 It's fired from the Gaza Strip siren-sounding just a short while ago in Ashkelon in the south, in Jerusalem just moments ago and in recent hours in parts of central Tel Aviv. Now on the ground in the south, the IDF saying it had regained control of all Gaza border towns, but that terrorists may remain in the vicinity earlier. A Palestinian terrorist was gunned down by Israeli soldiers near Kibbutz Kfar Azar. Meanwhile, the IDF saying it's carrying out widespread airstrikes against many Hamas sites across the Gaza Strip. Hundreds and thousands of reservists have been called to duty, and Israelis are still waiting for answers on how scores of armed terrorists managed to infiltrate the country on Saturday by land, sea, air, and by tunnels. Israeli authorities now say that more than 800 people have been killed. That death toll is believed to be much higher. More than 2,500 people are injured across the country. So for the latest developments, let's bring you an update out of Storot in the south. Our defense correspondent, Jonathan Regev, joins us live, and we know siren-sounding just a short while ago, Jonathan. What update have you got this hour? Yes, Benita, and actually right there, right behind us, we could see the rockets flying about what, two, three minutes ago, that barraged towards Jerusalem, something that we actually saw from here. And yes, we're meeting many IDF forces along the way here, and yes, there is control of the communities. Basically, the IDF regaining control, it took more than 48 hours, but eventually it has happened. But you never know who's hiding behind some bush, maybe some terrorist who's been waiting there for the right time to pop up again and try to hurt anyone here. So the forces cannot say with 100 percent certainty that there are no terrorists within Israeli territory. They can say that they have control of all the towns and communities. There are no scenes of hostages or anything of this kind, as we've seen in the first two days of this war. The roads here tell the story of what happened on Saturday morning, a mess and distress and burnt cars and dead bodies and just a whole mayhem and a big mess on all of the roads leading up to the city of Zderot and leading up to the Gaza border communities. And Israel is pounding hard in Gaza. We're hearing that as well, still from the air at this time. All the indications are that we are going for some kind of a ground offensive, at least up until now. It has not happened. Defense correspondent Jonathan Regev, live from Zderot. We will be coming back to you, of course, for regular updates in the coming hours. Thanks for now, Jonathan. Now for more insight, we welcome to studio Dr. Fadi Ismail, former senior staffer in the U.S. Congress and a research fellow at the International Institute for Counterterrorism. Fadi, thank you so much for being here at a very painful time in the country. I want to take you back to Saturday, your reaction when you heard about the surprise attack from Hamas, your reaction when you heard what was unfolding in the south of the country. Well, I said to myself, the Iranians have done it. They managed to figure out the way to derail what would have been an enormous victory for President Biden and for the pro-American axis in the Middle East. Of course, the normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia that would have opened up so many things. And indeed, it was a very big threat to the Iranian Revolution, that's for sure. And they managed to figure out the way, again, using someone else, a proxy, to do their own dirty work for themselves. And the fascinating thing is that in this whole mayhem, the only party that is gaining something is the Iranians. And the Palestinians are not, they're losing. They're not gaining anything. I mean, they're losing, and they will lose much more. And it shows you the deviousness of the adversary. And please make no mistake, the real adversary is in Tehran. It's not Gaza. It's not Beirut, really. In the end, there's somebody, some very dangerous people sitting there and planning the Middle East. And you know where all the secret buttons are, where to press, what to do. And they succeeded in this one. On the other hand, I don't think, to some extent, they succeeded too much. Explain what you mean. I think the idea was, if I read what they were saying before, is maybe to cross the border, hit a few people, maybe kidnap five, six people and come back. Maybe a couple of soldiers make something very showy, or maybe hold the town for a few hours and leave. But the outcome was way too, again, this in a sense, succeeded too much. I think they lost control over their own troops. Many scenes that came out with their flipped the entire world opinion in a way that we haven't seen in decades. I want to remind you, until yesterday, well, what date is it? Until Saturday morning, 6.30, the Israeli government was in very difficult situation, diplomatically speaking. All over the world, even America, the greatest ally, had very tense relationships between the president and Prime Minister Netanyahu. He wouldn't be invited to Washington. I mean, the whole thing looked very shaky here. And the Palestinians were doing very well in Western public opinion. We had even APEC, even APEC, was criticizing the Israeli government, which is an impossibility. Over a few hours, all of these achievements that the Palestinians had evaporated. So, on the other hand, Iran gained a very big thing for itself. Now, we are to date, there's a number I want everybody to pay attention to, 300,000. That showed up within hours. And I've said it before, I don't know if it was with you or somebody else. When somebody asked me, that was a couple of months ago, maybe three months ago. You know, they asked me about those people say we will not show up if there is something and so on. And I remember saying here in this chair, now everybody will show up. The minute something happens, and you saw what happens. This is where Israel really shows its true colors. And I think everybody in the Middle East is watching and taking notes. And this is why we see all this hesitation from the standpoint of Hezbollah and Iran. I do not think that they expected this kind of rise from the Israeli public. I think they thought that Israel would just disintegrate. Did they have? Certainly, we are seeing the Israeli public united in their horror and in their pain and what is unfolding right now. And potentially, we wait to see in their response as well. Fadi, stay with us. We've got more to discuss because talking about the response from the Israeli public, I want to bring in Liana Brenda. She is one of many people working very hard right now to show their support for not only soldiers, but for communities in the South as well. Liana, thank you very much for speaking to us. I understand you are from the organization Benay Akiva, the youth organization. Tell us about what you are doing. What are you planning? How are you trying to help communities in the South of Israel right now? So what we're doing, we're organizing a shelter for families that were evacuated from the South and they've been coming here and it's just a warm place that they could be. The kids are so happy. There are so many toys and people that are playing with them. The families, it's just, it's gracing their smile on the face and we're just trying to do everything we can. The support is overwhelming. Like everyone is helping from. Yeah, so we basically, in our Benayak, in our youth group building, we have a very big building in Jerusalem. So we turned it all around in one day with help from hundreds of teenagers and grownups and kids that all just came and we collected hundreds of mattresses, pillows, blankets, sheets, games, food, toiletries for people so they can come here in large communities and all stay together when they're running away from their houses with nothing. So we just have a safe place for them to stay. It certainly is a beautiful concept. So many people wanting to reach out. So many people feeling helpless and saying, how can we get involved? How can they try and show their support for people who are having to evacuate from their homes? Talk to us about the kinds of stories, Maya, that you are hearing from some of the people you've been engaging in so far. So the truth is most board teenagers were 16. So we haven't had a lot of direct contact with the actual families because these families have come in total trauma. So we've also got a psychologist here helping us. So the psychologists are mostly talking to the families about the hard stuff that they've been going through or mostly here to organize everything and play with the little kids, not to talk to them about. We don't want to bring up the subject. Like we're not here to bring up the subject with them. We're here to play with them and make them forget about the terrible stuff that they've been through and what they ran away from. It certainly is inspiring to hear people like Maya and Liana trying to do their best with so many others to volunteer and to help and to try and make a difference. Thank you both so much for speaking to us and keep up the good work. Thank you so much. Thank you. And now let's bring you the latest