This week on News 24, Israel under attack. News 24 in Spanish brings the analysis and the information of the events of the war, Spades of Iron. Exclusive interviews, reports from the war zone, the reaction of Spanish-speaking countries. News 24, the only medium in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel. News 24, only on I-24 News. Thanks for staying with us through a break as we cover all aspects of Israel at war. We are going to turn our eye once more to the northern front, where our correspondent, Zach Anders, is standing by Anders. We had some very serious exchanges of fire over the past couple of days, and some very recent strikes and breaking news developments over there. Walk us through what's going on on the Lebanon front. Yeah, the last 24 hours has seen over two dozen different launches the IDF says recorded into Israeli airspace and attempting to hit targets, Israeli defense targets throughout the northern border. There was a drone interception last night as well. The IDF says that they have retaliated on these points of origin where this fire has been coming from, but the breaking news this hour has been the death of two journalists inside Lebanon. Those two journalists appear to have been traveling in a vehicle. It's unclear exactly where that took place, but media inside Lebanon is beginning to circulate Hezbollah's response saying that they will respond with force and retaliate against the IDF for this strike that killed the two journalists. Now, of course the questions we have at this hour is where exactly this took place and where the corresponding launches with Hezbollah were throughout the morning, because there were multiple areas, different areas where Hezbollah was launching from this afternoon. The IDF was retaliating and responding to multiple different launch sites. So obviously a very tense situation, another escalation here and a big concern considering how this is now entering into the space where it's claiming obviously innocent lives and journalist lives. Well, Zach, one of the things you've pointed out over the course of the day is that Hamas has been firing its missiles, firing its rockets directly out of civilian suburban neighborhoods, which seems to be a possibility here. Yeah, and I think it's a little early to say with regards to where the journalists were, where exactly these Hezbollah strikes are because some media reports are claiming that they were on a road on their way, much further north. And there's some images that correlate with this. Now what will happen next is geolocation of these images is possible and will be taking place. And that will help in aid in attempting to figure out where exactly this was. But the air superiority element is a major factor here because the IDF will use artillery and their ground personnel tanks to fire on positions right on the Lebanon border. But if they suspect that there are forces responsible for an earlier launch, they have also been striking with helicopters and fighter jets and drones at locations much further inland into Southern Lebanon. So it's really early. We're still working to collect some of this information. Well, thank you very much, Zach, for that update from the north. We are going to turn our eye to the south, the southern front. But we're gonna wait a couple of moments before we do that because we are going to address the elephant in the room hanging over this entire war, that being the hostage situation. Now, what everyone in Israel is wondering right now is whether or not a hostage deal is finally imminent. There are international parties saying that one is closer now than ever. And Palestinian sources are leaking some possible details that could involve between 50 to 100 civilian women and children in exchange for 300 terrorist security prisoners that include women and some minors. A five day ceasefire and 300 aid trucks into Gaza. But that's only a small subset of the number of hostages. There are at least 236 hostages held by the Hamas terror group and hundreds of broken families in Israel begging for the return of their loved ones. At a meeting with the Prime Minister last night some families expressed their rage at a government they say simply isn't trying hard enough. I wasn't expecting any kind of information. I'm well aware that this entire war is confidential. Everything that's happening from the negotiations and their plans and what they aim to achieve. Obviously, this is all confidential and I have no argument over that. But what I was hoping to hear is that when the decision makers wake up in the morning the first and foremost thing that they have in mind is my cousin. And that's not what I've heard. And in the past two weeks we've been making extraordinary efforts to make sure that this is the priority. We've been making extraordinary efforts that to get the public behind us and make sure that people know that the public is behind us with the march that we had from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. And then today we spent the entire day in the Knesset in the Israeli parliament and about 100 parliament members signed a declaration that says that as far as they're concerned bringing back the hostages is top priority. And this happened within a day. So I was hoping that the government, the decision makers would reflect that sentiment. And to discuss this more with us in studio now is Ben Jorah Yemini, Senior Journalist at the Yerega Akhuna Daily newspaper here in Israel. Ben Jorah, it's good to have you with us. We're hearing some of the potential details of what this hostage exchange might include. Ultimately, how palatable is this to the Israeli public as well as military establishment? Maybe 50 hostages, 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for 300 terrorists, five days of ceasefire, large amounts of aid going into Gaza. It's not easy, it's not simple. And nobody can envy the decision makers because whatever they will decide will be criticized by many family members of hostages. For example, we had a mother of 30 years old, her son and she said, she said, she declared. I mean, if they are making a kind of deal with only some of the hostages, the others will never come. The meaning is for her, it's a kind of a death penalty to her son. And I can understand her because it might be tools. I mean, we don't know, we don't know, but maybe there will not be a second stage. We have the first stage. We don't know how many. We hear many numbers, 50, 30, 70, but we don't know what will be the next stage if there will be any next stage at all. Let's hope, let's pray. But I do understand the families. I do understand the families. I do not accept, I must put it on the table. Even if I can understand, it doesn't mean that they are completely right because there is a contradiction between groups in so many families of hostages. Of course, those who have children and mothers, they want their relatives to be part of this upcoming deal, but we don't know if the rest will come back.  