 In news edition, I'm Benita Levine, coming to you live from Tel Aviv. A major barrage of rockets has been launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory in the south and in central Israel in recent hours, with interceptions close to Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Ranana, Kholon and Hod Hasharon. It's estimated more than 1.5 million people were running to shelter in recent hours at around midday local time. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Day 23 of the war and still 230 hostages are being held by the Hamas terror group, all abducted during the terror onslaught on the 7th of October. Meanwhile, the IDF says fighter jets struck some 450 Hamas targets in the Strip over the past day, including terror command centres, observation posts and anti-tank guided missile launch positions. It also expanded its ground operations in the Gaza Strip overnight. Earlier, the IDF confirming troops had eliminated a terror cell in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers killed at least 20 Hamas terrorists who emerged from a tunnel and tried to attack them. The United Nations World Food Programme representative says 40 more humanitarian aid trucks are expected to enter Gaza on Sunday as believed that number could be higher. The trucks are bringing in food, water and medical supplies, but not fuel. Internet and cell phone connectivity in the Strip were partially restored on Sunday morning. Israel has today reopened the 2nd of 3 water pipelines to the Gaza Strip, which is run by Hamas and in the north earlier. Multiple launches from Lebanese territory towards the Mount Dorf area were detected. Those fell in an open area. The IDF forces responding by firing at the sources of those launches. So now for more. We cross live to our correspondent Pierre Kloschendler. He joins us from southern Israel. So Pierre Siren sounding in Kfar Azar, Nativa Azara and much further north too earlier. What is the latest in the south where you are? What update can you share? Well, just a few moments ago there was a salvo of rockets aiming at Nativa Azara, which is in this direction at about, I would say about five miles away from where we're standing. Nativa Azara in me is the city of Ashkelon, which is the hardest city in Israel. And yet today there was a lull over Ashkelon, only the southern part of Ashkelon on the outskirts was targeted by rocket fire. The ground operation is going on and expanding overnight. There was an addition of forces inside the Gaza Strip. The troops are fighting with armored vehicles, tanks, military engineering. They're fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, in the villages of Bethlehia, Bethhanun, Jebalia village, and progressing slowly but surely towards the north, towards the south, towards Gaza City. This is some sort of a grinding tactic we feel here. A lot of bombardments of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets. You mentioned over 440 targets in 24 hours, but that was up until 9 o'clock this morning. So there are probably more targets being hit. We've seen ourselves, you know, bombardments from the air, from the sea, from artillery outgoing shells. And we've seen also hits on buildings. The IDF speaks about Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad positions that have been targeted, in which sometimes also terrorists were killed. You've spoken about 20 terrorists that were emerging from a tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip. That has not been confirmed officially by the army, by the Israeli army. There have been anti-tank positions hit, all kinds of positions. And what makes it more deathful is the fact that there are ground forces and those ground forces are in direct contact, not only with the intelligence, but also with the air force and the artillery. And they provide accurate targets to the forces in the air, the sea and the ground. And all this, of course, happening amidst those concerns for the fate of the 230 hostages still being held by the Hamas terror group inside Gaza. For now, thank you very much to our correspondent, Pierre Kloschengler, updating us from southern Israel. Thank you, Pierre. And now, for more, we welcome to studio Israeli-Palestinian relations expert, Colonel in the Reserves Grisha Yakubovich, former head of the civilian department of Kogat in the IDF and our correspondent, Guy Israel. Gentlemen, thank you both for being here. A match to discuss. I want to start, Grisha, with you and the expansion of this ground operation. Overnight, we heard from Pierre some of the targets that have been hit. We are hearing about a terror cell being eliminated, coming out of an underground tunnel. What details are known at this hour? Well, this is the operational plan, if I can understand it correctly. If in my understanding is that before the ground, the big ground attack, what the IDF is trying to get is to stabilize the line, to stabilize the northern border and then the southern border later. Actually, from the east a little bit and from the west, from the sea. And actually, to move in with night raids into the Gaza Strip and to create some security parameter between the fence, the security fence and a little bit in. Now, if we will look at the northern part of the Gaza Strip, so the height there is 60 meters above sea level. So my understanding is that the IDF will probably enter in, hold some posts at this security perimeter and enjoin from the advantage of height to be able to target more terrorists inside Gaza. Meanwhile, there are some developments as our Pierre Klosschander reported. There's rocket alerts in Tiva-Azara. That is one of the communities in the northern part of the Gaza Strip in Israeli territory that is the closest to the border fence, right next to the Eris Crossing. There are several reports about some other incident that is happening. And that would very often be the case when Palestinian terrorists attempt to cause some sort of casualties to Israelis. This is what we saw on the first day. A constant barrage of rockets or mortars in this case, together with other activity. We know the IDF forces are on very high alert in that area and they will be able to respond to any such threat. Nonetheless, the IDF is checking. I'm sure that that report, for sure, we know of a barrage of rockets on this community. And we can also remind our viewers that these communities so close to the border, sometimes less than a mile away, are now completely empty of their regular residents. There are some security forces, obviously, maintaining those communities also in the Kibbutz is there. The emergency teams are there, guarding the place together with the security forces. But most residents have either had to evacuate or, very sadly, either lost their lives, have been kidnapped or are missing. And their whereabouts is still unknown. And day 23 and still those rockets are still emanating from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli civilian territory. Gentlemen, stay with us. We've got more to discuss. But first, let's go to our correspondent, Hamda Salhut. She joins us from northern Israel. And Hamda, several launches from Lebanese territory towards the Mount Dov area were detected earlier. What is the latest? What update have you got this hour? Right, Benita, the Israeli military responding to that rocket fire from Lebanese territory by shelling artillery positions, shelling from their artillery positions, and additionally trying to locate the sources of the rocket fire. A lot of the communities in northern Israel have been evacuated up to five kilometers of the border. There are military checkpoints everywhere that you are driving or walking. So because they really don't want civilians to be in the middle when there is that exchange of fire. Now, interesting developments. Last night we saw that the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL said that an Israeli shell hit part of their building. And they released an update today saying that it was actually two mortar shells hitting the base of the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon and that there were injuries reported that attacking UN peacekeepers is a crime. Now, a Lebanese source was actually the one who said it was an Israeli shell, but UNIFIL is conducting its own investigation to see exactly from where it was launched and how it hit the side and base of their building. Now, at this time, there are demonstrations currently taking place in Lebanon in solidarity with the situation that is going on inside of the Gaza Strip. There are Hamas flags being raised, Palestinian flags. Not only Lebanese people there, but a lot of Palestinians who actually live in places like in southern Lebanon, like the Innan Headway Refugee Camp where a lot of Palestinian factions actually operate out of. Today, we also heard from the Iranian president who said that Israel's ground invasion will force other entities in the region to get involved. So there's a lot to look out for as this constantly dynamic and evolving situation unfolds on both fronts, Benita. And picking up on exactly that point when Ibrahim Raisi says that these airstrikes and the ground operation may force everyone to take action, obviously concern, what that means in terms of Hezbollah and potential full involvement in this war. What is the latest on that front? Well, of the Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, releasing a statement saying, quote, the Zionist regime's crimes have crossed the red lines which may force everyone to take action. Going on to say that Washington has repeatedly warned the Iranians, they've warned Hezbollah about this, but it's going to be up to them eventually. The ground invasion is going to be something to look out for as the entities in the region, Israel is going to have to deal with a lot of that. So there's a lot of talk between these different groups both in Beirut, in Lebanon and in other countries as to what exactly is going to happen. But the Iranian president's message is firm and echoing that of the foreign minister just a couple of days ago speaking to NPR, saying that whoever wants to get involved in the conflict at this point, it is up to them, but that all of these groups and entities in the region do not want to see the fall of Hamas and they do want to protect them and also support them, Benidah. Correspondent Kamdu Sahut, live from northern Israel. Thank you very much for that update. Stay safe, Kamdu. And now onto the political front, Benjamin Netanyahu, deleting a tweet and apologizing after he'd pointed fingers at Israeli intelligence failures over the Hamas terror attack on the 7th of October. He now says he was wrong for comments made after a press conference on Saturday night adding that he gives full backing to all the heads of the security arms and that he is strengthening the chief of staff and the commanders and soldiers of the IDF who are on the front lines. The prime minister's office saying he is concentrating on the campaign and has full confidence in the IDF and the security forces and in their ability to achieve the objectives of the war. Grisha, when troops are about to embark on what is being dived as a major operation, how much impact does some kind of political commentary, deleting of tweets, apologizing, et cetera, et cetera, have on morale on the ground? I don't want to enter to the political statement. I would say the following. Time works against us, but also helps us. What do I mean by that? As time goes by and the IDF continues with the mission, bombing the Hamas' abilities from the air, crashing them, actually, entering with raids inside the catastrophe, creating this parameter to make sure that in the next stage when the IDF forces will enter and they will enter, okay? That it will be safe, that it will be with no booby-trapped, let's say traps. I remember a protective edge when everything was booby-trapped and some of the soldiers, unfortunately, got killed because of those surprises as they call them on the other side. So actually, time helps the IDF operational plans. We will weaken them, it will take time, we are patient and we will do it step by step and they will have to face their death and they will see death coming towards them and they have one of two choices, or to raise a white flag and to surrender, or to get killed because they are murderers that butchered innocent civilians. On the other hand, time works against us. What about the people that are inside Gaza, the Israeli civilians, the captives? The hostages. The hostages. As time goes by, probably to the ones who are sick and don't have the medicine to help them, we don't know how will they be able to, I don't know, exist because they kidnapped some of the people who are dependent on specific medicines and we saw the game with the two old women that they released. It was a game, it was a psychological warfare. So we will have to find the balance between the implementation of the operational plan and goal and between the situation of the hostages and it's a very delicate balance. Yes, just to add to what Grisha said, obviously we heard the families yesterday saying how concerned they are as this, at least for now, the ground maneuver continues as the IDF intensifies, it strikes within Gaza, fearing for the condition of their loved ones, as we know, are being held in those tunnels together with these Hamas operatives, with these terrorists, so the concern for the families is very real. Having said that, there are advantages to continuing the pressure of the IDF operation right now. It both creates pressure on the Hamas leadership and on these operatives who are stuck in those tunnels. It helps the IDF collect intelligence, information about where are the tunnels, where could these people be kept, as we know, they're in various parts of the Gaza Strip. This does allow some operational opportunities if there is concrete information about a group of Israelis and we know there are so many of them, at least 230 Israelis being held there. If there's information about a group of, let's say, 10 or 20 of them that are somewhere in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, perhaps the IDF would find about that and would be able to get to them. In addition to all of that, the pressure that the IDF imposes and the damage to the infrastructure also enables disconnecting the communication between these operatives in those specific tunnels and the main leadership of Hamas, obviously abroad, but also within the Gaza Strip. So there is hope that by applying all these measures, the IDF will be able to get closer to those kidnapped and hopefully somehow release some of them alive. Heart-wrenching to think of these hostages who are dispersed potentially in tunnels and at various locations across the Gaza Strip right now while all of this is unfolding grisha, given your experience in this field, in this kind of operation. What happens when there is a hospital above ground and underneath their hospital with patients and an operating hospital as far as is known is a terror command control center pulling the strings on the terror that unfolded on the 7th of October and since. Benita, I'm gonna do it in 60 seconds and I'm gonna talk about fuel as I did yesterday. Fuel is oxygen. You need to understand all Hamas headquarters will build under hospitals, under schools, under UN facilities, under places that they know according to our Western way of managing a fight, we will not bomb them, okay? So everything is down there. So as long as the hospital is generated by generators that were donated by the national community, they will need fuel. So the fuel will probably be the next thing that everybody will push Israel and make sure that fuel will enter to generate the generators that operate the hospital. It means those generators will supply oxygen to the headquarters underneath it. Let's talk about the wells. The wells in Gaza also, they are the ones who are helping the people to get water. You need also to fuel them. How? A big truck that will fuel them all over the Gaza Strip. This is exactly the places where Hamas need to fuel their cars. Okay, with the weapons. Let's move to the next part of it, to the third part of the triangle. They need communication. They need to send commands. If they will not fuel the generators that they charge the satellite phones, it means ambulances and fire trucks who will have to drive through all over the Gaza Strip and to send commands. This is what happened in the past. They also need fuel. It's all about fuel eventually. And this is the main reason why Israel stopped supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip. It was only 45% of the consumption, okay? And the president continued paying for that. Okay, it's not them that they paid for it. And they have fuel in Gaza. We heard that recall between the Israeli officer and the Palestinian expert of infrastructure. At least he said half a million liter. And in Gaza, they need something like 30,000 liters a day. This is what we analyzed in the past. And just adding a line to it, a report from the New York Times over the weekend said the Hamas has so much storage of fuel and food by some estimates that could last them as long as four months. And just to emphasize how much of the aid that is given to Gaza was actually being used for Hamas on the account of those innocent civilians who are the ones who are suffering the most from everything that the Hamas has committed since October 7th. Now do we understand why the IDF spokesman showed a day and a half ago the videos and the pictures and what is happening in Shefa Hospital, the biggest hospital in the Gaza Strip. And inside 40,000 Palestinians who are forced by Hamas to be there, to stay there, and they will use them as human shields, period. Tragic beyond in something we will keep talking about. But first, a question we spoke about a little bit earlier on in this broadcast. How does Israel eliminate the Hamas terror group while securing the release of the 230 hostages being held for more than three weeks in Gaza? It's a major dilemma for the Israeli leadership as our senior defense correspondent, Jonathan Regev, explains in this report. Two different objectives, perhaps contradicting each other, but both absolutely crucial for Israeli success in this war. Our forces are currently operating on the ground in the Gaza Strip. The objectives of the war require a ground operation. And as we know, no victory can come without a price. There's no doubt that a ground operation is needed, but the price this time can be very high, maybe too high. Bring them home, bring them home! At least 230 hostages are held in Gaza. Their families are going through a living hell and are extremely concerned that the ground maneuver, which began on a small scale on Friday night, may lead to an even more dangerous situation. We are very worried about our dearest that they are there and we don't know that if the military operation takes all these hostages under consideration. Along with the ground operation, a first signal from Hamas leader Ichia Sinoar came over the weekend. Sinoar, a former prisoner himself who was released in an exchange, is well aware of the sensitive sentiment in Israeli society regarding hostages. He now set the tone all for all. All Israeli hostages for all Palestinian prisoners, his message already echoing in Israel. From the point of view of the families, a deal for the immediate release of family members within the framework of all for all is a consideration and will have broad national support. The man who has to decide about that is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the one who set the precedent of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier in the 2011 deal freeing Gilal Shalit. In a meeting with hostages' families on Saturday night, he promised to do everything to release them. We will do everything possible to bring them home. It was true before and after any ground invasion. It's an integral part of our operation. Israeli ground forces raising the Israeli flags deep inside the Gaza Strip and promising to defeat Hamas on one hand, 230 hostages lying deep in the Gaza underground tunnels, waiting to be released on the other. Can Israel succeed on both missions? Clearly, a very tough question. No victory can come without a price, as we heard articulated in that report. Grisha, your thoughts on the viability of any kind of prisoner swap, so to speak, and how that would be received by the Israeli public right now? It would be a mistake. One of the things that I understand, or this is my understanding, that a deal was not implemented because of the selection that they tried to create. Selection brings me back to the Second World War, the Holocaust. It's like, you know, to select between Israelis with another nationality to other Israelis. I think it would be a mistake to do that. And I think that the demand to release all of them, okay, all in, and not play to the hands of Hamas by releasing two every week. If we will not do that, if we will be or do any deal with Hamas, okay, it would be a huge mistake. Yeah, that is the catch-22 situation here for Israel, of course, trying to implement as much pressure on Hamas as possible, and at the same time, hoping to save these Israelis, poor Israelis who are held there as we will reiterate, as young as nine months old babies, unimaginable. It seems like Hamas, or what these Israeli officials are saying, that Hamas has been trying to prolong time, to prolong this ground operation while speaking about these negotiations, while attempting to send all these mixed messages, understanding that that, as long as we prolong the time, it has many consequences, even on the Israeli society, on the home front, on the Israel's ability as an economy to hold this massive war amid the threats in the north. Nonetheless, the state of Israel, the official stance is that they treat all the Israeli kidnapped and prisoners of war, and this is how Israel treats the Israeli soldiers, held by Hamas as one, and they will only accept a deal in which all of them are being freed together. Certainly a dilemma for the leadership here and heartache for the families of the 230 people, ranging in age from babies to the elderly, including Holocaust survivors and peace activists in the region, waiting to hear how all of these developments will impact their fate. Colonel on the reserve, Grisha Yakubovich, correspondent guy, Israel, thank you both for being here. Our coverage will continue right now. It's a wrap for this edition of our breaking news coverage. I'm Vanessa Levine in Tel Aviv. Our rolling coverage continues shortly. Stay tuned. This is I-24 News. 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. And I'm Vanessa Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv, a major barrage of rockets has been launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory in the South and in central Israel in recent hours, with interceptions close to Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Ranana, Kholon and Hod Hasharon. It's estimated more than 1.5 million people were running to shelter in recent hours at around midday local time. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Day 23 of the war and still 230 hostages are being held by the Hamas terror group, all abducted during the terror onslaught on the 7th of October. Meanwhile, the IDF says fighter jets struck some 450 Hamas targets in the Strip over the past day, including terror command centers, observation posts and anti-tank guided missile launch positions. It also expanded its ground operations in the Gaza Strip overnight. Earlier, the IDF confirming troops had eliminated a terror cell in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers killed at least 20 Hamas terrorists who emerged from a tunnel and tried to attack them. The United Nations World Food Program representative says 40 more humanitarian aid tracks are expected to enter Gaza on Sunday. It's believed that number could be higher. The tracks are bringing in food, water and medical supplies, but not fuel. Internet and cell phone connectivity in the Strip were partially restored on Sunday morning. Israel has today reopened the second of three water pipelines to the Gaza Strip, which is run by Hamas and in the north. Earlier, multiple launches from Lebanese territory towards the Mount Dorf area were detected. Those fell in an open area. The IDF forces responding by firing at the sources of those launches. So now for more. We cross live to our correspondent, Pierre Kloschendler. He joins us from southern Israel. So, Pierre Siren sounding in Kfar Azar, Netiba Zara and much further north too earlier. What is the latest in the south where you are? What update can you share? Well, just a few moments ago, there was a salvo of rockets aiming at Netiba Zara, which is in this direction at about, I would say about five miles away from where we're standing. Behind me is the city of Ashkelon. Ashkelon, which is the hardest city in Israel. And yet, today, there was a lull over Ashkelon, only the southern part of Ashkelon, on the outskirts, was targeted by rocket fire. The ground operation is going on and expanding overnight. There was an addition of forces inside the Gaza Strip. The troops are fighting with armored vehicles, tanks, military engineering. They're fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, in the villages of Bethlehem, Bethhanun, Jebalia Village, and progressing slowly but surely towards the south, toward Gaza City. This is some sort of a grinding tactic we feel here. A lot of bombardment of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets. You mentioned over 440 targets in 24 hours, but that was up until nine o'clock this morning. So there are probably more targets being hit. We've seen ourselves bombardments from the air, from the sea, from artillery outgoing shells. And we've seen also hits on buildings. The IDF speaks about Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad positions that have been targeted, in which sometimes also terrorists were killed. You've spoken about 20 terrorists that were emerging from a tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip. That has not been confirmed officially by the army, by the Israeli army. There've been anti-tank position hits, all kind of positions. And what makes it more debtful is the fact that there are ground forces and those ground forces are in direct contact, not only with the intelligence, but also with the air force and the artillery. And they provide accurate targets to the forces in the air, the sea and the ground. And all this, of course, happening amidst those concerns for the fate of the 230 hostages still being held by the Hamas terror group inside Gaza. For now, thank you very much to our correspondent, Pierre Kloschendler, updating us from southern Israel. Thank you, Pierre. And now for more. We welcome to studio Israeli-Palestinian relations expert, Colonel in the Reserves, Grisha Yakubovich, former head of the civilian department of Kogat in the IDF and our correspondent, Guy Azrael. Gentlemen, thank you both for being here. A match to discuss. I want to start Grisha with you and the expansion of this ground operation overnight. We heard from Pierre some of the targets that have been hit. We are hearing about a terror cell being eliminated, coming out of an underground tunnel. What details are known at this hour? Well, this is the operational plan, if I can understand correctly. If my understanding is that before the ground, the big ground attack, what the IDF is trying to get is to stabilize the line, the northern border, and then the southern border later. It's actually from the east a little bit, and from the west from the sea. And actually to move in with night raids into the Gaza Strip to create some security parameter between the fence, the security fence, and a little bit in. Now, if we look at the northern part of the Gaza Strip, so the height there is 60 meters above sea. So my understanding is that the IDF will probably enter in, hold some posts at this security perimeter, and enjoin from the advantage of height to be able to target more terrorists inside Gaza. You know, there are some developments as our Pierre Kloschender reported, those rocket alerts in Tiva Sara, that is one of the communities in the northern part of the Gaza Strip in Israeli territory that is the closest to the border fence right next to the Eris Crossing. There are several reports about some other incident that is happening. And that would very often be the case when Palestinian terrorists attempt to cause some sort of casualties to Israelis. This is what we saw on the first day. Constant barrage of rockets or mortars in this case, together with other activity. We know the IDF forces are on very high alert in that area, and they will be able to respond to any such threat. Nonetheless, the IDF is checking, I'm sure, that that report for sure. We know of a barrage of rockets on this community, and we can also remind our viewers that these communities so close to the border, sometimes less than a mile away, are now completely empty of their regular residence. There are some security forces, obviously, maintaining those communities. Also in the Kibbutz is there. The emergency teams are there, guarding the place together with the security forces. But most residents have either had to evacuate or very sadly either lost their lives, have been kidnapped or are missing, and their whereabouts is still unknown. And day 23, and still those rockets are still emanating from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli civilian territory. Gentlemen, stay with us. We've got more to discuss. But first, let's go to our correspondent, Hamda Salhout. She joins us from northern Israel. And Hamda, several launches from Lebanese territory towards the Mount Dov area were detected earlier. What is the latest? What update have you got this hour? Right, beneath the Israeli military, responding to that rocket fire from Lebanese territory by shelling artillery positions, shelling from their artillery positions, and additionally trying to locate the sources of the rocket fire. A lot of the communities in northern Israel have been evacuated up to five kilometers of the border. There are military checkpoints everywhere that you are driving or walking. So because they really don't want civilians to be in the middle when there is that exchange of fire. Now, interesting developments. Last night, we saw that the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, Unifil, said that an Israeli shell hit part of their building. And they released an update today saying that it was actually two mortar shells hitting the base of the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon and that there were injuries reported that attacking UN peacekeepers is a crime. Now, a Lebanese source was actually the one who said it was an Israeli shell, but Unifil is conducting its own investigation to see exactly from where it was launched and how it hit the side and base of their building. Now, at this time, there are demonstrations currently taking place in Lebanon in solidarity with the situation that is going on inside of the Gaza Strip. There are Hamas flags being raised, Palestinian flags. Not only Lebanese people there, but a lot of Palestinians who actually live in places like in southern Lebanon, like the Innan Headway refugee camp where a lot of Palestinian factions actually operate out of. Today, we also heard from the Iranian president who said that Israel's ground invasion will force other entities in the region to get involved. So there's a lot to look out for as this constantly dynamic and evolving situation unfolds on both fronts, Benita. And picking up on exactly that point when Ibrahim Raisi says that these airstrikes and the ground operation may force everyone to take action, obviously concern what that means in terms of Hezbollah and potential full involvement in this war. What is the latest on that front? Well, of the Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, releasing a statement saying, quote, the Zionist regime's crimes have crossed the red lines, which may force everyone to take action going on to say that Washington has repeatedly warned the Iranians. They've warned Hezbollah about this, but it's going to be up to them eventually. The ground invasion is going to be something to look out for as the entities in the region, Israel is going to have to deal with a lot of that. So there's a lot of talk between these different groups, both in Beirut, in Lebanon and in other countries, as to what exactly is going to happen. But the Iranian president's message is firm and echoing that of the foreign minister just a couple of days ago speaking to NPR, saying that whoever wants to get involved in the conflict at this point, it is up to them, but that all of these groups and entities in the region do not want to see the fall of Hamas, and they do want to protect them and also support them, Benita. Correspondent, come to Sahut, live from northern Israel. Thank you very much for that update. Stay safe, Hamda. And now onto the political front, Benjamin Netanyahu, deleting a tweet and apologizing after he'd pointed fingers at Israeli intelligence failures over the Hamas terror attack on the 7th of October. He now says he was wrong for comments made after a press conference on Saturday night, adding that he gives full backing to all the heads of the security arms and that he is strengthening the chief of staff and the commanders and soldiers of the IDF who are on the front lines. The prime minister's office saying he is concentrating on the campaign and has full confidence in the IDF and the security forces and in their ability to achieve the objectives of the war. Grisha, when troops are about to embark on what is being dived as a major operation, how much impact does some kind of political commentary, deleting of tweets, apologizing, et cetera, et cetera, have on morale on the ground? I don't want to enter to the political statement. I would say the following. Time works against us, but also helps us. What do I mean by that? As time goes by and the IDF continues with the mission, bombing the Hamas' abilities from the air, crashing them, actually, entering with raids inside the Gaza Strip, creating this parameter to make sure that in the next stage when the IDF forces will enter and they will enter, okay? That it will be safe, that it will be with no booby trapped, let's say traps. I remember a protective edge when everything was booby trapped and some of the soldiers unfortunately got killed because of those surprises as they call them on the other side. So actually time helps the IDF operational plans. We will weaken them, it will take time, we are patient and we will do it step by step and they will have to face their death and they will see death coming towards them and they have one of two choices or to raise a white flag and to surrender or to get killed because they are murderers that butchered innocent civilians. On the other hand, time works against us. What about the people that are inside Gaza, the Israeli civilians, the captains? The hostages. The hostages, as time goes by, probably to the ones who are sick and don't have the medicine to help them, we don't know how will they be able to, I don't know, exist because they kidnapped some of the people who are dependent on specific medicines and we saw the game with the two old women that they released. It was a game, it was a psychological warfare. So we will have to find the balance between the implementation of the operational plan and goal and between the situation of the hostages and it's a very delicate balance. Yes, just to add to what Grisha said, obviously we heard the families yesterday saying how concerned they are as this, at least for now the ground maneuver continues as the IDF intensifies, it strikes within Gaza, fearing for the condition of their loved ones as we know are being held in those tunnels together with these Hamas operatives, with these terrorists, so the concern for the families is very real. Having said that, there are advantages to continuing the pressure of the IDF operation right now. It both creates pressure on the Hamas leadership and on these operatives who are stuck in those tunnels. It helps the IDF collect intelligence, information about where are the tunnels, where could these people be kept as we know they're in various parts of the Gaza Strip. This does allow some operational opportunities if there is concrete information about a group of Israelis and we know there are so many of them, at least 230 Israelis being held there. If there's information about a group of, let's say 10 or 20 of them that are somewhere in northern part of the Gaza Strip, perhaps the IDF would find about that and will be able to get to them. In addition to all of that, the pressure that the IDF imposes and the damage to the infrastructure also enables disconnecting the communication between these operatives in those specific tunnels and the main leadership of Hamas obviously abroad, but also within the Gaza Strip. So there is hope that by applying all these measures, the IDF will be able to get closer to those kidnapped and hopefully somehow release some of them alive. Heart-wrenching to think of these hostages who are dispersed potentially in tunnels and at various locations across the Gaza Strip right now while all of this is unfolding Grisha, given your experience in this field, in this kind of operation, what happens when there is a hospital above ground and underneath their hospital with patients and an operating hospital as far as is known is a terror command control center pulling the strings on the terror that unfolded on the 7th of October, instance. Benita, I'm gonna do it in 60 seconds and I'm gonna talk about fuel as I did yesterday. Fuel is oxygen. You need to understand all Hamas headquarters will build under hospitals, under schools, under UN facilities, under places that they know, according to our Western way of managing a fight, we will not bomb them, okay? So everything is down there. So as long as the hospital is generated by generators that were donated by the national community, they will need fuel. So the fuel will probably be the next thing that everybody will push Israel and make sure that fuel will enter to generate the generators that operate the hospital. It means those generators will supply oxygen to the headquarters underneath it. Let's talk about the wells. The wells in Gaza also. They are the ones who are helping the people to get water. You need also to fuel them. How? A big truck that will fuel them all over the Gaza Strip. This is exactly the places where Hamas need to fuel their cars, okay? With the weapons. Let's move to the next part, to the third part of the triangle. They need communication. They need to send commands. If they will not fuel the generators that they charge the satellite phones, it means ambulances and fire trucks will have to drive through all over the Gaza Strip and to send commands. This is what happened in the past. They also need fuel. It's all about fuel eventually. And this is the main reason why Israel stopped supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip. It was only 45% of the consumption, okay? And the president continued paying for that. Okay, it's not them that they paid for it. They have fuel in Gaza. We heard that recall between the Israeli officer and the Palestinian expert of infrastructure. At least he said half a million liters. And in Gaza, they need something like 30,000 liters a day. This is what we analyzed in the past. And just adding a line to it, a report from the New York Times over the weekend said the Hamas has so much storage of fuel and food by some estimates that could last them as long as four months. And just to emphasize how much of the aid that is given to Gaza was actually being used for Hamas on the account of those innocent civilians who are the ones who are suffering the most from everything that Hamas has committed since October 7th. Now do we understand why the IDF spokesman showed a day and a half ago the videos and the pictures and what is happening in Shefa Hospital, the biggest hospital in the Gaza Strip. And inside 40,000 Palestinians who are forced by Hamas to be there, to stay there, and they will use them as human shields, period. Tragic beyond in something we will keep talking about. But first, a question we spoke about a little bit earlier on in this broadcast. How does Israel eliminate the Hamas terror group while securing the release of the 230 hostages being held for more than three weeks in Gaza? It's a major dilemma for the Israeli leadership as our senior defense correspondent, Jonathan Regev, explains in this report. Two different objectives, perhaps contradicting each other, but both absolutely crucial for Israeli success in this war. Our forces are currently operating on the ground in the Gaza Strip. The objectives of the war require a ground operation, and as we know, no victory can come without a price. There's no doubt that a ground operation is needed, but the price this time can be very high, maybe too high. At least 230 hostages are held in Gaza. Their families are going through a living hell and are extremely concerned that the ground maneuver, which began on a small scale on Friday night, may lead to an even more dangerous situation. We are very worried about our dearest that they are there, and we don't know that if the military operation take all these hostages under consideration. Along with the ground operation, a first signal from Hamas leader Ichia Sinwar came over the weekend. Sinwar, a former prisoner himself who was released in an exchange, is well aware of the sensitive sentiment in Israeli society regarding hostages. He now set the tone, all for all. All Israeli hostages for all Palestinian prisoners, his message already echoing in Israel. From the point of view of the families, a deal for the immediate release of family members within the framework of all for all is a consideration and will have broad national support. The man who has to decide about that is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the one who set the precedent of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier in the 2011 deal freeing Gila Chalit. In a meeting with hostages' families on Saturday night, he promised to do everything to release them. We will do everything possible to bring them home. It was true before and after any ground invasion. It's an integral part of our operation. We will do everything possible. Israeli ground forces raising the Israeli flags deep inside the Gaza Strip and promising to defeat Hamas on one hand, 230 hostages lying deep in the Gaza underground tunnels waiting to be released on the other. Can Israel succeed on both missions? Clearly, a very tough question. No victory can come without a price, as we heard articulated in that report. Grisha, your thoughts on the viability of any kind of prisoner swap, so to speak, and how that would be received by the Israeli public right now? It will be a mistake. One of the things that I understand, or this is my understanding, that the deal was not implemented because of the selection that they tried to create. Selection brings me back to the Second World War, the Holocaust. It's like, you know, to select between Israelis with another nationality to other Israelis. I think it will be a mistake to do that. And I think that the demand to release all of them, okay, all in and not play to the hands of Hamas by releasing two every week. If we will not do that, if we will be or do any deal with Hamas, okay, it will be a huge mistake. Yeah, that is the catch 22 situation here for Israel, of course, trying to implement as much pressure on Hamas as possible. And at the same time, hoping to save these Israelis, poor Israelis who are held there as we will reiterate, as young as nine months old babies, unimaginable. It seems like Hamas or what these Israeli officials are saying, that Hamas has been trying to prolong time to prolong this ground operation. While speaking about this negotiations, while attempting to send all these mixed messages, understanding that as long as we prolong the time, it has many consequences, even on the Israeli society, on the home front, on the Israel's ability as an economy to hold this massive war amid the threats in the north. Nonetheless, the State of Israel, the official stance is that they treat all the Israeli kidnapped and prisoners of war, and this is how Israel treats the Israeli soldiers held by Hamas as one, and they will only accept a deal in which all of them are being freed together. Certainly a dilemma for the leadership here and heartache for the families of the 230 people, ranging in age from babies to the elderly, including Holocaust survivors and peace activists in the region, waiting to hear how all of these developments will impact their fate. Colonel on the reserves, Grisha Yakubovich, correspondent by Israel, thank you both for being here. Our coverage will continue right now. It's a wrap for this edition of our breaking news coverage. I'm Vanessa Levine in Tel Aviv. Our rolling coverage continues shortly. Stay tuned for this I-24 News. 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. News edition. I'm Vanessa Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv. A major barrage of rockets has been launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory in the South and in central parts of Israel in recent hours with interceptions close to Tel Aviv, Hetzliya, Ranana, Kholon and Hothasharon. It's estimated more than 1.5 million people were running to shelter in recent hours. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Day 23 of the war and still 230 hostages are being held by the terror group, all abducted during the Hamas terror onslaught on the 7th of October. Meanwhile, the IDF says fighter jets struck some 455 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip over the past day, including terror command centers, observation posts and anti-tank guided missile launch positions. It also expanded its ground operations in the Gaza Strip overnight. Earlier, the IDF confirming troops had eliminated a terror cell in the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers killing at least 20 Hamas terrorists who emerged from a tunnel and tried to kill them. The United Nations World Food Program representative says at least 40 humanitarian aid trucks are expected to enter Gaza on Sunday. Those trucks are bringing in food, water and medical supplies, but not fuel. Internet and cell phone connectivity in the Strip were partially restored on Sunday morning. Israel has today reopened the second of three water pipelines to the Gaza Strip, which is run by Hamas. And in the north, earlier, multiple launches from Lebanese territory towards the Mount Dov area were detected. Those fell in an open area. So for the latest on that front, we start up north and we cross live to our correspondent, Pierre Stegelbach in northern Israel. So Pierre, we know that several launches from Lebanese territory were sent towards the Mount Dov area. Talk us through the latest updates. What happened next? Right, Benita. Well, these launches from southern Lebanon, the Israeli army, issuing a statement saying that they all fell into open area there, the Mount Dov area. It is a known location for those skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel. A disputed territory very much on the eastern part of the Israeli-Lebanese border. After that, another Israeli army statement was issued saying that mortar shells were attempted to be fired from southern Lebanon towards an army base in the area of Avivim. The Israeli army is currently striking back toward the origin of that missile fire. Now, we've also been hearing some concern coming from the UN peacekeeping forces stationed in southern Lebanon. We do know that some of their bases were damaged from mortar shelling on Saturday. We're talking about two different localities, one in Nakoura, one in Halhul in two different areas of the border close to the Israel-Lebanon border on Lebanese territory there. One of the UN peacekeeping personnel was reportedly injured there. The UN, the Uniform Forces there, expressing their concern. But we also do hear some voices coming out of Iran. We do know that Iran has continuously tried to heaten up the frontier between Israel and Lebanon by supporting its proxies in Lebanon. First and foremost, Hezbollah. Today, Ibrahim Raisi, the president of Iran, has made a statement on ex-formerly Twitter saying that what he calls the Zionist regime, meaning Israel, is crossing red lines, forcing everyone to join the Sina. Now, it is really difficult to say that Hezbollah or Iran has not joined the Sina yet because you do feel how tense the situation here is basically since the beginning of the war. We're talking about thousands of Israeli civilians who have been evacuated from those areas very close to the border because the skirmishes happen continuously in very different areas really alongside the border here. Today also, Hezbollah publishing a video, not officially Hezbollah, but a video is running on social media showing Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, being filmed from the back walking past Hezbollah flag, really showcasing their readiness, showcasing their preparedness and together with that statement coming from Ibrahim Raisi, really a reminder that the goal of connecting the fronts is still very much alive and that Iran and Hezbollah are prepared for possibly a wider escalation here in the North Ben-Ita. Correspondent, Pierre Stechelbach, live from Northern Israel. Thank you for the update. We will be coming back to you, of course, in the coming hours. And now for more on the latest security developments, we welcome back to studio Israeli-Palestinian relations expert, Colonel in the Reserves Grisha Yakubovich, former head of the civilian department of Kogat in the IDF. So Grisha, thank you once again for being back here in studio, a range of developments all at once, but I want to pick up on what we just heard from Pierre up north and that is the concern around the next moves out of Hezbollah. We know the rhetoric out of Iran, Ibrahim Raisi, making it very clear that they are watching and there is a potential concern of several fronts at the same time, your take on the latest on that front. Let's talk about the major events that happened the last 72 hours. First of all, yesterday, the fire renewed from the North after 48 hours of zero action in the North. So let's ask us a question, what happened? So there was a meeting with five Palestinian resistant organizations, this is how they call themselves terror organizations, with some Hezbollah officials. And then there was a meeting today with Nabi Berry, the chairman of the Lebanese parliament, that he's a partner of Hezbollah also with others. And then Hezbollah started to harass the IDF again with the rule that they are responsible on harassing the IDF bases and Palestinian terror organizations to launch rockets, it's okay to launch rockets from Lebanon to towns, cities in Israel, and Israel is in a certain dilemma with the response. So what we will see is a continuous harassment by Hezbollah and trying, maybe again, trying to create a trap or to catch Israel. So they will, I don't know, some sort of, some mistake that will be made by the IDF and it will be a good reason to start a war from their side. Or on the other hand, we are waiting for their mistake to start that, let's say, attack on Hezbollah and it's about time that we do it. As we're speaking, rocket sirens are sounding right now in the Gaza border communities in southern Israel and to that point, we go straight away to our correspondent, Mirah McAuliffe. She joins us from southern Israel. We're hearing sirens sounding in certain parts of the border communities there. What can you tell us, Mary? That's right. So sirens just now ringing out in Sufa. This is area in sort of the southern part of Israeli border communities. But throughout the day to say, we continue to see rocket sirens ringing in southern communities, perhaps more so than in recent days. There have been at least 16 by my latest count as a 3 p.m. of sirens going off. But all throughout this, you can hear heavy Israeli targeting inside the Gaza Strip behind me. You can hear tanks and the sounds of artillery also mortar fire being fired. This all comes in the background as also we've had reports from the IDF about a number of possible infiltrations happening in the Hezbollah crossing. The IDF also saying that a number of terrorists were killed. And in reaction, there were a number of gunfights and those gunfights also setting off gunfights as well as the mortar attacks also setting off sirens in southern Israeli communities. But it's of course we must remember most of these communities in the area where I'm standing have been evacuated. Most of the civilians have gone to safer parts of the country. This is at the direction of the Israeli government. So we do not continually seen many injuries or reports of injuries now, but we do continue to watch and see if we get any updates from paramedics who are working around the clock here in the area as well. And we certainly can hear those noises behind you, Mary, as you are talking to us. What is known about the IDF expanding its ground operations in the Gaza Strip? What is the latest on that front? What are you hearing from where you are? That's right, Bonita. Well, we can certainly hear. I mean, we've been here on the border area for many weeks, but you can certainly hear an increased intensity in the amount of strikes, in the amount of Israeli security forces who are working in the area, both on this side of the border, but as well as inside the northern Gaza Strip. The northern Gaza Strip is just about a mile behind me. So here in this area, we see heavy, heavy Israeli presence. We can hear large tanks firing. We can hear the mortars, artillery shells, there are helicopters flying overhead, as well as this really army jets, fighter jets, which have been, of course, since the beginning of this conflict broke out, but it's the troops on the ground, really, which are taking this to a new dimension of war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is saying today we are once again going to another stage of Israel's ground operation as it continues to try and target these Hamas terror cells working inside Gaza Strip, targeting both the cells, but also their infrastructure, and working to push people further south into the southern part of Gaza Strip, but continually, once again, issuing urgent warnings to civilians in the northern part of the Gaza Strip to move further southwards, because the north is very much a battleground. As you can hear behind me, it absolutely is a battle area. We certainly can hear behind you. Please stay safe. Our correspondent, Miry Makalov, updating us there from southern Israel close to the Gaza border. Thank you, Miry. Grisha, we could hear those noises from behind Miry Makalov, our correspondent there. It certainly sounds like an uptake. What is the latest that you are hearing? What can you confirm about what is happening right now, that part of the world? From what I understand operationally, the IDF spokesperson continues asking the people and also the head of Kogat, Major General Hassan Aliyan, asking the people of Gaza, almost even begging them to evacuate south to the line of Fadi Gaza and to avoid, actually to minimize, minimize innocent civilians from being involved in this war. And from what I understand, Hamas continues with their efforts to make sure that nobody will live their, I would say, headquarters. Yes, it's hospitals, but it's actually headquarters underneath it. I just heard the CEO, the manager of the El Quds hospital saying that the IDF bombs are so close that the oxygen tanks might explode. Just yesterday he said that the oxygen is about, how do you say it's about to reach an end? It's about to be empty? So, are we again facing... It's being replenished, is what you're saying. Yes, replenished, thank you. So, are we seeing again the fake news that Hamas is trying to create and this humanitarian card that they pulled? Let's keep it as it is. We will see that. The IDF, as I said, the IDF continues operationally, establishing a security parameter, okay, with raids, the air force, artillery, IDF entering. And I understand that what we will see maybe at the next week is a stabilized line inside the Gaza Strip of something like between one to three kilometers using the adventures of height at the northern part of Gaza in the area of Betlahia, Jubalia, that is higher than other places. And also maybe cutting the Gaza Strip to half, okay. And circling the northern part of the Gaza Strip and actually trying to eliminate Hamas there. Colonel, in the reserves, Gushya Yakubovich, thank you very much as always for your insight on this constantly evolving situation. And now for more, we go to Tel Aviv. Our senior correspondent, Owen Ultiman, is at the Israeli Defense Headquarters. And Owen, the families of the 230 known hostages still waiting for answers and agonizing wait more than three weeks since the Hamas terror rampage. What update have you got there? What can you tell us? Yes, we are outside Israel's Defense Headquarters, Benita. And as you mentioned, we're at the tent and at the protest headquarters for the families. I'll step out so you can get a sense of the scene. They've taken a break for now, but in the tent just behind me that you're looking at, the people are sitting there singing plaintive Israeli folk songs. Again, trying to remember their loved ones and those of the families, for those who aren't families themselves, family members themselves who have come out here. Benita, obviously, such a striking scene, such a difficult scene, such a difficult time for these families. Of course, a lot of very hard policy questions for Israeli policymakers about how exactly to handle this issue, how to balance this issue against the needs of the wider war, what to do in terms of what quid pro quo to give to those holding the hostages. Again, we saw that press conference by the families last night, Benita, when there were those chants of all for all, right? Of all of the hostages being released in exchange for all security prisoners, Palestinian security prisoners being held in Israeli prisons. Benita, that may be a tall order for the Israeli government and the Israeli public, but certainly one can understand why the family members and their close supporters would want to do everything they can to lobby for their loved ones and what has become a cause to live, not just in Israel, but around the world. As you mentioned, across the street, looking at it right now is Israel's defense headquarters itself. So the message meant to cross the street and get to Israel's military leadership and the prime minister, of course, spends a lot of his time there as well. And one final note, and I'll bear an also a poignant one for 2023. This is also along Copland Street, a street that just until about a month ago was known for something very different. Of course, as the central venue and the central arena for the protests against Israel's proposed judicial overhaul, obviously the public agenda has changed dramatically, as you can see all around us. A sad but determined scene here of those advocating on behalf of the 230 hostages. Hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas and others. Benita. Senior correspondent Owen Ultiman, live from Tel Aviv. We will be coming back to you for more updates. Thank you very much for now, Owen Ultiman. Meanwhile, Qatar has emerged as a key player in mediation efforts to release those 230 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since the Hamas terror rampage on the 7th of October. For years, Doha has hosted Hamas leaders while also hosting the United States largest military in the region. So how did a small, oil-rich country like Qatar found itself in such a key position? Our Middle East correspondent Ariel Oceran explains in this report. Our target is to release all of the civilian hostages. That's what we're working on and that's what we want to achieve. Three weeks after Hamas's deadly rampage in Israel, which included the capture of 230 hostages, Qatar has quickly emerged as the main mediator between Israel and Hamas. If there is a continuing bombing, if there is a continuing escalation in the situation, our task is getting more difficult. The mediators need a period of calm, needs a situation where we can speak easily to both parts and try to be more creative in bringing more initiatives that can get those civilians out. Since October 7th, Qatar has been the address of various countries for help in releasing their citizens from Hamas captivity. It has also been hosting the Hamas leadership prior to the war and since it began, providing a safe haven from Israeli reprisals. However, recent reports indicate this might end soon. We will release them and the Al-Qasim Brigades announced that as well, but now they are distributed in different locations. Let them stop this aggression and you will find the mediators like Qatar and some Arab countries like Egypt and others. They will find the way to have them released and we will send them to their families. So how did a small, oil-rich country in the Persian Gulf become the one that decides what happens in Gaza? In recent years, as Arab countries have been embattled with internal conflicts, Qatar fashioned itself as the main financial supporter of the Gaza Strip. We're here to assure the Palestinian people that were with you with the reconstruction in Gaza and with fulfilling the commitments made by the state of Qatar in previous international conferences. Tens of millions of dollars entered Gaza each month with Israeli consent to fund humanitarian projects and to improve the economic situation in Gaza. But much of that money found its way into the hands of Hamas. That's no surprise given its closest regional allies are Iran and Turkey. Qatar is playing here a double game. On one hand, its role in putting out fires in the region awarded with points from the Middle East to Washington who considers Doha as a major non-Nado ally. On the other hand, it uses its influential Al Jazeera TV network to incite against Israel and Jews and to promote Hamas propaganda. For the Qataris, it's all about regional influence and it is currently positioned at the heart of hostage negotiation efforts. Whether that engagement is in good faith remains to be seen. And now for more. It's a pleasure to welcome to studio Rabbi Shmueli Boteach, well-known American Rabbi, author and television personality. Rabbi, thank you so much for being here right now. You, of course, live in the United States, but you're here in the country. It should have been for beautiful reasons, obviously for the wedding and Mazaltov to your son for getting married. Thank you. Many surprise that weddings can take place during wartime. We will get to that, but I'd like your take on what it's like to be here during wartime. What stands out for you and your family right now? Three emotions. First of all, terror, frightening. We've had the Kassam rockets fall right near us. Constant alerts. Then anger that the world cannot see the justice of Israel's position. And third is shock. And that's really shock of the Israeli people. Listen, we have three children in the IDF. And two are serving right now on the borders. And the idea that Israel has accepted the status quo where it's normal to live under constant fire, rocket fire for a decade. The idea that we've allowed Hezbollah to amass the kind of position that is an existential threat to Israel. The idea that my nephews and nieces who live here in Israel are telling us that, oh, it's rocket season. The little kids in the same way you have NBA season in America, NFL season, there's rocket season. None of this is normal. I am dressed like this. See, Grisha is super sexy, wearing a gorgeous jacket. Look at me. I came by bike. I could have laid down in the middle of the street and been completely safe except for the Qassams because there's no cars. There's no one on a bike. There's 2 million people outside the studio in Tel Aviv and it is a ghost town. We have a couple of monstrous savage thugs with rockets who have shut down a world metropolis, one of the most famous cities in the world. And it's not going to end when Israel destroys Hamas because Israel's still going to fear a fifth column of Arabs inside the country. Now the ones who love Israel, my Arab brothers and sisters who understand the value of freedom, democracy, they are my brothers and sisters. But will Israelis continue to live thinking, I can't go down the street because I'm going to be stabbed? I can't go to this place. You know what I'm beginning to see? Israel is congregating into a tiny little circle, a little bubble in Ranana, Herzliya. Can't go too far north, Hezbollah. Can't go too far south. That's Gaza. Can't go too far east because Judea and Samaria, the West Bank. Can we all gather here in the I-24 studios? This is not normal. None of this is normal. I'm not even talking about the PTSD that children are suffering. I'm talking about the Herzl vision of Israel was not that we would shake and shudder in fear as we lived in the Jewish state. And all I see is fear and it's affecting me too. The fear that you're talking about, take us back to the 7th of October. Because this is a nation in trauma. The extent of the brutality, the scale of the attacks, the massacres, children burnt in front of their parents. Parents butchered in front of their children. The nation is still processing the extent and the gravity and the depravity of what happened. It is very soon on. It is only day 23 and your absolutely right rockets are still coming into residential cities on day 23. And Israel is a ghost town. Israel is shut down. The whole country is shut down. Okay, people are afraid to go on highways because they don't know if what happened to us from the alarm comes. You're lying the street. You're a goner because you can't protect yourself. You go under a bridge. This is insanity. Look, what happened on October 7th was a Holocaust level day of extinction the way the Einsatzgruppen looked for people near where my grandfather grew up in Lomzha where they took 2000 Jews. June 1941, burn them alive. These people were burned alive down in Bayre. I went there. I arrived from the airport from the United States. Went with Amichael Yao, the Israel's Minister of Heritage, straight to all the places of the massacre. I saw blood congealed on walls that was this thick. I saw the knives used by the terrorists that were still there. We picked up the bullets from the Kalashnikovs that were like this. The IDF bullets were like half the size I saw it all. But I ask you this question to all the people that are watching. Did it take the murder of 1400 Jews for us to wake up that none of this is normal? Living with a genocidal threat of Iran is not normal. Living with a genocidal threat of Hezbollah is not normal. When I used to go, every war, even if my son, who's in the IDF, didn't get married and he did and we brought all of our nine children, thank God, all of our sons-in-law, our 10 grandchildren in the middle of a war, everyone warned us against it. We came. There were Kassam rockets during the Khoupa, the ministers there. We had the two IDF international spokespeople there. Kassam rockets falling. During, you know, we had Doron Spielman. We had Jonathan Caracas. Not normal. Not normal. So did it take the murder of 1400 Jews in the most savage way for Israel to understand that this is completely different? That if we don't do things very different. Number one, we have to know who our friends and enemies are. If someone like Bradley Cooper in Hollywood, even someone, you know, or Ben Affleck signs, something which they did saying there should be a ceasefire, they're enemies. Even something as simple as that. Rashida Tlaib has died on the wall anti-Semite. Qatar, who is just on? Qatar are the biggest funders of terrorism in the world. And you're telling me that they're negotiating for our hostages. They want us dead. Let's stop playing games. Qatar is disgusting, grotesque, terror funding. The idea that the United States has an air base there, and we have made peace with that vile government who is like this with Iran, like this with Hamas. They're going to do nothing for our hostages. What we need to communicate to Qatar is the United States will move its base from Qatar unless they immediately expel or at least imprison Ismail Hania, the head of Hamas, who lives in a villa worth $4 billion living there. These are new times because the security situation is out of control. I'll tell you one thing. I believe that Israel has got very complacent. Rockets? No problem. We have ironed out. Millions of enemies that want to slaughter us. We are technologically advanced. They're a bunch of bumpkins. We look down at them with our patronizing way. They're knuckle-draggers. They could never fight us. We didn't understand that Israel is a war of wills. The original Khaledzim, they came and they carved this country out of swamps, and they carved it out of the sand. This is a game of wills. Can we summon the willpower that we are here forever, that Israel is going to be here forever? And it's not going to be based on drones. It's not going to be based on Iron Dome. It's going to be based on our will to be here and be hated at times, as Golden Mayor famously said, that we would much rather be hated and be alive than have more holocaust movies made about us winning Academy Awards like Schindler's List. I don't want to be dead and sympathized because this is not normal. Sorry to sound so passionate, but I got to tell you this trip, especially, I have children in war. Do you know what that's like being an American? Having children who volunteered. Do you notice like every time we hear that a rocket's gone off here there and soldiers were killed or injured and you're looking at your phone and you're praying you don't get a call? Those of you watching around in the world, do you know what this is like when you hear that Israel has a right to defend itself, even that patronizing comment, Jews should no longer die. After 2,000 years, the world has decided you now have a right to defend yourself. Can you imagine if we said New York has a right to not have missiles fired on it. We have to go back to simply wanting the same thing that every other nation has, which is to wake up in the morning and smile. And our worst problem is that we were late for work, not that I have to run to a bomb shelter because I might be obliterated and if I get on a bike, I may die. Not being hit by a car but being blown up by a Qassam rocket from a terrorist. Rabbi, I have 30 seconds left. You have your finger on the pulse of what is happening in the United States, particularly the celebrity world that you alluded to. Are you surprised at the lack of outrage about what happened here and the lack of support for Jews here in Israel right now? You'll take very briefly. I have 30 seconds. There are two kinds of American Jews. There are American Jews who are terrified right now and they're hunkering down and they don't want to be noticed. They're taking off their yama, etc. Then there are those who said no. The Jews, we have to live. I'm not surprised that Hollywood is immoral. Hollywood are entertainers. They're clowns. So no, I'm not surprised that we have to fight for Israel. That even in the United States we have that responsibility. Join me. Join us all. I'm Yisra Al-Kha. Israel has to fight. Rabbi Shmueli Boteach, Grisha Yakubovich, thank you both very much for being here. Never apologize for being passionate about your beliefs. Thank you very much. And that is a wrap for this edition of our Breaking News coverage. I'm Benita Levine in Tel Aviv. Stay tuned. This is I-21 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. It's 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. This week on News 24, Israel under attack. News 24 in Spanish brings the analysis and information of the events of the war, Iron swords. Exclusive interviews and reports from the war zone. The reaction of Spanish-speaking countries. News 24, the only medium in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel. News 24, only on I-24 News. News edition. I'm Benita Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv. A major barrage of rockets has been launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory in the south and in central parts of Israel in recent hours with interceptions close to Tel Aviv, Hetzliyah, Ranana, Cholon and Hothasharon. It's estimated more than 1.5 million people were running to shelter in recent hours. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Day 23 of the war and still 230 hostages are being held by the terror group all abducted during the Hamas terror onslaught on the 7th of October. Meanwhile, the IDF says fighter jets struck some 450 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip over the past day including terror command centres, observation posts and anti-tank guided missile launch positions. It also expanded its ground operations in the Gaza Strip overnight. Earlier, the IDF confirming troops had eliminated a terror cell in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers killing at least 20 Hamas terrorists who emerged from a tunnel and tried to kill them. The United Nations World Food Program representative says at least one of the most humanitarian aid trucks are expected to enter Gaza on Sunday. Those trucks are bringing in food, water and medical supplies but not fuel. Internet and cell phone connectivity in the Strip were partially restored on Sunday morning. Israel has today reopened the second of three water pipelines to the Gaza Strip which is run by Hamas and in the north. Earlier, from Lebanese territory towards the Mount Dov area were detected. Those fell in an open area. So for the latest on that front we start up north and we cross live to our correspondent Pia Stekelbach in northern Israel. So Pia, we know that several launches from Lebanese territory were sent towards the Mount Dov area. Talk us through the latest updates. What happened next? Right, Benita, the Israeli army issuing a statement saying that they all fell into open area there, the Mount Dov area. It is a known location for those skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel disputed territory very much on the eastern part of the Israeli Lebanese border. After that, another Israeli army statement was issued saying that motor shells were attempt to be fired from southern Lebanon towards an army base in southern Lebanon. Now, we've also been hearing some concern coming from the UN peacekeeping forces stationed in southern Lebanon. We do know that some of their bases were damaged from motor shelling on Saturday. We're talking about two different localities, one in Nakoura, one in Halhul in two different areas of the border close to the Israel-Lebanon border on Lebanese territory there. One of the issues that we've been hearing some voices coming out of Iran. We do know that Iran has continuously tried to heaten up the frontier between Israel and Lebanon by supporting its proxies in Lebanon first and foremost Hezbollah. Today, Ibrahim Raisi, the president of Iran, issuing a statement on ex-formity Twitter saying that what he calls the Zionist regime, meaning Israel is crossing the border and it's basically since the beginning of the war. We're talking about thousands of Israeli civilians who have been evacuated from those areas very close to the border because the skirmishes happen continuously in very different areas really alongside the border here. Today also Hezbollah publishing a video, not officially Hezbollah, but a video is running on social media including their preparedness and together with that statement coming from Ibrahim Raisi really a reminder that the goal of connecting the fronts is still very much alive in that Iran and Hezbollah are prepared for possibly a wider escalation here in the north Benita. Correspondent P.S. Deckelbach live from Northern Israel thank you for the update we will be coming back to you of course in the coming hours. And now for more on the latest security developments we welcome back to you from the former head of the civilian department of Kogat in the IDF so Grisha thank you once again for being back here in studio a range of developments all at once but I want to pick up on what we just heard from Pia up north and that is the concern around the next moves out of Hezbollah we know the rhetoric out of Iran Ibrahim Raisi making it very clear that they are going to take on the latest on that front let's talk about the major events happened the last 72 hours first of all yesterday the fire renewed from the north after 48 hours of zero action in the north so let's ask us a question what happened so there was a meeting with five Palestinian resistant organizations this is how they call themselves terror organizations with some Hezbollah officials and then with Nabi Berry the chairman of the Lebanese parliament that he's a partner of Hezbollah also with others and then Hezbollah started to harass the IDF again with the rule that they are they are responsible on harassing the IDF bases and Palestinian terror organizations to launch rockets it's okay to launch rockets from Lebanon to towns cities in Israel in Israel is in a certain dilemma with the response so what we will see is a continuous harassment by Hezbollah and trying maybe again trying to create a trap or to catch Israel so they will I don't know some sort of some mistake that will be made by the IDF and it will be a good reason to start a war from their side or on the other hand we are waiting for their mistake to start that attack on Hezbollah and it's about time that we do it as we are speaking rocket sirens are sounding right now in the Gaza border communities in southern Israel and to that point we go straight away to our correspondent Mirah McAuliffe she joins us from southern Israel we're hearing sirens sounding in certain parts of the border communities there what can you tell us Mary that's right so sirens just now ringing out in Sufa this is area in sort of the southern part of the Israeli border communities but throughout the day to say we continue to see rocket sirens ringing in southern communities perhaps more so than in recent days there have been at least 16 by my latest count is a 3 p.m. of sirens going off but all throughout this you can hear heavy Israeli targeting inside the Gaza Strip behind me you can hear tanks and the sounds of artillery also mortar fire being fired this all comes in the background that a number of terrorists were killed there were a number of gunfights and those gunfights also setting off gunfights as well as the mortar attacks also setting off sirens in southern Israeli communities but of course we must remember most of these communities in the area where I'm standing have been evacuated most of the civilians have gone to safer parts of the country this is at the direction of the Israeli government so we do not continually seen many injuries or reports of injuries now but we do continue to watch and respond to these rocket barrages and we certainly can hear those noises behind you Mary as you are talking to us what is known about the IDF expanding its ground operations in the Gaza Strip what is the latest on that front what are you hearing from where you are that's right Benita well we can certainly hear I mean we've been here on the border area for many weeks but you can certainly hear an increased intensity in the amount of strikes in the amount of damage on the side the northern Gaza Strip the northern Gaza Strip is just about a mile behind me so here in this area we see heavy heavy Israeli presence we can hear large tanks firing we can hear the mortars artillery shells there are helicopters flying overhead as well as really army jets fighter jets which have been of course since the beginning of this conflict broke out but it's the troops on the ground really which are taking those terror cells working inside Gaza Strip targeting both the cells but also their infrastructure and working to push people further south into the southern part of Gaza Strip continually once again issuing urgent warnings to civilians in the northern part of the Gaza Strip to move further southwards because the north is very much a battle ground as you can hear behind me it absolutely is a battle area we certainly can hear behind you please stay safe our correspondent Miri Makalov updating us there from the Gaza border thank you Miri Grisha we could hear those noises from behind Miri Makalov our correspondent there it certainly sounds like an update what is the latest that you are hearing what can you confirm about what is happening right now that part of the world from what I understand operationally the IDF spokesperson continues asking the people and also the head of Kogat Major General Hassan Aliyan asking the people of Gaza almost even begging them to evacuate south into the line of Vadi Gaza and to avoid actually to minimize innocent civilians from being involved in this war and from what I understand Hamas continues with their efforts to make sure that nobody will live there I would say headquarters yes it's hospitals but it's actually headquarters underneath it I just heard CEO the manager of the El Quds hospital saying that the IDF bombs are so close that the oxygen tanks might explode just yesterday he said that the oxygen is about how do you say it's about to reach an end it's about to be empty so are we again has it been replenished just what you're saying yes replenished thank you so are we are we are we seeing again the fake news that Hamas is trying to create and this humanitarian card that they pulled let's keep it as it is we will see that at the IDF as I said the IDF continues operationally establishing security parameter okay with raids the air force artillery IDF entering and I understand that what we will see maybe at the next week is a stabilized line inside the gas strip of something like between one to three kilometers using the adventures of height at the northern part of Gaza in the area of Bet Lahia Jibalia that is higher than other places and also maybe cutting the gas strip to half okay and circling the northern part of the gas strip and actually trying to eliminate Hamas there Colonel in the reserves Gushya Yakubovich thank you very much as always for your insight on this constantly evolving situation and now for more we go to Tel Aviv our senior correspondent Owen Ultiman is at the Israeli defense headquarters and Owen the families of the 230 known hostages still waiting for answers and agonizing wait more than three weeks since the Hamas terror rampage what update have you got there what can you tell us yes we are at the outside Israel's defense headquarters Benita and as you mentioned we're at the tent and at the protest headquarters for the families I'll step out so you can get a sense of the scene they've taken a break for now but in the tent just behind me you're looking at people are sitting there singing plaintive Israeli folk songs again trying to remember their loved ones and those of the families for those who aren't families themselves family members themselves who have come out here Benita obviously such a striking scene such a difficult scene such a difficult time for these families of course a lot of very hard policy questions for Israeli policymakers about how exactly to handle this issue how to balance this issue against the needs of the wider war what to do in terms of what quid pro quo to give to those holding the hostages again we saw that press conference by the families last night Benita when there were those chance of all for all of all of the hostages being released in exchange for all security prisoners Palestinian security prisoners being held in Israeli prisons Benita that may be a tall order for the Israeli government and the Israeli public but certainly one can understand why the family members and their close supporters would want to do everything they can to lobby for their loved ones and what has become a cause to live not just in Israel but around the world as you mentioned across the street looking at it right now is Israel's defense headquarters itself so the message meant to cross the street and get to Israel's military leadership and the prime minister of course spends a lot of his time there as well and one final note in the last 23 this is also along Copland street a street that just until about a month ago was known for something very different of course is the central venue in the central arena for the protests against Israel's proposed judicial overhaul obviously the public agenda has changed dramatically as you can see all around us a sad but determined scene here of those advocating on behalf of the 230 hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas and others Benita Senior correspondent Altman live from Tel Aviv we will be coming back to you for more updates thank you very much for now Owen Altman meanwhile Qatar has emerged as a key player in mediation efforts to release those 230 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since the Hamas terror rampage on the 7th of October for years Doha has hosted Hamas leaders while also hosting the United States largest military in the region so how did a small oil rich country like Qatar found itself in such a key position a Middle East correspondent Ariel Oceran explains in this report our target is to release all of the civilian hostages that's what we're working on and that's what we want to achieve three weeks after Hamas's deadly rampage in Israel which included the capture of 230 hostages Qatar has quickly emerged as the main mediator between Israel and Hamas if there is a continuing bombing if there is a continuing escalation in the situation our task is getting more difficult the mediators need a period of calm needs a situation where we can speak easily to both parts and try to be more creative and bringing more initiatives that can get those civilians out since October 7th Qatar has been the address of various countries for help in releasing their citizens from Hamas captivity it has also been hosting the Hamas leadership prior to the war and since it began providing a safe haven from Israeli reprisals however recent reports indicate this might end soon we will release them and the Al-Qasem Brigades announced that as well but now they are distributed in different locations let them stop this aggression and you will find the mediators like Qatar and some Arab countries like Egypt and others they will find the way to have them released and we will send them to their families so how did a small oil rich country in the Persian Gulf become the one that decides what happens in Gaza in recent years as Arab countries have been embattled with internal conflicts Qatar fashioned itself as the main financial supporter of the Gaza Strip we're here to assure the Palestinian people that were with you with the reconstruction in Gaza and with fulfilling the commitments made by the state of Qatar in previous international conferences tens of millions of dollars entered Gaza each month with Israeli consent to fund humanitarian projects and to improve the economic situation in Gaza but much of that money found its way into the hands of Hamas that's no surprise given its closest regional allies are Iran and Turkey Qatar is playing here a double game on one hand its role in putting out fires in the region awarded with points from the Middle East to Washington who considers Doha as a major non-Nado ally on the other hand it uses its influential Al Jazeera TV network to incite against Israel and Jews and to promote Hamas propaganda for the Qataris it's all about regional influence and it is currently positioned at the heart of hostage negotiation efforts whether that engagement is in good faith remains to be seen and now for more it's a pleasure to welcome to studio Rabbi Shmueli Boteach well-known American Rabbi author and television personality Rabbi thank you so much for being here right now you of course live in the United States but you're here in the country it should have been for beautiful reasons obviously for the wedding and Mazaltov to your son for getting married many surprise that weddings can take place during wartime we will get to that but I'd like your take on what it's like to be here during wartime what stands out for you and your family right now three emotions first of all terror frightening we've had some rockets fall right near us constant alerts then anger that the world cannot see the justice of Israel's position and third is shock and that's really shock at these Israeli people listen we have three children in the IDF and two are serving right now on the borders and the idea that Israel has accepted the status quo where it's normal to live under constant fire rocket fire for a decade the idea that we've allowed Hezbollah to amass the kind of position that is an existential threat to Israel the idea that my nephews and nieces who live here in Israel are telling us oh it's rocket season you know the little kids in the same way you have NBA season in America NFL season there's rocket season none of this is normal I am dressed like this the Grisha is super sexy wearing a gorgeous jacket look at me I came by bike I could have laid down in middle of the street and been completely safe except for the Qassams because there's no cars there's no one on a bike there's 2 million people outside the studio in Tel Aviv and it is a ghost town we have a couple of monstrous savage thugs with rockets who have shut down a world metropolis one of the most famous cities in the world and it's not going to end when Israel destroys Hamas because Israel's still going to fear a fifth column of Arabs inside the country the ones who love Israel my Arab brothers and sisters who understand the value of freedom, democracy they are my brothers and sisters but will Israelis continue to live thinking I can't go down the street because I'm going to be stabbed I can't go to this place you know what I'm beginning to see Israel is congregating into a tiny little circle a little bubble in Ranana, Herzli you know can't go too far north Hezbollah can't go too far south that's Gaza can't go too far east because Judea and Samaria the West Bank we all gather here in the I-24 studios this is not normal none of this is normal I'm not even talking about the PTSD the children are suffering I'm talking about the Herzl the Herzl vision of Israel was not that we would shake and shudder in fear as we lived in a Jewish state and all I see is fear and it's affecting me too the fear that you're talking about take us back to the 7th of October because this is a nation in trauma the extent of the brutality the scale of the attacks the massacres children burnt in front of their parents parents butchered in front of their children the nation is still processing the extent and the gravity and the depravity of what happened it is very soon on it is only day 23 and your absolutely right rockets are still coming into residential cities on day 23 and Israel is a ghost town Israel is shut down the whole country is shut down ok, people are afraid to go on highways because they don't know if it happened to us if an alarm comes you lying in the street you're a goner because you can't protect yourself you go under a bridge this is insanity look, what happened on October 7 was a Holocaust level day of extinction the way the Einsatzgruppen looked for people near where my grandfather grew up in Lomzha near Bialystok where they took 2000 Jews June 1941 they burned them alive these people were burned alive down in Bayre I went there I arrived from the airport from the United States went with Amichael Yao Israel's minister of heritage straight to all the places of the massacre I saw blood congealed on walls that was this thick I saw the knives used by the terrorists that were still there we picked up the bullets from the Kalashnikovs that were like this the IDF bullets were like half the size I saw it all but I ask you this question to all the people that are watching they take the murder of 1400 Jews for us to wake up that none of this is normal living with a genocidal threat of Iran is not normal living with a genocidal threat of Hezbollah is not normal when I used to go 24 every war even if my son who's in the IDF didn't get married and he did and we brought all of our nine children thank God all of our sons in law our ten grandchildren middle of a war everyone warned us against that we came there were Kasam rockets people there Kasam rockets falling during, you know we had Doron Spielman we had Jonathan Clarke not normal not normal as you said so did it take the murder of 14 of the Jews in the most savage way for Israel to understand that this is completely different that if we don't do things very different number one we have to know who our friends and enemies are if someone like Bradley Cooper in Hollywood even someone or Ben Affleck signs something which they did saying there should be a ceasefire their enemies we need to make sure that everyone knows that the Jews had died in the world anti-Semite Qatar, who was just on Qatar are the biggest funders of terrorism in the world and you're telling me that they're negotiating for our hostages they want us dead let's stop playing games Qatar is disgusting grotesque terror funding the idea that the United States has an air base there and we have made peace with that vile government who is like this with Iran like this with Hamas they're going to do nothing for our hostages what we need to communicate to Qatar is the United States will move its base from Qatar unless they immediately expel or at least imprison Ismail Hania the head of Hamas who lives in a villa worth four billion dollars living there these are new times because the security situation is out of control I'll tell you one thing I believe that Israelis got very complacent rockets no problem we have iron dome millions of millions of enemies that want to slaughter us we are technologically advanced they're a bunch of bumpkins we look down at them with our patronizing way they're knuckle draggers they could never fight us we didn't understand that Israel is a war of wills the original Khalid scene they came and they carved this country out of swamps and they carved it out of the sand this is a game of wills do we have can we summon the willpower that we are here forever that Israel is going to be here forever and it's not going to be based on drones it's not going to be based on iron dome it's based on our will to be here and be hated at times as golden mayor famously said that we would much rather be hated and be alive than have more holocaust movies made about us winning academy awards like shindler's list I don't want to be dead and sympathized because this is not normal sorry to sound so passionate but I got to tell you this trip especially I have children in war do you know what that's like being an American having children at war who volunteered do you know what it's like every time we hear it's gone off here there and soldiers were killed or injured and you're looking at your phone and you're praying you don't get a call those of you watching around the world do you know what this is like when you hear that Israel has a right to defend itself even that patronizing comment Jews should no longer die after 2000 years the world has decided you now have a right to defend yourself can you imagine if we said New York has a right to not have missiles fired on it we have to go back to simply wanting the same thing that every other nation has which is to wake up in the morning and smile and our worst problem is that we were late for work not that I have to run to a bomb shelter because I might be obliterated if I get on a bike I may die not being hit by a car but being blown up by a Kassam rocket from a terrorist Rabbi I have 30 seconds left you have your finger on the pulse of what is happening in the United States particularly the celebrity world that you alluded to are you surprised at the lack of outrage about what happened here and the lack of support for Jews here in Israel right now you'll take very briefly I have 30 seconds there are two kinds of American Jews there are American Jews who are terrified right now and they're hunkering down and they don't want to be noticed they're taking off their yamaha etc then there are those who said no the Jews we have to live I'm not surprised that Hollywood's immoral Hollywood are entertainers they're clowns so no I'm not surprised at that at all forget them although identify the ones that hate us what we need to see is an army of Jews who believe that in the United States we have that responsibility join me join us all I'm Yusul