developments on the ground. We go back to our correspondent, Hamda Sahut. She joins us from northern Israel. So many developments in recent hours. Hamda, what is the latest update? What can you verify about what is happening across the Israel-Lebanon border? Benita, the Israeli military has struck several of its bullet targets inside Lebanese territory. It comes after an infiltration of about four to five people that the Israeli military has said that they've killed. However, there are still fears of some other suspects that could be robing the area. So the military is working to secure the area earlier behind us. Heavy reinforcements were sent in tanks, other military vehicles, soldiers ready in combat gear and combat vehicles to go and protect the northern border. At this time, the Israeli military is encouraging the residents to evacuate that area. Because while Hezbollah is saying that they're not going to get involved in the conflict, history could prove otherwise because of their involvement in previous conflicts. We've seen their rhetoric towards the way the Israelis are bombarding the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, an official high up in the military of Hezbollah is saying, quote, that the arms, the rockets and everything else that Hezbollah has in its arsenal stands with the Palestinians and with Hamas. So the Israeli military is now preparing itself for a multi-front confrontation, specifically on the Lebanese border with these infiltrations. Still fears of more of them at this hour. Hamda, we're also hearing a little bit earlier the idea of confirming that it is using combat helicopters inside Lebanese territory. Talk to us about the concerns through the Palestinian reaction, the Palestinian leadership about what a potential escalation across the northern border could mean for the eyes of the Palestinian for the communities as well, whether it's Hezbollah, whether it's Hamas, whether it's Palestinian factions. What does it mean for the Palestinian community right now if there is a major escalation up north? Well, look, if there is any sort of major escalation in the north, the Palestinians would welcome anyone who is looking to fight on their side, leaders within Hamas over the last several days, saying that they welcome anyone or calling on anyone to take up arms and join the operation that they've coined Aqsa Flood. At this time, the Israeli military is simply trying to secure that entire area to make sure that it doesn't break out into a full on war on the border. However, the military is prepared for anything. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that this war will change the face of the Middle East. The Lebanese leadership, especially within Hezbollah, is saying that if the United States were to get involved on a larger scale, they will have no choice but to get involved and target US assets and other positions in the Middle East. So we're looking at a multi-front conflict and a situation that is going to take a long time, according to sources. Correspondent Hamda Salhout, live from the northern border between Israel and Lebanon, appreciate the update. And obviously we will be coming back to you for more updates. And still in studio, Dr. Fadi Ismail, former senior staffer in the US Congress and research fellow at the International Institute for Counterterrorism. A changing face of the Middle East, something we've heard from several analysts, several leaders as well. What does that look like? What is your understanding of what could be unfolding right now as this war gets to day three? And clearly it's a long haul ahead. You know, when people talk about changing the face of the Middle East, I ask them, when was the last time that the Middle East was in stable situation? Good point. It changes all the time. Sure. So I'm not really sure that that sentence means much. What it means that business as usual, yeah, now there will be, there's one direction we could have gone, the Iranians being who they are and what they're trying to do, manage to change the direction that we were going in. And it might be a time when everybody is calling everybody's bluff. Is Hezbollah really, should I ask it differently, is Tehran really interested now in showing all of its cards? Is this the moment that they want to bring Hezbollah online with all the, yeah, they have missiles and everything, or maybe they were waiting something bigger? On the other hand, can Iran just tell Hamas, okay, do this operation and leave them be? Because if they leave them be, they're basically leaving them behind. Injured and Israel has just started its campaign on Gaza. It's only the beginning, and we've already seen what's happening there. So the Iranians are also in some kind of dilemma now, because they cannot just, if they leave Hamas behind now, and not join in the other fronts, and there is Lebanon, there is Syria, there is Yemen, and there is Iraq, and there's the internal front. They can try and incite some violence in the West Bank, as well as inside Israel. Are they going to activate all their assets there, and basically show all of their cards? Maybe they're not ready for this. Maybe this is not what they intended. Sometimes things like this happen, that things get away from you. And what you intended to happen, like it be a small or limited operation, becomes a much bigger one, like happened in 2006 to Hezbollah. They intended just to kidnap a couple soldiers, and it became a major war. I think that everybody now is, if something is changing here, is the fact that now Iran is a little bit on the responding side, and now the American axis is taking the initiative. I don't think they anticipated to see this kind of support of the US to Israel. I don't think they anticipated to see even the American military making sounds as if they're going to intervene. I don't think anybody on their part anticipated that Israel will react with this way. Israel looked really weak three days ago. And again, I always tell people democracy is strength. It is not weakness. When people argue it's a sign of strength, because that means that these are free people that make their own decisions. And when there is a moment of crisis, this is when you see the power of democracy. Everybody come together. And I think all of this is surprising them. Things are not playing out the way they wanted it to play. And I'm not trying to run out of people, but these are simply analytical points that I'm making. Not just false, I'm not trying to encourage people saying it. But if you look at it analytically in cold ways, now the initiative is on the other hand. Okay, they did the thing. They got the day or two of chaos and so on. Now is a counter strike. Very similar to what happened in 1973. The Egyptians had a whole week of successes, amazing victories. And then things turned around. So that's what happened here. 50 years and one day between the start of the Yom Kippur War, that surprise and the surprise on Saturday, the 7th of October. And we wait to see exactly what the repercussions will be as the situation unfolds. What we do know right now is that sirens have been sounding in several parts. We reported just moments ago, alert rockets sounding in the Jerusalem area. But now we go back to Ashkelon. Our correspondent Ariel Osiran is there in southern Israel. Sirens sounding earlier in the day. We see that you've got your vest on. What is the update there? What are the concerns there right now? Talk to us about the latest developments where you are. Right, Benito. So first regarding Jerusalem, there are reports of direct impact. Hopefully throughout this report, there will be more official information that we can share regarding that in multiple parts, also in Jerusalem and also in communities nearby. Regarding here, the barrage of 80 rockets that we reported on over about an hour ago, that has caused some direct hits throughout the city of Ashkelon according to the local fire station. There were three sites of cars that were hit by direct impacts. And the two of them have already, two of these sites are under control in terms of the fire situation. One, there's still cars burning in the area. Now, just about 30 seconds before you came to me, there was an ambulance here dropping off another injured person. As I've been saying, there's throughout the day trickling of ambulances every few moments, coinciding with rocket alerts, with sirens in the vicinity that have been going on throughout the day, pretty much throughout the past two days, every few minutes, rocket alert sirens, mainly in the communities closer to the Gaza Strip and the 15-second ring. We talked about the different ranges that these rockets have and how much time you have to make it to shelter. So here in Ashkelon, the biggest city in this southern part of Israel, we locals have 30 seconds to make it to shelter in Sderot, in other communities nearby that have been receiving also constant barrages of rockets from Hamas, from Palestine, the Islamic jihad, originating from within the Gaza Strip. Many of these rocket launchers placed not only in open fields, but within urban populations, whether in multi-storey buildings or between other residential areas. This is a part of where Hamas positions