 This is Breaking News Edition, I'm Benisa Levine and we start with Breaking News. The IDF has discovered a massive tunnel leading from deep inside Gaza, all the way to the Israeli border. Details made public just moments ago. As our senior defense correspondent Jonathan Reggev reports, it's yet another example of how the Hamas terror group is using money meant for Gaza's civilians for its own terror purposes. Let's take a look. It is nearly three miles long, more than two meters high and wide enough for cars to drive here. If anyone wondered what Hamas did with the giant funds provided every month, this is the answer. This tunnel had every infrastructure needed, cement, electricity, water, and also various hiding places for our weapons, meaning it was ready for use and shafted when it was very close to the Israeli border, roughly 400 meters or so, a quarter of a mile, from the Israeli base of the areas, less than two minutes, and the terrorists are already in Israeli territory. It's the biggest tunnel found in Gaza so far. Hundreds of terrorists could come to this point practically undetected. This tunnel runs from miles and miles into Gaza, into towns like Bet-Khanun, Bet-Laya, two or three miles inland. The terrorists come all the way up here, then the shaft being on the other side. Once they come up to the ground, there are merely 400 meters or a quarter of a mile away from the areas crossing the area's base. Just before the tunnel is demolished, the IDF showed us what the money envelopes from Qatar are really used for. Hamas, as a terror organization, showed his face using his money only for terror. All of his investment only for terror, not for the civilians of Gaza. So, for more on this breaking news, we now welcome Brigadier General in the Reserves, Yossef Kupavasser, former Director General in the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs and former Head of Research at the IDF Military Intelligence. Brigadier General, thank you so much for your time. Details of this massive tunnel have just been released. It's nearly three miles long, more than two meters high, as we just heard from my colleague Jonathan Reghev. Are you surprised at the extent of this terror network Hamas has built in Gaza? Your thoughts? Well, frankly, frankly, I'm not surprised. It has been well known that Hamas uses the money and the other resources it has in order to build those tunnels underneath the ground all over Gaza. Some of them are offensive tunnels, as the one we are talking about now. Some of them are for defensive purposes, shelters for their terrorists. This is not a surprise. Actually, they have been digging those tunnels since before we left Gaza in 2005. We were attacked through those similar tunnels at that time as well. So it's not a surprise. It's amazing to see the magnitude of this effort and how big the tunnels are. This is really amazing, but it's not a surprise. We knew that this was the case. You say it's amazing to see the extent of it, how huge it is. We know there's a shaft, some 400 meters from the Israeli air base. Goav Galand, the Defence Minister, has visited the site himself. How did intelligence not pick up on this extensive terror site? Intelligence did pick up on these sites, I don't know specifically if on that specific tunnel. But we knew that there were tunnels approaching the fence all over the place. And this was the reason why we built the wall inside the ground in order to prevent these tunnels from crossing into our territory. And this is the case. This specific tunnel ends about 400 meters away from the border and from the fence and from the wall that was built next to the fence, which means that this effort to block the ability of Hamas to enter into Israel territory through the tunnels was successful. What they did was they approached the fence with the tunnels and they were able to come out from the tunnels very close to the fence and all the time they needed to approach the fence was really marginal. This was the idea after they were blocked from being able to cross with the tunnels into Israel territory. And the fact that there are tunnels of this kind is no surprise for the intelligence. Actually in a way what happened was that because we managed to block the tunnels there was this feeling that okay, now they cannot penetrate into Israel territory because this huge project of building the capability to cross through the tunnels was blocked. And this was one of the reasons in my mind that stood behind the conception that led to the failure of October 7th. We thought that they cannot penetrate and we thought that the wall underneath the ground and the wall over the ground are going to stop them from crossing in. And apparently this was a big mistake. Clearly that was a big mistake. What does Israel do right now? The IDF do right now to destroy this tunnel system. What exactly is that going to involve and what kind of time frames are we looking at realistically? Realistically you talk about this tunnel and you say its length is several miles which is a really big challenge to destroy it. But we are talking all together about 400 miles all over the underneath the entire Gaza street and this is going to take months and months before we manage to destroy all these tunnels and we have to deal with each and every one of them. Entering them is dangerous and fighting inside them is problematic and destroying them is very demanding. It's not an easy task and we have all kinds of tools with which we are trying to handle it. We explode the shafts. We consider filling some of them with water. Not each and every one of them can be filled with water. Some of them there are all kinds of precautions to prevent that from happening. It's a really difficult task ahead of us but I'm sure that with time we should be able to deal with all of them. Certainly a complicated task indeed and more details around this tunnel infrastructure is going to be revealed at around 8 o'clock Israel time and so make sure that everybody who is watching tunes into I-24 News 4 the latest developments on that. But I'd like to ask you about the concerns around Yahya Sinwar. Much has been made about the fact that he could have used tunnels to escape from Gaza. Just a short while ago his holiday homes were raided but there is still no sign of him. How important is it from a moral and intelligence point of view that the IDF catch up with Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad Def and others? It is important but it's not critical. We managed to do that. It's going to be a major success and achievement but our task has never been defined as killing or arresting Yahya Sinwar. Our task is to defeat Hamas capability to rule Gaza and defeat Hamas capability to carry out more terror attacks against Israel. This is the purpose. Of course dealing with Sinwar is going to be an icing on the cake but it's not a critical and necessary step. And of course the other crucial goal remains finding the hostages that are still inside Gaza potentially in these tunnels that we're talking about. We do know that a meeting has taken place between the director of Mossad and Qatar's Prime Minister. Just a short while ago CNN is reporting the two were expected to continue discussions over the release of the remaining hostages. The report suggests that those meetings were positive. What does Israel need to do in your opinion to get the 129 hostages still in captivity back home safely? I think the most important thing is to keep on the pressure on Hamas with the military activities in Gaza. The closer we get to them the greater the chances are that they are going to be ready to work out a deal that would help them survive for a while and in return for releasing the hostages. That is the logic of what we have been doing since the beginning of this war. And I think this logic still holds. And of course once we put more pressure we also need to have the process going on in which we translate these military achievements into a deal and this is the why we have to speak with the Qataris and most importantly also with the Egyptians in order to pave the road for such a deal. Thank you so much. We always appreciate your insights into all the latest security developments. Brigadier General, in those reserves, Yosef Kupovasa, thank you so much for your time. And joining me now in studio, Avi Pazner, former Israeli ambassador to France and Italy and the former world chairman of Karen Hayes, United Israel Appeal. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you very much. As always, let's start with this breaking news at the top of this hour. This huge tunnel infrastructure, we saw that report from Jonathan Reghev. What it means for the IDF to uncover something as extensive and costly as this right now? You know, it's quite an incredible tunnel. You know, I was thinking, Benita, where in the world do they have that kind of tunnels? I don't know. I, you know, when we speak about 500 kilometers of tunnel and you see that kind of tunnel, that the car can travel through it, and you think, what Hamas has been doing since they took power in Gaza in 2007, 16 years now, they had only one thing in mind, building tunnels. This is what they did. This is what they did. Because look at Gaza, look at the economy of Gaza, look how Gaza looks. They have invested everything they had, every penny, every energy, everything, building tunnels. I cannot believe that we didn't know that. I cannot believe that. We knew that. How did we not understand the threat posed by that? How could we play with the idea that you can live alongside Hamas? When they did, I call it a pharaonic work. I mean, it's incredible, nowhere in the world. And now it will take a lot of time to destroy that, and time and effort. And we have to destroy that. We cannot live Gaza with those tunnels intact. We have to take the time and the money and the effort and destroy it. And when one looks at the costs involved in this terror network, the scale of it, and one understands that the money that Qatar was sending to the Gaza Strip was being used for this purpose and not for the humanitarian aid it was supposed to be used for. What kind of reaction, given your understanding of diplomacy around the globe, what kind of reaction would you expect from abroad when you see the images we just saw in that report when we see what that money was actually used for? You know, Benita, I just came now from an interview with a French channel, not a French channel. They don't talk about that. I mean, they know about the existence of these tunnels as much as we do. No. They talk about the destruction of Gaza. I mean, you know, we have, in order to advance, we have to take adequate steps to protect our soldiers, protect as much as possible our hostages. So Gaza doesn't look good today. I don't hear. I told them, look, do you know that under Gaza you have 500 kilometers of tunnels? Do you know what it means? Do you know that you say those poor people, those poor people, they're not poor people. If they had the money to build this huge, huge, it's a huge investment, billions and billions. You know, it's not only the 30 million dollars that were transferred to them by Qatar through suitcases, it's in the world, it's big investment, it's big money, it's billions. And now we have to take care of all that. And we have to take care and to destroy it. And then to see that it is never rebuilt again. Because this poses a threat to us, to our state. It poses that kind of tunnel, poses a real threat for the