 News 24, the only media in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel. News 24, only on I-24 News. Hello everyone, this is I-24 News. First our headlines. IDF raises readiness after Iran's latest threats. Brotherhoods in Jordan are linked to Iran and raised concern elsewhere in the region. And how AI is being used in the Gaza War. The IDF has raised its readiness including air defenses in anticipation for an Iranian attack after threats from Tehran. I-24 News, Ariello Serrano is the latest. According to all the signals and warnings coming out of Tehran, Iran is determined to seek revenge over the assassination of its top IRGC figures in Damascus this week. The failure of the Israeli regime in Gaza will definitely continue as well as these desperate efforts like what they did in Syria. Of course they will be slapped for this action. While not officially commenting to the strike, Israel is on high alert. The IDF says it's bolstering air defenses and is calling up reservists while issuing calming messages to the public that there is no need to stockpile on emergency items or to withdraw money. And growing fear over Tehran's threatened response hasn't gone unnoticed in Iran. Global regime social media accounts have begun highlighting internal panic over the expected retaliation. With pro-state media like ultra-conservative Qayha newspaper highlighting mountain protests inside Israel. Prompting Iranian President Raisi to accuse Israel of being, quote, weaker than a spider's web. Travelling on all international and humanitarian laws including this entity's attack on the Iranian Republic's consulate in Damascus, which will not remain without a response, indicates the pinnacle of failure and loss of the Zionist entity, which tries by all means to cover up its crimes against humanity by committing more crimes. Whether meant for internal consumption or psychological warfare, Iran is highlighting Israel's growing strategic and diplomatic predicament. And whatever the Iranian response may be, its effects can be felt even before it's been dealt. Here in the studio, Dania, a lone former Israeli ambassador to Washington. Dania, there are many scenarios floating in Israeli media regarding an Iranian-Israeli conflict now beyond proxies. How do you see this? Well, reason has it and logic is that Iran will continue its strategy, which is always stay in the shadows, you know, fight from behind. They would fight until the last Palestinian, the last Lebanese, the last Yemenite. This has always been their style. And I don't think they will change now because they stand to lose. First of all, they will expose themselves as the major threat in the region right now. They have this deniability. They say it's not us, it's the Houthis, Hezbollah and all these things. Once they are at the front, they take a big risk. And when Israel is in full alert with heightened readiness, I don't see why they would try to attack because they will suffer severely. Israel may suffer too, but they have much more to lose. Yeah, there's a big emphasis on air defenses because one of the scenarios that has been floating is some missiles maybe even being fired from Iran, which is a long shot, you said. Yes, and also once they expose themselves, then everything is a fair game, even their nuclear sites. And that could give Israel the opportunity also to take out as much as possible their military sites, their nuclear sites and throw them back a few years. Okay. First now is Dr. Walid Faris. Thank you very much for joining us. As was mentioned here, the general perception is that Iran would not want an all-out war with Israel. Do you agree? Well, all-out war is a very vast notion and all-out strike, double strikes, blitz is very possible. But their calculations are not just about a one-way. Their calculations are if the Israeli population, not the government, not the army, not the armed forces or even their allies in the United States, if the general population can be hit deeply and constantly by waves coming not just from Iran. This whole story about Iran arming ICBMs or so, that wouldn't do it. That would need to have Lebanon's Hezbollah completely in the issue, activities in the West Bank. And now what we see in Jordan happening is also a matter of concern. So if they have that much of a plan and then negotiate immediately after for a ceasefire, that would be what they would do, but not a full-fledged marching order for troops to advance. I don't think so. You don't believe that. Well, you've mentioned Jordan. Let's elaborate a little bit a little bit. What's happening in Jordan, in your opinion? In Jordan, you have two things. Number one, there has been over months and years, even before October 7, a constant effort by the Iran regime, by their satellites, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, the militias. And of course, by Hamas to infiltrate Jordan, Jordanian intelligence services have been very aware of the matter. The Muslim Brotherhood also are working on their own for the matter. But after October 7, it seems to me that Iran-Hamas, less so with Hezbollah, have looked at Jordan as the potential replacement, I mean, strategic replacement if Hamas loses in Gaza. That's their view. So the way to do it for them is to create chaos. They count on the fact that there are a lot of, of course, segments of society in Jordan that are number one originally from the Palestinian territories. And second, that Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood and Jihadists are omnipresent. They don't project that they're going to win and take over a regime. But creating chaos, as the PLO is trying to do, a member of 1970s in Black September, that would be what they would eventually work on. And how do you see this replacement of Gaza by Jordan in their view? That's a doctrine, meaning if Hamas is completely taken out from Gaza, first he's going to stay in the underground, but Hamas as a government, as a regime, they will use the motivation of that collapse to inflame their supporters in Jordan. And as we witnessed in the Lebanese civil war, things are not done overnight. So at first they would say, well, we won't have the government to be part of what they call the resistance, national resistance. And in Jordan, they'll put pressure on the Hashemite kingdom. They will actually activate their cells. They will clash with the army, the Jordanian army. But these calculations are very tight. Now, we know that they are omnipresent on the northern border of Jordan, Syria, and of course, on coming from Iraq. But these calculations could be very, very risky. Remember, the U.S. is present in Syria and Iraq. Israel has now ways and means that did not exist before. And there is a segment of Jordanian and even Syrian population that really don't want to hear about neither Hamas nor Iran, nor the problem. Now, meanwhile, we are talking and are busy with all this stuff that's happening around and Iran is kind of free to go on with its nuclear program. This is actually good for them. You're right. That's a very good point. The majority of the observers and analysts believe that the normal process of an Iranian bomb is what they are producing. I am among some minorities here in Washington who believe that maybe the first nuclear weapon that they're going to have may not be a full-fleshed nuclear bomb, but a tactical new that can be bought, that can be acquired, that can be transferred somewhere in Asia. And then the Iranian regime is instead of throwing it against enemy because they know this will signify the end of the regime if they even think about it. They will detonate it in Iran and try to do what India and Pakistan have done in 1999 to say we are a nuclear force. We are a nuclear power. Therefore, nobody can touch us. That would deter at least this administration, the Biden administration. And this is something they have the power to do. Will they calculate to do it soon? Later, I am not sure about that. OK, Dr. Walid Forrest, thank you very much. Thank you for having me. Back to you Ambassador Ayalon. So this is really the main concern, the nuclear program, isn't it? Oh, absolutely. The Iranians really enjoy all this chaotic situation, absolutely. The 7th of October, if they were not in the know, and it seems like Sinwar and Hamas surprised even them and Tchizbalar. But they certainly were the inspiration behind it. On the one hand, to scuttle any possibility of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. And secondly, to have a flaring up around the Middle East. So the world will be occupied and look elsewhere and not at their nuclear sites so they can uninterruptedly continue. And maybe that's one of the arguments why they would not open a whole front with Israel right now. Absolutely. I think that the Iranians are quite strategic and they are not, you know, are very easy on the trigger. As we mentioned, Jacob, they would spend other people's people, you know, whether it's Tchizbalar or Hamas or whatever. And one thing that they are, as we mentioned, strategic planning for the long time, if I think that in many ways they have already crossed off Hamas as a useful proxy. And this is why they will look elsewhere, including, as you mentioned, in Jordan. Right. Meanwhile, no progress in the hostage negotiations. I-24 News correspondent Baler Sladin is in the hostage square in Tel Aviv with the families. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan, he was talking from Lebanon. He's recently can be described as the spokesperson for Hamas. And he is saying that Israel is actually putting obstacles in front of this deal. He's specifically accusing the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, for being an obstacle for a deal for reaching the two parties. He is saying that the organization is still sticking with its demand that it presented on the 14th of March. So a couple of weeks ago, when it said that they will not be flexible on a number of issues, including the unconditional return of the Palestinian families from the south of Gaza to the north of Gaza. Israel, of course, is not accepting that this return could be unconditional. They want the army to stay in the buffer zone and also monitor those who come back to their homes in the north of Gaza to see that Hamas militants wouldn't be also among them and even arms wouldn't be moved from the south to the north. That's something that they could, of course, cause a lot of damage for the Israelis. Our own achievement or military achievement in the north of Gaza with the already occupied the area and there is basically very little militants in that area. Israel, of course, wants to preserve that military achievement. So this is the first issue. The second one is about the announcement of Israel of a permanent ceasefire. Hamas wants to hear that from Israel with guarantees. Israel, of course, is not willing to announce that there will be at any stage of that deal any permanent ceasefire or at least it won't give any guarantees for that. These two issues right now are the main point of disagreement between the two sides. So that's why Hamas is giving a negative response after the mediators worked on a compromise on these issues and presented it to Hamas recently as well. After the Mossad and the Israeli delegation in general left Cairo yesterday. So today as well, there will be a cabinet meeting here behind me in the Korea where the war cabinet will be meeting and discussing two main issues. The first one is the continuing of aid and expanding of aid to the Gazans as well as the operation or the looming operation in Rafa. That's of course happening while the families of the hostages are going to be protesting again in front of the Korea, the building of the defense ministry here in Central Tel Aviv. So we can we we are still seeing this pressure from the families and also the protesters in general that support the families with that cause on the war cabinet to reach a deal with Hamas. So