsh enough and Israelis crossed with Erdogan for being full on anti-Semite, my question to you is this message aimed at Israelis or Palestinians? I think it's more aimed at the Palestinians because since the beginning of this war, if you also paid attention, Erdogan remained very silent compared to his previous statements in previous wars. I mean operations. And therefore, I mean, he waited for a couple of days, even almost two weeks, and now he delivered this very harsh speech at the parliament, at the Turkish parliament, to his members of the political party. This is not the whole. Yeah, yeah, this is important. This is, yes, this statement was made under the roof of the parliament but only to his party members, okay? But it doesn't mean that it's not important. It's very important at the end of today. I see this statement as a huge blow to the current Israeli Turkish normalization. We, in the past, overcame two different Ramadan's and one limited military operation in the Gaza Strip but this time this is something very different. Also the scale of the Israeli response is very different and also the solidarity that the Western world is demonstrating is very different. So Mr. Erdogan, even if his country is considered as a part of the West, he's taking a very pro-Palestinian slash, unfortunately, very pro-Hamas attitude and this is endangering the bilateral relations. During his speech, he made a very important reference to the guarantee ship. I would like to, if I may, to decode it. When the Turks are talking about a guarantee ship, they are referring to the Cypriot examples, meaning that in 1960, when the Republic of Cyprus was founded, three different countries, Great Britain, Greece, and Turkey, became the guaranters of that particular republic but unfortunately, later due to the intercommunal violence in the island, Turkey decided to intervene militarily and launched the 1974 military intervention. Of course, in the eyes of the Greeks, it's an invasion. Right. And so the Turks are trying to get this example and want to implement this. It's historic sentiment. Yes, they want to implement the same styles to the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which means, let's imagine that today we have a ceasefire, but let's say in three years, five years, we have another escalation. Then, if we're gonna provide the Turks this guarantee ship, they will be able to intervene militarily and politically into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even if we are not providing them such a right, the fact that they are machining it out loud... Means that they're feeling as if... It's very problematic. It is very problematic. This should ring the alarm bells in Jerusalem. So if you're reading between the lines, you're suggesting that you get the sentiment from President Erdogan not ruling out the prospects of a boots on the ground. He used it in the sense of the Americans. Unfortunately, he mentioned twice the word, in case of a need, we will also act militarily. And I really didn't like it. It's not... That doesn't sound very friendly, but still in the same speech, in an ambivalent manner, he also mentioned that he wants to host a peace conference. So in this respect, I would like to... Because we're seeing this double game played by Qatar at the moment when it comes to the hostages on the one hand, sponsoring terror, and on the one hand, trying to release hostages. Will Turkey be interested in playing double games, so to speak, to use its leverage vis-a-vis Hamas to gain credit points with the Western world and yet to maintain its true intentions? Precisely, yes. A very clear example is the Ukrainian conflict. Turkey plays... The grain deal, yeah. The grain deal, they are both capable of speaking with the Ukrainians and both with the Russians, and they are very proud of it. So they will most likely gonna apply the same style of behavior to the Israeli... I'm not sure if Jerusalem will pick up the phone after this speech that we've heard this morning. I agree with you. It's very problematic, but I assume that this is also very much, you know, related to the deteriorating Turkish economy. $1 is almost like 30 Turkish liras. Foreign policy always derived from domestic news. So he wants to divert the attention of the masses to the Palestinian issue. Another very strange thing that 29th of October, the Turks are going to celebrate the Republic 100 years. So instead of putting the projector, the spotlight, on the 100th year of anniversary, so he prefers to divert the attention to an Islamic... And it's particularly interesting in the context of Erdogan's bid to spearhead the Middle East and this underlying, perhaps, competition, so to speak, between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, of who will be at the forefront. That's very unfortunate, seriously. You know, when we have Egypt here, I do not think that the Israeli government will likely to provide any key role to... To anyone else, essentially. To anyone else. Or Egyptians, or maybe the Qataris, but I do not see, after this kind of a speech, I really don't think that the decision-makers in Jerusalem will pave his way for such a role. Well, every single leader here in the Middle East and perhaps around the globe, reassessing now the position they would like to have once this war is over. That's for a certain... Dr. Hayyutankoine Yanarokok, thank you very much. Thank you for having me. For your time, for your insight. We appreciate it. Thank you. And going back to the ground, heading down south now, I-24 News correspondent, Hamda Salhout, with the I-24 News team there. Hamda, thank you very much for joining us. Well, this hour, Israel, once again, exposing Hamas spokesperson. We were just discussing here in studio, masks are off when it comes to the Turkish president here. Very literally, masks are off. Psychological tit for tat, if you will. That's right. The Israeli military also engaging in a psychological warfare here, revealing the identity of Abu Ubaidah as Hadife Al-Kahlut. Now, this is not the first time they've done this. They did it back in 2014 and again in 2017. But this time, revealing it with his image, saying that he's hiding behind the red kuffee that's the scarf that he wears on his face, could be a direct indication as a threat to him. Remember, the Israeli military's goal in this operation, they say, is to get rid of Hamas entirely and all of their leadership. And Abu Ubaidah is at the top of that list. He's the spokesperson for the Al Qassan Brigades, one of the leaders in their military wing. So the Israeli military is going to target him as well in this operation, Ali. Yeah, the faceless face of Hamas, if you will. And Hamda, earlier today, Hamas launching launching a long range of rockets to both Haifa in the north and Al-Lat in the very south of Israel, what can you tell us? We have some Iron Dome interceptions here in the distance. We're gonna have our cameraman pan to you. These are fresh rockets from the Gaza Strip. You can actually see the trail that the rocket has left directly to the left of it. This is an indication that the war is continuing, Ali. We haven't seen exactly these interceptions here. We've been seeing sporadic rocket fire, but we haven't really been seeing a lot today in indication, perhaps that maybe their rocket supplies are running out. But we have been hearing from Hamas saying that they're in this for the long haul and that they have supplies enough for months to really carry out this war. The rocket we saw launched earlier in the north today, it was the Ayyash 250. They've been boasting about this rocket in several places because it can reach farther distances like in the north. So we've been hearing also some explosions behind us indicating more airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. We are extremely close to the border. We are as far as we can possibly go given the circumstances, given the military restrictions. So at this time, rockets still continuing to come from inside of the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory as the Iron Dome intercepts them in these southern communities. Yeah, and it seems that as the war progresses, the rocket launching might be more sporadic and yet consistent enough to keep everyone on high alert. And Hamda, before we let you go, let's cross the border. Now, what is happening in the Gaza Strip in terms of the humanitarian aid that is entering the Strip? Well, look, reports indicated today that a truck of medical supplies reached Hanyunas, but medical professionals are saying that without fuel, they can't even use these medical supplies. They're saying it's a human catastrophe inside of the Gaza Strip. The hospitals are overwhelmed. So far, 15 hospitals inside the Strip have closed and the ones that are overwhelmed, they're still receiving patients minute by minute. They're short on ambulances. They're short on fuel. They're short on all sorts of things that they would need to keep the place going. So while some of these supplies are going in, the Israeli military has been firm that they're not going to let fuel into the Strip. Yes, and yet there's this issue of fuel that did enter the Strip and stolen by Hamas. Israel now calling for Hamas to restore the fuel to hospitals. So this is an ongoing scene as well. I-24 News correspondent Hamda Salhout, down south. Thank you very much, Hamda. And of course, stay safe. An active scene, as we put it nowadays, down south. Thank you very much, Hamda. And from the south, moving to the center of Israel, I-24 News political correspondent Batia Leventhal, in Tel Aviv, where people are making sure the hostage situation remains topping the agenda with all those other talking points that are perhaps diverting the attention from what is and should be number one priority, bringing back all the Israeli hostages back home, over 220 of them. Thank you, Batia. Absolutely, Ellie. But this really highlighting a specific sect of those hostages, those that have been kidnapped, the children. I'm going to move out of the frame just so you can get a clearer look. These are teddy bears, giant teddy bears that have been tied together. They have been blindfolded. There is some red paint on a lot of them. And on every single one of them is a picture of one of the children that has been kidnapped. Obviously with the hashtag, bring it home now. It has their names and their ages. You can see some of the parents not wanting their pictures to be displayed. And so it just has their name and their age. And this has been quite a busy vigil, if you'd like, throughout the day. This is normally a place where, if you can see just slightly on the, just behind the bears on the platform where the fountain is, there's candles there every night, a fortune of people coming out to light them again. Highlighting not just those that have been captive, but those that have been murdered by the hands of Hamas, a terrorist organization that has taken over the Gaza Strip as well. But what's really been quite difficult here, Ellie, is listening to people all have talks in the background. And again, as you mentioned, this is part and parcel of making sure that it's at the top of everybody's minds of if you were in your late 20s, your 30s, even your 40s, some of the images, some of the audio, the raw and unfiltered firsthand testimony, it's hard to swallow to look at. But how do you explain that to children? How do you explain some of these horrors? And for a lot of the children that are growing up in Tel Aviv and more of the central suburbs that have been less impacted and sheltered a little bit more than what's happened in the South and in the North, these bears were put here by an organization known as Goshen. They deal with the wellbeing of children. And they've also put out on their website a dictionary of sorts to explain to parents how to break down the situation to their children. How, where do we draw the line between explaining to them what's going on but also not traumatizing them. And so that really being the fundamentals of this display, highlighting the fact that this is children that have been kidnapped. I mean, that photo of the nine month old is just, there's no words to actually put into chilling. I can't articulate them actually as to what that means, but it really does remind a lot of the people here that this is an ongoing situation. There are children that have been kidnapped, children of which we don't know how they are being treated on the other side of the border. And even on the inside of the border here in Israel, they are children that are impacted by the psychological trauma that is not yet known and probably won't be known for months. Over 30 children being held hostage by vile terrorists, Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip for 19 days now. And you know, but we keep on talking about this entire nation becoming ground zero, no longer a third generation or fourth or even fifth generation to the Holocaust for those who were quick to head to business. But now it's all generation one. Once again, all those children traumatized for good. And it will be up to the country to find out a way to cope with it and heal. Batia Leventhal and this truly chilling vigil in Tel Aviv, thank you very much for this Batia. And on that note exactly, we want to head now to Rotterdam to speak to the chairman of the Jewish community there, Mr. Christen Hoetliding, the chapter in the Netherlands of the Forum of Families of the Missing and the abducted Mr. Hoetliding, thank you very much for speaking to us. So one would think- Thank you for having me. Yeah, yeah, the terrifying circumstances. And yet to go to be speaking to you, sir. One would think innocent civilians being held hostage by a terror group would be an issue. The global community is rallying behind without any explaining to do. One would think. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I should point it, one would think it's a humanitarian cause which everyone should subscribe to. Yet in reality, it's not by definition the case. There's a lot of support and a lot of people understanding this, but if you look at the politics in the different countries, if you look at on the street, people tearing down posters of kids missing and abducted, you wonder where the humanitarian aspect is in this one. So, yeah, to that extent, we have a job to do here. We have a job to bring the names, the people, the posters, the images and especially the stories of those abducted and those missing to the attention. So, you know, sir, there's this notion calling on Western countries to grant the hostages and immediate foreign nationality to speed up their release. It's horrible to think that being just an Israeli isn't enough and yet facing this terrible reality. What do you think, sir? Well, yesterday we had a meeting with our prime minister and a couple of the families missing and this is one of the things that we brought up. Why not give every hostage a Dutch passport or a European passport, right? Just to keep the pressure or to increase the pressure. Now, it's a dilemma. It's a dilemma because why is someone with a foreign passport more relevant than anyone else? So, you know, it doesn't make sense, but if that helps, then yeah, let's put pressure and have the discussion and give everyone a passport if their release can be faster, can be immediate. Yeah, and, you know, we're seeing in many European countries a very problematic gap between the official stance of the governments so far supportive of Israel and the sentiment in the street, which is often very, very different and this is an understatement perhaps. What is it like in the Netherlands? You know, I think there's a broad political support today for Israel to do what it needs to do as long as it respects, you know, the humanitarian aspect also. So, the political support is there, but, you know, the space we have as Jews in Holland becomes scarily more limited day by day. You see events being cancelled because of security concerns. You see social media, of course. You see all the events and the demonstrations in the street which are not by definition very friendly. So, yeah, there's an increase in feeling more insecure, I would say. So, in terms of to that point exactly, the safety and security of Jews of Israelis is the government providing the needs of the community to feel safer or safer at all? It's not just Israelis, it's Jews in general because they know where