 and some in Rafa or south of Rafa on the border between Egypt and Israel. And we've seen videos of successive bombings in the area of Hanyuness in the central sector of the Gaza Strip, which indicates that it was probably the bombing of a tunnel. Now here also you have, from time to time, flashes of explosions in the dark. You have also flares from time to time. The front is very active, but the ground offensive per se is not on the offensive mode as of now. Is it because Israel, while still negotiating for a possible release of additional hostages, is trying to moderate the breaking of the ceasefire, or is it because they work methodically? We don't know. But what we know also on a sadder note is the fact that five Israelis have been confirmed dead. Four from Kibbutz Nachal Oz were killed during the October 7th massacre. Nachal Oz, sorry, near Oz, these Kibbutz was maybe the site of the worst massacre on October 7th, with over 100 Israeli killed, 18 agricultural workers killed, and 77 abducted. Now some of them have been returned to Israel. And the IDF also confirmed that in a special operation in coordination with the Shin Bed General's security services, they managed to retrieve the body of one of the abductees from the Raif Party. Pierre Klochander, thank you very much for that update from Southern Israel. Still with me here is IDF spokesperson for international media, Colonel in the reserves Olivier Rafovic. Olivier, our correspondent, Pierre Klochander, just said five hostages have been confirmed dead in the Gaza Strip. Dead and killed by Hamas, that's the point. And I want to ask you about that. Tell us a little bit about the intelligence operation. How did they gather this information to figure out that these have been killed, these people have been killed? From the very beginning, there is a tremendous intelligence effort by Sahal and also by the General Security Service, Shin Bed, to collect information to make some, I would say, some assessment according to what we get. But it can be different pieces of information together, and then we get the assessment that it is the result of the situation. In this specific case, we got information also from people who came back from their situation in other stages, and there is also other means at the end of the day. These five hostages have been actually killed by Hamas during their abduction time. It's horrible because at the same time Hamas is leading a psychological war by showing a picture, sometimes by lying to the people, by trying to manipulate the minds, and we are facing a terrible situation. You just asked me before about the Bibas family, before you gave the floor to Pierre Klochander. For us, in Israel, we are doing all the efforts to get the information concerning if they are dead or they are alive. For us, they are alive, and they are alive because we have no something else to say the opposite. And they are with Hamas, and Hamas is a soul and only responsible for Kfir, for his brother Ariel, for the family. And we have to be very careful, very cautious when we talk about these beautiful babies, and we know that they are also the symbol of the hostages for many people in the world. Let's hope for now that there was us. We can bring the number of civilians, hostages that have come home, bring that number up. Correct. The hostages were released Thursday evening, including 21-year-old Mia Shem, who was treated by a Gaza veterinarian while she was in captivity to treat her injuries. Take a listen to her father, David Shem, speaking to BFM TV. My daughter is back, and this is what is important. This beautiful girl is back. She looks fine. She came back. She finally came back. After 54 or 55 days, I don't even know. She's a special girl with great faith. She is a girl who respects her father and her mother and her brothers very much. She finally came back. And the most important thing is that all the captives return, because it is terrible what is happening. This is very important. Look, Gaza is like a neighborhood. We are a country. Israel knows how to act to get all its captives out. I believe that the hostages will return home. And I think that Hamas has made the mistake of its life. They kidnapped small children, babies, poor women who were just out having fun. I think they did it because they are weak. They weren't strong, and now they deserve a pounding. Let's cross over to I-24 News correspondent Nicole Sedeck, who is in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. Nicole, what are you hearing from those families of those hostages that still remain captive? Are they optimistic at all about another possible ceasefire? They are optimistic for the most part, Sarah. But let me tell you, the news today is absolutely hitting many of these families hard, because even if it's not their loved one, but the news that five of these hostages have been confirmed dead, one of their bodies, so far as they are able to be brought back here to Israel, but four others, all from Kibbutz and their oes, killed while in Hamas captivity. So that is very difficult for many of these families to take in, because it makes them think about the condition of their own loved ones. What they've been under for the past two months now, the treatment that they've been subject by the hands of these terrorists. So that is one of the most difficult parts, and the news today definitely dampening the spirit and the glimmer of hope that they had been feeling many of them over the past seven days when we did see hostages day after day return back here to Israel. One of the people who was confirmed killed today was Ronan Engel. Just a few days ago, his family, his wife and two daughters, the rest of the Engel family was able to return home as part of these negotiation deal with women and children at least. So just days later, they now find out that their husband and father was killed while in Hamas captivity. So this is just the ever changing and ever difficult situation that these families are dealing with, because even though many of them are coming back here to Israel, others return and stay held captive in Gaza. Now, as we continue to talk about those held captive in Gaza, two of the children on everyone's mind are obviously the Bebas family. And the IDF spokesperson, Daniel Hagarvi, addressed some of these swirling speculations in propaganda after Hamas released a video of their father just yesterday talking about their whereabouts and claiming that the children and wife had been killed. Once again, Hamas propaganda. And that's exactly what the IDF spokesperson said. Take a listen. We are following the story of the Bebas family on intelligence and operational level since the beginning of the fighting. Unfortunately, yesterday, a cruel video of Yarden Bebas was released. On the one hand, it is a sign of life. But on the other hand, it is a use of manipulative terrorism, brutally carried out by Hamas. We stood by today as on all days of the deal to return children and women as it was agreed. While other countries such as Egypt and Qatar were committed to it, Hamas chose to violate this agreement. Within the agreement, the Bebas family was also supposed to return back home. Hamas chose not to release them. You need to know that. We will continue to update the public and the family with every detail of intelligence collected. Information that Hamas publishes is still not verified by us. And so we will not address this issue beyond what I said. Nicole, the family of the hostages support the resumption and fighting knowing their loved ones are caught in the middle of a war zone. It's difficult, Sierra, and it really depends on which family members you're talking to. Many of them are absolutely calling for a halt in this ceasefire, stating that how can you resume this fighting when our loved ones, some of them women and children do remain there. And many of them are pushing to hold out as the fighting as long as possible. If there is a chance that these negotiations can't continue. But what we're hearing from the IDF is the negotiations, is especially how they are laid out right now, whether that be women and children, it's going to be more difficult because, as I stated before, the only two children believed to be still in Gaza are Kaffir and his brother Ariel. Now, there are still a number of women in there. But when we're talking about these negotiations, it's likely going to have to move on from the next stage of just having women and children brought back. And that's exactly what so many of these family members want to see, whether it's elderly men, men, those in reserve duty, soldiers, both male and female, all of their loved ones are anxiously waiting to hear about just exactly the whereabouts and the condition of how they've been held captive. So when it comes to the resumption in fighting, it really is split from what I'm seeing, Sarah, because on the one hand, you do have some families who want to see this increased military pressure to hopefully then later on down the road, hopefully see some of these negotiations be brought back on the table. And Nicole, thank you for that update from Tel Aviv. And a quick update here. We are hearing that Palestinian Islamic Jihad has claimed it fired rockets at Jerusalem. Those are apparently the sirens that were triggered in the West Bank a short while ago. I want to bring in a different voice in the conversation. Shadi Haloun, he's the director of strategic partnership, the Alma Research Center. Thank you very much for joining me this evening. Good evening. In addition to Hamas, Hezbollah has also resumed its attacks on Israel, claiming responsibility for five attacks in northern Israel. How far could the escalation go in the coming weeks? Well, let's say we stopped at a low-scale war before. And today we are continuing with the low-scale war. What's happening today is a message, actually, by Hezbollah, showing that they are part of what they call unification of fronts. Like they are part of Hamas hostilities against Israeli citizens and against our state. And they are part of it. And if they are denying, actually, or try to deny any relation to Hamas attack on October 7th, this just proved that it is actually wrong and they prove themselves wrong, actually, that they are part of these attacks and of this plan that it was orchestrated all in Beirut by Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran and Islamic jihad. So I think at the end, we are going to end up in the north, also with a full-scale war, if Hezbollah will not retreat its forces to 1701 resolution, according to 1701 resolution. And I don't see why Hezbollah would do so without any pressure from Israel and or any pressure from