 Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where she is. Our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. News edition, I'm Benita Levine, coming to you live from Tel Aviv. Rocket fire into northern Israel, rocket fire into southern Israel, and red alert sirens as far south as Elat on day 39 of the war. A war that started on the 7th of October with the Hamas massacre in southern communities close to the Gaza border. The death toll from that day is at more than 1,200. Fighting continues in Gaza today. Israel saying Hamas has lost control of the northern Gaza Strip, with photographs like this one showing Israeli troops inside the Hamas Parliament building. A short while ago though, Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan disputing this, saying from Lebanon that the Al-Qasem Brigades is in control of the situation in Gaza. Earlier in the day, a rocket impact in the southern city of Ashkelon, two people likely injured, two treated for shock. The nation still waiting for word on the 239 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. Confirmation that one of the hostages, 19-year-old Corporal Noah Marchiano from the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps has been killed while being held by the terror group. Hamas has published a video which this channel is choosing not to show. Meanwhile, questions remain around the fate of those hostages still being held. A meeting is underway in Geneva. Israel's foreign minister and health minister are taking part. The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, reiterating earlier that they are doing everything in their power to gain access to the hostages. And now for more insight into all these latest developments, we welcome to studio retired Colonel Dr. Jacques Neria, former deputy head of assessment in the Israeli military intelligence and former foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Jacques, thank you as always for being here in studio. So we saw these dramatic photographs of Israeli troops, the Ghulani Brigade, inside Hamas sites, including the Hamas parliament inside Gaza. And yet, a dispute from Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official in Lebanon, he says, no, that's not what is happening. Hamas has not lost control. The Al-Qassim Brigade is in control. What do you make of this? Tell us more. Well, you know, the being in Beirut and eating shawarmas and medzas in Lebanon, you can say whatever you want. The reality on the ground is totally different. We know that because we are there. We see what's happening on the ground. We've been saying that a few days ago that the first cracks were seen in the wall. And now we see that the wall has just fallen in the Gaza area, in the Gaza city area. So we are talking about half of the Gaza Strip, which the Hamas has lost control of. He doesn't know where his units are. How many of them are still alive? How many are fighting? We see that from our experience that there are very few encounters with the Hamas terrorists. They are hiding all the time, and from time to time, they're getting out of their holds. And each time they get out of their holds, they get just trapped into fire, and they are killed on the spot. So I mean, we are, as you've seen, the pictures just illustrate more than anything what's happening in Gaza city. The whole governmental compound is now under Israeli control. The Antisya Hospital is under Israeli control. The Shifa Hospital has been evacuated, and most of it has been evacuated. We are on the way also to go and visit the underground to see what's going on there. So we are nearing the point of decision. What do we do next? Now, we have, in 17, 18 days, we have taken a first half of the Gaza Strip. So we look now southward towards Hanyunis, Dir el-Bala, Rafar. And in my opinion, it will take another 18 days or even a little bit more in order just to finish the job and for us to put our flag on the Rafar cross point between us and Egypt. Something we're going to look at in a short while. But first, you made mention of what is actually happening inside the Gaza Strip. There is new footage just in released by the IDF just a short while ago from Rancisi Hospital. It's showing the operation of the IDF special forces under the hospital, revealing arms, grenades, RPGs in the underground basement. Now we saw, of course, the images from Daniel Higari yesterday, also a baby's bottle underground as well. It's going to cycle, likely used to bring hostages back from southern Israel into Gaza. What do you make of all this evidence and what it means for the fighting on the ground right now? Well, you will not change the opinion of those who are against us. We even with this evidence, even with this evidence, it's all fabricated. This is something that is unreal. This is the Israelis have put that for us on a special movie scene. This is the idea that most of our enemies of those who do not like us will tell you. And then, oh, what have you seen there? Four rifles. This is the headquarters. This is what they will try to belittle the impact of the fact that under this hospital, there were headquarters that were dead of Hamas terrorists. And now we will see what's happening in Shifa. And we'll see in the Indonesian also hospital. We see in every place where Hamas has just exploited every centimeter in Gaza in order to put missiles, in order to dig booby trap tunnels and so on. So I think that we will be able to convince those who are convinced already. What is more important for us is to show that to the American administration. And I believe that the American administration will just accept our evidence. That evidence is on the screen right now as you are talking, Jacques. That is the evidence, the footage coming out of Rantisi. It is actually so difficult to understand. We're looking at images of weapons. We were looking at images earlier of a baby's bottle. We are looking at a chair with ropes at the bottom where it's very clear that something sinister to say the least was happening. Why is it so difficult for many in the international arena to accept the evidence that we are looking at on our screen right now? This is a tunnel underneath a hospital. Who keeps hostages in an underground hospital? Who keeps that? I mean, what kind of cruelty? What kind of barbarism there is here? You see that bottles of a baby? We know that there was a baby there. How did he behave? Did somebody, someone give him medical care or whatever? I mean, these are things that you think all over and you see from the scene that there was carnage there. Something happened, as you say, sinister. And I don't know what will be else, what we will see else. We saw this soldier who was interviewed alive and now she's dead. She's dead. And they accuse us instead. And we know from the footage that this is not the case. Definitely we are not going to talk about it, but this is definitely something of high cruelty that happened there. Cruelty beyond and something we're going to unpack in more detail in a short while right now. Let's find out what is happening on the ground. We go to our correspondent, Piaz Deckelbach. She joins us from Northern Israel. What update can you share right now, Piaz? What is the latest there, close to the Lebanon border? Well, Benita, the cross-border confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have continued throughout the day. The Israeli forces are saying in a statement that they, a short while ago, targeted a squad trying to launch an anti-tank missile towards the Kibbutz of Yiftah, also very close to the Israel-Lebanon border. This is the location where, more or less a week ago, one Israeli civilian was killed by one of those anti-tank missiles. Anti-tank missiles also launched towards other areas, really alongside the border. Mar-Gali-Ot, Metula on the very eastern part of the Israel-Lebanon border, in the upper Galilee region. But also, for example, Arab al-Aramshah, which is more towards the western side of the border. So you do see that both anti-tank missiles and also mortar shells are fired really alongside the border. Now also another event happening at noon today was that a suspicious object was shot down in the area of Acre above the sea, so no alert was triggered there. Acre is a city that is about 20 kilometers away from the Israel-Lebanon border. And you do see that these scummages continue. And this is what we've seen since basically the beginning of the war. So we are seeing first and foremost anti-tank missiles coming from southern Lebanon. We have been also seeing infiltration attempts and rockets. So today is just, if you can say, a regular day on the Israel-Lebanon border. You have to deal with anti-tank missiles and mortar fire. And the IDF is, as per protocol, striking back towards the origin of those launches in southern Lebanon there. And the scummages are continuing. We're here in the city of Kiryat-Mone, one of those cities that have been evacuated about five kilometers away from the Lebanese border. There are not a lot of people here. However, you oddly do see a bus line still running here in the city. You do see like one supermarket still being open. But this as well has turned into a ghost town. And so did many of those communities very close to the Israel-Lebanon border. Sad to think that this is what a regular day, as you describe it, entails. Pierre, in Lebanon, we've been talking about here in studio, Hamas, senior official Osama Hamdan saying earlier that the al-Qasim's brigades is in control of the situation in Gaza. That's after the defense minister here, Joav Galand, claimed Hamas had lost control of the Gaza Strip. Not to mention the photographs we've seen of Israeli troops at various sites there. What else is being said in Lebanon? What more can you tell us? Well, Beniz Osama Hamdan has every interest in trying to strengthen his brethren of Hamas in Gaza there. They have also been participating in the fighting from Southern Lebanon there, for example, launch rockets on the city of Nahriyah. And we do know that although they're not in charge, the shots are pretty much called by Hisballah. They're actively trying to engage in the fighting here at the northern border. Also, of course, saying that this is the way that they want to strengthen Gaza, the situation in Gaza, they have all over, especially Osama Hamdan, a member of the political bureau there in Southern Lebanon, have, of course, spoken against Israel. And of