It's the hangover of the entire war in the South is the fate of these hostages. Before we continue this discussion, I do want to take a look at what the status of things in the South are, though, because our correspondent, Pierre Kloschen, there is standing on the border right now. We were just discussing the stakes of the war in the studio, Pierre. I want to have an update of what that's actually looking like on the ground. It's looking very complicated. I'll give you an example. Last week, the Israeli army invested Shifa Hospital. It took them a few days, at least five, to find the tunnel shaft on the northeastern side of the Shifa's polling complex. It took another two to three days to enter with video assets inside the tunnel to discover that at the end of 55 meters of that tunnel, there was a bomb blast door. Now, that door has only been opened now. It takes a long time to neutralize all those tunnels. It's very dangerous as well. So what we see in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip, even in places that have been already taken over by the Israeli army, you still see some fighting in Shati, for instance, which was taken over last week. There's still some fighting, but also there is a lot of tunnels that need to be neutralized to understand what's going on. This is Beth Hanun, what you see just now. This is another explosion. I think it comes from the artillery or from the ground forces because we haven't heard a plane going out of the arena of operation. But this is a place which basically is already, and there is really control. I say basically because it's not ending. The lines of defense of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are so well constructed and so dense that it will take a lot of time before all that is completely cleansed. Now, Jebaliah on the left, I'm gonna ask Daniel to pan. On the left you can see some white smoke. This is more or less the outskirts of Jebaliah refugee camp. Now, this is completely encircled by the Israeli army. Access of penetration have been open by the Israeli army. Now, the task is to go inside. It's one of the most dense refugee camps in the whole Gaza Strip. In that place, there's still tens of thousands of Palestinians who are urged by the Israeli army to move east and join the cohorts of more than 360,000 people that have left the northern sector of the Gaza Strip in order to displace themselves south where there's only bombing in the southern sector of the Gaza Strip. So that's the next task of the Israeli army to go inside the Jebaliah refugee camp and do what they did in Shatti last week. What happens also south of Jebaliah, Zeytun neighborhood in Gaza City, that the takeover has been basically completed again, basically, because there as well, there was a battalion, the Hamas battalion of Zeytun, which was very well trained with lots of defense lines, tunnels, weapons depot, basement, you name it. There were close combat encounters between the Israeli army and the Hamas terrorists. In each of the encounters, the idea is assuring that the Israeli army has the upper hand, but it takes a lot of time. And three other neighborhoods now are urged to move to the Salahadin access, to move south. It's Al-Darash, Tufaq, Shejaia. These are inside Gaza City on the eastern outskirts. These also are the next targets. So you see the ground offensive started in October 27. We are now November 21. It's already three and a half weeks of offensive. Over 60 soldiers dead, killed in fighting, and the task is not over yet. No, it's a very long road ahead, Pierre. Thank you very much for that update from the ground. We will be back with you over the course of the day as the situation there develops. I'm gonna turn back to Ben Jaurer in the studio. A reporter just described the ground situation in Gaza right now. The IDF has encircled Gaza City. They are gaining momentum to go into Jabalia and hit some of Hamas' heaviest infrastructure. But this is one of the complicating factors in the Haasar's negotiation, because the IDF is gaining momentum. A ceasefire agreement in return for Haas just stops that momentum, allowing Hamas to regroup, to rearm, to reposition themselves, and to move some of the other Haas just into other positions as well. It seems that Israel is caught in a truly terrifying dilemma here. Yeah, and that's exactly why it's so difficult to decide in that point of time, I mean, what are we doing? We are in the middle of a battle field, I mean, on the ground. Now, just, I want to zoom out for a minute because he said that it's so complicated. Yes, it is. Just, let's remember what happened in other battle fields of that kind. What happened in Mosul, what happened in Iraq, when actually most of the buildings were destroyed, 65% in Mosul, 70% in Iraq, which was a capital of ISIS. What happened in Chechnya? What happened in Russia, if I'm going backward to, what happened actually in Afghanistan? The Russia, without any international protest demonstration, they could not even take over Afghanistan because of the Mujahideen, and actually Russia never defeated the rebels in Chechnya, and so on and so on. So it's not going to be easy. It's not going to be easy. And if people thought, oh, in a few days we are going to make it.  