we're being put in this conflict by all the statements. So, what is the government doing for now? They pay attention to it, but there's not real increase in security yet. We're pressuring, you know, at least to get it to the attention and to make sure that we can feel secure, we can run our services and our get-togethers. But it's a very, very insecure, unstable situation. We don't know where it's going to go. Yes, it seems that nowhere is safe at this point in time for Jews, for Israelis. And as we speak, again, rocket sirens are being heard up north in the northern city of Kiryat Muna here in Israel, and it seems to an extent that those alerts here in the homeland of Jews is being heard all across the world as well, even as far as Rotterdam. Yeah, but we could keep the spirit up and we keep fighting for our brothers and sisters. Yes, together. Yeah, this is our strength, this sense of brotherhood we all profoundly share. Thank you very much, Chairman of the Jewish community in Rotterdam, Mr. Chris Den Hote, leading the chapter in the Netherlands of the form of the families of the missing, of the abducted. May we hope for better days. Yeah, sticking together. Absolutely, and good luck there, good strength, and keep the spirit up. Thank you very much, sir, for this. Again, just an update now as we speak, red sirens being heard in the northern city of Kiryat Muna and also in the Galilee in several areas. This is it for this broadcast, but we'll be back at the top of the hour with all the updates from the ground. Day 19 of the war here in Israel. Stay strong, stay resilient. We're here. Israel is at war. Make an investment in Israel Bonds. It is the most powerful and direct way to stand with Israel. Visit israelbonds.com and invest now. This is a very active scene, and we need to get in the car as we're talking. Within 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped. Help us, we don't want to do it. We just don't know anything. Entire families, including babies and children, and children, and families, and children, and families, and families, and families, and families, and families, and families, and families, and families, and families, and families, and children, and elderly were butchered in their beds. Awaken the giant, and we are ready, and we are strong. Everyone is showing up. This is the UNICEF. News 24, the only media in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel. News 24, only on I-24 News. Welcome to this special broadcast here on I-24 News, as we continue our rolling coverage day 19 of the war in Israel. Some progress and a certain breakthrough. This is how Qatari officials, yes, the same Qatar that sponsored Hamas terror for years, are suggesting now that there's a positive momentum, if you will, in the attempt to release over 220 Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. And for the first time, Israel acknowledges those efforts ahead of Israel's National Security Council, saying he's pleased to say that Qatar is becoming an essential party and stakeholder in the facilitation of humanitarian solutions. And as long as the diplomatic hope exists, it seems a ground operation, somewhat on hold. Let's take a listen. I think that if we compare where we started and where we are right now, there is some progress and some breakthrough and we will remain hopeful the negotiations are still ongoing. And at any moment of time, I think that if we will be able to get along between the two parties, I think we will see some breakthroughs hopefully soon. And now we begin this broadcast up north. Let's cross now live to I-24 News correspondent Pia Sackl while standing by there with the I-24 News team. Pia, thank you very much for joining us. Well, fire exchange on the border continue all the time and not just Lebanon, Syria as well. Syria as well. Ellie, if we look at events here up north, we quickly look at first of all Lebanon and then Syria. But we also have to look at Gaza and an incident that happened a few hours ago. Rocket being launched from Gaza triggering alerts in communities south of Haifa really show that we also have to look south when events here happen. We're talking about a long-range rocket that Hamas set it fire from the Gaza Strip. Up until the era here in Haifa, it exploded up in the air. There were no reports of casualties. But that really shows that, and this is not the first time that Hamas also, and really wants to show that and present that as well, has the capability to strike or to at least attempt to strike here up north. That of course happening against the backdrop of a meeting taking place between Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Palestinian Islamic jihad, Ziyat al-Nakhle, and one of the main Hamas officials, Saleh al-Aroori, today that Hezbollah itself published about, saying that this meeting took place between the three major players here to really bring about the victory, what they said of the resistance, specifically looking at Gaza and the fact that Hassan Nasrallah also met with the Iranian Foreign Minister right at the beginning of the war, shows that we are facing or possibly are facing a wider escalation with Lebanon, with Iran, and possibly also with Hezbollah as Hezbollah has been trying also throughout recent months to combine the frontier. Now also looking at Syria, Israel has been striking military targets in Syria after two rockets were launched into Golan heads communities from Syria yesterday, now not long ago also the airport in Aleppo being targeted for the fourth time since the beginning of this war, a strike that is attributed to Israel, that has not comment on that strike, but Israel is known to strike those targets in Syria in order to prevent possibly Iranian weapon deliveries as Syria might as well join these fronts as there are many Iranian proxies also located there. Yeah, and if there was any need or proof, for proof rather on the coordination level of coordination or more importantly commitment of Hezbollah to Hamas, there you have it in the form of today's meeting, low-key escalation on the northern border. That's perhaps how we should put it at this point in time. My twenty-four news correspondents, thank you very much for this much more from PO of course throughout the day. Thank you. And joining us now in studio, Dr. Hayitanko and Yana Rokak, thank you very much, Sarah Turkey expert at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and Dr. Before we begin our conversation, let's hear it from the man himself. All masks are off, if you will. The wolf ditching the sheep's clothing. Yeah, all cliches apply. And we are of course alluding to Turkish Prime Minister, Turkish President rather, Rajip Tep. Erdogan, let's take a listen to his remarks earlier today. Hamas is not a terrorist organization but a group of liberators and Mujahideen fighting to protect their land and their citizens. Dear brothers and sisters, of course we had good intentions but they abused them. We had a project to go to Israel but it was canceled. We will not go. So, Dr. Kony and Erdogan, I will ask a question that might sound peculiar and yet since Palestinians were crossed with Erdogan for not being harsh enough and Israelis crossed with Erdogan for being full on anti-Semite. My question to you is this message aimed at Israelis or Palestinians? I think it's more aimed at the Palestinians because since the beginning of this war if you also paid attention, Erdogan remained very silent compared to his previous statements in previous wars. I mean operations. And therefore, I mean, he waited for a couple of days, even almost two weeks. And now he delivered this very harsh speech at the parliament, at the Turkish parliament to his members of the political party. This is not the whole. Domestically. Yeah. This is important. This is yes, this statement was made under the roof of the parliament but only to his party members. Okay. But it doesn't mean that it's not important. It's very important at the end of today. I see this statement as a huge blow to the current Israeli-Turkish normalization. We in the past overcame two different Ramadan and one limited military operation in the Gaza Strip, but this time this is something very different. Also the scale of the Israeli response is very different and also the solidarity that the Western world is demonstrating is very different. So Mr. Erdogan, even if his country is considered as a part of the West, he is taking a very pro-Palestinian slash, unfortunately, very pro-Hamas attitude and this is endangering the bilateral relations. During his speech, he made a very important reference to the guarantee sheep. I would like to, if I may, to decode it. When the Turks are talking about a guarantee sheep, they are referring to the Cypriot examples, meaning that in 1960, when the Republic of Cyprus was founded, three different countries, Great Britain, Greece and Turkey, became the guaranthers of that particular republic. But unfortunately, later, due to the inter-communal violence in the island, Turkey decided to intervene militarily and launched the 1974 military intervention. Of course, in the eyes of the Greeks, it's an invasion. So the Turks are trying to get this example and want to implement this... It's historic sentiment. They want to implement the same styles to the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which means let's imagine that today we have a ceasefire, but let's say in three years, five years, we have another escalation. Then, if we're going to provide the Turks this guarantee sheep, they will be able to intervene militarily and politically into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, even if we are not providing them such a right. The fact that they are machining it out loud... Means that they're feeling as if... It's very problematic. It is very problematic. This should ring the alarm bells in Jerusalem. So if you're reading between the lines, you're suggesting that you get the sentiment from President Erdogan not ruling out the prospects of boots on the ground. He used it in the sense of the Americans. Unfortunately, he mentioned twice the word, in case of a need, we will also act militarily. And I really didn't like it. That doesn't sound very friendly, but still in the same speech, in an ambivalent manner, he also mentioned that he wants to host a peace conference. So in this respect, I would like to... Because we're seeing this double game played by Qatar at the moment when it comes to the hostages on the one hand sponsoring terror and on the one hand trying to release hostages. Will Turkey be interested in playing double games, so to speak, to use its leverage vis-a-vis Hamas to gain credit points with the Western world and yet to maintain its true intentions? Precisely, yes. A very clear example is the Ukrainian conflict. Turkey plays... The grain deal, yeah. Yeah, the grain deal, they are both capable of speaking with the Ukrainians and both with the Russians, and they are very proud of it. So they will most likely going to apply the same style of behavior to these really... I'm not sure if Jerusalem will pick up the phone after this speech that we've heard this morning. I agree with you. It's very problematic, but I assume that this is also very much, you know, related to the deteriorating Turkish economy. One dollar is almost like 30 Turkish liras. Foreign policy always derived from domestic news. So he wants to divert the attention of the masses to the Palestinian issue. Another very strange thing that 29th of October the Turks are going to celebrate the Republic, 100 years. So instead of putting the projector, the spotlight on the 100th years of anniversary, so he prefers to divert the attention to an Islamic thing. And it's particularly interesting in the context of Erdogan's bid to spearhead the Middle East and this underlying perhaps competition, so to speak, between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, of who will be at the forefront. That's very unfortunate, seriously. You know, when we have Egypt here, I do not think that the Israeli government will likely to provide any key role to anyone else. Or Egyptians or maybe the Qataris, but I do not see after this kind of a speech, I really don't think that the decision makers in Jerusalem will pave his way for such a role. Well, every single leader here in the Middle East and perhaps around the globe, reassessing now, the position they would like to have once this war is over. That's for a certain... Thank you very much, sir, for your time, for your insight. We appreciate it. Thank you. And going back to the ground, heading down south now, I-24 News Correspondents, Hamdas El-Hut with the I-24 News team there. Hamda, thank you very much for joining us. Well, this hour, Israel, once again, exposing Hamas spokesperson. We were just discussing here in studio, masks are off when it comes to the Turkish president here. Very literally, masks are off. Psychological tit for tat, if you will. That's right. The Israeli military also engaging in a psychological warfare here, revealing the identity of Abu Ubaidah as Hadife El-Kahlut. Now, this is not the first time they've done this. They did it back in 2014 and again in 2017. But this time revealing it with his image saying that he's hiding behind the red kuffee that's the scarf that he wears on his face could be a direct indication as a threat to him. Remember, the Israeli military's goal in this operation, they say, is to get rid of Hamas entirely and all of their leadership. Abu Ubaidah is at the top of that list. He's the spokesperson for the Al Qassan Brigades, one of the leaders in their military wing. So the Israeli military is going to target him as well in this operation, Ali. Yeah, the faceless face of Hamas, if you will. And Hamda, earlier today, Hamas launching long-range rockets to both Haifa in the north and Eilat in the very south of Israel what can you tell us? We have some Iron Dome interceptions here in the distance. We're going to have our cameraman pan to you. These are fresh rockets from the Gaza Strip. You can actually see the trail that the rocket has left directly to the left of it. This is an indication that the war is continuing. We haven't seen exactly these interceptions here. We've been seeing sporadic rocket fire, but we haven't really been seeing a lot today. An indication, perhaps, that maybe their rocket supplies are running out, but we have been hearing from Hamas saying that they're in this for the long haul and that they have supplies enough for months to really carry out this war. The rocket we saw launched earlier in the north today was the Aayesh 250. They've been boasting about this rocket in several places because it can reach farther distances like in the north. We've been hearing also some explosions behind us indicating more airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. We are extremely close to the border. We are as far as we can possibly go given the circumstances, given the military restrictions. So at this time, rockets still continuing to come from inside of the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory as the Iron Dome intercepts them in these southern communities. Yeah, and it seems that as the war progresses, the rocket launching might be more sporadic and yet consistent enough to keep everyone on high alert. Hamda, before we let you go, let's cross the border. Now, what is happening in the Gaza Strip in terms of the humanitarian aid that is entering the Strip? Well, look, reports indicated today that a truck of medical supplies reached Hanyunas, but medical professionals are saying that without fuel, they can't even use these medical supplies. They're saying it's a human catastrophe inside of the Gaza Strip. The hospitals are overwhelmed. So far, 15 hospitals inside the Strip have closed and the ones that are overwhelmed, they're still receiving patients minute by minute. They're short on ambulances. They're short on fuel. They're short on all sorts of things that they would need to keep the place going. So while some of these supplies are going in, the Israeli military has been firm that they're not going to let fuel into the Strip. Yes, and there's this issue of fuel that did enter the Strip and stolen by Hamas. Israel now calling for Hamas to restore the fuel to hospitals. So this is an ongoing scene as well. I-24 News correspondent Hamda Salhout, down south. Thank you very much, Hamda. And of course, stay safe. An active