future. And we have to see that in the future there will be no more such tunnel. And there will not be an organization like Hamas ruling Gaza. Which is certainly one of the main goals for the IDF right now. The other goal, which we were discussing earlier on in the broadcast, is obviously to get all the hostages that are still being held captive inside Gaza, potentially in those tunnels that we just saw back home safely. We know, according to CNN, there was a meeting between the director of Mossad and Qatar's prime minister. We're hearing reports that that meeting was positive. But what does that mean for the families right now? They are waiting for something concrete. How do you see this unfolding? What is it going to take to get those hostages back home where they belong? Look, the terrible tragedy of last week when, by error, we kill three hostages, demonstrate the urgency to take out whoever we can take out. Maybe we cannot take out all the 130 hostages now. It's possible. But maybe we can take out 40 or 50. Maybe. So I was pleased to hear that Dady Barnier, the chief of the Mossad, met with the prime minister of Qatar somewhere in Europe and that it was positive. Which does not mean, Benita, that you will have an agreement tomorrow morning. But if we can work out a truth, not a ceasefire, a truth of a few days, three, four, five days, to get 30, 40, 50 hostages out, we should do that. Just like we did a few weeks ago. We should do that. Nothing will happen to the IDF. In any way, you see, it's a very long and costly operation. So it will take three or four more days. And I believe it is our moral obligation to do whatever we can to take out whoever is possible to take out. Avipas Nair, stay with us. We've got much more to discuss. And as you just alluded to, the latest reaction to that tragic development, Israelis are still trying to process. The country's defense leaders say they have accepted responsibility for that accidental killing of three hostages trying to escape from captivity in Gaza, vowing steps to ensure no repeat of that tragic incident. They also pointed out the difficulties soldiers are facing in what they call complex urban battlefields. Yotam Chaim, Samarit Salalka, and Alon Shamriz, killed on Friday as they were running towards a group of soldiers in Shejahiyah neighborhood while waving a white cloth and calling for help in Hebrew. The trio had escaped their Hamas abductors nearly 10 weeks since that brutal kidnapping during the terror onslaught on the 7th of October. The initial IDF probe, finding the soldiers, feared that the three were part of a trap and open fire killing them before realizing their mistake. Chief of Staff, Hereti Halevi, calling the killings difficult and painful. The funeral of Alon Shamriz, taking place in Shfaim a short while ago. Here's more from his brother, Idor Shamriz. We turned over every stone, knocked on every table for us to be reunited. But it wasn't enough. We didn't do everything but you did. You were on your own journey in the dark without glasses. You were held by monsters in harsh conditions. No water, no food, no oxygen, and no daylight. You went through all this and ran. You acted bravely. That is reserved for unique people like you. And you waited for redemption. I talked about you so much in every meeting or interview. But I didn't say how brave you are. You always knew what was good for you. You did things your way. And this time, too, you ran away against all odds and did all things to get home. My poor brother, what happened to you in those moments when you already saw the light, it became dark? Whoever abandoned you also murdered you after you did everything right. Just cannot imagine the pain. Now let's find out what is happening on the ground. We go to our correspondent, Pia Stekelbar. She joins us again from southern Israel. Pia, we see the sun setting behind you. We know fighting continues inside the Gaza Strip. We know tunnels are being exposed from under the ground. And also, aid is coming into the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing. What is the latest there? What can you tell us? Right, Benita. Well, the Kerem Shalom crossing was opened today for the entry of humanitarian aid. Kerem Shalom is located at the very southern part. This is where the Gaza Strip, Egypt and Israel basically meet. And Kerem Shalom was where humanitarian aid was inspected before, but today is the first day that it really was opened for the entry of those goods after they were inspected there. This is part of the demands that the U.S. have been putting forward, first of all, to minimize the large number of civilian casualties in Gaza and to allow more humanitarian aid to enter, to Egyptian sources in the Red Cross have told Reuters today that they assume 79 trucks are entering today. Israel has committed, in the wake of the hostage deal that was brokered, to let 200 of those trucks enter every day, 200, both considering the Rafah crossing that has been active and now also the Kerem Shalom crossing. But, Benita, there are serious concerns that are being put forward from the Israeli side and that are also part of the reason why Kerem Shalom has not been opened for the entry of that humanitarian aid so far. Israel assumes that much of that humanitarian aid will not end up with the Gaza civilian population as the Israeli military claims that Hamas has been trying and has been also doing so, has been stealing from those trucks, has been stealing this aid and taking it away from the humanitarian population to fuel its own fighters and its own infrastructure. There we've also been seeing footage from the Rafah crossing today that is showing Gaza civilians looting those trucks that were entering through Rafah in complete despair because humanitarian organizations have been warning for weeks that the humanitarian situation is worsening in Gaza. The lack of clean water, lack of food, lack of medicine is of course contributing to the worsening situation for Gaza's civilians there. That humanitarian aid that the U.S. was calling for entering now, Israel has serious concerns that this will actually help better the situation of civilians as it might not even end up with them. But this remains to be seen now that a second crossing was open today, the Kerem Shalom crossing in addition to the Rafah crossing that will allow, or that is at least the goal for in total 200 trucks to enter every day. We were looking as you were speaking, Pia, of that footage, of that looting dramatic scenes again on our screens right now. Meanwhile, over and above the tunnels that were exposed that Jonathan Regev was reporting on at the top of this broadcast, also other discoveries by the IDF troops raiding the holiday homes of several senior Hamas commanders, including Yahya Sinwar. What else can you tell us? Right, Benita. Well, this is one of the main goals obviously of this operation to localize Hamas infrastructure, also including infrastructural homes that belong to their senior leaders, the vacation home of Yahya Sinwar. Of course, Yahya Sinwar is estimated to be hiding out in one of those tunnels. And this is one more reason for the IDF to really discover all of those tunnels, to localize them and to demolish them. These tunnel systems that the IDF has claimed are running underneath civilian infrastructure in Gaza as well. The IDF has delivered what it says is proof that these tunnels or tunnel shafts, tunnel openings are running beyond underneath humanitarian locations such as buildings, residential buildings. Today, the IDF has published a video footage showing one of those tunnel shafts being located in a children's room in a residential building. Let's take a listen to one of the commanders who was on the ground, had to say, Benita. We're in a house that seems like what might be an innocent home. But if you follow me here into the children's room, looks like an innocent children's room under this child's cot, not the baby's cot, using a tunnel that was used for terror by Hamas ISIS. Hamas ISIS uses children's rooms, uses baby's cot to hide what is used for terror, for murder, and for slaughter. Now, of course, Benita, we cannot know if these inhabitants of that apartment actually agreed for Hamas to store weapons there. We don't know any of the circumstances, but what we see is astonishing and this is really what the IDF has been claiming for weeks now is that this infrastructure, this weapons, these tunnels are located in these residential buildings, which makes it, of course, extremely difficult to operate there. Now, what we know is that fighting is continuing in several areas in the Gaza Strip from where we're at here right now. We can look into the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the northern part where the ground operation has basically begun. You can probably see that orange light there afar. The IDF is firing flares in the sky to really enlighten the area there to conduct their operations, which have the aim to destroy the remaining Hamas infrastructure, which could be tunnels, which could be ammunitions, weapons, depots there. This is the focus of the operation that is continuously going on in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Earlier, we could see smoke arising from several different locations. There, of course, fighting as well is continuing in the southern part, the area of Khan Yunus, and in Shizhai, the neighborhood in the city of Gaza, but this is what we're really speaking about conditions of urban warfare. This is incredibly difficult to run for Israeli soldiers to operate in, and there, of course, they're trying to localize more of those tunnel shafts, more of those tunnels, such as we have seen what was discovered at the largest tunnel so far, and this is what IDF soldiers are hoping for, to discover more as this operation continues. Benita. Thank you so much. Stay safe, correspondent Pierre Stechelbach, live from southern Israel. Thank you, Pierre. And now, more news just in this time out of the West Bank. A man has been injured in a stabbing attack just a short while ago. Details are still emerging, but we can confirm that a 49-year-old man has been likely injured in a stabbing attack in the West Bank. Still with me in studio, Avi Paznare, and we're hearing the reports. We heard from Pierre about the fighting that is intensifying as we speak inside the Gaza Strip, but threats remain in other parts, including as we are just seeing out of the West Bank. Talk to us about the concerns right now about different fronts flaring up at the same time. Yeah, Benita. Actually, we are fighting a war on many fronts. Evidently, the most spectacular war is the war in Gaza, the most difficult also. And this is the one where most Israeli soldiers are involved and the attention of the world is also focused on that, obviously. But at the same time, let's not forget, we have other front in plural fronts. First of all, you mentioned just now in the West Bank, you know, every night we kill terrorists in the West Bank. We have now the Northern border. Everybody fights every day. We have the Houthi on the South fighting them. I mean, Israel is now in a multi-front war, and we will win this multi-front war. Avipaznare, we always appreciate your insights on all the developments as they unfold. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for being here in studio, the former Israeli ambassador to France and Italy. Thank you, Avipaznare. And on that note, we wrap up this edition of our breaking news coverage, but our rolling coverage continues shortly. Stay tuned. I'm Benita Levine in Tel Aviv. Thank you for watching. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. This is Breaking News Edition. I'm Benita Levine, and we start with breaking news. The IDF has discovered a massive tunnel leading from deep inside Gaza, all the way to the Israeli border. Details made public just moments ago. As our senior defense correspondent, Jonathan Regev reports, it's yet another example of how the Hamas terror group is using money meant for Gaza civilians for its own terror purposes. Let's take a look. It is nearly three miles long, more than two meters high and wide enough for cars to drive here. If anyone wondered what Hamas did with the giant funds provided every month, this is the answer. This tunnel meant every infrastructure needed, cement, electricity, water, and also various hiding places for our weapons, meaning it was ready for use. The shaft that is very close to the Israeli border roughly 400 meters or so, a quarter of a mile, from the Israeli base of the areas, less than two minutes, and the terrorists are already in Israeli territory. It's the biggest tunnel found in Gaza so far. Hundreds of terrorists could come to this point practically undetected. This tunnel runs from miles and miles into Gaza, into towns like Bet-Khanun, Bet-Laya, two or three miles inland. The terrorists come all the way up here, then the shaft being on the other side. Once they come up to the ground, there are merely 400 meters or a quarter of a mile away from the areas crossing the area's base. Just before the tunnel is demolished, the IDF showed us what the money envelopes from Qatar are really used for. Hamas, as a terror organization, showed his face using his money only for terror. All of his investment, only for terror, not for the civilians of Gaza. So for more on this breaking news, we now welcome Brigadier General in the reserves, Yossef Kupavasa, former director general in the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs and former head of research at the IDF military intelligence. Brigadier General, thank you so much for your time. Details of this massive tunnel have just been released. It's nearly three miles long, more than two meters high, as we just heard from my colleague, Jonathan Reghev. Are you surprised at the extent of this terror network Hamas has built in Gaza? Your thoughts? Frankly, I'm not surprised. It has been well known that Hamas uses the money and the other resources it has in order to build those tunnels underneath the ground all over Gaza. Some of them are offensive tunnels, as the one we are talking about now. Some of them are for defensive purposes, shelters for their terrorists. This is not a surprise. Actually, they have been building those, digging those tunnels since before we left Gaza in 2005, and we were attacked through those similar tunnels at that time as well. So it's not a surprise. It's amazing to see them, the magnitude of this effort and how big the tunnels are. This is really amazing. But it's not a surprise. We knew that this was the case. You say it's amazing to see the extent of it, how huge it is. We know there's a shaft some 400 meters from the Israeli area's base. Joav Galan, the Defence Minister, has visited the site himself. How did intelligence not pick up on this extensive terror site? Intelligence did pick up on these sites, I don't know specifically, even that specific tunnel, but we knew that there were tunnels approaching the fence all over the place. And this was the reason why we built the wall inside the ground in order to prevent these tunnels from crossing into our territory. And this is the case. And this specific tunnel ends about 400 meters away from the border and from the fence and from the wall that was built next to the fence, and which means that this effort to block the ability of Hamas to enter into Israel territory through the tunnels was successful. What they did was they approached the fence with the tunnels and they were able to come out from the tunnels very close to the fence and all the time they needed in order to approach the fence was really marginal. This was the idea after they were blocked from being able to cross with the tunnels into Israel territory. And the fact that there are tunnels of this kind is no surprise for the intelligence. Actually, in a way, what happened was that because we managed to block the tunnels, there was this feeling that, okay, now they cannot penetrate into Israel territory because this huge project of building the capability to cross through the tunnels was blocked. And this was one of the reasons in my mind that stood behind the conception that led to the failure of October 7th. We thought that they cannot penetrate and we thought that the wall underneath the ground and the wall over the ground are going to stop them from crossing in. And apparently this was a big mistake. Clearly that was a big mistake. What does Israel do right now? The IDF do right now to destroy this tunnel system. What exactly is that going to involve and what kind of time frames are we looking at realistically? Realistically, you talk about this tunnel and you said its length is several miles which is a really big challenge to destroy it. But we are talking all together about 400 miles all over the underneath the entire Gaza Strait. And this is going to take months and months before we manage to destroy all these tunnels. And we have to deal with each and every one of them. Entering them is dangerous and fighting inside them is problematic and destroying them is very demanding. It's not an easy task and we have all kinds of tools with which we are trying to handle it. We explode the shafts. We consider filling some of them with water. Not each and every one of them can be filled with water. Some of them there are all kinds of precautions to prevent that from happening. It's a really difficult task ahead of us but I'm sure that with time we should be able to deal with all of them. Certainly a complicated task indeed and more details around this tunnel infrastructure is going to be revealed at around eight o'clock Israel time and so make sure that everybody who is watching tunes into I-24 News4, the latest developments on that. But I'd like to ask you about the concerns around Yahya Sinwar. Much has been made about the fact that he could have used tunnels to escape from Gaza. We know just a short while ago his holiday homes were raided but there's still no sign of him. How important is it from a morale and intelligence point of view that the IDF catch up with Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad Def and others? It is important but it's not critical. If we manage to do that, it's going to be a major success and achievement but our task has never been defined as killing or arresting Yahya Sinwar. Our task is to defeat Hamas capability to rule Gaza and defeat Hamas capability to carry out more terror attacks against Israel. This is the purpose. Of course, dealing with Sinwar is going to be an icing on the cake but it's not a critical and necessary step. And of course, the other crucial goal remains finding the hostages that are still inside Gaza potentially in these tunnels that we're talking about. We do know that a meeting has taken place between the director of Mossad and Qatar's prime minister just a short while ago. CNN is reporting the two were expected to continue discussions over the release of the remaining hostages. The report suggests that those meetings were positive. What does Israel need to do in your opinion to get the 129 hostages still in captivity back home safely? I think the most important thing is to keep on the pressure on Hamas and with the military activities in Gaza. The closer we get to them, the greater the chances are that they are going to be ready to work out a deal that would help them survive for a while and in return for releasing the hostages. That is the logic of what we have been doing since the beginning of this war. And I think this logic still holds. And of course, once we put more pressure, we also need to have the process going on in which we translate these military achievements into a deal. And this is why we have to speak with the Qataris and most importantly, also with the Egyptians in order to pave the road for such a deal. Thank you so much. We always appreciate your insights into all the latest security developments. Brigadier General, in those reserves, Josef Kupovas said thank you so much for your time. And joining me now in studio, Avi Paznare, former Israeli ambassador to France and Italy and the former world chairman of Karen Hayes, so United Israel Appeal. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you very much. As always, let's start with this breaking news at the top of this hour, this huge tunnel infrastructure. We saw that report from Jonathan Regev. What it means for the IDF to uncover something as extensive and costly as this right now? It's quite an incredible tunnel. I was thinking, Benita, where in the world do they have that kind of tunnels? I don't know. I, when we speak about 500 kilometers of tunnel and you see that kind of tunnel that the car can travel through it and you think what Hamas has been doing since they took power in Gaza in 2007, 16 years now, they had only one thing in mind, building tunnels. This is what they did. This is what they did. Because look at Gaza. Look at the economy of Gaza. Look how Gaza looks. They have invested everything they had, every penny, every energy, everything, building tunnels. I cannot believe that we didn't know that. I cannot believe that. We knew that. How did we not understand the threat posed by that? How could we play with the idea that you can live alongside Hamas? When they did, I call it a pharaonic work. I mean, it's incredible. Nowhere in the world. And now it will take a lot of time to destroy that and time and effort. And we have to destroy that. We cannot live Gaza with those tunnels intact. We have to take the time and the money and the effort and destroy it. And when one looks at the costs involved in this terror network, the scale of it, and one understands that the money that Qatar was sending to the Gaza Strip was being used for this purpose and not for the humanitarian aid it was supposed to be used for. What kind of reaction, given your understanding of diplomacy around the globe, what kind of reaction would you expect from abroad when you see the images we just saw in that report when we see what that money was actually used for? You know, Benita, I just came now from an interview with a French channel, not a French channel. They don't talk about that. I mean, they know about the existence of these tunnels as much as we do. No, they talk about the destruction of Gaza. I mean, you know, we have, in order to advance, we have to take adequate steps to protect our soldier, protect as much as possible our hostages. So Gaza doesn't look good today. I don't hear, I told them, look, do you know that under Gaza you have 500 kilometers of tunnels? Do you know what it means? Do you know that you say those poor people, those poor people, they're not poor people. If they had the money to build this huge, it's a huge investment. Billions and billions, it's not, you know, it's not only the $30 million that were transferred to them by Qatar through suitcases, through the... It's in the world, it's big investment, it's big money, it's billions. And now we have to take care of all that and we