We must give them time. And this kind of ceasefire, it will not be the end of the world. So if the outcome will be releasing so many hostages, 50, let's hope even more. So, but it is complicated. It is complicated. And it's not going, I'm saying it because people are expecting the IDF to finish. I mean, what? So the Israeli army cannot defeat immediately. It's not easy. Look what happened in Mosul, look what happened in Chechnya just in order to understand that it's not going to be easy. And one of the points you brought up before is that no matter what decision the government makes, it will be criticized from just about every sector of society for different reasons. Nonetheless, Prime Minister Benjamin Yanu has not really helped himself in his own optics or his government's optics when talking to the families of the hostages. But a sound bite from one earlier that way, basically said he hasn't felt that it's been a very serious set of negotiations. Ultimately, we have not seen a very good showing from the government to the public on this. No, we did not see, we did not see because actually they don't even speak in one voice.  But in that so sensitive, delicate subject, they have to speak in one voice and we know that there are differences between Gantz and Eisenkott who are coming at members from one hand and Netanyahu and others from the other. We do know, we don't have to see it. We don't have to see it. It doesn't help Israel in this point of time with the Hamas because for them, there is only one voice. No differences, no disputes. So, yes, the government did not. And if we go to the Knesset, to the Israeli parliament, I mean, what we saw yesterday was a disgrace when they were actually discussing this penalty to terrorists. I mean, this is not the time. This is not the way, but they did it. And yes, you're completely right. We don't see from the Israeli leadership a decisive voice that can at least convince the public in general and the families in particular that they know what they're doing. Unfortunately, it's not what we see. And I'm hearing reports literally right now as we speak that Ehad Shatiel has entered its final stages of negotiation. So it certainly seems that something is possibly imminent. The question being, of course, Hamas has not exactly proved itself to be a trustworthy negotiating partner. What sort of assurances can Israel actually exact from Hamas at the end of five days they actually get any of these people back? No, it will not be in the last day. It's supposed to be a day of, I mean, like 10 every day or something like that. We will hear, I hope in the upcoming hours we will hear about the details of this deal. Because that's what they declare from Doha in Qatar. That's what they declare President Biden just said yesterday that it's a question of one day and it's going to be. So I do hope that they will have guarantees that the Hamas will do this part. I'm not sure that it's going to happen and you're completely right. We are not sure. Nobody can guarantee us. But I do hope that they have enough guarantees in order to continue with this deal. And no good options, no good answers. It's not a good situation. No good options. I mean, if somebody thinks that there is a better option, he has no idea what he's talking about. No good options, but we have to continue. Yeah, we have to continue right top. Thank you very much, Ben Jorah. Thank you for helping me. We're helping us understand the situation as a whole. Now we are going to turn to get another side of this exact story, that being from the families of some of these hostages themselves, joined now by Netta Haiman, daughter of 84-year-old Ditsa Haiman, kidnapped by Hamas. Now she's joining us here from Haifa. Netta, there's very few words you can say to hearing that. But having seen and heard these reports of an imminent hostage deal, are you hopeful? I'm very hopeful. I think we must do this deal. And no matter how many will come back, everyone is better. We said in Israel, in Hebrew, it's better one bird on your hand than two on the tree. Then I prefer every bird that we can put in our hand, every man, every child, every old man. I prefer them here. We don't know how long they have, especially the old one that need their medication. We don't know if they have time. And maybe in one week, they will come back as buddies. Then we need to do now what we can to get now anyone that we can get back. Do you believe until this time the government has really been taking these negotiations seriously? I've spoken to other families that believe that they've not really considered a major issue of theirs. I don't know if they're taking the deal seriously, but I do know that they all the time said it's not the first priority is to destroy Hamas and to win the war. And we don't hear that the first priority for them is to bring them back. One of the questions that we've heard asked is we don't actually know the number of the current deal right now. We do certainly know though that it's not going to be everyone. What is the message to the people who are going to be left behind their families? Because we don't know who that's going to be right now. I think the message that need to be, we hope that they all will come back. But now we need to get what we can. Even if it will be just the children and my mom will stay there, I prefer it. That we get what we can. Now, this is all coming while our own government here in Israel seems to make some schizophrenic statements and moves that might end up undermining this deal. We saw just the other day members of the coalition yelling at families such as yours that maybe not you directly, but other families over pits of policy. We had this discussion on a death penalty deal for terrorists. Ultimately, do you believe that the government is undermining its own negotiations right now? I don't know. I don't know. Part of them know. Part of them, yes. I hope the small cabinet will decide the best decision to bring them back to get this deal. The cabinet have decided about the fire stop. They can't decide along to release prisoners, Palestinian prisoners. For this, we need all the government. I hope it will be a majority there to do this. Certainly, and we're all hoping that there are some clear answers in the coming hours, the coming days, and we're praying for you and your families and the families of hundreds of Israelis right now. Thank you very much for speaking with us, Nata. Thank you very much. And we're going to move on to the families inside Israel as self-survivors, families evacuated from the South, lives uprooted, not just from their homes, but everything they knew. Now, one of the nonprofit organizations here in Israel is holding classes at hotels around Jerusalem in the hopes of filling a gap for children who have been displaced. Our Hannah Rifkin reports. Israel's evacuated families of the South are trying to overcome the traumatic events of October 7th and the instability which followed.  