course, this new statement coming out of Southern Lebanon there now, defying that Hamas has lost control of Gaza is not surprising. And we've heard Osama Hamdan speaking on a quite regular basis about the developments there in Gaza, about Israel's practice in Gaza, about the war there. And this comes, of course, amid Hisballah and Lebanon also trying to get itself involved in the fighting here in the north. Correspondent P.S. Dekalbach, live from Northern Israel, thank you very much for that update. And as we're speaking to you, breaking news here in Tel Aviv, sirens are sounding right now, warning of incoming rocket fire coming from the Gaza Strip towards Tel Aviv, including here in Jaffa. Our newsroom is going to the shelters right now. Once again, rocket fire coming from the Gaza Strip towards Tel Aviv and central Israel. You can see in the glass behind us colleagues running to the shelter right now, they have in Tel Aviv around one and a half minutes to do so far less if you are closer to the border communities. And you're looking at images on your screens right now. Rocket alert sirens sounding in central Israel right now. This has become something that sadly, many across the country are getting all too used to and still with me in studio. Dr. Jacques Nria, retired colonel, former deputy head of assessment in the Israeli military intelligence and former foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Day 39 of the war, Jacques. And once again, rocket siren alerts sounding in central Israel right now. Well, if you compare it to the first day of the war, we are really at the low average of firing missiles towards Israel. It means that they are here the sound of the interceptions. We just heard the interceptions above us right now, above the studio. We can hear the Iron Dome missile defenses again intercepting incoming rocket fire. So I mean, I think that we are quite protected by the Iron Dome and other means we have. And I think that we shouldn't worry about the fact that they are still firing. They want to prove that they are alive. OK, so they fire from time to time to a still aviv once every two days, once a day. This is OK with us. We can cope with that as long as we advance on the ground. Jacques, stay with us right now. We're going to go straight to our correspondent, Zak Anders. He joins us from Central Israel. Siren sounding moments ago, Zak, what can you tell us? Well, Benita, I've been able to hear about three interceptions and this coming in kind of a surreal moment with the thunder and lightning that was heard throughout the day. And you're seeing the flashes from the lightning. And you're not sure if it's the interceptions or if it's the natural world. But there's no shelter here, so the folks, I'll step out of the frame so you can see had to run on the other side of the road to find some form of refuge in the drainage area. You can see some folks are still really taking this moment to try and find whatever protection they can in this area here. Of course, traffic is still moving. We're in a location where we're waiting for the hostage march. The people, the hostage families, have been marching from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to the prime minister's office. They were expected to be here in a few moments and we were going to bring that to you, but it does appear because of the red alert that came in, that they also took refuge and tried to find cover on the side of the road. Again, there's no shelters here. So we are still anticipating, as you can see, this is a large crowd anticipating the arrival of these families that are in route on a very long march that's going to take the next three days. Extraordinary images that we're looking at, Zack, because these are marches who are trying to highlight to the world the fact that there are 239 hostages still being held captive by Hamas terrorists inside Gaza. And as this demonstration is unfolding, as they take on this march to Jerusalem, siren sounding, and they are still standing there. Talk to us about the mood there, what people have been saying in recent moments. Well, you have to imagine what's going through their minds as they are so solely focused on their loved ones that are still in Gaza. This is a trek, a journey that not very many of us, I don't think could accomplish, could do with as much weight as already on their soldiers, the pain that they're experiencing. Perhaps that's what's driving them, making it possible for them to walk through the rain and the mud, it was soaked throughout, I'm sorry, sir, it was soaked throughout the day. Obviously a lot of people here have a lot to say. The family should be arriving soon any moment. The feeling for them, you can only wonder, you can only wonder as obviously they're very passionate about one thing and one thing, they're not only freeing their loved ones, they're going directly to the Prime Minister's office, of course, trying to bring that message. Correspondent Zach Anders from BetaGun Junction in Central Israel, you stay safe, thank you very much. We will be coming back to you, of course, for regular updates, stay safe, Zach. And still with me in studio, Dr. Jacques Nerea, these are extraordinary moments. Yes, I mean, they should be remembered as glorious moments of our society. We are standing steadfast and I think that nothing will make us, I mean, push away from what our goal is to free the hostages and of course to get rid of Hamas as a military and political power in Gaza. But let's turn, if I may, to the Northern border. Unlike the Southern border, the localities, the Israeli localities along the border are just on the obstacle, it means that they are cultivating the last square meter and facing the Hezbollah fighters there. I mean, the terrorists are just on the border and they are looking, I mean, you can see them and you can even talk to them. So I mean, this is a situation that Israel cannot accept and mostly, I mean, the 60,000 Israelis who left those localities will not return there if there's not, we don't find a way to secure them and to just take all the deployment of Hezbollah northward beyond the Litani as the Security Council Resolution 1701 just stipulates. So we are right now being under an initiative that Hezbollah has taken and taken and it's imposing on Israel a nutrition war and this Israel on the long run will not accept. As soon as we finish with the Southern border, then we'll have the time to deal with Hezbollah. Unless Hezbollah, seeing his ally crumbling and falling, he would just step up his measures and just enlarge his intervention, meaning that we would go with Hezbollah on a larger-scale confrontation even before we finish the job with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. If you're just joining us now, breaking news in recent moments, rockets sent from the Gaza Strip towards central Israel, siren sounding in Bat Yam in Tel Aviv and in other cities close to the center as well. We could hear from inside the studio the interceptions above us and my colleague, Zach Anders, also saying from where he was outside in central Israel, he too could hear the interceptions, the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepting rocket fire coming towards civilian areas. Still with me in studio, Jacques Nerea. We've been talking about what's happening in the South. We've been talking about what's happening up North to add fuel to the fire, so to speak. Iranian proxies in Yemen saying they are looking for Israeli ships to target. Give us some context. They have tried to access a lot, so to speak. What do you make of the latest threat? Well, you know, threatening the waterway, the international waterway of Babelmandib is not something very, very easy to do. Certainly when you have a fleet of countries that are in the area, Americans, British, Italians, I mean, there were all those who were at the facing the Somali coast are now on the Babelmandib. And certainly, let us remember that one of the islands there, the island of Perim, has been turned into an Emirate airbase. And so attacking us from the Houthi places, I think that this would be first very difficult to do. I mean, they will have to have very concrete information, intelligence about certain ships. And most of the ships that cross there are foreign ships or raising a foreign flag. So I think that time will come when we will have to decide how to react and how to deal with the Houthis. We cannot accept the fact that the Houthis fire on us, ballistic missiles with us only just intercepting them. They will be a price to pay. Certainly something we're watching because there are developments on so many fronts at the same time. A quick update for you. We are getting a report of an impact after that barrage of rockets that came from the Gaza Strip towards central Israel. We are hearing a report of an impact in Tel Aviv. And as soon as our news team has confirmed those details, we will bring it to you here on I-24 News. And that raises a very important point. One of my colleagues earlier on in the broadcast was talking about a regular day up north. And it's a sad regular day when we talk about rocket fire coming. People are used to going to shelters. And as you alluded to earlier, thanks to the Iron Dome missile defense system, for the most part, citizens are safe when that rocket fire comes through. But we're hearing reports of an impact. And there have been injuries, even in Ashkelon, earlier on on this day. Well, we cannot evade the fact that we are at all. Now, let us not forget we're not on a promenade here. OK, we are at full war with Hamas. And if you compare the first day of rockets and with what's happening today, on the first day, Hamas fired 3,000 rockets and missiles. And now we are here at a few missiles per day. So there is a progress. And the fact is that we are on the ground and our troops are advancing will mean that very soon there will be no firing at all. Let's hope that the day comes soon that there will be no firing at all. I want to talk about the reports around calls for some kind of ceasefire. Israel has said no ceasefire unless the hostages are released. The Red Cross is saying it's working to get access to the hostages, which quite frankly is quite alarming that it's more than five weeks in. And they're still working to get access to find out how the hostages being held right now are doing your take on what it means. Humanitarian pauses and a ceasefire. What does it mean