again, maybe after the cabinet meeting that will be after the also the call between Biden and Netanyahu, we can hear more about are known more about the details of this is the decisions coming out of that meeting. And then we can have more indication on what could there be any combo whether will be any compromise between Israel and Hamas on these specific issues and a deal could could not be reached between the parties. Thank you very much, Balus Ladin and the hostage square. US-Israeli relations are strained and bitter. First Lady Jill Biden now calls for ending the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu keeps pushing the idea of invading Rafa. Biden Netanyahu phone call is actually happening right now. I-24 news, Robert Swift has the latest. The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli airstrike left Gaza Wednesday and are being repatriated. With their Palestinian colleague buried in his hometown of Rafa. They were target systematically car by car. Then we saw the consequences of that continuous targeting attack. Seven seven people dead. Israel already felt diplomatic pressure over civilian casualties in the last six months, but not heat like this. The killing of seven aid workers impacted Western governments where the deaths of thousands of Palestinians did not. The UK summoned Israel's ambassador to protest the deaths of three citizens. All of them British veterans and prosecutors in Poland opened a homicide investigation into the incident with the Speaker of Parliament citing it as a possible war crime. There have been too many innocent lives lost in Gaza. It shouldn't be the case. The innocent Palestinians, all people assisting them are made to pay the price for the actions of the terrorist group Hamas. But the deciding factor will be the line taken by Washington. The White House has mostly stuck to its position supporting Jerusalem diplomatically and militarily throughout the war triggered by Hamas's October 7th attack. This is a very complex war situation. Every war is very difficult. It's very messy. It's very dangerous and it has casualties that we would all rather not have on the Israeli side and on the Palestinian side. The question is, will the U.S. continue this line following the strike on the aid convoy? Back to you, Ambassador Alon, here in the studio. There is a phone call now being held between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu, which was already promoted as being a tough one. We don't know yet what's in it. But no doubt that the relationships are in a bad mode. Yes, I guess we do not see this intimate consultations and exchanging views. This is something which is imperative for both sides. I think there shouldn't be any bad blood right now when there is a war going on, when the Iranian threat is looming, you know, in the corners. So I believe that this call will have a few topics. One of them, of course, is Rafa, when President Biden would say that certainly now is not the time. Secondly, I think he will push more for a hostage deal, maybe for Israel to relax some of its demands. And I believe a very important topic will be Iran now. And after the threats from Iran, and this is also put the American forces in alert throughout the Middle East and even beyond. Right. So there's a lot on the table. By the way, at the same time, the United States still keeps shipping arms to Israel. Yes. And this is something which, again, shows the importance, the real strategic importance to the United States of having a strong Israel, Israel that can deter its enemies and any coalition of enemies to bring about stability in the region. Seventh of October was a big blow to deterrence, so it has to be reestablished. Hence, we see this great support, military support from the US. Still, there's a problem of what's the next day in Gaza. And there's no detail, the Israeli plan for that. Unfortunately, if there is one, it's the best kept secret. I think it's important actually to show it. First of all, to ourselves, we need a planning for ourselves. The military has to know what's going to be next because it has to plan. The same thing is with the civil administration. The same thing is how do we coordinate it with Arab countries, Egyptians, aid, civilian aid and the financial aid from Saudi Arabia and others, maybe the Emirates. And of course, overall responsibility or overall steering by the international community led by the United States. All these things are putting on hold because Israel does not show a plan. And I think it's high time to do it. All right. Now we have some exclusive breaking news here in I-24 News regarding relationships between Israel and the UAE. I-24 News correspondent Guy Israel is on the line with your exclusive report, Guy. Yes, Jacob, very tense relations between Israel and the UAE following the wrongful killing of those seven aid workers part of the world central kitchen a couple of days ago. As a result of this incident, a major crisis in the relations between the two countries. And we can report this evening that the UAE has suspended their diplomatic cooperation with Israel, certainly when it comes to that maritime corridor, aid corridor that was planned to assist the Gazans in terms of aid being delivered. We can tell you that the Emirati ambassador to Israel has described this as the darkest day in the relations between these two countries. We also know that the Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, held a phone call with his counterpart in order to try and calm the situation. We know the director general of the foreign ministry also met with the Emirati ambassador here in Israel all in effort to diffuse those tensions. Obviously, Israel said it will conduct a very thorough and transparent investigation. But and we do know from Israeli sources that that investigation will be published very soon. Nonetheless, the ramifications of this strike certainly are affecting Israel's relations, not just with the entire world as Israel is facing such a difficult diplomatic time. More importantly, with one of its closest allies here in the region, the UAE. So a lot of reasons for concern in Jerusalem this evening. Yes. So just to reiterate, Guy, you're saying the UAE is suspending suspending coordination with Israel on humanitarian aid to Gaza in this pleasure of after what happened there. That's basically the headline. That is correct. We're also hearing from our sources that the Israeli ambassador to the UAE has been reprimanded the foreign ministry spokesman is denying this part of this report. We will mention that. Thank you very much, guys. Real for this report, Ambassador Alon, obviously something to worry about regarding these relationships. It's the first time we're hearing something like this. Yes, it was quite remarkable that the Abramic Accord kept on its, I would say, success and part of the objective of Hamas and Iran was actually to break it apart, and that was not successful. The interest between Israel and the Sunni Arab countries actually are stronger than and, of course, the threat from Iran together is a is a good binding force, but the more Israel has some mistakes in Gaza, it makes it more difficult for the Emiratis or for the people of Bahrain and for that reason also Jordan and Egypt to really keep a silent. And I believe that under the table, relations will still continue to be strong because it's a strong interest of all countries. But this acrimonious, I would say, public issues are not helpful. According to some reports, Israel has been using AI technologies to help identify military targets. Also in Gaza, Ariel Levine Waldman has more of that. The strikes come with inhuman precision. The target bank updates faster than any living analyst could achieve. The war in Gaza is the world's first autonomous conflict driven by artificial intelligence. An investigation by the Palestinian and left wing Israeli run plus nine seven two magazine cites multiple Israeli intelligence officials. The system is called either lavender or gospel and has selected thousands of bombing targets for the IDF. The IDF says a human being must sign off on the strikes and verify the validity of targets. Critics claim human analysts act merely as rubber stamps. Criticisms that have made their way to the United Nations, which just two weeks ago passed a resolution for responsible use of AI. The Israeli military has confirmed they are using artificial intelligence in targeting in their war in Gaza. Do you condemn that and will that be taken into your account in this AI resolution? You know, we have been clear that this resolution is about making AI safe and secure and trustworthy. And we have 60 co-sponsors who have signed on to that, including Israel. Hamas has claimed without evidence that 32,000 Gazans have died in the war. Israeli intelligence, whose numbers have been largely backed up by independent US analysis, says around 13,000 of them have been enemy combatants, a higher combatant to civilian ratio than any war in modern history. So is the AI picking the right targets? AI systems should be human centric, reliable, explainable, ethical, inclusive, privacy-preserving and responsible with a sustainable development orientation and in full respect, promotion and protection of human rights. AI has allowed analysts to review data far faster than any war in history and not just for the purpose of targeting. Israel has been using it since the first day of the war to try to find hostages. 134 of whom are still being held by Hamas. Right now, you're in the middle of what we call the war room. And this is the section, the array that deals with hostages, with missing people, with dead people. We try to understand the status of each one of the missing people. And we still have more than a thousand people who are missing. For good or ill, the era of autonomous warfare is here. And the tools of this conflict will only be refined and perfected for the next. We'll take a short break and we'll be right back with more news. Stay tuned. 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. 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. News 24, únicamente en I-24 News. Well, I'll come back to I-24 News. Zach Anders, our reporter is in northern Israel with the update from there, Zach. Yeah, just within the last minute, actually, Hezbollah claiming responsibility for another attack. They say that they've been targeting a military site along the border with artillery. And this is something that when you see Hezbollah claim that they have been attacking these positions with artillery, it does not appear likely that that's even possible. These artillery pieces that Hezbollah does have are some of the largest targets for the IDF to be able to spot and hit. So these claims take with a grain of salt at face value. The arsenal and Hezbollah's success in launching their Kutusha rockets, old Soviet equipment and other small rockets that can be hidden from their launchers hidden inside fields and orange groves, trees and things like that are less likely to be detected, harder to find and more maneuverable. So when Hezbollah claims that they've been using some of these larger pieces, it does not appear likely that that's even possible, especially in close proximity to the border. Anyways, we did see a ATGM launch and hit at a home in Shlomi earlier this afternoon with one individual being assessed on scene. It does not appear that they were taken to the hospital and the ambulance service saying they're going to be OK. The home suffering, some damage. This is the first hit we've seen to civilian infrastructure. In some time, the majority of Hezbollah fires been contained in the last 48 hours to military sites along the border. And the IDF has not released any damage report or said that there were any casualties from these attacks on the IDF side of things. So continue to watch to see if there is any change in Hezbollah's behavior. But so far, it's been similar to what we've seen