the international community. There's no way I see Hezbollah retreating the forces and implementing 1701. And for this reason, our citizens in the northern border that are evacuated, 63,000 citizens will not return as the mayors on this region said loudly to the government this week. And that means we are, we might end up in full-scale work and war in the near future here too. And given what you just said, we all know that Hezbollah and Hamas are just Iranian proxies. Do you think that this could escalate even further, seeing a more direct conflict between Israel and Iran, perhaps through Syria, as we've seen in the past? Well, the unification of fronts, as you know, is not only Hezbollah in Lebanon, is Hezbollah in the Golan Heights and from Syria Golan Heights and other militia, Shia militias that can join also this conflict. Shia militia means Iraqi Shia militias or other Shia terrorists that might join them from Pakistan and Afghanistan too. And from Iran by itself led by the IRJC. All this front might be very active in the near future together with Hezbollah. And I suspect that Iran will be leading or acting by itself because they prefer to have this conflict led by other proxies. That's why they created the proxies because if they will act by themselves, it means the United States also will enter this at that step and at that point actually or stage. And Iran might be attacked by the United States and other allies in the region. And speaking of the United States, it's pressuring Israel to limit its operation in Gaza, but Israel is simultaneously facing a front with Hezbollah in the north as we've just discussed. How will Israel be able to confront its two threats, both the north and in the south? Look, Israel has a strong army. Don't think that we are not ready for the north and front. We are ready. The forces here in the north and front are ready. I live here in the north. I see everything what's happening. We are completely ready for confrontation if Hezbollah actually acts and escalate the situation here in the north. And this can happen by a mistake that would be done by them or by retaliation from our side to their actually attack, which might lead to another retaliation by Hezbollah or another attack. And this will end up to a full-scale war. This is something that won't be planned, but we might end up seeing it in the near future. And nobody knows how this will end up. But we know for one thing, we are 100% here ready. We see the forces. We are acting here. And we are preparing for the worst to come. We cannot leave our citizens for the faith of October 7th in the north. And Israel shall not allow that to happen again. Shadi Khalul, he's the director of strategic partnership at the Alma Research Center. Thank you very much for joining me this evening. Thank you. I also want to thank my guest here in Studio Olivera Fovic, ID of Spokesperson for International Media and Colonel in the Reserve. Thank you. You have to go out for a break. We will be back at the top of the hour with more up-to-date news from the war here in Israel. If you missed anything from this broadcast, you can always catch up on our website, i24news.tv, or on social media. I'm Sarah Martinez. Thanks for watching. Made For Me, a unique concept in Israel. Custom made men's fashion to your measurements. Made For Me, designer of all your events. Schedule your appointment at www.madeforme.co.il. Made For Me, official dresser of i24news. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. A state of war, families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where we see, as our soldiers are fighting on the front lines. But the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Esta semana, News 24, Israel bajo ataque. News 24 en español trae el análisis y la información de los acontecimientos de la guerra, espadas de hierro. Entrevistas exclusivas reportes desde la zona de guerra. La reacción de los países hispanoparlantes. News 24, el único medio en español que te mantiene informado y conectado con la comunidad latina en Israel. Unicamente en i24news. The i24news desk, I'm Sarah Martinez, coming to you live from Tel Aviv. Today marks the 56th day of the war here in Israel. Fighting has resumed between the IDF and Hamas. After the terror organization broke a weeklong ceasefire early this morning, firing a barrage of rockets at southern Israel and failing to provide a list of hostages due for release by 7 AM. In response, the IDF returned fire, hitting over 200 Hamas targets with a focus on Hanyunas. In the past several hours, Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at central Israel for the second time today. Meanwhile, the Israeli army also struck Hezbollah terror cells operating in southern Lebanon after Lebanese terror group claimed responsibility for five attacks aimed at IDF posts as well as the city of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel. 136 hostages still remain in Hamas captivity. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari confirming tonight that five hostages have been killed while in Hamas captivity, including Ophir Tsarfati, whose body was returned to Israel yesterday in a special IDF operation. Over the past week, 105 hostages were released during the ceasefire, including 21-year-old Mia Shem, who was treated by a Gaza veterinarian while she was in captivity to treat her injuries. Take a listen to her father, David Shem, speaking to BFM TV. My daughter is back, and this is what is important. This beautiful girl is back, she looks fine. She came back, she finally came back. After 54 or 55 days, I don't even know. She's a special girl with great faith. She is a girl who respects her father and her mother and her brothers very much. She finally came back, and the most important thing is that all the captives return because it is terrible what is happening. This is very important. Look, Gaza is like a neighborhood. We are a country. Israel knows how to act to get all its captives out. I believe that the hostages will return home, and I think that Hamas has made the mistake of its life. They kidnapped small children, babies, poor women who were just out having fun. I think they did it because they are weak. They weren't strong, and now they deserve a pounding. Friday evenings are usually time when Israeli families gather around a Shabbat dinner table. That has a whole different meaning for the families of those hostages that are still held captive in Gaza. Our correspondent, Nicole Sedeck, was in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv and brought us this report. Here at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, this Shabbat dinner table has been standing empty for eight weeks now, two months without their loved ones. You can hear people as they still walking by, they're still stating, bring them home now. And that's because 136 hostages still remain in the Gaza Strip, two months after they were abducted on October 7th. So many of the family members, many of the friends, Israeli citizens, they come by here at Hostages Square taking a look at this exact memorabilia, really a walking memorial for all of those who do remain in the Gaza Strip. And it brings a lot of emotion. And a lot of the motion throughout the day, today has also been because the IDF has confirmed that several of the hostages have died while in Hamas captivity. They have confirmed their deaths, both members of Kubut Nair Oz, where they were abducted from and also members from that attended the Nova Music Ray Festival. All these people going about their daily lives when they were ripped away from it and now these family members are getting the devastating news that throughout their time in Hamas captivity, they have died. Now, in addition to this, we are hearing from the IDF about those 136 hostages, two of them at least being children, the Beavis family, little 10 month old Kfiyar and his brother, Ariel. Now the IDF says they are updating and following up on this story of the Beavis family, trying to hone in on their whereabouts after the Hamas published some propaganda video of their father claiming that his wife and their two children were killed. Now the IDF, that's all they're stating at the moment, seeming that they are trying to follow up and stating what it is, that it is propaganda video at this time and still reiterating that they want to see every single hostage that they can see brought home. They were hoping to see that Beavis family returned today. However, the ceasefire was violated and then both sides resumed fighting. But until all of the hostages are brought back home, the IDF says they are going to continue fighting, but really here at Hostages Square, as people continue to come by, continue to look at this, it's a reminder of the 130 plus people that still remain captive in the Gaza Strip two months after they were abducted from their homes. Reporting in Tel Aviv for I-24 News, I'm Nicole Zedek. Enjoying me now in studio is Colonel In The Reserves, Gleisha Ekubovic, former head of the civilian departments of the coordinator of government activities in the territories. Thank you very much for joining me this evening. Thank you for having me. Fighting has resumed and yet the IDF hasn't resumed the ground operation. Why is that? Is it connected to any possible ceasefire negotiations? Well, it might. First of all, the IDF started with the first attack from the air, 7.02. It means exactly two minutes after the ceasefire was supposed to start again. It's to make sure that Hamas play no games. It means we meant what we've said as the IDF. The IDF meanwhile collected a lot of information, intelligence, as we can understand during those days of the pause. It's not a ceasefire. It was a pause. Hamas, terrorists, and Palestinian-Tamajia terrorists traveled freely around the IDF and the places that they are located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip and in Vadi Gaza. And of course, they booby-trapped whatever they could booby-trapped. So before you start your maneuver, you need to clean the area. So you do it from the air. And only then, the maneuver will continue. On the other hand, there are probably some negotiations to continue the pause. There was just a call by Hamas senior, Osama Hamdan, that they informed an hour ago the mediators, Qatar in Egypt, and to the United States that they are ready to start the pause again. OK, and that pause, which has the IDF itself, has called it a ceasefire. How will the IDF tackle Hamas in the southern part of the Strip? Because that's going to be a much different type of battle ground compared to the northern part of the Strip, which has been until now. Well, it's already started. We