for the fighting on the ground giving your intelligence background? Well, the troops on the ground must understand that there is no ceasefire. We are not talking about a ceasefire. We have a mission. And this mission has to be accomplished. Let the politicians and all those who are beyond us, beyond the terrain, decide what will be the fate of ceasefire or pause in the humanitarian pause, whatever. But the formula that has been formulated by the prime minister that there will be no ceasefire unless all hostages will be back, this is the right thing to do. And this is the right thing to impose on Hamas. I mean, there's nothing you can press Hamas with unless you tell them that the sword is getting very close to the neck. The whole nation is waiting for word on the hostages. We saw in that report earlier from Zach Anders that there are relatives walking all the way to Jerusalem to try and highlight their plight. The families of 239 hostages waiting for word. It's more than five weeks in. Let's take a listen to more from the demonstration earlier on in the day as relatives walk to the capital in the rain waiting for answers. Let's take a listen. We are determined to bring them home. We do everything necessary for this. Rain doesn't bother us. Come, come be with us. Just come and convey a message to the heads of state. We decide. We are the people who decide. We want the hostages now. Not in a minute, not in a week, but now. Enough. We are fed up. We want them now. I am a family also. We don't feel like we're in good hands. We don't feel like we get information within the darkness. We want answers. We want to know what happens. And besides that, I don't know what else to do. We have to do everything. Our government has to do everything to release them. Otherwise, we will be a mentally wounded country. It will not be no victory and no standstill. That's if we don't release them. Unimaginable pain and uncertainty, Jacques Neria. Well, we must remember that we are not dealing with a country. We are not dealing with a regular country. We are dealing with a psychopath. We are dealing with a psychopath, a guy who had a brain tumor. And since then, he's not normal. We are dealing with the head of the military wing of the Hamas, who is in his wheelchair. And we heard him only at the beginning of the war. We didn't hear the scene at all. I mean, they are all silent and very deep underground hiding. And treating with them is something that it's very difficult. Because remember, the first days we had all hostages with all Palestinians in Brazil. And then we got another proposal, 50 Americans. And then 10, and then 12. And now we're talking about 80. And who is guaranteed that this will happen? No one. But I, Colonel Dr. Jacques Neria, we always appreciate you being here. Devastating as the situation is, we wait to see how the situation unfolds. Thank you as always. And that's the wrap for now. I'm Benita Levine, in Tel Aviv. Stay tuned. Thank you for watching. A state of war, families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Breaking news edition. I'm Benita Levine, coming to you live from Tel Aviv. Rocket fire into northern Israel. Rocket fire into southern Israel. And red alert sirens as far south as Elat, on day 39 of the war. A war that started on the 7th of October with the Hamas massacre in southern communities close to the Gaza border. The death toll from that day is at more than 1,200. Fighting continues in Gaza today. Israel saying Hamas has lost control of the northern Gaza Strip, with photographs like this one showing Israeli troops inside the Hamas Parliament building. A short while ago, though, Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan disputing this, saying from Lebanon that the Al-Qasem Brigades is in control of the situation in Gaza. Earlier in the day, a rocket impact in the southern city of Ashkelon, two people likely injured, two treated for shock. The nation still waiting for word on the 239 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. Confirmation that one of the hostages, 19-year-old corporal Noah Marchiano from the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps has been killed while being held by the terror group. Hamas has published a video which this channel is choosing not to show. Meanwhile, questions remain around the fate of those hostages still being held. A meeting is underway in Geneva. Israel's foreign minister and health minister are taking part. The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross reiterating earlier that they are doing everything in their power to gain access to the hostages. And now, for more insight into all these latest developments, we welcome to studio retired colonel Dr. Jacques Neria, former deputy head of assessment in the Israeli military intelligence and former foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Jacques, thank you as always for being here in studio. So we saw these dramatic photographs of Israeli troops, the Golanni Brigade, inside Hamas sites, including the Hamas parliament inside Gaza. And yet, a dispute from Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official in Lebanon, he says, no, that's not what is happening. Hamas has not lost control. The Al-Qassim Brigade is in control. What do you make of this? Tell us more. Well, you know, being in Beirut and eating shawarmas and meds in Lebanon, you can say whatever you want. The reality on the ground is totally different. We know that because we are there. We see what's happening on the ground. We've been saying that a few days ago that the first cracks were seen in the wall. And now we see that the wall has just fallen in the Gaza area, in the Gaza city area. So we are talking about half of the Gaza strip, which the Hamas has lost control of. He doesn't know where his units are. How many of them are still alive? How many are fighting? We see that from our experience that there are very few encounters with the Hamas terrorists. They are hiding all the time. And from time to time, they're getting out of their holes. And each time they get out of their holes, they get just trapped into fire. And they are killed on the spot. So, I mean, we are, as you've seen, the pictures just illustrate more than anything what's happening in Gaza city. The whole governmental compound is now under Israeli control. The Antisya Hospital is under Israeli control. The Shifa Hospital has been evacuated. And most of it has been evacuated. And we are on the way also to go and visit the underground to see what's going on there. So we are nearing the point of decision. What do we do next? Now, we have, in 17, 18 days, we have taken the first half of the Gaza strip. So we look now southward toward Hanyounis, Dir el-Bala, Rafa. And in my opinion, it will take another 18 days or even a little bit more in order just to finish the job and for us to put our flag on the Rafa cross point between us and Egypt. Something we're going to look at in a short while. But first, you made mention of what is actually happening inside the Gaza strip. There is new footage just in released by the IDF just a short while ago from Rancisi Hospital. It's showing the operation of the IDF special forces under the hospital, revealing arms, grenades, RPGs in the underground basement. Now, we saw, of course, the images from Daniel Hagarri yesterday. Also, a baby's bottle underground as well. A motorcycle likely used to bring hostages back from southern Israel into Gaza. What do you make of all this evidence and what it means for the fighting on the ground right now? You will not change the opinion of those who are against us. Even with this evidence? Even with this evidence, it's all fabricated. This is something that is unreal. This is the Israelis have put that for us on a special movie scene. This is the idea that most of our enemies of those who do not like us will tell you. So I mean, oh, what have you seen there? Four rifles? This is the headquarters? This is what they will try to belittle the impact of the fact that under this hospital, there were headquarters that were dead of Hamas terrorists. And now we will see what's happening in Shifa. And we'll see in the Indonesian also hospital. We see in every place where Hamas has just exploited every centimeter in Gaza in order to put missiles, in order to dig booby trap tunnels, and so on. So I think that we will be able to convince those who are convinced already. What is more important for us is to show that to the American administration. And I believe that the American administration will just accept our evidence. That evidence is on the screen right now as you are talking, Jacques. That is the evidence, the footage coming out of Rantisi. It is actually so difficult to understand. We're looking at images of weapons. We were looking at images earlier of a baby's bottle. We are looking at a chair with ropes at the bottom, where it's very clear that something sinister, to say the least, was happening. Why is it so difficult for many in the international arena to accept the evidence that we are looking at on our screen right now? This is a tunnel underneath a hospital. Who keeps hostages in an underground hospital? Who keeps that? I mean, what kind of cruelty? What kind of barbarism there is there? You see that bottles of a baby? We know that there was a baby there. How did he behave? Did somebody, someone give him medical care, or whatever? I mean, these are things that you think all over. And you see from the scene that there was carnage there. Something happened, as you say, sinister. And I don't know what will be else, what we will see else. We saw this soldier who was interviewed alive. And now she's dead. She's dead. And now, they accuse who? They accuse us. Instead, I mean, and we know from the footage that this is not the case. Definitely, we are not going to talk about it, but this is definitely something of high cruelty that happened there. Cruelty beyond and something we're going to unpack in more detail in a short while right now. Let's find out what is happening on the ground. We go to our correspondent, Piers Deckelbach. She joins us from northern Israel. What update can you share right now, Piers? What is the latest there? Close to the Lebanon border. Well, Benita, the cross-border confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have continued throughout the day. The Israeli forces are saying in a statement that they, a short while ago, targeted a squad