scene, as we put it nowadays, down south. Thank you very much, Hamda. And from the south, moving to the center of Israel, I-24 News political correspondent, Batia Leventhala, Intel Aviv, where people are making sure the hostage situation remains topping the agenda with all those other talking points that are perhaps diverting the attention from what is and should be number one priority, bringing back all the Israeli hostages back home, over 220 of them. Batia. Absolutely, Elie. But this really highlighting a specific sect of those hostages, those that have been kidnapped, the children. I'm going to move out of the frame just so you can get a clearer look. These are teddy bears, giant teddy bears that have been tied together. They have been blindfolded. There is some red paint on a lot of them. And on every single one of them is a picture of one of the children that has been kidnapped. Obviously, with the hashtag bring it home now. It has their names and their ages. Some of the parents not wanting their pictures to be displayed and so it just has their name and their age. And this has been quite a busy vigil, if you'd like, throughout the day. This is normally a place where, if you can see just slightly on the, just behind the bears, on the platform where the fountain is, there's candles there every night. A fortune of people coming out to like them again. Highlighting not just those that have been captive, but those that have been murdered by the hands of Hamas, a terrorist organisation that has taken over the Gaza Strip as well. But what's really been quite difficult here, Ellie, is listening to people have talks in the background. And again, as you mentioned, this is part and parcel of making sure that it's at the top of everybody's minds of if you were in your late 20s or 30s, even your 40s, some of the images, some of the audio, the raw and unfiltered first-hand testimony is hard to swallow to look at. But how do you explain that to children? How do you explain some of these horrors? And for a lot of the children that are growing up in Tel Aviv and more of the central suburbs that have been less impacted and sheltered a little bit more than what's happened in the south and in the north, these bears were put here by an organisation known as Goshen. They deal with the well-being of children. And they've also put out on their website a dictionary of sorts to explain to parents how to break down the situation to their children. How, where do we draw the line between explaining to them what's going on but also not traumatising them? And so that's really being the fundamentals of this display, highlighting the fact that this is children that have been kidnapped. I mean, that photo of the nine-month-old is just... There's no words to actually put into chilling. I can't articulate them, actually, as to what that means. But it really does remind a lot of the people here that this is an ongoing situation. They are children that have been kidnapped, which we don't know how they are being treated on the other side of the border. And even on the inside of the border here in Israel, they are children that are impacted by the psychological trauma that is not yet known and probably won't be known for months. Over 30 children being held hostage by vile terrorists, Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, for 19 days now. And you know, Bato, we keep on talking about this entire nation becoming ground zero, no longer third generation or fourth or even fifth generation to the holocaust for those who were quick to head to business. But now it's all generation one. Once again, all those children traumatized for good. And it will be up to the country to find out a way to cope with it and heal. Batia Leventhal and this truly chilling visual in Tel Aviv. Thank you very much for this, Batia. And on that note, exactly. We want to head now to Rotterdam to speak to the chairman of the Jewish community there, Mr. Kristin Hoetliding, the chapter in the Netherlands of the Forum of Families of the Missing and the abducted Mr. Den Hoetliding. Thank you very much for speaking to us. So one would think- Thank you for having me. Yeah, yeah, the terrifying circumstances. And yet to go to be speaking to you, sir. One would think innocent civilians being held hostage by a terror group would be an issue. The global community is rallying behind without any explaining to do. One would think. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I should point it, one would think it's a humanitarian cause which everyone should subscribe to. Yet in reality, it's not by definition the case. There's a lot of support and a lot of people understanding this, but if you look at the politics in the different countries, if you look at on the street people tearing down posters of kids missing and abducted, you wonder where the humanitarian aspect is in this one. So, yeah, to that extent, we have a job to do here. We have a job to bring the names, the people, the posters, the images and especially the stories of those abducted and those missing to the attention. So, you know, sir, there's this notion calling on Western countries to grant the hostages an immediate foreign nationality to speed up their release. It's horrible to think that being just an Israeli isn't enough and yet facing this terrible reality. What do you think, sir? Well, yesterday we had a meeting with our prime minister and a couple of the families missing and this is one of the things that we brought up. Why not give every hostage a Dutch passport or a European passport, right? Just to keep the pressure to increase the pressure. Now, it's a dilemma. It's a dilemma because why is someone with a foreign passport more relevant than anyone else? So, you know, it doesn't make sense. But if that helps, then, yeah, let's put pressure and have the discussion and give everyone a passport if their release can be faster, can be immediate. Yeah, and, you know, we're seeing in many European countries a very problematic gap between the official stance of the government so far supportive of Israel and the sentiment in the street, which is often very, very different and this is an understatement perhaps. What is it like in the Netherlands? You know, I think there's a broad political support today for Israel to do what it needs to do as long as it respects, you know, the humanitarian aspect also. So, the political support is there but, you know, the space we have as Jews in Holland becomes scarily more limited day by day. You see events being cancelled because of security concerns. You see social media, of course. You see all the events and the demonstrations in the street which are not by definition very friendly. So, yeah, there's an increase in feeling more insecure, I would say. So, in terms of to that point exactly the safety and security of Jews of Israelis is the government providing the needs of the community to feel safer or safer at all? It's not just Israelis, it's Jews in general because they know where we're being put in this conflict by all the statements. So, what is the government doing for now? They pay attention to it but there's not a real increase in security yet. We're pressuring, you know, at least to get it to the attention and make sure that we can feel secure, we can run our services and our get-togethers. But it's a very, very insecure, unstable situation. We don't know where it's going to go. Yes, it seems that nowhere is safe at this point in time for Jews, for Israelis. And as we speak, again, rocket sirens are being heard up north in the northern city of Kiryat Muna here in Israel and it seems to an extent that those alerts here in the homeland of Jews is being heard all across the world as well even as far as Rotterdam. Yeah, but we could keep the spirit up and we keep fighting for brothers and sisters. Yes, together. Without families. Yeah, this is our strength, this sense of brotherhood we all profoundly share. Thank you very much Chairman of the Jewish community in Rotterdam, Mr. Chris Den Hote leading the chapter in the Netherlands of the form of the families of the missing, of the abducted. May we hope for better days. Yeah, sticking together. Absolutely, and good luck there, good strength and keep the spirit up. Thank you very much, sir, for this. Again, just an update now as we speak, red sirens being heard in the northern city of Kiryat Muna and also in the Galilee in several areas. This is it for this broadcast, but we'll be back at the top of the hour with all the updates from the ground. Day 19 of the war here in Israel. Stay strong, stay resilient. We're here. There have been countless memorable moments broadcasting with I-24 news in the past six years, but for me the one that stands out the most was the first time that I had ever personally heard a rocket siren sounding in Tel Aviv and at that moment we were live on air in studio. I will never forget the moment our senior producer said to me in my ear, the sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv. The control room is going to the shelter. With me in studio at the time were Michael Herzog, a former Brigadier General. Today the Israeli ambassador to the United States and Arsena Strafsky, an international human rights lawyer, and their responses were completely different. Michael Herzog was calm and composed and on the other hand Arsena Strafsky was trying to phone his family and check in to make sure that his loved ones were okay. The camera that normally faces us was hoisted from above. There was an overhead shot of the three of us in the studio. You could see colleagues going to the shelter if you looked at the glass behind the studio and obviously we lost contact with our team on the ground, our reporters in Ashkelon and all the witnesses that we were speaking to during that time. When rockets are coming towards a residential area they don't distinguish between race, religion, political views, cultural views. They just intend to harm civilians. And that moment, being in studio, hearing those interceptions overhead was the most real coverage I have ever been involved in. Over 1,300 people murdered and more than 3,000 injured and the war with Hamas continues. We bring you first-hand testimonies from the front lines, from those who survived and all the records of the atrocities by Hamas. Follow us as Israel fights terror from the south and north. Get the inside scoop on what's going on. Only on I-24 News. Welcome to the special broadcast here on I-24 News. We continue our rolling coverage, day 19 of the war in Israel. Some progress and a certain breakthrough. This is how Qatari officials, yes, the same Qatari that sponsored Hamas terror for years. And I was suggesting there's a positive momentum in the attempt to release over 220 Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. For the first time, Israel acknowledging those Qatari efforts, the head of the National Security Council, saying he's pleased to say that Qatari is becoming an essential party and stakeholder in the facilitation of humanitarian solutions. And it seems that as long as the diplomatic hope exists when it comes to the hostages, the ground operation of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip somewhat unholy. Let's take a listen. I think that if we compare where we started and where we are right now, there is some progress and some breakthrough, and we will remain hopeful the negotiations are still ongoing. And at any moment of time, I think that if we will be able to get along between the two parties, I think we will see some breakthroughs hopefully soon. And joining us now in studio, former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Ambassador Dania Elon. Thank you very much, Ambassador Elon, for joining us. And as we speak, UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez taking the podium once again after his... to use the term controversial remarks and be the understatement of the century yesterday, essentially justifying or giving context to Hamas' vile Nazi terror assault on Israeli civilians. And this hour, really short moments ago, he's facing the cameras once again, giving a brief non-apology, not taking his statement back, saying that while he is still condemning Hamas atrocities, the plight of Palestinians is warring him. The bottom line, Ambassador Elon, no apology there whatsoever. It's a total collapse of values, of morality, of ethics, and a lack of understanding of the situation and the strategic plight of the entire world because he failed to recognize what all the other decent countries and leaders have learned, that Hamas is ISIS and Hamas is not representing the Palestinian interests. ISIS is about global jihad and about just decimating anything which is not radical Islam. How about the Jews or Israelis, it seems, Ambassador Elon? Well, Gutierrez has proven to be an idiot and maybe a useful idiot for the Hamas and the global jihad. And this is how he will remember and go down in history. I'll tell you, I've worked with a few secretary generals. Many of them were not the best because you have to understand the mechanism and the environment. The UN is not a friendly environment, not to Israel, not to the US. The majority of the countries are non-democratic countries, out of the 193 countries, 22 Arab countries, 57 Muslim countries, and 117 in total are what used to be the non-aligned and they are countries like North Korea and others which are siding automatically with the Palestinians. The chaos agents. Absolutely, absolutely. And I think he will live to regret it, what he said. Well, as we speak, another oppressing diplomatic matter, Israel rejects what discussed these statements heard earlier today by Turkish President Rajip Taip. Erdogan, earlier in the broadcast, we used the term the wolf ditching the sheep's clothing and I think this is perhaps the best way to describe it. And when it comes to all those players that have tried at least to utilize the situation in their own favor here in the region most notably, the Turkish president is definitely taking a clear stance now despite his efforts recently to mend fences with the West. Which goes again to see the core of his being. You know, he is no different than Hamas because the AKP, his political party, which is the Justice and Equality Party in Turkey, that's his party, they are part and parcel of the global Jihadist movement of the Ikhwan, of the Islamic Brotherhood. The only difference between him and Hamas is the Hamas are Arabs and he is Turk. But he is the Turkish Hamas. Now, it is true that a few months ago, he started a charm, political charm offensive against Israel because of his interest. He saw what we're doing with our natural gas in our waters. Shaking hands with Israeli Foreign Minister in the UN short weeks ago. Exactly. All he wanted to do is actually disrupt relations between Israel and Cyprus and the Greece. Cyprus and Greece are his historic enemies. Cyprus is actually halfway divided now and he is occupying Cyprus, the northern part of Cyprus. By way, in his speech today, he also alluded, we learned from an expert we hosted here earlier in the day, to the Turkish military intervention in the Cypriot context. Again, suggesting that Turkey might do the same boots on the ground when it comes to Gaza. He is no friend, has never been a friend and we have to take everything he says, not with a grain of salt, but with a mountain, a sack. And I think that we should just write him off because he's a guy that whenever Israel is in a plight, whether political or on the ground, he will turn against us. We don't need him. And I think it is time actually to go away, stop the debate and go ahead with Cyprus and Greece and start this huge infrastructure of pipings to them. And in this respect, many misconceptions, not broken, but shattered in the past 19 days. It takes us to Israel's stance vis-à-vis Russia and Ukraine. It takes us to the Greek Cypriot-Turkish issue. Lots of thinking in Jerusalem to be made as well. Ambassador Ayolone, you're staying with us, but we want to jump north to our 24 news correspondent, Pia Staklbach, standing by there. Pia Hezbollah claiming responsibility in the last hour for the fire we've seen today towards Israel. What can you tell us? Right, Eli. A couple of minutes ago, if rocket sirens were triggered in the area of Kiryat Shmona and some areas east from Kiryat Shmona, very close to the Lebanese border, we're hearing that four rockets were