One organization has taken up mission to help those families regain routine instability by providing technology and innovation workshops. And the idea is to give them two things. One is to give them the entertainment. Unfortunately, they were after a very difficult experience. We wanted to give them some fun experience, but also to bring them some kind of window to what technology can bring. We already went to 10 hotels. Mostly 100 to 150 people come in each of our activity. Now we're starting another activity which is actually units that are fixed. So instead of coming to a hotel once a week or once every month, we basically want to give these kids a real sense of education. This is a debut community center event for Jerusalem youth to mingle with evacuated kids. Families are encouraged to come from their hotels. For some, this is their first time leaving hotel premises to socialize. It's really fun. The most I've ever been here is with all my friends and doing activities, and it's an amazing experience. I've never done an amazing experience and I've never done it before because it's like an opening. There's no one who can explain it. With everything from virtual reality to 3D printing, video game programming, and more, this weekly workshop not only provides a sense of stability but also exposes them to new opportunities and skills. There's a big wow effect. They can see that they can actually experience new technologies. And for some of them, to be honest, you know, in the first few days there were people that didn't come out of the rooms in the hotel. So it was really a way to bring them out of their unfortunate situation, unfortunate experience they were, and bring them something that they can finally open up, play, learn some new stuff. Seeing their creations come to life is an important component to the process, Dr. Modena says, as is easing them into a new normal. They're really nice to me and it's fun that I do it, and it's really touching. And I really like it. It's good for me. Noam and his cousins have high spirits. I know that Israel was alive and I'm happy. Dr. Rifkin, I-24 News, Jerusalem. And we're going to go on a short break for about three minutes when we come back. Answering the question, how do you explain to a world that doesn't seem to care just why Israel has to fight this war to its conclusion? Stay with us. We'll see you again in just three minutes. Is in a state of war families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where she is. Our soldiers are fighting on the front lines and the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. There have been countless memorable moments broadcasting with I-24 News in the past six years. But for me, the one that stands out the most was the first time that I had ever personally heard a rocket siren sounding in Tel Aviv. And at that moment, we were live on air in studio. I will never forget the moment our senior producer said to me in my ear, the sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv. The control room is going to the shelter. With me in studio at the time were Michael Herzog, a former Brigadier General. Today, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States. And Arsena Stavski, an international human rights lawyer. And their responses were completely different. Michael Herzog was calm and composed. And on the other hand, Arsena Stavski was trying to phone his family and check in to make sure that his loved ones were okay. The camera that normally faces us was hoisted from above. There was an overhead shot of the three of us in the studio. You could see colleagues going to the shelter if you looked at the glass behind the studio and obviously, we lost contact with our team on the ground, our reporters in Ashkelon and all the witnesses that we were speaking to during that time. When rockets are coming towards a residential area, they don't distinguish between race, religion, political views, cultural views. They just intend to harm civilians. And that moment, being in studio, hearing those interceptions overhead was the most real coverage I've ever been involved in. Thanks for staying with us, Jews in Israel and around the world as a whole have been asking some very hard questions for the past month and a half, such as, why is the world silent when Jews are butchered? Why does the world demand proportionality or restraint in pursuing justice against the murderers, but not when other countries do the same? Why does the world demand a ceasefire or a stay of execution against those murderers when justice is finally within reach? A new campaign asks Westerners to try to put themselves in Israel's shoes and understand just what Israel is fighting for and to do so by imagining what would happen if those horrors happened in your own town? Let's take a look. Michael, something's wrong.  Let me answer some of these questions. We are joined in the studio by Khalif Ben-David, I-24 News anchor, Khalif. Good to have you in studio. Right, makes a good point. Maybe it should be what if it were your country, not just you. In fact, if we're talking about the UK, we kind of know at least the opening part we see them going into the bomb shelter minus the rape and murder. Of course, the UK was bombed during World War II and we saw how they responded with a bombing campaign, for example, of Germany in which millions of civilians were killed. So we see how other countries would react to that. The question is, how effective this is going to be in reaching the population. These are kind of raindrops against the flood of, we'd have to say, anti-Israel incitement and anti-Semitic material that's been disseminated on social media and also unfavorable critical, unfairly critical coverage that we've seen in a lot of the media. You mentioned the UK, certainly, we don't have to mention the BBC. So these kind of efforts should be applauded and I don't think that they, I'm not saying they don't have any effect, but there is a long road to travel to try to turn back some of the stuff that has been seen. When America saw its worst terror attack on US soil in the country's history, nobody questioned America when they went in and frankly leveled two countries. Nobody made America and we saw the Allied powers destroy ISIS. Nobody made them account for every bomb and every missile and provide a legal justification for each one. Why