trying to launch an anti-tank missile towards the Kibbutz of Yiftah, also very close to the Israel-Lebanon border. This is the location where, more or less a week ago, one Israeli civilian was killed by one of those anti-tank missiles. Anti-tank missiles also launched towards other areas, really alongside the border. Margalliot, Metula on the very eastern part of the Israel-Lebanon border in the Upper Galilee region. But also, for example, Arab al-Aramshah, which is more towards the western side of the border. So you do see that both anti-tank missiles and also mortar shells are fired, really alongside the border. Now, also another event happening at noon today was that a suspicious object was shot down in the area of Acre above the sea. So no alert was triggered there. Acre city that is about 20 kilometers away from the Israel-Lebanon border. And you do see that these scummages continue. And this is what we've seen since basically the beginning of the war. So we are seeing first and foremost anti-tank missiles coming from southern Lebanon. We have been also seeing infiltration attempts on rockets. So today is just, if you can say, a regular day on the Israel-Lebanon border. You have to deal with anti-tank missiles and mortar fire. And the IDF is, as per protocol, striking back towards the origin of those launches in southern Lebanon there. And the scummages are continuing. We're here in the city of Kiryat-Shmonne, one of those cities that have been evacuated about five kilometers away from the Lebanese border. There are not a lot of people here. However, you oddly do see a bus line still running here in the city. You do see one supermarket still being open. But this, as well, has turned into a ghost town and so did many of those communities very close to the Israel-Lebanon border. Sad to think that this is what a regular day, as you describe it, entails. Pierre, in Lebanon, we've been talking about here in studio, Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan saying earlier that the Al-Kasim's Brigades is in control of the situation in Gaza. That's after the defense minister here, Joav Galand claimed Hamas had lost control of the Gaza Strip, not to mention the photographs we've seen of Israeli troops at various sites there. What else is being said in Lebanon? What more can you tell us? Well, Benidz Osama Hamdan has every interest in trying to strengthen his brethren of Hamas in Gaza there. They have also been participating in the fighting from Southern Lebanon there. For example, launch rockets on the city of Nahriyah. And we do know that although they're not in charge, the shots are pretty much called by Hezbollah. They're actively trying to engage in the fighting here at the northern border. Also, of course, saying that this is the way that they want to strengthen Gaza, the situation in Gaza, they have all over, especially Osama Hamdan, a member of the political bureau there in Southern Lebanon, have, of course, spoken against Israel. And of course, this new statement coming out of Southern Lebanon there now, defying that Hamas has lost control of Gaza is not surprising. And we've heard Osama Hamdan speaking on a quite regular basis about the developments there in Gaza, about Israel's practice in Gaza, about the war there. And this comes, of course, amid Hezbollah and Lebanon also trying to get itself involved in the fighting here in the north. Correspondent Peir Stechelbach, live from Northern Israel. Thank you very much for that update. And as we're speaking to you, breaking news here in Tel Aviv, sirens are sounding right now, warning of incoming rocket fire coming from the Gaza Strip towards Tel Aviv, including here in Jaffa. Our newsroom is going to the shelters right now. Once again, rocket fire coming from the Gaza Strip towards Tel Aviv and central Israel. You can see in the glass behind us colleagues running to the shelter right now. They have in Tel Aviv around one and a half minutes to do so far less if you are closer to the border communities. And you're looking at images on your screens right now, rocket alert sirens sounding in central Israel right now. This has become something that, sadly, many across the country are getting all too used to and still with me in studio. Dr. Jacques Neria, retired colonel, former deputy head of assessment in the Israeli military intelligence and former foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Day 39 of the war, Jacques, and once again, rocket siren alerts sounding in central Israel right now. Well, if you compare it to the first day of the war, we are really, I mean, at the low average of firing missiles towards Israel, it means that they are here, the sound of the interceptions. We just heard the interceptions above us right now, above the studio. We can hear the Iron Dome missile defense system again intercepting incoming rocket fire. Definitely. So, I mean, I think that we are quite protected by the Iron Dome and other means we have. And I think that we shouldn't worry about the fact that they are still firing. They want to prove that they are alive. Okay, so they fire from time to time towards Tel Aviv once every two days, once a day. This is okay with us, we can cope with that as long as we advance on the ground. Jacques, stay with us right now. We're going to go straight to our correspondent, Zach Anders. He joins us from Central Israel. Siren sounding moments ago, Zach, what can you tell us? Well, Benita, I've been able to hear about three interceptions and this coming in kind of a surreal moment with the thunder and lightning that was heard throughout the day and you're seeing the flashes from the lightning and you're not sure if it's the interceptions or if it's the natural world, but the folks, there's no shelter here. So the folks, I'll step out of the frame so you can see had to run on the other side of the road to find some form of refuge in the drainage area. You can see some folks are still really taking this moment to try and find whatever protection they can in this area here. Of course, traffic is still moving. We're in a location where we're waiting for the hostage march. The people, the hostage families have been marching from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to the prime minister's office. They were expected to be here in a few moments and we were gonna bring that to you, but it does appear because of the red alert that came in that they also took refuge and tried to find cover on the side of the road. Again, there's no shelters here. So we are still anticipating, as you can see, this is a large crowd anticipating the arrival of these families that are en route on a very long march that's going to take the next three days. Extraordinary images that we're looking at, Zach, because these are marches who are trying to highlight to the world the fact that there are 239 hostages still being held captive by Hamas terrorists inside Gaza and as this demonstration is unfolding, as they take on this march to Jerusalem, siren sounding, and they are still standing there. Talk to us about the mood there, what people have been saying in recent moments. Well, you have to imagine what's going through their minds as they are so solely focused on their loved ones that are still in Gaza. This is a trek, a journey that not very many of us, I don't think could accomplish, could do with as much weight as already on their soldiers, the pain that they're experiencing. Perhaps that's what's driving them, making it possible for them to walk through the rain and the mud, it was soaked throughout, I'm sorry, sir, it was soaked throughout the day. Obviously, a lot of people here have a lot to say. The family should be arriving soon any moment. The feeling for them, you can only wonder, you can only wonder as obviously they're very passionate about one thing and one thing only, they're freeing their loved ones, they're going directly to the Prime Minister's office, of course, trying to bring that message. Correspondent Zach Anders from Beta Gan Junction in Central Israel, you stay safe, thank you very much. We will be coming back to you, of course, for regular updates, stay safe, Zach. And still with me in studio, Dr. Jacques Neria, these are extraordinary moments. Yes, I mean, they should be remembered as glorious moments of our society. We are standing steadfast and I think that nothing will make us, will make us, I mean, push away from what our goal is to free the hostages and of course to get rid of Hamas as a military and political power in Gaza. But let's turn, if I may, to the Northern border. Unlike the Southern border, the localities, the Israeli localities along the border are just on the obstacle. It means that they are cultivating the last square meter and facing the Hezbollah, the fighters there. I mean, the terrorists are just on the border and they are looking, I mean, you can see them and you can even talk to them. So I mean, this is a situation that Israel cannot accept. And mostly, I mean, the 60,000 Israelis who left those localities will not return there if we don't find a way to secure them and to just take all the deployment of Hezbollah northward beyond the Litani as the Security Council Resolution 1701 just stipulates. So we are right now being under an initiative that Hezbollah has taken and taken and it's imposing on Israel a nutrition war. And this Israel on the long run will not accept. As soon as we finish with the Southern border, then we'll have the time to deal with Hezbollah unless Hezbollah, seeing his ally crumbling and falling, he would just step up his measures and just enlarge his intervention, meaning that we would go with Hezbollah on a larger-scale confrontation even before we finish the job with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. If you're just joining us now, breaking news in recent moments, rockets sent from the Gaza Strip towards central Israel, siren sounding in Bat Yam in Tel Aviv and in other cities close to the center as well. We could hear from inside the studio, the interceptions above us and my colleague, Zach Anders, also saying from where he was outside in central Israel, he too could hear the interceptions, the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepting rocket fire coming towards civilian areas. Still with me in studio, Jacques Nerea. We've been talking about what's happening in the South. We've been talking about what's happening up North to add fuel to the fire, so to speak. Iranian proxies in Yemen saying they are looking for Israeli ships to target. Give us some context. They have tried to access a lot, so to speak. What do you make of the latest threat? Well, you know, threatening the waterway, the international waterway of Babelmandib is not something very, very easy to do. Certainly when you have a fleet of countries that are in the area, Americans, British, Italians. I mean, there were all those who were at the facing the Somali coast are now on the Babelmandib. And certainly, let us remember that one of the islands there, the island of Perim, has been turned into an Emirate airbase. And so attacking us from the Houthi places, I think that this would be first very difficult to do. I mean, they will have to have very concrete information, intelligence about certain ships, and most of the ships that cross there are foreign ships or raising a foreign flag. So I think that time will come, time will come when we will have to decide how to react and how to how 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. The I-24 News channel broadcasting from Israel with dozens of correspondents throughout the world brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries. The country is completely done down in their beds. The border is separated by Israel, the state of emergency and war in Israel. Bringing Israel's story to the world. I-24 News channels, now on Hot. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. In a state of war, families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Come back to our special coverage of the war on Israel. It's the middle of the sixth week. About 240 Israeli hostages are still in Gaza. Fighting is still going on in Gaza. And the situation in Lebanon, Israeli border, is still very tense. I-24 News, Mary McCullough joins us now live from Sderot just a short while ago, Mary. Another rocket barrage on Tel Aviv, and they are wounded. That's right, Yoko, so one reported seriously injured in that rocket from shrapnel that fell in the area, the southern area of Tel Aviv, a male who's 20 years old, who's said to be in hospital now. There was also a woman who was lightly injured in that attack, but she was said to be treated on the scene. So right now this is an ongoing situation. Of course, we had rocket sirens ringing out throughout the day here. Many of those here in the Gaza border communities, at least 12 times rockets ringing out in these border communities today, and also an Ashkelon too lightly injured from rocket attack. So even as we see Israel's operation continuing inside Gaza Strip, Hamas, and other Palestinian groups still clearly have the capability to continue firing rockets, not just at these border communities, but reaching as far as Tel Aviv and central areas of Israel. Right, at this point, the IDF says that it has completed taking over the Shati refugee camp in Gaza as well. Thank you, Mary, for this report. We'll get back to you later. The IDF has found evidence that Israeli hostages, possibly babies as well, were held under a hospital in Gaza. My 24 years are around reports. We are now in the area of the basement of the hospital. I want to show you a room where we found all the gear, the operational gear of Hamas. Hamas is using hospitals, like we showed the evidence in Shifa Hospital, in other hospitals. We are now seeing it in life in Rantisi Hospital, a operation still conducting right now. As fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas edges deeper into the heart of Gaza City, hospitals have become a key focus of the IDF. The reason they're used by Hamas terrorists to hide weapons and possibly hold any of the 239 hostages kidnapped on October 7th. This kind of gear is a gear for a major fight. These are explosives. These are vests, vests with explosives. Yeah, it's a body vest for terrorists to explode on forces. Among hospitals, among patients, we have hand grenades, Kalachnikovs, and then we have the RPGs, people shooting RPGs from hospitals. This is Hamas. The booby-trapped hideout beneath the Rantisi Children's Hospital in northern Gaza is located near the home of a senior Hamas commander. It was uncovered by the IDF's Navy elite Shayat the 13 commando unit and the 401st Armored Brigade. As they raided the hospital, which was evacuated days earlier, they came in contact with Hamas fighters holed up in there. A woman, clothes, and a rope. A rope next to the legs. And look above this. Look above it. It's a baby bottle. It's a baby bottle in a basement. Above a World Health Organization sign. This is a suspicion for area where hostages were being held. A few feet away was a motorcycle believed to be used to transport hostages from Gaza into Israel on October 7th, as well as what appeared to be makeshift bathrooms, a kitchenette, and improvised ventilation pipes. In this room, there is a list. This list in Arabic, this list says we are in operation. The operation against Israel started in the 7th of October. This is a guardian list where every terrorist writes his name and every terrorist has his own shift guarding the people that were here. Meanwhile, amid growing criticism over Israel's fighting near hospitals, the IDF said it is coordinating with Shifa's management the transfer of incubators for newborns from an Israeli hospital to Gaza's biggest hospital and released a phone call with the manager. And so as the fighting continues and nears Gaza's hospitals, used by Hamas as their above-ground shields, Israel will continue to send in special forces, rather than airstrikes, to avoid hurting patients and also to uncover further evidence that can shed light on the situation of its hostages. With me in the studio here now is Col. Hamid Assa, former member of the Israeli Security Agency. Thank you very much for coming. You've seen this under the Rantisi hospital. What does it tell you about the rest of the hospitals in Gaza? As we know from previous, of course, at the beginning of the war, we had all the information about the places that the commanders are hiding and the tunnels and the bunkers that they are digging all over these years back. So we know that they are hiding down hospitals. They are placing shade for ammunition down schools and we can see now the evidence, but it's not surprising. And Shifa is just a symbol because Shifa is a big hospital inside the near Shafi camp, but it's just a symbol, every single hospital. And there is a lot of hospitals in Gaza area, in the city, and we have to handle every one of them. Rantisi is one of the hospitals that was evacuated, all the stuff from it so we can get in very easily now without any harming people inside as we think. Right, but Shifa is not yet evacuated and under Shifa, presumably, command and control of Hamas. And that has been like a game all these years. I mean, Israel used to bomb Hamas and Hamas targets in Gaza, never touch the hospitals. Hamas used the hospitals for all that and this is for the first time that Israel has said enough we're going in apparently. Yes, I think that it's all in the conception, the conception that we were into it and we have to wake up and also all the world have to wake up with it because we thought, as we can understand, that if we are giving them hope, if we are giving them support, if we are giving them health, it will leave the thorough thinking or ideology at the side, but it's not like that. And we know the ideology of the radical Islam is not intended to have money and wealth. It's not what they want. They have another ideas. This is about the hospitals now. IDF has taken over the parliament building there in Gaza and other symbols of power. What's the significance of that? I think that it's more moral for the Palestinian people. It's less important for others, but when Palestinians see that the IDF is inside the parliament, it's inside places that they know. It's the circle of the soldier in Gaza. It means for them, Gaza falling down. And this is more that we want to see when Palestinians will see that and then it will go over also the people downstairs, the tunnels. And it's more moral, of course, it's a symbol. But we have to understand and convey also the state of mind of Israelis and Israeli authorities and Israeli leadership. The Hamas will no longer exist in Gaza as a governing entity. This is gone. This is finished. Yes, I think this is the aim for this war and we will not get out from Gaza until it will be completed. And it's very clear now all over. It's not a matter of politics. Because the point will come when to stop, how to stop. We'll talk about that later maybe. There are quite a number of legal issues surrounding the war. And with us now is Eric Lisan, a legal analyst and former US federal prosecutor. Thank you very much for joining us. First of all, the hospitals. If a hospital uses itself as a shield for military operations and hosts militants, armed militants, does it become a legitimate target? It's when there's, especially whereas here, there's significant military activity and operations coming out of that area for which the hospital is being used, that itself becomes a war crime because under the applicable statutes and conventions and customary international law, there should be some efforts not to put civilians in harm's way to not use them as human shields as this in this matter. So it becomes a very complicated question as to how to respond to such a war crime. And then we have nowadays in modern terms this notion of proportionality. Does the value of the military target justify the risk to civilians that is posed by the operation? Knowing that in the absence of any military activity there, the hospital should be to all extents possible and reasonable a protected area. So this is the complicated balancing act that Israel has to navigate right now. Now, Israel and IDF are making efforts to move civilians out of the hospitals, move patients out of the hospitals. This is something that has its weight legally as well, right? That's to Israel's credit, obviously, that it's doing that. It's going to a certain extent above the bare minimum that is called for in these notions of the laws of armed conflict or international humanitarian law to do that. To provide humanitarian corridors is very important to allow the hospital to evacuate its patients is very hard. It's obviously something that should never be forced upon a hospital unless there's a situation like this that calls for it where the hospital is literally sitting