before. Also monitoring the Iranian channels. It is picked up, the rhetoric picked up considerably, especially among just the rank and file. Those that have access to those telegram channels posting their own pictures saying they're ready for the moment when the moment comes to attack Israel. But again, nothing outside of this realm of southern Lebanon and Syria. Are we seeing any activity that leads us to believe there's something brewing or amassing? One of the things that we will watch tonight, the bodies of those killed in the Damascus strike, the IRGC generals were taken by plane. Last night to Tehran and tonight there is a public service happening around nine o'clock Tehran time. This is according to Iranian telegram channels. So we'll watch for that, see if there are any figures that make an appearance in public. That could be something of interest, but that's something we'll have to wait and see. OK, Zach Anders, thank you very much in northern Israel. Ambassador Dania Elon here in the studio. Well, if anything, Hezbollah has major missiles that could reach center of Israel. We know we know that. But if that happens, that's going to open a whole new front between Israel and Hezbollah. Oh, absolutely. It seems like Israel is almost waiting for that because that would be the signal to start an all out operation in Lebanon, which will, at the end, bring back the Israeli refugees in their own home. They evacuees from our northern towns. It was interesting to listen to minister of defense. You have a gallant saying that Israel may be hurt by such a war, but it will be a catastrophe for Lebanon. And this, I believe, is the case. Also, if we go back to Iran, which is the mastermind, which is really the head of the stake, is that after they lost or are losing one proxy in Gaza, the Hamas, they will not want to lose their major proxy in the region, which is the Hezbollah. I think it is a little bit premature for them to do that. So I believe that the routine of skirmishes, tit for tat, will probably continue unless or until we have a political solution. And in the absence of such, of course, then all bets are open. Yeah. But meanwhile, on Israeli media, there they've been running scenarios of like blackouts for a couple of days. The idea of spokesman tells, you know, tells people not to go for cash machines and not to buy extra food. There's no need for this, which gives you a sense of the sensitivity of Israeli public at these days. Oh, absolutely. But I do believe that there is no really room for for panic in any way, shape or form. I don't know if there is any interest by anybody here in the government to cause such panic. I hope this is not the case. But in any case, with all the readiness that the IDF is standing at now, there is no incentive for any external enemy to attack. We know that, you know, they attack when we are most vulnerable and we are when we are not ready. This was the case of the 7th of October. But now it's a different situation. So I don't think that we will see a major attack, certainly not a frontal and direct attack from Iran. OK, let's move to Iraq now. Iraq's northern Kurdistan region has suspended the issuing of entry visas for Syrian citizens. Now, that's a decision that has sparked fears of potential humanitarian consequences for Syrians seeking shelter in this area. To talk about this with us is Antifant Khan Bar, a president and founder of Kurdish Protection Action Committee. Thank you very much for joining us again. First of all, how do you see this move? Well, thank you for having me. It's a prime minister, Mr. Barizani is a very smart person who runs his country or his people for the best of their economy. This is purely an economical issue. A single individual Syrians coming as refugees in Kurdistan are taking many jobs, sending their money out and leaving the economy down the hill. The new resolution, I believe, is issued by the Council of Ministers inside by Prime Minister Mr. Barizani, number 172, does not allow singles to come, but allows families to come for humanitarian reasons. And so families integrate into the economy unlike singles when they come in. And also from a security point of view, families are more secure. So this has nothing to do with the humanitarian issue. The resolution also includes 75 percent of businesses and the government agency should have local Kurdish employment. So it's a lot to do with the with employing Kurds because many Syrian singles come as very, very cheap labor at the expense of the Kurdish population. What is the humanitarian situation there anyway? Well, the Kurdish situation is dire, actually. Baghdad has cut off the export of Kurdish oil through Turkey and also is short of paying them their salaries. I give you one example. In 2023, Baghdad paid only 25 percent of what the region expects to be paid according to the Constitution, 12.68. So Baghdad is short of paying nine billion dollars to Kurdistan 2023. It's hard to believe that the Kurdish five to six million people in Kurdistan, in addition to about a million Arab refugees and other refugees from other countries and Christians, are able to survive. If it wasn't for the spectacular ability of Prime Minister, Mr. Barizani, to run the region, it would have collapsed. How do you see the Iranian efforts to get groups within Iraq to attack Israel? That has been going on already. Unfortunately, that's been the way and sometimes Iran attacked Kurdistan with a long range of missiles, which caused the killing of a businessman, Mr. Peshwar Dizai, a billionaire and his daughter claiming laughably they are Mossad agents and Mossad center. It's basically a way to export Iran's embarrassment and loss with Israel. I just give you an example. Since October 7th to be exact, since December 2nd until now, the Israeli IDF or the Air Force was able to eliminate 17 major commanders in Iranian commanders in Syria through 10 or more air attacks. So there's a huge blow to Iran and the incapability of Iran to respond to Israel is causing them embarrassment. So they vent out their frustration and failure and attack innocent Kurdish civilians. OK, Indefat Kanbar, thank you very much for that. Ambassador Alon here in the studio, President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu has just ended their phone conversation. Forty-five minutes. What's your guess? What happened there? Well, I guess when it's 45 minutes, there is no time for small talk. And it seems like they cut through the chase right from the start. And we will have to wait and see what are the public statement coming out of Washington and Jerusalem. I hope that this time they will at least be coordinated because in the past few months, we saw that there was a different take on each side of the oceans where in Jerusalem they tried to minimize any kind of disagreements and in Washington they tried to actually bring it up to make it higher. Again, we have to remember, this is a very, very tough political season in the United States and President Biden has to be very much listening to the voices in his own party. Unfortunately, some of them are anti-Israel. They are quite few, but very vociferous and this is not helpful for the great support that we get from really a great, great friend of the state of Israel, one who calls himself a Zionist, President Biden. Yeah, well, we'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, as was mentioned before, residents of northern Israel have left their homes nearly six months ago with no end date in sight. I24 News, Lynn Flachmeier has more on that. It's been over 180 days since Israel's war with Hamas broke out on October 7. Ever since, Israel has also been engaged in an active conflict with Hezbollah on its northern border. As a result, 60,000 Israelis who live in that area have been evacuated from their homes. The feeling is very unpleasant. It's a sense of detachment. We have a large and spacious house in Shlomi with a large courtyard and we love being there and the smell of it and the situation we're in now, the journey started with an expectation of, okay, it will take a week, two or three weeks. And it has ended up going on and on. You don't see the end. It's not clear what will happen at the end. Even though there is no end in sight, the Israeli government is trying to silence the growing unrest among the displaced northern residents. Without getting into details, we will not leave the situation as it is. We are required, I am required to bring them home. To bring them home, it's not just a civilian concern. It's a security concern. We want to create the incentive for security and the feeling of security to allow this to happen. I say all the time, we, we're going to take care of it. I prefer we do it diplomatically. If not, we do it by other means. Despite the gloomy situation, the residents have not lost hope of returning. And in truth, really in truth, nobody knows the answer. Not one of us is a government operative. We don't know the military plan. And certainly none of us, nor any of the enemy, is going to tell us what their plans are and when or how they're going to carry them out. So for us, we feel adrift, half in, half out. We're going to forget these times and it will remember better times. I know this, it's a matter of time. The world will end, we will return home and return to our town. And I know we will know happy days and the security will be even greater and stronger after the war. There is hope. Turkish Airlines is pushing back. It's returned to Israel until at least March 25. Turkey expert, Dr. Hai Tan, Cohen, Yanu Jack is here in the studio. Good evening. Good evening. Coming, why are they doing this? This is another sign of cooling relations between Israel and Turkey. Unfortunately, this is a political decision. Look now, this is the holiday season. Traditionally, the Israeli tourists, you know, should flood Turkey in this season. But what we are seeing is the Turkish administration. I think that this is, by the way, a political decision. This is, you know, on paper, the Turkish Airlines is a company, but it's a state-funded company. So I don't think that they can take such a decision without getting the, you know, instructions from Ankara. And this is very unfortunate because at the end of the day, you know, until today, we always said, you know, in the relations business is business, you know, politics is politics. But when the people of Israel and Turkey will not visit each other, so it will indeed be a blow for the people-to-people relations. And, you know, in a very ironic way, who is the big winner of this decision? Greece. And now, nowadays, since the Israeli businessman who are conducting business with Turkey cannot, I mean, they do not prefer to visit Turkey. And the Turkish businessmen who do not want to visit Israel, they are meeting where? In Athens. And of course, the Asian Airlines, they are also making necessary, you know, infrastructural preparations so that they are feeling the vacuum of Turkish Airlines. Yeah, you know, not only Israel is visiting Turkey, I mean, many Israelis use, it's a huge hub, of course, and they use it for connections to even the United States and elsewhere. And now, the Emirates are feeling this vacuum. Right, Turkey is losing a lot of money. Indeed, we are not talking about a rational decision. This is not a rational decision. This decision is cutting the natural bridge between the two countries. And believe me that the Tel Aviv station was the most profitable station of Turkish Airlines outside Turkey. It doesn't mean necessarily that all of the Israeli tourists are going to Turkey. But as you mentioned, they were using it as a transit destination. So it was very, very important. And besides that, if I'm not mistaken, Turkish Airlines alone, in a day, they were launching here like seven or eight flights. So it was like a bus going to the city center. So it was very frequent, but this is very unfortunate. And I really hope that they will change