 Made For Me, a unique concept in Israel. Custom made men's fashion to your measurements. Made For Me, designer of all your events. Schedule your appointment at www.madeforme.co.il. Made For Me, official dresser of I-24 News. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back, you're watching I-24 News coming to you live from Tel Aviv on this day 26 of Israel's war with Hamas. Israel's Defense Minister, Joav Galant says the IDF is making immense achievements as it continues its ground operation in the Gaza Strip. And we are waiting to hear from the Defense Minister who'll be speaking, giving a press conference shortly. But first, let's go to Southern Israel. Our Jonathan Regev is there with the very latest. Jonathan. Yes, and the ground operation is continuing. We're hearing the artillery pounding here from the city of Zderot all the time. The ground operation is on, and I think the main objective of the Israeli army as we're seeing it is to cut the Gaza Strip into two. The Gaza Strip is a narrow place, meaning that if the IDF is in two and a half or three kilometers into Gaza, there's not a lot of distance to go until they reach the sea, until they reach the beach, just south of Gaza City itself and perhaps able to cut the Gaza Strip to two. Is that the objective of the army? We don't know exactly, but it seems, judging by the movements on the ground, it seems as if this is the direction. Meanwhile, rockets continue to be fired from Gaza. We had a barrage earlier this evening, didn't we, Jonathan? Yes, and I think we should not expect the rockets to end altogether. There's still Ability Hamas saved maybe about half of its arsenal, perhaps a bit less for this stage for the ground operation, firing even to places as far as central Israel. That ability will eventually go down as Israel goes deeper and deeper into Gaza, but will Israel be able to reach every rocket in every location? I'm not sure. All right, Jonathan, thank you very much indeed. Jonathan Regev there, and just a reminder, we're waiting for the Defence Minister, Yoav Galan. He's due to give an update on the situation later. He said earlier today that Israel was making immense achievements as it continues its offensive into Gaza. Well, joining us in the studio, Amir Oren is the Defence and Government Commentator. Great to have you with us. Thank you, Laura. Your thoughts on the offensive so far? Well, when one plans a war, even if it's not the proactive plan, Israel was attacked, Israel had to recuperate and strike back. Nevertheless, when one goes on a campaign, one has to know the end state. And what Jonathan Regev just described may be one of the end states, and that is cutting, dismembering the Gaza Strip first from the sea to the border. Then perhaps along the border itself, a security belt of a kilometer or two up to the urban area, and then up north, just south of the border in the Arez on the Tiva Sara area. In addition to that, an end state must consider the fate of the Hamas leadership and obviously of the kidnapped, the abducted. So when you take all of these considerations, both the territorial and the organizational and the abducted, you mix them and you see how it fits in with the air and ground maneuver. And just to point out why Israel feels it's necessary to completely destroy Hamas, we can take a listen now to Ghazi Hamad. He's a member of Hamas's political bureau. He's talking to a Lebanese TV channel. This is a clip that's been shared widely, including by the British Foreign Minister, James Cleveley. So just take a quick listen to this. We have secrets, we have decisions, and we have opportunities to fight and fight, but as I told you, we're paying the price of our lives. We're the martyrs' people, and we're proud to offer them. We don't want the Hamas to be in the city and we don't want them to be punished. But there are times when there have been conflicts in the area. There was a region there, and there was an occupation there, and there was a city there. It's not easy. At the time, it was about 40 kilometers. To end the conflict. No, I'm talking about all the Palestinian lands. All the Palestinian lands, that is, Israel? Yes, of course. The existence of Israel is not logical. The existence of Israel is the result of all the pain, and the pain, and the tears, and the blood. Israel isn't us. We're the life of the occupation, the last point. That's why no one knows what we're going to do. In October 7th, October 10th, in a million October, we're the Lebanese who are being justified. All right, then some of the Hamas leadership being pretty clear-cut about what their aims are. It's not a two-state solution. That's for sure they want, and they seek. Yeah, it's a perfect reflection of the Hamas total Islamist ideology. Hamas does not recognize Israel, does not even recognize the Palestinian Authority and the Oslo process. It is not as if there is any room for compromise with the likes of Hamas as distinct from the Palestinian Authority, where there is a territorial dispute and a dispute regarding the nature of the future demilitarized Palestinian state. However, what one can surmise from the speech we heard right now is that Gaza itself, as a base for operations, is not essential for Hamas. Hamas wants to take over the West Bank and Israel, if it can survive in Gaza, fine. If not, it will go elsewhere and transform itself into another incarnation and work from there, which is why Israel must at least evict it from Gaza so that the south of Israel, the Negev, can coexist with whatever is west of it. OK, we're talking about a post Hamas-Gaza then, because that is Israel's goal. There are reports, this is in Bloomberg, that the US and Israel are exploring options of several possibilities, including a multinational force that would take power in Gaza. Your thoughts on that? Well, Secretary of State Blinken referred to it regarding the interim arrangement until such time that what he called a revitalized Palestinian authority, and that is, in effect, a Palestinian state, is able to take over. Now, a multinational force will only come over if there is almost no chance of terror attacks, because what happened in Lebanon in 1982, 83, was that at first the American and French peacekeepers were welcomed very warmly, but then they were the victims of horrific suicide bombings, and no government is going to send its Marines or soldiers into harm's way. The territory will have to be cleansed of all terror cells first. All right, OK, well, I think we can bring in our senior US correspondent now, Mike Wagenheim. Just talking about this potential idea that they could be a multinational force in Gaza post-Khamas, one that American troops could possibly take part in. I mean, is there any appetite for that in the United States? No, I don't think there seems to be. And in fact, the Biden administration has already come out and said there are no plans to add American troops on the ground in Gaza post-Khamas and with a reelection campaign coming up, especially with all the political implications that this particular conflict brings to President Biden, that Republicans can throw back at him. There really doesn't seem to be any appetite for sending more troops into the Middle East, especially in such an unclear circumstance with no definitive timeline going forward. This is a problem without a clear solution at this point. Israel does not want the UN's involvement in any way, shape, or form. It only really leads to bad things when the UN gets involved in this particular region, according to Israel. In terms of maybe the Abraham Accords countries coming on board and contributing in some form or fashion, that would seem to be the most logical solution. But again, those particular countries, while they may open up their pocketbooks in terms of having some governance responsibility and seeing things go sour from there, repercussions as well for those particular countries. This needs to be thought out more clearly and, as Israel has said, probably more toward the back end of any type of victory over Hamas before it really becomes clear what the implications are for future governance of that particular enclave. All right, stay with us, Mike. There's a paradox here because the only time such a solution is favorable is when the US contingent is not needed at all. The multinational force and observers in the Sinai, for instance. Israel and Egypt do not need it. And the Pentagon has several times decided to cut it, but there was congressional and other political pressure not to do it. But in fact, they are not needed there because the two parties cooperate fully. When there is resistance on the ground, this is where they might be needed. But for domestic political reasons, in Washington, as Mike explained, they are not going to be sent. Mike, I mean, we've seen unprecedented support, of course, from the Biden administration from Israel. I know that the president is feeling some heat from certain sections of his party when it comes to supporting Israel. As we see reports of Israeli airstrikes causing civilian casualties in Gaza, is that support wavering at all? Party from the Arab-American population. These are according to Arab-American commission polls. So take them for what you will in terms of credibility. But it's certainly with some of the more independent-minded constituencies. Yes, Biden has taken a hit. The presidential election is still a long, long time away. It seems like we're talking about it every day. That's the nature of the news cycle. But it's still a long time away as we get toward further deep into this conflict. And the Biden administration maybe starts making more asks and possibly more demands of the Netanyahu government in terms of humanitarian aid into Gaza, in terms of reconstruction commitments. We may see those polls turn, but I'm not sure how much emphasis and how much focus the Biden admin is really turning to any one or two particular polls at this point in time. I think it's more about trying to calm overall tensions rather than focusing in on this constituency or that constituency. Keep in mind, Biden's not supporting Israel to win over any votes. I think he understands that the same Jews that were going to vote for him are going to vote for him, regardless going forward. And the same Jews that were opposed to him for reasons related to Israel or otherwise are not going to support him. I don't think this was a political maneuver for Biden to go essentially all out on Israel. I think this is really what he, it's a cliche, but what he felt in his kishkas was the right thing to do. And what about public support for military aids and congressional support indeed for financial and military aid to Israel? It's a tough road to hoe and the Republicans have made it so. And I think the Democrats are ready to play hardball here essentially until the Republicans listen. If you guys are the most pro-Israel party out there as you claim to be, why are there all these strings that are now attached to this bill that's being floated by House Republicans now that's being poisoned by IRS defunding and other poison pills? Democrats are saying this is a no-go. We all can agree here, Democrats and Republicans, to send this emergency aid to Israel, it shouldn't be tied down with any other commitments, any other political implications here. So what was a straightforward emergency aid measurement now takes on many complications here. The White House said they will veto it. Democrats say they're not gonna vote for it. So there's going to be a lot of negotiation here back and forth between Democrats and Republicans. By the way, within the Republican Party as well between the House and the more moderate Senate as to how to move forward here with this emergency aid to Israel. Mike, thank you very much. Mike Wagenheim there in New York. I mean, or anyone else? Hamas is a headache for Biden. But just imagine if he does manage to get some fantastic deal here and gets the Nobel Peace Prize just before the elections and shows that at 81, as he will be, he's still capable of being the leading actor on the world stage, it will be a plus. Yeah, could be a political upside for President Biden. But as Mike Wagenheim said, I think he's doing it because he knows what is right. All right, let's find out what's going on in the north of Israel now because Israel has been for three weeks now engaged in clashes that is northern border with the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah. Our Robert Swift is up in the north. Rob, what's the latest? So the skirmishes that we've seen almost every day, every evening, I've continued today. Almost four hours ago, there was an exchange of fire around the Israeli community of Shdula which is right on the border with Lebanon with the Lebanese village just immediately across from it. This was a combined mortar and anti-tank attack with the Israeli military responding using tank fire to take out the Hezbollah anti-tank team that was moving in and using an Israeli aircraft to fire upon the mortar team. Now, this is not the first time that we've seen anti-tank attacks in this location due to the geography of that particular community. Anti-tank attacks have taken place here and increasingly we're starting to see these being combined arms attack. If in the early days of the war the attacks were being made by teams sneaking close to the border and then launching anti-tank missiles across them, we're now in the last few days seeing an increase in the use of anti-tank teams backed up by mortars as we saw in this instance. And of course, there could be a turning point tomorrow, Rob. The Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is due to give a speech, isn't he? Yes, indeed, everybody's waiting to see what he has to say. You know, there's a lot of talk about how Hezbollah is essentially a proxy of Iran, but it's worth bearing in mind that each of these groups, whilst they may be an allied group to the Iranian government, they may be influenced through money by them, they are also their own actors. And there's a lot of discussion in some of the Lebanese press that the main person who will decide whether or not Hezbollah answers to war is Nisral himself. So for that reason, a lot of people are interested to hear the tone that he will set in that speech, particularly now that ground operations have, you know, gone into full effect in Gaza. Some people speculated that this could be a specific threshold that Hezbollah was waiting for to decide if they would enter the fray or not. And so for that reason, that speech is seen as important. All right, Rob, thank you very much indeed, Robert Swift there. Well, dozens of Hamas terrorists were captured alive on October 7th. And since then, Israeli interrogators have been trying to get as much information as possible from them about the Hamas leadership in Gaza and about the atrocities they committed on that day as well. More in this report. You were in the room for eight months? Yes, for eight months. Okay, Mark. When you entered, what was the situation of your education? We were. We were a group that was after us. We were after you. I mean... We didn't care about the murder. We didn't care about the murder. What do you guys want to kill? Do you kill each one of them? Yes, I kill each one of them. And he comes after us. There's no difference between going back to the black market and killing each one of them. Why did you kill each one of them? What happened to you? I don't know they wanted to kill each one of them. They were shooting each other on the wall. And there were no bullets. And you killed each one. And they also shot at the freedom? No, they didn't. You killed each one. You killed each one. Yes. Previousyu, what did you do? I killed Gaza. And Gaza is the only important part of it? I killed Gaza. And after Gaza, what were your plans? We're all going to the right path. We're going to the right path. I see. So you're saying that the main point was the Kfar Azar. Tell me from the time we arrived at the Kfar Azar. Yes. What happened? We arrived at the Kfar Azar. We had a mission, but we couldn't do anything. We were in a situation. We were in the jeep. We arrived at the Kfar Azar and the cars were going to get off. The mission was in the middle of the rain. We opened the silks that we had in the Kfar Azar. We opened the gondolas to the rest of the people. There were people who were in the jeep. Then we left and went there. We didn't go home. We didn't know what was going on. There was Hamza Al-Zawal, the guy who was in the car. He was in a car. He was in a car and then he got out of the jeep with his two brothers and lived with him. He saw the guy and Hamza and he ran to the car. We went to the second door and headed towards the front door. We cut our glass and we ran on top of it. We climb onto the car and we didn't see anyone. I was in the middle of the room and I was in the middle of the room. I was in the third door and I was in the third door. What happened to him? It was very loud in the house. How loud? I don't know. How loud? I didn't see anything. It was very loud. There was blood in front of me. We went back inside? Yes, we went inside. We went inside and closed the house. We played the music as if nothing was heard. We were standing in the house for an hour and a half. We opened the door, we sat there for an hour and a half. we found him at his house, his relatives. we saw him there, he saw his relatives then we called him and i saw him in the closet, he didn't look up, i saw his face he saw his relatives and said hi to him he said to me, i'm in the kitchen All right, the Israeli Defense Minister is speaking now. He knows how difficult it is. He also knows the wish to storm, to fight, to win, and to hit the enemy for those who fell and for the sake of those who are still alive, for the sake of the people of Israel and the State of Israel. We are advancing according to the plans. The Hamas is being dealt harsh blows. More than 10,000 bombs were hit the Gaza City. Thousands of targets were eliminated. Thousands of terrorists were eradicated from the lower echelons to the top ones. The war is advancing according to the targets. In every place, the soldiers describe what they see. Terrorists who come out of the underground tunnels, buildings, hospitals, and the schools, they see everything. Gaza is a base of terror and evil. One of the systems that we really hit with the Hamas was the anti-tank system. We hit most of the commanders of this system. Yesterday, we deviated the commander of the anti-tanks system, and we should not stop until we reach all of them. All the terrorists in all ranks, we are determined to win. The enemy has only two possibilities, either to die or to surrender without any conditions. There's no third choice. The arena of the war is expanded. We are in an attack in the Gaza Strip, but we also defend in the north, and we're ready in additional arenas in Judea, in Samaria, the West Bank, vis-à-vis the Syrian arena, and also further away, targets. We are not interested in an additional war, however, we are ready in the northern border. The forces of IDF are ready with strong defense. The Air Force is ready for every mission. I am in close contact with the ministers of defense all over the world. They call me, they talk to me, and I speak to them on a daily basis. Also with my friend, the Secretary of Defense of the United States, General Austin. From him and others, I hear what you and I know. We are in the front of the free world, vis-à-vis a world of darkness and evil. We must prevail. I call upon the families of thousands of combatants who are within the borders of the city of Gaza. I know you're worried, and I know that this is a very difficult time, and you are in tension. And this feeling, personally, I strengthen you and I support you. I also call upon the families of the abducted, and I say, we did not forget. We are determined to bring the hostages back home. I meet the forces in the field. I visit the bases, and I hear the feeling and the strength and power of the soldiers of the IDF and the Shabbat people. I see how determined they are to obtain the target, to storm, to fight, and to bring about achievements. I rely on them. I want to say here, specifically, I have a very strong sense of safety, of security. My trust in the chief of staff, Halevi, who does his job with incredible professionality and determination and a lot of courage and good sense. Thank you. Questions? Mr. Minister, recently, unfortunately, also the Houthis from Yemen are attacking us. Israel did not react. Are we planning to do so? We know the data. We will know what to do. Leo Kenan from Channel 13. Mr. Minister, what is the opposition regarding the transfer of the tax payments to the Palestinians as demanded by America? The state of Israel has an interest in stability in Judea and Samaria. Always and definitely at this time, we should transfer and transfer immediately these monies so that they will serve the operational mechanism of the PA and also the forces of the Palestinian Authority who assist, according to their considerations, to prevent terror and mass events. I think we should abide by the cabinet decision as it was made a few days ago. Channel 1312, do you expect another escalation towards the speech of Nassrallah in the north? And is the complete destruction of a Hamas still a target? We are ready with a strong defense in the north. The air force is ready to any mission. We don't have an interest in a war, but we will know how to act with the force if we need to. As for the targets of the war, they have not changed at all. According to the recommendations I made to the security forces and was accepted by the cabinet, we're advancing. It's not going to be short. It's not going to be easy, but we shall prevail. Channel 11, does Hamas use children as a human shield? And also we see people, we see ambulances coming out of the Gaza Strip. Don't they have some commanders there inside or senior Hamas people? Hamas is a murderous organization. They will do anything. They'll use anything they have. I don't have to describe to people in Israel what happened to children, to women, and to elderly people by the Hamas. And therefore, nothing is imaginable or something that cannot happen. This is Hamas. This is ISIS of Gaza. And when I said it to General Austin, he said to me, they're even worse than ISIS. Because I fought ISIS. He said for six years, it's not the same as what the Hamas did. As for the exit from the Gaza Strip, these things are coordinated together with the Egyptians. There's a checkup on the border in the south. And I think all in all, it's going the way it should. The entrance to Gaza started three weeks after the beginning of the war. Do you think it harmed our legitimacy in the world? Maybe now the legitimacy is dwindling. In the war, the main target is