have to take care and to destroy it and then to see that it is never rebuilt again. Because this poses a threat to us, to our state. It poses that kind of tunnel, poses a real threat for the future. And we have to see that in the future there will be no more such tunnel and there will not be an organization like Khamas Ruling Gaza. Which is certainly one of the main goals for the IDF right now. The other goal, which we were discussing earlier on in the broadcast is obviously to get all the hostages that are still being held captive inside Gaza, potentially in those tunnels that we just saw, back home safely. We know, according to CNN, there was a meeting between the director of Mossad and Qatar's prime minister. We're hearing reports that that meeting was positive. But what does that mean for the families right now? They are waiting for something concrete. How do you see this unfolding? What is it going to take to get those hostages back home where they belong? Look, the terrible tragedy of last week when by error we kill three hostages, demonstrate the urgency to take out whoever we can take out. Maybe we cannot take out all the 130 hostages now. It's possible. But maybe we can take out 40 or 50. Maybe. So I was pleased to hear that Dady Barnier, the chief of the Mossad, met with the prime minister of Qatar somewhere in Europe and that it was positive. Which does not mean, Benita, that you will have an agreement tomorrow morning. But if we can work out a truth, not a ceasefire, a truth of a few days, three, four, five days, to get 30, 40, 50 hostages out, we should do that. Just like we did a few weeks ago. We should do that. Nothing will happen to the IDF. In any way, you see, it's a very long and costly operation. So it will take three or four more days. And I believe it is our moral obligation to do whatever we can to take out whoever is possible to take out. Avipasner, stay with us. We've got much more to discuss. And as you just alluded to, the latest reaction to that tragic development, Israelis are still trying to process. The country's defense leaders say they have accepted responsibility for that accidental killing of three hostages trying to escape from captivity in Gaza, vowing steps to ensure no repeat of that tragic incident. They also pointed out the difficulties soldiers are facing in what they call complex urban battlefields. Yotam Chaim, Samaritsa Lalka, and Alon Shamriz killed on Friday as they were running towards a group of soldiers in Shejaiyah neighborhood while waving a white cloth and calling for help. In Hebrew, the trio had escaped their Hamas abductors nearly 10 weeks since that brutal kidnapping during the terror onslaught on the 7th of October. The initial IDF probe, finding the soldiers, feared that the three were part of a trap and open fire, killing them before realizing their mistake. Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, calling the killings difficult and painful. The funeral of Alon Shamriz, taking place in Shfaim a short while ago. Here's more from his brother, Idor Shamriz. We turned over every stone, knocked on every table for us to be reunited, but it wasn't enough. We didn't do everything but you did. You were on your own journey in the dark without glasses. You were held by monsters and harsh conditions. No water, no food, no oxygen, and no daylight. You went through all this and ran. You acted bravely. That is reserved for unique people like you. And you waited for redemption. I talked about you so much in every meeting or interview. But I didn't say how brave you are. You always knew what was good for you. You did things your way. And this time, too, you ran away against all odds and did all things to get home. My poor brother, what happened to you in those moments when you already saw the light, it became dark. Whoever abandoned you also murdered you after you did everything right. Just cannot imagine the pain. Now let's find out what is happening on the ground. We go to our correspondent, Pia Stekelbar. She joins us again from southern Israel. Pia, we see the sun setting behind you. We know fighting continues inside the Gaza Strip. We know tunnels are being exposed from under the ground. And also, aid is coming into the Gaza Strip through the Kerim Shalom crossing. What is the latest there? What can you tell us? Right, Benita. Well, the Kerim Shalom crossing was opened today for the entry of humanitarian aid. Kerim Shalom is located at the very southern part. This is where the Gaza Strip, Egypt and Israel basically meet. And Kerim Shalom was where humanitarian aid was inspected before. But today is the first day that it really was opened for the entry of those goods after they were inspected there. This is part of the demands that the U.S. have been putting forward, first of all, to minimize the large number of civilian casualties in Gaza and to allow more humanitarian aid to enter. Two Egyptian sources in the Red Cross have told Reuters today that they assume 79 trucks are entering today. Israel has committed, in the wake of the hostage deal that was brokered, to let 200 of those trucks enter every day, 200 both considering the Rafah crossing that has been active and now also the Kerim Shalom crossing. But Benita, there are serious concerns that are being put forward from the Israeli side and that are also part of the reason why Kerim Shalom has not been opened for the entry of that humanitarian aid so far. Israel assumes that much of that humanitarian aid will not end up with the Gaza civilian population as the Israeli military claims that Hamas has been trying and has been also doing so, has been stealing from those trucks, has been stealing this aid and taking it away from the humanitarian population to fuel its own fighters and its own infrastructure there. We've also been seeing footage from the Rafah crossing today that is showing Gaza civilians looting those trucks that were entering through Rafah in complete despair because humanitarian organizations have been warning for weeks that the humanitarian situation is worsening in Gaza. The lack of clean water, lack of food, lack of medicine is of course contributing to the worsening situation for Gaza civilians there. That humanitarian aid that the US was calling for entering now Israel has serious concerns that this will actually help better the situation of civilians as it might not even end up with them but this remains to be seen now that a second crossing was open today, the Kerim Shalom crossing in addition to the Rafah crossing that will allow or that is at least the goal for in total 200 trucks to enter every day. We were looking as you were speaking Pia of that footage of that looting dramatic scenes again on our screens right now. Meanwhile, over and above the tunnels that were exposed that Jonathan Regev was reporting on at the top of this broadcast. Also other discoveries by the IDF, troops raiding the holiday homes of several senior Hamas commanders including Yahya Sinwar, what else can you tell us? Right Benita, well this is one of the main goals obviously of this operation to localize Hamas infrastructure also including infrastructural homes that belong to their senior leaders, the vacation home of Yahya Sinwar. Of course Yahya Sinwar is estimated to be hiding out in one of those tunnels and this is one more reason for the IDF to really discover all of those tunnels, to localize them and to demolish them. These tunnel systems that the IDF has claimed are running underneath civilian infrastructure in Gaza as well. The IDF has delivered what it says is proof that these tunnels or tunnel shafts, tunnel openings are running beyond underneath humanitarian locations such as buildings, residential buildings. Today the IDF has published a video footage showing one of those tunnel shafts being located in a children's room in a residential building. Let's take a listen to one of the commanders who was on the ground had to say Benita. We're in a house that seems like what might be an innocent home but if you follow me here into the children's room. Looks like an innocent children's room under this child's cot, not the baby's cot. You see a tunnel that was used for terror by Hamas Isis. Hamas Isis uses children's rooms, uses baby's cot to hide what is used for terror, for murder and for slaughter. Now of course, Benita, we cannot know if these inhabitants of that apartment actually agreed for Hamas to store weapons there. We don't know any of the circumstances but what we see is astonishing and this is really what the IDF has been claiming for weeks now is that this infrastructure, this weapons, these tunnels are located in these residential buildings which makes it of course extremely difficult to operate there. Now what we know is that fighting is continuing in several areas in the Gaza Strip from where we're at here right now, we can look into the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the northern part where the ground operation has basically began. You can probably see that orange light there far. The IDF is firing flares in the sky to really enlighten the area there to conduct their operations which have the aim to destroy the remaining Hamas infrastructure which could be tunnels, which could be ammunition, weapons, depots there. This is the focus of the operation that is continuously going on in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Earlier we could see smoke arising from several different locations. They're of course fighting as well is continuing in the southern part, the area of Chanyunus and in Shizhai, the neighborhood in the city of Gaza but this is what we're really speaking about conditions of urban warfare. This is incredibly difficult to run for Israeli soldiers to operate in and there of course they're trying to localize more of those tunnels, more of those tunnels such as we have seen what was discovered, the largest tunnel so far and this is what IDF soldiers are hoping for to discover more as this operation continues, Benita. Thank you so much. Stay safe. Correspondent Pierre Stechelbach, live from southern Israel. Thank you, Pierre. And now more news just in this time out of the West Bank. A man has been injured in a stabbing attack just a short while ago. Details are still emerging but we can confirm that a 49 year old man has been likely injured in a stabbing attack in the West Bank. Still with me in studio, Avi Pazner and we're hearing the reports. We heard from Pierre about the fighting that is intensifying as we speak inside the Gaza Strip but threats remain in other parts including as we are just seeing out of the West Bank. Talk to us about the concerns right now about different fronts flaring up at the same time. Yeah, Benita, actually we are fighting a war on many fronts. Evidently the most spectacular war is the war in Gaza, the most difficult also and this is the one where most Israeli soldiers are involved and the attention of the world is also focused on that obviously but at the same time, let's not forget, we have other front in plural fronts. First of all, you mentioned just now in the West Bank. You know, every night we kill terrorists in the West Bank. We have now the Northern border. Everybody fights every day. We have the Houthi on the South fighting them. I mean, Israel is now in a multi-front war and we will win this multi-front war. Aviv Puzner, we always appreciate your insights on all the developments as they unfold. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for being here in studio, the former Israeli ambassador to France and Italy. Thank you, Aviv Puzner. And on that note, we wrap up this edition of our breaking news coverage but our rolling coverage continues shortly. Stay tuned. I'm Benita Levine in Tel Aviv. Thank you for watching. It must reach the whole world. The I-24 News Channel, broadcasting from Israel with dozens of correspondents throughout the world, brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries. They're almost completely done down in their beds. De la frontière qui sépare Israel, the state of emergency and war in Israel. Bringing Israel's story to the world. I-24 News Channels, now on Hot. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. To the I-24 News, we're coming to you live from Tel Aviv on this day 72 of the war would come us. And hundreds of people have been attending the funeral of Alon Shamri, who was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7th and held captive for 70 days before he was mistakenly killed by IDF troops on Friday. And the IDF has named two more soldiers who fell in the fighting in Gaza. 26-year-old Master Sergeant Joseph Afner Doran and 24-year-old Sergeant First Class Shalev Saltsman. And as fierce fighting continues in northern and southern Gaza, the IDF has uncovered more tunnels, including this, the biggest one yet. In some places, it's 50 meters deep. It's big enough to fit vehicles. And it leads from deep inside Gaza, right up to the Israeli border. Our senior defense correspondent Jonathan Reghev visited the tunnel, and here is his exclusive report. It is nearly three miles long, more than two meters high and wide enough for cars to drive here. If anyone wondered what Hamas did with the giant funds provided every month, this is the answer. This tunnel had every infrastructure needed, cement, electricity, water, and also various hiding places for our weapons, meaning it was ready for use and shaft that is very close to the Israeli border, roughly 400 meters or so, a quarter of a mile, from the Israeli base of the areas, less than two minutes, and the terrorists are already in Israeli territory. It's the biggest tunnel found in Gaza so far. Hundreds of terrorists could come to this point practically undetected. This tunnel runs from miles and miles into Gaza, into towns like Bet-Khanun, Bet-Laya, two or three miles inland. The terrorists come all the way up here, and then the shaft being on the other side. Once they come up to the ground, they're merely 400 meters or a quarter of a mile away from the areas crossing the area's base. Just before the tunnel is demolished, the IDF showed us what the money envelopes from Qatar are really used for. Hamas, as a terror organization, showed his face using his money only for terror. All of his investment only for terror, not for the civilians of Gaza. Just a glimpse there, and you can see Jonathan's extended reports at 8 o'clock in just under two hours' time right here on I-24 News. Well, meanwhile, inside Gaza, aid is for the first time since the war began coming via the Kerem Shalom crossing in Israel, and an aid truck coming in via Rafa, the crossing with Egypt, was looted by armed men earlier today. Well, our correspondent, P.S. Deckelbach, joins us now from southern Israel with the latest. P.S., so more aid is now going into Gaza, isn't it, that now that the Kerem Shalom crossing is open for the first time. Right, Lara, while the Kerem Shalom crossing was used before to inspect those humanitarian aid deliveries, today it was open to also provide the entry of those goods to Egyptian Red Crescent workers who have told the Reuters news agency that today 79 trucks entered from Kerem Shalom into Gaza, and this has been put forward as one of the demands by the U.S. to first and foremost to minimize the civilian casualties in Gaza, but to also open the Kerem Shalom crossing for the entry of more goods. This will help Israel to fulfill its commitment to let in total 200 trucks enter both via the Rafa crossing with Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing, and we've seen the footage from the Rafa crossing of people trying to loot one of those trucks there, several of those trucks entering via Rafa today, and this is also one of the main concerns and one of the main reasons why Israel has not opened up the Kerem Shalom crossing before because Israel fears that the aid will in the end not get to the civilian population. Israel has claimed before that Hamas is trying to take away to steal the aid from its population to use for its own infrastructure, for its own of fighting. Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations are warning that the humanitarian catastrophe for the civilians in Gaza is worsening. Every day this war goes on, but Israel's concern is that this aid in the end, no matter how numerous it will be, will not reach those in need, Laura. Right, another two IDF soldiers. Meanwhile, Pia, I have fallen in the fighting. We'll talk about that a bit later. Pia Steckelbauer, thank you very much indeed. Pia Steckelbauer there in southern Israel. Well, with me in the studio this hour, Lieutenant Colonel Dovon Abital is the former commander of the Special Forces of the IDF. We'll talk about the tunnel in a moment. We'll talk about the fighting in a moment. As I say, 121 IDF soldiers are now killed in the fighting. But what about those scenes of the aid being looted by armed men? Yeah, I think in the end, and this is the decision of the work cabinet, there's no way not to introduce this kind of humanitarian aid from the two crossing that right now we allow them in. And we have the problem, of course, that we see gunmen taking some of the looting, those things. And you see the fact that it's not fully organized the way the supplies are being handed to the public. I don't see any other choice right now. This is part of the game we play in Gaza. We have to do it. And I think this is what the cabinet decided. So fierce fighting on one hand and providing aid on the other. But is that aid going to, Hamas, going to the enemy? I think some of it for sure goes to the enemy. We have to conclude this. I mean, we have to admit it. But I don't see any other way. You can't put the public in Gaza under siege in terms of food and medical supplies. We'll have a disaster and a catastrophe that we wouldn't be able to handle. So we are fighting on one hand and then introducing those supplies on the other hand. This is part of the game, the puzzle of Gaza, the puzzle of this war. Funeral, as I mentioned, Alon Shamoy is one of the three hostages who was mistakenly shot there by the IDF forces in Gaza over the weekend. This absolutely devastated the nation. We heard the family speaking at the funeral saying, you know, we waited for 70 days. You survived. I mean, this is just truly traumatic, isn't it? It's a terrible tragic incident. In fact, we've been discussing it even in those studios about trying to exploit opportunities. We were talking about the special forces, the negotiation teams, trying to follow some intel and then go and rescue. We were really hoping that this would happen. In the end, we had an opportunity coming into our laps. The three people succeeded to run away from Hamas and then we messed it up terribly. And I think the IDF right now investigates how did it happen. There was no, I mean, the shooting was in some sense, not in some sense. It was against the rules of the IDF in terms of people keeping their hands up. But, you know, soldiers are there for a long time. They are tired. They are under fear. And they think all the time of those schemes that the Hamas is playing on our soldiers. Right, because we've heard reports of them using recordings of babies crying and all sorts of tricks. Yeah, so we take the whole scenario, the whole circumstance. It's hard to judge soldiers in those circumstances. Still, this is a terrible incident. It has to be investigated. And also, I think it affects the Israeli public in such a fashion that it really now, the Israeli public demands from the government to put the first priority to keep the hostages dilemmas solved, resolved by deal, or by any other means possible, before other priorities. Right, and on that note, of course, CNN is reporting that the head of the Mossad, David Barnier, has been holding talks with the Qatari Prime Minister in Norway. I mean, Hamas has said that they will demand nothing short of a permanent ceasefire in exchange for the return of the hostages. There's no way to, the terms would be the end of the war. They say like saying, OK, Israel, give up. We cannot do this. But any other deal, ceasefire, long ceasefire, whatever would be the terms, release of prisoners, this can be worked out. So I think right now there's a big demand in the Israeli public. Of course, it doesn't help us in terms of the negotiation, but we are a democratic society. People see the demonstration and the march in Israel. But I think the government understand, and I think the war cabinet yesterday, when they were disclosing and discussing this tragic incident, they really conveyed to the public that the hostages comes now first and there will be any effort done in order to rescue them in whatever deal offered. But it doesn't, by no way, a deal that means the end of the war, because this is unacceptable. Right, and Prime Minister Netanyahu has reiterated that there will be no release of the hostages without that military pressure. There does seem to be a bit of a debate over that. Yeah, exactly. But I think the military pressure is necessary in order to really push the Hamas into some kind of a deal. The question is, how do you do the, how do you reorganize the priorities? So I would say definitely the priorities right now, hostage first, then the infrastructure. We saw the tunnels that has to be dismantled and of course killing Hamas operatives. And third would be the targeting of the Hamas leaders because we'll have the time. You're talking about the political leaders, the Kaniyans, the Meshals. And also, of course, Sinoir, if we'll have the opportunity, we'll kill him tomorrow. But I'm saying, in terms of the priorities, this phase cannot end and cannot turn into a ceasefire without the hostage dilemma being resolved. We cannot just do it. This is unacceptable, you know. And I think our allies, the US, and everybody understand this. So this is first priority right now. Well, let's talk about that tunnel then. The largest ever Hamas attack tunnel. In some places, it's 50 meters deep. It's, I mean, you saw the defense minister, you have gallant there. I mean, he looked tiny because the tunnel is so vast. How did the IDF not know this was there? Well, of course, there's no way that the debacle, that the terrible intelligence failure of the 7th of October is overwhelming, not only in terms of their intent to go into this campaign, but also the fact that we had no real knowledge about the infrastructure in Gaza. We all the time are being kept surprised with what we see there. Because they knew that Hamas was building tunnels. That was the reason for the war that happened in 2014. This is true. But since we built this barrier, and we thought about tunnels, attack tunnels, so we felt, okay, they are locked in, but the tunnels can't cross to our territory. But this tunnel went all the way to the L.S. Crossnet. 