is it when Jews are under attack we suddenly see this equivocating, this demand for justification for proof of every atrocity commit against the Jews just to justify one more day of fighting? I would say that answers on two levels. One is the rail politic one. Israel is a relatively small country. It doesn't have a superpower either economically or even militarily even though it is a regional power. So it doesn't have a leverage that countries that don't really have to make those excuses like the United States, for example, do. The other is, again, Jews, unfortunately there was a book a couple of years ago the writer Dara Haun said people love dead Jews. It turns out she was a little over optimistic even dead Jews do not but if anything people want to turn their way ahead of it. There are different political reasons guilt reasons has a lot to do. We'd have to talk about the whole history of anti-Semitism, especially in the Western world and of course, Papia sort of this leftist ideology in the developing world. But the fact is Israel has to accept the fact it's not going to get a fair shake and it could cry about it or it could make a concerted effort to try to fight. I do say, I have to say at least in this conflict, I give some credit for the government for the active effort to refute those laws. Overall the effect we'll have to see. We are seeing some of that in real time efforts by the IDF to show Hamas's atrocities at the United Nations to select journalists around the world. How effective is this? It depends on where you're going. You mentioned the UN, they just did a they just showed these footage of atrocities, the unedited footage the IDF has supplied of the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7th. They just screened that film at the UN. But let's face it, you're playing Tulasir I think. Well we also saw that it has at least ensured that there's more leeway given by the United States administration. Well with certain figures and I want to just comment, we accentuate the negative sometimes and overlook the negative. I mentioned Antonio Guterres on the plus side you see figures like John Kirby the spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council who has faced a very harsh questioning over U.S. the Biden administration support for Israel's military campaign which he's answered much more forcefully than I can recall prior sort of White House or administrative spokesman on the clip of his most recent when he was asked of Israel's committing genocide against the Palestinians. What Hamas wants make no mistake about it is genocide. They want to wipe Israel off the map. They've said so publicly more than one occasion. In fact just recently and they've said that they're not going to stop. What happened on the 7th of October is going to happen again and again and again. And what happened on the 7th of October? Murder, the Palestinian people in their homes are at a music festival. That's genocidal intentions. Yes, there are too many civilian casualties in Gaza. Yes, the numbers are too high. Yes, too many families are grieving and yes we continue to urge the Israelis to be as careful and cautious as possible. That's not going to stop from the president right on down. But Israel is not trying to wipe the Palestinian people off the map. Israel's not trying to wipe Gaza off the map. Israel's not trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat. So when we're going to start, if we're going to start using that word, fine. Let's use it appropriately. Interesting, John Kirby actually came to the White House from the Pentagon. He actually served in the Navy. He was a rear admiral just like Israel's the IDF spokesman Daniel Higari, perhaps having a military background gives him more of a view on these things. And yes, the word genocide has been thrown at Israel regarding his policies to the Palestinian population in 1948 was something like 1.5 or 1.4 million. Just within the boundaries of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, something like 5 million. So the only genocide in which the population has grown I guess something like 500%. It's definitely mind-boggling how much a narrative can hold power in spite of facts and pure evidence to all the contrary. Caleb thank you so much for helping us break down these questions that honestly, nobody rationally should have to even ask in the first place. Thanks. That's part of our job, I think. Is what it is, I think, is the way we put it. Now, we turn back to October 7th, where Hamas terrorists butchered entire families. Oftentimes that included family dog. In some cases though they were shot, burned alive but some survived. As you'll see in the following report, it's falling to volunteers to show them love and compassion. A darling, right? Is he up for adoption? He's up for adoption, but he needs a family that knows what they're dealing with. Already at first glance, it's clear this is not another kennel. The expressions in the eyes, the scars on the body and the fur. Every dog here has his own horror story. Welcome to the home of the lost dogs, of the residents of the Gaza envelope and the families were kidnapped. Abducted, so they are here alone. No matter how many volunteers there are and no matter how much warmth and love is given, no one will replace the real family. Pictures from other happier days. They were given together with the dogs they loved so much. On the morning of October 7, terrorists raided Kibbutz Nirem, kidnapped Rimon and gave to Gaza. The three dogs escaped and survived and were brought here, Tova, Rex and Sweet Grey, who were now left alone. These dogs were like the children they didn't have yet. Tova was like Rimon's baby. Rimon also had a special permission to go with Tova everywhere. Just like a blind man and his guy dog. That's how Tova was for Rimon. While encountering the terrorists, a dog was suddenly discovered in one of the vehicles that was attacked and hauled with bullets. They couldn't get him out. He tried to bite everyone who came close until a volunteer came and managed to rescue him. How is he now? He still is. He has fears. You notice it's not that smooth but much better than in the beginning. He already plays with us, plays with the dogs. From Nativ Haasura she was hit by shrapnel. She was there for two weeks alone, hit by shrapnel.  