launched. They all fell into open area. They were not and just intercepted by the Israeli military as per protocol. Israel is now striking with artillery toward the origin of that fire in southern Lebanon. And this is not the first time that we're seeing those scumishes between southern Lebanon and Israel today. Hezbollah also claiming responsibility for firing an anti-tank missile towards a military post in the community of Aviv Weem earlier today. But when we speak about that northern front heating up and continuously heating up, since basically the beginning of the war it's worth to also take a look at Gaza at Hamas, because Hamas claimed responsibility for firing a rocket toward Haifa earlier today. A long-range rocket being also exploded in the air, no casualties, no injuries that reported, but that really shows you how the fronts are connected. And what emphasizes that is Hezbollah publishing a meeting today between Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas leader Saleh Al-Aroori, and also the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Ejihad, Ziad Al-Nakhle, today really saying that they are discussing the next step to bring about the victory of the Palestinian resistance there in Gaza, and that shows you how much they want to actually also showcase how much these fronts are connected. We have been seeing that throughout also recent months that these meetings have been taking place, meetings between Palestinian factions and Hezbollah. We also have to take a look at Syria yesterday, two rockets being fired into the Golan Heights area from Syria. Now Israel striking targets in Syria throughout the night. Israel claiming responsibility for strikes there. A Syrian soldier is there killed and also the Syrian airport in Aleppo being targeted a few hours ago to strike that is attributed to Israel. We know that Israel does target Iranian targets in Syria. It has been doing so throughout this year to prevent further weapon deliveries to Iranian proxies here in the region. We've been seeing that those skirmishes between Hezbollah, which is one of the Iranian proxies, and Israel have intensified the northern front, and they will probably continue to do so. But Israel is preparing by also evacuating those communities that are that close to the border. Also the communities where we had a lot that rocket science only a few minutes ago. They're also widely evacuated void of civilians. Yes, indeed. Over 100,000 displaced Israelis from North and South these days. As vast swaths of the country are simply awards at the moment. I-24 News correspondent Piaz Takalbach, thank you very much for this. And from North we're heading down South. I-24 News correspondent Hamda Salhout in Southern Israel. Hamda, thank you very much for joining us. Rocket fresh rocket fire this hour from the Gaza Strip towards Israel earlier to longer long-range rockets rather fired. What can you tell us? Right, those longer range rockets, Ali called the Aayesh 250. They're the longer rockets that can reach distances up to 250 kilometers according to Hamas, one targeting the North and one targeting the South. And finally, air strikes have been heavy in the last hour in the Gaza Strip behind me. We're just going to pan and show you here the smoke that you can still see lingering from those air strikes targeting Gaza City. The view from inside of Gaza according to sources is very scary plumes of loud smoke overhead. Sources inside of Gaza City are also telling me that the situation is dire while a lot of them have left the Gaza Strip. They're also telling me that they have left the Gaza Strip in the north because they were afraid of the continued bombardment in southern parts of the strip. So the activity still continues at this time. The Israeli military still pounding targets inside of the Gaza Strip as Hamas continues to launch rockets in Israeli territory. Yes, all ahead of a potential second phase . Thank you very much for this. Much more from Hamda, of course, throughout the evening. And back here in studio with Ambassador Danie Ayalon, Ambassador Ayalon obviously and rightfully so, taking the center stage these days, the hostages issue. And Qatar here, albeit playing a double game, if you will, as mentioned at the beginning of this broadcast, this is the one answering Hamas here for all these years, creating the problem, if you will, and now emerging as its solver. And yet it's proving quite efficient, so to speak to gain some diplomatic traction in this respect. Well, this is what Qatar all about, is to be quote-unquote in bed with everyone in the region and beyond. Without Qatar there wouldn't be Hamas. But Qatar, which is, they play very well with Iran, but also in the United States. They are the ones that broker the deal of, you know, release of prisoners between the United States and Iran. They are the ones broker the deal between the United States and Taliban. This is how they roll. This is what they do. This is their, exactly. This is their Rizan theater. This is what they are. It's a small country, 400,000 people and they are one country with natural gas and Al Jazeera as the most influential. That's an evidence to call the shots. But briefly, we said before we will keep on going. When it comes to the Israeli reaction today, acknowledges and welcoming the Qatari efforts, is Jerusalem playing peculiar and even dangerous line here? It's not smart, not politically and not diplomatically, because if you want Qatar to do something, Qatar, they are on the cusp of being delegitimized, and they could be easily delegitimized, and they need legitimacy in the international, especially in the West, desperately. They hosted the Mondial Games. They want to do other things. They have huge investments in Western markets. So instead of Israel being so polite and just pandering to Qatar. Sticks, not carrots. Exactly. We need the sticks and Qatar, if you want our blessings, show us the goods. Yeah, show us the goods. Right. Bring out the hostages and then we can talk. And on that note, Ambassador Alon with all due respect to the strategic and diplomatic constraints, as we speak still over 220 Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Every second, obviously a nightmare for the entire nation, but first and foremost, for the families Ramona, Kirsten, Yegev, Burshtava were both considered missing for a week since a bloody Saturday, October 7th. Last week they were confirmed kidnapped. Here's the last message Ramon sent to her mother in those terrifying moments before being brutally taken into the Gaza Strip. Chilling. And we want to turn now to Shani Segal joining us to share more on her cousin Rimon and her husband, Yegev. Shani, thank you so very much for joining us. Thank you for having me. Of course, it's our privilege and our duty and our mission. We cannot even imagine what the past 19 days have been like. How are you holding up? How's your family? It's terrible. There's no way of sugarcoating it. But I think that it's important that the world would understand exactly what happened. It's important that the world would understand why that's terrible Saturday, why October 7th was such a shock to the whole of country. I'm going to speak freely because I think that when you speak freely and you're not politically correct, it's easier to speak freely. My family has been living in the south of Israel for over 15 years. Every once in a while they get rockets and sadly enough they're used to it. And I'm saying they're used to it which no one should be used to that situation. When you live in the south of Israel, you have 15 15 seconds to get to a safe room, which means that one kid that's playing outside and one kid that's playing in the house you need to choose who are you saving because in 15 seconds you're not going to be able to get to them both. That's the situation. And when the rockets started my family who are used to it went to a safe room. We were all texting each other how are you, what's it going what's the situation and for 30 minutes it was relatively normal. We're in a safe room, there's rockets and then at 7 in the morning my cousin Rimon texted her mom, she said there are terrorists walking around the kibbutz. And she started to explain to her what she's seeing. So the kaput houses are built line by line and she explained to them that the terrorists are going line by line bombing causing fire burning shooting, she started to describe things that she said she went to peek from the window in the bathroom she went to see what's going on because she didn't understand and she saw there was a group of terrorists it wasn't one or two a group of terrorists going line by line for an hour and a half she was in the safe room we told her and her husband to be very very quiet because we didn't want anything to happen to them and all of a sudden at 8 26 in the morning she texted her mom she said mom they're shooting at me the window is shattered and if you've ever been to a safe room it's a very thick glass which means that if the window was shattered they were shot with RPG or other bombs stuff like that and she left her mom the message that she played she tells her that she loves her and that she's sorry she's not there um after a few hours at half past three the army raid control in the kibbutz and they found their house with bullet holes they found blood and they were gone so you know I think that even if you don't have children but you have brothers, sisters, grandmothers grandfathers, cousins if you're a human Shani if you're a human and you understand the situation where you have no idea where your loved ones are and just to give a little bit of context my cousin did medical massage to people and her and her husband adopted a lot of animals and her husband fixes all instruments like violins and guitars they're very simple people but good simple people simple people but if I can say something more the community that was affected by the terror attack of Hamas is the community that believed the most in coexistence they worked the most to make sure that our neighbors are Palestinian friends that we would all live together and the fact that these are the people that suffered the most with the terrible attack and it's important for me to say Hamas is a terror organization that is holding 2.3 million people hostage as well as our loved ones and I think that the whole world should unite together against terror it's uncanny to me that something like that and those who support Hamas don't understand the damage they're causing to the Palestinian cause I'll give you one more example if I may in Kibbutz again where my family is originally from there was a warehouse the warehouse was holding food for Palestinians what the Israelis do on their end they check that the food is properly kept and they make sure that when the food is sent to Gaza it would be in the best position in the best shape it would be not only appropriate for food but the best of the best the terrorists that came into the Kibbutz burned that warehouse they burned the food that was supposed to be delivered to the Palestinians that's what I'm saying they don't see anyone Christians they didn't see anything they just had a hunger for death and it's it's terrible it's inconceivable what happened and it's inconceivable that there's still no understanding that this vile terrorism has nothing to do with any political objective these are terrorists who couldn't care less about civilian lives on both sides as you put it now Shani you're hearing with us those reports of potential Qatari breakthrough when it comes to the release of more hostages and we all understand the complexity of the situation the many regional actors who are playing a double role here but bottom line what does it all make you feel I think and I speak on behalf of not only my family but I speak on behalf of all the families of all the hostages they should be released it doesn't matter who's fighting for it it doesn't matter who pushes for it they should be released they were in the safety of their home either they went to a party to celebrate peace or they were in the safety of their homes it's a crime against humanity to say that whoever is working for their release should work that all of them would be released and should work to understand that if we allow victims to be taken from them from their home now it will happen again and terror will continue to grow and I feel that I'm not into politics and luckily for me I don't have Danny's difficult job yeah but I can say as a as a simple person it's human life there are Holocaust survivors in captivity there are babies there are children there are mothers, sisters, cousins they should not be there so the whole world should unite together to free the hostages and to end the Hamas terror that's what they should do it's not only about the hostages it's about making sure that our world would be safe that everyone would be able to live in it Shanice Galnada simple person, whatsoever the highest level that a person can reach thank you so much for speaking to us and your words and hopefully your beloved family members will be back with all of us here as soon as possible thank you very much thank you so much stay strong, we're sending a big hug from here thank you so much and staying on topic at the very heart of Tel Aviv the heart of the nation is torn I-24 News political correspondent was there at this vigil making sure that the hostage situation remains at the top of all of origin not that it's impossible not to not that it's possible Elio previous guest hit the nail on the head we need a world where our children feel safe and that's exactly what the vigil is right here in the heart of Tel Aviv at Dizengov Square this has been the scene for many vigils predominantly in the evening where they come in like candles for those that have been murdered by Hamas but if you can have a look behind me this is a display of 30 such giant teddy bears they are blindfolded some of them are tied together back to back and they have blood stains on them paints that has been dropped on them for blood stains all containing cards of the 30 plus children and their pictures obviously some of the parents are not wanting their pictures to be put there and so it just has their ages and the names but this is the very four of the very four of it a lot of the children in Tel Aviv that grew up in a relatively sheltered area outside of the communities in the south are asking questions where are our friends what is going on why is there a display of teddy bears that have got paint all over them at Dizengov Square and this is a display that was created by an organization called Goshen and they are making sure that parents understand how to address these questions with the children that are here in Israel about those that have been captive and also about how to go on living in times of war and you can see for those that are fortunate enough to still have their nine to fives a lot of people are now starting to gather here to have a look at this display to take pictures to put it on the internet and to share because there really is a fine line at the moment with the children with the images that they are being shown the Israeli spirit will prevail Batil Leventhal, thank you very much Ambassador Dania Elon thank you for being with us stay strong, stay resilient we're Israel is at war make an investment in Israel bonds it is the most powerful and direct way to stand with Israel visit israelbonds.com and invest now 1,300 people murdered more than 3,000 injured and the war with Hamas continues we bring you first hand testimonies from the front lines from those who survived and all the records of the atrocities by Hamas follow us as Israel fights terror from the south and north get the inside scoop on what's going on only on i24 news 100 Israelis according to official reports by the government have been abducted to Gaza unprecedented these are military personnel but also civilians that have been abducted and the hospitals are full of patients that are being treated some others are hiding still perhaps and police forces and military forces are looking for them one of the scenes that had people fleeing from them yesterday was a party a nature party that was taking place in Reim on a holiday and we're now joined by Shani Tzaban who is looking for her sister Balzoho who was there at the party I understand thank you very much Shani for speaking with us I imagine I can't imagine