al-Kha Israel has to fight Raibai Shmueli Boteyeh Grisha Yakubovich thank you both very much for being here never apologize for being passionate about your beliefs thank you very much and that is a wrap for this edition of our breaking news coverage I'm Benita Levine in Tel Aviv stay tuned this is I-24 news Over 1300 people murdered and more than 3000 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 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 through the 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 Arsene Ostrowski an international human rights lawyer and their responses were completely different Michael Herzog was calm and composed and on the other hand Arsene Ostrowski 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 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 this breaking news edition I'm Benita Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv we start with news just in rocket siren sounding just minutes ago in northern Israel close to Rosh Pinar that happening just moments ago rocket siren sounding just moments ago in parts of northern Israel earlier a major barrage of rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory in the south and in central parts of Israel with interceptions in recent hours close to Tel Aviv Fertzliya Ranana Holon and Hod Hasharon it's estimated more than 1.5 million people were running to shelter in recent hours there are no immediate reports of injuries or damage day 23 of the war and still 230 hostages being held by the Hamas terror group all abducted during that terror onslaught on the 7th of October meanwhile the IDF says fighter jets struck some 450 Hamas targets in the Strip over the past day including terror command centres observation posts and anti-tank guided missile launch positions it also expanded its ground operation in the Gaza Strip overnight earlier the IDF confirming troops had eliminated a terror cell in the northern Gaza Strip Israeli soldiers killed at least 20 Hamas terrorists who emerged from a tunnel and tried to attack them the United Nations World Food Program representative saying at least 40 more humanitarian aid trucks are expected to enter Gaza on Sunday the trucks are bringing in food water and medical supplies but not fuel internet and cell phone connectivity in the Strip were partially restored on Sunday morning Israel has today reopened the second of three water pipelines to the Gaza Strip which is run by Hamas and in the north earlier multiple launches from Lebanese territory towards the Mount Dorf area were detected those fell in an open area the IDF forces responding firing at the sources of those launches now for more we welcome to studio Avi Paznare former Israeli ambassador to France and Italy and former world chairman of Karen Hayasord united Israel appeal and our correspondent and senior editor guy Israel gentlemen thank you both so much thank you thank you for having me I want to start with a quick news update because as we went on air siren sounding in the north guy what can you tell us so sirens in the north of Israel in the northern Galilee area that is just north of the sea of Galilee for anyone who knows the geography of the Israeli north in the municipalities of Rosh Pina Hatzor we hear of a number of interceptions in the air recorded by residents there the Mada emergency services says that so far there have been no reports of casualties or damage but this is does stand out because this area is about 25 kilometers from the border with Lebanon so quite far deep into Israeli territory slightly different from what we saw with previous strikes on Israeli territory right mainly communities that are right on the border this time going much deeper into Israel so far that no damage or casualties in this incident concerning development and we will go up north for an update from our I-24 news team on the ground Avya I want to bring you in now because over and above the developing concerns on the ground on day 23 I want to bring in some reaction from Recep Tayyip Erdogan the Turkish president who has in recent days not only said that Hamas is not a terrorist organization but also had new comments to be made about the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu let's take a listen and then I'd like your thoughts Just as Netanyahu is a terrorist the opposition says Hamas is a terrorist organization as well Shame on you Israel we will declare you as a war criminal to the world Right now we are making preparations for this Hey Israel How did you come here How did you enter here You are an occupier You are an organization The Turkish people know this And as we are speaking Siren sounding in the south right now in the Gaza Envelope and that is near Bihari and Bihari of course one of the areas hardest hit on the 7th of October we will keep bringing you updates but Avi let's come to you right now we've got rocket fire in the north rocket fire in the south and rhetoric like we just heard out of the Turkish president your thoughts No we shouldn't be surprised when Erdogan is one of Israel's fiercest enemy and even a few months ago when he made gesture of peace and reconciliation we spoke about it on this very set and I allowed myself to warn everybody you cannot trust Erdogan Erdogan is an Islamist is an extreme Islamist he's one of the biggest supporter of Hamas and at the first moment he will turn against us and this is exactly what happened he organized this mass event in Turkey it's not that the people of Turkey gathered and wanted to do something like in London or in Paris No this was organized by the Turkish government by Erdogan himself and the same Erdogan who three weeks ago shook hand with Netanyahu and was coming to visit and was coming to visit all in you know for the goal of reaching this oil deal this gas deal with Israel absolutely the financial benefits for Turkey there this was the main priority but when you need your friends well Erdogan is not going to be there for sure No no no and what we have to do first of all thank you guys the question of gas exactly this is very important for Erdogan we have now to tighten our contact with our friends and allies Cyprus and Greece we're going to discuss that in a short while but first I want to go to our correspondent Mary McCauley if she joins us from southern Israel and just moments ago we know rocket sirens sounding in Baeri which is a name that a lot of people have seen in the last 23 days of course so badly hit by that terror onslaught on the 7th of October what has it got for us from the southern parts of Israel right now Mary that's right Benita so we continue to see this is a very active war zone we continue to see rockets being fired from inside the Gaza Strip into southern Israeli communities just a few moments ago we saw reports over the areas where we have been seeing reports of infiltrations or attempted infiltrations and Hamas terrorists who attempted to fire on Israeli soldiers the IDF has not officially confirmed it but we're seeing reports that they did respond and eliminate those who were trying to get inside Israeli territory or at least fire on Israeli soldiers thank you so much we will be coming back to you for regular updates for now that's our correspondent both of you said and that was understanding who friends are right now and who enemies are right now and I want to pick up US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had some comments in an interview with CNN about Israel's move forwards bring us up to speed right so National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaking to CBS just a short while they go and I think it's a right to defend itself against terrorist attacks that is the bottom line in terms of the US support for Israel's war against Hamas Sullivan also says there are discussing hard questions with Israel including humanitarian aid distinguishing between terrorists and innocent civilians how Israel is thinking through its military operation I think we can take a listen to some of Sullivan's comments let's take a listen war of course is highly unpredictable so it's difficult to predict how it will play out what I will say this Israel was attacked in a brutal vicious terrorist attack they're taking steps to go after the terrorists who struck them they have been doing so from the air they're now doing so on the ground and Hamas this brutal terrorist organization that conducted the attack is hiding behind the civilian population which puts an added burden on Israel to differentiate between the terrorists and innocent civilians but it doesn't lessen their responsibility under international humanitarian law and the laws of war to do all in their power to protect the civilian population and that's equally true moving in on the ground as it is taking strikes from the air several interviews that Sullivan is giving American media so that one from ABC and another thing that is extremely important I think for Israel to hear this evening is the question of halting the fighting of a possible ceasefire Sullivan says he warns that any pause in fighting would benefit Hamas that's a reality there are a lot of complicated realities a humanitarian pause would be a good thing to get hostages out but you can bet that Hamas will try to use that time to advance to their advantage as well this is something that Israel is well aware of this is why we're seeing extended humanitarian aid to the southern part of the Gaza Strip but Israel at this point does not want to let off the pressure on Hamas with its military campaign with that small ground invasion that we're seeing right now and the massive air strikes trying to employ maximum pressure on Hamas as it still holds 230 Israelis many of them civilians and children underground in those tunnels the Americans understand very well what this is all about and Jake Sullivan speaking to a range of American media and we also know that the US President and the Israeli Prime Minister are due to speak as well in the coming hours gentlemen stay with us I want to go up north we cross to our correspondent Pierre Stekelbach in northern Israel and just as we were coming to air we heard that sirens were sounding up north including as far as the area of Rojpina what is the latest what update have you got right now up here right Benita sirens sounding in the area of Rojpina in the upper Galilee region and a number of other communities in the proximity of Rojpina what we're hearing so far is that at least two rockets were launched from southern Lebanon one of them was intercepted the other one fell into open area the Israeli military is still investigating rockets were launched into Israeli territory today earlier today rockets were launched into the area of Haldov which is on the very eastern part of the Israeli-Lebanese border also there the Israeli military striking back towards the origin also earlier today a cell was targeted in southern Lebanon that tried to launch mortar shells also into Israeli territory in the area of Avivim so as you can see Benita the skirmishes between Israel and factions in southern Lebanon the communities close to the border have been evacuated but we're talking about the city Etalon Rojpina that is about 30 kilometers away from the border so we're talking about quite a range that these rockets seem to have being launched from southern Lebanon reaching up to 30 kilometers here that comes also after Ibrahim Raisi the Iranian president voiced his opinion today on formally Twitter now X he was saying that that designist regime this is how the operation in Gaza currently saying that Israel is forcing the other factions there to act that also coming after Hassan Asrallah was seen in a video that is circulating online filmed from the back crossing Hezbollah flag today that's really showcasing the cooperation there between Iran and Hezbollah their expression of solidarity with the Palestinian cause that is something that they've been working for throughout the year showing the empathy for the Palestinians trying to combine Palestinian factions in Gaza and in the West Bank and this is also what we are seeing here currently this is not the first time that the Iranians and Hezbollah have expressed that they will act according to how Israel is going to react in Gaza now also the foreign minister of Iran meeting Hassan Asrallah after the beginning of the war here this is only another sign that Hezbollah and Iran are trying to showcase their cooperation also with the Palestinian factions and you can see the border such as the areas that have been targeted by mortar shelling but also in a location like Rojpina which is quite far away from the Lebanese border that has been targeted by rockets just a few minutes before we spoke Bonita stay safe our correspondent Pierre Stechelbach live from northern Israel will be coming back to Pierre for regular updates in the coming hours now earlier I spoke to Rabbi Shmueli Boteach a well known American Rabbi author and television personality and we spoke about what it's like to be an American visitor to this country during a war let's take a listen I came by bike I could have laid down in the middle of the street and been completely safe except for the Cassants because there's no cars there's no one on a bike there's two million people outside the studio in Tel Aviv and it is a ghost town we have a couple of monstrous savage thugs with rockets who have shut down a world metropolis one of the most famous cities in the world and it's not going to end when Israel destroys Hamas because Israel's still going to fear a fifth column of Arabs inside the country now the ones who love Israel my Arab brothers and sisters who understand the value of freedom democracy they are my brothers and sisters but will Israelis continue to live thinking I can't go down the street because I'm going to be stabbed I can't go to this place you know what I'm beginning to see Israel is congregating into a tiny little circle a little bubble in Ranana Herzliya can't go too far north Hezbollah can't go too far south that's Gaza can't go too far east because Judea and Samaria the West Bank Qatar who was just on Qatar are the biggest funders of terrorism in the world and you're telling me that they're negotiating for our hostages they want us dead let's stop playing games Qatar is disgusting grotesque terror funding the idea that the United States has an air base there and we have made peace with that vile government who is like this with Iran this with Hamas they're going to do nothing for our hostages what we need to communicate to Qatar is the United States will move its base from Qatar unless they immediately expel or at least imprison Ismail Hania the head of Hamas who lives in Avila worth four billion dollars living there these are new times because the security situation is out of control Rabbi Shmueli Botea here in studio a little earlier on in the day and now for more we welcome David K the founder of the David and Goliath project he joins us from New York and Noah Lindberg actor and co-founder of the Jew hate database joining us from Miami so let's start thank you very much for both of you for joining us I'm going to start though with David and David the David and Goliath project exposing a whole range of issues right now at a very difficult time for Jews around the world tell us more yes hi thanks so much for having us essentially we're an incubator of all things Jewish which out of that initiative we spark the Jew hate database you know for us it's essentially a mission to not only raise awareness but create real life consequences right for people who proudly espouse their Jew hatred both online and offline so let me bring Noah in then and give us an idea of some of the examples of what you are seeing we see videos going viral on all platforms give us an idea of the kinds of incidents that you are dealing with right now removing posters from the streets can be hate messages online it can be posts from powerful people medical doctors that have taken an oath and what they're doing is extremely difficult at best we're exposing all of them because the truth is that these people in positions of power have been going through so many years and are becoming way too comfortable exposing their hatred towards Jews so we're saying enough no more excuses you're asking to have consequences and now they're going to see that we are no longer willing to say perhaps they are educated misinformed it's 2023 it can't be misinformed it can't be uneducated no more excuses no more laziness and grabbing onto propaganda buzzwords it's time to have accountability for Iraq and David one of the issues that we in a newsroom and newsrooms around the world are dealing with is the issue around the verifying of facts a particular example was the hospital that was hit early on in the wall very soon after that happened Israel was blamed but then when the facts were actually unpacked it was the Palestinian rocket from the PIJ that actually caused the damage and the death toll that had initially been reported was in fact not the case at all however not only had some media already gone with the wrong story but certainly on social media that message had gone viral how does an organization like yours get involved in a situation like that unpacking facts and making sure that fake news doesn't go viral absolutely so with regards to that essentially what we do is we have so far over the first five days we've grown to almost 12,000 so a large part of that is actually users sort of follower generated reporting right so a lot of the times we'll have essentially someone report such events occurring and it's our job basically to go ahead verify that information that in fact this person is spreading misinformation go ahead report that and essentially for us on our page we go ahead and you know really try to emphasize and put people on notice for spreading false information specifically after the fact right beyond the problem that you know most of the media organizations ran with Hamas propaganda what we've seen is essentially people continuously put out false information after the fact that it's already been verified so those are really the people that we continue to spotlight go after and make sure that you know we're sort of correcting their false information online David and Noah my colleague Guy is here in studio as well joining our conversation Guy David and Noah hi you know I've been speaking to our correspondents on the borders both in the south and in the north just yesterday and wishing both of them to stay safe wherever they are at the same time just yesterday I spoke to a Jewish student in Canada who is also in fear these days she is in fear both of expressing what she feels and what she believes in but also just for her own life and this is what I want to ask you about to what extent is this become so difficult for Jews to even be walking around the streets and campuses around the US and Canada these days absolutely oh please please not you want me to go okay first of all we completely understand that they are afraid we would like to say that you should not be afraid that's what they want if you're scared and you're hiding they're winning don't be afraid be out there so you're always to identify you can't hide it that's what happened two days ago and we already know the answer we know what happened not going to happen we need to show united from front don't hide don't need to get into confrontation but do not hide this is a really big advice that I'm giving and if you're in the US and you're in a state that allows it I would suggest to get armed get freeing get defense defense lessons you have a variety of options but do not be scared get strong or specifically and mentally we're all in this together and David your thoughts absolutely and to echo that statement I actually have my eldest niece who's a freshman out of university in Canada so that certainly hits close to home for me but I would echo Noah's statement it's truly about being confident and also being wise there's a very fine line between being confident and being seeking trouble so to speak so we're not encouraging anyone to go ahead and do anything like that that puts them in danger however we are encouraging pride and I would just say as a message to all the students we have your back and essentially we're building this database to be made available to specific institutions across the board whether it's A for our community number one beyond that I would say government agencies as Noah mentioned earlier whether different medical boards you know law boards things of that nature so with regards to that you know again we're cataloging a global database we're not only based in the United States I mean a handful of us are in the United States but we have a global database that we're building and you know we plan to have this be the one stop shop go to place for incidents regarding Jew Hatred to again not only raise awareness but to create real life consequences that are available to landlords employers again different government agencies to make sure that that you know badge of very proud Jew Hatred that these people are expousing today stays with them for the rest of their lives David Kaye live from New York Noah Lindbergh in Miami thank you both so much for speaking to us appreciate your time on this breaking news edition come on may I add one more thing very briefly please because I'm seeing the title anti-semitism I'd like to talk about that for 30 seconds we believe that anti-semitism is a really weak word that has aged it's too CC not strong enough and some people are using it against us because they're saying it's we're semi how come we're anti-semit we're suing today the word Jew Hatred something powerful and aggressive at this meaning so it's really important that we use clear words we need to all coordinate in order to better communicate and educate so if any of you I know you're used to saying anti-semitism please you hate or anti-do thank you so much keep up with us Jew Hatred db.org Noah David thank you both so much appreciate you speaking to us thank you and now let's check back in to Tel Aviv senior correspondent Owen Ultiman is at the Israeli Defense Headquarters where the families of the 230 known hostages are still waiting for answers this agonizing wait what is the latest there that's right Benita setting up shop across the street from Israel's Kyriad Defense Headquarters I'll let you take a quick look at the scene darkness now descending with Israel on wintertime but I think you can hear the prayers the songs of the people gathered here both members of the hostages families and also activists who have come here to show support for those families and for their cause it is as you mentioned across the street from Israel's Defense Headquarters meant to send a message to Israel's military and political leadership it's also Benita poignantly along Kaplan Street the same street that just until about a month ago was known for something very different the protests week in week out against Israel's proposed judicial overhaul it feels like a long ago memory as again the public agenda has changed so much but you can see the hundreds of people coming out here the tents the signs that we've gotten to know of those hostages and again the activists here not only family members but also activists here to support the family members of those 230 hostages held by Hamas and others in Gaza Benita and Owen reports of course that Qatar is involved here reports of a potential prisoner swap what is the latest on that front briefly please well listen up until a couple days ago Benita there had been all sorts of reports about purported progress and negotiations the Israeli government Israeli military have rejected and denied those and it has to be said that a lot of those reports were coming from Qatari and Egyptian media and sources who may have their own reasons for putting out those reports whether they do or do not reflect actual progress although we should say there was at least one report that cited US officials be that all as it may Prime Minister Netanyahu last night Israel time during his press conference was very clear his strategy he says is to press forward with Israel's campaign inside Gaza and through that to bring pressure to bear on Hamas to free the hostages or in a best-case scenario to use special forces to go and free the hostages on their own Benita senior correspondent Owen Ultiman live from Tel Aviv thank you very much for that update of the personnel we don't have much time left but you're parting thoughts on what the families of the 230 hostages are going through right now it's unimaginable it's unimaginable and everyone can see on himself what would happen to him if one of his children or family was kidnapped but I must say that there is an outpouring of solidarity from the Israeli society in the first week you couldn't feel it so much because everybody was in utter shock about the murder but now they can feel embraced by the whole Israeli public opinion no doubt the heart of the country is with the families of the hostages and of course everybody hoping that they will be freed and will be able to come home. Abi Pazner Guy Israel thank you both very much for being here for this breaking news edition but that is where we wrap up for now I'm Benita Levine in Tel Aviv our coverage continues thank you for watching stay tuned. 