You also see the sign she has. She was taken care of. She had a haircut. She was disinfected. What's her name? Chicha. We called him Novo. He doesn't have a name yet. That they find him in Gaza? Soldiers found him and brought him. Many of the owners of these dogs were murdered. Others were kidnapped. Dogs were also kidnapped to Gaza. Wow, dogs. Ibrahim, the dogs came from inside Israel. Maybe he bites. And there are also stories with a happy ending. Dogs that were frightened ran away and were found and are now reunited with their surviving families. Here, now she just realized. Pay attention. Only now did she realize it.  Who's a good dog? Who's a good dog? Is this a home for lost dogs? These are different dogs in every respect because their owners are different, because their families are different. On normal days, the shelter for the dogs of the evacuees and the murdered and kidnapped is used as a boarding house and a place for training. A bit like us, the dogs here are also still in shock from what they experience. They receive a lot of warmth, love and food here. We have a good nation and throughout this month they take care of us and contact us about how to donate. For dogs, like for humans, it will take some time for rehabilitation for a new beginning. In the meantime, they are here, perhaps also to remind us in the midst of infinite evil that there is also unconditional love. Just waiting for us at the end of the road. And we're going to jump back to the southern border right now to our correspondent Pierre Kloschenler who is standing by, because we want to understand there were just some very massive explosions behind you. What's the latest? Right, what you're seeing with Daniel Noor, our cameraman, is an explosion a few moments ago in the area of Beth Hanun under Israeli control basically but they are still ongoing pounding relentlessly since this morning and the morning before as well. You see it's very close to the Israeli border I don't know. It's probably a presumed Hamas target I have no idea what they've been targeting but that shows you that even in places where the Israeli army is de facto boots on the ground there are still targets that are being pounded by the Israeli air force and the artillery and by the ground forces as well in order to cleanse all these pockets of terrorism that are still in the northern Gaza Strip. The focus, although is not exactly here the focus is further south maybe two kilometers away from the bombing in the Jebalia refugee camp there is a little bit of smoke but you can only see with the naked eye because it blends with the white sky that Jebalia refugee camp is the most dense in the Gaza Strip and it's completely encircled by the Israeli army according to the IDF spokesman and the army is carrying the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have remained in the refugee camp to join the over 370,000 Palestinians that have moved via the humanitarian corridor unilaterally opened by the IDF to move south out of the battlefield in order to preserve their lives will that work? I don't know but the army now has opened access inside the refugee camp in order to penetrate deeper into that camp in order to do what they've done in Shatti last week what they are just completing in the Zeytun neighborhood in Gaza city just further south of Jebalia refugee camp now in Jebalia refugee camp is the operational and command center of the northern Hamas brigade the head of the northern Hamas brigade has been liquidated and they've been also a lot of tactical liquidation of battalion commanders of company commanders and those forces supposedly are quite disorganized out of four battalions in Jebalia there are probably two now that are fully operative the two others are on the verge of being dismantled so this is the effect of intense pressure by the Israeli army since October 7 massacres but also since the ground offensive which started on October 27 and the hope is that they can in within a week complete the takeover of Jebalia refugee camp there are other neighborhoods on the eastern outskirts of Gaza city such as Tufah Aldaraj which is facing the Nakhal Oz Kibbutz which was the site of a massacre in October 27 these neighborhoods also are the target of the IDF for takeover for a full takeover and they've urged also the population of these three neighborhoods to move east join excuse me join the cohort of displaced Palestinians that are moving south well Pierre we're hearing at this exact time even as you're speaking Raka Alert sirens going off in the Hashla Shah region now you would mention this encirclement of the northern part of Gaza city or the Gaza city in general but this is happening at the same time as a ceasefire could very well be imminent with some details being leaked in CNN saying that the ceasefire agreement could include suspending even as much as UAV reconnaissance over Israeli forces just how is Israel supposed to operate under these conditions right the IDF I would say we'll have to stop its ground offensive and its aerial pounding of terror targets in the Gaza Strip it's complicated that's why from the onset of the war that Hamas waged on Israel in October 7 the Israeli army officials and government officials have said that it's going to be a long hold prepare for the long hold it's going to take months it's going to take maybe till next spring until the intense fighting is over and then there'll be also a period of low intensity fighting alike what you see in the West Bank but breaking that offensive at this moment is exactly what Hamas wants to reorganize and to allow vulnerable Israeli troops in the middle of a move to be stuck in that move I'm sure that the Israeli army is already preparing for that it's definitely not an easy situation thank you very much Pierre for that report now of course there's more activity beyond just Israel's borders the Iranian-backed Houthi terror group has released this video showing them seizing an international cargo ship in the Red Sea the video shows this helicopter painted with a Palestinian flag landing on the deck men with Kalashnikov assault rifles jumping at and capturing the ship's unarmed crew Houthi's claim it's an Israeli ship though no Israelis were on board the only link is the ship's British owner's parent company called an attack on the international community as a whole now to break this down further we are joined by Yoav Harris maritime law senior advocate and leading litigator of the