how distressing this day is thank you for being with us tell me what do you know about what happened to Balzoho okay so first of all thank you for letting me speak because we want we want to publish everywhere we can so we could find her so my sister and her name is Balzoho she is 23 and yesterday and Friday more correct she was at a party in Reim Nova party and all we know is that she spoke with us around 6 in the morning 6 and a half she was calling my mom and asking her for coming to get her because we had rockets and we also had rockets we were hiding from the rockets and the Hamas were bombing us I mean from 6 in the morning we couldn't get out of the shelter it was it was something that we never ever had here and we didn't know how to react it and we thought the rockets and then my sister is calling she is at the party and she wants us to come to take her and my mom told her okay the rockets will come down and I will get out and come to get you and after less than 10 minutes my sister called my mom and screaming mom mom mom and my mom said what happened what happened and the call was disconnected just disconnected there wasn't a sign there I called her back and she didn't hear me I was trying to talk with her and she couldn't hear anything and then she sent my mom a message around 7.30 we don't have a sign here I can't speak with you and that's the only information we knew from her her friends is at the hospital at Soroka and they say that it's like so hot of course take your time I can imagine how hard it is I mean I can't imagine to be honest but of course it's very hard my friends are getting hurt and get shot in the leg in another place we don't know we just don't know anything it's unbelievable how can we not know anything about my sister where she is what happened to her who treated her we don't know anything it's unbelievable she went to a party to a party with her friends who can imagine this stuff like this the terrorists come and just shoot everybody and we don't know what's going on with her we don't know and we are my mom and my dad can't even speak that's why I'm on there I'm her big sister they can't speak we're sitting here 30 hours event we don't know what's going on with her 30 hours after it it's unbelievable my parents all day yesterday and today went from site to site on country just to search for her in the hospitals and get DNA tested so they can find her and we just want one piece of information and you know why are you here today I understand that you're looking for your sister that's right since yesterday around the hour of 2 o'clock pm that was the last time we heard anything any word from a little sister she is a medic in kibbutz baeri that's one of the kibbutzes who was under a very serious attack of terror attackers and rockets shooting still it's under a very heavy shooting so as I was saying Amici is the medic of the kibbutz she was trapped in the clinic with the injuries and a multiple amount of dead people and injurious people while they are surrounded by terror attackers in the outside around the hour of 2 o'clock they got inside to break in and they shot all of them Amit my sister just recorded a message because she was not able to type anymore she recorded us a message while we could hear all of the shotguns and ever since there we lost any connection with her we have no idea where is she if she is either alive or dead we have no idea if she is in the Israeli field in the Israeli territory we have no idea where is she or what happened to her we are desperate for any piece of information we are miserable and desperate for every piece of information anything yes my sister was at the party she is a young jewelry designer and she went there fulfilling her dream and to sell her jewelry and on Saturday the attack started she started to run away with her friends my parents managed to call her during that time until last call, until last past 8 when she told us that they are being shot at and that the battery is being lost she is lost and they are on the run after that we tried to understand what happens with family and friends we discovered that she ran away with a group of people they had to split few times during that time because the terrorist shot them while running after a while she split it for the last time that we know it's about 9am on the day morning and that's the last time that we know where she was we got it from a person that was running away with her and he told us the whole story we continued searching the web trying to understand what happened we found a few videos that shows that my sister was kidnapped my baby sister was kidnapped and we were showing her with few terrorists among the thousands of Israelis across the country concerned over the fate of still unaccounted for friends and family is Noi Levy and his girlfriend Sarfati went missing during that outdoor music festival after apparently he helped his girlfriend Noi's other friend Shauval Gaal escaped from Hamas terrorists who attacked that events but unfortunately we don't know his fate Noi just fill us in on what you know about that story what happened to your friends down at that music festival actually what happened is that they came to the party everything was okay all the music was shut off and the sirens began and all the alarms went wild and everyone started to run towards the cars in this exit and they were stuck in a like a line of cars that was both sided like there's no way out terrorists from the right from the left from each direction started to get into the car to escape and he was left behind and got on another car which was in the middle of a shooting fight and that is the last thing we know that he was shot and the other friends that was in the car with him was shot as well that's the Shauval Gaal your other friend what is her condition do we know did she make it out safe and of course it must be having gone through that event yes she's at home and she's safe with her family and friends but she's mentally broken she saw things that we can't even imagine to see she herself doesn't really know what she really saw and she's very very very wanted to find him and know he's okay he's alive we have no clue we have nothing about I want to go now to Lahavim in Israel south where I'm joined by Alex Sherman on the phone the father of Ron an abducted IDF soldier can you explain to us a little bit about how you know that your son was taken where he was what he was doing at the time and if you've heard any information on him okay let's start from it that I was on the phone with him since the start yeah and we was with us on the phone and he told us actually that terrorists are coming for him and they just took him we just heard last words that he say goodbye to us that he loves us and we didn't know that time if he was dead or alive a few hours later we just saw a video that was running on the media from the Hamas and then we saw all the procedure all the attack on the base the base was very badly bombarded and we saw those gunmen just coming into the base you have to think to know that this base was not the military base it was the combat base it was just the limit and the place that all the trades is done the coming inside and outside of the Gaza Strip and my son's job was to give permissions to the drivers to get in and out that was his job all right so I want to tell you about Eitan and Ohad Eitan is my nephew and my brother Ohad is 49 years old they both live in Kibbutz Niroz at the morning of Saturday on the attack they actually my brother he was just defending his family out of the safe room because there was a problem with the door so he was outside and the children with my sister in law was inside and he was waiting with the gun to the terrorist and then there was shooting outside and probably he was injured by the shooting and after they shoot him so they opened the safe room door they took my sister in law and her three children Eitan 12 years old 10 years old and Liel one year and eight months old they took them and they put them on two bikes one bike with the two daughters and the other bike Eitan the 12 and a half years old my beautiful nephew and they just gone to the fence, they just drove to the fence and something like 200 or 300 meters from the fence came two tanks that actually made something that the bike of Bacheva and the daughter just stopped and the bike with Eitan continue through to the fence and Bacheva got the bravest decision and she managed to escape what a miracle with the baby on her hand and Yaeli the 10 years old she managed to escape no shoes with their pajamas and they ran back to the fields of Kibbutz Niroz and then they done they do themselves dead because there was lots of terrorists running to the fence so Bacheva told the little child please make you we will get on the ground and you will make yourself dead they done themselves dead and somehow two of the terrorists came nearby and tell them you are coming with us and she said no there wasn't armed so she keep on running she just get up keep on running somehow they get to a bus with soldiers Israeli soldiers I'm sorry it's a little bit hard for me to really get out the entire story right here but what we know in kind of a concise version is that Maya my husband sister went out to the party at 6.30 am we woke up to rockets and we were looking for her so confused why she wasn't in the house we were calling her and she was screaming that she was running away from Hamas terrorists on trucks shooting at everyone she's telling us on the phone that she's seeing people left and right falling from gunshots and we're just trying to understand the situation trying to understand what's happening in and out of the shelter and we're just trying to understand what's happening in the house really to read the news and to understand and then once we finally got to the news we realized that Hamas terrorists had infiltrated Israel through Gaza from the air the land and they tried to buy sea and we realized that this was not a situation that we'd ever experienced before we are at war and a war that we didn't predict and you know we're living in a nightmare right now because we're really really just waiting we've been over 48 hours waiting for my father-in-law my husband's dad to come home so his daughter made it home she made it home right she got away from the party while he was looking for her he went missing yeah they were 20 minutes away from each other they were also communicating on the phone we were communicating with him he was 20 minutes drive from her he went missing that's the last time we saw we had connection with him the phone got disconnected and his car is still there but we got information from some IDF soldiers that he's not in the car there are gunshots on the car but we're really just looking for anybody in the area of missing or to tell us if they've seen him because we're just really really praying around 6 a.m. on Saturday he called to our father and update that there is a missus alarm he and his friends found the car under the deck of the bar and they waited to hear the the interception of the iron don so they'll be ready to go out few moments afterwards he and his friends ran to the cars and started driving home in two vehicles my brother was alone in his car he saw in the side of the road two girls that tried to escape as well they was very nervous and afraid and our brother with his special self-control and nonchalant he just told them with a smile jumping girls I will take you home don't worry it's on me they started to drive but in a moment dozens of terrorists blocked the road from everywhere from both sides and started to shoot on them at that moment we called again to our father he told him that he is surrounded by dozens of terrorists they are shooting them with machine guns with Kalashnikovs and grenades he update my father that he must take an action he cannot stay in the car he cannot leave the car and hide hide in the field because they are shooting the people like ducks he said that he will confront them he took a decision and speed up and tried to avoid them since it was the only choice to escape this horror massacre my father told him do what you need I believe in you, I trust you be strong and go ahead so we speed up against them but they shoot the car he injured, he lost control on the car and the car flipped twice and he lost his conscience while the two girls had minor injuries the girls pretended to be dead but after 20 minutes our brother Rory started to regain his conscience but the terrorists noticed it and in act of a pure evil shooting again in a scene taken from the Holocaust period it's terrifying we got the entire story from the girls that he saved we found them on Saturday noon and they told us about this story they called him the angel that came from the sky to save them in the summer Saturday at 7am we didn't hear nothing from our brother in the end of the day we don't have any official information about Rory we don't know if he's alive and injured in hospital or is still in the field is he dead, is he kidnapped, nothing we are in completely darkness the government did have a point that it's as a special coordinator Gal Hirsch to deal with the issue of those missing and unaccounted have you had any contact with officials yet your family about your sister we are just talking to the news and waiting for someone to talk to us I sent Gal Hirsch like a thousand messages no one is talking to me Prime Minister Netanyahu is apparently going to address the nation even in the coming minutes what do you want to hear from the Prime Minister I want to hear something about her something about her about the other ones that missing no one of the families knows anything we don't know nothing we just keep posting on the social media a lot of videos, a lot of thoughts just about her, someone if someone heard from her if someone saw her with her broken leg you can't meet someone with a broken leg in a party like this no one saw her the IDF spokesperson did say that the list is being held captive it's being finalized have you heard anything from authorities until this point in time nobody got in touch with me so I have no idea what's going on I still hope that this courageous woman will just go out from her hiding place and I can hug her tomorrow but it's hard it's really hard and listening to all these politicians makes me sick because that's all they need to know and all they want to know everything they need to do they don't, they just talk they just talk and the international community worth nothing because it doesn't matter what is happening Israel is always to be blamed always and I said before and I will say again we don't need to think any longer about what the community around the world think because they will think anyhow bad about Israel Israel is always the one to be blamed and now the Hamas is saying we'll do this if now there is no place for Hamas there is no place for Hamas in this world it need to be destroyed the guy that came back to rest took them two of them, Gaia and Romy and also another guy named Afil, he took them in his car and apparently he was going to the north and the next time I got a phone call from Romy and she's crying and saying Mami I was shot I was shot and everybody in the car is shot and we cannot move we cannot go out of the car the car is jammed we cannot drive and we are stuck here Mami help me, I don't know what to do I think I'm going to die and the guy near her saying and please call my mom and tell her I don't know what you will tell her but just tell her that you heard from me that I was talking to and he gave me his mother's number and and I was talking to them and saying you are not dying you cannot die, you are not dying we are asking you, you will be okay and I told Romy you know what to do in this situation you have to breathe and be very calm and take control over the situation you cannot lose blood you have to be very relaxed and I was talking to her and she was saying Mami I don't know what to do please help and I was saying and I know I lied we will send you help tell us where you are and we will send you help send us where you are from the phone where you are here where the car is now so we can know how to locate you I didn't know what to do and I was talking to her and saying to Romy you will be okay you will be fine you will be we will help you and when you get better we will go to drink and we will go sitting