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 edition I'm Benita Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv we start with news just in rocket siren sounding just minutes ago in northern Israel close to Rosh Pinar that happening just moments ago rocket siren sounding just moments ago in parts of northern Israel earlier a major barrage of rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory in the south and in central parts of Israel with interceptions in recent hours close to Tel Aviv that's Lea, Ranana, Kholon and Hot Hasharon it's estimated more than 1.5 million people were running to shelter in recent hours there are no immediate reports of injuries or damage day 23 of the war and still 230 hostages being held by the Hamas terror group all abducted during that terror onslaught on the 7th of October meanwhile the IDF says fighter jets struck some 450 Hamas targets in the strip over the past day including terror command centers observation posts and anti-tank guided missile launch positions it also expanded its ground operation in the Gaza Strip overnight earlier the IDF confirming troops had eliminated a terror cell in the northern Gaza Strip Israeli soldiers killed at least 20 Hamas terrorists who emerged from a tunnel and tried to attack them United Nations world food program representatives saying at least 40 more humanitarian aid trucks are expected to enter Gaza on Sunday the trucks are bringing in food water and medical supplies but not fuel internet and cell phone connectivity in the strip were partially restored on Sunday morning Israel has today reopened the second of three water pipelines to the Gaza Strip which is run by Hamas and in the north earlier multiple launches from Lebanese territory towards the Mount Dorf area were detected those fell in an open area the IDF forces responding firing at the sources of those launches now for more we welcome to studio Avi Paznare a former Israeli ambassador to France and Italy and former world chairman of Karen Hayes so united Israel appeal and our correspondent and senior editor guy Israel gentlemen thank you both so much. I want to start with a quick news update because as we went on a siren sounding in the north guy what can you tell us so sirens in the north of Israel in the northern Galilee area that is just the north of the sea of Galilee for anyone who knows the geography of the Israeli north in the municipalities of the municipalities of the municipalities of we hear of a number of interceptions in the air recorded by residents there the Mada emergency services says that so far there have been no reports of any casualties or damage but this is does stand out because this area is about 25 kilometers from the border with Lebanon so quite far deep into Israeli territory slightly different from what we saw with previous strikes on Israeli territory right mainly communities that are right on the border this time going much deeper into Israel so far at least it seems that no damage or casualties in this incident concerning development and we will go up north for an update from our I-24 news team on the ground now because over and above the developing concerns on the ground on day 23 I want to bring in some reaction from Richard Tayyip Erdogan the Turkish president who has in recent days not only said that Hamas is not a terrorist organization but also had new comments to be made about the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu let's take a listen and then I'd like your thoughts just as Netanyahu is a terrorist the opposition says Hamas is a terrorist organization as well shame on you Israel we will declare you as a war criminal to the world right now we are making preparations for this hey Israel how did you come here how did you enter here you are an occupier you are an organization the Turkish people know this and as we're speaking the south right now in the Gaza envelope and that is near the area and the area of course one of the areas hardest hit on the 7th of October we will keep bringing you updates but Avi let's come to you right now we've got rocket fire in the north rocket fire in the south and rhetoric like we just heard out of the Turkish president your thoughts we shouldn't be surprised I mean the one is one of Israel's fiercest enemy and even a few months ago when he made gesture of peace and reconciliation we spoke about it on this very set and I allowed myself to warn everybody you cannot trust Erdogan Erdogan is an Islamist is an extreme Islamist he's one of the biggest supporter of Hamas and at the first moment he will turn against us and this is exactly what happened he organized this mass event in Turkey it's not that the people of Turkey gathered and wanted to do something like in London or in Paris no this was organized by the Turkish government by Erdogan himself and the same Erdogan who three weeks ago shook hand with Netanyahu and was coming to visit all in you know for the goal of reaching this oil deal this gas deal with Israel absolutely absolutely the financial benefits for Turkey this was the main priority but when you need your friends well everyone is not going to be there for sure no no and what we have to do first of all you mentioned guy the question of God exactly this is very important for Erdogan we have now to tighten our contact with our friends and allies Cyprus and Greece we're going to discuss that in a short while but first I want to go to our correspondent Mary Macaulay if she joins us from southern Israel and just moments ago we know Rocket Siren sounding in Baeri which is a name that a lot of people will have been hearing in the last 23 days of course so badly hit that terror onslaught on the 7th of October what Abtejib got for us from the southern parts of Israel right now Mary that's right Benita so we continue to see this is a very active war zone we continue to see rockets being fired from inside the Gaza Strip into southern Israeli communities just a few moments ago we saw at least five being launched from the area you can see just behind me in the northern part of the Gaza Strip all the meanwhile the Israeli army continues to strike heavily inside Gaza Strip we've also seen helicopters dropping flares over the area where we have seen reports of infiltrations or attempted infiltrations and Hamas terrorists who attempted to fire on Israeli soldiers the IDF has not officially confirmed it but we're seeing reports that they did respond and eliminate those who were trying to get inside Israeli territory or at least fire on Israeli soldiers thank you so much we will be coming back to you for regular updates for now that's our correspondent Mary Macaulay live from southern Israel and back in studio I want to pick up on something both of you said and that was understanding who friends are right now and who enemies are right now and I want to pick up US national security advisor Jake Sullivan had some comments in an interview with CNN about Israel's move forwards bring us up to speed right so national security advisor Jack Sullivan speaking to CBS just a short while ago and I think the main point there is what he's saying we've taken the position that Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorist attacks that is the bottom line in terms of the US support for Israel's war against Hamas Sullivan also says there are discussing hard questions with Israel including humanitarian aid distinguishing between terrorists and innocent civilians how Israel is thinking through its military operation I think we can take a listen to some of Sullivan's comments let's take a listen war of course is highly unpredictable so it's difficult to predict how it will play out what I will say this Israel was attacked in a brutal vicious terrorist attack they're taking steps to go after the terrorists who struck them they have been doing so from the air they're now doing so on the ground and Hamas this brutal terrorist organization that conducted the attack is hiding behind the civilian population which puts an added burden on Israel to differentiate between the terrorists and innocent civilians but it doesn't lessen their responsibility under international humanitarian law and the laws of war to do all in their power to protect the civilian population and that's equally true moving in on the ground as it is taking strikes from the air so several interviews that Sullivan is giving American media so that one from ABC and another thing that is extremely important I think for Israel to hear this evening is the question of halting the fighting of a possible ceasefire Sullivan says he warns that any pause in fighting would benefit Hamas that's a reality there are a lot of complicated realities a humanitarian pause would be a good thing to get hostages out but you can bet that Hamas will try to use that time to advance their advantage as well this is something that Israel is well aware of this is why we're seeing extended humanitarian aid to the southern part of the Gaza Strip but Israel at this point does not want to let off the pressure on Hamas with its military campaign with that small ground invasion that we're seeing right now and the massive air strikes trying to employ maximum pressure on Hamas as it still holds and 30 Israelis many of them civilians and children underground in those tunnels the Americans understand very well what this is all about and Jake Sullivan speaking to a range of American media and we also know that the US President and the Israeli Prime Minister are due to speak as well in the coming hours gentlemen stay with us I want to go up north we cross to our correspondent Pierre Stekelbach in northern Israel and just as we were coming to air Benita Sirens was sounding up north including as far as in Rosh Pina what is the latest what update have you got right now Pierre right Benita Sirens sounding in the area of Rosh Pina in the upper Galilee region and a number of other communities in the proximity of Rosh Pina what we're hearing so far is that at least two rockets were launched from southern Lebanon one of them was intercepted the other one fell into open area the Israeli military is still this incident and striking back towards the origin of that fire and it is not the first time that rockets rockets were launched into Israeli territory today earlier today rockets were launched into the area of Haldov which is on the very eastern part of the Israeli Lebanese border also there the Israeli military striking back towards the origin also earlier today a cell was targeted in southern Lebanon that tried to launch mortar shells also into Israeli territory in the area of Avivim so as you can see Benita skirmishes between Israel and factions in southern Lebanon first and foremost Izballah is continuing here many of the communities close to the border have been evacuated but we're talking about the city Etan Rosh Pina that is about 30 kilometers away from the border so we're talking about quite a range that these rockets seem to have been launched from southern Lebanon reaching up to 30 kilometers here that comes also after Ibrahim Raisi the Iranian president voiced his opinion today on formally Twitter now X he was saying that that designist regime this is how he calls Israel crossed a red line here he's pointing at the Israeli operation in Gaza currently saying that Israel is forcing the other factions there to act that also coming after Hassan Asrallah was seen in a video that is circulating online filmed from the back crossing Hezbollah flag today that's really showcasing the cooperation there between Iran and Hezbollah their expression of solidarity with the Palestinian cause that is something that they've been working for throughout the year showing the empathy for the Palestinians trying to combine the fronts there southern Lebanon with Palestinian factions in Gaza and in the West Bank and this is also what we are seeing here currently this is not the first time that the Iranians and Hezbollah have expressed that they will act according to how Israel is going to react in Gaza now also the foreign minister of Iran meeting with Hassan Asrallah after the beginning of the war here Hezbollah and Iran are trying to showcase their cooperation here also with the Palestinian factions and you can see that the skirmishes here are intensifying in the northern region not only very close to the border such as the areas that have been targeted by water shelling but also in a location like Rojpina which is quite far away from the Lebanese border that has been targeted by rockets just a few minutes before we spoke Ben Itza. Stay safe our correspondent Pierre Stechelbach live from northern Israel will be coming back to Pierre for regular updates in the coming hours now earlier I spoke to Rabbi Shmueli Boteach a well-known American Rabbi author and television personality he is visiting Israel at the moment and we spoke about what it's like to be an American visitor to this country during a war let's take a listen I came by bike I could have laid down in the middle of the street and been completely safe except for the Qassans because there's no cars there's no one on a bike outside the studio in Tel Aviv and it is a ghost town we have a couple of monstrous savage thugs with rockets who have shut down a world metropolis one of the most famous cities in the world and it's not going to end when Israel destroys Hamas because Israel is still going to fear a fifth column of Arabs inside the country now the ones who love Israel, my Arab brothers and sisters who understand the value of freedom, democracy they are my brothers and sisters but will Israelis continue to live thinking I can't go to the street because I'm going to be stabbed I can't go to this place you know what I'm beginning to see Israel is congregating into a tiny little circle, a little bubble in Ranana, Herzliya can't go too far north, Hezbollah can't go too far south that's Gaza can't go too far east because Judea and Samaria, the West Bank Qatar who was just on Qatar are the biggest funders of terrorism in the world Qatar is dead, let's stop playing games Qatar is disgusting grotesque, terror funding the idea that the United States has an air base there and we have made peace with that vile government who is like this with Iran, like this with Hamas they're going to do nothing for our hostages what we need to communicate to Qatar is the United States will move its base from Qatar unless they immediately expel or at least imprison Ismail Hania, the head of Hamas who lives in Avila, worth 4 billion dollars living there these are new times because the security situation is out of control Rabbi Shmueli Botea here in studio a little earlier on in the day and now for more we welcome David K the founder of the David and Goliath project he joins us from New York and Noah Lindberg, actor and co-founder of the Jew hate database joining us from Miami so let's start thank you very much for both of you for joining us I'm going to start though with David and David the David and Goliath project exposing a whole range of issues right now at a very difficult time for Jews around the world tell us more Yes, hi, thanks so much for having us essentially we're an incubator of all things Jewish which out of that initiative we spark the Jew hate database you know for us it's essentially a mission to not only raise awareness but create real-life consequences for people who proudly espouse their Jew hatred both online and offline so let me bring Noah in then and give us an idea of some of the examples of what you are seeing we see videos going viral on all platforms give us an idea of the kinds of incidents that you are dealing with right now removing posters from the streets can be hate messages online it can be posts from powerful people medical doctors that have taken an oath and what they're doing is extremely political at best we're exposing all of them because the truth is that these people in positions of power have been going through so many years and are becoming way comfortable exposing their hatred towards Jews so we're saying enough no more excuses you're asking to have consequences and now they're going to see that we are no longer willing to say perhaps they are educated misinformed it's 2023 it can be misinformed it can be uneducated no more excuses no more laziness grabbing on to getting above words it's time to have accountability for Iraq and David one of the issues that we in a newsroom and newsrooms around the world are dealing with is the issue around the verifying of facts a particular example was a hospital that was hit early on in the war very soon after that happened Israel was blamed but then when the facts were actually unpacked it was the Palestinian rocket from the PIJ that actually caused the damage and the death toll that had initially been reported was in fact not the case at all however not only had some media already gone with the wrong story but certainly on social media that message had gone viral how does an organization like yours get involved in a situation like that unpacking facts and making sure that fake news doesn't go viral absolutely so with regards to that essentially what we do is we have so far over the first five days we've grown to almost 12,000 so a large part of that is actually users sort of follower generated reporting right so a lot of the times we'll have essentially someone report such events occurring and it's our job basically to go ahead verify that information that in fact this person is spreading this information go ahead report that and essentially for us on our page we go ahead and you know really try to emphasize and put people on notice for spreading false information specifically after the fact right beyond the problem that you know most of the media organizations ran with Hamas propaganda what we've seen is essentially people continuously put out false information after the fact that it's already been verified so those are really the people that we continue to spotlight go after and make sure that you know we're sort of correcting their false information online David and Noah my colleague Guy is here in studio as well joining our conversation Guy David and Noah hi you know I've been speaking to our correspondents the borders both in the south and in the north just yesterday and wishing both of them to stay safe wherever they are at the same time just yesterday I spoke to a Jewish student in Canada who is also in fear these days she is in fear both of expressing what she feels and what she believes in but also just for her own life and this is what I want to ask you about to what extent is this become so difficult for Jews to even be walking around the streets and campuses around the US and Canada these days absolutely oh please please not you want me to go okay first of all we really understand that they are afraid we would like to say that you should not be afraid that's what they want if you're scared and you're fighting they're winning don't be afraid be out there show your Jewish identity you can't hide it that's what happened two decades ago and we already know the answer we already know what happened not going to happen we need to show united from front don't hide don't need to get into confrontation but do not hide we really make advice that I'm giving and if you're in the US and you're in a state that allows it I would suggest to get armed get brain get defense defense lessons oh my God you have a variety of options but do not be scared get strong or physically and mentally we're all in this together and David your thoughts and to echo that statement I actually have my eldest niece who's a freshman out of university in Canada so that certainly hits close to home for me but I would echo Noah's statement it's truly about being confident not being scared but also being wise there's a very fine line between being confident and being seeking trouble so to speak we're not encouraging anyone to go ahead that puts them in danger however we are encouraging pride and I would just say as a message to all the students we have your back and essentially we're building this database to be made available to specific institutions across the board whether it's communities A for our community number one beyond that I would say government agencies as Noah mentioned earlier whether different medical boards law boards things of that nature so with regards to that again we're cataloging a global database we're not only based in the United States I mean a handful of us are in the United States but we have a global database that we're building and we plan to have this be the one stop shop a go to place for all incidents regarding Jew hatred to again not only raise awareness but to create real life consequences that are available to landlords, employers different government agencies to make sure that you know badger very proud Jew hatred that these people are expousing today stays with them for the rest of their lives David Kay live from New York Noah Lindberg in Miami thank you both so much for speaking to us appreciate your time on this breaking news edition Can I add one more thing if we have time Very briefly please Because I'm seeing the title anti-Semitism I'd like to talk about that for 30 seconds we believe that anti-Semitism is a really weak word that has a not strong enough and some people are using it against us because they're saying it's worse semi how come we're anti-Semitism we are using today the word Jew hatred something powerful aggressive as it's this meaning so it's really important that we use clear words we need to all coordinate in order to better communicate and educate so if any of you I know you're used to saying anti-Semitism please view hate or anti-Jew Thank you so much Keep up with us JewHateDB.org Noah David thank you both so much appreciate you speaking to us thank you and now let's check back in to Tel Aviv senior correspondent Owen Ultiman is at the Israeli defense headquarters where the families of the 13 known hostages Owen are still waiting for answers this agonizing wait what is the latest there That's right Benita setting up shop across the street from Israel is Kyriot defense headquarters let you take a quick look at the scene darkness now descending with Israel on wintertime but I think you can hear the prayers and the songs of the people gathered here both members of the hostages families and also activists who have come here to show support for those families and for their cause it is as you mentioned Israel's defense headquarters meant to send a message to Israel's military and political leadership it's also Benita poignantly along Kaplan Street the same street that just until about a month ago was known for something very different the protests week in week out against Israel's proposed judicial overhaul obviously feels like a long ago memory as again the public agenda has changed so much but you can see the hundreds of people coming out here the tense the signs that we've gotten to know of those hostages and the activists here not only family members but also activists here to support the family members of those 230 hostages held by Hamas and others in Gaza Benita and oh and reports of course that Qatar is involved here reports of a potential prisoner swap