its rocket launchers. It also makes it challenging for Israel to take them out, but also it increases the amount and abundance of rockets that they have and that they can fire. And so they've been using their arsenal, employing it on southern Israeli towns throughout the past over 48 hours. And here in Ashkelon, as we mentioned about an hour ago, multiple direct hits, no reports of injuries yet, but yes, damage caused to cars. And also there's the report of rockets launched and hit in Jerusalem. And yeah, according to Mada Emergency Services, a seven-year-old man, no, sorry, this is in Ashkelon, a seven-year-old man was taken to hospital here with minor conditions and bruises. Regarding Jerusalem, the emergency services are searching for injuries. So far, there have been no reports of any one hurt from the latest barrage of rockets to Jerusalem. Appreciate the update. Live from Ashkelon correspondent Ariel Oceran. We will be coming back to Ariel for more developments as they unfold. Right now, we take you live to Rishon Litseon and our correspondent, Robert Swift, joins us now. Robert, what is happening where you are? Bring us the latest developments. We can see a queue behind you. What can you tell us? That's right. I'm standing in what is actually a cinema theater, but right now it is functioning as an emergency blood donation drive. There are people coming here queuing up to give blood. Since we've been here, the number of people walking through the door has not reduced. It's continued the entire time that we've been here. And it's worth noting that the atmosphere here, at some stages, people have been sort of chatting together, have been smiling. It seems like they're kind of happy to be able to unify and to do something in response to what's happened in the last few days. But at the same time, there is tension here. Just a little while earlier, we noticed a big argument burst out amongst the people standing in the crowd. And it's clear that whilst people want to be unified, there's still quite a lot happening underneath the surface. People are still very much suffering and in shock from the recent days of events. Thank you so much. That's our correspondent, Robert Swift, updating us live from Rishon Lettion. We will be coming back to you, Robert, for more developments later on in our broadcasts. We don't have much time left, but I want to check in with Dr. Fadi Ismail at the end of this broadcast because we made mention earlier to the support that the U.S. is giving to Israel right now. Talk to us very briefly about how crucial that is for Israel as it looks to assist its best plan of action, its best response. Briefly, please. Of course. First of all, there's, of course, the weapons, the munitions that Israel needs, the interceptors, the bunker busters that, finally, the United States is going to give Israel. There's also a change in the whole relationship between President Biden and Netanyahu that was, we had issues with all this judiciary reform story. President Biden is under a lot of pressure. He has okayed the waiver to allow Iran to receive about $5 or $6 billion back. And people say that this money helped finance this attack on Israel. And the last point is other weapons using this attack arrived to Hamas from Afghanistan. From after the U.S. withdrawal, Biden's withdrawal, and a lot of that weapon left there ended up attacking Israeli citizens. So now the United States is trying to mend offenses with Israel and vice versa. Dr. Fadi Ismail, always appreciate your insight. Thank you so much for being here for this breaking news edition. And just before we wrap up, a very quick update for you. We spoke about rocket fire towards Jerusalem earlier. Confirmation right now, nine people are injured. Nine people injured from that rocket fire in Jerusalem. Our updates continue. So stay tuned to I-24 News. I'm Benisa Levine in Tel Aviv. Thank you for watching Breaking News Edition. Signed by Rabah, the Accords of Abraham. Thank you for welcoming us first. And for choosing I-24 News. We're in December 2020. As usual, Donald Trump announces the deal on the networks. And a few weeks later, a plane will take off from Tel Aviv to Rabah. On its way to the beautiful world, Jared Kushner, Avi Berkovich, and the Israeli National Security Council, Mayor Ben Shabbat. I swear to go back to the editorial office with the interview of the minister, Kasslan Tien. I activate my networks. And there, in Banco, the minister gives his welcome. And here are the hours of the flight. We're in the hotel, in Rabah, an hour before taking off from Tel Aviv. And the minister no longer gives a sign of life. So I start to despair, obviously. And then, suddenly, who do I see get on board the hotel? Well, the minister, in person, gives me a sign of life, to ask me to follow him. And in all of his contractions, he will take the flight of his vehicle and drive us to his office, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Morocco, where a long interview will take place for more than a quarter of an hour. The Moroccan mantle has inspired the efforts of the Moroccan people. And during this interview, the minister will reveal to me that in 2018, two years before Abraham's agreements, he met Billyami Netanyahu. He was in charge of the General Assembly of the United Nations. It's a huge pride to have been able to interview the minister on the same day of Abraham's agreements, to be in the right place at the right time. That's also it. The Forza Etoniphonius. This week, on News 24, we will tour the historic city of Aco, which was an important city during the Crusades, and which today is one of Israel's tourist attractions. Betel Faraya, the house of the mariposas, a unique place in Aco, where Muslim and Jewish women are inspired to cook and connect with culinary art. Marcos Ayala, present in Israel at the show Amor Itango, a show full of virtuosity, passion and modernity. On News 24, the Spanish magazine of Al-Qatifor News. Imagine being able to see into the future. We can take you there. Welcome to Israel Business Speaks, your gateway to the captivating world of Israeli business and technology. Israel Business Beat. Sundays and Wednesdays, 9.30 p.m. GMT. Israel is at war. Since the early hours of the morning, Israel has been facing infiltrations of terrorists, kidnapping of Israelis, and a barrage of thousands of rockets emanating from the Gaza Strip, the biggest and bloodiest attack in years. Tune in for our extensive and rolling coverage of the Hamas deadly attack on Israel, with reporters on the ground in depth analysis and most updated and accurate information. Stay tuned with I-24 News. This is Breaking News Edition. I'm Benita Levine, coming to you live from Tel Aviv. The war intensifies on day three, and Breaking News just hours ago, an exchange of fire along the northern border between Israel and Lebanon, amidst concerns around threats on several fronts. As we're speaking to you right now, sirens are sounding in Jerusalem. Sirens warning of potential incoming missiles and or rocket sirens alerts sounding in Jerusalem right now. I-24 News can also confirm that up north, as we were mentioning, the IDF confirming that Israel right now is using combat helicopters inside Lebanese territory. The IDF confirming just a short while ago that Israel is using combat helicopters inside Lebanese territory. Now, that's because in recent hours, there were reports that five terrorists infiltrated the area. Not clear if there were four or five, but nonetheless, we can confirm a group. Two of them are dead. One is believed to have returned into Lebanese territory. Several developments on several fronts across the region earlier in the day. Another barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip siren sounding just a short while ago in Ashkelon in the south, in Jerusalem just moments ago, and in recent hours in parts of central Tel Aviv. Now, on the ground in the south, the IDF saying it had regained control of all Gaza border towns, but that terrorists may remain in the vicinity earlier. A Palestinian terrorist was gunned down by Israeli soldiers near Kibbutz Kfar Azar. Meanwhile, the IDF saying it's carrying out widespread airstrikes against many Hamas sites across the Gaza Strip. Hundreds and thousands of reservists have been called to duty, and Israelis are still waiting for answers on how scores of armed terrorists manage to infiltrate the country on Saturday by land, sea, air, and by tunnels. Israeli authorities now say that more than 800 people have been killed. That death toll is believed to be much higher. More than 2,500 people are injured across the country. So, for the latest developments, let's bring you an update out of Storot in the south. Our defence correspondent, Jonathan Regev, joins us live, and we know siren sounded just a short while ago. Jonathan, what update have you got this hour? Yes, Benita, and actually right there, right behind us, we could see the rockets flying about two, three minutes ago that barraged towards Jerusalem, something that we actually saw from here. And yes, we're meeting many IDF forces along the way here. And yes, there is control of the communities. Basically, the IDF regaining control. It took more than 48 hours, but