in your restaurant the restaurant that you are working in we will go hiking and you will be okay and I am talking to her how much I love her and I am not talking anymore and I cheer God shuts around around them I am talking in Arabic I didn't know what they are saying and then in 1058 they closed the call and since then we don't have any information about Romy we just need to make sure that everything possible is done to find Baal and her friends so many families like you are looking for their loved ones they are heartbreaking and I just send you a lot of strength and we hope that you will hear good news very soon thank you thank you very much and we hope that everybody is going to come back home safe and healthy and we are just praying for everything to be better Thank you so much for speaking with us and we hope that you will hear this and might be able to help as well thank you Israel is officially in a state of war this is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we are talking more than 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped we just don't know anything entire families including babies and children and elderly were butchered in their beds awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong everyone is showing up this is the unity the I-24 news coming to you live from Tel Aviv it is day 19 of Israel's war against Hamas a barrage of rockets were fired earlier in the day from Gaza Haifa in the north and Elat on the Red Sea no reports of any casualties the Israeli Air Force continues to pound Gaza killing another high level Hamas commander today the deputy chief has praised Qatar's diplomatic efforts as it continues to negotiate the release of dozens of hostages who are being held in Gaza and in Beirut senior leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad met with the head of the Iranian backed Lebanese based terrorist organization Hezbollah Haasan Nasrallah we can go straight to Israel's northern border now where we are joined by our correspondent Pia Steckelberg Pia tell us what is the latest in the attack that we've seen between Israel and Hezbollah indeed ongoing Laura only few hours ago rockets for in fact were launched from southern Lebanon towards the area of Kiryat Shmona and two communities further east towards the border on the eastern part of the Israeli Lebanese border they were not intercepted as they fell into an open area no reports of casualties or injured over there that comes after Hezbollah has fired an anti-tank missile early on the day towards an Israeli army in the community of Avivim there we are hearing that the idea is striking back towards the origin of these launches with artillery a fire and you mentioned it Laura if we need any more proof that the fronts are indeed connected there was a rocket launched from the Gaza strip toward the area of Haifa and the community south of Haifa earlier in the day the rocket exploded mid air so also there are no reports of injuries or casualties and that comes amid this meeting that you also talked about between this Pallah leader Hezbollah with the leader of the Palestinians Ziyad Al-Nakhle and one of Hamas is senior official Salih Al-Aroori in Beirut where it was discussed which steps could be taken further at this what they called a sensitive stage of the war and how to bring about the victory of the Palestinian resistance there in Gaza so that really showcases how Hezbollah is trying to emphasize how the fronts are connected there with Hamas in the south and how hard has Hezbollah been hit in the last few days Pira are there any reliable figures as to casualties on their side Well Hezbollah has said that 30 of its operatives have been killed since the beginning of the war as Israel is striking back towards the origin of fires there in southern Lebanon we are talking about skirmishes continuously along the border with Lebanon we're talking about not only one specific location we've been seeing quite some mortar shells and some anti-tank missiles fired towards the east but there really is not limited to one location so we're seeing how the northern front is constantly heating up in different areas then we also have to mention the Syrian front there yesterday to rockets being launched from Syria to Golan Heights communities Israel striking targets in Syria throughout the night and now also a few hours ago a report was coming in that the airport in Aleppo there towards the north in Syria was targeted in an air strike that is attributed to Israel so Israel is also there to throughout this year really target Iranian targets within Syria specifically airports as it is believed that Iran is trying to transport weapons to its proxies there in Syria Pia thank you very much Pia Stechelback with the latest from Israel's northern border well the United States has repeatedly warned Hezbollah not to join the fighting the US is well into preparations for a wider war in the Middle East there have already been attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria by Iranian backed forces our senior diplomatic editor Owen Altman has more the contest for America's role in the Middle East may be joined here on the border between Israel and Lebanon where each day brings the risk of wider war a war that could bring in American fighter planes a war that could lead to even more targeting of American troops we are concerned about an increase in attacks by Iranian proxies in the region whether they be targeting US interests or whether they be targeting other interests in the region we hold Iran accountable for those attacks those attacks include attacks by Iranian allied militias on US troops in Iraq and Syria a warning by Iran of what could happen should the United States enter a war full scale what we're seeing is a is the prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region US interests in the Middle East of course go far beyond the militia attacks as this war has taken on not only regional but global stakes of stopping radical Islam of proving commitment to allies and so these pictures from Norfolk, Virginia a few days ago sailors setting out in their aircraft carrier strike group fulfilling the mission given by US President Joe Biden in the leading days of the war two aircraft carrier strike groups will be positioned in the eastern Mediterranean and Iran knows it making clear the real balance of power well let me introduce our guest to you Daniel Shek is the former Israeli ambassador to France good evening to you and Lieutenant Colonel Dohan Avital is a former commander in the special forces of the IDF welcome to you as well Dohan and we're also joined on the line by Shadi Khalool on the ship's at the Alma Research Centre thank you for being with us Shadi I'll start with you if I may so we have the clear sign yet today didn't we that Hamas Hezbollah and other Palestinian terrorist groups are working together there they were holding talks in Beirut under portraits of the Iranian Ayatollahs what do you read into this what is the message they're trying to send First of all we've been at research and education center here in the north, we are focusing on those security challenges. And we've learned that Hezbollah and Iran actually, you know, give change of front in the world. And this is actually the evidence of this, you know, unification of front. And what like what is clear to me now that Hezbollah actually doesn't care about Lebanese people. We don't see any signs of Lebanese frenzy in this picture. We see Hezbollah, which is leading all this representing Iran. We see Hamas and we see Islamic Jihad, all Lebanese flags. No, nothing that reminds us that you are Lebanese. Now we can see that this even where it comes from. And it's true for the whole world who we are fighting now in this world. We are fighting Iran. And it's epoxy. Shadi, sorry to interrupt you for a second. Stay with us. We very much want to hear you. We're having a little bit of trouble with your sound. I'm going to let the technical guys get a handle on that. So do come back to us, Shadi, because we absolutely want to hear what you have to say. Don Avital, there we had it that meeting in Beirut today. A clear message for all the denials from Iran that it was behind the attack. There it is, plain for everyone to see. Sure. I mean, this is the alliance that we are facing and the alliance has to think it's operation. The prospect for further escalation is very evident. And we see it in many fronts, not only in the northern fronts, but only in Syria, only in the attacks of American bases, only the shooting of missiles from Yemen. So we have an alliance here, of course, supported, backed by Iran. And we have to consider what's next. Daniel Shek, you were the Israeli ambassador in France. I wonder if I could ask you a bit about the European position then, because we have seen in the past, haven't we, European countries, trying to contain Iran, obviously pushing for the nuclear deal, the JCPOA, and also refusing in some cases to label, to prescribe the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Do you think events that are happening now are a bit of a wake-up call for Europe? Well, to be honest, most European countries don't really need a wake-up call, at least not conceptually. Sometimes the practice is not exactly a reflection of the way Iran is seen, because I am not aware of any serious intelligence service around Europe that has any doubts about the role of Iran in what is happening in this region, but not just in this region. You're talking about the nuclear aspect, but I would remind you that in the efforts to renew some kind of JCPOA, a new version, there were attempts to include Iran's terrorist activities, meaning through the proxies. So there is an awareness, maybe there wasn't enough toughness behind it, but if there were any doubts, it's ridiculous to try and deny. Nobody really believes the Iranians when they say we have nothing to do. Yeah, there's one area where they have nothing to do, and that is the actual front line. They don't fight. They send others to fight their war. Okay, proxy groups as we're seeing around the region. Shadi Khalil, I think you're back with us now. Can you hear me, Shadi? Yes, I hear you. That's much better. I'm sorry to do this to you, but could you just go over what you were saying a moment ago, because we couldn't quite hear you very well. If you could tell us a bit more about what is happening? Well, as I mentioned, this is just a proof for the whole world who we are fighting. We are fighting this face of evil. This picture actually shows us who is this face of evil. It's led by Iran. We can see Khamenei there. And on top of this meeting, we see Hezbollah, the strongest proxy, and we see Hamas and Islamic Jihad, or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. This is what we call unification of fronts. And it's led by Iran. Iran is planning everything, is doing everything possible to actually fight Israel through its proxies. And at the same time, we see no flags of Lebanon in this picture, nothing that reminds us we are in Lebanon. And that's cynically actually using the Lebanese people as hostages, as human shields, for this face of evil that led by Iran with Hezbollah and its proxies in the region, Iranian proxies in the region. And Shadi, I mean, over the past two weeks, we've had this kind of tip for tap situation, haven't we? Hezbollah fires on an Israeli target. Israel fires back. I think Hezbollah have lost around 30 fighters. What is holding them back from getting involved? Are they waiting until the moment when Israeli troops go into Gaza? Are they deterred by the presence of the Americans? What is your assessment of what's going on? Well, I think that Iran actually and Hezbollah were surprised maybe by the power of Americans, by the forces that Americans sent here. And maybe they were a little bit recalculating their steps in the region and how they should react to what they were planning. So something was messed up in their calculations. And they didn't expect this American response and maybe Western world or free world response standing with Israel. So now I think what we are waiting for, actually today, I just saw the clashes over here in the border where I live. I saw Hezbollah anti-tank missiles to Avivim. I saw that and I saw the retaliation of Israel to the sources of fire. So I can see they are already actually in war with us. And it's just a matter of time when this mistake will be done and we will have a full war escalation here in this front. And what just a matter of time? What might that look like, Shadi? Honestly, as according to Alma Center research, we have posted and wrote about it and published. We are talking about 4,000 to 6,000 missiles a day for a long, long time. They can maintain that for about one to two months time. And we are talking about precision-guided missiles, a large amount. We are talking about UAV and drones with 2,000, at least 5,000 drones, like the ones they are using in Ukraine, like they sold it to Russia and they are using it in Ukraine. We might see infiltrations and these guys in the Radoan force, as you know, they were well trained and experienced in fighting side by side by Assad, who butchered his people. They fought the Syrian people and they butchered the Sunni Muslims there together with Assad. So these people are very well trained and very serious force, at least three, four times, even 10 times stronger than Hamas. So we're going to have a serious fighting here in the north. And I don't want actually to think about how this will look like because I hope Israel is very prepared for it. And they know exactly how to do it. They also have tunnels. Let's not forget that. They have tunnels. It's like a city of tunnels in south Lebanon in their like military zones that we also publish in our center. And all this together, it's a huge threat, existential threat to Israel that we must finish this era with eliminating it because otherwise we will find ourselves in the same scenario like it happened in Gaza and the south in the south of Israel when these ISIS Hamas people came and beheaded people and killing Israelis, slaughtering them and killing women, children, burning them. This might happen here in the north in large scale as well because the scenario would be maybe also for Hezbollah to open the borders for 50 to 100,000 Palestinians, like gunmen, to enter the northern borders from the Palestinian refugee camps. And this will flood this area with them and you can see what catastrophe and disaster we might have here. All this scenario, I think we should be aware of. And I hope the Israeli government is actually considering how to eliminate this threat as soon as possible. All right, Shadi. Thank you. I mean, that's a terrifying picture that Shadi paints for us. Shadi is an expert in Hezbollah and its capabilities. Thank you very much, Shadi Khalil. Thank you. Dawn, Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas. Can it, at the same time, wipe out Hezbollah with the aid of the Americans? Yeah, I mean, we've said it before. I'm sure we can do it. The might of Hezbollah is what's described here is indeed, and then there's no comparison between the capabilities that Hezbollah has to Hamas. But I think what they don't have is the element of surprise. And we sit there very well, well-prepared, exchange those clashes and waiting for when the miscalculation of the threshold is crossed, which would enable our action. And I trust we have, as he was indicating, that we have the capabilities to block them. But the threat is there. And as he described it, in terms of the amounts of missiles, the precision, the soldiers that we met in 2006 and proved themselves in the battlefield, we have to admit it. We have to respect your enemy. But we can do it. We can stand to it. We know them. I know the generals of the North. I am confident we can stand to this challenge. Daniel Schaik. You know, there's a reason why the United States and many other powers are really scrambling to try and stop Hezbollah from entering the war, the American physical military presence in the area, the interventions of some European leaders who might have influence on the Lebanese government like President Emmanuel Macron just recently. I'm quite certain that he's active there. This would turn what, you know, with all the tragedies that accompany it, turn the localized clash between Israel and Hamas into a regional war zone. And