on top of a command and control center. But in this case, the examination that is certainly going to take after the war that's going to take place regarding Israel's actions here does require a certain amount of explaining. And I think Israel is starting to do that, but it's in Israel's own interests in terms of even the International Court of Public Opinion to explain what the military objective here is and how Israel is trying to go about this in a reasonable and responsible way that doesn't unnecessarily put civilians in harm's way. It's unquestionably when you're dealing with a hospital, it's a very complicated situation. You've mentioned using civilians as human shields. We've seen a lot of this happening by Hamas in Gaza. This is clearly a war crime. Any time, whether it's a hospital or not, whether it's schools or other type of civilian infrastructure, using those as the surrounding environment for military operations, command and control centers, bases, launching sites, all of the things that we're seeing here, that is itself a war crime. It doesn't necessarily mean that all actions necessarily taken in response to that are therefore somehow immunized. It doesn't mean that, for example, the entirety of Gaza could be flattened without any consideration to the consequences of doing that. Again, we have notions of proportionality and notions of trying to tailor in some reasonable manner the military operations to the legitimate military objective. What about hijacking children, babies, civilians? I'm not talking about killing them, but hijacking. For example, the actions of October 7th by Hamas that initiated this conflict are clearly on several levels, violations of the most basic crimes of war, hostage taking, attacking civilians, not taking any measures at all to differentiate between civilians and armed combatants, not taking any care for the prisoners themselves. There are many very, very basic laws of conflict and war crimes that are involved there. Unquestionably, that's probably the easiest analysis from a legal point of view of all of the activities that have happened here. It's not necessarily, though, and one has to be careful. It's not something that then automatically justifies any type of response as a consequence of that. It doesn't mean that civilian... And I'm not saying that that's necessarily happening here, but the criticism is that civilian populations are being randomly targeted with no military value with the intent of simply wiping out civilians and holding them collectively responsible. That also would be problematic. If that, in fact, was happening, that also would be a violation of international humanitarian law. Eric Lisan, I thank you very much for that. Thank you for your legal perspective. Thank you. Back to you here in the studio, Amit. Israel apparently has a problem conveying those complexities, and the pictures are always stronger than words, and people around the world do not get it that the civilians are human shields, that there are operations under hospitals, and so on and so on. I think that when we are talking about a law or any kind of international law, it's because we want to be sure that we are not taking any measure against the law, but it's not affected the Palestinian itself, the Hamas inside the tunnels and the area, because this law is not affecting them at all. And anyhow, at the end of the war, nobody will be claimed for, because there will not be exist. So it's not important for our war against the Hamas, but as we can see and we can explain it in the international community, and it's important to explain it to the international community, we are doing the best that we can for saving innocent lives. But in that case, I have to say something that we have to be very careful with it, because when the Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza see this kind of activity, of our IDF, also speakers, that is explaining everything to the world, they are looking at it with another eye. They are looking at it like we are weak. They are not looking for saving lives, they are looking for us, and they see that we are weak. Again, we are holding the thought of humanitarian more than claiming war and doing effective war at the field. So we have to see what the Palestinians look like. What's the message? What is the message that we are passing to them? We are passing to them that we are weak. We are trying to explain ourselves more than we need when we are talking about the point of view of the Palestinian. That's part of Israel's policy over the years, an IDF policy, for their wars, that's it. Miss Vivian Silver, an Israeli-Canadian peace activist, thought to be taken captive from Be'eri kibbutz, confirmed killed by Hamas. She was 74. In 2020, I, 24 years, had a chance to speak to her about her activism. Take a listen. Women's wage peace was founded in the aftermath of the 2014 war in Gaza, a protective edge. It was the third war that we experienced in the period of five years. I am a resident of the area of what they call the Gaza envelope, kibbutz Be'eri. And it was one war too many in too short a time, which sparked responses from all over the country. Women got together, 20 women in a room and said, what can we do? And what came out of it was the movement, grassroots movement, that has grown to 50,000 members today in Israel. That's Vivian, and she was killed by Hamas. With us now is Amal Rehan, a friend and colleague of Vivian Silver. Thank you very much for joining us. Tell us, Amal, about Vivian, about your cooperation activities together. Yes. Vivian, she was a special woman. It's a very nice woman, and she's active in our organization, Women's Wage Peace. I know her since 2014. And today, it was a very difficult day for all of us. I don't believe it. We were together four days before, three of October. We were together. We met, we talked. And today, I don't believe Vivian, she's not here more. Very difficult. You know, we have known each other for nine years. So I have no words. It's very, very difficult. Especially because you both believed in peace, both of you. And yet this is what happened. What does it tell you? Where's the hope for peace? No. Vivian was a peaceful woman. She talked all the time about peace. And she made all the time peace. I am also, yeah. And we are a lot of women in Women's Wage Peace. You know, all the time we talk about the future. We want good future and normal future for all of us. And don't have the words. And I think that, you know, it can't talk because I don't believe it. It's still yet from the morning when, you know, I heard about it. It makes me really sad because I believe peace now. And I think we don't have any solution. Only peace. And we have to continue, yeah, in our way that to live and making peace. And this is her way also. We will continue. Talk about peace and make peace. Do it. I hope that this will come soon. I hope that, but nobody, he knows that now he knows what will happen. Only we have to pray for peace. And what can I say and to say to Vivian? I'm so sorry about what's happened with her. I'm so sad. It's very difficult. I know that it's very difficult for all of us today, especially today. And we have to continue. Talk about the peace. And we don't have other way. The solution only peace. Yeah, quite amazing that you still, you still believe. Thank you very much for that. You're welcome. You're welcome. I want to ask you, Amit, we have about a couple of minutes until the end of this part. Israel controls the northern part of Gaza. What's next? What about the southern part? We know that this part of Gaza Strip is just 20% of Gaza Strip till the south side in Rafa. We know that Hamas is holding positions in the south side. They are launching missiles from that area, not from the north anymore. So I think it's just the doctrine and the tactic of the IDF to cut the Gaza Strip for two or for a third and to make sure that Gaza city will be hold and then they will move actually to the south. But it's just a tactical. All Gaza Strip will have to wipe up. And sooner or later Israel will have to control the Egyptian-Gaza border, right? Yes, of course. I think that when we are talking about the future, the end of this war against Hamas in Gaza we have to think about who's going to go inside and control everything. I think that a lot of people are now speaking about it, the international community is speaking about it, the United States and the Egyptian will have to deal with it also. Okay, thank you very much. We'll take a short break and we'll be right back with more special coverage here on I-24 News. Eight of war families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where she is. Our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Terrorism. And we have responded present. In Paris on November 13th, as you mentioned, 130 young people were murdered. Welcome back to I-24 News special coverage. Let's go to the north now. I-24 News, Pierre Stechelbach is there live. To you, Pierre, what's happening? Right, well, Jacob, the cross-border confrontations between Israel and his Bala are continuing. We've seen several launches of anti-tank missiles really alongside the Israel-Lebanon border throughout the day. We're speaking about localities such as Margaliot and Metula, the very eastern part of the Upper Galilee area that have been targeted, but also Araper Aramche, which is more on the western part, shows that both motorists and anti-tank missiles are being launched from different locations in southern Lebanon towards different areas in northern Israel. Also earlier today, a suspicious object was intercepted above the skies of Acre, above the shores there without triggering any alarm that just really shows you how these scumishes between Israel and specifically his Bala in southern Lebanon are continuing. This is just a regular, regular events that you see, really the same events throughout the last weeks. We are speaking about first and foremost motor shots and anti-tank missiles that are being launched in the Israeli military, saying that earlier today they targeted one squad that was on its way to launch an anti-tank missile towards the Kibbutz of Yiftah. This is where more or less a week ago one Israeli civilian was killed from exactly an anti-tank missile. Now, the situation here is very volatile and very tense. We're here in the city of Kiryat Shmona, a city that has been evacuated because of the tense situation. We're about