eventually it has happened. But you never know who's hiding behind some bush, maybe some terrorist who's been waiting there for the right time to pop up again and try to hurt anyone here. So the forces cannot say with 100% certainty that there are no terrorists within Israeli territory. They can say that they have control of all the towns and communities. There are no scenes of hostages or anything of this kind, as we've seen in the first two days of this war. The roads here tell the story of what happened on Saturday morning, mess and distress and burnt cars and dead bodies and just a whole mayhem and the big mess on all of the roads leading up to the city of Zderot and leading up to the Gaza border communities. And Israel is pounding hard in Gaza. We're hearing that as well. Still from the air at this time, all the indications are that we are going for some kind of a ground offensive, at least up until now, it has not happened. Defense correspondent Jonathan Reghev. Live from Zderot, we will be coming back to you, of course, for regular updates in the coming hours. Thanks for now, Jonathan. Now, for more insight, we welcome to studio Dr. Fadi Ismail, former senior staffer in the US Congress and a research fellow at the International Institute for Counterterrorism. Fadi, thank you so much for being here at a very painful time in the country. I want to take you back to Saturday, your reaction when you heard about the surprise attack from Hamas, your reaction when you heard what was unfolding in the south of the country. Well, I said to myself, the Iranians have done it. They managed to figure out the way to derail what would have been an enormous victory for President Biden and for the pro-American access in the Middle East. Of course, the normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia that would have opened up so many things. And indeed, it was a very big threat to the Iranian Revolution, that's for sure. And they managed to figure out the way, again, using someone else, a proxy, to do their own dirty work for themselves. And the fascinating thing is that in this whole mayhem, the only party that is gaining something is the Iranians. And the Palestinians are not, they're losing. They're not gaining anything. I mean, they're losing, and they will lose much more. And it shows you the deviousness of the adversary. And please make no mistake, the real adversary is in Tehran. It's not Gaza. It's not to be ruled, really. In the end, there's somebody who's some very dangerous people sitting there and planning the Middle East. And they don't know where all the secret buttons are, where to press, what to do. And they succeeded in this one. On the other hand, I don't think, to some extent, they succeeded too much. Explain what you mean. I think the idea was, if I read what they were saying before, it's maybe to cross the border, hit a few people, maybe kidnap five, six people and come back. Maybe a couple of soldiers make something very showy. Maybe hold the town for a few hours and leave. But the outcome was way too, again, this, in a sense, succeeded too much. I think they lost control over their own troops. Many scenes that came out of there flipped the entire world opinion in a way that we haven't seen in decades. I want to remind you, until yesterday, well, what day is it? Until Saturday morning, 6.30, the Israeli government was in very difficult situation, diplomatically speaking. All over the world, even America, the greatest ally, had very tense relationships between the president and Prime Minister Netanyahu. He wouldn't be invited to Washington. I mean, the whole thing looked very shaky here. And the Palestinians were doing very well in Western public opinion. We had even APEC, even APEC, was criticizing the Israeli government, which is an impossibility. Over a few hours, all of these achievements that the Palestinians had evaporated. So on the other hand, Iran gained a very big thing for itself. Now, we are today. There's a number I want everybody to pay attention to. 300,000. Reservists. That showed up within hours. And I've said it here before. I don't know if it was with you or somebody else. When somebody asked me, that was a couple of months ago or maybe three months ago, you know, they asked me about those people say we would not show up if there is something or so. And I remember saying here in this chair, everybody will show up. The minute something happens and you saw what happens, this is where Israel really shows its true colors. And I think everybody in the Middle East is watching and taking notes. And this is why we see all this hesitation from the standpoint of Hezbollah and Iran. I do not think that they expected this kind of rise from the Israeli public. I think they thought that Israel would just disintegrate. Certainly, we are seeing the Israeli public united in their horror and in their pain and what is unfolding right now. And potentially, we wait to see in their response as well. Fadi, stay with us. We've got more to discuss because talking about the response from the Israeli public, I want to bring in Liana Brenda. She is one of many people working very hard right now to show their support for not only soldiers, but for communities in the South as well. Liana, thank you very much for speaking to us. I understand you are from the organization Benay Akiva, the youth organization. Tell us about what you are doing. What are you planning? How are you trying to help communities in the South of Israel right now? So what we're doing, we're organizing a shelter for families that were evacuated from the South. And they've been coming here and it's just a warm place that they could be. The kids are so happy. There's so many toys and people that are playing with them. The families, it's just, it's gracing, their smile on the face. And we're just trying to do everything we can and the support is overwhelming. Like everyone is helping from... Yeah, so we basically, in our Benay Akiva, in our youth group building, we have a very big building in Jerusalem. So we turned it all around then one day with help from hundreds of teenagers and grown-ups and kids that all just came and we collected hundreds of mattresses, pillows, blankets, sheets, games, food, toiletries for people so they can come here in large communities and all stay together when they're running away from their houses with nothing. So we just have a safe place for them to stay. It certainly is a beautiful concept. So many people wanting to reach out, so many people feeling helpless and saying, how can we get involved? How can they try and show their support for people who are having to evacuate from their homes? Talk to us about the kinds of stories, Maya, that you are hearing from some of the people you've been engaging in so far. So the truth of the most, four teenagers were 16. So we haven't had a lot of direct contact with the actual families because these families have come in total trauma. So we've also got a psychologist here helping us. So the psychologists are mostly talking to the families about the hard stuff that they've been going through or mostly here to organize everything and play with the little kids, not to talk to them about, we don't want to bring up the subject. We're not here to bring up the subject with them, we're here to play with them and make them forget about the terrible stuff that they've been through and what they ran away from. It certainly is inspiring to hear people like Maya and Liana trying to do their best with so many others to volunteer and to help and to try and make a difference. Thank you both so much for speaking to us and keep up the good work. Thank you so much. Thank you. And now let's bring you the latest developments on the ground. We go back to our correspondent Khamda Salhut. She joins us from northern Israel. So many developments in recent hours. Khamda, what is the latest update? What can you verify about what is happening across the Israel-Lebanon border? Beneath the Israeli military has struck several Hezbollah targets inside Lebanese territory. It comes after an infiltration of about four to five people that the Israeli military has said that they've killed. However, there are still fears of some other suspects that could be roving the area. So the military is working to secure the area earlier behind us. Heavy reinforcements were sent in, tanks, other military vehicles, soldiers ready in combat gear and combat vehicles to go and protect the northern border. At this time, the Israeli military is encouraging residents to evacuate that area because while Hezbollah is saying that they're not going to get involved in the conflict, history could prove otherwise because of their involvement in previous conflicts. We've seen their rhetoric towards the way the Israelis are bombarding the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, an official high-up in the military of Hezbollah is saying, quote, that the arms, the rockets and everything else that Hezbollah has in its arsenal stands with the Palestinians and with Hamas. So the Israeli military is now preparing itself for a multi-front confrontation specifically on the Lebanese border with these infiltrations. Still fears of more of them at this hour. Hamda, we're also hearing a little bit earlier the idea of confirming that it is using combat helicopters inside Lebanese territory. Talk to us about the concerns through the Palestinian reaction, the Palestinian leadership about what a potential escalation across the northern border could mean for the eyes of the Palestinian, for the communities as well, whether it's Hezbollah, whether it's Hamas, whether it's Palestinian factions, what does it mean for the Palestinian community right now if there is a major escalation up north? Well, look, if there is any sort of major escalation in the north, the Palestinians would welcome anyone who is looking to fight on their side, leaders within Hamas over the last several days saying that they welcome anyone or calling on anyone to take up arms and join the operation that they've coined Aqsa Flood. At this time, the Israeli military is simply trying to secure that entire area to make sure that it doesn't break out into a full-on war on the border. However, the military is prepared for anything. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that this war will change the face of the Middle East. The Lebanese leadership, especially within Hezbollah, is saying that if the United States were to get involved on a larger scale, they will have no choice but to get involved and target U.S. assets and other positions in the Middle East. So we're looking at a multi-front conflict and a situation that is going to take a long time, according to sources. Correspondent Hamda Salhut live from the northern border between Israel and Lebanon. Appreciate the update and obviously we will be coming back to you for more updates. And still in studio, Dr. Fadi Ismail, former senior staffer in the U.S. Congress and research fellow at the International Institute for Counterterrorism, a changing face of the Middle East, something we've heard from several analysts, several leaders as well. What does that look like? What is your understanding of what could be unfolding right now as this war gets to day three and clearly it's a long haul ahead? You know when people talk about changing the face of the Middle East, I ask them, when was the last time that the Middle East was in stable situation? Good point. It changes all the time. Sure. So I'm not really sure that that sentence means much. What it means is that business as usual, yeah, now there's one direction we could have gone, the Iranians being who they are and what they're trying to do, manage to change the direction that we were going in. And it might be a time when everybody is calling everybody's bluff. Is Hezbollah really, should I ask a different thing? Is Tehran really interested now showing all of its cards? Is this the moment that they want to bring Hezbollah online with all the, yeah, they have missiles and everything or maybe they were waiting something bigger? On the other hand, can Iran just tell Hamas, okay, do this operation and leave them be? Because if they leave them be, they're basically leaving them behind injured and Israel has just started its campaign on Gaza. It's only the beginning and we've already seen what's happening there. So the Iranians are also in some kind of dilemma now because they cannot just, if they leave Hamas behind now and not join through the other fronts, and there is Lebanon, there is Syria, there is Yemen, and there is Iraq, and there's the internal frontage can try and incite some violence in the West Bank as well as inside Israel. Are they going to activate all their assets there and basically show all of their cards? Maybe they're not ready for this. Maybe this is not what they intended. Sometimes things like this happen that things get away from you and what you intended to happen like it be a small or limited operation becomes a much bigger one like happened in 2006 to Hezbollah. They intended just to kidnap a couple soldiers and became a major war. I think that everybody now is if something is changing here is the fact that now Iran is a little bit on the responding side and now the American access is taking the initiative. I don't think they anticipated to see this kind of support of the US to Israel. I don't think they anticipated to see even the American military making sounds as they're going to intervene. I don't think anybody on their part anticipated that Israel will react with this way. Israel looked really weak three days ago. And again, I always tell people democracy is strength. It is not weakness. When people argue it's a sign of strength because that means that these are free people that make their own decisions. And when there's a moment of crisis, this is when you see the power of democracy. Everybody come together. And I think all of this is surprising them. Things are not playing out the way they wanted it to play. And I'm not trying to rower people, but these are simply analytical points that I'm making. Not just false, I'm not trying to encourage people saying, but if you look at it analytically in cold ways. Now the initiative is on the other hand. Okay, they did the thing. They got the day or two of chaos and so on. Now is a counter strike. Very similar to what happened in 1973. The Egyptians had a whole week of successes, amazing victories. And then things turned around. So that's what happening here. 50 years and one day between the start of the Yom Kippur War, that surprise and the surprise on Saturday, the 7th of October. And we wait to see exactly what the repercussions will be as the situation unfolds. What we do right now is that sirens have been sounding in several parts. As we reported just moments ago, alert rockets sounding in the Jerusalem area. But now we go back to Ashkelon. Our correspondent Ariel Osaran is there in southern Israel. Sirens sounding earlier in the day. We see that you've got your vest on. What is the update there? What are the concerns there right now? Talk to us about the latest developments where you are. Right, Benito. So first regarding Jerusalem, there are reports of direct impacts, hopefully throughout this report, there will be more official information that we can share regarding that in multiple parts, also in Jerusalem and also in communities nearby. Regarding here, the barrage of 80 rockets that we reported on over about an hour ago, that has caused some direct hits throughout the city of Ashkelon according to the local fire station. There were three sites of cars that were hit by direct impacts. And two of them have already, two of these sites are under control in terms of the fire situation. One, there's still cars burning in the area. Now, just about 30 seconds before you came to me, there was an ambulance here dropping off another injured person. As I've been saying, there's throughout the day trickling of ambulances every few moments, coinciding with rocket alerts with sirens in the vicinity that I've been going on throughout the day, pretty much throughout the past two days, every few minutes, rocket alert sirens, mainly in the communities closer to the Gaza Strip in the 15 second ring. We talked about the different ranges that these rockets have and how much time you have to make it to shelter. So here in Ashkelon, the biggest city in this southern part of Israel, locals have 30 seconds to make it to shelter in Sderot, in other communities nearby that have been receiving also constant barrages of rockets from Hamas, from Palestine to Islamic Jihad originating from within the Gaza Strip. Many of these rocket launchers place not only in open fields but within urban populations, whether in multi-story buildings or between other residential areas. This is a part of where Hamas positions its rocket launchers. It also makes it challenging for Israel to take them out but also it increases the amount and abundance of rockets that they have and that they can fire. And so they've been using their arsenal, employing it on southern Israeli towns throughout the past over 48 hours. And here in Ashkelon, as we mentioned an hour, about an hour ago, multiple direct hits, no reports of injuries yet but yes, damage caused to cars and also there's the report of rockets launched and hit in Jerusalem. And yeah, according to Mada emergency services, a seven-year-old man, no sorry, this is in Ashkelon, a seven-year-old man was taken to hospital here with minor conditions and bruises. Regarding Jerusalem, the emergency services are searching for injuries so far. There have been no reports of any one hurt from the latest barrage of rockets to Jerusalem. Appreciate the update. Live from Ashkelon, correspondent Ariel Osaran, we will be coming back to Ariel for more developments as they unfold. Right now, we take you live to Rishon Litzion and our correspondent, Robert Swift, joins us now. Robert, what is happening where you are? Bring us the latest developments. We can see a cue behind you. What can you tell us? That's right. I'm standing in what is actually a cinema theater, but right now it is functioning as an emergency blood donation drive. There are people coming here queuing up to give blood. Since we've been here, the number of people walking through the door has not reduced. It's continued the entire time that we've been here and it's worth noting