their mind and they will relaunch this line because it's a win-win situation. Also, this is a win for the Turkish tourism. And more important than that, it will mend the fences between the countries because when people will see each other, they will understand that we are not their enemies. And of course, they are not our enemy as well. So we need this human contact, people to people. Until that happens, another IHH, Flutila, is being organized to get to Gaza within two weeks or so. What's going to happen? OK. Of course, unfortunately, I cannot foresee the future. But what I can tell you that, approximately two or three months ago, I also heard about more or less the same kind of news. But at the end, they were stopped. And I want to believe, and I'm highlighting this sentence, I want to believe that the Turkish government will intervene and will not let them to sail to Gaza because it will be very problematic. Once again, we already know the consequences of the first Flutila. And we also know that their main concern is not the humanitarian aid. The Turkish government is already doing its best to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. If I'm not mistaken, they are in the standing of the countries. Turkey is located at the first place. They are sending their humanitarian aid to Egypt. And from Egypt, all of the humanitarian aid is entering into the Gaza Strip. So if the main concern is the humanitarian aid, the Turkish government does it. So we do not need IHH or any other, this kind of a pirate organization, to exploit everything and make the political situation worse in this case. And I also want to believe that in the coming weeks, Mr. Erdogan will departure to the United States. And again, I want to believe that before his departure to the United States and even after his arrival back to Turkey. I assume that Turkey would not like to have a problem also with the US administration because of the Gaza Flutila. And I assume that they will receive necessary warnings also during the Washington DC visit. Good point to follow. Yeah, so let us be optimists. And with this opportunity and, of course, we are also opening the gates of the Gaza Strip if there is a sincere humanitarian aid offer. We are doing our best because it is, at the end of the day, providing us the necessary maneuverability in Gaza. Right. Dostoevsky, I want to check. Thank you very much for having me. Thank you for having me. Mr. Danyelon, thank you very much. And the United States is now on track to resume operations in its embassy in Libya after 10 years. Karim Mezran is with us now from the Atlantic Council. Thank you very much for joining us. Good afternoon. First of all, let's recall, what happened 10 years ago? Well, before that, there was the attack at the concert in Benghazi, which caused the death of the ambassador at that time. The embassy, the concert in Benghazi was closed. The embassy remained for another couple of years in Tripoli. Then there were the start of the civil war between the Karam operation of General Haftar and the largely majority of Islamist groups in Tripoli and Misrata that forced the embassy at the time because of the various exchanges of missiles and bombs, et cetera, to evacuate the embassy. And from that moment onward, no, the book in Libya has been hosted in Tunisia. As you can know, it's not capable of carrying out any American interest or defend any American interest in Libya but from Tunisia. There's been a big lack of presence that we felt almost at every corner of our contemporary history. But if you look at it, things are not much better and stable now in Libya than 10 years ago, right? No, I think they are much more stable. In fact, almost every other European countries is back with their own embassy. There are businesses opening. If you remember how it was in 2014, the people initially were fighting in the streets with heavy weapons. Now that hasn't happened for a long time. And I think that absurd that it may sound. I think that if the Americans were there to reopen the embassy, and they are not talking about this, by the way. They are talking about reopening a presence. Yeah. In fact, we are looking for temporary headquarters in the neighborhood of Regatta, which is where almost all the United Nations, that international organization are, we are so protected in a kind of a club within Tripoli. And then having people, most of the people are flying there daily and do their business and go back home to Tunisia or somewhere else. It is so far something very strange that they are thinking about it. But not the opening of an embassy with their headquarters, with the dormitories, with the houses and the sort of that. They have not looked into that yet. Yeah. They will. They should do that, but they have not wanted yet. Karim Isran, thank you very much for that. Thank you. Thank you very much. Voters in Kuwait are going to the polls today to elect their next parliament with the Amir warning that the public may be boycotting the elections and not very much interested in them. Bastian Buri is in Dubai to talk about this. Hi, Bastian. Why such low interest in Kuwait? Well, what's at stake is basically never ending political deadlock. One day the Kuwaiti parliament puts pressure on the government to lead it to dissolution. And the next day the new government puts pressure back on the parliament to do the same. And this lack of cooperation between the two main public bodies in Kuwait has been going on for almost three years now. On the regular basis, we see ministers getting removed. And every time it's cause for hope, because it shows that the government wants to regain the trust of the people amid supposedly very bad management of state finances. And the issue here seems to be mainly ideological. There is, on the one hand, a very liberal government that always wants to borrow a lot of money on international markets to invest massively in Kuwait and diversify its economy that is still very dependent on oil revenues. And on the other hand, the parliament's with a much more left-wing approach, so to speak, that wants alternatives to increase wages, pensions, and social assistance for Kuwaitis. Yeah, so what's happening with the Kuwaiti economy at this stage? Well, the paralysis is generating misery. The government has sought renewed financial assistance from members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. So it has seen some recent growth due to infrastructure spending. But at the end of the day, it's pretty much financed by other Gulf states. And this strategy is, as you can imagine, not sustainable. One encouraging thing on the horizon is that the high oil prices as they can help Kuwait press ahead with its reforms. But that, again, is not sustainable. As Kuwait needs initiatives to diversify its economy and reduce its debt in the long run, because the issue is Kuwait is among the countries in the world that are the most exposed to the risks of rising food prices, cost of living, and other types of financial crises due to its total dependence on imports. So the political turmoil that we're witnessing right now is certainly not bringing good options for dealing with this situation. Yeah. What do you hear about Kuwait's position regarding what's happening in Gaza? It's very passive, as Kuwait has adopted a very firm stance against the Israeli army, against Hamas, and against Hezbollah. So there's not much left to do. The Palestinians and Kuwait have had terrible relations since the 1990s when the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization, decided to support Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War against Kuwait. And as for Hezbollah, the Kuwaiti forces, we've been covering this lately regularly, discovering and arrests some of their clandestine cells on Kuwaiti territory. So the relations with Hezbollah are terrible as well. OK. Thank you very much, Bustin Boree. Stay tuned for more news with Kaleb Bandovid here on I-24 News. Have a good night from Tel Aviv. 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. Esta semana en I-24 Israel bajo ataque. I-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. News 24, únicamente en I-24 News. Welcome to this special broadcast on I-24 News. I'm Kaleb Bandovid. It is day 181 of Israel's war against Hamas. But today the focus of the security establishment has shifted to the country's northern front. This over concerns of a possible Iranian retaliation to the airstrike this week on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus that took out at least seven top figures of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including its senior commander in Syria. Iran's leaders and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah have vowed harsh retribution against Israel. The IDF is gearing up for any possible retaliation, boosting its forces and air defenses in the north, canceling leaves for all combat troops. Concerns today also over Iranian cyber attacks following disruptions of navigation apps using GPS in central Israel, which could impact on rocket alerts. Israel's war cabinet is meeting this evening to discuss the situation. And IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagarri urged the public to remain calm. Here is some of his commandments today. We have bolstered the alertness of our combat units as necessary wherever necessary. We have heightened our defense systems and we have jets prepared for offense in various scenarios. I would like to reiterate that the IDF forces are well deployed in defense and offense on all borders and are prepared for various scenarios. We must not be complacent, but at the same time, it is important for me to emphasize that there is no change in the home front command directives at the moment. If there will be any change in these directives, we will update you in the various home front command channels. Now, the growing concern in Israel over possible Iranian retaliation for the airstrike on the Mascis is, of course, being closely watched by the regime in Tehran. Middle East correspondent Ariel Osoran has more on the Iranian reaction to these events. According to all the signals and warnings coming out of Tehran, Iran is determined to seek revenge over the assassination of its top IRGC figures in Damascus this week. The failure of the Israeli regime in Gaza will definitely continue as well as these desperate efforts like what they did in Syria. Of course, they will be slapped for this action. While not officially commenting to the strike, Israel is on high alert. The IDF says it's bolstering air defenses and is calling up reservists while issuing calming messages to the public that there is no need to stockpile on emergency items or to withdraw money. And growing fear over Tehran's threatened response hasn't gone unnoticed in Iran. Pro-regime social media accounts have begun highlighting internal panic over the expected retaliation. With pro-state media like ultra-conservative Qaeda newspaper highlighting mountain protests inside Israel, prompting Iranian President Raisi to accuse Israel of being, quote, weaker than a spider's web. Trampling on all international and humanitarian laws, including this entity's attack on the Iranian Republic's consulate in Damascus, which will not remain without a response, indicates the pinnacle of failure and loss of the Zionist entity, which tries by all means to cover up its crimes against humanity by committing more crimes. Whether meant for internal consumption or psychological warfare, Iran is highlighting Israel's growing strategic and diplomatic predicament. And whatever they run in response may be, its effects can be felt even before it's been dealt. And with us in studio this evening is Dr. Michael Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and a former deputy minister and parliament member, our Middle East correspondent, Ariel Osoran, and Yakov Lapin, a military and strategic affairs analyst at the Miriam