to win. All the rest are secondary things. The ground operation started when the conditions were ready, the physical conditions, that had to do with artillery and the air force, also the readiness of the forces, and also the timing that we needed and other things as well. But I think we have no other choice. This is no choice war. We must win this war, no matter the price, no matter the time it takes. And even if some people don't like it or some nations in the world don't like it, we continue until we defeat the organization called Hamas. The first attack of the Houthis against the southern part of Israel and Eilat was thwarted by the Americans. The anti-aircraft ship came only today. Is that a surprise or did Israel know that there's such an attack expected? As I said, we know the situation. We are acting against this threat for the moment just by defense from the sea and also by air and by land together and in collaboration and we'll know what to do. Did you have a pre-knowledge or information? I don't relate to contents or to information or anything else. Is it clear that you are dealing with the hostages and what about the fuel going into Gaza? First of all, of course, we deal with everything that has to do with the hostages and the MIAs. Every morning when I value the situation, Nitzan Alon and Gal Hirsch are sitting there, those in charge of their hostages. And this effort is happening according to the cabinet decision, together with the defense of other places, also the humanitarian aid and also other important issues that we are synchronizing on my desk in the security system. Any additional effort is welcome. Every process is inside this framework. And eventually it's all taken into consideration by the chief of staff and myself and the cabinet. And I think that things are working in a very organized way regarding the monies to the PA. Is it the right thing to transfer these money? And we know in the past that some of these monies were transferred to the terror organization, to their activities, and especially in a day like this, where Abu Mazen, the head of the PA, said that the Palestinian people were not brandish a white flag. I think I gave the answer. In the war, my main request is winning, victory, whatever helps, victory we have to do. All the rest will deal with when the time comes. Just in case Hezbollah starts a war in Lebanon, do you think we are going to attack in Iran? I suggest we look at the things in a very educated manner. I think Hezbollah is the third. They see exactly what's happening in Gaza. They don't want to turn Beirut into Gaza. All the rest is self-evident. Thank you very much. All right, the Israeli defense minister there, Yav Galant. He says that Israel has made significant progress in its fights against Hamas. More than 10,000 munitions have been dropped, thousands of targets hit, and thousands of terrorists eliminated. That's what the defense minister Yav Galant had to say there. Amir Oren is with us in the studio. What did you make of defense? A relatively moderate version of the Israeli government platform. Galant does not promise too much. He evades the question regarding the war aim of totally eliminating, eradicating Hamas. Obviously, he wants to defeat the organization, but he does not repeat earlier promises to totally do away with Hamas, leaving some space for a diplomatic solution where Hamas will no longer be there. It's a pep talk. He is like a coach in mid-game. Do you think it's a realistic objective to destroy Hamas? Now, Hamas does not necessarily need Gaza in order to survive. It can go elsewhere, because Gaza is the least of its wishes. He wants to take over the Palestinian authority in the West Bank. If he can do it out of a launching pad called Gaza, fine. If not, it will go elsewhere, try to transform itself, and leave to fight another day. We don't see Sinjar and Dev and all the others who are talking about the sweetness of being a Shahid sacrificing themselves. So they are eventually going to have a rational decision-making process. If it's the survival of the organization at stake, they will accept some sort of a compromise and get out of Gaza and promise themselves under adherence that they are able to find another base out of which to fight Israel. You think that Israel would accept that? It depends on American pressure. The United States is funding the war on Israel's part. The United States is giving Israel the ammunition and munitions Israel desperately needs. And Israel cannot say no to a friend such as President Biden. All right. We've had comments as well in the last hour from the Israeli Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen. He says that the Red Cross must visit the hostages in Gaza. He says the Red Cross has no right to exist otherwise. And it's 26 days now, and all of those families are yet to have even a proof of life of their lives. Well, you know, it's, of course, the right to wish. But not more than that, Hamas is not going to give away its best card in the game. And neither did Syria after the Yom Kippur War. They all know how Israel values its citizens' lives, its soldiers' lives, that it is willing to pay even for a visit by a doctor, be it Red Cross or anyone else. So this is going to be left for the latter parts of the game, for the end game. All right. Thanks, Hamir. OK, well, let's talk about Iran, because Iran has campaigned relentlessly against a normalization accord between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Many observers see the massacres of October 7 as Iran's way of blocking normalization. But as our senior diplomatic correspondent, Owen Altiman, says Saudi Arabia still has good reason to want to normalize ties with Israel. And Saudi officials are confirming that. Take a listen. It was only six weeks ago. Only six weeks ago when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strode the stage at the United Nations General Assembly. And Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sat for the cameras and touted the promise of normalization and the reason why ties are a must. But I believe that we are at the cusp of an even more dramatic breakthrough, an historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. We hope that it will reach a place, that it will ease the life of the Palestinians and get Israel back as a player Middle East. There, bin Salman and Fox News Channel's special report. The Middle East has changed, of course, feelings toward Israel are now out in the open, fully. And war is not the time for peace. But a steady stream of indicators points in one direction. On the day after, Riyadh wants normalization done because much has not changed. Before 7th of October, a lot of de-escalation have happened, which brought a lot of hope for the region. And we don't want the recent events to derail that. So we are making a lot of efforts with our partners. Saudi Arabia still would want to defense pact with the United States and still would want to pursue its vision 2030 to the end. That vision has Saudi Arabia pivoting from an inward-looking religious hotbed to an outward-looking liberalized power. The outside world will be skeptical. Mohammed bin Salman needs to convince it, to show he's serious, to show he's really serious. There is a path to take. And it leads through Israel. Well, to talk more about that, we're joined now by Abdallah al-Janaid, Bahrain economist and geopolitical analyst. Great to see you, Abdallah. Also with us, Flora Hassan Nahom is the deputy mayor of Jerusalem and the co-founder of the UAE Israel Business Council and commentator Amir Oran is with us in the studio as well. So Abdallah has Iran failed in its campaign to derail the normalization process between Israel and Saudi Arabia. To start with, Laura, happy birthday. Thank you so much. You told you. Thank you, Abdallah. And let's hope that your next is going to be a different world for all of us. Let's hope so, inshallah. OK, I'm having a problem with the sound. There's a lot of echo. Ah, can we fix that? Is that better for you, Abdallah? Can you hear us? I'm hearing the studio. OK. Abdallah, hang tight. We'll try and fix that for you. Let me bring in Flora. Flora, can you hear us? Yes, I can. OK, Flora. So I'll ask you the question. Has Iran failed in its bid to derail closer ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia? Look, they've given it a good shot. But I think that what, in fact, was the catalyst for the Abraham Accords, apart from thinking together as a region for the future of our children of prosperity and peace. But we face the same threat. Iran is a threat to Saudi Arabia. Iran is a threat to the UAE and to Bahrain and to any normal country in the region that want, as an agenda, the advancement and the peace and the prosperity of the country and not fundamentalism, radicalism, and taking us back 500 years, as we know, in the Gulf. At least the UAE and Bahrain have done great work in pulling out and pushing out the Muslim Brotherhood from amongst them many, many years ago. They've also moved forward and taken out incitement of Israel from their curriculum. Saudi Arabia did it two years ago. Now, there's a pattern here, and the pattern is that they've realized that the region has split into two and they want to be on the side of good and not on the side of radicalism and destruction. And so in that sense, this is a failure for Iran, but they've given it a good shot. We have a lot of the Arab street, which is still very sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. What I try to tell people is, if you're sympathetic to the Palestinians, the last thing you want for them is Hamas to be their rulers in Gaza. Abdullah, I hope you're back with us. Can you hear me? Thank you, Flo. So, Abdullah, would you agree with that? I mean, Saudi Arabia said, didn't it, the part of the reason it wants closer ties with Israel is to improve the lives of Palestinians. It would appear at this stage they're holding steady to that pledge. We've been there. We discussed this. Definitely the Saudi position hasn't changed and will definitely, I assume, and I don't assume, I believe strongly that Saudi Arabia will push forward with regard to seeing a closer relation with Israel leading to the bilateral recognition. But again, what we need to understand is one thing. It's not just what is needed on the part of the Saudis. Also, we need to look into what is needed on the part of the Israelis. The Israelis need as well to make steps like what we heard just a few minutes ago from your minister of defense, Golan, when he was asked about releasing funds to the EFBA. He said we should because they are our partners and countering certain aspects of stability within the WISPAC. Again, what we also need to see while we have, as Flora said, while we have eradicated Islamic fundamental, let's say, current within our societies, unfortunately, we're seeing the growth of nationalistic far-right wing in Israel. Now, I'll tell you very frankly, it is a worrying factor. We're gonna continue developing relations with Israel for the mutual benefit of the region as people. But you need to fix your politics as well. Okay, thanks, Amir, and I'll put that to you. Can Israel restrain its far-right? It's Newtonian physics 101. For every action, there is a reaction when Netanyahu boasted that the Palestinians do not have a veto over the larger regional process. Some Palestinians, namely Hamas, came out with murderous weapons. Now, if one wants to help the moderates, as you have Golan just indicated, one can also, at the same time, hit the extremists. But this is not Netanyahu's plan. Netanyahu doesn't want to compromise with the Palestinian Authority. He wants to bypass them. And as we just heard from the Gulf, this will not do. And the U.S. administration will not let Netanyahu do it. What we heard from Golan was really a taunt at Betales Motrich, the finance minister. And the Israeli electorate must decide whether it is for a Motrich or for a leader left of Golan than definitely left of Netanyahu. Flo, would you like to come in there? I mean, there is an accusation, a suggestion that the hard-right in Israel has suppressed moderate Palestinian voices. And we need those Palestinian voices now to rebuild after Hamas has destroyed. I don't fully agree because the pay-to-slay policy that has been led by the Palestinian Authority Fatah, basically paying a life pensions to people who kill Jews, did not come about in the last year of this government. It's been there for decades. The indoctrination of the educational system in the Palestinian Authority, which actually Hamas considers it good enough for their school system as well, has been there, was an Oslo commitment to stop the incitement, to stop the Jew hatred, to stop the obsession with martyrdom. That hasn't been taken out of the curriculum. It's got nothing to do with this current government. So let not paint a rosy picture to the things that were going on before. This is the French Gaza War. The other four happened with the previous government and the one before that. So let's not paint a rosy picture of what was here before. What we've had here is the complacency of the entire world funding, also the Palestinian Authority, with this toxic educational system and pay-to-slay, and the entire world funding Hamas knowing full well that they were taking the money and building an underground terror network rather than building schools for their children. So let's not pretend that that wasn't going on for years already. All right, Abdullah, the hard-right government was a reaction to the reality on the ground in some ways. And I think it's interesting to note also that the UAE and also, I believe Saudi Arabia, they have worked to remove references to anti-Semitism in their schoolbooks. They clearly believe that is something important. Do you think that that has been a long-term problem on the Palestinian side? Let me get back to one point of what Flora said. No, I'm not trying to paint a rosy picture or give up solution to the PA from any responsibility. I believe all of us collectively are need to believe that we can change. But Flora, since you have dissected the whole scene so intelligently, why didn't you pick on the point where Netanyahu have facilitated and carried money directly to Hamas? Since 2019 until today. Where does that fit? Isn't it? Absolutely, I agree with you. I agree with you, that was the wrong policy. All right, one at a time, Abdullah, finish your point. No, no, why did you drop that point? Flora, would you like to... I'm dropping the point. I believe that the world has funded Hamas to create what the region... Abdullah, one moment, if you would, if you please, Abdullah, one moment, let Flora respond. I agree with Abdullah, that Israel has aided and abetted the irresponsibility of what the world has done with Hamas. We've helped, absolutely, Abdullah. I agree with you. I'm not taking any responsibility. But what I'm saying is that it's not the government of the last year that has caused this immense reaction. This has been building up Iran in the background as the puppet master for many, many years. They've been trying in attack of this scale for 11 years. Amir Aran, if you'd like to come in there. And what about the 16 years of Netanyahu's rule? Well... I don't see how that has anything to do with Hamas arming themselves. It was in 2005, Israel left Gaza's strip. And you don't see that how marginalized the PA because of Netanyahu's policies. It makes no difference. The Israel has had the same policy in terms of the PA for the last 20 years. It's the same policy. Ultimately, in the Gaza Strip... One other time if you please. Flare, finish your point and then Abdullah, you pick up. He left the Gaza Strip in 2005. And Abdullah, the Gaza Strip could be Dubai, could be Manema, and instead they turned it into Beirut. That is also the fault of Netanyahu's government. Abdullah. Well, what do you think? Who said, was it me who was saying this now? Or was it Netanyahu, through the leaked videos and statement when he said we have to make sure to secure finances and the stability of all the control of Hamas over Gaza? While at the same time, marginalized the PA. Was it me? Was it Hamas? Or was it us when you said certain finances was coming to Hamas? None of us in the region have contributed a penny to Hamas. All the money was carried through by suitcases, through the Shimpate and Mossad. Go back to Cohen, a previous Mossad director. He apologized for making, for, you know, Netanyahu implicating the Mossad and being partner and financing or carrying the finances. You need to start with yourself. Don't push the blame on somebody else. I'm pushing the blame on somebody else. I think Israel understands that we had the wrong policy for Hamas. The money was not coming from Israel. It was coming from Qatar, but that's another story. And the point is that this horrible incident has everybody woken up to the fact that we can't keep paying protection money to Hamas who keep them quiet. That was the wrong policy. I agree with you, but I don't think that it's this government or two years ago's government or four years ago's government that are responsible for the incitement and is responsible for the building of the terrorist infrastructure. Let's, everybody should look in the mirror. We agree with you, Abdullah. Everybody should look in the mirror. No, this is a typical political... All right, well, Abdullah, I think the point, I think, sorry to interrupt, I think the point that Florey is trying to make is that Israelis have suffered from terrorist attacks for decades, not just over the past few years and prior to the Netanyahu government as well. I agree, but we need to change the realities. To change the realities, we need to engage each other. We need to sit candidly and put framework to achieve something. Well, you wanted to ask me why the Saudi Arabia Defense Secretary is in Riyadh. Why Blinken is coming on Friday. I personally, I believe he's carrying back certain messages from Saudi Arabia related to the bilateral relation between you and the Saudis to the Gaza, three Yemen. And Israel better start listening. If you want partners, you need to share in the blame and work with us as partners as well to find solutions. Okay, Abdullah, let me bring in Amir Oran. Thank you, Abdullah. It's ironic that 60 years after Israel covertly helped Saudi Arabia when the Yemenites had their own rebellion, Flosi, front for the liberation of South Yemen, Abdul Kawi Makawi, forgotten names when Israel airdropped supplies to the royalists and then now we are coming full circle. Israel will hit back at the Houthis and we'll probably, we will see MBS smile at it. Now, there is no perfect solution. When Israel resisted a compromise, a great deal with King Hussein of Jordan, it got the PA. If it is not going to have a deal with the PA, it will have Hamas to contend with. It is time to get to a realistic two state solution and progress from there to the relationship with Saudi Arabia and not vice versa. All right, Fleur, if you'd like to come back in there, whatever happens, Fleur, at the end of this, we in Israel and those in the Gulf do share a common enemy now and we do have to work together. Well, we've always shared a common enemy and that's one of the reasons why the Abrahamic cause came to be and I agree with Abdullah. I think Israel has a lot of hard questions to face itself, but I again reiterate that we're only going to have peace when the Palestinian leadership stopped lying to their people telling them constantly that one day we're going to kick out all the Jews, throw them to the sea and get the whole thing back. If they can be realistic, if they can put down their arms, then we can really sit down and talk about potential solutions until that happens until they stop training their children but the best thing they can do with their lives is become suicide bombers and die as Shafiids then we have a big problem. It doesn't matter what government is in power. We're going to face this. Abdullah, are you denying the Palestinians' agency? I believe strongly what we need again. I agree with Fleur. We need, if we have to make a change, we need as well work on the narrative and if Laura was paying attention to what Dr. Ali Naimi said yesterday with everything is going on, he said, first of all, the Abrahamic Accords are here to stay and Israel is here to stay and we're going to fix this. This is what need to be done. At the same time, if we're going to make the PA accountable, let's start by demanding, first of all, a real and serious fixing of its working and we need as well to provide the certain support and governance over its finances. It's not going to be spent or diverted to private accounts in certain countries and if we have to, I believe all of us collectively need to go after those money pieces that belong to the Palestinian leadership and bring, you know, it's misappropriated. Let's bring it back and put it for the good use of the Palestinian. All right, Abdullah. Thank you very much. Great to hear from you, Abdullah Al-Junaid, Fleur Hassan al-Hum in Jerusalem and here with me in the studio, Amir Oran as well. Thank you all. A very interesting discussion. Many big challenges ahead and I'm sure we will get to in more detail. Well, that's it for this hour. Duce there with us, Khaled Bentavid, is up next with all the very latest. This is I-24 News. We're coming to you live from Tel Aviv. Stay with us. Officially in a state of war, this is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking. More than 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. Welcome to the special broadcast on I-24 News. I'm Khaled Bentavid. It's day 26 of the Israel Hamas War and the IDF is widening its ground operations in Gaza but at a heavy price. The Israeli military confirming the deaths of 16 soldiers in battle over the last two days. For a second straight day, airstrikes pounded the Jabali neighborhood just north of Gaza City. The IDF says dozens of Hamas terrorists have been killed there. The Hamas run health ministry claiming heavy civilian casualties. Fire continues also across the northern frontier with an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon towards Israel. The IDF says it struck a terror cell there trying to fire another such missile across the border. On Gaza's border with Egypt, trucks carry aid into the strip bringing in food and medical supplies as well as taking 81 over 80 injured Palestinians through the Rafah crossing from Gaza into Sinai where they will receive medical treatment. Along with them went Gaza residents with American citizenship and other foreign nationals who were given free passage for repatriation to their home countries. Here's what the IDF spokesperson, Real Admiral Daniel Higari had to say earlier about the developing ground operation