what is the latest on that front briefly please well listen up until a couple days ago Benita there have been all sorts of reports about purported progress and negotiations the Israeli government Israeli military have rejected has to be said that a lot of those reports were coming from cuttery and Egyptian media and sources who may have their own reasons for putting out those reports whether they do or do not reflect the actual progress although we should say there was at least one report that cited U.S. officials be that all as it may Prime Minister Netanyahu last night Israel time during his press conference was very very clear his strategy he says is to press forward with Israel's campaign inside Gaza and through that to bring pressure to bear the best case scenario to use special forces to go and free the hostages on their own Benita senior correspondent Owen Ultiman live from Tel Aviv thank you very much for that update Avipa snare we don't have much time left but your parting thoughts on what the families of the 230 hostages are going through right now it's unimaginable it's unimaginable and everyone can see on himself what would happen to him if one of his children or family was kidnapped but I must say that there is an outpouring of solidarity from the Israeli society in the first week you couldn't feel it so much because everybody was in utter shock about the murder but now they can feel embraced by the whole Israeli public opinion no doubt the heart of the country is with the families of the hostages and of course everybody hoping that they will be freed and will be able to come home Avipa snare Guy Israel thank you both very much for being here for this breaking news edition but that is where we wrap up for now I'm Denise Levine in Tel Aviv our coverage continues thank you for watching stay tuned 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 welcome you're watching i24 news coming to you live from Tel Aviv on this day 23 of Israel's war with Hamas some breaking news in the last few minutes there's been a direct hit from a rocket a house in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona the authorities are checking if there are any casualties these are live pictures coming to us from Kiryat Shmona that's a town in the north of Israel sirens went off earlier a missile or a rocket was fired from inside Lebanon that's according to the information we have it is unknown if this was fired by Palestinian groups operating inside Lebanon or by Hezbollah that of course would mark a significant escalation you can see firefighters at the scene so a direct hit on a house in Kiryat Shmona sirens were blaring right before so we would hope that whoever was in there got themselves to a bomb shelter but this is what we're dealing with right now in the north of Israel that's a direct hit on a house in Kiryat Shmona in just a few moments we will head to the north our correspondent Piaz Zeklebach is there she'll have the very latest for us in just a couple of moments but first let's head to the south of Israel where after ongoing airstrikes and a series of overnight raids the IDF is now in control of parts of northern Gaza Israeli media says there were clashes today between IDF troops and Palestinian gunmen who burst out of a tunnel at central and southern Israel from Gaza as well the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has apologised after he was roundly criticised for laying the blame on his own defence and intelligence chiefs for the October 7th attacks US President Joe Biden will speak with Netanyahu later tonight but let's get the very latest from the south now our Mary McCauley reports now from Sterot Mary can you tell us more about the incident earlier where the soldiers engaged in gun battles with Palestinian terrorists Yes Laura so we're still waiting for more details on the IDF about exactly what happened but we're seeing the reports coming out that there were a number of Hamas militants who tried to come from outside a tunnel inside the Gaza strip but very close to the area's crossing we're seeing that reports that they were all subdued and eliminated by IDF but as you can see behind me if you just saw those light flashes a moment ago this is an area this area here and what we've seen them doing in the last hour since it got dark is dropping these light bombs so which fall very slowly they don't make a sound on impact but what they do is they illuminate an area this suggests to us that the incident is ongoing or at least the IDF is continuing to make sure that they have put down whatever threat it was in this area it's important to know areas is a bit more to my left here and over the northern area of the Gaza strip but this we're looking over is the northwest part of Gaza strip because itself is saying that it's militants, it's terrorist fighters are engaged in a number of gun battles with heavy machine guns and they're also using a bunch of anti tank and heavy anti machinery to try and thwart Israeli troops who are trying to move further south into the Gaza strip we can hear this we've heard a number of different mortar shells presuming also trying to give cover to those Israeli troops who are allegedly trying to advance into Gaza strip we don't have confirmation from the IDF we've been sitting here watching also of course a number of different air strikes which have been targeting this area in parts of northern strip continuing to pound these targets as we've seen over the past couple weeks but we're certainly hearing an increase in military activity there's right now there's a fighter jet flying above my head we've heard a number of different drones throughout the course of the evening today so this is definitely continues to be a very hot active battle area we can see the flashes, we can hear the booms Mary and despite the heavy air strikes Palestinians have still managed to fire rockets out of Gaza today haven't they absolutely we've seen rockets continuing I mean I think at least 20 at this point times that rocket sirens have been going off in Israeli border communities we also saw a number of mortars at least five being fired from this area right where I said they were firing into Israeli communities but we didn't hear rocket sirens so likely was trying to target some military infrastructure in the area with those mortar shells coming from inside the Gaza strip Mary thank you very much indeed Mary McCall if they're at the very hot border as she put it between Israel and Gaza and I'm joined in the studio now by Oya Sakha he's the head of research at the Israel defense and security forum thank you for being with us we'll go to the north in a moment to get the very latest on what's happening there a house has been hit by a rocket in Kyriac but I want to talk about what's going on in Gaza right now because we've had I think three nights now of these kind of incursions into North and Gaza the IDF is now actually in control of territory inside Gaza isn't it? Yeah I believe it is and we don't have too much information and we are pretty grateful that we do because that we don't because as of the moment there is internet and electricity outage around the Gaza strip and I believe that this is a justified measure in order to really move on with the offensive I think the IDF is really a strategic objective here of eliminating Hamas that would mean that we have to take over every square meter of the Gaza strip gradually that would have to happen militarily it's impossible to do otherwise but now we are beginning to see it on the go now what's interesting is that yesterday the press conference all three Prime Minister Netanyahu Minister Gallant and Minister Gantz said that the ground offensive would not only make the prospects of bringing back the hostages further away but actually could help in those efforts so I believe this is a combined effort to eliminate Hamas and to bring back the hostages yes because there is some debate isn't there if those two goals are mutually exclusive right and I don't think they are in fact I mean if you have a ground offensive it makes sense that the more you approach the hostages the more you have the chance to release them because we saw how diplomatic pressure has its limits there's a ground ceiling really a glass ceiling of pressure on the Qatari government the Iranian government on the Egyptians at the end of the day if you don't have to release those hostages what we will see is what the IDF officials called the drip drop of Hamas fudging us and every other day it releases another two hostages and we fudge it for months and this is precisely what Hamas want this is precisely what Qatari wants and I don't believe that Israel should give them that advantage the same time you've got an awful lot of diplomatic pressure on Israel to agree to a ceasefire the United States so far is standing firm with Israel and it's right to defend itself you have got other countries who are urging Israel to halt the bombing at least temporarily to allow aid into guards and civilians yeah and that's precisely what they call not everything that shines is gold at the end of the day what we need now is escalation it's not de-escalation and people in the world need to understand this I think we are in good terms with the United States and we see things eye to eye you heard John Kirby said there is no daylight between Israel and the United States at the end of the day if all European nations but Austria which is very interesting vote either in favor of a ceasefire or abstain that means that we have some daylight with some European nations here despite their very you know very notable support I do think that what we need now is escalation because the scale of the victory in the Gaza Strip would be translated into strength in other fronts you mentioned the northern front we could talk about Saudi Arabia and Iran at the end of the day if we win in Gaza that would mean they would bring the prospects to peace with Saudi Arabia with the rest of the Arab and Sunni world closer still while strengthening the deterrence against Hezbollah and Iran but Israel is very much stealing itself for a long war this is nothing like the operations that we've seen in the past is that this could take many many months right absolutely and we saw how the defensive shield operation in 2002 lasted 35 days but then up until June 2007 even it could have lasted and the really mowing the lawn in the Gaza Strip will take months even years but right now the primary stage of this war doesn't need to take you know a year it could take a few months of clearing up these hornest nests we have seen the results of the Israeli neglect for decades now and the containment strategy of allowing the Hamas threat to metastasize and to build up its force and at the end of the day if we don't want to see that ever happen again these 1400 people murdered we need to see this war reaching its objectives and Israel will face a determined foe once it moves in fully into the ground offensive we know we've seen how embedded Hamas terrorists are into the civilian infrastructure in Gaza most notably of course in the hospital in Gaza city their tunnels run underneath they are trying to get civilians to say this is a very very difficult war for Israel isn't it? This is an extremely dense urban setting it's not the most densely populated urban area in the world as opposed to what you know it is claiming many reports it doesn't even crack the top 100 but it's still a very densely populated urban setting and we do know that once they are the idea for the face snipers that would face you know ammunition fire and at the end of the day you have the underground network and we see right now well according to press reports not to my intimate knowledge but according to press reports that could be use of robots and other means like dogs and third parties to enter these tunnels before IDF soldiers do in order to first keep them safe and second to see what's underneath them and we've seen some of them already destroyed from the bombs falling on them above yeah we saw actually clouds of fire IDF was bombarding one side and we saw a cloud of dust coming out of the other side which indicates basically the distance of a tunnel I do think that this is one of the major challenges the IDF is facing right now if it was only above ground that would be something completely different let's head to the north then where we've had that news of a rocket falling on a house in the northern town of Kyrie in the last hour is there any casualties in that missile strike right Laurie it seems like there were no casualties although you're right now seeing those images of the house that was struck by a rocket it set the entire house on fire we're talking about Kyriat Shmona a town that was only now evacuated only a few kilometers away from the Lebanese border throughout the week people have been leaving that area about a bit more than half an hour ago Siren sounded there we apparently are speaking about two scenes of impacts that one house terribly struck there the entire house was set on fire there the IDF is still investigating that incident but apparently according to initial reports we are speaking about six rockets that were launched from southern Lebanon into that Israeli territory Kyriat Shmona a city in the eastern part of the Israel-Lebanese border there city that was just now evacuated and that alert sounded just a few minutes after the city of Rojpina the town of Rojpina and a few other communities in that area had rockets as well that is about 30 kilometers away from the Lebanese border there one rocket was intercepted one fell into open area and that really shows you that the pace of the incidents intensify like it is the case many times especially in the evening hours here and in general the scumishes between Israel and Lebanese factions and specifically Hezbollah are intensifying really all along the border here that that impacted the house a very good example for the fact that indeed those communities needed to be evacuated because the danger coming from these factions shelling with water shells and also launching rockets is very imminent as the northern front is and remains to be very volatile Laura so Pia these were Palestinian groups operating inside southern Lebanon who fired these rockets is that correct and they have to operate with the agreement of Hezbollah don't they exactly Laura that incident is still under investigation Palestinian factions have been operating in southern Lebanon for a very long time they've also been active that round of fighting since the war began here we've seen also Palestinian groups trying to infiltrate into Israeli territory here they were struck by the Israeli Air Force here stationed alongside the border but of course southern Lebanon are if you will the in southern Lebanon Hezbollah is the land lord so any action also coming from a Palestinian group is assumed to be coordinated with Hezbollah there that is known to work together with Palestinian groups also work under the wider leadership of Iran we've just today heard a statement coming from the Iranian president Ibrahim Raisi saying on Twitter or acts how it is called now that the Zionist regime this is how he calls Israel is crossing a red line forcing everyone to act and this is not the first statement of that kind coming from the Iranian regime the foreign minister having visited the Hezbollah leader Hassan Asrallah two weeks ago saying almost the same thing that they are going to react according to Israeli operations now as you can see we are hearing also that's what we've been hearing here we are on the western side of the border we have been hearing some Israeli artillery also here striking that front is very volatile Kiryat Shmon and also Rojpina those communities that had rocket fire about in the last hour being located in the eastern part of the border but also here on the very western side we are hearing Israeli artillery striking towards the direction of southern Lebanon we are hearing another rocket alert in the community of Shlomi that's another community very very close to the Lebanese border about two kilometers away rocket alert there right now alright Pia thanks very much indeed so a direct hit on a house in Kiryat Shmona in the north of Israel no reports of any casualties and sirens blaring further attacks on Shlomi Rojpina or other communities close to the northern border Yesakha is here with me in the studio with a significant escalation in the north in recent days but these are Palestinian groups operating inside Lebanon this is not Hezbollah even if they may be acting in conjunction Right but let's not delude ourselves I mean anything that happens in southern Lebanon happens with Hezbollah's blessing and approval there is no other possibility for that to happen we need to understand this well when the IDF is actually striking Hezbollah targets as a response to Hamas swing of southern Lebanon attacking Hezbollah is precisely because they know that Hezbollah approves and gives their blessing to these kind of attacks now your report mentioned Iran they're absolutely right I mean Iran is behind Hamas and Hezbollah full stop and we did see the statements by the Iranian leader just yesterday saying that it is time for Israel to die this is precisely what he said and he also noted looking at the United States we know that where their bases are located in Iraq and in Syria and in the United States and he threatened the United States Right and I think you know he's playing a really kind of a dangerous game here didn't say we will attack your bases but he said we are aware where these bases are and his foreign minister saying you know they will not be spared you know passive form I think they're playing a very dangerous game here Alright thank you well more rockets fired at the north while we are on air the community is close to the border with Lebanon and Israel is of course dealing with the worst hostage crisis in its history dozens of children and elderly people are among the hostages being held in Gaza 222 of them many foreign or dual nationals as well well some of their families met with Prime Minister Netanyahu last night they're meeting now with the defence minister Yoav Galant as well and they say they fear the military offensive in Gaza could hurt their chances of ever seeing their loved ones alive again the government though insists freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas are not mutually exclusive our senior defence minister Jonathan Recker reports two different objectives perhaps contradicting each other but both absolutely crucial for Israeli success in this war our forces are currently operating on the ground in the Gaza Strip the objectives of the war require a ground operation and as we know no victory can come without a price there's no doubt that a ground operation is needed but the price this time can be very high maybe too high at least 230 hostages are held in Gaza their families are going through a living hell and are extremely concerned that the ground maneuver which began on a small scale on Friday night may lead to an even more dangerous situation we are very worried about our dearest that they are there and we don't know that if the military operation take all these hostages under consideration along with the ground operation a first signal from Hamas leader Ikhia Sinwar came over the weekend Sinwar, a former prisoner himself who was released in an exchange is well aware of the sensitive sentiment in Israeli society regarding hostages all for all all Israeli hostages for all Palestinian prisoners his message already echoing in Israel from the point of view of the families a deal for the immediate release of family members within the framework of all for all is a consideration and will have broad national support the men who has to decide about that is prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the president of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier in the 2011 deal freeing Gila Chalit in a meeting with hostages families on Saturday night he promised to do everything to release them we will do everything possible to bring them home it was true before and after any ground invasion it's an integral part of our operation and we will do everything we can Israeli ground forces raising the Israeli flags deep inside the Gaza Strip and promising to defeat Hamas on one hand 230 hostages lying deep in the Gaza underground tunnels waiting to be released on the other can Israel succeed on both missions clearly a very tough question Israel says it's recalling its diplomats from Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed a huge pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul yesterday during that he accused Israel of war crimes and occupation earlier in the week he praised Hamas and said it was wrong to call them terrorists all of this just months after Israel and Turkey restored full diplomatic ties as part of a major rapprochement with me in the studio Dr. Hay Eitan Cohen Yanar Ocak is a Turkey expert at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security thanks for being with us Erdogan went even further last night aside from all the other things he said he basically threatened Israel he said his forces could come in the night at any time how do you explain such rhetoric from a supposed ally it's very problematic first of all it's not the first time that he is using this sentence he in the past used the same sentence for other adversaries such as the PKK, PYD, ISIS etc he also threatened Greece many times so unfortunately it's not unprecedented I heard his speech and there he made an emphasis on terror organizations but the problem here he made this emphasis on terrorist organizations and then he mentioned the sentence but the problem is during the same speech he described Israel as an organization but not as a terror organization but in a vague manner as an organization so you could only dream if he mentioned about this particular sentence was about Israel or was it about the other terror organizations that Turkey is fighting against so it's very vague it's not clear he may say that no I didn't say such a thing against Israel or anyways yes so we cannot say that yes he said it against Israel but many people interpreted that it was said against Israel and this is also problematic because he did not deliver any correction or he didn't say that no I didn't mean that against Israel so this is also something very problematic and of course he has been the one in charge while Israel and Turkey have been repairing their relations which suffered back in 2010 he's the one that wanted to pursue a rapprochement just explain for us the Israeli and Turkish economies are pretty intertwined I think Israel imports I think it's $7 billion worth of goods from Turkey every year both countries are collaborating there is a growing cooperation and even if the fact that we are witnessing some ups and downs this never affected the exports and imports by the way we should also underline the fact that the balance of exports and imports are in favor of Turkey meaning that in case that the Turks will going to impose on Israel any kind of sanctions it will be an own goal for the Turkish economy so Turkey would suffer more economically than would Israel and first and foremost the Turkish Airlines Tel Aviv Station is the strongest station outside of Turkey why? it's not only because the Israelis are flying to Turkey but it's also because of the transit flights many Israelis prefer to fly with Turkish Airlines to other destinations in the world by using Istanbul as an important aviation hub but in case of such an escalation and we will not see the Israelis the Israeli diplomats in Turkey and the travel warning which is declared by the Israeli Government it's now four out of four which means that no Israelis the Israelis are advised not to go to Turkey so in this such a thing I do not think that Israelis would choose Turkish Airlines or any other Airlines via Turkey and by the way the Turks are not flying here they stopped their flights they are saying that it's because of security and I cannot now at least I cannot blame them but since other airline companies are flying to Israel so this should be also you know seen with a huge question mark of course