Institute. Michael, you've been talking about the Iranian threat and warning about it for years. Messaging is key here. The Israel's message to the Iranians, to its own people and to the world, what are the messages that should be safe? First of all, that we're willing to hit the head of the snake, something that Israel has not been willing to do in such a bold way in a long time. And it's a message that's not necessarily greeted in Washington. The narrative there is that Israel may be trying to drag the United States into war because the Biden administration has resolved not to retaliate directly against Iran for the actions of Iranian proxies, shelling American bases in Iraq, Syria and Jordan, or even backing the Houthis in their closing of the Mondab Strait. So Israel has done what the United States has refrained from doing, and the narrative in the United States is highly critical. The front page of the New York Times said, did Israel break, violate international law by hitting an embassy in Damascus? I'm not kidding you. That's the narrative there. But that is the message. And I think that the government and the military should be very concerned lest we be broadcasting fear now throughout the region. We should not be broadcasting fear. And the fact that Iran may retaliate, hey, Iran's been retaliating for about 20, 25 years against us. And I would think that perhaps the major retaliation won't come in the state of Israel. In the past, the Iranian regime has thrown a full willingness to retaliate against Jewish and Israeli targets abroad in Bulgaria, in Argentina and elsewhere. Right, maybe an embassy in this case. And they try to assassinate me in downtown Washington once, I'll tell you. They're not afraid to flex muscle abroad. Strike abroad. Let's go, though, to northern Israel right now and our correspondent there, Zach Ann, is the other Lebanese border. And Zach, we did see fire today from his Bala, one hitting the town of Shlomi. But let's talk about the concerns that this could escalate in the coming days. Yeah, I was listening in there. I think that the main fear for the people that are remaining in the north is that everything on the table moment, that if you really have to test how successful is the air defenses, not just in the north, all around Israel, but if truly Hezbollah and its capacity decided that tonight was the night, for example, and launches everything they have, that that would be the problem that there's no real solution to. And no one really knows what that day looks like. But that's the real fear that permeates the conversations that you have with people that live up here, that they recognize that that's the threat that exists and has existed for years and years and years. But still, that's what people are talking about. That's what people are posting about. And as we see some of the precautions, although tonight there's no change in the homefront command for the northern situation, we're told. But some of the precautions that have been communicated over the last several weeks, that hospitals have been stockpiling food, medicine, water that schools are being prepared to make shift evacuation points, that regional community leaders are being briefed on what the evacuation routes are and plans for things like that. So a serious concern, obviously. And back to that point about air defenses, I know that being in Israel is impressive to watch some of the best aerial defense systems in the world at work. But none of them are 100% successful. The US has some of the best in the world covering their bases in Syria. They've come under attack. They haven't been able to shoot down every target. And I think of what I've seen in my time in Ukraine, the Ukrainians have been very crafty in using drones and makeshift drones really to penetrate Russian air defenses as well. In fact, just the other day, just yesterday, they used a Cessna, a remote controlled Cessna. This is a light aircraft, filled it with explosives and flew hundreds of miles inside Russian territory before hitting a target. That's the kind of thing that in my mind stands out as there's no perfect system in the world that can defend the skies. And if it really comes to it, there's a real concern that adding a multitude of targets, drones, crews, ballistic missiles, those are all things that in tandem would be very difficult to defend against. Right, and of course, there are still even just these methods that his brother is in using today, using an RPG, I believe, rocket-propelled grenade hitting the town of Shlomi, luckily no injuries. That's not a town that's been fully evacuated. Yeah, and we saw people were nearby in the home when the home was struck. The MDA, the Ambulance Service here, said that they treated someone on scene, did not appear that they needed to be taken to the hospital, but very close call. I visited Matula, which is completely evacuated, and we have seen every other home down the street has some sort of damage from direct impacts. And that's, we're told, upwards of 40 of the homes in Matula have been hit. We saw just last night as well, that soldiers, they remain, the IDF presence remains in Matula, that Hezbollah was attacking one of the homes and it hit nearby, started a small fire as the soldiers were in that area. So any given night, it's the concern that you could be fired upon from a multitude of directions from a variety of weapons. All right, Zakhand is there on those, now front lines near the Lebanese border. Thank you for that, Zak. Yakovar job in the media is not to so panic, it's to present a balanced view. And we've heard, for example, Ambassador Orrin said, even more likely that Iran's target in retaliation could be outside of Israel. But there is an urgency to that discussion now, as Zak said, how effective would Israel's air defense systems, its different layers be, if we saw an escalation in the air attacks, not only from Lebanon, not only from Syria, I'm not even saying from Iran itself, for example, Iraq and elsewhere in the region. So Israel has the world's most advanced air defense system. This is a multi-layered system that has been designed by the most advanced defense companies in the world. And they are designed to deal with an array of threats, whether it's ballistic missiles, cruise missiles coming from long range from Iran, which can be detected from very far off, can be intercepted in space by arrow three, can be intercepted in the upper atmosphere by arrow two, then we have David's sling, and then we have Iron Dome. So multiple layers here and opportunities to shoot down threats and they complement each other. So Israel's skies are the most heavily defended skies in the world. And I think Iran knows this. So when it has to think about how it's going to retaliate, I think it has a dilemma. If it attacks from Iranian territory directly, it risks Israeli return fire on Iranian territory. It does take that risk. And I think that's why it's taking a little bit of time. It may decide to go after an embassy. It may decide to activate a proxy. If it decides to do something which Iran does not like to do, which is to attack Israel directly, then it opens itself up to a counter retaliation and a whole dynamic that can deteriorate into a conflict. And Iran knows that. So I think the Iranian Supreme National Security Council where these decisions are made, the IRGC and the Ayatollahs, they're going to sit down and look at their options. The Iranians, they are fanatical, but they are not hot-headed in the sense of they immediately choose a response. They take their time, they're patient. That's what makes them such a dangerous enemy. And really the last thing I think here in Israel we should be is hysterical. We do have the world's most advanced air defense system. We have the Mossad globally defending Israeli interests. This is a long-term conflict. We're going to be locked in with Iran. And we need to be steeled in calm about this conflict to the extent that that's possible. I just want to point out that you showed the rhetoric coming out of Iran. Tomorrow in Iran is El Kud's Day, Jerusalem, their Jerusalem Day. It's a day of celebration of incitement against Israel, basically, or the Zionist entity. Would Iran be pressured to do something or have one of its proxies try something tomorrow just to sort of make the point on that day? Well, in an attempt to try and clean their hands from this expectation that they are going to respond directly, they're already calling for supporters of anti-Zionist elements around the world to attack Israel. And this is something that we also saw Hamas do when they feel like they're not able to achieve their goals by themselves. They try to outsource their struggle, their jihad against Israel and the Jewish people to other targets around the world because that also gives them plausible deniability. Their response against them will be not as forceful as it would be if it were a direct strike from Iranian soil. But also, it gives them plausible deniability, saying that if no attack happened, we will attack when we choose. I'll just remind the viewers that this is the, well, this is a significant blow to the IRGC. It's not the biggest in recent years. You know, it's Qasem Soleimani, of course, four years ago, and we're still waiting for the Iranian response to that. But a difference there, and Michael, that was the Americans who carried out that strike. We have some American officials today have cautioned, send words of caution to Iran. Can America be a deterrent here in the US? We know they had their forces, their six-fleet off the coast of Lebanon. What's the priority, Ron? Oh, well, so then I'm asking you, what can the US do to, in a sense, deter on from taking an action that could escalate the situation? What you have is that big sign that says don't. And the sign has been deluded somewhat because one of the two naval carrier strike forces has been withdrawn and returned to Virginia. But still, even a naval one aircraft carrier with 90 planes on it and surrounded by submarines and frigates and destroyers is a very powerful deterrent force, and it can be used. You know, I don't want to be the naysayer here, but yes, we do have the most advanced multi-layer missile defense in the world, but the IDF estimate for the number of missiles that Iran can fire at us or his bullet can fire at us every day could range between 2,000 and 6,000 rockets a day. These are bigger rockets than anything Hamas fires at us. They are longer range and they're very accurate. And there would be a situation where we would have to go to the United States and ask, can you contribute to our air defense? And the six fleet has an array of anti-missile defense systems. They have the THAAD system, the Aegis system, the Patriot system, which we can draw on. And there are certain understandings that, in the case of war, we would draw on them. Right now, though, we have to look at the entire situation of a tremendous amount of stress and strains in our relationships with Washington. And on top of everything else, not just the killing of the seven aid workers two days ago, but now this strike in Damascus, which, again, people in the administration, people in Washington say, seems to be a blatant attempt to drag America into war. It wasn't, but that's the way it's being interpreted. Well, since you raised it, let's move now from the northern frontier down to Gaza, where fighting did continue today, especially in the Beit Hanun area, with the idea of saying dozens of terrorist squads and infrastructures have been eliminated over the past week. But alongside the fight against Hamas, Israel is now under assault of sorts on the diplomatic front amid that continuing fallout from the army's accidental killing of seven aid workers in Gaza. Now, the incident is widening the rift between the U.S. and Israel over the issue of humanitarian aid, and whether the IDF will be able to continue its fight against Hamas in Rafah. Our rabbit swift has