in Gaza. As was published yesterday, we eliminated the commander of the Jabalia battalion, Ibrahim Biari. He was a murderous terrorist who was also responsible for a significant area from which the terrorists left to the massacre of October the 7th. But beyond that, he was a senior terrorist who dominantly directed the fighting in northern Gaza. We killed him. His death occurred while he was situated inside the Jabalia refugee camp with dozens of additional terrorists in a compound with command headquarters and underground facilities were situated inside buildings within the civilian refugee camp. Striking him caused the collapse of the building and of underground infrastructure tunnels that was under the camp and caused the further collapse of additional structures. This demonstrates again the cynical use the murderous terrorists are making as human shields of civilian population that we have called on to evacuate to the south for their own safety. This is a cynical tactic that they will continue to employ as the fighting goes on. And with us in the studio for more reserves IDF Brigadier General Israel Relik Shafir, the former commander of the Tel Aviv Air Force Base and former combat pilot, of course, and Ariel Osaran, our Middle East correspondent. Ariel, I want to talk about today's operations in Gaza. We have prepared a map, sort of run through for us what's happening on the ground there. All right, Kalev. So basically Israeli forces since Friday have been operating in three main areas. The first in the northeastern part of the Gaza Strip around Beit Hanun, the outskirts over there, moving south. The other point of activity, main point is in Al Karama that's the northwestern part of the Gaza Strip and the aim there is to head down on Al Rashid, the main coastal route. And the third point of operation is in the south of Gaza City in the Nitzarim intersection. That's where we saw the footage of the Israeli tank. There isn't much footage coming out from Gaza. The aim of the forces there are to reach the coastal route, to reach the beach as fast as they can. And with these other forces basically to encircle Gaza City and that way allow the forces to enter the city from multiple areas. Obviously this also breaks up the Gaza Strip into at least two sections. This is aimed at trying to amplify the forces capability in attacking Gaza City which is the main target of Israeli forces where the main command centers of Hamas are. All right, we'll come back to that in a minute. Let's go down to the south and our Jonathan Reghev, our defense correspondent and Jonathan, an active day just across the border from you there in Gaza. And of course Hamas continues to shoot those rockets especially in the Gaza border or elsewhere in the country, but still especially in that southern area. Yes, true, Hamas is aware that all around the Gaza border there are army units waiting to be thrown in as well. And they're looking for them. They know that shooting here to Zderot or shooting to the border communities are very few civilians, but they're looking mostly for soldiers and also looking to send a message that they still have the ability to fire rockets. They also still have the ability to fire further away to central Israel. There was a siren in the Tel Aviv area earlier in the afternoon. So yes, the ability is still there and will be there. I'm not sure that even as the operation intensifies, Israel will be able to find every rocket and every rocket launcher, but trying to perhaps prevent Hamas from doing it as much as possible. All right, let's talk about that operation because today, unfortunately, Israel absorbing casualties, as I said, now up to 16 soldiers, some heavy ground fighting there. And this is even before, really, the army is even getting up to that densely urban area there in Gaza City. Clearly, this is an operation that's going to have to come at some cost. Yes, of course, there's no other choice. It's, you cannot go into this war and expect not to have casualties. We're hoping it would be this way, but it doesn't work that way. We have to also realize most of the casualties do not come from direct firefight with Hamas terrorists, the strategy of Hamas, and that is something they've been planning for years and digging tunnels under the ground for years and years is coming above the ground, shooting Israeli armored cars with anti-tank fire and going back to the tunnels as quickly as possible. This is the mode of operation and what the Israeli army is aiming to do is hit with heavy artillery and airstrikes. Every compound that the army is about to go into, trying to perhaps destroy those tunnels as much as possible, but of course, as good and precise as those airstrikes and artillery may be, they cannot basically detect and destroy every tunnel there is in the area. All right, Jonathan Regev there on the Gaza border. Thank you for that. Well, like I want to a little talk about and I don't know if we could bring up to have the map come up about Shibalia. This is the area just north of Gaza city. It's still called by summer refugee camp, even though the people living there have been living there for, there's been already some several generations. A Hamas stronghold, some high level targets there, but obviously it's also populated area. We don't know how many of the civilians came out. Again, we can rely on the Hamas health ministry figures. There's saying several dozen, but clearly there has to be, you've been involved in exactly, I presume these kind of operations. There has to be a decision made whether this target is worth making this airstrike despite the risk of some civilian casualties. Take us through a bit of that process. When you're flying with several tons of bombs under your wings and you're looking through high definition visual ability through targeting pods that are placed on a screen and you can see people moving, you can see movement of cars, but you can't see what's inside a building or under a building. So the question is on the way for the ground forces when they try to sweep through a very densely built area, not just populated but built, do you destroy everything in their path up to what distance? So let's say you clear the road 100 or 200 meters that could always be somebody popping up from a house 300 meters away and shooting rockets and anti-tank missiles at whoever passes through. So this is a danger that is always present there. And while the aircraft and the unmanned vehicles are there to look for those when they're popping out, sometimes you can't see it from above because of shooting let's say from a window of some kind. So these are the dangers of war and these are the casualties that we've taken so far. And unfortunately this will be so, we're not looking for Jabalia, we're looking to get to the Al-Shifa area, which is the center of command with the piers, et cetera. So once they get there, there's gonna be more fierce fighting and we're going to bomb as close as we can to the hospital and maybe even diagonal shots that go underneath the buildings. Well, that was gonna be my next question to you because the question is how much can an aerial target, actually in Jabalia, there were photos that were released from the Gazan side showing a fairly deep crater there. So, and obviously the target was some kind of a tunnel structure there. How deep can a bomb go? In that area, it can go pretty deep because the ground is basically sandy, not too many rocks in there. So a bomb, a thousand or 2,000 pound bomb can actually penetrate and be a plan to explode underneath, about 30 meters underneath. 30 meters that much. About that. And that would cave in anything in that area and you wouldn't see much action outside unlike the bombs that we see that explode once they hit the ground. These would create a lot of damage. We don't know whether how many of these were used so far and what their effects were, but it's clearly obvious that as they get, we get closer to the Shefa Hospital, there has to be some thoughts. When you go diagonal at 30 meters, you might destroy the structure holding the hospital or some of the areas. So these are, it's a very meticulous game of the size of the bomb you use, the angle that they penetrate and what is actually happening above the ground and below the ground. We're at the fog of war. We don't know what they know and what they don't know. We don't know where the hostages are. At least we don't know where they are out here in the studio. So there are many things to consider the safety of the ground forces, the safety of the hostages and hitting the terrorists underground. So, so far we know that they're closing in. And even though we will take hits, the idea is to get to the Al Shefa area and take out the tunnels underneath. Which is gonna be a daunting task because we know a hospital was built on top of it and Hamas will not hesitate to use human shields, in this case civilians. Let's look at Hamas, they're thinking now. We heard there was some recorded messages from the head of Hamas and Gaza today speaking, the stress that's coming. Give a spell, perhaps a little insight maybe in the minds of Hamas today, Ariel, as they're really facing now, as the battle is starting really to come to them. Well, look, Kaleb, they still have their stockpiles of fuel, medicine, water, everything they need, but eventually it will run out. The belief is that they have about two months worth of fuel now. What is the importance of this fuel? It's their lifeline because they're underground, they need air conditioning and they need fuel to keep the power running. And that's basically, it's their literal lifeline. And so as the- Which is I'm just gonna interject, why Israel has been so steadfast in saying we will allow food in, we'll allow medical supplies, but not fuel. Right, and they're seeing Israeli forces advance. Most of the attacks have been anti-tank guided missile attacks on armored vehicles, on tanks. That's also most of the Israeli casualties among the soldiers were killed in that fashion. I will say on the note that the IDF published just an hour ago that they killed the head of Hamas's anti-tank units in the entire Gaza Strip, Muhammad Atsar. He was responsible for multiple attacks on civilians and soldiers. And so taking him out the top, the head, the commander of Hamas's anti-tank guided missile array, that is a significant blow because this is the main threat that Israeli forces are dealing with. If we're looking at what happened yesterday in Jabalia, according to IDF spokesperson, he indicated he hinted, he didn't connect the two directly, but saying that taking out an underground command post, underground command headquarters, that's what caused the entire building block to collapse on top of it. And that is a significant threat challenge for Israeli forces when they target underground facilities, underground infrastructure. You're only targeting that, but its collapse could have secondary implications of civilian buildings just collapsing on top of it. And that is a big challenge for Israeli forces. Right now, as the Israeli forces continue to advance, the Hamas fighters, almost all of them are in their tunnels, they're bracing for the next wave of the ground incursion. Today, the IDF dropped leaflets inside Gaza, reiterating its call for the residents of the strip to head south of Wadi Gaza in anticipation for a wide scale ground incursion. And so I think what Hamas is trying to do is trying to gauge where the forces are entering from and how to approach them. But they're knowing all the while that this isn't the main way of the bulk of the forces that is yet to come. And already comparing Israel's strategy so far to 2008 and 2014, the previous times when Israeli ground forces entered the Gaza Strip, so far it is a little bit different, but as far as the challenge or the threat for the forces, the main threat being anti-tank missiles that continues and as we've seen so far, it's taken a heavy toll among Israeli troops. Well, speaking of anti-tank missiles, those are also being fired from Lebanon across the northern border with Israel. Let's go to our Robert Swift who is up north by the Lebanon border. Robert, yes, anti-tank missiles being fired there today at Israel and of course Israel taking measures to try to see that that kind of thing doesn't happen. Yeah, indeed, the anti-tank weapon has very much been the most dangerous weapon up here on the north. It's been relatively quiet for the last few hours, but five hours ago there was an attack. This time a combined anti-tank missile attack combined with mortar fire. This took place in the community of Shtullah, which is right on the Lebanese border, sort of in the middle of Israel's northern border. The Israeli military responded by attacking the Hezbollah mortar squad with an aircraft and by using tank fire to target the anti-tank team that was attempting to fire across the border. No reports of casualties at this stage, but it's worth bearing in mind that Shtullah is a community that has seen multiple attacks of anti-tank weapons in the past. The location of it right on the border makes it a vulnerable spot within Israel's northern border. All right, Robert Swift there by the Israel Lebanon border. Thank you for that. And Relic, it seems like Hezbollah is keeping, I would say keeping their provocations or their attacks grounded in a sense. They're keeping it in that area and not using yet their really serious missile rocket arsenal that they have. Yes, I think they're in a position in Iran as well in deciding what is the next move because they understand that if they escalate beyond a certain level, Israel will start hitting the southern strongholds where a lot of Amal, Shia families live. So these are the main supporters of Hezbollah. That is one thing, a lot of them already moved north. The second thing is if they are too successful, Israel will have no other option but to retaliate further north than we've been doing so far. And that may escalate into a position where Hezbollah will have to decide, are they giving up Lebanon or are they keeping this under threshold game and going on? And I think Nasrallah said he will speak on Friday so that he has enough time to understand what's really happening. So the fog of war can be used in a funny way as an advantage where he can say, well, the incursion hasn't been an invasion and therefore we will keep our, keep our powder dry. Yeah, more or less, okay, yeah. And not challenge more than they have so far. Right, yes. Well, I wanna move now from the north to the south, not Gaza, all the way south to Israel's southern tip, which is the resort town in Port of Elat, which has been the target of a chain of attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis in, oh, let's go rear Admiral Daniel Higari is starting his briefing, the IDF spokesperson. Fighting in the north part of Gaza Strip because of preliminary planning and intelligence and coordinated attacks by air, by sea, by land, our forces broke through the frontline of Hamas. The attacks from the air are continuing now and in the future. Because of accurate intelligence of Shabak, we eliminated the head of the whole system of anti-tank of the Hamas. This is a system that works vis-a-vis us in the war. That will have an impact on the continuance of the war by Hamas. During the day, the chief of staff approved after he met with the commanders the plans for the continuation of the war. We exposed today to the international media to the exploitation of Hamas of the citizens. We published a conversation of an inhabitant who said that Hamas steals fuels from hospitals. Its fuel that's supposed to serve for the patients is now serving to maintain the infrastructure of Hamas. Hamas will continue to lie and we will expose their lies as we have done at the case of the hospital, El Mahadani at the time. And just as we did in the exposure of the Shifa hospital and its infrastructure. In the north, the forces of IDF eliminated another unit that tried to penetrate to Israel towards one of the villages. They tried to launch rockets towards the state of Israel but we will continue to respond with attacks and shooting vis-a-vis any attack. We have a very high readiness in the north as well. In the home front, the directions are being updated daily according to the situation. Today we enabled a few possibilities to work at certain places in the center of the country. I'd like you to look at the sites and to do things according to the directives. We have to continue behaving in the proper way by the public so that life can continue as usual. Today, we delivered quite a few announcements and I want to talk about the casualties and the hostages. There was an announcement made to 240 families of hostages but we also gave announcements to 331 families of casualties of the army. Families that lost the soldiers in the Gaza Strip including yesterday, we will continue to accompany the families and embrace them. It's the most important thing, especially when we're fighting. Our hearts go out to the families. We're strengthening now and this is what we'll do forever. We send speedy recovery to the injured and we'll continue to accompany you. The battle and the war is harsh and also demands a lot of prices. The soldiers who fell made a great contribution to the state of Israel. In due to these soldiers, we are strong and we shall prevail because of them. Channel 12 regarding all the issues that have to do with the Palestinian Authority and issues that we discuss in the cabinet. These are close discussions. We don't publish it. The cabinet makes decisions. It decides what to publish and what not to publish. 11 of the fallen were because of the armored vehicle today. That's how they fell. We are investigating and we are learning. We improve ourselves as the war goes along. There are a few operations. We don't need to have all the facts at the moment. The war is complicated. It's short range with the terrorists. We have a whole system, anti-tanks and all sorts of fighting devices. This is a very painful and harsh event. People lost their lives. We're drawing our lessons as the war goes along. It's not similar to anything in the past. It's different. We have to draw conclusions. But nevertheless, before we give answers that are decisive, we are learning. We already learned a few things and this is the way we shall continue. And that was Rear Admiral Daniel Hogari giving a fairly brief update. I'm still hearing in my ear. Giving a fairly brief update of the military situation and the Gaza Strip, not going into too much or actually very much detail at all. Talking about the deliberate pace, the casualties. Interestingly, we're talking about an intercepted, recorded conversation from Hamas operative, which relates exactly to the point we made earlier here in studio. That Hamas is hoarding fuel there for its operations. Well, at the same time, of course, Christ to the international community that there's a few shortage in the Gaza Strip. Israel, as we said before, is saying it will not allow fuel in if it's going to end up in the hands of Hamas. I'm going to ask Relic Shafir and our Middle East carers corresponding to that. We also want to stay with us. We are going out for a brief break, but we'll be back in just about three minutes time. So stay with us as we continue our coverage of day 26 of Israel's war against Hamas. We'll be right back. Israel is at war, make an investment in Israel bonds. It is the most powerful and direct way to stand with Israel. Visit israelbonds.com and invest now. Made For Me, a unique concept in Israel. Custom made men's fashion to your measurements. Made For Me, designer of all your events. Schedule your appointment at www.madeforme.co.il. Made For Me, official dresser of I-24 News. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. 