can see the creation of the reality at the end of the war. So we can see that there is a security parameter that is being built. A fire for now, a fire parameter being created by the IDF. And it looks like this is how it will be at the end of the war. And from the south, the IDF already asked the people who live at the eastern part of the Gaza Strip in front of Hanyunas, on the eastern part of Hanyunas, Al-Qarada, Bani Suheila, Abasan, to leave the area at the eastern part and to move to the south, not to Hanyunas. It means to reduce the amount of people that will be in Hanyunas, that this is the second biggest district at the Gaza Strip, so to move to Rafah. And it looks like that the ground maneuver will start at Hanyunas. It will be a little bit more difficult. I think that the IDF will have to do it a little bit different than it was done in the north with intelligence escort with more precise targets. So could we see more precision targets? We will see more precision targets, yes. We already saw this from the morning. Like, you know, the highest buildings, Hamad building that the IDF launched a missile into an apartment at the middle of the building. So this is what we are going to see. I want to ask you, Daniel Hageri, just about an hour ago confirmed that five hostages were killed while still being held captive in Gaza. How was the IDF able to assess that? Tell us a little bit about the intelligence aspect of that. Well, I will not tell you everything. But there's a lot of process. The police is involved in that. Evidence, you find shirts, you find bloods, you find videos, pictures. Have they been speaking to some of those Roman hostages? Hument and sighing from inside Gaza, other abilities, let's say, intelligent abilities. And when you gather all the evidences together, there is a committee that also with rabbis that sit there. And when a decision like that is taken, it's usually almost 100% that this is what happened. OK. I want to take a quick listen to Defense Minister Yoavgan who spoke earlier today. We can pull. We don't have. In the past week, we prepared to expand the campaign out of our commitment to the return of the hostages and the recognition that we must change the reality in the South, as well as in the North. As we promised, we are back and operational. This week, the scenes touched all of our hearts, especially this week. I did not stop thinking about those who have not yet returned. The State of Israel is committed to winning the campaign. And victory includes both a supreme effort to return the hostages and ending the threat from Hamas. I would like to send reinforcements to the soldiers of the IDF and a big hug to all of the bereaved families and those who are still waiting for their loved ones. All the citizens of Israel are with you. We just heard Benny Gantz, their member of the Israeli War Cabinet there, speaking of victory. In your opinion so far, how victorious, or I wouldn't say victorious, but how positive has this operation been so far? To who? Positive. For the IDF. Well, I think it's only the beginning. When we talk about Hamas terrorists, so the estimation is that the IDF killed, let's say, 3,000, 4,000, not more than that. We have still 30,000 left. And when it comes to rockets, they launched 7,000 rockets, 6,000 rockets. They still have a few thousands of rockets. So I believe that this is only the beginning and it will take time. And we will see how it will look like after the IDF will enter to the south. Right. And speaking of those barraja rockets that were launched earlier, I want to turn to our correspondent, Pierre Clauchandler. He's in the southern Israeli city of Zderot. Pierre, what's happening where you are right now? Right now, it's pretty calm. But just a few moments ago, a helicopter shot a missile in the direction of the northern Gaza Strip, which is just behind me, a territory which is supposedly under Israeli control, but has not been completely cleansed from a terrorist presence. And hence, an hour earlier, there were three heavy salvos of rockets on Zderot. One of the salvos was also launched from the northern tip of the Gaza Strip, really close to Netiva-A-Sara, one of the communities facing the Gaza Strip just on the border. And that means that Hamas, Opransi and Islamic jihad, are able to activate rockets with remote control from launching pads that haven't been detected by the Israeli army up until now. Although the Israeli army claims almost every day the destruction of tunnel shafts and launching pads of rockets and launching pads of anti-tank guided missiles and command centers. And you name it. But the defenses of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad in the northern Gaza Strip have been so dense that even after a month and a half of fighting and pounding, there are still military capabilities of this terrorist organization that are shown in broad daylight when they launch rockets on Israeli cities and communities. Pierre, the IDF has resumed its airstrikes on Hamas targets, but it still hasn't resumed its ground operation. What is it expected to intensify? We don't know. And the IDF will not tell you. But given that, all the plans have been refined during the Seven Desses Fire. All the plans have been refined with a lot of input and pressure, I would say, from the US administration who is urging the Israeli government to try and avoid too many non-involved civilian Palestinian casualties. And also demanded that the level of humanitarian aid transferred to Gaza during the Seven Desses Fire would continue even during the days of fighting. And today, the coordinator of Israeli activity on behalf of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Vizavi the Palestinians, has said bluntly that there was no humanitarian aid to Gaza allowed today by the Israeli Defense Ministry. Pierre Kloschender, thank you very much for that update. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Dubai today, where he said Hamas was to blame for the breaking of the ceasefire. He also discussed the future of Gaza. Take a listen. It's also important to understand why the pause came to an end. It came to an end because of Hamas. Hamas reneged on commitments it made. In fact, even before the pause came to an end, it committed an atrocious terrorist attack in Jerusalem, killing three people, wounded others, including Americans. It began firing rockets before the pause had ended. And as I said, it reneged on the commitments of Bay in terms of releasing certain hostages. Here today, I had an opportunity to meet with a number of colleagues from across the region. And we focused our conversation on all three aspects of what we're doing today, the day after in Gaza, as well as the path to a durable lasting secure peace for everyone concerned. I want to cross over to Minneapolis, where I'm joined by Matthew Brodsky, senior fellow at the Golden Institute for International Strategy and President of Red Axe Strategies. It's a pleasure to have you on, Matthew. Great to be with you. Tell us a little bit about the US diplomatic efforts to renew the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Well, I mean, Blinken is following in the footsteps of John Kerry, which is trying to do their imitation of Henry Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy. And I think we're finding that Blinken is really trying to balance several objectives at the same time that are in conflict with each other. And unless the United States is going to step forward with a specific plan that is going to actually help Israel but also see the region realistically and understand what position Iran is playing, which is something they've not really been willing to do up until this point. It is ending up teaching our Arab allies that the United States really can't be relied on going forward if it's not seeing things clearly and doesn't share the rest of the region's threat matrix. And Matthew, do we expect the same level of support from the US in this next phase of the war? Well, compared to President Obama, and we have a lot of the same people working with Biden, Obama didn't mind having a public distance between Israel and the United States. So here you have the right things mostly being said in public, but what's most troubling is what we're hearing that's said in private, where it sounds like Blinken was saying to Galant that Israel doesn't have months in terms of the international credit or American credit in order to finish this type of operation and said that it might take weeks. So Blinken is in fact asking, if you go through what he said even publicly to Israel, he's asking Israel to do things that even the United States doesn't do when it comes to war, when it came to how we prosecuted the war against ISIS. When you look at Raqqa in Syria, you look at Mosul in Iraq. So he has a very long list of ways that Israel needs to thread the needle. And it's certainly I think playing into perhaps Israel's pause between continuing the air campaign and doing something on the ground again. Clearly it takes time militarily to ramp that up. But the amount of conditions that Blinken put on the table yesterday at the news conference was fairly astronomical. And Matthew, I wanna talk about Iran with you for a second because we know that Iran has, whether directly or indirectly, largely orchestrated its proxy Hamas to carry out the attacks of October 7th. Can we expect to see the United States more pressure on the Islamic Republic, perhaps less in the diplomatic aspect? So a lot of people like me have certainly been calling for that for decades and certainly even more so now. And this here, you're hit on the fundamental problem with the American approach, at least from the Biden administration. The fact is the rest of the region sees the issue that Iran is and that it has proxies throughout the whole region. The Biden administration is still wedded to this fiction that it can somehow bring Iran into the member of nations, respectable members of nations. Of course, Biden took off the Houthis from the terrorist list within the first few days being in office and we see the terrorist attacks which are backed by Iran are carrying out from Yemen. So until the Biden administration decides whatever way that they can try to say this, that oops, we were totally wrong about our approach to Iran. It's kind of showing Israel and the rest of the region that the United States is there to manage this problem where what is needed actually in the Middle East specifically for Israel, but also the Arab allies is a actual paradigm shift from the Biden administration that clearly sees who the enemies are and then works to create a massive deterrent. Israel obviously understands this, but the Biden administration needs to understand that as it holds onto this fantasy of some two-state peaceful solution that it is driving home publicly, that that only happens only if you have a massive deterrent from Israel that lets all enemies of peace understand that there will be a hell of a price to pay if you try to disrupt that progress. Matthew Brodsky, thank you very much for your insight this evening. Thank you. And it's by calls and petitions to cancel JNF, US Conference for Israel has kicked off in Denver, Colorado, albeit with tight private and police security. Outside the convention center, hundreds gathered in protests banged on windows and waved Palestinian flags. Protests are planned to continue throughout the weekend up until Sunday when the conference wraps up. This year's summit is focusing on reconstruction of Israeli communities near the Gaza border which were destroyed on October 7th. I-24 News Senior Correspondent Mike Wagenheim was there and filed this report. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome one of the largest Jewish organizational gatherings post-October 7th, 2500 attendees expected this weekend at the Jewish National Fund USA Summit here in Denver, Colorado. They're talking about everything under the sun, Jewish and Israeli here this weekend including Israel's role at the United Nations, the future of Jewish advocacy for Israel amongst high school and college students and a history of Zionism from the Balfour Declaration to the day after Hamas stops ruling the Gaza Strip. But obviously circumstances have changed since October the 7th and the Jewish National Fund adapting to the changing landscape. The summit before October 1st was about Zionism and Zionists standing up for the land and people of Israel. This is the largest group convention happening in the United States of Zionist pro-Israel coming together. Since October 7th, obviously the tone has changed but the message is not. The message is still the message of us standing tall for the land and for the people of Israel during this time, yesterday, today and forever. And that's what 2500 people here in Denver, Colorado is all about. While the message may remain the same, the tone has certainly changed as a result of October the 7th. In fact, one of those killed in the massacre by Hamas would have been here tonight, if not for that fateful day. When I said to Ophir, because I've been with him all the time, he's a dear friend. So Ophir, you know, why are you waiting for the conference? He says, I wanted to be with family. Well, this is the family. So we're gonna have with Vered, we're gonna have with Doron, they're gonna join the family. We're gonna have an empty chair there for Ophir. Those kind of tones change for us because we have to remember. But I have to tell you if Ophir was here today, he would be telling us we gotta think of tomorrow. And this is what the Jewish National Fund USA does. We are working every day since the day of October 7th to today from everything from providing food and services to over a hundred thousand evacuees throughout Israel. We're providing from washing machines to places for them to have a roof over their head. But I have to tell you, we're already planning for the next day. We have a campaign left on Biafah to build together where we're gonna be talking about rebuilding the Israel envelope to the envy of all of Israel. It's gonna be the place where millions of people are gonna wanna visit, go to, move to because we believe tomorrow we're stronger today and we'll be twice as strong tomorrow. In addition to a changing agenda here at the summit this weekend, the Jewish National Fund USA's agenda as an organization also changing as a result of October the 7th. We say they'll be dedicating more resources to building back up the decimated Gaza envelope. It's gonna be run by the people who live there because it is their community and they're gonna lead our way but we're gonna get them to imagine and dream. Dream in their pain, in their circle of pain but to dream about what could it be? Now we have built unbelievable projects that are there from soaring poles to community centers. We built a place called Groove Tech like there's no place like it anywhere in Israel by the way in the world. So we were already talking about how to envision tomorrow but we're gonna work with those local people to make sure that we repaint and rebuild and replant and then we're gonna look at signature projects. We're gonna build a sports center there that's gonna have a top track and field and a soccer and lacrosse field with a thousand people seating. They just say why? Well, maybe exhibition games at first for top soccer professional teams for sure the entire region and the children and everybody to play but mark my words, Israel Envelope, the Israel Cup maybe go into their professional team someday. Among those speaking on the opening night here at the summit, Colorado's Jewish governor, Jared Paulus along with Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan. Reporting here from the Jewish National Fund USA Global Conference for Israel in Denver, Colorado, Mike Wagenheim, I-24 News. Before we go out, I wanna thank my guest here in studio, Grisha Yakubovic. Thank you very much for joining me this evening. And as the 56th day of the war comes to an end, I wanna give you a quick update here. Fighting has resumed between the IDF and Hamas. That's if the terror organization broke a week long ceasefire earlier this morning. Hamas has fired two rounds of barrage of rockets towards the center of Israel as well as of course, southern Israel. Hezbollah also joining back into the fight firing, attacking the north of Israel five times today. The IDF has retaliated both against Hezbollah and in Hamas earlier. The IDF confirmed that five hostages have been confirmed dead. We're still in captivity in the Gaza Strip. We will be back tomorrow with more updates on the war unfolding here in Israel. Sarah Martinez, thanks for watching. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. We shot Israel, left all. Esta semana, News 24 Israel Bajo Ataque. News 24 en Español trae el análisis y la información de los acontecimientos de la guerra espadas de hierro. Entrevistas exclusivas reportes desde la zona de guerra. La reacción de los países hispano parlantes. News 24, el único medio en Español que te mantiene informado y conectado con la comunidad latina en Israel. News 24, únicamente en I-24 News. And welcome to the I-24 News Desk. I'm Sarah Martinez coming to you live from Tel Aviv. Today marks the 56th day of the war here in Israel. Fighting has resumed between the IDF and Hamas after the terror organization broke a week-long ceasefire early this morning, firing a barrage of rockets at southern Israel and failing to provide a list of hostages due for release by 7 a.m. In response, the IDF returned fire, hitting over 200 Hamas targets with focus on Hanyunas. In the past several hours, Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at central Israel for the second time today. Meanwhile, the Israeli army also struck Hezbollah terror cells operating in southern Lebanon after Lebanese terror group claimed responsibility for five attacks aimed at IDF posts as well as the city of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel. 136 hostages still remain in Hamas' captivity. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hageri confirming tonight that five hostages have been killed while in Hamas' captivity, including Ophir Tsarfati, whose body was returned to Israel yesterday in a special IDF operation. Over the past week, 105 hostages were released during the ceasefire, including 21-year-old Mia Shem, who was treated by a Gaza veterinarian while she was in captivity to treat her injuries. Take a listen to her father, David Shem, speaking to BFM TV. My daughter is back and this is what is important. This beautiful girl is back, she looks fine. She came back, she finally came back. After 54 or 55 days, I don't even know. She's a special girl with great faith. She is a girl who respects her father and her mother and her brothers very much. She finally came back. And the most important thing is that all the captives return because it is terrible what is happening. This is very important. Look, Gaza is like a neighborhood. We are a country. Israel knows how to act to get all its captives out. I believe that the hostages will return home, and I think that Hamas has made the mistake of its life. They kidnapped small children, babies, poor women who were just out having fun. I think they did it because they are weak. They weren't strong and now they deserve a pounding. Friday evenings are usually a time when Israeli families gather around a Shabbat dinner table that has a whole different meaning with the families of those hostages that are still held captive in Gaza. Our correspondent, Nicole Sedeck, was in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv and brought us this report. Here at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, this Shabbat dinner table has been standing empty for eight weeks now. Two months without their loved ones. You can hear people as they still walking by, they're still stating, bring them home now. And that's because 136 hostages still remain in the Gaza Strip. Two months after they were abducted on October 7th. So many of the family members, many of the friends, Israeli citizens, they come by here at Hostages Square taking a look at this exact memorabilia, really a walking memorial for all of those who do remain in the Gaza Strip. And it brings a lot of emotion and a lot of the motion throughout the day today has also been because the IDF has confirmed that several of the hostages have died while in Hamas captivity. They have confirmed their deaths, both members of Kibbutz near Oz where they were abducted from and also members from that attended the Nova Music Ray Festival. All these people going about their daily lives when they were ripped away from it and now these family members are getting the devastating news that throughout their time in Hamas captivity, they have died. Now, in addition to this, we are hearing from the IDF about those 136 hostages, two of them at least being children, the Bevis family. Little 10 month old Kfiyar and his brother Arielle. Now the IDF says they are updating and following up on this story of the Bevis family trying to hone in on their whereabouts after the Hamas published some propaganda video of their father claiming that his wife and their two children were killed. Now the IDF, that's all they're stating at the moment seeming that they are trying to follow