more in this report. The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli airstrike left Gaza Wednesday and are being repatriated, with their Palestinian colleague buried in his hometown of Rafah. They were targeted systematically, car by car. Then we saw the consequences of that continuous targeting attack, seven people dead. Israel already felt diplomatic pressure over civilian casualties in the last six months, but not heat like this. The killing of seven aid workers impacted Western governments, where the deaths of thousands of Palestinians did not. The U.K. summoned Israel's ambassador to protest the deaths of three citizens, all of them British veterans, and prosecutors in Poland opened a homicide investigation into the incident, with the Speaker of Parliament citing it as a possible war crime. There have been too many innocent lives lost in Gaza. It shouldn't be the case. The innocent Palestinians, all people assisting them, are made to pay the price for the actions of the terrorist group Hamas. But the deciding factor will be the line taken by Washington. The White House has mostly stuck to its position supporting Jerusalem, diplomatically and militarily, throughout the war triggered by Hamas's October 7th attack. This is a very complex war situation. Every war is very difficult, it's very messy, it's very dangerous, and it has casualties that we would all rather not have on the Israeli side and on the Palestinian side. The question is, will the U.S. continue this line following the strike on the aid convoy? Michael. Well, from all, let's go to our senior U.S. correspondent Mike Wagenheim in New York, and Mike reports of that conversation coming up between President Biden today and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Probably would have been a tense conversation even without this incident happening. One could only imagine what it was in the wake of this. We're not talking about Passover plans, I can guarantee you that. 45 minutes on the phone, per multiple reports today for President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu coming off the heels of the World Central Kitchen tragedy earlier this week, and there are multiple high level and close to Biden, the senators right now, calling for all sorts of conditions to be applied to aid to Israel. We've got Chris Van Hollen from Maryland, calling for essentially an arms embargo. We've got Chris Murphy, who heads up the Middle East subcommittee on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, calling for conditions on Israel aid. Now we have today Chris Coons from Delaware, who's very close to Biden, could have been Secretary of State. He was among the top picks for that position before Anthony Blinken got it. Coons saying if Israel goes into RAFA, that should be it that the United States should cut off military aid to Israel. So the people that are surrounding Biden now are more and more publicly calling for these types of conditions to be applied. And Biden hears these things and hears them very closely. These are all impacting the way he's thinking and feeling right now, and these are beyond the political consequences when you talk about the upcoming political election. These are just people within his inner circle that are talking about these matters. So this is a very difficult conversation that Biden had with Netanyahu today, no doubt whatsoever, and it comes on the heels of what it is expected to be an Israeli delegation coming to Washington next week to start to lay out in detail, not just on the periphery, not just theoretically, but in detail what are Israel's plans for an offensive in RAFA to root out the final Hamas stronghold there in Gaza? What are their plans to safely evacuate the million plus Gazans that are hunkered down there now in RAFA, which is a condition that Biden has set forth that they be evacuated safely and carefully to make sure there are no further humanitarian consequences there? So in this virtual meeting that was held this week with Ron Dermer, the Strategic Affairs Minister for Israel and the National Security Advisor, Saki Henebi by all reports, it seemed like those details hadn't quite been established yet, and it's something that America has been demanding now for weeks. It's now down to brass tacks, essentially, Khaled, and I think that's what President Biden probably laid out to Prime Minister Netanyahu today. It's time to start making decisions irregardless of the consequences in Israel's political security cabinet, irregardless of the consequences in the war cabinet, if America is going to continue supporting Israel and having its back militarily, monetarily in the UN Security Council, then it's time to lay out an actual plan here. And by all accounts, I think that's what Biden was laying out to Netanyahu today. Right, so reportedly that was quite a tense meeting between the ministers, Dermer and Saki Henebi with the U.S. officials. Mike Wagenheim in New York, thank you for that. Michael, I'm sure there are days, weeks that you are happy you are no longer the Israeli ambassador to Washington. That's not easy. But let me ask you to assess this situation because Israel looks like one of the most tense periods we've seen, and how serious is it gonna be on Israel moving forward with its goals in, for example, Gaza? It is very serious, I mean, historically speaking, not as an ambassador, but as a historian, I'll tell you this is probably the most severe and multifaceted crisis we've had in our relationship with the United States, probably since the Suez crisis of 1956-57 when Eisenhower threatened to put sanctions on Ben-Gurion and Israel for invading Egypt. Israel doesn't have to remain passive here, Kalev. Israel, on one hand, has to continue to fight Hamas. It has to continue to even go into Rafah at the risk of further exacerbating our relationships with the White House. But on the other hand, we can greatly mitigate the strain by, for example, absolutely flooding Gaza right now with humanitarian aid, building humanitarian bases in Gaza that will distribute and warehouse aid. We can build fuel hospitals in Gaza. We have to take off this issue of humanitarian disaster. I've just come back from Washington a couple of days ago for talks there, and I'll just tell you, the administration believes that in the month of May, we will be facing a full-fledged famine in the state of Israel. And that's not what- In Gaza. That's not what the Kogot, the coordinator of policy in this territory says, but that's what they believe. We have to remove that. We cannot do both. Ignore the humanitarian situation and attack in Rafah. We can do much more to explain our position because right now there actually is no coordinated public diplomacy effort on the part of the government meeting with the heads of Jewish communities in the United States. I'll tell you that they're clueless. They feel that they've been left out in the cold in terms of information. So we don't have to be passive. We can do many more things as we continue to pursue and hopefully fulfill our security goals. Well, let's see if the government gets that message. Now, the airstrike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza this week and this week has intensified concerns of how the IDF is selecting its military targets, adding to charges that whatever system is being used, not enough care is being taken to protect civilians on the battlefield. Now a new report is claiming that the Israeli military is using an AI program to play a major role in that process, which in turn raises even more questions whether there was sufficient oversight. Ari 11 Waldman takes a closer look. The strikes come with inhuman precision. The target bank updates faster than any living analyst could achieve. The war in Gaza is the world's first autonomous conflict driven by artificial intelligence. An investigation by the Palestinian and left wing Israeli run plus 972 magazine cites multiple Israeli intelligence officials. The system is called either lavender or gospel and has selected thousands of bombing targets for the IDF. The IDF says a human being must sign off on the strikes and verify the validity of targets. Critics claim human analysts act merely as rubber stamps, criticisms that have made their way to the United Nations, which just two weeks ago passed a resolution for responsible use of AI. The Israeli military has confirmed they are using artificial intelligence in targeting in their war in Gaza. Do you condemn that? And will that be taken into your account in this AI resolution? You know, we have been clear that this resolution is about making AI safe and secure and trustworthy. And we have 60 co-sponsors who have signed onto that, including Israel. Hamas has claimed without evidence that 32,000 Gazans have died in the war. Israeli intelligence, whose numbers have been largely backed up by independent US analysis, says around 13,000 of them have been enemy combatants, a higher combatant to civilian ratio than any war in modern history. So is the AI picking the right targets? AI systems should be human centric, reliable, explainable, ethical, inclusive, privacy preserving and responsible with a sustainable development orientation and in full respect, promotion and protection of human rights. AI has allowed analysts to review data far faster than any war in history and not just for the purpose of targeting. Israel has been using it since the first day of the war to try to find hostages, 134 of whom are still being held by Hamas. Right now you are in the middle of what we call the war room. And this is the section, the array that deals with hostages, with missing people, with dead people, we try to understand the status of each one of the missing people and we still have more than a thousand people who are missing. For good or ill, the era of autonomous warfare is here and the tools of this conflict will only be refined and perfected for the next. All right, we're gonna pick up the discussion actually on this story when we come back. We are going out for a brief break, but I would like Ambassador Michael Warren, Ariel Oceran and Yakov Lapin to stay with us. More coming up on our special coverage of another dramatic day. Israel's war against Hamas now a hundred and eighty, a hundred and eighty one. We'll be right back. Real story 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 have completely gone down in their beds. De la frontière de ces barres de rèlles, the state of emergency and war in Israel. Bringing Israel's story to the world. I-24 News Channels, now on Hot. Welcome back to this special broadcast on I-24 News. We're still here with Ambassador Michael Warren, our Ariel Oceran, Alice Yakov Lapin. Yakov, let me, I wanna get your response to this report issue, claiming or at least implying that artificial intelligence is replacing to some degree human oversight when it comes, for example, to targeting in Gaza. In two words, it's fake news. What's happening, especially when I say fake news, by the way, it's the Guardian Report that was just filled with inaccuracies and it was based on this early report. What's actually happening is that the IDF uses artificial intelligence to cross reference its database. And then from there, human operators look at all of the risks. They compare military advantage to the risk of collateral damage like they do before every single strike. They have all checklists that they go through. There is no categorical algorithm that automatically incriminates targets. That's complete science fiction. But they have an algorithm that helps them process data faster. And then it still goes through the whole human chain of command to make sure that every strike is in line with international humanitarian law and the laws of warfare, to make sure that it's in line with the IDF's values and to make sure that there's a minimum number of civilians around. And the absurd part of this is that there's no other military in the world that