that the atmosphere here at some stages people have been sort of chatting together, have been smiling. It seems like they're kind of happy to be able to unify and to do something in response to what's happened in the last few days. But at the same time there is tension here. Just a little while earlier we noticed a big argument burst out amongst the people standing in the crowd and it's clear that whilst people want to be unified there's still quite a lot happening underneath the surface. People are still very much suffering and in shock from the recent days of events. Thank you so much. That's our correspondent, Robert Swift, updating us live from Rishon Litzion. We will be coming back to you, Robert, for more developments later on in our broadcasts. We don't have much time left but I want to check in with Dr. Fadi Ismail at the end of this broadcast because we made mention earlier to the support that the U.S. is giving to Israel right now. Talk to us very briefly about how crucial that is for Israel as it looks to assist its best plan of action, its best response. Briefly please. Of course, first of all there's of course the weapons, the munitions that Israel needs, interceptors, the bunker busters that finally the United States is going to give Israel. There's also a change in the whole relationship between President Biden and Netanyahu that was we had issues with all this judiciary reform story. President Biden is under a lot of pressure. He has okayed the waiver to allow Iran to receive about $5 or $6 billion back and people say that this money helped finance this attack with Israel. And the last point is other weapons using this attack arrived to Hamas from Afghanistan. From after the U.S. withdrawal, Biden's withdrawal and a lot of that weapon left there ended up attacking Israeli citizens. So now the United States is trying to mend offenses with Israel and vice versa. Dr. Fadi Ismail always appreciate your insight. Thank you so much for being here for this Breaking News edition. And just before we wrap up a very quick update for you. We spoke about rocket fire towards Jerusalem earlier. Confirmation right now nine people are injured. Nine people injured from that rocket fire in Jerusalem. Our updates continue. So stay tuned to I-24 News. I'm Benita Levine in Tel Aviv. Thank you for watching Breaking News. A barrage of thousands of rockets emanating from the Gaza Strip. The biggest and bloodiest attack in years. Tune in for our extensive enrolling coverage of the Hamas deadly attack on Israel. With reporters on the ground in depth analysis and most updated and accurate information stay tuned with I-24 News. Strictly security you'll weekly look into security, intelligence, and strategic affairs. Our team brings the latest on the major international conflicts analysis of the major security issues right here in the Middle East and around the globe. Join us for a close look at innovative military technology and get up to speed with what's happening in cyberspace. Saturdays only on I-24 News. Middle East is changing. Old alliances make way for new partnerships. Bigger threats lead to new relationships and shared goals mean new opportunities. We speak to those who know the inside story or those who are at the heart of the changes. Don't get caught up with the same old story. Find out what's happening in Middle East now. Middle East now every weekday on I-24 News. Hey, it's you again. Ready? Let's go. One show a whole lot of perspectives. He is part of the problem. You want to talk about deep platforming? People are losing their lives. Not just what happened but why does it matter? I'd like to finish my point. You're the one stretching terms here. You could be a fantastic CNN reporter. Join us every night. 8 p.m. Eastern on Global Eye. The global conversation starts here. Imagine being able to see into the future. We can take you there. Welcome to Israel Business Beats. Your gateway to the captivating world of Israeli business and technology. Israel Business Beats. Sundays and Wednesdays. 9.30 p.m. GMT. If you could travel to the Middle East right now without packing and without a plane ticket, would you? We are in Tel Aviv, Israel. Welcome to I-24 News Digital. We bring Israel and the entire Middle East right to your social networks. On your phone. On your desktop. Here, I-24 News creates videos especially made for social media. And believe me, we are out there working hard. Right here. Israel and Nepal. For the very first time. Israel is how they begin. Making original content. Streaming live. Even in the hard moments. There are literally rockets going on in a bomb shelter. And filming docu-series. With us, you will find all the big stories you missed on television. So join I-24 News on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube and discover the Middle East with us. We're on the inside of political and religious passions in Jerusalem. Breaking down the financial trends shaping the global economy. Giving you key context, not just headlines. With the stories from Israel that touch the U.S. and those across the region with impact far beyond its borders. Sunday to Thursday on I-24 News. Catch the run-by. Where the Middle East meets the world. With Breaking News Edition, I'm Benita Levine coming to you live from Tel Aviv. The war intensifies on day three. Sirens sounding in several parts of the country in recent hours. Including in Jerusalem. Where the latest reports indicate that up to nine people may have been injured in the capital in recent hours. An exchange of fire along the northern border between Israel and Lebanon. Amidst concerns around threats on several France. Was quick to deny any involvement. A group of four or five terrorists infiltrating the area. Two of them are now dead. Six people are wounded. One in critical condition earlier. Another barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. Sirens sounding in Bershiva. Storot and Ashkelon in the south. And in parts of central Tel Aviv earlier in the day. On the ground in the south. The IDF saying it has regained control of all Gaza border towns. But terrorists may remain in the vicinity. Meanwhile, the IDF says it's carrying out widespread airstrikes against many Hamas sites across the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of reservists have been called to duty. Israelis still waiting for answers on how scores of armed terrorists managed to infiltrate the country on Saturday by land, sea, air and by tunnels. Israeli authorities now say more than 800 people have been killed and that death toll is believed to be much higher. More than 2,500 people are injured across the country and the US confirming in recent hours that nine Americans have been killed in the war. President Isaac Herzog visiting a hospital saying Israelis are showing their core values, a huge heart, a sense of mission and unity. So for the latest updates on the ground let's go live to our correspondent Ariel Osirian. He is in Ashkelon in southern Israel in Sirens in the south earlier on. What is the latest Ariel? What can you tell us right now? Right Benito. So the past few minutes there has been a lull in strikes at least some rocket launches towards the area. The latest update is actually from Jerusalem where there have been at least four people injured. Two in critical condition they've been taken to hospitals. Now following the latest barrage of rockets to this area about two hours ago four people were injured one in critical condition sorry one in moderate condition and the other injured mildly this includes direct impacts on four residential areas here in Ashkelon all the while we're here in addition to the booms of the interceptions overhead we hear constant booms of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip strikes that have been intensified in recent hours obviously similar to the barrages of rockets these have been going on pretty much non-stop since 6 30 a.m. on Saturday when Hamas's surprise attack began since then exchange of rocket salvos as well as Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip Thank you so much I'll correspond to Ariel Osaran with the latest developments in Ashkelon in southern Israel Meanwhile heartbreak for so many people waiting for answers earlier today we spoke to Israeli mother Meiraz Lisham Gonen whose daughter Romi has been missing since that nature concert on Saturday here's part of her traumatic ordeal The guy that came back to rest he took them two of them Gaia and Romi and also another guy named Afil he took them in his car and apparently he was going to the north and the next time I got a phone call from Romi and she's crying and saying Mami I was shot I was shot and everybody in the car is shot and we cannot move we cannot go out of the car the car is jammed we cannot we cannot drive and we are stuck here Mami help me I don't know what to do I think I'm going to die and the guy near her is saying and please call my mom and tell her I don't know what you will tell her but just tell her that you heard from me that I was talking to you and he gave me his mother's number and I was talking to them and saying you're not dying you cannot die you're not dying we are asking you you will be okay and they told Romi you