400 meters before, exactly. It always stopped short of the barrier. This barrier really confuses us to believe that we are protected. But when you think of a campaign of attacking, offensive campaign of the IDF inside the Gaza, this is a different story. This is a whole tunnel system that can serve them to come, hit us, come back, run away. So this is really... Right, because presumably when Israeli intelligence was looking at Gaza from above, they wouldn't see terrorists approaching the border until it was too late. Of course, of course. But then we really had too much confidence in our barriers and our fences and our electronics and our system. This was a terrible failure. There's no way even to try to... The magnitude of the failure is insane, but... And right now we get it also within Gaza. And now we already know about the funds. The huge amount of funds, this great fund that was discovered, disclosed, that was serving the Hamas, so all these financials were invested in those tunnels. Yeah, billions of dollars were supposed to go to helping the Palestinians and civilians in Gaza, and we see how the money was spent on this vast tunnel network. Yeah, so this is top priority for us after the hostages to really dismantle this structure. And there has been some talk about what happened back in 2018 when they held these so-called March of Return riots really at the border with Israel. Yeah, and they used it to work for a cover to do many of those operations, exactly. So we were thinking this is like maybe a public outcry that is innocent and then I'm sure the Hamas was using it to facilitate some of the infrastructure that is building. There's no question about that. So the idea of the intelligence services is going to have to completely rethink the relationship with Gaza? There's no question. There would be... I don't want even to start to think what kind of rebuilding of our intelligence infrastructure is right now required in order to match the challenges of the future. Okay, but just to update you on our top story of this hour, the idea has uncovered the largest ever Hamas attack tunnel. Then you can see our senior defense correspondent Jonathan Regev visited the tunnel earlier. It's 50 meters deep in some places, wide enough for vehicles. It went all the way from the Jabalia refugee camp, as it's called, in northern Gaza, all the way, just short of the areas crossing into Israel. So that is the focus of the IDF today, unveiling the biggest ever Hamas attack tunnel that has been unveiled there. Well, 12-year-old Yagil and his 16-year-old brother, Orr, were held for weeks by Hamas terrorists before they were released on November 27th as part of a temporary ceasefire deal. Their father, though, remains at the hands of the terrorists more in the support. Renana Yagil and Orr, who but you know how important it is to empower and strengthen all the children of the Gaza envelope? I want to invite you to light a seventh Hanukkah tunnel. Our light, the light of all of us, is your return home. Let the light illuminate their way back and a great miracle will be here. Just before they lit the seventh Hanukkah tunnel in Alat, we met Renana, a mother whose two boys returned home only two weeks ago. Their father is still in Gaza in captivity. My brothers came to accompany me during these difficult days and forced me to go down here and enter the sea and snorkel to pass the time. So on the day when my children went through this whole process and I was waiting nervously, I snorkeled, I went in from here until we were there. To the bridge and back, we spent another hour. Orr and Yagil were released in the fourth exchange. I put crazy pressure on the members of the cabinet so that Yagil was on the list because he was held by the Islamic jihad. He had to be transferred to Hamas. It was not clear if he was transferred and until there was family reunification, they were not ready. That was a condition, right? Family reunification, our condition. So they weren't ready to release both of them. And they had to transfer Yagil? Yes. Everyone knows that Yagil was with the jihad. He was their presenter. They chose the best presenter there was. He said they did 50 takes. They harassed him all night before that to probably get him to the studio. They gave him a message sheet. The first thing that was the most important for him to say, Bebe, are you listening? The most important thing for him was to say that he didn't mean what he said there at all. My sons were alone in my house sleeping. They got into the safe room. They called me scared to death. They said they hear someone breaking into our home. The door to the safe room was pushed open. They were taken from the same house. They threatened them with a knife, put him up in boxers, a boy in boxers with a knife to his throat. They put him on an electric bicycle, and after he left, they took his brother. Renana, who until October 7th was the head of Kibbutz Holit, on October 16th took a new role. She led the initiative for the return of the kidnapped children. The discussion at that moment was about freeing foreign citizens, Israeli citizens with foreign passports. There was no prioritization for children. It took me 48 long hours to get the children's lists. I turned to Khvaraza. I turned to Berri. And we started working. Etan Stivar brought the money to the initiative. Professor Chechanover was involved, along with many other important people. And the civic initiative led to four meetings of the parents of the kidnapped children with Qatari representatives. Now the initiative is changing its face, fighting for the return of men who remain captive. Men remained. Like it's okay. My children's father came out injured. Probably seriously, we don't know exactly what his condition is. We haven't received any sign of life. It keeps me awake, and I admit that until you see my son, he has to celebrate bar mitzvah. We didn't even have the going up to the Torah because he wants his father. What did your children say? There were very complex descriptions of loneliness because they were not together. So one was really lonely, and the other was with other people from our community, to my delight. The fact that you are with people who know you and care for you, and you have someone to care for, is something very significant. The other one was really alone. Alone, alone? Alone, alone. Then he spent another 10 days with a seriously injured Thai worker. What does a child do alone for 30 days? Looks out the window, learns the azan by heart, watches lots and lots of al-Jazeera, unfortunately, learns Arabic, talks to his captors. How he puts it, I was without a phone, so the brain started working. He learned about them, who they were and how many children they had, and he looked and learned about the family sitting across the window. He used his head. The children are very, very, very worried about the condition of both their father and other fathers who stayed there, including all those they met and were with, the knowledge that he is there, and the terrible place they were in. They know, unlike us. They also know exactly what it looks like. This fact is unbearable for them. And how is Sheer? Sheer is relatively okay. Singing is very difficult since they returned. It's very difficult for her to bear the fact that her father is still there. The discourse has become a discourse of another attack in Canunis and another rocket hit in Tel Aviv. In the next step, in the strategy game you're playing, you moved on to Canunis, and then you will move on to Rafa, and it is unbelievable. Under all this destruction, there are 137 people sitting today waiting for you to get them out of there. It's insane. I'm not a great general. The only thing I can say is that at the level of the state's contract, moral agreement, with its citizens, you owe them. You owe them. Get them out of there now. You owe it to them. These are people whose only sin was that they believed in you enough to sit there and maintain a community on the border. Between the lighting of the Chanukah candles and the meeting with the president, the children, as Renana says, returned to the regular thing from the past. They quickly adapted their new life, living in a hotel. But every morning, the first thing they ask is if there is a hostage deal and if dad is on the list. Well, another soldier has been killed in the fighting in northern Gaza. He's been named as Staff Sergeant Boris Dunovetsky, 21 years old from Kiryat Bialik. That brings to 122 the number of IDF soldiers who have been killed in the fighting. Well, let's go back to the biggest Hamas attack tunnel that was unveiled today by the IDF. 50 metres deep in places big enough to contain vehicles going all the way from Jabalia in northern Gaza, all the way to the Eris crossing with Israel. We're joined now by Achia Klein. He's a former IDF Special Operations Engineering Unit Officer and a specialist in tunnels. Thank you very much, Indy, for being with us, Achia. Thanks for having me. So the biggest tunnel yet has just been discovered. Given all the intelligence Israel has, how did the IDF not know about its existence, do you think, until now? As we saw, the lack of intelligence was very, I mean, I can say a lot about that because that's what all of us know, but it was really, really a big missing part. But as we see, during the war, the interrogation, the investigation, the intelligence came up on his legs and bring a lot of intelligence. It helps to close the gap a little bit and I think we need to focus at what we have right now. And in the past, we know it was a mistake, but as many people say, until now, I mean, it's not the time to talk about why we didn't have it and like to deal with what we have right now. Okay, so the job of the IDF now, of course, will be to destroy this tunnel. The engineering brigade will be in there right now laying bombs to explode and detonate it. Destroying this Hamas infrastructure is key, isn't it? Yeah, I think, you know, the story about this kind of tunnel, we know for many years, but the biggest problem with tunnel that we didn't know about the tunnel, I think we find them. And I mean, just every time, I just amazed by seeing how big is the structure, the network tunnel. I think everyone should be amazed of that because that's, I mean, people can have a little bit of understanding how much efforts and money the Hamas puts of this kind of tunnel instead of the site in Gaza. And of course, now the biggest, this war is about destroying the tunnel and if we need to make sure this work will be done and it will be done. I mean, yeah, as you say, I mean, clearly a lot of resources went into building this. It's huge. There are people making jokes here in Tel Aviv about how this puts the developing metro system here in Tel Aviv to shame. It's taking years and whereas Hamas terrorists managed to take aid money and build this ginormous tunnel. Not just in Tel Aviv. I mean, they can be helpful here in Toronto or in New York and any metro network can be very helpful. I mean, surprisingly, but unsurprisingly, they put all their efforts on the end to do a terrorist attacks and that shows that they didn't rest for years. They didn't rest for one day. That was the whole kind of master plan to do the invasion to Israel, to try to kill as many people as they can do. I mean, you don't just do this kind of tunnel, the ginormous tunnel, as you say, very close to the Israeli border. It's not for a piece of purpose. No, it's not to help the population at all, is it? It's purely for the aim of attacking Israel. And it's not just a tunnel. It has branches. It has junctions. It has plumbing, electricity, communication lines. I mean, it's more than just a tunnel, isn't it? It's way more than tunnel. They have water systems. They have like an air system, that air installation system that helps them like to have the fresh air. I mean, the fact that you can go with trucks and like with the vertical inside, that's crazy. And they use a very, very smart drill machine in order to dig it. And to, you know, you see it's very, very planned. It's not just a few Palestinians, a few Hamas members taking a shovel and start digging on the beach of Gaza. It's way more structured. And I mean, that's very fortunate. What do you think about the IDF plans to flood the tunnels with seawater? Do you think that that's a good idea? I mean, we're facing a problem that we need to come over with a solution. That's one of the solution. That's also make, you know, there's a lot of people talking about what happened if the hostages would be in the tunnel. So, I mean, by flooding it with seawater, it's also, you know, it's not just like one hit and you finish like explosive. Like when you're flooding the tunnel, it's definitely a good start. And we know by fact, that's very, very un-stabilized Hamas leadership and they're very worried about that. And, I mean, so far it's looked like a decent idea. It will take a lot of time to do it, but Israel keep put the pressure on Hamas and destroy any infrastructure that Hamas have. All right. Thank you very much indeed. Good to talk to you. Thanks for having me, but... All right, we're going to take a very short break. When we come back, we'll look at the United States' plan to hit back at the Houthis. So, we've been harassing shipping in the Red Sea. Plus, we'll speak about an Israeli idea to bypass the Houthis altogether. That's next. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Welcome back. The United States is weighing up military action against Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthis as the group continues to attack shipping in the Red Sea and an Israeli company is transporting goods to Israel overland via ports in the UAE and Bahrain in order to bypass the threat from the Houthis. Well, two of the world's largest shipping firms are suspending passage through the Red Sea in response to those attacked by the Houthis. The attacks have made shipping considerably more dangerous and costly. Egypt is one of the worst affected countries, as the Suez Canal brings in billions of dollars to Cairo in income every year. Our area loss around has the story. The world's biggest shipping companies are diverting their ships away from the Red Sea amid increased attacks by the Houthis in Yemen. The tidal wave of announcements comes as the U.S. and British navies shot down 15 suspected attack drones over the Red Sea on Saturday. The Iranian-backed Houthis said they launched a large batch of drones at Israel's southern city of Elat and will continue their attacks as long as the war in Gaza carries on. The Yemeni armed forces shoe all ships heading to all ports around the world, except for the Israeli ports that they won't be harmed but must keep their identifying devices open. The Mediterranean shipping carrier MSC, along with French CMA CGM, said on Saturday that they were suspending passage to the Red Sea. This followed similar steps by Dana's shipping giant Maersk, German-based chipper Hapag Lloyd, Taiwanese Yang Ming and Israeli shipping line Tzim, raising concern over the impact of the flow of goods through the major global trade corridor connecting Asia and Europe. The Houthis represent a material threat to freedom of navigation, to commercial shipping, to lawful commerce, and they're doing so in a vital artery there at the Bab al-Mandeb and into the Red Sea. And the United States is working with the international community, with partners from the region and from all over the world to deal with this threat. Despite the expected blow to its economy, Israeli leaders say they will respond to the Houthis attacks in due course. We are ready to act. We know what to do, and we will find the right timing to act. We are giving a chance in the maritime issue to the international system. If we reach a situation where we are the last option, we will know what to do. And so as the scale and frequency of Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping reach unprecedented levels, the Pentagon is reportedly weighing its striking options. But after years of reluctance to act against Iran's proxies, these steps might turn out to be too little and too late. Well, the spokesman for the Houthis claims that the group is in negotiations with international parties being mediated by Oman. We can get more now on how those Houthi attacks are disrupting global shipping in the Red Sea. Our Bastian Boree joins us now live from Dubai. So, Bastian, are world powers really negotiating with a terrorist group? Well, at least the Houthis have reiterated their position of bowing to keep targeting ships and not engaging in any kind of negotiation with Israel, until Israel halts its war on Gaza. And Houthis have said it again today. Their attacks are being conducted on behalf of the Palestinian people. Now, what Oman can do, not much. And this is, a lot of this is due to the fact that the Omanis have a very critical stance towards the state of Israel and the army of Israel, which contrasts with their usual attitude as negotiators. They are asking for the creation of an international court for, quote, unquote, war crimes committed in Gaza and for Israeli leaders, including Benjamin Netanyahu, to be brought to justice. So, as you can see, bilateral negotiations between Oman and Israel are difficult, more difficult than usual. But on the other hand, what the Omanis will do and can do is pass on the demands and act as intermediaries, pass on the demands of the Houthis to the Saudis and to the Americans. Now, these attacks are designed to disrupt trade to Israel, as you pointed out. But what is the impact on other countries' maritime activities? What's urgent is that these attacks, as we saw, have prompted several commercial shipping companies to avoid the Suez Canal. And we're talking mainly about ships leaving Europe, which instead of crossing the Red Sea, are diverted around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope to Asia. So you can imagine how long these detours take. So a few comments there. First, these fears are not new. Shipping companies have been sounding the alarm about the safety of the Red Sea for several years now. There is, yes, the presence of the Houthi rebels, which dates back to well before October 7. We also have maritime piracy, often carried out by assailants from Somalia. There is human trafficking as well, in African migrants heading for the Gulf to see if the grass is greener. Not to mention, of course, the illegal shipment of arms, ammunition, explosives from Iran to Yemen. But before October 7, the situation was, let's say, manageable. It was managed jointly by the American, the British, the French, and the Saudi Navies. Today piracy is on the increase because of the war in Gaza, which is inciting the Houthis to steer up, as you said, steer up trouble in the Red Sea to divert the attention of the forces engaged against Hamas. And today the Saudi and Egyptian navies are much less keen to react because they are deterred from doing so by China, by Russia, by Iran, who are forcing them to comply less with Washington's orders to intervene. Right. And what are the Saudis and the other Gulf leaders saying about this? For the moment, as we can see, the reaction is to wait and see. Firstly, these attacks, we have to say, by the Houthis, are not large scale. They certainly make the headlines when they happen. But for the moment, they have only targeted a tiny handful of ships compared with the thousands of boats that pass through this area every month. And then Saudi Arabia's silence is also a way of putting pressure on the US, on the United States, on Washington, so that the Americans send more troops to the area and bear the responsibility, in a way, to defend this region. So I'll just finish by saying that this confrontation remains highly psychological for the time being. And every player in the region, including Yemen, has very little interest in things getting out of hand. Bastian, thank you very much. Bastian Borive. Good evening. Well, the US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, is due to arrive in Israel. He'll also be visiting Qatar and Bahrain where he is set to unveil Operation Prosperity Guardian, an international coalition to deal with that threat from the Houthis. Joining me now, Jason Brodsky, is Policy Director of United against Nuclear Iran. Good to see you, Jason. And there have been numerous attacks by the Houthis on shipping in recent weeks, including, of course, an attempted attack on a US warship, the USS Carney. Are we finally seeing Washington take this threat seriously? Well, it's great to be with you, Laura. I've been disappointed with the non-response from the United States to repeated attacks on commercial vessels and international waterways. If the freedom of navigation is a core US national security interest, the US government is certainly not acting like it. And while Operation Prosperity Guardian is an important step forward, it remains unclear to me how this differs from the many task forces and the international maritime security construct that are already on the books. So we need to pair the defense, which is plentiful in the region, with deterrence, which is not. Is the US involved in these negotiations that are being brokered by Oman? I think that we have to be careful here. I've seen the Houthis statements in this regard. I think the Houthis are trying to punch above their weight to showcase that they're a superpower like the United States has to speak with a militia like itself. I do think that there are messages being conveyed through mediators like Oman. But at the same time, I would not conflate messages with actual negotiations because the freedom of navigation is a core global interest. Egypt, a US ally, is one of the worst affected countries by this in terms of lost revenue. Egypt and Saudi Arabia though seem reluctant to join this coalition alongside the US. Why is that? I think Saudi Arabia especially is reluctant because it doesn't want to rupture the peace process that's underway with the Houthis, which have been up until recently regularly targeting Saudi Arabia with drones and missiles. At the same time, I don't think the Saudis have the most confidence in the US ability to respond forcefully to ongoing Houthi aggression and the non-response thus far by the United States to repeated attacks in this area of the world. It certainly confirms that suspicion. Well, one of the outcomes of conflict and wars is that they do lead to new initiatives and new trade routes. And we know that the Israelis are getting aid or trade via ports in the UAE and Bahrain partners under the Abraham Accords coming across land, across Saudi Arabia towards Israel. I mean, I have the Houthis unintentionally kind of pushed the Abraham Accords cooperation ahead. I think that the Houthis are confirming that the Israel and its Abraham Accords partners share security interests. And I think that after this war between Israel and Hamas dies down, you will see a return to the negotiating table to expand the Abraham Accords. And I think it also just shows how we need to increase the durability of our supply chains around the world. And this latest incident with the Houthis being able to impact global commerce at an important