five kilometers away from the border. Earlier today, Benny Gantz has toured this area, Kiryat Shmona Metula, Benny Gantz, the leader of the National Unity Party, and also a member of the current war cabinet and a former defense minister. Benny Gantz said that we will not go back, the country will not go back to a situation that has been here at the 6th of October, of course referring to the reality here before the war and that they will restore security here. Of course, speaking to the security concerns of people who have been living here so close to the border, those who have been evacuated now, some of them we do know are fearful to come back here after the war because the threat that Hezbollah poses on the other side of the border, remember, it has been here before that current war started. I want to remind you of those tense that Hezbollah placed on the Israeli side of the border in summer. So these skirmishes, of course, this is a new level of escalation also in the wake of this new war, but the threat and the danger that Hezbollah poses very, very close to Israeli communities in northern Israel has been there before. And the residents here have been asking themselves for a long time when the Israeli military will actually refer to those and Benny Gantz now reassuring that they will get to them at one point without presenting a specific plan. Right. Just to reiterate, along the border, we have ghost towns basically. Dozens of thousands of Israelis have been evacuated. Nobody lives there by the border now. Right, Jacob, we are speaking about dozens of Israeli communities here that are in proximity of about five kilometers to the Lebanese border. Residents there were asked to evacuate. We are here in the city of Kiryat Shmona, a relatively big town, a town of about 20,000 residents that has been evacuated within the past two weeks. Yes, last week the residents, again, were asked to evacuate this area immediately. But just like in the south, you will always have residents, you will always have inhabitants here who decide to stay, who choose to stay in their communities because of their work. Many of them also work in agriculture along the Israel-Lebanon border, but the situation here is tense. It is dangerous. And also here in the city of Kiryat Shmona, it is a ghost town. And this is the situation also with many communities who are even closer to the Israel-Lebanon border. As I said, we're here about five kilometers away from it. But we're speaking about also communities that are as close as two kilometers, that are still coming under constant fire from anti-tank missiles that is very dangerous to be there. So civilians have evacuated the area and many of them, without really knowing when they will be able to come back. And this is something that people have to deal with. And this is also something that Benny Gantz tried to address today, saying that we will not go back to a situation like it was before. But there is no real plan in terms of how this area is going to look like after this war and how the threat is going to be addressed after. And so far, people have left these areas without knowing if and when they will be able to come back here. Right. Yeah, thank you very much for that live at the northern border of Israel with Lebanon. Back in May, Hezbollah rehearsed an assault on northern Israel, including storming the border fence, almost exactly as what happened in Gaza a few months later. Is this the next plan? Middle East correspondent Ariello Saran has more. Hamas's October 7th onslaught on southern Israel caught the country completely by surprise. Well, maybe not entirely, since the idea had been preparing for such a scenario, just not from Gaza. In fact, we had known about it for years. I say to the fighters of the Islamic resistance, be prepared for the day when war is imposed on Lebanon and the leadership of the resistance may ask you to conquer the Galilee. The elite commando force tasked with this mission, the Radoan unit, named after the late leader of Hezbollah's military wing, Imad Murnia, nicknamed Hajr Radoan, and with 5,000 highly trained fighters, the main mission of the Radoan unit is to infiltrate into Israeli territory and conquer towns or bases in the Galilee. The Radoan force is considered Hezbollah's most elite unit. It is well-trained in urban and guerrilla warfare, given its extensive experience in fighting terrorism in Syria. Back in 2014, Lebanon's pro-Hezbollah el-Mayadeen TV station aired a breakdown of Radoan's attack strategy, copied almost exactly by Hamas last month in its rampage in the south. It begins with a massive opening rocket barrage. Then the elite forces five battalions storm the border, each designated with taking control over a different area of Israel's north. The goal? To seize the territory for as long as possible, while killing as many Israelis, soldiers and civilians as they can. And following Hamas' success, Hezbollah's escalating cross-border attacks, including striking the border and creating gaps along the fence, has Israel concerned. Hezbollah is dragging Lebanon into a war. That might happen. It is making mistakes. And who makes these mistakes here? Those who will pay the price are first and foremost, Lebanon's citizens. What we are doing in Gaza, we can do in Beirut. The reason for these threats is their high level of concern regarding what is happening on the Lebanese front and its development in terms of quantity, quality and depth. Of course, we will continue in this position and this performance. Pay attention to what's happening on the ground, not what we are saying, Nasrallah suggested in the speech and the situation on the ground is indeed slowly but gradually escalating. Here in the studio we have now Israeli Minister, Ofira Kunis of the ruling Likud party. Thank you very much for coming. Thank you for hosting me. Let's talk about the north, about Hezbollah. It wasn't acceptable back in Gaza. It seems unacceptable over there in the north. What's the plan? First of all, it's unacceptable. We will defend our people. I just came from Naari. I visited in Naari yesterday. I heard our citizens and I heard the mayor and his deputy and they are saying very, I can say to you, that they want us to act. But as you know, now we are dealing with the Gaza Strip, with the Hamas in Gaza. First of all, we are defending our people around the border and near the border. Naari is something like 8 to 9 kilometers from the border and others. We will do it and we will continue to defend them. But now we are dealing with Gaza. This is the goal of the government, of the cabinet and we are doing it and we will continue to do it, Yakov, until we defeat the evil and this is the evil. And then move to the north to deal with this problem? First of all, we will defeat them in the south and then you can ask me again to come and we'll talk about the north specifically. Let's talk about Gaza. Is Israel going to attack under the Shifa hospital, maybe other hospitals in Gaza? I will tell you, Shifa and the other hospitals, actually underground, it's not an hospital. You know, I came from Rambam Hospital and there is underground hospital. In Gaza, it's not the same situation. Actually, it's the headquarters of the terror, the headquarters of Hamas. And you saw the pictures yesterday that were brought by the IDF spokesman in Shifa, other places, the Indonesian hospital and the others. I will not talk about specific items and specific details, but we will do whatever is necessary to defeat the Hamas, including their leadership. And most of their leadership are underground, underground, underground. So what are the efforts in order to move patients out of the hospital of civilians? If it depends on Israel, of course, we will do it. You know that the problem is not Israel and they're not the IDF forces. The problem is Hamas. You saw the pictures, they don't want them to move from the north side of the north part of Gaza to the south part of Gaza. And they don't want us to actually to save the innocent civilians in Gaza Strip. We will do it. Is Israel still determined to act under the hospital? I don't want to, as I said, I don't want to be specific about the operation, but if we want to actually to destroy Hamas, and this is the goal of the war, we will do whatever is necessary to do it. Let's listen to President Biden's from just a few minutes ago talking about the hostages and possibly a deal. Okay. Yes, I can. I've been talking with people involved every single day. I believe it's going to happen, but I don't want to get into detail. What's your message for the families? Hang in there, we're coming. So the president says he believes there might be a deal. Of course, no commitments. How do you see that? You heard the president. I think that he said that he don't want to talk about specific details. We can quote him, and I want to tell you something. First of all, we are doing a lot of effort to what you called in Euro, you know, you called it a deal. Okay, let's say that it will be a deal. The Americans involved in others, and I want to show you something, actually, to Yuriyakov and to the audience around the world and to you as well. I visited the Yakova family two days ago in Ganiyavne, and you can see here, yeah, Yagil, this is his name. He's not. He will be actually 13 years old in the end of November, and he's actually supposed to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah. We want that he will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah here in Israel, in his home with his friends, and we are doing everything that we can that he will be until the end of the month in his home with his friends in the Bar Mitzvah celebration with his family and with the others, of course. And as you know, there's a lot of other hostages in the Gaza Strip. It says they don't let him spend the winter in activity. I agree. So until the end of November, it's still autumn, as you know. We want them to be until the end of the month. We want them to be here tomorrow. And I heard President Biden. It seems that he is optimistic, and I want to be optimistic as well with your permission. Let's hope so. Yeah, of course. You're a political person, so I want to ask you a political question. Do you think Prime Minister Netanyahu and Likud Party will stay in power after this? I don't think that it's a question to these days. I will tell you why. We're in the middle of the war. There is no opposition. There is no