1,800 people murdered and more than 3,000 injured. And the war with Hamas continues. We bring you firsthand 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. Back to this special edition on I-24 News. Day 26 of Israel's war against Hamas. Now, the United States has a brand new ambassador to Israel, Jack Lou. That is after some dramatic political maneuvering yesterday in Washington DC. But what the US doesn't have is a new emergency aid package to Israel yet. This is despite bipartisan support for Israel. Although Republicans and Democrats can't seem to agree on how to pay for that aid. Well, let's go now to our senior US correspondent, Mike Wagenheim, in New York. And Mike, first, Jack Lou, how soon can we expect the new ambassador certainly coming at a challenging time to start his tenure here? Well, this is not a normal procedure here, in terms of getting Lou on board. This was fast tracked through the Senate, which, by the way, I mean, the works have been gummed up in the confirmation process for quite some time. So this was even fast tracked beyond that. Usually after an ambassador is confirmed, they go to work at the State Department in Washington. They go through orientation, get prepared, have a series of meetings with officials there in the State Department, basically getting ready for a very important new job, but doing so within the confines of Washington. I don't think this is going to look like that. I would expect Lou will be on the ground in Jerusalem within the next two weeks, if not sooner here, the way this was sent so quickly through the Senate. Obviously, it sends up a red flag about the urgency of the matter here. It's not going to be long, Caleb. All right, and let's talk about that aid package, $14 billion on the table for Israel, both Republicans and Democrats agree Israel should get that money. The question is, how is it going to be paid? Generally speaking, when you're talking about emergency funding coming out of Congress for foreign aid, it doesn't go through the normal appropriations procedures. There's essentially, if you want to call it a slush fund, an open fund for this type of emergency funding, and it doesn't have to be paid for under normal protocols. It's simply figured into the budget on the back end, or comes out of this open fund. Republicans under the new speaker, Mike Johnson, want to do it differently. And they're saying that the funding needs to be offset by cuts elsewhere, specifically some $14.3 billion that was going to go to the IRS under a Biden initiative called the Inflation Reduction Act. That money was supposed to pay for new IRS employees, updating the system so they could collect more revenue through catching tax cheats and catching rich folks that were getting away with loopholes, and so on and so forth. Democrats say that's a no-go. It should go through the normal emergency funding procedures. They say they're not going to vote for the bill in its current form, and even if they did, Joe Biden says he would veto it. So now a real battle here for the new House speaker in trying to forge some kind of compromise. Republicans don't want to come out of this looking like the anti-Israel party. Democrats say they're ready to go on emergency funding. Republicans are now the ones that are holding it up. All right, and finally, the Secretary of State Anthony Blinken heading for the region, and certainly going to have some interesting conversations, I would imagine. Not just in this country, but in some, apparently Turkey has been added to his itinerary. This just reports just coming out about that. Yeah, Turkish diplomatic sources, Blinken will be visiting Ankara in the coming days. The State Department, we heard just moments ago, unable to confirm at this point. They're not denying it, just saying they're unable to confirm. But Blinken is confirmed to visit Israel, and Jordan, possibly Turkey as well. And I wouldn't be surprised if there were other stops added to the itinerary here as the days and the events develop and take a certain course. Yeah, Blinken has his hands full here, trying to mediate between all sides. There are a lot of players at interest here, a lot of divergent interest at times. And so he needs to take everybody's concerns into account here. So I don't think this is going to be just a two or even three stop affair here for Tony Blinken. This will be reminiscent more, I think, of his last trip to the region. Complete shuttle diplomacy just back and forth between different stops here, trying to find a path forward and find it quickly. Yeah, and I'm sure the Secretary Blinken will be pressing Israeli officials on the so-called day after, even though we're far from at war, what would be the potential arrangements for Gaza if and when Israel manages to eliminate at least the ability of Hamas to rule over this Gaza Strip? Mike Wagenheim there in New York, thank you for that. I want to get back to, as I said before, the chain of attacks by the Iranian Batoutis in Yemen, which included launching ballistic missiles and drones at Israel's southern tip. Now they haven't really posed a direct strategic threat yet, but as our Middle East correspondent Ariel Osum reports, they could have consequences on other fronts and other forces, the Saudis said, for the Americans, for example, could be forced to take a stance here. As Israel deepens its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and with controlled but escalating clashes in the West Bank and with Hezbollah in the North, a new front is emerging, but not exactly on Israel's borders. Our armed forces have launched a large barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as a significant number of drones at various targets of the Israeli enemy. The Yemeni armed forces affirm that this operation is the third in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine. More qualitative strikes with missiles and drones will continue until the Israeli aggression ceases. The IDF said its aero-air defense system intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Iranian Batoutis in Yemen towards the southern city of Elat. Fighter jets downed multiple drones. Following another attack early Wednesday morning, the IDF deployed a Navy missile ship to the Red Sea. We are prepared on the Red Sea front, as well as in every area of the state of Israel for defense. We also know how to attack in the place and time of our choosing for any security interest of Israel, anywhere we are required to operate in. This violent show of solidarity initiated by Iran comes to prove the existence of a united front against Israel. But maybe not entirely united, as Iran's most hard-line newspaper, Qayhan, published on Tuesday in editorial titled, Iran does not go to war for the sake of others. In other words, let the people of Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen die into fighting with Israel, but not Iranians. If this war is not stopped immediately and joint attacks against civilians, the women and children of Gaza by America and Israel are not halted, then the consequences for those who are waging this war will be grave. The Houthis attacks are also meant to send a diplomatic message to neighboring Saudi Arabia and through it to Washington. And the match lit in Yemen may force the Saudis and Americans to take a stance and perhaps even join the fray. It's a very interesting report there, Ariel. I'll come to it in a second on the water implication, regional implications. But first I just wanna ask you, do these missiles, these ballistic missiles, these drones pose any kind of threat to Israel or can they basically be handled as we saw by the arrow, by these naval forces as you're deploying? And of course, the US forces that have already, naval forces in the Red Sea that have already intervened. Yes, this is more, I would say a sign of educating support to Hamas rather than causing any real damage. But it's an opportunity for Israel to show its power and its ability to take out ballistic missiles. In outer space, we're talking about interception that happens at about three or 400 kilometers up where there's no air and the arrow missile is exactly poised to hit those missiles. Right, just to reiterate, I mean, the arrow has proven effective in tests, but right, this is the first time we've seen it and truly that we know about in operational combat mode. Right, this is the first, I would say operational use. It has been used before against ground to air missiles such as the SA-5s from Syria. But this is, I would say the first operational out of space, outer space interception. On the lower ground, the drones can be shot by Patriot missiles, by the Navy, or on the way, as has been shown before, by US naval ships as they leave Yemen. So this is a show of force on their side. It's a show of force on our side. And this is also maybe important to remind us that the Houthis are Shia, which is the same section in Islam as the Iranians are. So this is a call for them also to the Saudis who are their arch enemies. Whether this will explode into a larger, type of war, we don't know. But understanding the Russian position and interaction between Iran and Russia, the Iranians are very watchful of the Americans hitting some targets in Iran itself. Refineries, ports, things of that nature, not escalating into the nuclear maybe, but rather show a show of force by US forces that projects power, not just for Israel, but also for Saudi Arabia as well. So this is something that Iran has to consider and it looks like they are thinking about these things and trying to restrain themselves. Right. What's interesting also here is the, this is drawing Israel in a sense in a conflict that in which Saudi Arabia and Israel have a common foe. And in a weird way, even though, of course, publicly, there are the public comments about Saudi Arabia emphasizing the civilian casualties, for example, in Gaza. Under the surface, we are Israel and the Saudis are on the same strategic page here against now a common enemy, the Houthis. And above the surface, there was a following incident in which four Saudi soldiers were killed on the border with Yemen. The Saudi military is on high alert. Reportedly, the Saudis down some of the missiles that were launched towards Israel. And so the Saudis are definitely in play here, so are the Americans. And as these attacks continue and progress, they will be forced to take a stand and make a decision whether they're getting more active into it. I will just note on the Houthis cooperation and support of Hamas, we're seeing since the start of the war, whenever Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Houthis release a video, a footage of their operations attacks against Israel, they package it the same way. They use the same name, the Tufan al-Aqsa, that's an Arabic, the flood of al-Aqsa, that's what Hamas is calling this operation. So they use that at the opening slide of their videos, Hamas. Also the Houthis, when they published that video that we were airing of their drones and of the ballistic missiles that were used, they also, they're calling this Tufan al-Aqsa, the flood of al-Aqsa. This just shows that even in their, the way they're selling this, packaging this, it's a combined effort, a joint effort originating from Iran. Now Iran is choosing which of its proxies to activate and in what way. So Hamas obviously was the first wave. With Hizbollah, they're seeing that it's a little more challenging because of Israeli significant military presence up in the north. So they're activating the Houthis as well. As long as Iranians, Persians are left out of the fight, they don't mind to send the Arabs to fight their fight whether they're in Gaza, Lebanon or Yemen. Absolutely, well that's been the most sovereign day all along. So gentlemen, I wanna bring the focus back to the battle in Gaza and a key component of that battle is good intelligence. Good intelligence on Gaza and a crucial source of that is the information gleaned from the questioning of captured Hamas terrorists by the agents of the Shin Bet Israeli Security Agency. Tens of thousands of targets derived from valuable intel flowing from the interrogation rooms to the troops on the ground. In this report adapted from Channel 12 News, we get a close up look at how that process works. Thousands of tons of explosives have been used on the Gaza Strip in the past three and a half weeks. As the fighting progressed, many new targets were added to the IDF Intelligence Target Bank. In most cases, the information comes from here from the Shin Bet's interrogation rooms. Hundreds of people, some of the members of Hamas who possess a lot of information were caught on that black Saturday. A great deal of critical, essential, and life-saving information came from these investigations. Information that also serves the army right now. Sometimes you get information from the interrogated and within an hour, a target is marked. These are the faces of the killers on October the 7th, but they also hold a lot of information that may save lives. From the moment they were caught, a race against time began. Interrogating a prisoner during a war is like a ticking time bomb, since any sliver of information during war can save lives. And that can affect the outcome of the battle, or even the outcome of a battle in specific terrain. For the investigator, there's no time to sit around and to conduct an interview. That might take days or even weeks. The time element is critical, and it's being treated appropriately. Each person, when they're interrogated, there's some kind of basic information about him, or the unit he works in, or the organization, or the area he's working in. He's not being interrogated blindly. It can be confirmed by cross-checking everything he says with what we know, and also according to what other prisoners are saying. And here, the Shinbe speciality comes into play. They sit in front of those that a minute ago murdered, burned, and may be raped, and now they need to make them sing, mentally break them. In some cases, there's a problem with identifying the people, not knowing who they are. Those are people who were taught to hide their identity. Some terrorists, when caught, started singing almost immediately, with no threats made by the Shinbe. It's not what it looks like in the movies. These interrogations are held by law. I would say that applying physical pressure won't necessarily bring the results needed. No one just gives all the information they have, especially not voluntarily. You need to produce it. In interrogations, there's a saying that if a lemon was smart, it would give up all of its juice without being squeezed. Same goes for the interrogated. They don't always give you everything. And if they need a squeeze, you must squeeze them. Most of the investigations are a chess game between the investigator and the interrogator. The investigation is very manipulative and very psychological. The investigators are excellent at reading body language, and they can read the person being questioned. They can tell what his movements mean, what a hand movement means, and what a drop of sweat means. But some cases are exceptional. On the first days of the war, a video was circulating on social media where terrorists were forced to listen to an Israeli children's song over and over again for hours. This was deliberate. Playing loud music in interrogations is so they can't talk to each other on one hand, and on the other hand, it's to not let them become relaxed and calm, but to be in a state of constant stress for the upcoming investigation. The investigators saw the videos of the horrible crimes committed. Now they need to investigate the same people who did it. Sitting in front of a person when you know exactly what he did, and then you now need to emotionally disconnect yourself from the situation. You now need to get into the zone of analyst investigator to look a person in the eye, disconnect, and interrogate. Sitting in front of a murderer, and if he asks for a cigarette or a cup of coffee so he can confess, and you know it can help with the confession, you'll give him a cigarette and coffee. And if now what works on him is the nice and warm character of the investigator, or maybe the ability of the investigator to connect to something very personal, or the investigator needs to do it to get a good confession, even if inside he's in an emotional storm. As time goes by and the war continues, the number of interrogated gardens will grow, and with it, new quality of information will be produced to help win the war. Well, like what I've been hearing all the last few weeks from all the military men in the studio is intel, intel, intel. That is a key to this battle. There we see the beginning of it take us through now to the men in the field, including the airmen like yourself, and utilizing this information. Think of it this way, if you're in a cockpit of a modern F16 or F35, and you have information that from some area there's going to be a launch. You look at that area and the minute the missile is launched, you look at it through your visor, designated with a button on the stick, and at that minute, you send the information and data is sent to other airplanes or to the command post and from there to an unmanned vehicle that can deliver a bomb to that area. This circle can take maybe 30 to 60 seconds. Wow. So when we're talking about intelligence and data and software integration between different systems, from the time you look with your eyes and see the target until a missile is shot at a target, not from your airplane, but from another airplane, or maybe from an Apache or an unmanned drone. At that short time where the target is detected and destroyed within a very short time, this is actually what we're talking about, information war and intelligence war. And part of the time that was spent in the three weeks prior to the attack was getting that same idea with the ground forces. Tell me where, I know where you're going. Tell me where you see the enemy and I will deliver the ammunition there as fast as possible to take it out so you continue on your way. So that is a modern warfare. It's always costly, but you get, you gain a lot of advantage by intelligence, which is actually the biggest challenge and the trigger for getting that target down. Right, and I'll just add one other element here in this battle, intelligence about the hostages, which of course, surely played a major factor in the rescuing of Private Ory Magadish the other day. Yeah, and I'm glad we're not talking about this. Okay, yeah, I've seen something that should be discussed, that's correct. Well, I do want to discuss, we did discuss earlier the issue of fuel in the Gaza Strip and the fact that Israel is not allowing fuel in, it says there is fuel there, fuel that Hamas is utilizing. And in fact, we heard the army spokesperson, the idea of spokesperson, Roderny Hogar, he referred to an intercepted phone call from a Hamas, some kind of Hamas official, discussing the issue of fuel in the Gaza Strip. We have actually that phone call, let's take a listen. Abu al-Hassan. Abu Hamza, peace be upon you. Peace be upon you, beloved. I'm an officer, I'm from Al-Hassan, and I'm a part of the security department. And I'm an officer, I'm from Al-Hassan. I'm from Al-Hassan, and I'm from Al-Hassan, and I'm from Al-Hassan, and I'm from Al-Hassan, we're not aware of it we're not aware of it but we consider it our take on why its not different if it's all different, we decide what you want to do If you want to know how much you want to tell them, I'm here with you I promise it's all different We also want to be grateful Thank you We all want to be our government Ali Al, here is exactly the story that Israeli authorities have been talking about over the past couple of weeks. Yeah, rationalizing, taking fuel from a hospital for the sake of the country, for the sake of Hamas. Now, the Indonesian hospital is one of the bigger hospitals in northern Gaza. This is in Beit Lahia, in one of the northern outskirts of Gaza City. And indeed, this is just one example how this Indonesian hospital, which is one of 35 hospitals across the Gaza Strip, is being used to restock Hamas stockpiles, I mean, in pictures that were taken of Hamas trucks inside Israel. You found first aid kits provided by UNICEF, that's for children's first aid. They were taken by terrorist who murdered children, that's for the irony. And of course, we know that they've been taking supplies from UNRWA, the United Nations Relief Forks agents. Indeed, and that is the main concern here regarding the fuel, regarding protecting the hospitals, which is something that Israel has said that it's important to do. On the other hand, many of these hospitals, even if their equipment isn't stolen, sometimes Hamas builds underground command centers. And so, this hospital is just one example of sensitive civilian infrastructure that is being used by Hamas, taken over by Hamas for the sake of the country, as they say. But basically, to fund, to operate its war machine against Israel. And what we heard is just one example. There's thousands of these kinds of phone calls that indicate, that show, that prove how Hamas is using civilian infrastructure, taking it from the locals, from the people of Gaza, in order to fill up its own stockpiles and to keep on its operations going in Israel, in Gaza against Israel. Relic briefly, this is the strategic, this is a challenge for Israel going forward in a key one, when it starts to finally move into that dense urban area of Gaza City. That is true, and I think that's one of the reasons why so many hospitals are being set up, both in a Rafa city on the Egyptian border, and out at sea, some of the countries are sending maritime hospitals. We mentioned also the hospital, the Egypt taking in its first patients, 81 today, sure many more will follow. So this is one of the ways that will press the Palestinians to move their sick ones outside so that we won't be in that dire situation, where we have to physically get into under El Shifa Hospital. Right, certainly will be a formidable challenge. Going ahead, Relic Shafir, thank you for joining us. Ariel Osiron, our Middle East correspondent, please stay with us. We're coming out of this hour of our special broadcast, our coverage of day 26 of the Israel-Hamas War. Stay with us, we'll be back in just a few minutes at the top of the hour with lots more. We'll be right back. One of the fastest-growing neurological conditions in the world affecting about six million people globally, Parkinson's disease is one of the most common brain diseases second to Alzheimer's. Parkinson's is a motor disorder, it's a neurodegenerative disease, which means there are areas in the brain which degenerate. This degeneration starts with the loss of nerve cells, these cells release a chemical called dopamine that coordinates movement, but when there's so many of these cells dying off, people with Parkinson's aren't left with enough dopamine in their brain to control movement properly. The drop in this chemical is responsible for many of the symptoms of Parkinson's and there's over 40 of them. Parkinson's symptoms have always been easy to detect, but that's not what Professor Meza is trying to do here. At the Hebrew University's Edmund and Lilly Safra Centre for Brain Sciences, he's trying to detect and monitor Parkinson's using a different method called quantitative MRI. So it's the same method, same MRI, but in one we look on the current method, we look on macro scale and in our method we look on micro scale. The blue area and the red area are deep brain structures called the striatum where changes occur in Parkinson's disease. And what we developed is a method that I take this region and using this method I sample the values of the image along an axis of this region and then we can detect small changes in Parkinson's disease. The hope after all is better diagnosis and offering a new window to the workings of the human brain. 