Turkey is a member of NATO do you expect her to want to face in the Europeans? Well in NATO there is no such a mechanism that you can kick out a member when they designed NATO they did not think about these kind of Trojan horses so now we have two different we have two different ways or you should tame Turkey you should come and persuade Turkey that its foreign policy is not acceptable you know you should calm down Ankara or you should basically form another security umbrella organization similar to NATO and there you will not you will not allow admit Turkey to be part of it but it's very complicated I really don't think that it will happen in the very near future so I believe that the United States administration will most likely to focus on its arms transfers to Turkey and may impose sanctions on it and just a word if you were on the Jewish community to still live in Turkey this is a very problematic issue today the chief Rabbi of Turkey visited Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his palace in Ankara because it is the Republic Day the Independence Day of Turkey so it was a huge celebration there I saw the short video that how president greeted the chief Rabbi and how chief Rabbi tried to hug him to tell him that he is very tense so I really felt I did not feel very comfortable seeing seeing our chief Rabbi in Turkey in such a situation I hope you don't mind me pointing at you were born and raised in Turkey yes I was did you experience anti-semitism in Turkey is it widespread I left Turkey in 2006 and Turkey of 2006 and Turkey of 2023 is two different planets right in 2006 they were still trying to join the EU I witnessed very light anti-semitisms that you would not maybe call it today anti-semitism when you compare with the current situation but my memories in Turkey they were all positive and I really like the country that I grew up and now I am looking at the country that I grew up and I cannot believe in my eyes that how anti-semitism rose and how anti-Israel sentiments unfortunately dominated not only the Islamists but also the secular people anti-Israel sentiments also among them Thank you very much we're going to take a short break news just in 10 rockets fired into Israeli territory from Lebanon we'll get the very latest for you on that after the break there has been a direct hit on the northern town of Kyrie no reports thankfully of any casualties stay tuned 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 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 and the way that it works is it generates this random unity that kind of looks like a sponge and it evaluates its behavior investment in Israel bonds it is the most powerful and direct way to stand with Israel visit israelbonds.com and invest now for me official dresser of i24 news good evening ladies and gentlemen back this is i24 news we're coming to you live from Tel Aviv on this day 23 of Israel's war with Hamas and there have been significant developments in the north of Israel tonight some 10 rockets fired at northern Israel from southern Lebanon in the last hour including this a direct hit on a residential home in the northern town of Kiryat Shmona no reports as yet of any casualties but some 10 rockets fired from southern Lebanon purported from Palestinian groups who are operating inside southern Lebanon with the permission to do so from the Iranian backed Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah which controls southern Lebanon so there we can see a direct hit fired a private home in the town of Kiryat Shmona which has only now been evacuated sirens have been blaring across the north all evening 10 rockets fired into Israeli territory from southern Lebanon so that is the situation now meanwhile of course the war goes on inside Gaza the IDF is now in control of parts of northern Gaza after a series of overnight incursions limited incursions into Gaza and of course continuing airstrikes the IDF says it hit some 450 Hamas targets today well with me in the studio Abi Paz now is the former Israeli ambassador to France and Italy great to see you good to have you back and oh yes a hi is with us as well and or is the head of research at the IDSF the security forces we're going to first though leave because the families of some of the 222 hostages are gathered tonight remember that many children and elderly people are among them they've now been held by terrorists in Gaza for 23 days an unthinkable situation for anyone our own ultimate is down their own what's happening so Laura you'll be able to see all around me the tent set up here and the protesters and supporters and members of the families there are songs and by guitars there are prayers and there are wishes of course for the speedy return home of those 230 hostages and of course calls for the Israeli government to do more with us we have Yamit Keren who is a logistics coordinator of the tent here being set up across from the Israeli military headquarters in central Tel Aviv Yamit thanks so much for being with us you yourself are not from one of the 200 one of the families of the 230 hostages but nonetheless what brought you to get so involved in this protest movement basically to be here for the families anything that they need from the smallest to the largest they are completely traumatized right now and need our help with logistics with emotional support with just being here and saying you're not alone that's what brought me here are you satisfied by the response from the Israeli public to the tent camp to the protest here and to the issue of the hostages in general I think the Israeli public is all in here it's in every one of our hearts I think we go to sleep with it I think we wake up with it as you can see it's towards the afternoon and in the evening it fills up here there's another station on the other side by the Israeli public yes and what about the government how do you feel about the government's move so far in this issue of the hostages to be completely honest I don't know I feel disappointed until yesterday the most important thing I think didn't happen which was the connection and the communication between the government and the families yesterday Netanyahu did have a meeting with the families they need to be in close touch because the families were completely devastated on Thursday they said that the government was not in touch with them meaning they had no clue what was going on if there is some kind of deal being made they didn't know and in terms of the response abroad we've seen scenes in the United States in Europe as well of pro Hamas or pro Palestinian activists tearing down posters of the hostages when you see those pictures what do you feel first of all it's heartbreaking these are children they're babies there's literally a baby that's only a few months old children that are 2 and 3 years old are grandmothers Holocaust survivors I can't imagine why anyone would want to tear their posters down but on a larger scale it's very worrying because anyone is not sympathized with a victim that was kidnapped and taken hostage by Hamas knowing what they have done three weeks ago that just shows where a lot of people are as far as their mindset towards Jews and towards Israel maybe one last question for those around the world their supporters of Israel are more broadly the humanitarian cause of these hostages what's your message to them what should they be doing day in day out do you mean the humanitarian cause of the Palestinians or of the hostages we need to bring them home we need to bring them home these are not soldiers they're not 20 something girls they're not fighters that went in and were taken these are people that were taken out of their beds we need to bring them home they are not taking care of the least the least that they could do is have the Red Cross visit them to see that the babies have baby food to see that they really have their medicine they are dying every day because they don't have basic needs that they need the Red Cross has to step in to take care of them immediately Yameed thank you so much we want to see them brought home amen thank you so much so Laura there you have it from one of the activists here and again it's important to emphasize these are not only members of the families that you see around me these are also activists and supporters who have come out here on this fall evening in Tel Aviv in the center of the city across in the defense headquarters and ironically maybe you're coincidentally along Kaplan Street a street that just until about a month ago was known for something very different was known as the sinning in the setting for the protests against the government's proposed judicial overhaul that changed thank you very much indeed really heartbreaking scenes there Avipazna I just want to touch on what Yameed was talking about there we've seen really upsetting scenes haven't we from America but also in European cities of people tearing down posters of the hostages you worked and served a long time in these countries how do you get your head around that first of all I must say that Yameed really gave us a dark but very accurate picture of what's going on and it is heartbreaking for me not only that we have hostages but over the world that some people do not realize and do not sympathize and I can tell you that clearly part of it is a raw anti-Semitism because I'm not speaking now about Muslim or Arabs living in Europe or in America but for example I have seen in the United States young Jews go young Jews I don't even know they have a name it's a group of about 150 people young Jews they go they were in the senate demonstrating against Israel then they went to the underground and then they were at Washington Square and I cannot understand I really cannot understand there is a hole in the United States on the campuses there is a pro Hamas trend and it's hard for me to understand I spent years in America I don't understand what happened people tell me it's a cultural thing the woke culture a lot of peer pressure perhaps on the younger people peer pressure but I must say most of it and I'm sorry to say most of it when it comes from non-Jews it's anti-Jewish feelings which have surged you know that you are anti-Jew or even anti-Zionist today it's open and we have to sorry to interrupt you do you think the European governments people like President Macron have a handle on it do you think they have a I know that they are trying very hard you know that Macron for example has forbidden forbidden pro-Palestinian rallies because of the cause for Jihad and the unrest but I see for example in London 100,000 people demonstrated against Israel and I must say there is a discrepancy here between the attitude of the European governments who are friendly towards Israel who understand our struggle and part of the public opinion who is against us who is against us maybe because of the picture they see from Gaza those are difficult pictures they've forgotten already what happened three weeks ago some of them actively deny it of course I don't want to be too blunt here but let me just tell you there is in the book called by Jerry Muller the Jerry Muller's book he describes what the situation in the triangle in foreign countries the leader the Jewish community and the general public and the Jewish community always felt that if they are kind enough and if they are complacent enough then the third part the third corner of the triangle which is the general public would not blame them as a fifth column and we are seeing the results of these guilt feelings today manifesting in full display I think they need to ramp up their true feelings I don't think they represent the majority of the Jewish community but of the kind that arises nationalist and really Jewish feelings among these people to make them realize who they really are because I don't think they represent the majority of the Jewish community there but they are simply confused I think they are lost young people who are desperately trying to please maybe their comrades and their peers I don't think they represent the majority I think they are confused and lost and I think they need to be properly in order to actually know what's going on in Israel right now and that's really heartbreaking to see it but I think that there is a remedy to these things called Zionism make them all come here we've seen the angry protests on the streets of Arab capitals as well perhaps less surprising and I should also point out that there's been a protest today outside the Qatari embassy in London with people demanding the return of the hostages as well but let's talk a bit more about diplomacy in the Arab region and joining me to talk about the situation in Arab capitals as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on Dr. Naseer Al-Amari is a writer and a political commentator great to have you with us Naseer and let's start with Qatari shall we I mean if they don't get a result with regard to freeing the hostages because they position themselves don't they as a key negotiator between Hamas and the west do you think that in Washington let's reevaluate these ties with Doha what do they actually bring us Qatari is extremely important for the United States and we have seen the role that it played during the Ukraine war with its gas resources so it's hard for the United States to take a tough stance when it comes to its Gulf allies Qatari presents itself as a mediator they don't necessarily align openly with Hamas they always say we are talking to them we're facilitating aid to the Ghazans and they do play an important role in financing the Ghazan people I think that role should be continued however I think Al-Jazeera is a whole different story Al-Jazeera has adopted completely the Hamas viewpoint they have adopted a jihadi viewpoint you don't see the Israeli viewpoint and that is dangerous because that is not journalism they are widely watched and actually Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran rely heavily on Al-Jazeera to fuel the hatred which they think is the true weapon against Israel in the long run and a word on Egypt if you would of course Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel but in the last week Egypt has warned Israel it may limit diplomatic relations with Jerusalem how concerned should Israel be about the noises coming out of Cairo right now we know that they are in a difficult position they control the only other border with Gaza and what do you think about the messaging from Cairo okay Cairo has to walk on a tightrope like the Israelis and the Americans with the escalation of the war in Gaza and God forbid more civilians die or are killed in bigger numbers regimes like C.C. King of Jordan Muhammad bin Salman who actually represent the pro-peace block will be very embarrassed you have angry streets and Iran and Al-Jazeera and other media are fueling the idea that these are these regimes are actually pro-Israel and pro-America so there is a balancing act that I think Mr. Biden is trying to maintain but it gets very hard with more people dying we have seen demonstrations in Jordan and in Cairo so I think the bottom line for C.C. and King Abdullah is that if no Ghazans and no refugees are pushed into our countries then they will try to work with the U.S. and Israel to contain the situation mind you these Gulf countries C.C. King of Jordan they are no friends of Hamas they actually stand on the opposite side of the Iranian slash Hamas jihadi equation and they don't like what Hamas did they don't see it as a victory so they are on the U.S. side when it comes to how this is viewed however the escalation of death and destruction in Ghazan will definitely make C.C. and King Abdullah as we have seen escalate at least verbally but that can really change if God forbid more deaths keep occurring the way we have seen them do and let's talk about the Gulf states the Saudi defense minister is in Washington tonight there are also reports that Bahrain's foreign minister is in Ramallah meeting with the leaders of the Palestinian Authority and how do you see the way the Gulf states are positioning themselves in the conflict well I can see the obvious which is the U.S. Israeli strategy in the Middle East is faulty and it has really given Iran the upper hand when it comes to the messaging losing hearts of minds definitely has been an American trade over the last 20 years so Iran looks at this and they're happy to see this chaos and but I think that Gulf allies are trying to bring back a role for the United States where these regimes are not viewed as just followers of Israel and the United States when their brotherhoods are being killed and their homes destroyed so I think that the Gulf countries want to see a more assertive U.S. role talking about civilians and bringing for civilians because if this keeps escalating and if we're talking about a regional war make no mistake about it these regimes are threatened especially Jordan probably Egypt these regimes might actually be threatened by a wider role where Iran implements its long term strategy of having everybody shoot at Israel from all directions which I think not enough has been done to prevent. Thank you very much indeed Dr. Nessia Alamari Thank you If you'd like to react to that I mean when it comes to Egypt and the Gulf countries of course we are on the same side we want to defeat Hamas and they want to defeat the Muslim Brotherhood. Or is it because we know that Egypt has been harboring Hamas for years we know that Egypt has practically forced build up the Gaza Strip for years and President Nessia was at first very friendly to Israeli he acted to ramp up all the houses on the other side of the Rafah crossing and to actively prevent tunnels from delivering weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip but then things start to go wrong and we are seeing CC today basically refusing to accept refugees from Gaza and for the past several years not acting in order to mitigate the terror threat through the tunnels we are seeing interests in the Arab world for this to end but in order for Israel and the Arab world to get closer together we need to have a strong victory in Gaza if Israel shows weakness on the Gaza front it would be automatically in the Middle East it was based on the power principle translated into weakness. Avi do you agree with that and are you concerned about the long-term impact on Israel's relations that it has cultivated over decades with countries like Egypt, Jordan Egypt has its interest which has not changed as a result of what is going in Gaza it's true there are some tension now with Egypt especially because of the public opinion in Egypt who ask government why don't we do more for the Palestinian for example like why don't we let some in into Sinai or a question like that or when they see the scenes of the bombing in Gaza but Egypt has a strategic interest in maintaining the peace with Israel it's possible that they will do some diplomatic gesture very possible for example in the first Lebanese war in 1982 in the pre-history they withdrew their ambassador for two or three years we did not have an Egyptian ambassador here it was a charging affair it may happen but let's not forget limiting diplomatic gestures to show public opinion look we are doing something we are recalling our ambassador that can happen but this is the same Assisi who six years or seven years ago asked for the help of the Israeli Air Force in order to quell the Daesh ISIS in Sinai and it can happen again so I am from this point of view this is a peace that exists already 43-44 years it will continue because it is in the interest of Egypt there might be some limited diplomatic hard but in the long term you're confident about the relationship Egypt is a major recipient of US dollars absolutely they might have bigger problems let's talk a bit more about Qatar a country that certainly doesn't have economic problems it has positioned itself as the key to the hostage negotiations but Doha hosts the Hamas leadership at the same time it hosts the US largest military presence in the region how did this small resource rich country have in such a key position our Middle East correspondent Aril Osaran explains our target is to release all of the civilian hostages that's what we're working on and that's what we want to achieve three weeks after Hamas's deadly rampage in Israel which included the capture of 230 hostages Qatar has quickly emerged as the main mediator between Israel and Hamas if there is a continuing bombing if there is a continuing escalation in the situation that is getting more difficult the mediators need a period of calm needs a situation where we can speak easily to both parts and try to be more creative in bringing more initiatives that can get those civilians out since October 7th Qatar has been the address of various countries for help in releasing their citizens from Hamas captivity it has also been hosting the Hamas leadership prior to the war and since it began we will release them and the Al-Qasim Brigades announced that as well but now they are distributed in different locations let them stop this aggression and you will find the mediators like Qatar and some Arab countries like Egypt and others they will find the way to have them released and we will send them to their families so how did a small oil-rich country in the Persian Gulf become a large country in the Persian Gulf become the one that decides what happens in Gaza in recent years as Arab countries have been embattled with internal conflicts Qatar fashioned itself as the main financial supporter of the Gaza Strip we are here to assure the Palestinian people that were with you with the reconstruction in Gaza and with fulfilling the commitments made by the state of Qatar in previous international conferences billions of dollars entered Gaza each month with Israeli consent to fund humanitarian projects and to improve the economic situation in Gaza but much of that money found its way into the hands of Hamas that's no surprise given its closest regional allies are Iran and Turkey Qatar is playing here a double game on one hand its role in putting out fires in the region awarded with points from the Middle East to Washington Qatar considers Doha as a major non-Nado ally on the other hand it uses its influential Al Jazeera TV network to incite against Israel and Jews and to promote Hamas propaganda for the Qataris it's all about regional influence and it is currently positioned at the heart of hostage negotiation efforts whether that engagement is in good faith remains to be seen that's the situation in Qatar to bring you up to date with some of the diplomatic developments the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the French President Emmanuel Macron are both calling for urgent aid to flow into Gaza Norway meanwhile has criticised Israel and says its response to the Hamas attacks were disproportionate in the reaction Avi Pazna we should have gone in and cut the throat of 15 babies in Gaza then Norway would be very happy or we would have maybe to rape some women in Gaza and Norway would have said this is a proportionate response there is no such thing as a proportionate response to terrorism either you fight terrorism or you don't and of course Norway who has nice neighbours like Sweden and Finland has not fought a war for 500 years so they don't understand the situation then from Macron and Rishi Sunak what do you think they want urgent aid to get to Gaza I can understand when you see the images in Gaza there is a humanitarian problem which also Israel is aware of and this is like we allow the flow of food and medicine and water into Gaza I got to tell you both Macron and Sunak are in a very deep political turmoil right now they have internal pressure to say something about the Palestinians given their unequivocal support for Israel and I sort of understand that but let's not forget what Norway does here every time I am looking into the accounts and the animal reports of an NGO that is pro-Palestinian that propagates lies on Israel all around the world there you have the name of the Norwegian government you have Norway's name fingerprints all over the financing of these NGOs who are trashing Israel's name around the world who would really expect anyone to avoid these all of these