goes to the lengths that the IDF does. It's set a new bar as America. I haven't been pointing out in this thing. Of course, the US and Afghanistan, for example, killed the aid workers through mistaken strikes along with civilians and in other battlefields. Though, of course, we don't have the details of what went wrong here and we'll go into those details or when we have them. Briefly, Michael. Very briefly, I spoke to the people in the Army about it. There was a case of misidentification and faulty framing. Okay, well, I think... The word Hebrew is framing and the misidentification, there had been reports of suicide bombers in the area in a car, people in a car with rifles, with arms. That car apparently went off the grid and the workers' car came onto the grid and it was misidentified. All right, but clearly there was some failsafe that probably was not done in this case and certainly there's gonna have to be some correction there. All right, let's move on. The hopes for a deal that would see some of the 134 hostages held in Gaza that would be reached sometime in the coming day suffered a blow last night when the Hamas leader, Ismail Khania, said the terror group was not budging on its maximalist demands. Now, failure to reach a hostage deal is fueling the protests from the hostage families and their supporters with some of them now joining calls from the opposition demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Netanyahu. Adding to the political pressure was the announcement by what cabinet minister Benny Gantz last night calling for new elections in September. This after Netanyahu said calling for a vote at this time would be just playing into Hamas' hands. Well, here's Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan speaking today in Beirut. After the last round in Cairo, the occupation government is still evading and so the negotiations are moving in a visual cycle as the occupation still rejects the demands of our people and our legitimate resistance for a comprehensive ceasefire a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of displaced persons, or even a serious prisoner exchange. Unfortunately, with all the debate in Israel, it seems that Hamas is not budging. Let me ask you, Ariel, again, is this a staking, a public position by Hamas as a negotiating tactic or reflective of the fact that it is simply unrealistic to move from these demands which Israel cannot accept? Hamas' goal is to see maximum damage and destruction in the Gaza Strip so that the international community will force Israel to lay down its weapons and exit the Gaza Strip. That is their strategic goal and they're biding for time until that moment happens and every instance like this, whether it's aid workers who get targeted from the air or misidentified in an airstrike or whether it's an aid convoy that soldiers open fire nearby. These instances are only gonna further bring pressure onto Israel to end the war before it reaches its goals and in a situation where it will have to choose to either the destruction of Hamas or the hostages. This is something that Israel is trying to move forward currently in tandem but if Israel is forced to end this war earlier than it would like to, then it puts it in a bind. I will just say that in addition to that, Israel has not really presented a strategy, it's not even talked about a strategy regarding the day after and so any military achievements that have been paid for with Israeli blood until now will unfortunately not be worth that much if there is no diplomatic solution on the other end of it to translate it to a peaceful resolution. So right now where we're standing regarding the hostage situation, the Hamas continues to show that it is in its best interest to continue these negotiations as long as possible. I think what will expedite the end of this process is Israel formulating a plan of its own as to what it would like to see the leadership of Gaza the day after because until you prepare the next leader, the current leader stays in power whether its military battalions have full capabilities or not. Right and as a lot of Michael Wagonheim said and as Michael Lawrence said here in studio, probably that these are discussions that will be had in that discussion with President Biden both on the humanitarian issue and the day after. I just wanna go now to our correspondent Balir Slavini who's out in hostage square there in Tel Aviv and I think you'd have to understand I guess the frustration of the families now especially after the events we saw in Jerusalem the other day and also unfortunately the response we're seeing from the leaders of Hamas which just doesn't seem to be any flexibility on their part Balir. Yeah and that's although they are saying that instead of like in spite of their flexibility the Israeli side is blocking a deal and is putting more obstacles but I don't see any flexibility from Hamas' side and the negative response here of course is very negative in the ears of the families of the hostages some of them by the way are blocking the road here behind me beside the Kiryat the building that belongs to the Israeli Defense Ministry in order to pressure the Israeli officials and especially during the cabinet meeting that is being held right now although that is actually in Jerusalem but they are always demonstrate here in Tel Aviv although the number of the protestors here is a small of course if we compare it to the large number of protestors that we're demonstrating a couple of days ago in Jerusalem and also last Saturday in Tel Aviv but still the pressure is obvious and that's coming in the background of what we're hearing from Hamas' sources telling Reuters an hour ago that although that there is huge differences and huge disagreements between the Israelis and Hamas in these talks that are going on right now in Cairo but the Egyptians and the Americans are persisting to keep these negotiations alive so that's happening after we've heard officially from Hamas' senior official Osama Hamdan in Lebanon that he said that the Hamas is sticking with their demands that they are represented on the 14th of March that include the full retreat of the Israeli soldier from Gaza Strip a guarantee that the war will end and of course the return of the families that evacuated to the south of Gaza back to their homes in the north unconditionally which is something that Israel still or yet to accept the Israeli side is willing to accept some graduate return of these families even including some of the men but they are demanding that the Israeli soldiers in the buffer zone monitor who comes in and who goes to the north or not although of course they are concerning that Hamas will try to bring their militants up to the north with their arms as well and that's something that Israel cannot accept before. Right. I do want to know, Belia, you say there's some fewer crowds this evening but we do expect the major protest to be on Saturday night. In fact, the police announcing just this evening they've reached agreement with the protest they will close off Kaplan Street that main intersection near where you are although we've seen protesters try to block the I-Alone Highway and that's really where the trouble has been between the clashes between the police and the protesters and it could be that we'll see that Saturday night. Yeah, so we can say that we almost certainly will see that I've been covering also that protest every other Saturday and they are blocking the I-Alone Road although that the official representatives of the families, of the hostages they don't participate in that but they can't control everyone and we're talking about tens of thousands of people so they can't control them and some of them will disturb the order here and even close the mainway, the I-Alone Highway that's something that we probably will see and we need to mention here that we're talking about a collection of protests we're not talking about only protesters that demand the release of the hostages and they demand Israel to reach a deal we're talking about also protesters that once the resignation of the government wants to see Netanyahu leaving his office so there's some sort of a blend between these protesters we've seen it also in Jerusalem a couple of days ago I was there as well and we've seen what happened after the official event all these, of course, protesters that try to even reach the prime minister's residence that's something that, of course, is not acceptable even on people like Benny Gantz which is someone who is supposed to be supporting and that's his base, of course All right, Belias Ladid thank you when you were there in Hasis Square on Tel Aviv Michael, you served as a Knesset member as a member of government with Prime Minister Netanyahu what are the bounds of acceptable protests being crossed here and what are the consequences of that for this current government including now a senior member of that government Benny Gantz saying there should be elections in September Well, September's a long way away and many things can happen it's a long time in politics it's at the risk of, again, sounding cynical and having been in the government at a time when there were very large protests my feeling is that the people around it would be looking at these protests and saying okay, there's 100,000 people protesting out there but there are 9.7 million people not protesting out there and that these are the same 100,000 people who protest every time and we've seen this movie several times before going back years already and they may not be very much discomfort about it I think the pressure from the Hasis families and the confluence of the Hasis family protests with the bring down the Netanyahu government protests is more disconcerting but I don't think it's a game changer Not yet, not yet and Netanyahu is looking at his polls and in many of these polls he's going up All right, well, God forbid a former member of Knesset should be cynical, I should say I guess, thank you You've had some experience there Now, we have mentioned, well, I mentioned El Kud's Day in Iran, which does come on usually the last day of Friday prayers for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan that's also a time of concern for security forces here in Israel they are on alert for possible unrest among Palestinians in the West Bank and at Jerusalem's Temple Mount El-Aqsa mosque compound Now, this past week I've seen two terror incidents inside Israel Today, one of those claimed a life with 34-year-old Lidor Levi Daing in hospital from the stabbing wounds he suffered during Sunday's attack at the Gan Yavne Mall The overnight IDF troops and security forces arrested 20 Palestinian terror suspects and killed one during a series of raids across the West Bank Also today, the Shin Bet announced it had foiled a plan to assassinate National Security Minister Idem R. Ben-Vir a terror cell comprised of seven Israeli Arabs from the South and four Palestinians from the West Bank were arrested on charges that they planned to obtain a rocket-propelled grenade and use it to kill Ben-Vir along with carrying out attacks on army bases, settlements, and at Ben-Gurion Airport Here's Ben-Vir today reacting to that announcement I want to thank the Israeli police, the General Security Service all the security forces and everyone who participated in the arrest Investigation and the prosecution of those who plan to assassinate me with an RPG rocket I say to those terrorists, I will not be deterred I will continue to lead Israel's police to a determined policy against terrorism and zero tolerance towards the instigators I will continue to lead the prison service in a determined stance against security prisoners against the terrorists Presidents in Israel are no longer summer camps but we will make the conditions even more severe for those who want to harm the State of Israel We have some breaking news that could be related to concern of those tensions leading