1,200 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. Our soldiers fighting a just war, the war for our home. And I promise you and all the citizens of Israel we will continue until we fulfill the mission. We will continue until we win. Welcome to or back to this special broadcast on I-24 News. I'm Khaled bin David. It's day 26 of the Israel Hamas war and the IDF is widening its ground operation in Gaza but at a heavy price. The Israeli military confirming the deaths of 16 soldiers in battle over the last two days. For a second straight day, airstrikes pounded the Jabali neighborhood just north of Gaza city. The IDF says dozens of Hamas terrorists have been killed there. The Hamas run health ministry claiming heavy civilian casualties. Fire continuing also across the northern frontier with an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon towards Israel. The IDF says it struck a terror cell there trying to fire another such missile across the border. On Gaza's border with Egypt, trucks carry aid into the strip, bringing in food and medical supplies. As over 80 injured Palestinians were permitted to pass through the Rafa crossing from Gaza into Sinai where they will receive medical treatment. Along with them went Gaza residents with American citizenship who were given free passage for repatriation back to the US. Here's what Defense Minister Joff Garland had to say early this evening about the developing ground operation in Gaza. We are advancing according to the plans. The Hamas is being dealt harsh blows. More than 10,000 bombs hit the Gaza city. Thousands of targets were eliminated. Thousands of terrorists were eradicated from the lower echelons to the top ones. The war is advancing according to the targets. In every place, the soldiers describe what they see. Terrorists who come out of the underground tunnels, buildings, hospitals, and the schools, they see everything. Gaza is a base of terror and evil. And let's go to what Defense Correspondent Jonathan Regaf who's down by the Gaza border in southern Israel. And Jonathan, the ground operation, now just a couple of kilometers from you proceeding into the northern Gaza Strip also in parts of the central Gaza Strip, Israel absorbing heavy casualties. The battle is engaged, but it's really just the really beginning part of this battle. Yes, true, because Israel is now trying to perhaps split Gaza into two, split it between north and south. And then you'd have to deal with everything in Gaza city itself, a densely populated place. Even if hundreds of thousands of people left, it's still quite a densely populated place. And understanding that the Hamas commanders and much of the infrastructure is underground. And this is a lot of the fight that we're seeing. And the casualties, Israeli casualties, they do not come from direct firefight, but from terrorists rising from the tunnels, shooting anti-tank missiles and forces in the area and then hiding back to their tunnels. They appear for a minute or two and go back in and still able to inflict casualties. And this will be quite a challenge for the Israeli forces. And in the meantime, of course, rockets still being fired there from Gaza. We had both in the south and here. And of course in Tel Aviv, we also had sirens, Hamas obviously keeping a large part of its arsenal there in reserve, perhaps waiting for that big push. And the response will be some major fire from Gaza. Yes, and I don't think we can expect these Israeli forces to find every launcher and every rocket. It will be a long process. And along with that process, there will be a fire towards Israel. Hamas has kept quite a substantial arsenal. And they're willing to use it now. They've been saving it exactly for this time, for the ground operation. All right, Jonathan Regev there in stereo. Thank you for that. Joining us in studio now, Yakov Lapin, Military and Strategic Affairs Analyst for the Jewish New Syndicate and the Miriam Institute and our Middle East correspondent, Ariel Osiron. And we heard Jonathan Regev there, Ariel, speak about the developing, I would say, strategy of the IDF there in the Gaza ground operation. We did prepare a map. Maybe let's go into some detail about and show exactly the areas that he spoke speaking about. Right, Galev. In addition to Jonathan's important report, earlier this evening, Rear Admiral Daniel Agari, IDF Spokesperson said that IDF forces broke through Hamas's first lines of defense in the north. And so let's talk about where that is exactly. One point of the forces that are main activity is in the northeastern part of Gaza, the Beit Chanun area. Beit Chanun, yeah. The second key focus operation by the IDF forces is on the northwest, Al Karameh on the coastal route connecting, going from north to south. And the third point is south of Gaza City in the Nitzarim intersection. That's where footage, rare footage of the Israeli tank emerged the other day. The goal here is to try and basically sever the northern part of Gaza Strip to the south, separate Gaza City from the rest of the Strip in order to encircle it as the forces are running to the coast here. They're hoped to join other forces moving their way south. Most of the opposition that the forces are meeting is up in the north, and that is in the form of anti-tank guided missiles, as well as grenades dropped from drones. And a lot of the focus that we're talking about is Shifa Hospital. So that is located around here, and that is believed to be the main underground headquarters of Hamas. And so as the forces continue to move south from the north, to move west from the east, the goal is to, as Jonathan said, to sever the Gaza Strip into two, perhaps even three sections. And from that, it will be easier to conduct the operations when the main goal is to encircle the Gaza City and to move in forces there. Earlier today, IDF forces dropping leaflets above Gaza calling on the residents of northern Gaza once again to move south, an indication that further ground incursions and massive forces are still to come. All right, I just want to draw attention to one red spot there, if we can go back to the map. Jabalia, just north of Gaza City. We did speak about Command Center. You mentioned the Shifa Hospital. Jabalia also, a Yakov, apparently, major Command Center there, which has been struck by the IDF over the past two days. Taking out one of the major commanders of Hamas, or certainly a worthy military target there. But of course, risking civilian casualties, we can't confirm any figures out of the Hamas or the health ministry. But the IDF isn't denying civilian casualties. That is the challenge facing the IDF here in places, for example, Jabalia and, as we move on, of course, the Gaza City. Yes, absolutely. And the military said earlier today that there were other strikes that had canceled when it weighed up the risk to civilians versus the military achievements that would be occurring from such a strike. And in this strike, they say they took all of these factors into consideration and concluded quite clearly that the military achievement justifies the strike. This was a senior battalion commander who was in charge of everything on the ground, RPG attacks against soldiers, rocket attacks against civilians. He was somewhat like an orchestra conductor, just sending out attacks around the clock. And his elimination from the battlefield is, according to IDF assessments, going to have a very disruptive effect. And it's also worth noting that the commander of the anti-tank unit, all of the anti-tank activity was under his command. He was eliminated today as well. That is a blow to Hamas. All right. Gentlemen, I want to move from Gaza looking at the bigger regional picture here and the implications that this conflict has on that region. Now, Iran has campaigned relentlessly against normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. And many observers see the massacres of October 7th as a rants tool for blocking normalizations march. But as our senior diplomatic correspondent, Owen Altman, has said from the start, Saudi Arabia still has good reason to normalize with Israel on the day after. Now Saudi officials themselves are confirming it. Let's take a look. It was only six weeks ago. Only six weeks ago when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strode the stage at the United Nations General Assembly. And Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sat for the cameras and touted the promise of normalization and the reason why ties are a must. I believe that we are at the cusp of an even more dramatic breakthrough, an historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. We hope that it will reach a place, that it will ease the life of the Palestinians and get Israel back as a player Middle East. There, bin Salman on Fox News Channel's special report. The Middle East has changed, of course. Feelings toward Israel are now out in the open, fully. And war is not the time for peace. But a steady stream of indicators points in one direction. On the day after, Riyadh wants normalization done because much has not changed. Before 7th of October, a lot of de-escalation have happened, which brought a lot of hope for the region. And we don't want the recent events to derail that. So we are making a lot of efforts with our partners. Saudi Arabia still would want a defense pact with the United States and still would want to pursue its vision 2030 to the end. That vision has Saudi Arabia pivoting from an inward-looking religious hotbed to an outward-looking liberalized power. The outside world will be skeptical. Muhammad bin Salman needs to convince it, to show he's serious, to show he's really serious. There is a path to take. And it leads through Israel. And of course, the Iranian proxy, his Bala continues to take action, and he's going to fire across the Lebanon border in Tizia. For more, let's go to our correspondent, Rob Swift, near that border, his Bala, or other terror groups there, but certainly under control of his Bala, still firing anti-tank missiles across that border, Rob. But Israel responding, and maybe this is trying to keep a certain level on this fire there in the north. That's correct. There have been clashes earlier in the day, but actually just a few minutes ago, there was information of a pause in the Israeli fire. This took place in the far eastern end of the northern border, where members of the Lebanese army were in communication with UNIFIL. That's the UN troops that monitor the border there. And they were conducting a search for two individuals who were understood to be injured in the Wazzani area. And as a result, Israel is understood to have halted its fire across the border in that area to allow the search to take place. Now, as we understand it, the two individuals were not able to be located due to nightfall, due to the darkness, and the fact that there are land mines in the area. Now, interestingly, the Wazzani area contains the village of Rajar, which is a village famous for the fact that it straddles the border. The northern half of it is inside Lebanon. The southern half of it is in territory. The Israel controls. And the residents there are Alawites, originally Syrians, back decades ago. It's not clear if there's a connection to that village, the fact that the search has taken place there. But as a result of it, it's understood that the Israeli military paused its firing and operations there temporarily. But earlier in the day, there was fire further to the west when it's understood that Hezbollah fired anti-tank weapons and mortars across the border in the Shatula area. All right, Robert Swift there near the Lebanon border. We thank you for that. Well, let's go back now to the issue of the hostages, of course, which is of a driving force behind this conflict. Now, the extended Sharabi clan of Kibbutzbury is just one of the hundreds of families devastated by the horrific attack on October 7th. On the morning of that terrible day, Kamas Tarris burst into the home of Eli Sharabi, set at a blaze, took the family hostage, and then killed Eli's wife, Leon, and their two daughters. His brother, Yossi Sharabi, was seen being taken hostage in Taghaza through no sign of life that Eli has been seen since the initial attack. Joining us now is Raz Matlone, who's the brother-in-law of Yossi and Eli married to their sister. Raz, thank you so much for joining us. And maybe talk about the family because I just gave a sketch. You actually did give us a graphic, which I hope we have, and we could put up, talking about the family members who have been impacted by what happened here. Yeah, we have two families living in Bairi, the family of Eli and the family of Yossi, as you mentioned. And both family are living there for many years and raising their kids in a very so-called safe environment and enjoying their life until the 7th of October. But it's a shame you couldn't see Kibbutz Bairi before and to see how flourish it was and green and beautiful. And your beautiful families, and we're seeing photos of them. Take us to what you learned on that day, October 7th. How it unfolded for you and the rest of your family. That morning, like everyone at 7 AM in the morning, we got a message from Leanne saying something very bad is happening. And we don't know what it is, but it's not like always. We are hearing gunshots and we hear explosions and people shouting outside our doors and we have to be silent. We stopped sending messages because we didn't want them to make noises. And actually, we didn't hear from them from that moment until now. The only thing we know about Eli's family is what a soldier, a military soldier that came that fight in this area and was in the house and he saw the three, Leanne, Noya, and Yael hugging together and they were shot in the head. And there was no sign of Eli. So we understood that maybe Eli is kidnapped and we got more information afterwards that Eli is, in fact, kidnapped. Right. It must be so difficult for your family. And I also understand, and I know from reading you also the newspaper counts, it took some time for, I guess they're your nieces by marriage. They were initially believed men also thought maybe to be if kidnapped, but it was only much later, one of them only just recently that their bodies were identified, correct? At the beginning, they said the three of them were kidnapped. And it was not checked yet. But then we got a message about Leanne and two days after, we got a message of Yael and it was a few days after that we heard about Noya and the expectations. What happened? They found their bodies elsewhere on the keyboards? Is that what it is? Well, what do you know? There was a chaos. There was a chaos. I know from the military guy that said that the three of them were together. They were hugging together. And so maybe when they removed the bodies outside of the house, maybe there was confusions. I don't know. But it took so much time between them. And for the family, it was devastating. Devastating, I'm sure. Let me ask you now, if your re-interactions, both with the government, what you have to maybe even say to them through this forum, because of course, we're broadcasting in Israel. But of course, we are also an international channel with international viewers across the world. So your message, both maybe for the authorities here, but also for the international community, Raj. Yeah. First of all, I want to say that living next to the Hamas, which is like ISIS, or maybe worse, is not an option anymore. Because we have to do what we have to do. It's not, it's either us or them. And as I know, my country and my soldiers and all the people are doing, we will win this war because we don't have a choice. But we have to understand that the victory, without the return of the hostages, is like a defeat. We know it. Our soldiers know it. And also, our leaders know it. So we have to give it the first priority to bring the hostages back. Otherwise, we lose and we can't lose this war. This is very important. So what I want to say, really, also to our government and to the world is outcome that Israel is going through the worst time they are having since the Holocaust. And this kind of atrocities never happened in maybe in the Middle Ages. And you see all over, anti-Semitism growing in such a rapid, it's unbelievable. And what I'm asking, where are all the good guys go? Because what we see all over is the propaganda that supports Hamas. And that people tearing down photos of hostages, imaginable members, such as your brothers in law. I know there are more good people than bad. Where are they? Where are they? Why don't they go out and they are living the streets and the media to the, I don't know how to call them. But I'm looking for the good guys to come together and to help because if we lose, the whole world will lose. This is a fight not only of Israel because if the terrorists will get the sense that these atrocities will be reward, the whole world will understand this message and you will see it everywhere. This is a war that we have to win for us and for all the world. All right, Rosemarck, first of all, we join in the morning of those family members, your sister-in-law, your lovely nieces who unfortunately lost their lives, may their memories be a blessing. And of course, the safe returns home of your brothers and the wife, thank you for joining us and sharing your story. Israeli President Diza Kurtzog is speaking right now. Let's take a listen to that. Responsibility that the Arab society is reflecting. Dear citizens, we are at a war that was imposed on us that were fortunately as a nature of a long war. It's going to bring up ups and downs. We'll have moments of hope, but sadness and pain as well. I've been meeting thousands of people, families and communities who are in a trauma, in anguish this morning. I met the mother of Tamar, age nine, from Ashdod who collapsed because of a panic attack and died later. I want to tell you what I told her. It's allowed and even desired to give way to the pain, to the worry, to the tears. And we should speak about anxiety. These emotions are very natural and human. And we need to, and we have to give them a place. It's so important to take care of the soul at this time because when existence is such, it's important that each and every one of us will find strength, even a small one in something that gives you a little quiet, something comforting, even if it's the most simple thing in the world. Both Michal, my wife and I find this strength in our own way. By going out to the people, meeting the people of Israel, it moves us, it strengthens us and gives us hope. I'd like to share with you something else that gives us a lot of hope. Even now, within the mist, even now, the Israeli spirit, it is unbreakable. It's a storm kind of spirit. It came up from the ashes and it's already blows in a fantastic strength. This spirit is reflected with thousands of heroic tales in the front and in the home front. It is every hand that is extended to a brother or a sister with an exemplary responsibility on the part of all of us. This spirit is all over the country, all over the country. This is an eternal spirit that we received from our former generations so that we can talk about it and to act accordingly from one generation to the other. This spirit is you, my brothers and sisters, the citizens of Israel. This is our secret weapon, the real secret weapon. You are my greatest hope, our greatest hope. I'm Yisrael Haid, the people of Israel live at this time. The best of our sons and daughters are sacrificing their life by air, by sea and by land in Gaza and in all the other fronts in order to protect us, the people in the state. They are asking and I keep hearing it wherever I go that we will keep the Israeli unity in the home front just as they do in the front. All of us, all the people together, we are their back. I pray from here for the spirit recovery of the injured. I embrace the bereaved families. I encourage and strengthen the IDF forces, the Shabbat, the Mossad, the police, the prison guards and all the security forces, emergency and life-saving, health and education, everybody that does something towards the victory. Even the opposition shows real responsibility and I want to strengthen the war cabinet and the leadership of the country in managing the battle so that we'll bring about victory with the help of God. We have a wonderful state and wonderful people. We have very important and strong allies all over the world. We have brothers and sisters in all the jewelry of the diaspora. They are backing us with all their might in spite of the attacks and threats against them. And we have national resilience, incredible power and we have side-by-side all the time the power of hope. A hope that for thousands of years was our breath. People came back to its own country, to its own land. We have a hope to rehabilitate and build and plant so that the wheat will grow again and again and will grow all of us with it in the fields, in the orchards, in Kibbutzim, in villages, in cities with all the hues of this country. We have to remember all the time the eternal world. Our hope is not lost. Their hope of 2,000 years to be a free country, a free people in our country, Zion and Jerusalem. And we just heard Israeli President Isaac Herzog making an address to the nation. And Yakov, no surprise he's speaking today. I think after the news of the first casualties, real heavy casualties of the war within Gaza, 16 Israeli soldiers, young men, outstanding men, we saw the first funerals today. Staff Sergeant Levi Lipschitz, who was buried on Mount Herzog. And unfortunately, as we have been warned, there will be casualties here. And there will be a price to pay. And I think the President Herzog felt he had to speak today in order to sort of boost the home front at this time. Yes, to rally the National Morale to a certain degree. This is a life-loving country. And every son and daughter that falls in the service of the defense of this country is a heartbreak for everybody. And that's a very unique aspect of the Israeli people. It's a very admirable aspect. And as you said correctly, fighting through a terrorist army that's embedded in an urban, heavily populated, dense urban area is guaranteed to produce casualties tragically. And we are seeing the IDF trying to minimize those casualties, by enabling soldiers to call in airstrikes as much as they can, keeping the enemy at a certain distance when possible. But of course, we've also had close-quarter combat, face-to-face combat. And Hamas is hitting the IDF with RPG, anti-tank missiles, landmines, everything they've got. Let me ask you that, because that's already, that's raising concerns the use of these RPGs, the anti-tank missiles. By no means a new weapon. We've seen them already from World War II. Is there anything in the technology side that the IDF can do to minimize the impact? Look, when this ground offensive began, it started, it was led and it was trailblazed by armored vehicles, Merkava 4 tanks, Namir armored personnel carriers. These are the most advanced armored vehicles because they have active protection systems on them called Trophy. And they give it 360-degree protection in almost every case. There are always exceptions. There's no hermetic defense. And that was sort of the punch that came first and the infantry followed. And that is the safest way to do a ground offensive using this kind of technology. But nothing is 100%. And warfare is the kingdom of uncertainty, as is often said. There's just no way to eliminate the risk. It's just a very dangerous ground campaign. And I'm sure the IDF is going to continue to try and minimize that. But I think also the Israeli people will have to steal themselves, unfortunately, for further casualties. Right. I just wanted some news out of Washington. John Kirby, he is the spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House. Spoke a short time ago. He just related to the evacuations of Gaza residents who hold US citizenship saying it's an important first step or a good step in the right direction, significant breakthrough. He says there's a handful of Americans expected to debauch today. He was asked about some speculation about Gazans going into Egypt. He said that's not our policy and we know that President Sisi has been very firmly against any Gazans other than getting medical treatment coming into Egypt or the Sinai. But I do want to go back to a short clip of Kirby yesterday. Yesterday's briefing where he talked with this idea of humanitarian pauses, not ceasefires, but humanitarian pauses. We do believe that humanitarian pauses could be of value, but they have to be... You have to have... There has to be credible support on both sides here for where to do it, when to do it, for how long to do it, and for what purpose. And we're continuing to work with partners in the region, including those who have a direct line of communication with Hamas to see if that's possible. Humanitarian pauses, I think we used to call these just short ceasefires, or even just ceasefires, limited ceasefires. It's Secretary Blinken heading to Israel. He's going to probably press that on the Israeli military. Give us some sense of how that could impact on the military operation. Well, the spokesman there used the word credible, and I think the word credible in Hamas will never belong in the same sentence. You know, we're talking about a regime that sold us the story that it was interested in the economic welfare of the Ghazan people. A story which unfortunately was swallowed here in Israel as they were preparing a genocidal attack on the south. So now we're expected to believe that they're going to stick to a humanitarian ceasefire. I think that's a tall order to ask in light of everything that's happened. I also recall that in the 2014 conflict, there were a few of those that were arranged, and they were violated right in the middle, and soldiers were killed. 