up and stating what it is that it is propaganda video at this time and still reiterating that they want to see every single hostage that they can see brought home. They were hoping to see that Bevis family returned today. However, the ceasefire was violated and then both sides resumed fighting. But until all of the hostages are brought back home, the IDF says they are going to continue fighting, but really here at Hostages Square, as people continue to come by, continue to look at this, it's a reminder of the 130 plus people that still remain captive in the Gaza Strip two months after they were abducted from their homes. Reporting in Tel Aviv for I-24 News, I'm Nicole Zedek. Enjoying me now in studio is Colonel in the reserves Glisha Ekubovich, former head of the civilian departments of the coordinator of government activities in the territories. Thank you very much for joining me this evening. Thank you for having me. Fighting has resumed and yet the IDF hasn't resumed the ground operation. Why is that? Is it connected to any possible ceasefire negotiations? Well, it might. First of all, the IDF started with the first attack from the air, 702. It means exactly two minutes after the ceasefire was supposed to start again. It's to make sure that Hamas play no games. It means we meant what we've said as the IDF. The IDF meanwhile collected a lot of information and intelligence as we can understand during those days of the pause. It's not a ceasefire. It was a pause. Hamas terrorist and Placidium Stamigia terrorist traveled freely around the IDF and the places that they are located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip and in Vadi Gaza. And of course, they booby trapped, whatever they could booby trapped. So before you start your maneuver, you need to clean the area. So you do it through from the air and only then the maneuver will continue. On the other hand, there are probably some negotiations to continue the pause. There was just a call by Hamas senior, Osama Hamdan, that they informed an hour ago, the mediators, Qatar in Egypt and the United States, that they are ready to start the pause again. Okay, and that pause which has the IDF itself has called it a ceasefire. How will the IDF tackle Hamas in the southern part of the Strip because that's gonna be a much different type of battleground compared to the northern part of the Strip which has been until now. Well, it's already started. We can see the creation of the reality at the end of the war. So we can see that there is a security parameter that is being built. A fire for now, fire parameter being created by the IDF and it looks like this is how it will be at the end of the war. And from the south, the IDF already asked the people who live at the eastern part of the Gaza Strip in front of Hanyunas, on the eastern part of Hanyunas, El-Karala Ban-Israela Abasan to leave the area, the eastern part and to move to the south, not to Hanyunas. It means to reduce the amount of people that will be in Hanyunas, that this is the second biggest district at the Gaza Strip, so to move to Rafah. And it looks like that the ground maneuver will start at Hanyunas. It will be a little bit more difficult. I think that the IDF will have to do it a little bit different than it was done in the north with intelligence escort, with more precise targets. So could we see more precision targets? We will see more precision targets, yes. We already saw this from the morning. Like, you know, the highest buildings, Hamad building that the IDF launched a missile into an apartment at the middle of the building. So this is what we are going to see. I want to ask you, Daniel Hageri, just about an hour ago confirmed that five hostages were killed while still being held captive in Gaza. How was the IDF able to assess that? Tell us a little bit about the intelligence aspect of that. Well, I will not tell you everything, but there's a lot of process. The police is involved in that, you know? Evidence, you find shirts, you find bloods, you find videos, pictures. Have they been speaking to some of those rolling cartridges? Hument and sighing from inside Gaza, other abilities, let's say, intelligent abilities. And when you gather all the evidences together, there is a committee that also with rabbis that sit there. And when a decision like that is taken, it's usually almost 100% that this is what happened. Okay, I want to take a quick listen to Defense Minister Yoav Ghanan who spoke earlier today. We can pull, we don't have... In the past week, we prepared to expand the campaign out of our commitment to the return of the hostages and the recognition that we must change the reality in the South, as well as in the North. As we promised, we are back and operational. This week, the scenes touched all of our hearts, especially this week. I did not stop thinking about those who have not yet returned. The State of Israel is committed to winning the campaign and victory includes both a supreme effort to return the hostages and ending the threat from Hamas. I would like to send reinforcements to the soldiers of the IDF and a big hug to all of the bereaved families and those who are still waiting for their loved ones. All the citizens of Israel are with you. We just heard Benny Gantz, their member of the Israeli War Cabinet there, speaking of victory. In your opinion so far, how victorious, or I wouldn't say victorious, but how positive has this operation been so far? To who? Positive. For the IDF. Well, I think it's only the beginning. When we talk about Hamas terrorists, so the estimation is that the IDF killed, let's say, 3,000, 4,000, not more than that. You have still 30,000 left. And when it comes to rockets, they launched 7,000 rockets, 6,000 rockets. They still have few thousands of rockets. So I believe that this is only the beginning and it will take time. And we will see how it will look like after the IDF will enter to the south. Right, and speaking of those barraja rockets that were launched earlier, I want to turn to our correspondent, Pierre-Claude Schenler, who's in the southern Israeli city of Zdiloh. Pierre, what's happening where you are right now? Right now it's pretty calm. But just a few moments ago, a helicopter shot a missile in the direction of the northern Gaza Strip, which is just behind me, a territory which is supposedly under Israeli control, but has not been completely cleansed from terrorist presence. And hence, an hour earlier, there were three heavy servos of rockets on Zderot. One of the servos was also launched from the northern tip of the Gaza Strip, really close to Netiva-A-Sara, one of the communities facing the Gaza Strip just on the border. And that means that Hamas, or the Islamic jihad, are able to activate rockets with remote control from launching pads that haven't been detected by the Israeli army up until now. Although the Israeli army claims almost every day the destruction of tunnel shafts and launching pads of rockets and launching pads of anti-tank guided missiles and command centers, and you name it. But the defenses of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad in the northern Gaza Strip have been so dense that even after a month and a half of fighting and pounding, there are still military capabilities of this terrorist organization that are shown in broad daylight when they launch rockets on Israeli cities and communities. Pierre, the IDF has resumed its airstrikes on Hamas targets, but it still hasn't resumed its ground operation. What is it expected to intensify? We don't know, and the IDF will not tell you. But given that, all the plans have been refined during the Seven Desses fire. All the plans have been refined with a lot of input and pressure, I would say, from the U.S. administration who is urging the Israeli government to try and avoid too many non-involved civilian Palestinian casualties, and also demanded that the level of humanitarian aid transferred to Gaza during the Seven Desses fire would continue even during the days of fighting. And today, the coordinator of Israeli activity on behalf of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Vizavi the Palestinians, has said bluntly that the humanitarian, there was no humanitarian aid to Gaza allowed today by the Israeli Defense Ministry. Pierre Kloschander, thank you very much for that update. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Dubai today where he said Hamas was to blame for the breaking of the ceasefire. He also discussed the future of Gaza. Take a listen. It's also important to understand why the pause came to an end. It came to an end because of Hamas. Hamas reneged on commitments it made. In fact, even before the pause came to an end, it committed an atrocious terrorist attack in Jerusalem, killing three people, wounding others, including Americans. It began firing rockets before the pause had ended. And as I said, it reneged on the commitments in Dubai in terms of releasing certain hostages. Here today, I had an opportunity to meet with a number of colleagues across the region and we focused our conversation on all three aspects of what we're doing. Today, the day after in Gaza, as well as the path to a durable, lasting, secure peace for everyone concerned. I want to cross over to Minneapolis, where I'm joined by Matthew Brodsky, senior fellow at the Golden Institute for International Strategy and President of Red Axe Strategies. It's a pleasure to have you on, Matthew. Great to be with you. Tell us a little bit about the U.S. diplomatic efforts to renew the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Well, I mean, Blinken is following in the footsteps of John Kerry, which is trying to do their imitation of Henry Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy. And I think we're finding that Blinken is really trying to balance several objectives at the same time that are in conflict with each other. And unless the United States is going to step forward with a specific plan that is going to actually help Israel but also see the region realistically and understand what position Iran is playing, which is something they've not really been willing to do up until this point. It is ending up teaching our Arab allies that the United States really can't be relied on going forward if it's not seeing things clearly and doesn't share the rest of the region's threat matrix. And Matthew, can we expect the same level of support from the U.S. in this next phase of the war? Well, compared to President Obama, and we have a lot of the same people working with Biden, Obama didn't mind having a public distance between Israel and the United States. So here, you have the right things mostly being said in