choke point in the world shows that we do have to build that durability into our supply chains. And it always goes back to the same thing, doesn't it, Jason? That the United States will at some stage have to grasp the net or when it comes to the Islamic Republic of Iran? Yes, I think that we do have a deterrence issue and deficit with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Whereas Hamane and his access of resistance are gradually escalating, that's being met with a largely non-response by the United States, which is showcasing to Tehran, that attacks against U.S. forces and interests are cheap. The benefits outweigh the cost. So why would the Islamic Republic at its proxy stop? And that's a very dangerous dynamic. Jason Brodsky at United against the Nuclear Iran. Thank you very much. Thank you. Well, as I mentioned, there is the U.S. Molz military action against the Houthis in Yemen. Israel and its partners in the Abraham Accords have come up with a way to bypass the Houthi threat to shipping. And there's a new route, which is bringing goods to Israel via ports in the UAE and Bahrain overland through Saudi Arabia and Jordan. This is a plan that was put together way before the war with Hamas, but as those attacks by the Houthis increase, it has, of course, become increasingly important. Well, we'll be speaking about this in more detail in tomorrow's program. So do tune in for that. Well, with me in the studio, this is our Lieutenant Colonel Dolvin Avital, former commander of the Special Forces in the IDF. And it's interesting, isn't it? It's kind of unintended consequence that Israel will work more closely with its partners in the region, which is good for peace in the long term. In many respects, the context of the Hamas attack was the Biden initiative that meant really to create discord or coming from the Indian Ocean, India, for Saudi Arabia to Israel and to Europe. And this was an attempt to derail it. Maybe perhaps after this campaign ends, we can renew this initiative. But I would say one thing, that if it's renewed, serious concession would have to be made through the American policy. And this is where there's a clash between Bivenet and Yau in the U.S. in terms of the Palestinian. This corridor cannot be generated without some acknowledgement of the... Some kind of gesture to the Palestinians. Exactly. And the Palestinians... Which the Saudi Arabians have also... Exactly. And there would be no normalization. So I think also the Israelis would face a major decision after the war ends, but the war has to end first. But this is the context in which we live. This is the access against the Iranian access with China and Russia to the north. And this is the new corridor coming from the south. And just in terms of the U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, he's the latest U.S. official jetting into Israel. I mean, where are we in terms of U.S. support for the war in Gaza? I think what is... I think the U.S. wants this phase of the war to end. Two weeks, three weeks, four weeks. And they want the Israeli to speed up their action. But as I said earlier, we can't conclude this phase of the war. And I'm talking about a phase because we know what's next. Without having our hostages back. So I think this would be the negotiation back and forth between the hostages. When you say this phase, you mean the airstrikes in conjunction? The phase, I mean, Hanyunas is being... The infrastructure of Tunisia has been dismantled. Targets are hit in the Rafa area. We hold the Gaza, the Jibalia, and Jihad. We really succeeded to clean them up. The next phase can be different. I mean, we sit, we see. Maybe we come out, we come back. But this phase of the war cannot... This phase of the war cannot end without the hostages. And I think this would be clarified to him. And then the U.S. would have to try to help us in. And of course, I think they are very much worried about the humanitarian catastrophe Gaza to try to... It wouldn't go that far. And I think this would be part of the negotiation back and forth, the discussion back and forth. The U.S. is very active in our war cabinet. Like, we didn't have it in no other war in the past. And this means... Is that constraining Israel from doing what it needs to do? Of course. We've never seen in the war cabinet... Did you go as far as saying it's interference? It's an issue. It means that exactly. I think the Israelis would have after the aftermath of the war, be that the U.S. would say, well, we were here. We were for you. Now you have to listen to us more seriously. And I think Netanyahu knows it very well in this way, trying to create, to demarcate his position against the U.S. I don't think he will succeed in the end in this context. So we have a lot to wait and see. But first, the campaign has to end. The hostages should be back. All right. Daw and Avatar, thank you very much. Well, some 800 Israeli children from the city of Steuot have been unable to return to their homes since the attacks on October 7th. They're currently staying in the Red Sea city of Elat. These kids grew up under constant threat of Hamas rockets. Now though, they are longing to go home. Still no idea though when they will be able to do that. We've got more in this report from Channel 12. We did not want to disrupt the class, but the rumor about the camera in the school's halls spread quickly. Only Nicole kept to herself. She had something more important to do. The kids are longing to go home. They are longing to go home. They are longing to go home. And if you come home, you will help us. We are longing for you. How are you helping? What are you doing? Helping us in to get back on the plane. I can't hear you. To get back on the plane. What are you afraid of? I'm not afraid of much, but I'm afraid that we will have to leave the hotel. For the last 67 days, the children of Sderot are scattered in different hotels in Eilat. Even though they were born to a reality of sirens and rockets, they still can't comprehend the events of that morning. When they woke up to terrorists walking around their city. Since then, they have been here between the hotel, the temporary school, the promenade and other attractions. We came here to hear from them a little bit of what they are going through. What are you afraid of? I'm afraid of the toilet, the house, the toilet, the toilet. The toilet? It's a prank. I know, but you can't play with the toilet, you know. But in my hand, it's not... It's not a prank. I'm afraid of the neighbors and the family, friends. Where are they? In some places, in the city of Sderot, because they're afraid of it. There are those who will also be afraid of it, I'm afraid of it. Okay. The biggest fear of it is to sleep at home. Why is that? Because it's so scary. It's coming from the outside. Are you afraid to sleep at home? Don't you want to go back in the near future? Yes, there are hundreds of them. The educational staff here is composed of Sderot's teachers who know every child personally along with IDF teachers and many volunteers that do everything they can to embrace the children. It's not always easy. Some of the kids lost the people they love more than anything, like Halel, whose uncle went on a morning jog on October 7th, and never came back. What are you doing here? I'm going to play football and I'm going to play football. Really? Yes, we're going to play and there are lots of people watching us. So I think I'll play here. There's a place that's in the room now. Mm-hmm. How are you feeling? He's coming to me everywhere and he's trying to make me feel that I'm feeling the other way. I'm sure. Mm-hmm. Do you feel he's bringing you back? Yes, but I don't feel that he's trying to make me feel. I don't feel. I can't play football. What do you remember from the week? We all were in school and we watched the new year and we watched the social media and all the movies and the movies. At first we thought there were no volunteers and that it was something and then we told ourselves that this blue jeep with the volunteers and volunteers we went to the hospital. Do you have any? Yes. We didn't go to the hospital because I really don't know but, again, it didn't affect and it didn't affect the world and I had to go to their house to try to understand them but we didn't understand what it was because we couldn't understand. Children don't need to know what it's like to die. It's something that it doesn't affect the world but it doesn't affect the world either. It doesn't affect the world because it doesn't affect the world it's not something that is possible. We hear that everywhere people talk about it and it's still not about it. It's a thing that people who are close to you people who we don't know in families that have it's amazing it's amazing it's not possible to eat more it's not possible to eat more and more and more and more and more and more it's not possible. I don't even want to say what's happening to the volunteers now that they are in Gaza and what's happening to the families that have been fighting that they have been fighting Do you think that's a lot? Yes, it's a lot. But it's very hard to go back to the village it's very hard to come back to the village and there's no way that there's a place that is safe or that suddenly there's an enemy or that suddenly starts to attack you don't know what will happen because we really don't know. I want to but I'm afraid to go back and before the war I would have been with friends to learn and do things and they would say that there's an enemy in the villages I told my father that we are from Chodesh and he told me yes, we are from Chodesh I told him we are from Chodesh we are from Chodesh and he told me that if you ask him he will tell you he will tell you that if you ask him the buildings are old and empty the residents who are perceived as tough and immune will take a long time to recover from the images of the pickup trucks roaming the streets do you believe that this can happen? Yes you know it's not easy to accept a problem There are a lot of them they are broken, they are damaged they are made by them Do you believe that those buildings I believe that this day, tomorrow, will be a better place for us to go. I'm sure they will. Why? They won't let us in. Even Hamas won't let us in. I'm sure Hamas won't let us in either. They will. What does that mean? They won't let us in. You think we'll make it? Yes. Because it takes a lot of time. They will. They will. But this is a different story. They will. How? After a while, they will tell me where they are. I wonder what they are. They always tell me where they are. We were always here. They always tell me where they are. They will tell me where they are. They will tell me where they are. I'm sure they will. They won't let us in. If there is anything that crushes the heart, it is listening to children that lost their innocence, and furthermore, their optimism. Children that in one moment became adults that, like all of us, are still living through that morning. To this day, no one can tell them when the hands of the clock that stopped on October 7th will move again. Time for a short break. When we come back, Israel's Defence Minister Joav Galant has been visiting the troops up in northern Israel as the Lebanese-based terrorist group Hezbollah continues to fire rockets. And Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has been meeting with the French Foreign Minister Catherine Collin that she's preparing to visit Beirut. All of that coming up next in this.