13 of those were violated. Right, site. I think that it's a tall order. Let's put it that way. All right, but there is going to be pressure from the West. Of course. Gentlemen, I want to move away not only from Gaza, from Israel and the international arena again, because the Israel Hamas war continues to stir passions abroad, including a surge in anti-Semitism in the U.S. and elsewhere. In the U.S., the Anti-Defamation League reports a 400 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents since October 7th. Now, the problem has been especially acute on North American university campuses. For example, Jewish students at Columbia University held a press briefing this week saying they felt safe on campus in the face of anti-Semitic threats and demanded that the administration take action. At Cornell University in upstate New York, a student was arrested yesterday for threatening in social media posts to kill all Jews at the school. Here's New York Governor Kathy Hockel speaking about that incident. Today, Jewish New Yorkers are experiencing the greatest increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes in decades. And I must ask, where are their allies now? For you can vigorously oppose Israel's response following the attack on their people, but still be vigorously opposed to terrorism, Hamas, anti-Semitism, and hate in all of its forms. We cannot allow any New Yorker to live in fear. For the day we are willing to accept that is the day that our moral compass has broken and spun out of control. Just yesterday, I sat with Jewish students at Cornell University. After receiving horrific threats on their lives online and hate mail sent to the dorms, they are understandably anxious. Some are fearful now of attending class or eating in the kosher dining hall. And I promise them that the state of New York would do everything in its power to protect them. I've sat with Jewish and Muslim meters across the state. I've spoken to the SUNY and CUNY chancellors and representatives of private universities to share our concerns about the consequences of free speech crossing the line into hate speech by both students and professors. And to ensure that they're following the laws that I just signed in September to require that hotlines and bias reporting are activated and ensure that complaints are actually filed up upon overall and just do more to protect our students. Joining us now is Jessica Brenner from New York City. She's a student at Barnard, that is the sister University of Columbia. She's one of those students there that has spoken out about the atmosphere of anti-Semitism there. In studio, we have Rabbi Shmuely Boteach a well-known American Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, author and television host. First of all, Jessica, let me just ask you give us a sense of the atmosphere what you've experienced other students there that led you and these other students to speak out the other day. It feels very charged on campus. You walk around. You feel like you don't feel safe. You don't know who wants your people to die. Who wants them to live, especially given the fact that many professors have come out in support of terrorism calling it military action and supporting those students who have also said the same thing. And there's been physical assault, verbal assault and so it feels very charged on campus. Right, so what are you demanding? What would you like to see? You heard perhaps Kathy Hople, the governor speak about the steps she's taking at her level. What would you like to see happen now with the administration of certainly of Columbia University? So today the administration actually has implemented an anti-Semitic task force that will address these issues to include more inclusion efforts and, you know, staff training and more educational opportunities for people to limit anti-Semitism on campus and I think that it's a really good first step in addressing the problem and I feel like the advocacy has worked and that the administration is getting the idea that we do not feel safe and they need to take they need to take action and they've started to take action and I think that it's a really great message for other college campuses throughout the country and the world that students don't feel safe and they need to follow Columbia's actions and implement some sort of safety measure as well to keep students safe on campuses Jessica, stay with us I'm just going to ask Rabbi Boteak to put this into the context what we're seeing on Columbia into the context of the surge of anti-Semitism across the United States and even in New York City, the cities the city we're from, the city with the largest Jewish population in the world to the point where people feel that you have this situation where people are going around tearing down these posters of the passages being put up across the city Yeah, in New York City, two and a half million Jews and we feel unsafe in a city that has become synonymous with a massive and influential Jewish presence there are two things that need to be done right now we know that for 2,000 years there's been anti-Semitism slaughter, holocaust, etc. The first thing we need to do is ensure that we are protected by the authorities that be so Governor Hockel, I just came from a Chevrolet Brachot for my son he just married last Thursday to another idea soldier we did the seventh blessings at the hostage vigil right here two miles away, first I felt a little bit insensitive, should we bring something celebratory but one of the fathers of the female hostages, Noah Marciano her father, Avi people are waiting to start living a more normal life while advocating for the freedom of the hostages, the destruction of Hamas we cannot be afraid, that's the second obligation that's on us, it's on students like Jessica to show no psychological fear that we are not terrorized I got Governor Chris Christie on the phone with Avi Marciano, who promised to raise the issue of the hostages in the GOP Republican debate in a few nights as a national issue, a presidential issue and then we got Robert F. Kennedy on the phone with him as well running as an independent for president who made the same pledge as an independent and the Democratic primaries, here's the point as JFK said, his uncle the torch has been passed to a new generation of the Holocaust, a 6 million martyrs who we mourn every day, we are a new generation born in freedom, born in liberty, we know that we have to fight back against this terror I'm sorry to scandalize your audience I'm going bike shorts, I came here by bike because I wanted to show here in Tel Aviv this is a world famous metropolis of 2 million people and Qasams have shut down this city, we dare not allow that we have to go on our bikes, we have to go outside we have to open the cafes, we have to open the restaurants we cannot hand Hamas this psychological victory we cannot hand it to the thugs at Harvard, the thugs at Princeton the thugs at Stanford, let's unite as a people, we are not the Holocaust generation, we know how to fight back we know how to fight back in social media we know how to fight back on Instagram we know how to fight back in Twitter we know how to fight back, thank God our brave soldiers even though we are losing many in the streets of Gaza and the alleys of Gaza we know how to fight back and the fight is ours we can't just give this to others it has to be our fight growing up and experiencing antisemitism and acts that we haven't seen which we in many many years how confident are you about going forward the atmosphere in America both in the university and of course outside the university as well for your generation that has to be going through this and growing up in this to be honest I'm very nervous for our generation people really take in misinformation, whatever they read they believe that it's true and it makes me very nervous especially given the fact that at my own school all of these professors came together to support terrorism and those are the professors that are teaching students they're teaching the next generation so what are we what are we going to do about that as a society to tackle this issue of misinformation what we need to take more action right just let me ask what's your message then speaking to your fellow students let's not just say just Jewish students because this has to be an effort that includes all students on campus as well what to using this platform now what would what do you have to say to both your fellow students on campus and maybe also to some of the faculty as well well I would say number one that it's important to get your facts straight so do your research learn about the conflict don't take everything you read at face value things you see on Tiktok things you see on Instagram you don't know if they're reputable sources so get the facts straight learn your history and and it should be the bare minimum to condemn terrorism and you can feel for the Palestinians but also say that terrorism is not okay and I think that people have a very hard time distinguishing between the two especially on campus and another message I would say is that really everyone should be advocating for themselves and speaking up and showing the world that what's happening is not okay but also we should everyone should be able to band together and unite during these extremely difficult times and I hope that everyone can find a way to do that all right Jessica Brenner from a Barnard thank you for joining us and thank you for speaking up there and speaking up for your principles and not always a welcoming environment thank you for joining us young people like that do give me some hope and optimism of course Rabbi Potech but speaking of young people as you said you're visiting here you have children here you have children serving in the IDF so I want to just get your impression you just said you had an IDF wedding with your own children maybe just tell us a little of your impression and coming and speaking with your sons in the IDF your children the morale of the soldiers could not be higher and I think we parents are kind of scared I just blessed my son Mendy a few minutes ago as he goes back they let him off a few hours to see his parents he's going back to the border we're the ones who are nervous the morale of the IDF could never be higher they feel that they are modern day Maccabees they know that this is an existential fight for Israel's future they know this is not like other wars this one is all about whether Israel will even continue God forbid because what Israel has allowed because we so value life we don't want to see soldiers die what we've allowed is three genocidal threats to really encroach upon Israel's very borders we have Hamas which is a genocidal bloodthirsty death call we have Hezbollah who are even worse and stronger than you have Iran their paymasters and then you have the smaller terrible criminal actors who feign innocence like Qatar Qatar is an evil wicked government and the United States should be telling them unless you exert pressure on Hamas to free those 200 hostages now we will move our air base we will cut off ties with you and the mirror of Qatar will be declared for what he is which is a criminal funder of terror my worries I don't see in the IDF in fact when we came here two weeks ago I saw a much more frightened Israel Tel Aviv then was truly a ghost town now you're beginning to see maybe at a tenth of the population that used to be out in the Namal at night that used to be out on the Khuf Tel Aviv on the coast slowly people are coming out of their homes they understand that the victory for terror is specifically a psychological victory and that's why we need young women like Jessica you know Khalif 30 years ago when I became the rabbi at Oxford University I was one of the first people to see a lot of progressivism embracing the Palestinian cause at the elite universities which is where the pro-Palestinians students focused, Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, etc then students were much more active suddenly became a tsunami of anti-Semitism and we became the Illuminati Jews became a secret society take off your Yamakas, take off your Mug and Davids we need the exact opposite right now never be bullied by a bully we need to see a nation that believes in itself that knows that this is an existential fight and ultimately we are going to win all of these signs that I see all around digital that are so inspiring that has to be translated from a slogan into real activism on the campuses on the streets Israelis have to experience it American Jews have to experience and European Jews have to show it all right Rabbi Shmuely Boteach thank you for joining us on I-24 news I want to move to a story that it really demonstrates Ronit Farm used to be an upscale events venue just northeast of Tel Aviv but days after the terror attack at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th where some 260 people were killed it reopened as a rehabilitation center for survivors of that horrific incident in order for them to heal from their trauma Dixie Arvin has that story Ronit Farm was established as a response to the attack that took place on October 7th after Hamas terrorists infiltrated into southern Israel killing 1,400 people and taking over 240 hostages Leanna Orr founder of the rehabilitation center opened its doors for those who lived through and witnessed the horrors of the attack we opened this immediately not knowing exactly what we're going to need within the first day we had many many psychologists and psychiatrists and people came so frozen and it was so hard for them to be verbal so we had them sitting on pillows and we had them doing reflexology or singing with a guitar and slowly slowly they opened up within the first two weeks the center was able to treat over 2,000 survivors of the attack Ronit Farm aims to serve as a safe space for young survivors to talk about their trauma and encourages them to open up about their harrowing experience to psychologists and therapists surrounded by nature the farm allows young people to recoup and recover in a relaxing setting it's hard how do you carry on being normal after surviving one of the largest terror attacks in all of Israel although survivors are seeking help to overcome the atrocities of the attack it will not be forgotten well just a little earlier we heard from Israel's president Isaac Herzog as it turns out his wife Israel's first lady Mikhail Herzog paid a visit to that Ronit Farm today she spoke to I-24 news this is what she had to say we don't completely yet grasp the ramifications of the event because it was atrocities that we've never seen sites that we didn't experience and also the numbers the sheer numbers of the people that were affected and it's also a secondary effect it's not only the people that experienced themselves but also people that see the screens people that see the sites were all affected and I think especially the young people need to believe again in good they need to believe again that there are good people in the world because they saw evil in front of their eyes the most horrific sites that one could see they had friends killed near them they were shot at they feel that they survived something horrible and they need to regain their self-confidence and their confidence in others first lady Mikhail Herzog I want to come back to studio Yakov give us a sense of where you think the next few days are gonna go in terms of Israel's operations there in Gaza I think there are two main things to watch first of all the ground forces are moving into Gaza city they're probably already quite deep in Gaza city deep in Gaza city according to some of the statements that were coming out from both sides it looks like some of those units are well in Gaza city now there are firefights occurring inside Gaza city and that also explains the spike in casualties and as that pressure amounts on Hamas how that will express itself in negotiations over hostages is one thing to watch Hamas's regime I think will start to shake its control over the Gaza Strip is already under a serious question mark you couldn't stop almost a million people moving from north to south so this regime is on its way to collapse it's a dramatic development and the terror army is gonna hang in there for a while longer because it's built to sustain these kinds of blows and to keep going but slowly but surely in a very phased and measured pace the idea isn't going as fast as it can it's definitely going at half speed here but it's moving in a very consistent manner and then what we really have to watch at the same time is the decision that Hezbollah in Iran will have to make in the coming days when the operation intensifies will they enter the war will Hezbollah enter the war in a full-scale manner or not that threat in my opinion has not yet been lifted the decision has not yet been made and we have to be careful because the northern arena could theoretically end up becoming the primary war arena here aren't the signs though Ariel certainly the comments that we've heard today out of Iran indicate that Iran is playing a cautious game and perhaps we don't want to see Hezbollah again use its powder so to speak on a battle that is already maybe on its way being lost in Gaza well I think if we look at actions on the ground the head of the commander the Kuds Force in Beirut meeting with Lebanese officials obviously with Hezbollah leadership following the visit of Iran's foreign minister at the beginning of the war just shows how Iran is really micromanaging this event they're keeping tabs on all the different fronts and I think if they choose to have Hezbollah engaged in a full-scale manner it will happen it's all up to a decision by Iran in cooperation with Hezbollah and so they're in no rush obviously they run in themselves saying that they're not going to fight for the sake of others they want others to fight for their sake and so that's what's happening that's why we're also seeing an amplification of the Houthis involvement in what's going on it's easier to activate the Houthis than Hezbollah but indeed we're seeing that Iranians are trying different methods to see what works best, what engages Israel in different capabilities and no threat is off the table at this stage Alright Ariel Osteran, Yakov Lapin thank you for joining us on this broadcast let's leave you with another story of the volunteer spirit in Israel, two powerful women a Jewish social entrepreneur Bedouin Arab Israeli lawyer for social justice have created a joint program that has become a lifeline for Jews and for Bedouin Arab communities of the south that were most affected by the October 7th massacre Emily Francis went down to the city of Rahat where you could see firsthand the solidarity and triumph of that spirit even in the darkest of times in a show of unity that is beyond words thousands of Arab and Jewish volunteers are coming together for one common goal it's not about a war between Jews and Arabs it's a war between darkness and light and we have to use this opportunity to straighten the solidarity the understanding that we are in it together, that we are partners we are partners both in the heavy price that we paid and we are still paying but we are also partners in the healing process this is a strong message that we can send to all the world here that even that we are suffered and we are inside the struggle and the war still we believe in peace and we believe that we can live together and work together to save the situation here before the war Sheer Nozatsky, a Jew and Hanan Alsana an Arab social justice lawyer joined forces to create Have You Seen the Horizon the first Arab and Jewish emergency center in Israel little did they know that the tragic events of October 7th would turn their vision into a nationwide lifeline and the community center of Rahat Israel's largest Arab-Israeli city has become a sea of boxes supplies and unity between Jews and Arabs in the last two weeks we have been sending over 2,000 packages to families both Jewish families and Arab families that were hurt by the attack there are 50% going to the Arab society, 50% going to the Jewish society Fatima Qadar is a Bedouin Arab preschool teacher who is rolling up her sleeves and delivering supplies in her small Bedouin village called Qfar Zarnoq did you know that Bedouin Arab Israelis are among the hostages in Gaza and many were also brutally murdered on October 7th including a pregnant woman who was a mother of nine She was driving a car pregnant with her husband and an eight months old baby and she was wearing hijab an Islamic scarf and they were speaking Arabic and this attacker came and shot her and her husband I just spoke to him they let nine kids nine kids without their mother and he said they didn't care that she was not Jewish that she was Muslim that she was Arabic we're seeing how the world is reacting but what is the feeling inside in general of Arab Israelis in this country we are Arab and we have families also in Gaza and also in Lebanon and in Jordan there is a family like Fatoum that her family in Gaza killed from the bombs but still she's coming here and working to help support the families for Jew and Arab In Rahat in southern Israel Emily Francis, I-24 News Well it is important that we remember all the communities in Israel that have been both affected by the events of October 7th and after and also are contributing in the battle I just want to say a final word for those fallen soldiers who have given their lives outstanding young men in the battle in Gaza once more time I say may