know what to do in this situation you have to breathe and be very calm and take control over the situation you cannot lose blood you have to be very relaxed and I was talking to her and she was saying Mami I don't know what to do please help us and I was saying and I know I lied we will send you help tell us where you are and we will send you help send us where you are from the phone where you are here where you're staying now where the car is now so we can know how to locate you I didn't know what to do with that and I was talking to her and saying to her Romi you will be okay you will be fine you will be we will help you and when you get better we will go ahead to drink and we will go sitting in your restaurant the restaurant that you're working in you will go hiking and you will be okay and I'm talking to her and saying to her how much I love her and she's not talking anymore I'm talking in Arabic I didn't know what they are saying Marav and then in 1058 they closed the call and since then we don't have any information about Romi Israeli mother may Rav Lisham Gonen speaking to us a little earlier difficult to listen to that pain now for the latest we go to our correspondent Hamda Salhut she joins us from northern Israel Hamda Chesbollah was very quick to deny any involvement in what happened earlier on in the day four or five terrorists infiltrating the area two of them are now dead six people are wounded we're hearing just moments ago Palestinian Islamic Jihad claiming responsibility what is the latest there right Benita we actually heard several artillery shells and booms in the distance along the Lebanese border six individuals injured from that infiltration Palestinian Islamic Jihad claiming responsibility for the attack stating that their operation led to the injury of quote seven Israeli soldiers including one who is in serious condition we cannot confirm that information at this time but we do know that the Israeli military is still striking Hezbollah targets the Lebanese government an army confirming that there are Israeli artillery strikes and shells and are urging residents along the border to seek shelter and caution a lot of military equipment and reinforcements being sent in to the Lebanese border as Israel could potentially be preparing itself for a multi multi-front conflict with both Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north thank you so much correspondent Khamdesahut live from the north on the border between Israel and Lebanon we will be coming back to Khamda for more updates in the coming hours now for more we welcome to studio Dr Eric Mandel founder and director of the Middle East Political Information Network and senior editor for security at the Jerusalem report thank you so much for being here at this very difficult time a painful time in the country and we are seeing developments on several fronts in the south siren sounding siren sounding in Jerusalem several people injured in terms of what sounds like some kind of rocket fire the details are still emerging but we do certainly know that several people are hurt in Jerusalem and as we heard from my colleague up north Palestinian Islamic Jihad claiming responsibility for that infiltration in the north talk to us about the role that Iran is playing behind all these developments at once so the fingerprints of Iran and a little bit in the distance but also fingerprints of Russia are happening right now Iran there was a report in the Wall Street Journal that made it very clear that and there should be no surprise to anybody whose eyes have been open that the IRGC the security service that is so linked to the Ayatollah helped organize plan and give even the time for when they'll be attacked the Iranian foreign minister was in Beirut twice within the last 12 months meeting with Palestinians so the fact that we now truly connect the dots makes it a very inconvenient truth for the Biden administration which has been doing everything it can really it's been going on ever since President Obama to look at the Iranians if only we could placate them appease them enough I think at this point we need a profound change from America as an America who speaks to Congress and American national security interests we need a profound change in how we look at Iran and nobody can look away anymore and we can we need to stop offering them monies sanctions relief we need to step up and look at Iran differently America needs a new Iran policy and that's going to be very hard for this administration especially right now Dr. Mandel stay with us we've got more to discuss but first I want to go live to Storot our defense correspondent Jonathan Regev is there and Jonathan siren sounding near Storot very short while ago as well and other southern communities what is the latest there what can you tell us yes barrages of rockets all the time to the southern communities not only here earlier in the day siren sounded in Tel Aviv and just about 30 minutes ago in Jerusalem as well but it's mainly the southern communities that were hit all the time Storot, Ashkelon and all of the southern communities here where we are the communities right behind us those that are right on the border fence are pretty much empty all of the residents there have been evacuated out of the out of their communities understanding first of all of course a major trauma for them the first day of this war and second there's an understanding that this is something that could go on for quite some time and yes we're seeing Hamas constantly sending barrages of rockets all over the area I think they're also understanding that the next move will be dictated by Israel just like us they're waiting to see what will that move be and Israeli airstrikes happening in the Gaza Strip earlier on in the day targeting several Hamas sites not a lot of confirmation though about exactly what that has entailed what is known so far and what is likely to continue in the coming hours and days I think in the coming hours we will definitely see more strikes from the air maybe opening a path for ground forces maybe and maybe targeting Hamas compounds but there's a clear understanding that a decisive win will not come from the air that has been tried many many times can it inflict major damage to Hamas yes can it topple Hamas completely or bring away take away all of their military capabilities the answer is clearly no defense correspondent Jonathan Regev live from Storota see you are looking at what are you looking at Jonathan yes we're hearing we're hearing booms and you never know if these are things happening right above us or happening behind us in Gaza at least for now I'm not seeing anything happening in the air above us siren sounded about five minutes ago right now with this second nothing happening but of course these are what we see the barrages happening all the time we are looking at live images on our screen right now Jonathan coming out of Gaza we can see smoke billowing in the air and the noises that you hear give us an idea of what it means for the citizens the residents in the communities who are listening to the same noises you are hearing what are they doing right now collecting their loved ones trying to get to shelter what does it mean for them this is happening with increasing regularity I can tell you Benita that earlier in the day the sounds of what is happening in Gaza was was heard even in Tel Aviv even at the I-24 new studios where we are the artillery bowing towards Gaza which is so is is is loud to such an extent that it could be heard in Tel Aviv which is what 40-50 miles to the north that gives you an idea of how loud this thing is down here in the south of course much much louder and then for the residents living here it's it's simply unbearable that they're still feeling that they're in danger every few hours are told to to stay indoors because there's always a possibility that a terrorist can come out from one of the forests or bushes here yes the Israeli military saying there is control over the area but that does not mean that they know that all of the terrorists which infiltrated Israel a thousand or so are all of them gone are all of them dead that's something that is very difficult to establish and and so there is the very loud sound the the constant concern and the the grief for loved ones so many people here lost family members or family members have been taken to Gaza a very difficult situation difficult indeed very difficult to comprehend defense correspondent Jonathan Regev-Lai from Storot in the South thank you very much for that update and still with me in studio Dr Eric Mandel founder and director of the Middle East political information network and senior editor for security at the Jerusalem report Dr Mandel I want to bring your attention to a report and I need to stress it is a report an exclusive report at that from YNET suggesting that Egypt's intelligence minister had warned Benjamin Netanyahu some 10 days ago about a significant development out of Gaza I need to stress that the prime minister's office is denying this report what do you make of the suggestion that the intelligence echelon may have been warned it rings bills from the distant distant past from 73 I mean and I and I don't