public, but what's most troubling is what we're hearing that's said in private, where it sounds like Blinken was saying to Galant that Israel doesn't have months in terms of the international credit or American credit in order to finish this type of operation and said that it might take weeks. So Blinken is in fact asking if you go through what he said even publicly to Israel, he's asking Israel to do things that even the United States doesn't do when it comes to war, when it came to how we prosecuted the war against ISIS. When you look at Raqqa in Syria, you look at Mosul in Iraq. So he has a very long list of ways that Israel needs to thread the needle. And it's certainly, I think, playing into, perhaps, Israel's pause between continuing the air campaign and doing something on the ground again. Clearly, it takes time militarily to ramp that up, but the amount of conditions that Blinken put on the table yesterday at the news conference was fairly astronomical. And Matthew, I wanna talk about Iran with you for a second because we know that Iran has, whether directly or indirectly, largely orchestrated its proxy Hamas to carry out the attacks of October 7th. Can we expect to see the United States more pressure on the Islamic Republic, perhaps less in the diplomatic aspect? So a lot of people like me have certainly been calling for that for decades and certainly even more so now. And this here, you hit on the fundamental problem with the American approach, at least from the Biden administration. The fact is the rest of the region sees the issue that Iran is and that it has proxies throughout the whole region. The Biden administration is still wedded to this fiction that it can somehow bring Iran into the member of nations, respectable members of nations. Of course, Biden took off the Houthis from the terrorist list within the first few days being in office. And we see the terrorist attacks that the Houthis, which are backed by Iran are carrying out from Yemen. So until the Biden administration decides whatever way that they can try to say this, that oops, we were totally wrong about our approach to Iran. It's kind of showing Israel and the rest of the region that the United States is there to manage this problem where what is needed actually in the Middle East, specifically for Israel, but also the Arab allies is a actual paradigm shift from the Biden administration that clearly sees who the enemies are and then works to create a massive deterrent. Israel obviously understands this, but the Biden administration needs to understand that as it holds onto this fantasy of some two-state peaceful solution that it is driving home publicly, that that only happens only if you have a massive deterrent from Israel that lets all enemies of peace understand that there will be a hell of a price to pay if you try to disrupt that progress. Matthew Brotsky, thank you very much for your insight this evening. Thank you. And despite calls and petitions to cancel JNF, US Conference for Israel has kicked off in Denver, Colorado, albeit with tight private and police security. Outside the convention center, hundreds gathered in protests banged on windows and waved Palestinian flags. Protests are planned to continue throughout the weekend, up until Sunday when the conference wraps up. This year's summit is focusing on reconstruction of Israeli communities near the Gaza border, which were destroyed on October 7th. I-24 News senior correspondent Mike Wagenheim was there and filed this report. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome. It's one of the largest Jewish organizational gatherings post October 7th, 2,500 attendees expected this weekend at the Jewish National Fund USA Summit here in Denver, Colorado. They're talking about everything under the sun, Jewish and Israeli here this weekend, including Israel's role at the United Nations, the future of Jewish advocacy for Israel amongst high school and college students and a history of Zionism from the Balfour Declaration to the day after Hamas stops ruling the Gaza Strip. But obviously, circumstances have changed since October the 7th and the Jewish National Fund adapting to the changing landscape. The summit before October 1st was about Zionism and Zionist standing up for the land and people of Israel. This is the largest group convention happening in the United States of Zionist pro-Israel coming together. Since October 7th, obviously the tone has changed but the message is not. The message is still the message of us standing tall for the land and for the people of Israel during this time, yesterday, today and forever. And that's what 2,500 people here in Denver, Colorado is all about. While the message may remain the same, the tone has certainly changed as a result of October the 7th. In fact, one of those killed in the massacre by Hamas would have been here tonight if not for that fateful day. When I said no fear because I met with them all the time, he's a dear friend. So fear, you know, why are you waiting for the conference that says I wanted to be with family? Well, this is the family. So we're gonna have with Vered, we're gonna have with Doron, they're gonna join the family, we're gonna have an empty chair there for Ophir. Those kind of tones change for us because we have to remember. But I have to tell you if Ophir was here today, he would be telling us we gotta think of tomorrow. And this is what the Jewish National Fund USA does. We are working every day since the day of October 7th to today from everything from providing food and services to over a hundred thousand evacuees throughout Israel. We're providing from washing machines to places for them to have a roof over their head. But I have to tell you, we're already planning for the next day. We have a campaign, leave not be offered to build together where we're gonna be talking about rebuilding the Israel envelope to the envy of all of Israel. It's gonna be the place where millions of people are gonna wanna visit, go to, move to because we believe tomorrow we're stronger today and we'll be twice as strong tomorrow. In addition to a changing agenda here at the summit this weekend, the Jewish National Fund USA's agenda as an organization also changing as a result of October the 7th. They say they'll be dedicating more resources to building back up the decimated Gaza envelope. It's gonna be run by the people who live there because it is their community and they're gonna lead our way but we're gonna get them to imagine and dream, dream in their pain, in their circle of pain but to dream about what could it be? Now we've built unbelievable projects that are there from soaring poles to community centers. We've built a place called Groove Tech like there's no place like it anywhere in Israel by the way in the world. So we were already talking about how to envision tomorrow but we're gonna work with those local people to make sure that we repaint and rebuild and replant and then we're gonna look at signature projects. We're gonna build a sports center there that's gonna have a top track and field and a soccer and lacrosse field with a thousand people seating. They just say why? Well, maybe exhibition games at first for top soccer or professional teams. For sure the entire region and the children and everybody to play but mark my words, Israel Envelope, the Israel Cup may be going to their professional team someday. Among those speaking on the opening night here at the summit, Colorado's Jewish governor, Jared Paulus along with Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. Giladier Dunn reporting here from the Jewish National Fund USA Global Conference for Israel in Denver, Colorado. Mike Wagenheim, I-24 News. Before we go out, I wanna thank my guest here in studio, Grisha Yakubovic. Thank you very much for joining me this evening. And as the 56th day of the war comes to an end, I wanna give you a quick update here. Fighting has resumed between the IDF and Hamas. That's what the terror organization broke a week long ceasefire earlier this morning. Hamas has fired two rounds of barrage of rockets towards the center of Israel as well as of course, southern Israel. Hezbollah also joining back into the fight, firing, attacking the north of Israel five times today. The IDF has retaliated both against Hezbollah and in Hamas earlier. The IDF confirmed that five hostages have been confirmed dead. We're still in captivity in the Gaza Strip. We will be back tomorrow with more updates on the war unfolding here in Israel. Sarah Martinez, thanks for watching. Israel is at war. Make an investment in Israel bonds. It is the most powerful and direct way to stand with Israel. Visit israelbonds.com and invest now. I've no idea where you see us. Our soldiers are fighting on the front lines but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. And welcome to the I-24 News Desk. I'm Sarah Martinez coming to you live from Tel Aviv. Today marks the 56th day of the war here in Israel. Fighting has resumed between the IDF and Hamas after the terror organization broke a week long ceasefire early this morning. Firing a barrage of rockets at southern Israel and failing to provide a list of hostages due for release by 7 a.m. In response, the IDF returned fire hitting over 200 Hamas targets with focus on Hanyunas. In the past several hours, Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at central Israel for the second time today. Meanwhile, the Israeli army also struck Hezbollah terror cells operating in southern Lebanon after Lebanese terror group claimed responsibility for five attacks aimed at IDF posts as well as the city of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel. 136 hostages still remain in Hamas captivity. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hageri confirming tonight that five hostages have been killed while in Hamas captivity including Ophir Tsarfati whose body was returned to Israel yesterday in a special IDF operation. Over the past week, 105 hostages were released during the ceasefire including 21-year-old Mia Shem who was treated by a Gaza veterinarian while she was in captivity to treat her injuries. Take a listen to her father, David Shem speaking to BFM TV. My daughter is back and this is what is important. This beautiful girl is back, she looks fine. She came back, she finally came back. After 54 or 55 days, I don't even know. She's a special girl with great faith. She's a girl who respects her father and her mother and her brothers very much. She finally came back. And the most important thing is that all the captives return because it is terrible what is happening. This is very important. Look, Gaza is like a neighborhood. We are a country. Israel knows how to act to get all its captives out. I believe that the hostages will return home and I think that Hamas has made the mistake of its life. They kidnapped small children, babies, poor women who were just out having fun. I think they did it because they are weak. They weren't strong and now they deserve a pounding. Friday evenings are usually a time when Israeli families gather around a Shabbat dinner table. That has a whole different meaning for the families of those hostages that are still held captive in Gaza. A correspondent, Nicole Sedeck, was in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv and brought us this report. Here at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, this Shabbat dinner table has been standing empty for eight weeks now. Two months without their loved ones. You can hear people as they're still walking by. They're still stating, bring them home now. And that's because 136 hostages still remain in the Gaza Strip. Two months after they were abducted on October 7th. So many of the family members, many of the friends is really citizens. They come by here at Hostages Square taking a look at this exact memorabilia, really a walking memorial for all of those who do remain in the Gaza Strip. And it brings a lot of emotion and a lot of the motion throughout the day today has also been because the IDF has confirmed that several of the hostages have died while in Hamas captivity. They have confirmed their deaths, both members of Kubut and their oz where they were abducted from and also members from that attended the Nova Music Ray Festival. All these people going about their daily lives when they were ripped away from it. And now these family members are getting the devastating news that throughout their time in Hamas captivity, they have died. Now, in addition to this, we are hearing from the IDF about those 136 hostages, two of them at least being children, the Bevis family. Little 10 month old Kfiyar and his brother, Ariel. Now the IDF says they are updating and following up on this story of the Bevis family trying to hone in on their whereabouts after the Hamas published some propaganda video of their father claiming that his wife and their two children were killed. Now the IDF, that's all they're stating at the moment, saying that they are trying to follow up and stating what it is that it is propaganda video at this time and still reiterating that they want to see every single hostage that they can see brought home. They were hoping to see that Bevis family returned today. However, the ceasefire was violated and then both sides were zoomed fighting. But until all of the hostages are brought back home, the IDF says they are going to continue fighting. But really here at Hostages Square, as people continue to come by, continue to look at this, it's a reminder of the 130 plus people that still remain captive in the Gaza Strip two months after they were abducted from their homes. Reporting in Tel Aviv for I-24 News, I'm Nicole Zedek. Enjoying me now in studio is Colonel in the reserves Glisha Ekubovich, former head of the civilian departments of the coordinator of government activities in the territories. Thank you very much for joining me this evening. Thank you for having me. Fighting has resumed and yet the IDF hasn't resumed the ground operation. Why is that? Is it connected to any possible ceasefire negotiations? Well, it might. First of all, the IDF started with the first attack from the air, 7.02. It means exactly two minutes after the ceasefire was supposed to start again. It's to make sure that Hamas play no games. It means we meant what we've said as the IDF. The IDF meanwhile collected a lot of information, intelligence, as we can understand during those days of the pause. It's not a ceasefire. It was a pause. Hamas terrorist and Placidius-Tamejha terrorist traveled freely around the IDF and the places that they are located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip and in Vadi Gaza. And of course, they booby-trapped, whatever they could booby-trapped. So before you start your maneuver, you need to clean the area. So you do it from the air. And only then, the maneuver will continue. On the other hand, there are probably some negotiations to continue the pause. There was just a call by Hamas senior, Osama Hamdan, that they informed an hour ago the mediators, Qatar in Egypt and the United States, that they are ready to start the pause again. OK. And that pause, which has the IDF itself has called it a ceasefire, how will the IDF tackle Hamas in the southern part of the Strip? Because that's going to be a much different type of battle ground compared to the northern part of the Strip, which has been until now. Well, it's already started. We can see the creation of the reality at the end of the war. So we can see that there is a security parameter that is being built, a fire for now, fire parameter, being created by the IDF. And it looks like this is how it will be at the end of the war. And from the south, the IDF already asked the people who live at the eastern part of the Gaza Strip in front of Hanyunas, on the eastern part of Hanyunas, Al-Qarada, Bani Suheila, Abasan, to leave the area at the eastern part and to move to the south, not to Hanyunas. It means to reduce the amount of people that will be in Hanyunas, that this is the second biggest district at the Gaza Strip, so to move to Rafah. And it looks like that the ground maneuver will start at Hanyunas. It will be a little bit more difficult. I think that the IDF will have to do it a little bit different than it was done in the north, with intelligence escort, with more precise targets. So could we see more precision targets? We will see more precision targets, yes. We already saw this from the morning. Like, you know, the highest buildings, Hamad building, that the IDF launched a missile into an apartment at the middle of the building. So this is what we are going to see. I want to ask you, Daniel Hageri, just about an hour ago, confirm that five hostages were killed while still being held captive in Gaza. How was the IDF able to assess that? Tell us a little bit about the intelligence aspect of that. Well, I will not tell you everything, but there's a lot of process. The police is involved in that. Evidence, you find shirts, you find bloods, you find videos, pictures. Have they been speaking to some of those rolling cartridges? Hument and sighing from inside Gaza, other abilities, let's say, intelligent abilities. And when you gather all the evidences together, there is a committee that also with rabbis that sit there. And when a decision like that is taken, it's usually almost 100% that this is what happened. OK, I want to take a quick listen to Defense Minister Yoav Ghanan, who spoke earlier today. We can pull. We don't. In the past week, we prepared to expand the campaign out of our commitment to the return of the hostages and the recognition that we must change the reality in the South, as well as in the North. As we promised, we are back and operational. This week, the scenes touched all of our hearts, especially this week. I did not stop thinking about those who have not yet returned. The State of Israel is committed to winning the campaign. And victory includes both a supreme effort to return the hostages and ending the threat from Hamas. I would like to send reinforcements to the soldiers of the IDF and a big hug to all of the bereaved families and those who are still waiting for their loved ones. All the citizens of Israel are with you. We just heard Benny Gantz, their member of the Israeli War Cabinet there, speaking of victory. In your opinion so far, how victorious, or I wouldn't say victorious, but how positive has this operation been so far? To who? Positive. For the IDF. Well, I think it's only the beginning. When we talk about Hamas terrorists, so the estimation is that the IDF killed, let's say, 3,000, 4,000, not more than that. We have still 30,000 left. And when it comes to rockets, they launched 7,000 rockets, 6,000 rockets. They still have a few thousands of rockets. So I believe that this is only the beginning, and it will take time. And we will see how it will look like after the IDF will enter to the south. Right. And speaking of those barrage of rockets that were launched earlier, I want to turn to our correspondent Pierre-Claude Chandler, who's in the southern Israeli city of Zderot. Pierre, what's happening where you are right now? Right now it's pretty calm. But just a few moments ago, a helicopter shot a missile in the direction of the northern Gaza Strip, which is just behind me, a territory which is supposedly under Israeli control, but has not been completely cleansed from a terrorist presence. And hence, an hour earlier, there were three heavy servos of rockets on Zderot. One of the servos was also launched from the northern tip of the Gaza Strip, really close to Netiva-A-Sara, one of the communities facing the Gaza Strip just on the border. And that means that Hamas, or Parasim Islamic Jihad, are able to activate rockets with remote control from launching pads that haven't been detected by the Israeli army up until now. Although the Israeli army claims almost every day the destruction of tunnel shafts and launching pads of rockets and launching pads of anti-tank guided missiles and command centers, and you name it. But the defenses of Hamas and Parasim Islamic Jihad in the northern Gaza Strip have been so dense that even after a month and a half of fighting and pounding, there are still military capabilities of this terrorist organization that are shown in broad daylight when they launch rockets on Israeli cities and communities. Pierre, the IDF has resumed its airstrikes on Hamas targets, but it still hasn't resumed its ground operation. What is it expected to intensify? We don't know, and the IDF will not tell you. But given that, all the plans have been refined during the seven-day ceasefire. All the plans have been refined with a lot of input and pressure, I would say, from the US administration who is urging the Israeli government to try and avoid too many non-involved civilian Palestinian casualties, and also demanded that the level of humanitarian aid transferred to Gaza during the seven-day ceasefire would continue even during the days of fighting. And today, the coordinator of Israeli activity on behalf of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Vizavi the Palestinians, has said bluntly that there was no humanitarian aid to Gaza allowed today by the Israeli Defense Ministry. Pierre Kloschender, thank you very much for that update. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Dubai today, where he said Hamas was to blame for the breaking of the ceasefire. He also discussed the future of Gaza. Take a listen. It's also important to understand why the pause came to an end. It came to an end because of Hamas. Hamas reneged on commitments it made. In fact, even before the pause came to an end, it committed an atrocious terrorist attack in Jerusalem, killing three people, wounded others, including Americans. It began firing rockets before the pause had ended, and as I said, it reneged on the commitments it made in terms of releasing certain hostages. Here today, I had an opportunity to meet with a number of colleagues from across the region, and we focused our conversation on all three aspects of what we're doing. Today, the day after in Gaza, as well as the path to a durable, lasting, secure peace for everyone concerned. I want to cross over to Minneapolis, where I'm joined by Matthew Brodsky, a senior fellow at the Golden Institute for International Strategy and President of Red Axe Strategies. It's a pleasure to have you on, Matthew. Great to be with you. Tell us a little bit about the US diplomatic efforts to renew the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Well, I mean, Blinken is following in the footsteps of John Kerry, which is trying to do their imitation of Henry Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy. And I think we're finding that Blinken is really trying to balance several objectives at the same time that are in conflict with each other. And unless the United States is going to step forward with a specific plan that is going to actually help Israel but also see the region realistically and understand what position Iran is playing, which is something they've not really been willing to do up until this point. It is ending up teaching our Arab allies that the United States really can't be relied on going forward if it's not seeing things clearly and doesn't share the rest of the region's threat matrix. And Matthew, can we expect the same level of support from the US in this next phase of the war? Well, compared to President Obama, and we have a lot of the same people working with Biden, Obama didn't mind having a public distance between Israel and the United States. So here you have the right things mostly being said in public, but what's most troubling is what we're hearing that's said in private, where it sounds like Blinken was saying to Galant that Israel doesn't have months in terms of the international credit or American credit in order to finish this type of operation and said that it might take weeks. So Blinken is in fact asking, if you go through what he said even publicly to Israel, he's asking Israel to do things that even the United States doesn't do when it comes to war, when it came to how we prosecuted the war against ISIS, when you look at Raqqa in Syria or you look at Mosul in Iraq. So he has a very long list of ways that Israel needs to thread the needle. And it's certainly I think playing into perhaps Israel's pause between continuing the air campaign and doing something on the ground again. Clearly it takes time militarily to ramp that up, but the amount of conditions that Blinken put on the table yesterday at the news conference was fairly astronomical. And Matthew, I wanna talk about Iran with you for a second because we know that Iran has whether directly or indirectly largely orchestrated its proxy Hamas to carry out the attacks of October 7th. Can we expect to see the United States more pressure on the Islamic Republic, perhaps less in the diplomatic aspect? So a lot of people like me have certainly been calling for that for decades and certainly even more so now. And this here you hit on the fundamental problem with the American approach, at least from the Biden administration. The fact is the rest of the region sees the issue that Iran is and that it has proxies throughout the whole region. The Biden administration is still wedded to this fiction that it can somehow bring Iran into the member of nations, respectable members of nations. Of course, Biden took off the Houthis from the terrorist list within the first few days being in office. And we see the terrorist attacks that the Houthis, which are backed by Iran are carrying out from Yemen. So until the Biden administration decides whatever way that they can try to say this, that oops, we were totally wrong about our approach to Iran. It's kind of showing Israel and the rest of the region that the United States is there to manage this problem where what is needed actually in the Middle East specifically for Israel, but also the Arab allies is a actual paradigm shift from the Biden administration that clearly sees who the enemies are and then works to create a massive deterrent. Israel obviously understands this, but the Biden administration needs to understand that as it holds onto this fantasy of some two-state peaceful solution that it is driving home publicly, that that only happens only if you have a massive deterrent from Israel that lets all enemies of peace understand that there will be a hell of a price to pay if you try to disrupt that progress. Matthew Brodsky, thank you very much for your insight this evening. Thank you. And it's by calls and petitions to cancel JNF, US Conference for Israel has kicked off in Denver, Colorado, albeit with tight private and police security. Outside the convention center, hundreds gathered in protest, banged on windows and waved Palestinian flags. Protests are planned to continue throughout the weekend, up until Sunday when the conference wraps up. This year's summit is focusing on reconstruction of Israeli communities near the Gaza border, which were destroyed on October 7th. I-24 News Senior Correspondent Mike Wagenheim was there and filed this report. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome. It's one of the largest Jewish organizational gatherings post October 7th. 2,500 attendees expected this weekend at the Jewish National Fund USA Summit here in Denver, Colorado. They're talking about everything under the sun, Jewish and Israeli here this weekend, including Israel's role at the United Nations, the future of Jewish advocacy for Israel amongst high school and college students, and a history of Zionism from the Balfour Declaration to the day after Hamas stops ruling the Gaza Strip. Obviously circumstances have changed since October the 7th and the Jewish National Fund adapting to the changing landscape. The summit before October 1st was about Zionism and Zionists standing up for the land and people of Israel. This is the largest group convention happening in the United States of Zionist pro-Israel coming together. Since October 7th, obviously the tone has changed, but the message is not. The message is still the message of us standing tall for the land and for the people of Israel during this time, yesterday, today and forever. And that's what 2,500 people here in Denver, Colorado is all about. While the message may remain the same, the tone has certainly changed as a result of October the 7th. In fact, one of those killed in the massacre by Hamas would have been here tonight if not for that fateful day. When I said to Ophir, because I met with him all the time, he's a dear friend. So Ophir, why are you waiting for the conference that says I wanted to be with family? Well, this is the family. So we're going to have with Vered, we're going to have with Doron, they're going to join the family. We're going to have an empty chair there for Ophir. Those kinds of tones change for us because we have to remember. But I have to tell you if Ophir was here today, he would be telling us we got to think it tomorrow. And this is what the Jewish National Fund USA does. We are working every day since the day of October 7th to today from everything from providing food and services to over 100,000 evacuees throughout Israel. We're providing from washing machines to places for them to have a roof over their head. But I have to tell you, we're already planning for the next day. We have a campaign, leave not be offered to build together where we're going to be talking about rebuilding the Israel envelope to the envy of all of Israel. It's going to be the place where millions of people are going to want to visit, go to, move to because we believe tomorrow we're stronger today and will be twice as strong tomorrow. In addition to a changing agenda here at the summit this weekend, the Jewish National Fund USA's agenda as an organization also changing as a result of October the 7th. They say they'll be dedicating more resources to building back up the decimated Gaza envelope. It's going to be run by the people who live there because it is their community and they're going to lead our way but we're going to get them to imagine and dream. Dream in their pain, in their circle of pain but to dream about what could it be? Now we have built unbelievable projects that are there from soaring poles to community centers. We built a place called Groove Tech like there's no place like it anywhere in Israel by the way in the world. So we were already talking about how to envision tomorrow but we're going to work with those local people to make sure that we repaint and rebuild and replant and then we're going to look at signature projects. We're going to build a sports center there that's going to have a top track and field and a soccer and lacrosse field with a thousand people seating. They're going to say why? Well, maybe exhibition games at first for top soccer or professional teams for sure the entire region and the children and everybody to play but mark my words Israel Envelope, the Israel Cup may be going to their professional team someday. Among those speaking on the opening night here at the summit Colorado's Jewish governor, Jared Paulus along with Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdogan reporting here for the Jewish National Fund USA Global Conference for Israel in Denver, Colorado. Mike Wagenheim, I-24 News. Before we go out, I want to thank my guests here in studio Grisha Yakubovic. Thank you very much for joining me this evening. And as the 56th day of the war comes to an end I want to give you a quick update here. Fighting has resumed between the IDF and Hamas after the terror organization broke a week long ceasefire earlier this morning. Hamas has fired two rounds of barrage of rockets towards the center of Israel as well as of course southern Israel. Hezbollah also joining back into the fight attacking the north of Israel five times today. The IDF has retaliated both against Hezbollah and in Hamas earlier. The IDF confirmed that five hostages have been confirmed dead. We're still in captivity.