Harris and company law office thank you very much Yoav for being with us ultimately an attack on international shipping like this this is very clearly under the purview of piracy are there not international task forces that are supposed to deal with exactly this situation exactly under the United Nations the convention of the law of the sea the right for innocent passage applies not only in the high seas but also in the territorial waters of a coastal state and also in the straits themselves where all vessels all allowed for a transit through the strait now as mentioned that as can be seen in the video the act is pure act of piracy also according to the convention because it's acts of violence committed against the ship or in aircraft so it's a pure act of violence and according to the convention piracy has to be seized as all the countries have to fight piracy a vessel is under a vessel or aircraft which is active in piracy is under the the jeopardy of being seized all around either in the high seas or other waters but this matter takes us back to another act of violence which was committed against the vessel Henry's Gray on February 2021 when she was navigating through the Hormuz strait she got hit by a missile or a sea mine which didn't made her sunk but did cause a damage and interrupted her navigation now this attack which took place about a year ago was followed by the Iranian publication in the news agency telling the both to first they were telling them that their commando or their navy is increasing its activities to search for origin vessels and to protect the Iranian vessels and another so called interview which was headed as if Israel and the US or legitimizing legitimizing assassinations in other countries now if you look today in the news agency you can see all around only a Hamas view or eyes or a publication related to what is happening in Gaza so the connection is quite clear although not being admitted formally but what can be done this method of action of Iran is not you in the 1986 during the war between Iran Iraq the Iranian then the state of Kuwait tankers so what the Kuwait done they flagged their tankers into a United States flags and as a result the United States escorted those vessels those tankers because they have the right to protect them against violence and accordingly and additionally other states started to make convoys and escorts in these international waters the states or as mentioned international waters either to protect vessels or to clean the mines that are in the vessel in the waters now this is of most significance because if you look at the map and you see bubble months right at the entrance to the Suez Canal and the Suez Canal is the only practical navigation lane between the Mediterranean and the East and this was well performed in the matter of ever given which was grounded on the sand of Suez Canal in March 2021 and the Suez Canal was blocked and all of the vessels just waited for the salvage operation to succeed without being guaranteed that this would succeed and they did not take the route all around Africa why didn't they take the route because the route around Africa is not only expensive in terms of consumption of fuel and cost of operating the vessels throughout all these days but the long route through Africa also exposes the marine adventure being both the vessel and the cargo carried to much more periods of the sea Yoav I want to jump in here because one of the things that you've pointed out is that there is an obligation under international law for the parties involved in the international community that has their people on this vessel to act against piracy. You've said there's a precedent as well that we have seen such as the US escorting vessels in this region so ultimately if there's both precedent if there's also obligation why do we not see any of these task forces or the US Navy escorting these shifts to prevent exactly this from happening first of all we don't know exactly what amount of escorts were taking at that time but unfortunately this vessel is Bahamas flagged and obviously you can understand that the capabilities of the Bahamas and of the United States are quite different. So it might be that now after this matter took place that the international community has to step forward according to the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea to cure the innocent passage in these international waters including these international straits. Well Yoav I suppose very very briefly one last question because this is recognized as piracy internationally are there any legal mechanisms such as against the funding for these groups that the international community can take to try to break their power? The United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea relates to what happens in the sea and either the rights of visit and the whole pursuit and search of vessels and aircraft but obviously search and aircraft is quite difficult. What happens in the land is regarding to international anti-terrorism anti-terror acts money laundry etc but the convention relates to what happens in the sea and gives the force to use force against exoplanet which means that this is just a matter of force rather than a matter of trying to go after their banks thank you very much Yoav from us understand this situation for everyone else though we are out of time at least for now but there will be another broadcast with more updates on the war as a whole very briefly so until then thank you very much for watching the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well welcome to our ongoing coverage of the war here in Israel now in day 46 I'm Nicole Zadik live in Tel Aviv a hostage release deal as at its closest point since the start of the war according to Qatar mediators now reports say the deal includes at least 50 hostages family children and their mothers released in exchange for a days long ceasefire of Palestinian prisoners released now this news as Israel ramps up airstrikes in southern Lebanon following an increase in Hezbollah border attacks Arab media is reporting at least eight people were killed in airstrikes today including two journalists from Al-Mayadeen a Hezbollah affiliated new station now day by day border clashes continue to ramp up now the mayor of the northern Israeli town of Matulah has called for a security zone two kilometers from the border similar