think there's a coincidence of when Hamas decided to strike there's no doubt this has been a massive intelligence failure the Israeli people obviously have been shocked but the American people are shocked we in America count on Israel to be a most important ally certainly in the region and we were worried before about the cohesion and unity during all the problems in the past year this is bringing Israel together but there's going to be a day of reckoning and the question is back in the States we would use the phrase the captain of the ship should be the one who takes the full blame the captain of the ship is Mr. Security Benjamin Netanyahu how he can survive this although he seems to be a cat with many lives but he is ultimately responsible for the failures of what has gone on here but you mentioned just earlier I just want to say is that Hezbollah had the denial that was P.I.J. that went in nothing happens I was up north I was in and hard dove I work with the think tank up there nothing happens in southern Lebanon without the approval of Hezbollah so the denials ring hollow for sure there is no doubt about the connection and the support regardless of which faction is coming responsibility for those developments Dr. Eric Mandel stay with us we've got more to discuss but right now we're going to go to Tel Aviv and we're joined by our correspondent Robert Swift he is now at Rishon Litzion and Robert so many people in the country are watching with horror what is unfolding and they are hoping to find a way to feel that they can help the communities who are specifically close to that rocket fire down in the south what are you seeing where you are what can you tell us about efforts to try and help communities in need right now that's right a lot of people have come down here to this blood donation center in Rishon Litzion this is normally a cinema but right now it has been converted into a blood donation drive and it seems to me that a lot of people are coming down here out of a desire to help they feel that they need to be involved and to respond somehow in what has occurred over the last three days but there's also very much a sense of unity of people wanting to be a part of what's happening here just a little bit earlier I was speaking to two young brothers who came here because they saw the appeals for O-type blood now O is sometimes referred to as a universal donor it's the blood type which can be most if freely used in emergency blood transfusions and so they saw the requests for donors to come here and they came and they've given blood but the thing that struck me was the fact that they didn't donate and then leave they're still here now actually like quite a few of the people that I've seen here they've come here and they seem to want to just be together with other Israelis a sort of sense of community and unity as a form of reaction to what has occurred here we're also hearing from a range of communities trying to help we spoke to young girls earlier from the B'nai Akiva organization putting together parcels to send to the south as well what kind of advice is being given to people around the country who want to try and make a difference who feel they want to be involved on some level in terms of support perhaps opening up their homes for people who are evacuating from the south or potentially the north as well what else are you hearing in terms of initiatives to help people in need right now that's correct with regards to the evacuations many people have been encouraged and invited to take people into their homes and also it's understood that this is not so much something that necessarily needs to come from the state level many Israelis are naturally taking in friends taking in family members I've spoken to a lot of people recently who they're not in their homes they're in they're for the last three days they've been in someone else's home whether it's family members or otherwise because Israelis now the scale of this this event might be something unprecedented but Israelis have encountered these sorts of security situations before especially with regards to the rockets and they're they're pulling together in the manners that they have in the past so with the communities around Gaza those that are within rocket range they are you know moving out of those areas and and bearing down elsewhere for the for the foreseeable future Correspondent Robert Swift live from Rishon let's see on thank you very much for that update and still we continue hearing heartbreaking accounts from Israelis who are still waiting for word on their loved ones following the developments on Saturday the surprise attack by Hamas and we're now joined by Ayala Luzon joining us from Ghanai Tikva Ayala thank you so much for joining us to share your ordeal your brother or had and nephew are missing tell us where they were tell us when you last heard from them tell us what you are going through right now all right so I want to tell you about Eitan and Ohad Eitan is my nephew is 12 and a half years old and my brother Ohad is 49 years old they both live in Kibbutz Niroz at the morning of Saturday on the attack they actually my brother he was just defending his family out of the safe room because there was a problem with the door so he was outside and the children with my sister-in-law was inside and he was waiting with the gun to the terrorist and then they there was shooting outside and probably he was injured by the shooting and after they shoot him so they opened the safe room door and they took my sister-in-law Bacheva and her three children Eitan 12 years old Yael 10 years old and Liel one year and eight months old they took them and they put them on two bikes one bike Bacheva with the two daughters and the other bike Eitan the 12 and a half years old my beautiful nephew and they just gone to the fence they just drove to the fence and something like 200 or 300 meter from the fence came two tanks that actually made some something that the bike of Bacheva and the daughter just stopped and the bike with Eitan continue through to the fence and Bacheva got the bravest decision and she managed to escape what a miracle what a miracle with the with the baby on her hand and Yael the 10 years old and she managed to escape no shoes with their their pajamas and they run back to the fields of Kibbutz Niroz and then they done then done they do themself dead because there was lots of terrorists running to the fence so Bacheva told the little child please make you we will get on the ground and you will make yourself dead and then they done this themself dead and somehow two of the terrorists came nearby and tell them you are coming with us and she said and and she said no there wasn't armed so she keep on running she just get up keep on running and then somehow they get to a bus with bus with soldiers Israeli soldiers I tell you all of this but this is just on just you know on the edge but it's lots of hours what I'm telling and Ohad was left injured Ohad my brother was left injured in the house and when our our force came inside the house Ohad wasn't there and have you had any update very briefly we are running out of time I'm so sorry have you had any update from authorities about where they might be very briefly please nothing nothing and I really Aitan and Ohad I don't know where they are we really want to know where they are this is a shame a shame this is unbelievable Ayala Yachalomi Luzon we so appreciate you speaking to us we are hoping for good news for you unbelievable story thank you thank you for sharing your trauma and we hope that authorities do give you answers and they do that very soon thank you for watching breaking news edition dr. Mandel thank you for being in studio stay tuned I would like to go to the studio in Shawar-e-Al-Maghreb I visited Maghreb a year ago to open a channel in Arribat and I was surprised by the number of people who know me personally and follow me on the channel screen when I was traveling through my journey in the capital of Arribat and the White House and the city of Fas and the centers of many people pointed to me and talked to me about the I-24 News channel there was a person who told me that he is always following me on the channel screen and some of them showed me their trust in our work in the channel and what I am presenting to them these moments were very influential for me and in the context of achieving a dream especially and that I have found a lot of people's love to work in the channel of I-24 News and after my return from this special journey I suggested to the channel that a special program is related to the issues of the countries of Maghreb and actually since a few months we started with the program of the great Sahara about the issues and the related issues in the North of Africa The great love that I had in Maghreb made me reach more and more on the issues of this region It's the year of I-24 I hope you know what we would like to know from where we are seeing each other All that they have to do is to prepare the phone to point to the QAR and open a brief questionnaire very easy to complete Another option is to enter in the link that appears on the screen Let's wait for your answers The conversation starts here Thank you