that is something that will transform, as Owen Altman alluded earlier, it would transform this into something that is really a big problem, a global problem. So I think it's really a crucial issue. Will they or will they not? Just one more point. You don't necessarily have to want this to happen. And that's the problem. Sometimes the two sides, you know, with so to speak contained exchanges, something happens, something gets out of hand, and suddenly you're in a full-fledged war without even wanting to. Unintended consequences. A miscalculation or a provocation of some event and then all hell breaks loose. Well, quite, I mean, Shadi, if you can still hear me, Shadi Khalool, I mean, when you look at the rationale of Hezbollah, surely, you know, they must see what has happened to Hamas. Are they willing to risk being wiped out entirely if Israel will not hold back at all? It's not up to actually rational issues here. It's up to Islamic jihadi agenda. We know that they can suicide themselves for the sake of Iran. So it all depends on Iranian will and their maybe atomic bomb program. If they want to advance, they want to make Israel busy and make it busy with a long war with Hezbollah, with Hamas. And as the speaker said, the two speakers miscalculation might happen. And there's no rational issues here in this fight now and these clashes. It might happen any time. And according to the will of the axis, the Shia, Islamic and Sunni jihadi axis, this is the interest of Iran today. And that's what we are saying. That's what we are saying. There's no rational. It's all about fighting Israel as one front. They have this spiritual jihadi spirit now that Israel in 75 or 80 years should not exist or some El Mahdi feeling that the Mahdi is coming as they call it, like what we call it, the Messiah. And that's how they think. It's not the Western thinking like me and you, Laura. It's the other thinking. Even that Hamas might do the same before and nobody listened. I warned that Hamas is ISIS before and the people were joking and they silenced me and telling that you are too much extreme on describing them. But if that makes me sad because we can save many lives. I sent government, the government letters about this issue that Hamas is ISIS and that behavior is not different than ISIS in Iraq killing and massacring Christians and making genocide against the Yazidis and Christians. So this same ideology exists in Hezbollah, exists in Hamas, in Islamic jihad and all other jihadi organizations. That's what we are facing here. You're not the first one to say that to me, Shadi. But yeah, it is terrifying to hear what you're saying. So Duhon, there is a theory that the longer Israel keeps Hamas on the siege, they're living in those tunnels. They need fuel to get the air in those tunnels. While they're weaker, contained, Israel can turn its attention to the north. Do you think that might be a calculation? This is a philosophy that I heard, of course, because we were all under the impression that the ground offensive is very near. The hostages complicated the issue and I think we have to rethink now this dilemma and this is what the decision makers are trying to do. The Qatar involvement, even Zakhia Negbid, his expression that recommending Qatar means that Israel is looking for some venue in terms of the hostages. This is a dilemma Israel never encountered. And of course, the question is to how to balance it with the north, the dilemma to the decision makers and I think in the south, we think pounding, but we think all the time in terms of the hostages right now, this is the focus. They're in the forefront of everyone's minds. Okay, stay with us. Shadi Halul, thank you very much indeed. Shadi Halul is at the Alma Research Center. Thank you to you. Well, the Bedouin community in Israel's southern Negev desert have been severely affected by Hamas terrorism. Not only are they close to Gaza, they rarely have shelters or even warning sirens. Now members of one Bedouin community are coming together to find solutions. In a legal village with no formal name, now in mourning, 60 Israeli Bedouins live in this village in the eastern Negev. On October 7th, they were on the front line against Hamas rockets. Traces of the attack are still visible throughout the village. Rocket shrapnel on the ground and cars torn apart by the impact. All bearing witness to the violence, but it's the people who are most affected. I have four cousins who died in front of my eyes. It's a disaster. A rocket fell on the village around 6.30 a.m. We all ran to see what happened if anyone was hurt. There was only material damage, so we moved away and sat down in a tent, the whole family. Gradually, the people dispersed and there were just five people in the tent. Shortly afterwards, a missile fell on the tent. Four died and one is still in hospital. Given the urgency of the situation, the Israeli army provided concrete shelters the day after the war began, but these makeshift shelters aren't reassuring for the local residents. The situation is bad as our villages are not officially recognized. The state considers them wastelands, so we don't have any warning sirens, barely any shelters, miserable concrete blocks that were brought in the day after the attack, but it was too late and many families don't even have this. Since the beginning of the war, the Bedouin community has suffered at least 19 deaths from Hamas. Some by rockets, others killed at point-blank range during the terrorist incursions of October 7th. A traumatic experience for the entire community. The majority of casualties in the Bedouin community occurred within 48 hours of the attack. We lost around 20 people. There were many wounded and seven hostages. We were on the front line. Many of us live below the poverty line and half of the people live outdoors. These people have no protection. People are traumatized. Nevertheless, the Bedouins are getting involved. Volunteer initiatives have been set up to help both the Bedouin community and the region's Jewish inhabitants. In Hura, east of Behr Sheba, an emergency council has been set up. Since the beginning of the war, leading members of the Bedouin community have been meeting twice a week to evaluate the situation and find solutions to the most urgent problems. We're all meeting here to provide solutions to the lack of shelter and organize Bedouin volunteers who want to help. What's more, over 60% of the Bedouin community is under age of 18. So how can we continue to provide them with an education in wartime? We have to set up a remote education system, but half of the children live in unrecognized villages with no access to internet. So Zoom doesn't work. Initiatives that try to lighten the burden of war for populations, still in shock. Just before we go to break a report in the Wall Street Journal, saying that Israel has agreed for now to request from the United States, which says it wants to get its air defenses in place in order to protect its assets in the region, in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates to get its air defenses in order before Israel goes into Gaza in anticipation of attacks by Iranian proxies in the region on U.S. forces. We have, of course, already seen attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq. We saw Yemen's Houthi rebels trying to fire missiles at Israel as well. So Iran's efforts to drag the U.S. into a regional war very much on display today following that meeting as well in Beirut today. Okay, we're going to take a very short break. We'll be back with more right after this. Stay with us. Is officially in a state of war. This is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking. Within a hundred soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped. Help us, we don't want to do it. We just don't know anything. Entire families, including babies and children and elderly, were butchered in their beds. Awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong. Everyone is showing up. This is the unity. It was very hard for me to see him like this. You know, my son is a happy guy. Contestants de la guerra, espadas de hierro. Entrevistas exclusivas reportes desde la zona de guerra. La reacción de los países hispano parlantes. New 24, el único medio en español que te mantiene informado y conectado con la comunidad Latina en Israel. New 24, únicamente en I24 News. Israel is at war. Make an investment in Israel bonds. It is the most powerful and direct way to stand with Israel. Visit israelbonds.com and invest now. Made for me, a unique concept in Israel. Custom made men's fashion to your measurements. Made for me, designer of all your events. Schedule your appointment at www.madeforme.co.il. Made for me, official dresser of I24 News. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Okay, you're watching I24 News. We're coming to you live from Tel Aviv. Hamas fired rockets at the Red Sea city of Elat and the northern city of Haifa today. This as Israeli Air Force air strikes on the strip continue. A reminder of my guests. Right, we're going to go to the southern border. Our correspondent, Hamda Salhout is there for us now. Hamda, just don't wrap up the day's events so far if you would. Right, Laura. So rocket fire is still coming from outside of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military responding with heavy, heavy air strikes. Our cameraman is pointing to something in the distance here. This is active rocket fire coming from the Gaza Strip. We believe it's a little bit hazy due to the influx of fire that has been in the air over the last 19 days. So continuous activity here along the border. You could hear those explosions, still artillery fire, mortars all being used here along the border, both by the Israeli military and by Hamas. Now, we do have also information that the Wall Street Journal says that Israel agreed actually to delay its ground invasion in Gaza to give the U.S. more time to deploy additional aid that it needs around its bases in the Middle East in places like Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. So the Israeli military still striking in full force sources inside of the Gaza Strip are telling me that some of the strikes occurring today in Gaza City are scenes of unimaginable things to human eye. These are people who actually fled south, but because of the continued bombardment decided to go back north because they felt that there was no safe place. So here, these communities where we are in Sidot have been completely evacuated. The military has declared this a militarized zone. There is only really press and army presence here as the war continues, Laura. And Hamda, there is some debate isn't there over fuel, of course, NGOs and the UN are putting pressure on Israel to allow fuel deliveries into the territory. They say it would be for civilian purposes. But the concerns of Israel are that that fuel would get into the hands of Hamas, enable them to continue living in those tunnels where they're holding hostages, where they need air conditioning, where they need other supplies. Just tell us a bit about that debate that is raging right now. Right. So medical officials inside of the Gaza Strip, not only UN agencies are asking for fuel to continue the life saving medical needs that they require inside of hospitals fuel and excuse me a supply truck arrived today in Han Yunus with medical supplies, but the doctors in the hospital said they can't even use them without fuel. Now the Israeli military pushing back on wanting to send in fuel inside of the Gaza Strip, even releasing a post on X telling the UN agencies to get their fuel from Hamas, because they apparently do have some stocked up. So the fear of the Israeli military is that that fuel will go into the hands of Hamas and not go to the hospitals as the doctors would need, Laura. All right, Hamda. Thank you very much. Hamda Salhout there at the border with Gaza. And just to bring in our studio guest, Daniel Shek is the former Israeli ambassador to France. And Lieutenant Colonel Dolgan Avital is the former commander of the Special Forces of the IDF. So let's talk about that report then in the Wall Street Journal. The Americans are saying, look, don't go into Gaza yet. We need more time to protect our assets in the Middle East. What do you make of that? I think it's an interesting consideration because, you know, in military action, there's also always this window of operation. Okay. And in the window, there's too early and too late. And you have to calibrate many considerations. Okay. So one of them, of course, is the opening of the northern front, if, and so the hostages, the main dilemma, the negotiation right now. And if the U.S. puts this and our allies in this case, and if it's true, then it's for sure a consideration in the way we time any possible attack. So I can't verify that this is this report is completely accurate, but for sure, it's a it's a consideration. And how long might that take? When you go to the international atmosphere, it's also part of the window exactly. So it's really many considerations. You have to work them in tandem and dancing them together. I don't think it's a big deal for the U.S. to be prepared to. It's not a question of weeks, but whether this is was presented as a demand or this is like a conversation between the leaders of the two allies, this is a different story. And the diplomatic aspect as well. I sort of get the impression that the United States is not thrilled with the idea of Israel mounting a major ground operation in Gaza. And this might just be another way to delay it and buy some more time. We know that the time is used in on the axis between Washington and Jerusalem for intense conversations at every level from heads of state to commanders in intelligence and and other military aspects. And, you know, maybe this is another way to buy another few days, et cetera. Of course, what Doronavital says correctly, windows, they open, but they also close. They shut. So it's been over two weeks. There has been also, you know, I'm not a military specialist, but you've brought in hundreds of thousands of reservists, which for the moment haven't done anything. They have trained. I suspect they are training and they're preparing and all that. But you can't keep them eternally. It's sort of bringing the Israeli economy, not to a standstill, but it's slowing it down considerably. So all these things have to play into the decision making. And I agree with Doron completely. The major consideration currently also in the Israeli public opinion is the fate of the hostages. The size of this problem, the demographics involved from infants to elderly creates and the international aspect, you know, 30, 30 nationalities, that makes it a big deal. Absolutely. And we will continue with that in a moment. So let's go to Tel Aviv's Dizengov Square, because our correspondent, Bachela Vintal, is there where the families of the hostages have gathered, haven't they, Bachela, to draw attention to the number of babies and children who are being held right now by Hamas. Absolutely. And as the conversation was unfolding in studio, there is a point there that is evidently very clear. This is being put forward on not just the public conscience here in Israel, but the public conscience all over the world. We are not talking about military personnel that has been kidnapped. We are talking about children, infants, young teenagers. These are innocence in a war time that have been captured, that have been taken into the Gaza Strip. And I'm going to move over just so you can see exactly the vigil and the display that's put on here in the center of Tel Aviv at Dizengov Square. These are teddy bears, giant teddy bears that have been blindfolded and splashed with blood. You can see now as the camera zooms in on the famous pictures of that nine-month-old Kvill and his brother Arielle, who were kidnapped with their mother, those images searing into the public conscience here in Israel. But this display and all the foreign and international media that's being here throughout the evening, making very sure that the world is getting a picture of this as well, because this is what we're talking about. We're talking about 30 giant teddy bears that are supposed to represent innocence. And what was even more perhaps tear-joking, Laura, is earlier while we were standing here, a father came to obviously pay his respects and to take some pictures. And his young child he was