their memories be a blessing thank you for joining us on this segment on I-24 News and stay with the channel 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 more than 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped help us we don't want to do we just don't know anything entire families including babies and children and elderly were butchered in their beds awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong everyone is showing up this is the unity of an immediate cooperation with the lives of everyone this week on news 24 Israel under attack news 24 in Spanish brings the analysis and the information of the events of the war, sword of iron exclusive interviews and reports from the war zone the reaction of the Spanish-speaking countries news 24 the only medium in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel I-24 News guests here on I-24 News as we continue our rolling coverage day 26 of the war in Israel and day 5 of the ground operation the fog of war slowly fading the idea of getting deeper into the Gaza Strip and circling dismembering creating a new Gaza city envelope if you will enveloping and then tightening and then pressing some more it's not just a ground maneuver but maneuvering the ground and once you're in the risk of holding back might be greater than the one of moving forward and yes it comes with a price a painful one 16 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the fighting but a price is determined not just by the sum but by the worth and their families even in this most volatile stage of grieving are only asking one thing that's rather will not be in vain will not stop until it wins and when you listen to Hamas official Hazi Ahmad today committing to redo October 7th massacre as many times as possible it's clear there is no other choice let's take a listen to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today we're in a difficult war it will also be a long war so far we have achieved important goals but there are painful losses we know that each of our soldiers is a whole world and I say to the dear families the entire nation of Israel is with you in your time of pain unbearably difficult grief we embrace you from the bottom of our hearts and as all of France are profoundly intertwined we want to begin this broadcast up north I-24 news correspondent Robert Swift with the I-24 news team there on the ground Robert another day back and forth if you will on the Lebanon border still in the frameworks of scrimmages it's been business as usual on the Israeli Lebanese border it's been quiet for the last 5-6 hours but prior to that there was an exchange of fire with Hezbollah forces using mortars and anti-tank weapons around the Shtullah community which is right on the border in the middle of the border region the Israeli military responded to this with aerial fire and with tank fire targeting the anti-tank team and the mortar team responsible for that fire yes Robert we are seeing a slow and careful progress in the south perhaps also to an extent not to give Hezbollah an excuse to get all in yeah it's kind of a waiting game here it's the impression given is that both forces are eyeing each other up across the border both are exchanging fire but neither one of them necessarily wants to get drawn into something larger Israel has its hands full in the south sees no reason to commit unnecessary forces up here if it can concentrate its firepower in the south and at the same time it's not clear yet that Hezbollah wants to fully engage wants to suffer the penalty that Israel will exact from it if it is to go full in there is a speech anticipated in two days time from the commander of Hezbollah Nazrallah many people are wondering if that will be a moment where he chooses to throw the dice to go in a bit deeper but it is unclear if that will be the case or if Hezbollah will be happy to continue gesturing as it has throughout this war paying their dues so to speak at this point in time and let's hope it indeed stays this way 24 news correspondent Robert Swift thank you very much for this and joining us now in studio for this broadcast Mr. Benjamin Anthony CEO of the Miriam Institute and our very own I-24 New Senior Middle East correspondent Darryl Osirand thank you gentlemen very much for joining us so as said at the beginning of the broadcast what we're seeing is an attempt to split the strip so to speak to seclude fighting areas and dividing the space simply put earlier this evening Ali Rear Admiral Daniela Garry idea of spokesperson he said that idea forces have broken through Hamas's front lines and front lines of defense in northern Gaza and earlier today one of the battalion commanders who are leading the force was leading the forces inside Gaza said that the forces are at the gates of Gaza city so let's break down the advance of the forces and where their activity is concentrating so we're talking about three main points of activity in the northeastern part of the Gaza Strip around the Bayt Chanun area now most of those areas are agricultural areas they're approaching the first line of homes that is that area now in the northwest we're talking about El Karame Bayt Lahia but also mainly the coastal road trying to make their way down from north to south the third and perhaps the key point of activity of idea forces right now is south of Gaza city in the Mitzarim intersection the goal here is to rush to the coast and basically connecting with the forces coming down on the coastal road basically isolating Gaza city and circling it but not only that also severing the Gaza Strip into two perhaps three sections now what to look for one is the chief of hospital it's believed to be the home of Hamas main command underground command center that's located here west of Gaza city as well as Jabalia where recent airstrikes have been focusing yesterday there was a significant airstrike that took down took out the head of the Jabalia forces we're talking about Ibrahim Biyari who was basically has been managing the fight on part of Hamas commanding the forces of northern Gaza fighting against Israel he was eliminated yesterday in Jabalia today idea forces taking out Muhammad at the head of Hamas anti-tank units the entire the commander of the entire anti-tank array was taken out and these anti-tank missiles are what's posing the most significant challenge to the advancement of the forces most of IDF soldiers who have been killed since Friday since the ground invasion began in a limited scope most of them have been killed in this manner and also another point to mention today the IDF dropping leaflets above Gaza to reiterate its call for the residents of northern Gaza to make their way south ahead of a pending ground invasion well before we we talk what's happening down south and further south to the border with Egypt let's you mentioned a real IDF spokesperson rather Daniel Agari let's take a quick listen to some of his remarks today as was published yesterday we eliminated the commander of the Jabalia battalion Ibrahim Biari he was a murderous terrorist who was also responsible for a significant area from which the terrorists left to the massacre of October the 7th but beyond that he was a senior terrorist who dominantly directed the fighting in northern Gaza we killed him his death occurred while he was situated inside the Jabalia refugee camp with dozens of additional terrorists in a compound with command headquarters and underground facilities was situated inside buildings within the civilian refugee camp striking him caused the collapse of the building and of underground infrastructure tunnels that was under the camp and caused the further collapse of the building structures this demonstrates again the cynical use the murderous terrorists are making as human shields of civilian population that we have called on to evacuate to the south for their own safety this is a cynical tactic that they will continue to employ as the fighting goes on I'm back here in the studio with Mr. Benjamin Anthony we're talking about the very tough envelope again of Gaza city urban fighting and also a different set of risks if you will let's talk about some of the positives that are going on when it comes to murdering and killing babies and women and children so forth obviously Hamas seems to have found itself equal to that task in the most appalling way when it comes to combating terrorists when it comes to face to face battles between the Israel defense forces and Hamas fighters or terrorists we are winning that fight very very clear there we prevail there we will continue to prevail and there actually has not been a single encounter in which we have not prevailed in the context of this war I'm not talking about the days of old I'm talking about right now in addition to that what's very interesting is you're not seeing Hamas leak pictures of dead Israeli soldiers or dead terrorists or any such thing why because when it comes to what they're seeking in terms of the propaganda war in the battlefield and interestingly enough they're also asking Gaza residents not to publish things online completely opposite to their strategy they are completely unable to claim anything that looks like victory whatsoever it's very very positive I also want to go back to the map that was shown it gives a very clear idea when one analyzes the satellite images coming out of the United States about where the fighting is over in those towns that were mentioned about 19 to 25 percent of the buildings were flattened by way of our aerial bombardment if you go down to the south however where the Israel defense was in the government is urging the Gazans to move to get out of the out of the striking zone if you will there's about three or four percent so all of those who allege that we're not keeping them safe when we urge them to move down south the Gazan civilians completely false the photographs prove it to be the case we are asking them to go where it's safe and we ensure their safety there and before I ask you to elaborate about the human it is dubbed humanitarian relief as if you're doing a favor but it is actually a tool to be used as part of the goals of the award the objectives of this war but before we address that mentioned the the American satellite and I want to segue to the American stance in this respect obviously there is a much evident American trauma from their experiences in Mosul etc and they want to prevent Israel from doing the same mistakes and yet there's a completely different ballgame because in Mosul for example you had ISIS fighters roaming the streets with weapons etc but here we're talking about ten years of well orchestrated underground infrastructure that was established it's not the same it's not the same and you've just expressed one difference let me talk about another difference the fact of the matter is that unlike in Mosul the troops taking the fight to the terrorists in this case are IDF soldiers what can the IDF soldiers see from their forward operating positions they can see the homes that they're defending they can see the people they're defending they can see the houses in which their parents live and to which they want to return in good conscience once the guns have fallen silent and that will come it will take a long time but that will come a key difference that quite frankly it's very difficult to understand if one hasn't actually served and fought here from our forward operating positions you can often times see the very homes that you're defending that didn't happen in Mosul No it did not and Ariel I do want us to talk about the humanitarian aspect later on this week this weekend your Secretary of State Blinken is going to arrive here once again and we know it is a pressing issue for the Americans and rightfully so perhaps it should also be an Israeli objective in the sense that it buys time and at this point in time you need time Indeed I just want on the heels of the last issue another key difference I think that we're missing out on is that ISIS was an external force to rule these territories in Syria and Iraq and they conquered it very quickly so they were ruling over people that weren't their own and they it took them not a long time to do it. In Gaza Hamas has been in power since 2006 they're entrenched deeply with a social infrastructure and they were voted in by the local population so that's why we need to keep an eye on it as well the Americans under war against ISIS conducted 18,000 airstrikes in Iraq 13,000 airstrikes in Syria and Gaza Strip is the most densely populated strip of land on the planet so that's to put that in context. Now as for the humanitarian situation and the different demands from the US we have seen today in a Qatar-immediated agreement the Rafah border crossing also allowing humanitarian aid to go in roughly 70 trucks but also for the first time since the war began to allow four nationals to exit the Gaza Strip the Hamas-controlled Gaza border crossing authority saying that the Rafah crossing will remain open until tomorrow to complete this extraction this is something that the Americans have pushed for significantly for that. As for the humanitarian aid I think the question the only the key question for Israel is whether down the line this will also include fuel. And we will get back to that in a second and also the point of course of foreigners leaving the strip and this is perhaps a hint to what is to come in terms of of patients from hospitals leaving to Egypt which will make it somewhat easier to address the Sheif hospital and many other hospitals that are being used as terror infrastructures but we do want to jump now down south that 24 news senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev joining us Jonathan that is the fifth day of the ground the idea of fighters reaching places that no Israeli soldier stepped on in over 20 years what does it look like? Yes, let's remember the Gaza Strip is a very narrow place meaning that if Israeli soldiers are in for what two and a half three kilometers that's roughly halfway from the border until the sea and this seems to be the what the Israeli army is looking for cutting the Gaza Strip at least for now into two the north from where civilians were asked to leave for weeks now to head to the southern region and of course the southern Gaza Strip this seems to be the aim of the Israeli army coming to the Gaza shores from two different directions and basically cutting it to two first would be taking care of the northern part then I would assume taking care of the southern part it sounds very easy when we speak about it but it's a difficult task which comes with casualties with prices we've seen that in the past 24 36 hours and this seems to be the plan and Jonathan we mentioned here in studio earlier the issue of the Rafa crossing not just in but now out are we likely to see more of this in the coming days? At least tomorrow for tomorrow the answer is yes it is expected to be open tomorrow for wounded people out of Gaza and for foreigners living in Gaza Americans and not only Americans to leave to Egypt at least until tomorrow it is said to open and of course for trucks sending in humanitarian assistance I'm hoping it's just medicine and water and nothing above that which could lead to which could fall into the hands of Hamas but then I can just hope that these are well inspected before crossing into the Gaza Strip Well let you hope it is more than just a hope it is a practice and I'm quite sure that this is indeed the case I-24 News Senior Defense Correspondent Jonathan Regev thank you very much for this and speaking to that point exactly Mr. Anthony the fuel is perhaps the archimedes point of this war it will all come down to this and we do hear those calls that there is no fuel and yet proof today that Hamas is still engaged in stealing it no other way to put it There's absolutely no truth to the idea there's a shortage of fuel Minister of Defense who I've guaranteed is updated about that particular issue on a daily basis why is he updated on that issue why does the Minister of Defense make a point of being briefed on that because his counterpart in the United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has telephoned him to repeatedly emphasise number one that activities be undertaken in a manner in accordance with international humanitarian law as though anybody needs to lecture incidentally the state's a visitor on how that's done we do that regularly and often unfortunately as we brought into these conflicts but second and yet it is good that there's a constant American monitoring on cooperation you know because time will come and answers will have to be provided and there you have an extra kosher stamp if you would and of course it's very easy to give lip service to the idea of humanitarian aid and the supply of fuel and so on and so forth while still giving full backing to the military operations taking place there I do want to say one thing though about the the access or the giving of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip let's remember our first humanitarian cause here our first humanitarian cause is to get our hostages back from inside the Gaza Strip and I think and I'm not the only voice that thinks this is sounding its fist on the table and saying if there's humanitarian aid going in there are hostages coming back out those are our conditions you want food you want aid you want fuel even dare I say it we want our hostages back and we really need to emphasize that anything going into the Gaza Strip is conditioned upon a humanitarian gesture namely hostages coming back yeah again Israel perhaps the only country on this planet that has to be sorry when it is protecting itself had to apologize we do want to address now yet another front of this war if Hamas and Hezbollah were not enough the Houthis are now making making it their problem too chain of attacks by Iranian Houthis in Yemen which included the launching ballistic missiles and drones at Israel's southern tip haven't posed a direct strategic threat but there's our Middle East correspondents are also on their reports they could have consequences on other fronts and could force the Saudis and the Americans to take this launch as Israel deepens its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and with controlled but escalating clashes in the West Bank and with Hezbollah in the north a new front is emerging but not exactly on Israel's borders our armed forces have launched a large barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles as well as a significant number of drones at various targets of the Israeli enemy the Yemeni armed forces affirm that this operation is the third in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine more qualitative strikes with missiles and drones will continue until the Israeli aggression ceases the IDF said its Arrow air defense system intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Iranian backtoothies in Yemen towards the southern city of Elat fighter jets downed multiple drones following another attack early Wednesday morning the IDF deployed a Navy missile ship to the Red Sea we are prepared on the Red Sea front as well as in every area of the state of Israel for defense we also know how to attack in the place and time of our choosing for any security interest of Israel anywhere we are required to operate in this violent show of solidarity initiated by Iran comes to prove the existence of a united front against Israel but maybe not entirely united as Iran's most hardline newspaper Kayhan published on Tuesday in editorial titled Iran does not go to war for the sake of others in other words let the people of Gaza Lebanon and Yemen die into fighting with Israel but not Iranians if this war is not stopped immediately and joint attacks against civilians the women and children of Gaza by America and Israel are not halted then the consequences for those who are waging this war will be grave the Houthis attacks are also meant to send a diplomatic message to neighboring Saudi Arabia and through it to Washington and the match lit in Yemen may force the Saudis and Americans to take a stance and perhaps even join the fray back here in the studio with Benjamin Anthony and Riela Saran well Mr Anthony the hint to what is happening down south perhaps lie rather of what happening up north lying in the far south as in Yemen because it's not Yemen it's yet another Iranian tentacle so maybe the use of the Houthis means another tentacle the Hezbollah can rest I don't know about whether or not Hezbollah can rest and I'll address myself to that in just a moment but the Houthis are a long time issue for the state of Israel because of course it's through the Houthis that Iran oftentimes smuggles contraband gets it to them they then move it up the Red Sea and it comes into Gaza through the Rafiq crossing it's a huge problem but I think what you're seeing taking place is this effort to distract the state of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces from the focal point that being the Gaza Strip so you're getting harassment on the northern border with Hezbollah you're getting harassment towards Elat now from the Houthis and that's going to continue I personally have to say and I've said it many many times I'm of the view that Hezbollah should be hit now by the Israel Defense Forces we should not be in this situation I'm amazed that we are where after we see our enemies so willing to initiate a conflict with us we have Hezbollah, we're awaiting word from Hasan Nasrallah who's going to come out of his banker and give a speech proverbially of course that should not be the situation for someone else to call the shots absolutely not, given what we've just faced we need to completely break the old conception of what needs to be done and we need to go and defang Hezbollah's aerial capabilities not completely, we won't get that done immediately but severely severely degrade them so that we can then act with greater impunity as I say inside the Gaza Strip let's get rid of that threat, let's reduce it and then let's focus on toppling Hamas and bringing our hostages home at some point you'll have to send northern residents back home and how can you do that when you have a ticking bomb a ticking bomb, that's exactly right because whether it happens now or in two years or five years a mother should please her child to go to bed at night and know that they're safe and this is going to erupt from the north sooner or later I say let's make the first strike now and you know what to that sense there's already a lot of talk here in Israel about the defense mechanisms that will be or should be established now to build the wall again and this defensive measure but if you will once again invest so much in guarding yourself it means security is not restored theoretically speaking