into the last Friday of Ramadan, Ariel, some rocket alerts coming out Yeah, so in the South, rocket alerts are insounded in the southern town of Netivot still no word of injuries or damage but this is the second barrage of rockets towards southern Israel today and we're seeing that after kind of a low Hamas, Pasir Samajihad re-picking up the pace in targeting the communities surrounding Gaza it's concerning because many of these communities have restarted their lives the residents have returned from their mandated evacuation Some have Some, not the communities directly adjacent to the borders, those Kibbutzim but a city of 35,000 people that city is back to normal and it has suffered multiple sirens since this now in Netivot, again still no word as to the damage about it but we are seeing a resurgence of rocket fire towards southern Israeli communities in recent days And Yakov, what about the concerns now going in the last week of Ramadan over possible, of course, unrest and protests in the West Bank and the very sensitive al-Aqsa Mosque in particular on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and terror attacks that we've just seen just the two that we just saw this week one of them perpetrated in fact by an Israeli Arab Right, so despite those terrible attacks I think that Yehiss and Muar and the leadership of Hamas are actually very disappointed in what they're seeing in the West Bank they had hoped to set the West Bank on fire under the banner of al-Aqsa, under the banner of Ramadan and to link the war in Gaza to the West Bank and to see hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the streets taking part in mass writing some sort of rerun of the second al-Aqsa Antifada toppling the PA or destabilizing it and of course killing as many Israelis as possible that is the dream of Yehiss and Muar that's what he wanted to see it's not happening, it's not even close to happening and I think that's primarily because of the incredible work by the Israeli Defense establishment conducting nightly raids arresting thousands of Hamas members and other kinds of security suspects and while basically trying to inflict minimal disruption to ordinary Palestinians and non-combatants and walking down that fine line which has been the formula for the West Bank every Ramadan in past years and has been this year as well but just with much more raids Hamas is a net loss for Hamas so far, Ramadan is not over it's not over, we're not out of the woods you're absolutely right, but I would say so far I think Israel is quite pleased with what it's seeing in the West Bank and definitely Hamas is disappointed right, by the way we should mention because we were talking about Iran the threat on Israel, Palestinian Authority sources also officials saying a concern Iran trying through its proxies to so unrest in the West Bank be it Hamas or other groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad that's right, weapons transfers through weapons transfers that have been for example intercepted on the way there but I wanted just focusing on the Palestinian issue on the diplomatic front Michael, we have on one hand the Palestinian Authority just in the past couple of days saying they're going to renew their diplomatic offensive try to get recognition statehood at the West Bank on the other hand everything we've been talking about earlier about Gaza the plans for the day after the humanitarian aid we've heard again and again that people that Israel wants to take part the UAE, Saudi Arabia other Arab Egypt saying the PA has to be a part of it by the way our report we had a scoop here on I-24 news this evening the UAE calling in the Israeli Ambassador there for a reprimand over what happened in the Gaza Strip a lot of that is dependent on Israel finding some way to work with the Palestinian Authority in one form or another in order to create some kind of new post Hamas framework in Gaza and we could there are plenty of internal domestic political constraints on this government but in theory this government could say to both the people in the Gulf as well as the people in Washington you want to discuss a path to a Palestinian state a Palestinian state but a path to a Palestinian state you want to discuss a path it doesn't obligate us in any way you want to talk about a role for the PA in the day after in Gaza we're willing to talk about it but let's establish benchmarks where we can prove that the Palestinian Authority is actually capable, willing of maintaining peace and security in the Gaza Strip and this way at least we enter into a discussion and we're not saying all the time no, no, no because that's not reinforcing we could be much more forthcoming just one last time the State Department spokesman Matthew Miller asked last night in his briefing about the Palestinian Authority push for to become a full member state of the United Nations saying the U.S. does not see that as its path of course it's the U.S. that has the veto that is blocking them can the Israel count on the Biden administration to maintain that veto over the Palestinians going forward one would hope so but again we're going to have to show some type of flexibility we just cannot the important thing this is a long standing theory of mine you know we got to dig our heels in on the things that are essential for our security things that aren't essential for our security we can show flexibility on we cannot be all the time saying no, no, no and there's a danger countries like Spain that say they're going to recognize the Palestinian State that creates a new reality because then we are occupying a sovereign state that's recognizing recognized by other states in the world not just you know maybe the United States won't but other states will and that creates it certainly reinforces the Palestinian authorities ability to do us damage in international courts and to call for boycotts and sanctions alright we'll see if there is this government has potential for that flexibility certainly some current elements of it probably would not go along with that of course as you say it's a long way to September and governments can change their forms let's focus back on the situation where we started this evening the situation in northern Israel as Ariel also once said in the south we do see people returning some of those communities on the border with Gaza returning a home as we start marking the six month anniversary if you're going to call it that or six months since the October 7th attack unfortunately different situation in northern Israel where the the circumstances have become even worse for the residents there of course we just heard today about this rocket attack on the community of Shlomi and of course the threats from the Iranians the northern Israel those residents in northern Israel have left their homes been staying mostly in hotels now for six months and I'm frankly getting tired of it our Lynn Plachmaier has more on their plight in this report it's been over 180 days since Israel's war with Hamas broke out on October 7th ever since Israel has also been engaged in an active conflict with Hezbollah on its northern border as a result 60,000 Israelis who live in that area have been evacuated from their homes the feeling is very unpleasant it's a sense of detachment we have a large and spacious house in Shlomi with a large courtyard and we love being there and the smell of it and the situation we're in now and the expectation of ok it will take a week two or three weeks and it has ended up going on and on you don't see the end it's not clear what will happen at the end even though there is no end in sight the Israeli government is trying to silence the growing unrest among the displaced northern residents without getting into details we will not leave the situation as it is we are required I am required to bring them home to bring them home it's not just a civilian concern it's a security concern we want to create the incentive for security and the feeling of security to allow this to happen I say all the time we we're going to take care of it I prefer we do it diplomatically if not we do it by other means despite the gloomy situation the residents have not lost hope of returning really in truth nobody knows the answer not one of us is a government operative we don't know the military plan and certainly none of us nor any of the enemy is going to tell us what their plans are and when or how they're going to carry them out so for us we feel adrift half in half out we're going to forget these times and it will remember better times I know this it's a matter of time the world will end we're going to return home and return to our town and I know we will know happy days and the security will be even greater and stronger after the war there is hope Yakov we know the steps or the developments we needed to see for the residents of those southern Gaza border air communities to go home which is that decrease in rocket attacks what needs to be done on the security level in order to make those northern residents along the Lebanese border feel safe to go back to their communities the gap between the south and the north is huge the IDF has disbanded most of Hamas' terror army and it's now basically mopping up in most of Gaza in the north the situation is completely different despite some claims the fact of the matter is that the IDF has really essentially scratched the surface of Hezbollah's capabilities when you look at their order of battle tens of thousands of armed terrorists and you look at their arsenal most of that remains intact and so we have a real dilemma here we have a very dangerous precedent Hezbollah has been able to create a civilian free zone in northern Israel and that boosts Hezbollah's you know we can call it street credit as a leading member of the Iranian Shiite radical axis that they've been able to do this to absorb the price and to keep doing this this is all very dangerous it's all very I think negative and something does have to change about a diplomatic solution I think that that would be a fig leaf for essentially both sides agreeing to de-escalate which is a realistic scenario Hezbollah could decide on its own to de-escalate that's not going to be a diplomatic agreement that's going to be a Hezbollah-Iranian decision if that happens or on the contrary the other option is of course a ground maneuver into southern Lebanon like we saw in the Gaza Strip to start tearing apart Hezbollah's capabilities it's going to have to be one of those two scenarios I mean, medium intensive conflict cannot go on for much longer without seriously damaging both the credibility of the state in the eyes of those northern residents and dangerously boosting Hezbollah's standing as a leading member of the Iranian Shiite axis Alright, a couple of updates McGendavida, Dome, Israel's emergency medical rescue services no casualties reported injuries from those rockets to alerts in the south and the White House releasing its readout of the conversation between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu President Biden emphasized the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable he made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific concrete and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers he made clear the U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps he underscored the need for an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians and then adding the two leaders also to discuss public Iranian threats against Israel and President Biden made clear the U.S. strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats other than that last bit a pretty harsh readout I would say it's missing two words, or else do this, or else where have the word come from? Israel has to agree to a ceasefire it seems to me that there are actually two parties in this war and one party is actually not going to agree to a ceasefire alright, we'll have to end on that note