with could not have been older than about three years old. Just quietly went up and gave one of the teddy bears a hug. This is the innocence of war. These are not military operatives. And this is not even people within Israel that are, and yes, there's a fringe of them that are not involved in peace and wanting to see, you know, better times necessarily to put it that way. But again, these are children that were born decades, decades after the State of Israel. And the question that needs to be asked is, what on earth did they do to be involved in this conflict? So they are not part of the governments. They're not part of the military. They are innocence. And so this vigil very much pointing to the fact that these children are being held captive. They are still in the Gaza Strip under goodness knows what conditions, because there hasn't been any information forthcoming in terms of the conditions of many of the hostages. And more so than that, it's also being put out. Sorry, but sorry to interrupt you. I wanted to ask you, because of course we had the two freed hostages yesterday, the two elderly ladies who were released. And they did give a kind of a glimpse into what life was like in captivity, although it has to be stressed that one of the ladies husbands is still being held. And she would have been speaking under duress. She's not entirely free. But I mean, did that bring any kind of comfort, any reassurance to the other hostages families at all? It's a tough one, Laura. And it's a good question because to some, yes, there is room for positivity to know that some of these captives perhaps may be treated in good conditions. And again, both of the husbands are still being kept if I'm not mistaken in captivity. And there were two very interesting points to her conversation that she mentioned when she was speaking from the hospital, the first being that they separated the group. So we don't know necessarily if this was a control group that was being fed and treated relatively well, as they were saying, perhaps that was the truth of it all. But then the rest of them that was separated are not exactly in the same condition being that experiment. And the other thing is, as we mentioned, their husbands are still being held. They could have been under major duress and under a lot of backlash, if you want, or even some kind of blackmail to be seen to the press that they were treated in great condition by their captives because their husbands are still by and large. What really speaks to this is actually the image of one of them being Yorkevit Lyftcha, who shook the hand of her capital, of one of the people that were holding her hostage. And this doesn't speak to the fact that she was perhaps in duress, speak to the fact that perhaps she didn't know where she was. This speaks to the fact that Israel is about peace. Her and her husband were peace activists, peace activists in the kibbutz in which they lived, in which they drove Palestinian kids, sick Palestinian kids from the air is crossing to a lot of the hospitals here in Tel Aviv to get the medical care in which they needed. So between people like that and innocents like the teddy bears are representing behind me, it's really hard to understand how the international community is so blinded by their hatred that they can't see that as clearly as it is. Thank you very much. There is a vigil for some of the children being held right now by terrorists in Gaza. And Israel does continue to identify and bury the victims of the October 7 massacre. Many others await news of their friends and family members who are being held hostage. And for those who survived that dreadful day, life will never be the same again. Well, one of the survivors of the music festival that was attacked by Hamas terrorists and in which at least 250 people were killed. Ilya Pisatskov is with me now. Ilya, thank you for joining us. Welcome. Tell us your story. Hi. So, you know, just like in every nice festival, everybody, everybody having fun, dancing, laughing, you know, and suddenly it all started. You start to see literally hundreds of rockets above our heads. All you could hear is explosions of them. The iron dome just keeps working. You know, everybody just keeps running and screaming all over. Just complete chaos. This is how it started. And I've spoken to other survivors from the festival and also people who lost friends and family. They say that life or death came down to the decision at what time you left the party. People who left earlier managed to get away thankfully with their lives. Those who decided to stay on were slaughtered. I mean, that must be something that weighs on your mind a lot. So I think the sequence of events that they definitely helped me. I think there was not a formula of how to survive that day. Some people who stayed in the event actually survived. Some people who left early was murdered. I was one of the people who left early in the car while I was driving back home. We stopped next to Kibbutzal Mim and then we started to hear shots coming from every different direction. So we just lied under the car. I couldn't lift my head. I left my head one second and I felt the whistle of the bullet so strong that my ear almost popped. It was everything was a matter of seconds. One wrong tone. One, I don't know, maybe a minute here, a minute there. And the results can be different. I mean, it was literally a few inches through my ear. Terrifying. Can I ask, did you lose friends that day? Yeah, unfortunately, Israel is a small country and obviously the music festival scene is also quite small. I know a lot of people from there. Unfortunately, there are many that I know. Who have been murdered and there are two good friends of mine that unfortunately is not with us anymore, Daniel and Rachel. I'm sorry. Hopefully they will find their peace. Yeah, I'm sorry. It's unspeakable what happened that day. It really is. And how are you getting through it? How are you taking care of yourself with your family, with people, with your community? What is keeping you going? Obviously, this is a very traumatic event for all of us. I mean, in each and every friends that I have, each and every person that I know, know someone who either been killed or murdered. This is how big and this is how awful of an event that is. So, you know, I'm trying to go back to schedule, go back to work, trying to, you know, just keep my mind occupied with with different activities. I don't know, staying with my friends a little bit, basically getting used to the new life that we have here right now. I mean, probably the, the world won't end in a few days. So it will take some time, unfortunately, but hopefully, I mean, not hopefully, we will definitely win. Well, Ilya, we're happy that you're with us. We're glad you're here. Thank you very much for talking to us. And we hope that we'll have better days soon. Ilya Fisatsko. Thank you. All the best. Bye. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Okay. Well, let's talk a bit about the diplomacy around the world as this war rages on between Israel and Hamas because the UN Secretary-General says he's shocked at what he says is the mischaracterization of his position on the war between Israel and Hamas. Antonio Guterres was accused of justifying the actions of Hamas by saying the October 7th massacre did not happen, quote, in a vacuum. He also criticized Israel's response. Well, Israel's ambassador to the UN has called on Guterres to resign while the UN humanitarian affairs official Martin Griffiths has been blocked from visiting Israel. Our Mike Wagenheim has the latest from the UN headquarters in New York. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres creating a firestorm here in New York on Tuesday with comments that Israeli officials say justified Hamas's massacre of Israelis and foreign nationals back on October the 7th. Guterres this morning giving comment and essentially doubling down refusing to apologize. Indeed, I spoke of the grievances of the Palestinian people and in doing so, I also clearly stated and I quote, but the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas end quote. And then I went on with my intervention referring all my positions on all aspects of the Middle East crisis. I believe it was necessary to set the record straight especially out of respect to the victims and to their families. Israeli officials from across the political spectrum from Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to opposition leader Yair Lapid condemning Guterres for his comments yesterday during a session of the Security Council here on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Already Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan has taken away a visa from Martin Griffiths, the UN Humanities, now going to explore the possibilities of revoking visas from other UN officials. Now this is not unprecedented territory. In fact, in recent years Israel quietly either revoked or refused to renew visas for members of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights this after that particular UN body came out with a blacklist of companies that were doing business in Judea and Samaria in the West Bank or so-called Occupied Territory. And also decades ago Richard Faulk, the UN rapporteur on the Palestinian territories at the time, was actually detained at Ben-Gurion Airport and sent back home Israeli officials refusing to let him in to investigate supposed Israeli crimes against the Palestinians. Reporting here from the United Nations in New York, Mike Wagenheim, I-24 News. That's our senior U.S. correspondent, Mike Wagenheim, reporting from New York. Apologies for the slight technical glitch in the middle of that. Let me bring in Hillel Noyer. He's the Executive Director of United Nations Watch. Thank you for being with us, Hillel. And what did you make of those efforts by Antonio Guterres to clarify the comments he made yesterday? Well, look, Laura, thank you for having me. And what I think the Secretary General is doing, what he did yesterday and today, he's trying to have it both ways. In his in his press statement today, he said he's shocked because he quoted from his speech yesterday where he said that the Palestinian grievances do not justify terrorism. But at the same time yesterday, he did say very clearly the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. Can you imagine a Secretary General of the United Nations saying the attacks on the World Trade Center killing 3,000 people did not happen in a vacuum? Al Qaeda has grievances, America has troops in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim lands. Of course, no U.N. Secretary General ever said that. On the contrary, when bin Laden was killed by the Americans at his hideout in Pakistan, then Secretary General Ban Ki-moon applauded the action. He welcomed it and he said that justice was delivered to Al Qaeda. So that was the moral clarity the U.N. could show against radical murderous Islamic terrorists like Al Qaeda. That is exactly what the U.N. Chief should have said yesterday regarding Hamas, which has committed atrocities that truly shocked the conscience of mankind. They murdered men, women, and children. They raped, they tortured, they mutilated. It was unspeakable the atrocities that Hamas committed for the Secretary General to say that these atrocities against innocent men, women, and children young and old did not happen in a vacuum. His attempt to contextualize, to justify is inexcusable. And Hilal, do you think it's right for Israel to deny entry to the humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths? Is that a move that might backfire? Well, I'm not going to get into the wisdom of that move. I think that at the end of the day, the U.N. officials will need access to Gaza. Israel, of course, will want international authorities there to manage the humanitarian situation. I don't expect that the refusal to give visas will be long lasting. I think Israel is trying to send a message. As your reporter indicated, Israel has done so from time to time in the past. So I think this issue will be resolved. I think Israel is trying to send a message today that this justification of Hamas terrorism is inexcusable. And how is this characteristic, Hilal, of the U.N.'s position towards Israel over the decades? Look, sadly, the United Nations, which is supposed to be an impartial body, many of its leading agencies, I'm speaking to you from Geneva, next to the Human Rights Council. This is a body that has one agenda item on the world at every one of its meetings and one standing agenda item targeting Israel alone. No other country, not North Korea. Russia, which is bombing Ukraine, not Syria, which is barrel bombing its own hospitals, has a agenda item of its own, only targeting Israel. And that's symbolic of what we see around the U.N. as a whole. General Assembly in the past year had one resolution on Syria, one on Iran, one on North Korea, and 15 on Israel. So Israel is demonized and delegitimized at the United Nations, and it promotes hatred of Israel, which only encourages terrorist groups like Hamas. All right, Hilal Noya from U.N. Watch. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Thank you. Daniel Schaik, if I could bring you in, what do you make of the decision to bar Martin Griffiths and more broadly about the U.N.'s position? Look, I didn't see much point in doing this. I have no words to or nor wish to defend Antonio Guterres. I think that if on Wednesday you have to explain a statement you made on Tuesday, then there's probably a problem with your statement, and he should have reread it on Tuesday rather than correcting it the next day. But still, I mean, in a situation of conflict, especially when the humanitarian situation we should remember is not just the situation of the Gazans. There is a humanitarian situation of 222 Israeli abducted people, and we will need the international organizations to help us with that. Well, on that, just on that, what do you make of the Israeli national security adviser, Tachi Honegbi, when he praised Qatar for its diplomatic efforts? If ever there was a situation where the saying whatever works goes, this is the one, whatever can bring back the abducted people, the hostages, we should do. And the Qataris certainly have the ability. They bear a certain amount of responsibility because they supported Hamas for many, many years, and they have a choice. They can either stay on the sides of the villains in this story, or they can become the heroes if they help liberate 222 innocent bystanders to this terrible massacre. And they're also a close US ally. I mean, which side do you think that they will choose, ultimately? Well, I don't know. I can only hope that they will choose the right side, and indications are that they want to. And if it necessitates praising them publicly, I'm all for it. Doha Navital, to what extent does this diplomatic pressure affect Israel's military operations and calculations? No, I think it has some weight. I mean, in terms of the political decision makers, I mean, the army prepares its plan, is ready. But the diplomatic background is important. I just would say what I'm trying to emphasize again and again. In the end, we are going to win this war in the battlefield and not in the PR domain. So I don't think, for example, games like the foreign minister not attending a meeting with the UN General Secretary. I think this is not the kind of way that a country like us, with established records, should behave. And in the end, in the battlefield, we'll show our hand and then hopefully also resolve the dilemma. But when you had this show of solidarity from the Western world, I mean, when all that this emphasizes the point, we have this show of support from all the Western world, we have to play with our allies. In any respect, the thing if we did mistakes in the last 15 years, this is a political point is by snobbing a little bit our allies in Western Europe or the US president in the context of the Iranian deal. And now we need them so badly. So I think let's change a course. Let's play with this alliance that is really behind us and then show our hand in the battlefield. Foreign relations are part of a country's strength, of a country's national security. And in a country like Israel, which is in a permanent war, more than anywhere else. All right, Daniel. Thank you very much indeed. And just before we go to break some news coming in, people