coalition. I'm a Likud member, but I'm an Israeli citizen. I'm an Israeli minister. I'm not dealing with political issues. I think that we'll have the time to deal with it, of course. But right after that, we'll defeat the evil. Now, we are fighting the evil. It's not just Hamas organization. I can't accept it. It's not. They did worse things than the Nazis did in the Second World War. You know, you saw the pictures from Bairi. I visited in Bairi a few days after, and in Kvaza as well. And it's the end of Akim. We will defeat them. Then, please, if you want me, I'll come here, and I'll answer all the political answers. But still, why does Prime Minister Netanyahu not take any responsibility? Do you think he's responsible? It's our responsibility. It's all of us. It's the government. It's the cabinet. It's the IDF. It's the others. All of us. All of us. And I think that, and I said it, by the way, in the first day of the war, this is our responsibility because we are in power as a government. And even though I'm not a cabinet member, I think that it's all of us, all the ministers. And as I said, the IDF as well, the Shabbat, you know it from close, the Shabbat as well, all of us, all the leadership of the Israeli state of Israel. And we will give you all the answers to all the difficult questions. I have to tell you, it will be difficult questions. We'll do it. Not now. Now it's a war. We must win the war. And I want to tell you something. We will win it. After the war, of course. Minister Ofira Kunis, thank you very much. Thank you so much. Thank you. With us now is Shadi Khalul from Alma Research Center. Thank you very much for joining us. Thank you, Yaakov. I'm going to talk to you about what's happening with Hezbollah in the north also. Now, what are the chances that the UN decision, the famous one, 1701, ever be implemented over there? Well, 1701 resolution by UN resolution, actually, was supposed to be implemented a long time ago. Unfortunately, this was implemented only for maybe a very, very short limited of time. And Hezbollah breached this resolution. And they have been building up their force in the border before this war actually started. We anticipated actually this attack of October 7, that it will happen in the north first. And we expected that Alma Research and Education Center that we would have a war in September with Hezbollah actually by somehow attacking us in different ways. And including this scenario that we saw in the south. Now, if you ask me about Hezbollah implementing this 1701 resolution without any pressure from international community and from Lebanese people themselves and Israeli government, this will not happen by itself. It should have an action from our side in order to make this happen. And we will see what our leadership will do for implementing this resolution. Stay with me, Shadi. Back to you here in the studio. This is not going to happen by itself, as he says. If at all, how can you impose this on Hezbollah? Look, again, about Hezbollah is very important. And also, I want to say something about what the minister said. When we see Hezbollah, we have to understand that Nasrallah will not do anything without any permission. And order directly from Iran. So who is controlling this event is Iran. Of course, Hamas did something against their plans because Iran was planning to do all the event and control it. And as we can see, Hezbollah will not do anything to push IDF to the red line now. So at the end, something will happen. Because as we can see, the minister and also Gantz that was in the north today, Israel will not confide any Hezbollah on the lines anymore. They will be inside Lebanon. And we have to be sure that we are pushing them there. So it will be some kind of act of action now or later as we can know. And another thing that I want to be aware of is that what we see here, what we hear here, they are listening. They are listening for what we are saying all the time in Hezbollah and in the north and the Shia and Iran. Everything that we will say, every argument that will be between us in that time is giving them the impression that we are weak. So we have to be careful that they will understand that we are determined to end this action. That's the difference within democracies and others democracies. You have arguments there. Yes, of course, but they hear us and they are listening very carefully for what's happening here. And it affects them to act or not to act. Shadi, I want to get back to you. You said something interesting about the Hezbollah actually planning to attack before. That was in the works. So if that's true, maybe it's going to come sometimes in the future. Alon Yaakov, Alon, I can tell you that we are in the Alma Research and Education Centre. We are focusing on the northern fronts and Israel's security challenges in the northern front. We have been taking delegations on the border with MPs from the European Parliament and congressmen and journalists from all over the world coming to visit us and taking them to the border in Zareed and Stoula and all the northern front up till Mitoula. We saw Hezbollah building up its force and its power in the border. The guards are there. The terrorists are in the border. We saw the videos. It's not like a secret anymore. We saw it every day happening and we were in the border every day and we see the changes daily. So we anticipated in our research department that the war will come in September 2023 and we were actually missing it by maybe seven days. It came in October 7th, but surprisingly from the south it started and then it moved north. We are actually at low-scale war now. We cannot say we are not at war with Lebanon or with Hezbollah, sorry. We are at war. The question is if we are going to full-scale war and if Hezbollah, if we will move the security zone back to the north inside of the border and not south part of the border. What we have now, the situation and the reality that we created a security zone inside Israeli lands and not inside their lands. That's a funny thing that we are now evacuated our citizens. We created a security zone inside our territories and not inside their territories and this is something that need to be changed. This is something that we need to deal with after maybe a few days or a few weeks but we need to eliminate this threat. Otherwise we are in a very dangerous situation. We will not allow having another September 7th here in the northern front. And Iran is leading. I agree. Everything here is managing everything. We are fighting Iran. Hezbollah is Iran and Iran is Hezbollah in this front and it's not only this front. It's unification front. It's here. It's in Syria and it is in other fronts that all extend all the way to Iran. Right. Amit here is nodding in agreement to what he said about the zone being inside Israel now but I want to ask you, Shadi after what's happening in Gaza and very powerful images coming out of there. Does that make any impact on Hezbollah, on Nasrallah? It makes impact. Of course it makes impact. Nasrallah knows that he will be affected but at the end he care less about Lebanon and the state of Lebanon. I can tell you that Hezbollah their final aim is to control Lebanon and change its system and political system and control it. They see themselves as the largest sect in Lebanon as 50% are Shia in Lebanon today and when Lebanon was founded to remind you all it was founded based on Maronite Christian Aramaic request of having independent state in this as called Lebanese state and the Muslims which is Shia and so they didn't want this state from advance to be created. So Hezbollah now feel as the strongest party and the strongest force in Lebanon to impose themselves on Lebanese people and control the Lebanese state and change the political system. So if a war will make this happen finally in the last stage of this control of Lebanon they will do it not because of helping Palestinians but because of their own interest and Iranian interest that to extend the caliphate or the Islamic Revolution state from Iran all the way to the Mediterranean what we call the Persian Empire back then but under a cover of Islamic Shia cover. Yeah, big plan. Amit, there's a sentiment in Israel that the paradigm should be shifted and changed. Now that must include Lebanon and Hezbollah otherwise you haven't done much. Yes, we know that the threat is there. The only, in my opinion the only reason that Hezbollah is not getting over this red line is the threat of the American troops against Iran and Iran is holding just because of that. The minute the area, the region will be calmed down, American will be out, we will see the Hezbollah getting in from the north as Hamas got in the south. So we have to eliminate it now when we're prepared, it's not a surprise for us. Yeah, but the Americans don't want it. The Americans have warned Israel not to do it. It's not that kind of a warning and actually at the end in my opinion Israel has to do what we need to do not because anybody in the world will say that it's good for us. Shadi, we have a minute to go. Is a war in the north between Israel Hezbollah inevitable? Unfortunately, I don't know what to hope if to prevent war or to have war because in both cases I am here having a very bad scenario. If I don't go to war, then our citizens will be threatened to have another October 7th and larger than that here in the north. And if I go to war we will also have a damage on our communities in the north but I know that we can eliminate this threat and maybe after eliminating it we might have peace or type of peace with the Lebanese different government or different people that will take control of Lebanon and not Hezbollah. We need to do this work and it doesn't matter what American think let me remind you in the 70s and 80s Americans thought that we should not eliminate maybe or go to Lebanon and fight Palestinian jihadist Fatah party that did a Fatah land in south Lebanon. At the end we did what is good for Israel and for the interest of Israel to protect our northern communities and citizens. So that's what I expect Israeli leadership to do and eliminate this threat so we can continue to prosper in this region and have maybe peace afterward with Arab countries. Maybe. Shadi, thank you very much for that and Amit also to you. Thank you very much for coming. This is the top of the hour soon. We'll take a break and we'll be right back with more special coverage here on I-24 News.