we should reach a point Israel rather should reach a point in which it can block a line and descend and no one will cross it two days ago I was in Mishmar Ha'imek which is a kibbutz that's taken in the residence of Nachal Oz and I was sitting there with a young man by the name of Amir Tibon he's been in the headlines because his father Noam Tibon who was the former commander of the northern formation came and saved him and his daughters when their house was being raided by these Hamas terrorists and he said something very clear he said this war will only run and we will only be willing to go back to Nachal Oz when I know that I can let my children play in the fields there without fear what does that require it requires the toppling of Hamas completely will that be achieved I frankly don't know Ariel before we take a quick break what is the biggest challenge now when we're talking about the fighting industry the biggest challenge is the advancement of the forces they're being targeted mainly their armored vehicles are being targeted by anti-tank guided missiles albeit Israel took out the head of the entire anti-tank array of Hamas today we're talking about Mohammad Atsar but obviously as what we're seeing now is preparation for a more significant perhaps a second wave I'm not this isn't a secret because this is what the IDF dropped in leaflets in Gaza earlier today but the advancement of the forces establishing points of points deep inside the Gaza Strip that is a significant challenge because you have an even Hamas today shared video footage of their terrorists coming out from under the ground sometimes adjacent to the forces sometimes even behind the forces they're out exposed one two minutes tops they shoot their anti-tank missile and then they're making their way back underground and so that is a significant challenge as the forces move forward and that's a challenge that is going to they're going to be faced with throughout this campaign because beneath the Gaza Strip there are hundreds perhaps thousands of kilometers of tunnels and again ten years of investments in those terror infrastructures now coming to the moment of truth we're taking a quick break but we'll be back with our rolling coverage in a few don't go anywhere 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 I'm back to this special broadcast here on I-24 news now until a month ago Israel was torn over issues that seems to belong to a different universe for example what their females should be allowed to serve in certain combat unit well after you'll watch this I'm pretty sure you too will say case closed on that Saturday morning as they rampage through southern Israel dozens of terrorists also attack the city of and tried to take over the police station one of the police officers at the station was master sergeant more Shakuri a 29-year-old resident of the city she called me and said mom it's important for me that you know that if I don't survive I love you I love dad and take care of my sister when they realized that there were terrorists outside the station several police officers went up to the roof and fought them from there they remain there for 8 hours fighting a non-stop battle while steroids standby squads fought the terrorists from the outside her commander came to me at 7 o'clock and told me she let us said how many were injured she was a medic with everyone and believe me I didn't even feel that she was in distress I know more she does not give up if she was a coward she would be alive with me Moore was supposed to get married in June to her partner David he's also a police officer she was killed during a battle she was leading and she shot terrorists and rescued the wounded and in the end protected the residents of the south it's not something giving us the strength that in the end she fought until her last minute and was a hero they found her with drawn pistols 4 cartridges on her do you understand and with all the pain I'm proud of her that she contributed and safeguarded us for 4 years we were on the same path she was simply a fighter the late captain Edyn Neemery a squad commander in the artillery corps was supposed to complete her service as a swimmer but decided she wanted to serve as a fighter on Saturday morning she was with her team at the base in Naha'oz when terrorists broke into it we got up on Saturday with the intention of having a picnic at the base at the outpost which is not her outpost she has been serving on the northern border for the past year she had just replaced a team that was there on holiday and we planned to come to her to have a picnic there when they realized that the base had been infiltrated she and her team in bed and barefoot in pajamas they went out to fight the terrorists Edyn and her team ran to the protected area where they already found something like 30 terrified female observers she and four female warriors were the only ones with weapons she took the side that was closer to the entrance and everything was quiet and with the gestures she pointed where to aim drew the weapon terrorists entered and her female warriors and Edyn eliminated them the photo that Edyn actually took as you can see that at first she was really with them on this side if you think it was a protected broom well she was initially on the exposed side and then she jumped to the other side to cover the other opening Edyn stayed fighting and was killed by terrorist fire only two and a half days later did her family receive the notification of her death she was always a fighter always wanted to be equal among equals swimming, whether in theater whether in school graduation ceremonies she didn't feel unequal she thought she deserved it she was always ahead I am angry with her, yes she shouldn't have been there on Saturday morning 90 newly enlisted recruits were at the Zikim base at the gate sergeant Edyn Alon Levy a rescue fighter was with one of the rookies she immediately understood the danger about 10 terrorists arrived there equipped with RPGs, grenades they started shooting at them and the staff the officers joined her in the battle her entire staff fell with her six including Edyn along with another recruit were killed in this battle and managed to prevent the occupation of the camp and save the recruits I think that Edyn's story undoubtedly proves how much female fighters can do and even more I am just proud of her and hope I can be as brave as her yes, she is simply a hero everyone's hero Edyn had finished a military training course two months ago and was supposed to go on to officers course in addition, she was supposed to go to pilot training in a week after she decided that there were other targets she hadn't conquered what do you miss the most? that she came here to harass me even when I didn't have the strength you come here and just run out of energy get straight into bed and she just come, yell at me like, what's going on in this I miss her teasing, she should come and tease big time I just want her to come out in this war more and more heroic stories of brave women are being reported we know so far that 37 female soldiers were killed 7 female police officers a shin bet woman and a paramedic on duty women who paid with their lives while others continue to fight even now and so with us here in studio Mr. Benjamin Anthony, CEO of I-24 News, Senior Middle East Correspondent Doreal Osiron and also joining a semester Daniel Shek, former Israeli Ambassador to France thank you gentlemen so very much for staying and joining us Ambassador Shek I do want to begin with you because the US is illustrating a very clear line here a new axis of evil if you will Saudi Arabia will have sooner or later two sides and judging by its more than careful, more careful than careful behavior let's put it that way since October 7 it seems it's not the swan song for the normalization bid we're all guessing now because everything is in turmoil and nobody can make a real assessment but my guess is that strategically the goals of Saudi Arabia have not changed to cut a deal with the United States a very far reaching one and that includes normalization with Israel for two reasons one it's in their interest they are interested in it and the second is that the United States will need such a normalization agreement now this might be complicated because we're getting closer to the American election we don't know how long this war will last because clearly while the war is lasting all this is on hold it's not off the table but it's on hold and time is not in favor of all this so it might get a little bit more complicated down the road but if you want the most optimistic scenario then this big regional deal might be part of the exit strategy from the war and I do want to circle back or rather connect the dots here Ariel Asaron to the Houthi component of what we're seeing now it's definitely an act of Axis solidarity if you will it's not really changing the course of war when it comes to Israel Hamas but it can reignite these Saudi Iranian tensions very easily two things on that point one, just a few moments ago the spokesperson for the Houthi Ziaheh Salih so he announces that the Houthis launched what he calls a large batch of drones were launched during the past hours at several targets deep within the Zionist entity in other words for Israel the idea has not commented on this yet we know that all the interceptions that have taken place they were far away from the city and so this could have happened and we haven't heard about it yet but we're waiting for confirmation from the IDF now as for where the Saudis find themselves in this equation so they've been fighting the Houthis for years now and haven't been able to really break them they headed an international coalition with the UAE and other actors but there's been a ceasefire for just over a year that ceasefire was broken lately and over the weekend four Saudi soldiers were killed and they're on full alert on the border with Yemen and so not only that, the Saudis also intercepted five of the ballistic missiles that were launched towards Israel that is an issue that is under-reported and should be mentioned that not only the US found Houthi drones and ballistic missiles but also the Saudis and that shows where they find themselves it has been reported but it's under-reported it is a very significant deal and I think the fact that the Iranians are activating the Houthi card will force the Saudis to take an active stance maybe faster than they would have liked to and that continues to progress and I do want us to say in the Gulf but shift the focus Qatar continues to play servant of all masters more than two everyone who wants really but when it comes to the hostage release efforts Mr. Anthony the contacts and again it comes on the heels of not just the Mossad chief visit in Doha for minister the contacts the flow is more or less as follows the American envoy is pressing the Qataris who in turn press the Hamas leadership abroad sitting in Doha and then they are applying pressure on Iqiz Sinouar in the Gaza Strip broken telephone so to speak bottom line being Mr. Anthony that by the time that the message is getting to Iqiz Sinouar it is much much softer I think there's a bigger problem to all of this quite frankly I think that the major problem is the dynamic that you've described results in one thing the state of Israel is not in charge of this negotiation it isn't even in some cases an active participant let alone being in charge that has got to change and that's why I said to you earlier on in the program that any humanitarian relief that's provided to the Gaza Strip must be conditioned on something back from the Gaza Strip in return namely that for which we've gone to war in part one of the primary goals of this war hostages coming back to the state of Israel safely we are seeing a ratcheting up of the psychological warfare by Hamas they're talking about releasing trunches of hostages they're talking about being close to releasing 50 hostages at the time last week this cannot be allowed to continue humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip must result in hostages coming home and later on in the program we'll really talk about something that is mind blowing the odacity of the Red Cross who is not demanding answers regarding the status of nine month old Kfir Biba now ten month old very soon because nearly a month in captivity by Vile Hamas he's not insisting on information about his well-being but is insisting on making sure that the security prisoners in Israel will will receive humane treatment we will get back to that in a second but I do want us to talk about another player here perhaps a more silent one when it comes about being proactive yet very crucial Jordan recalling its ambassador today Mr. Shekin also telling Israeli Foreign Minister you know what don't bother sending your envoy back to Amman is it merely symbolic or relations at serious risk well even if it's symbolic symbolic it still counts I mean it matters certainly in diplomacy and certainly when things are very sensitive as they are today so yeah it's a significant move I can't say that it's a terribly surprising move there's a lot of pressure I mean there are bigger experts than I am on Jordanian realities but clearly this is a difficult moment for the Jordanian regime there's a lot of pressure mostly internal and this is sort of the strict minimum in order to try and appease potential rioting and potential mass demonstrations honestly I mean I look I hear many Israelis shocked by demonstrations around the world in the western countries and so on they are infuriating and they are annoying but they don't really concern me riots in the Arab world do concern me because they can have a real impact on the policies of their governments which is not the case in western Europe and I'm just hoping that this is not going to get out of hand because it could kick us back 40 years in our status in the region if it jeopardizes the peace agreement with Jordan and possibly even with Egypt then that is a really big problem I just want to say in response to what the ambassador said and thank you for bringing his diplomatic experience to the table I take a different view on what was just described I think that the riots that are taking place in America are infuriating as the ambassador said there should be a deep, deep concern to anybody who is interested in a sustained strategic alliance with the United States of America which is clearly our most important strategic partner in the world the fact of the matter is that what goes on on the street does pull politicians to heal and what's going on on the campuses those students of today will be the policy makers of tomorrow they are anti-Semitic in many cases they are anti-Jewish, they are intimidating the Jewish people and that will bleed into the political realm so I just want to say I don't think that we can say that what's taking place in Europe and in the United States is million infuriating it poses a very real risk to us and yet perhaps just to add or underline what Ambassador Sheik was saying the Defense Minister reiterating the importance of transferring the money to the Palestinian Authority as a stabilizing actor in curbing potential uprising in the West Bank which is always an option on the table so perhaps in this respect also the incentive to curb any uprising there is of paramount importance but we do want to pause just for a minute from all the strategic analysis and the tactical thinking and talk about what's happening inside of us another key component of the long enduring war remember Bialik it's not those rags atop of a mast that make the ship going but the wind or rather the spirit as it goes in Hebrew we're heading now to Talia Levanon CEO of the Israel Trauma Coalition thank you very much Talia Levanon for joining us well we're facing a new wave of loss no really other way to define it and after the shock and the horror of October 7th now it's the soldiers in Israel it means our sons and our brothers and our fathers and what keeps striking me Talia as we open the broadcast that we mentioned it is what the families of those brave soldiers are saying that they only wish for one thing that their death will not be in vain a very big expression we're talking about a very big population that has been exposed for a very long time to loss and grief and now also anxiety and trauma and we are not at the end of anything yet we still have a lot of uncertainty ahead nobody knows what will happen in the next few weeks and that adds to the anxiety plus there is the psychological effect of the hostages and so many of us are holding our breath while dealing with the loss people lost their homes not only loved ones they lost part of their families not only soldiers and so this is a very a very crucial moment psychologically and emotionally for many of us absolutely and then it is all of course still ongoing and we're all under immense stress obviously but it is also perhaps important to differentiate between the understandable anxiety and gloom and what perhaps needs medical attention and that these are different levels of mental distress so currently the anxiety and the fear people are feeling are very normal and it needs to be addressed that it is normal people should know that what they are feeling whether it's anger or shame or fear or even physical reactions is very normal and it should be acknowledged and it should be legitimized for parents to say to the children it's okay to be afraid it's okay to cry and for people themselves to say it's okay and you think the majority of people are suffering from normal reactions to a very non-normal situation as Victor Franklin coined this is really and not a normal experience beyond beyond anything we could we couldn't have thought about this and so people are reacting in a very strong way to a very difficult situation but there I believe that we are slowly finding some threats to basic values of compassion and humanity which are very important and hope which are very important and perhaps before we let you go briefly Talia if you may amidst all this darkness there's a great great light the sense of togetherness if you will how can we maintain it how can we utilize it into a sense of both individual and collective resilience because again it has a great importance when we're talking about the war itself underground that all those people the home front will remain resilient I'm a very optimistic person usually but one of the main things that keeps the sense of hope and resilience is the feeling of community and the support which is a little difficult to maintain while people are in different different separate hotels some communities are divided into two or three hotels so it's not very easy feeling safe in a hotel room it's not like feeling safe but still we do find as I said we do find I wouldn't say a big light but we do find some support and a lot of a lot of evidence of sharing the same experience and the moving on together Tanya Levinon thank you very much for speaking to us yeah and may we all find a way to stay resilient and together to stick together very much more important than all else thank you now back to diplomacy Jerusalem is perhaps the opposite of Vegas whatever happens in Jerusalem never stays there every single country have something to say right so now Bolivia is severing ties with Israel threatening to trigger a Latin American domino effect let's take a listen based on its principled stance of respect towards life Bolivia has decided to break diplomatic relations with the Israeli state in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip which threatens national peace and security Ambassador Shek also chili in Colombia recalling on voice today but interestingly enough ambassador and perhaps my observation here is not accurate please correct me if I'm wrong you're never wrong you'll be you'll be surprised sir but yeah alright so perhaps the opposite of what we're saying in Europe in the sense that the leadership there the administrations are siding with Israel very intuitively very easily so to speak the masses not so much in Latin America in many places at least it's somewhat the opposite the people like Israel the administrations not so much yeah well I've never served in Latin America so I'm not I'm not completely familiar with the general atmosphere on the streets but it has to be said that it's a region where relations with Israel in several countries are fragile yes for quite a while and in many cases these are sort of extreme left-wing governments that simply don't like the idea of of Israel and take sides very clearly for the Palestinian cause some of them have large Arab and even Palestinian communities in their countries domino effect could be but it has limits because there are you know Brazil I mean with all due respect to Bolivia yeah incidentally I'm part of the forum of the families of the abducted people and we arranged for a zoom meeting with president Lula for several families cannot be blamed for being in Israel into a specific and so but there are casualties diplomatically and there will be a few more and they could I mean not in the same manner but in Western Europe you might you might reach a point where with certain governments without obviously severing relations or anything like that relations will become more strained and simply administrations becoming more critical and that takes us back to the timing issue to the diplomatic clock if you will Mr Anthony how can Israel elongate it on the one hand and also make sure that its objectives are reached within a certain time frame that we know will not last forever you know I'm sorry that I might cross here as a bit of a prophet of doom and I know that everybody wants to bang the drum of Hossin and unity and so forth but you raised a very interesting point earlier on in the broadcast we've come to this war at a deeply disunited point in the history of the state of Israel those rifts I'm afraid still exist and those rifts are going to start to show as our soldiers return from the battlefield some of them dead injured and so forth we have a prime minister with very divided levels of support across the electoral spectrum here in the state of Israel I think one of the things that would definitely help with this clock and in terms of how much time we have to operate is if these ministers actually got themselves to these funerals if they actually went and visited with the families if they actually like the prime like the ambassador just said that he is engaged in working with the people who remember Ariel Sharon once going and being filmed at a funeral he was actually at the Shiva of somebody who was killed during the second Intifada and he was screamed at and yelled at by the family but he was there and he absorbed it and you agree with that