to that of the south now meanwhile in the south the IDF says they have completely encircled Jabalia in northern Gaza carrying out heavy strikes while quote preparing the ground for battle that's where we want to begin our coverage today in Israel south near the Gaza border where our I-24 news correspondent Pierre Klauschenler standing by Pierre within the past few minutes now we saw some red alerts happening in other towns. What can you tell us about the latest? Yeah, there's been some rocket fire targeting Kibbutz, Nachal Oz and Kfar Azar which were the site of massacres on October 7 just further south here a few kilometers away but we don't know of any damage or casualties this Kibbutz team have been evacuated after October 7 due to the massacres and there's only you know the army is in it not any civilians anymore Meanwhile we're hearing some new reports just about all of the activity that's happening in Gaza right now not only the IDF encircling the northern town of Jabalia but also we're hearing reports an elite unit using some new technology the iron sting for the first time what are you hearing about what's happening inside Gaza at this moment? Relentless pounding of presumed terror targets even behind us on the northern sector of the Gaza Strip in Beth-Khanoune we just had a lot of explosions from the Israeli artillery and the Israeli air force because although the IDF here has more or less full control of that sector that doesn't mean that there aren't pockets of terrorism or tunnel shafts or tunnels that need to be neutralized it's a very delicate task and even though for instance in the Shatir refugee camp which was taken over last week there are still as we speak from time to time skirmishes with terrorists or suddenly a new target has been found now in terms of Jabalia this is the most dense refugee camp in the whole Gaza Strip we encircled and the Israeli army has open access for penetration inside the camp but given that there tens of thousands of civilians who have not left the battleground and the Israeli army is urging them to move east and join the over 360,000 Palestinians who've displaced themselves from the battleground up north to the southern part of the Gaza Strip which is bombed but there's no ground offensive there at the same time the takeover of the Zaitun neighborhood south of Gaza south of Jabalia inside close to the city center of Gaza city has been almost completed there were close quarter combats there and the task of cleansing the area will take probably a long time although the army is completing there are three other neighborhoods in Gaza city which are on the eastern outskirts of Gaza city Al-Daraj to Fah and Shejaya and there too the army is urging the residents to move south Pierre Kloschenler, thank you for that update from the Israel-Gaza border now I want to bring in my studio guest, I'm joined by retired Colonel Dr. Jacques Naria the former deputy head of assessment for Israeli military intelligence and our policy advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Jacques, thank you so much for being here now one of the main headlines that people are talking right now is about reports of a hostage deal inching closer and closer unfortunately reports that we've also been hearing for the past several days if not several weeks now but Qatari mediators say it could really be happening now something that I want to touch on is some of the warnings that we're hearing from inside Israel specifically National Security Minister Ben Gavir what are the repercussions of a hostage deal like this specifically releasing possibly hundreds of Palestinian prisoners well without insulting Mr. Ben Gavir I think that his experience in military field is equal to zero he hasn't even put a uniform one day in his whole life so I think that he is the last one to give any advice to the army or to the government concerning security measures this is one thing that has to be remembered second it is true that we are maybe nearing a deal but as you say it will never be a deal until it's a deal and until we finish and we might encounter all the time the new conditions set by Hamas we are all dependent on one psychopath I mean this is Sinwar and he is the one who decides I mean today he will say today it's nighttime we say no it's on the contrary it's the next morning we will talk about the next morning and then he will add condition to condition so let's see that we we finish the first phase of this deal so called deal and we had to be very cautious because I mean the families have been really under pressure like a roller coaster you know there are ups and downs and everybody is having I mean the luxury of telling to the media we have information concerning this and concerning that then there's nobody who has real sources and he's there's no one who is really near the negotiator so we have to be very careful with that in any case we are talking about two main categories in the hostages we are talking about the soldiers and women soldiers and soldiers which is one category which is not in the deal right now and we're talking about families we're talking about mothers and kids we're talking about elderly people this is this is more or less and maybe some of the foreign foreign workers who are in Israel like the ties and this is what we are talking about and if this is achieved or if there is a deal my advice is go ahead with this deal because you will never get something better on this one of the parts of the deal that are also according to these reports is that if we are seeing this day's long ceasefire for at least some periods of time the Israel is not going to be allowed to use their surveillance drones over the area well you know let's wait and hear what are the conditions of this ceasefire what sort of ceasefire is going to be established are we talking about the truth or a shorter period of five days we are looking at it as we're paralyzed after all I mean if Hamas is going to use to exploit those five days in order to reorganize most probably we will do the same so I mean we will reach after five days hopefully after we have finished the exchange of hostages and prisoners on the Israeli side and by the way we are releasing we are not releasing innocent women and children these are terrorists and they were convicted by judges here in Israel so let's wait and see I think that this is the best thing to do right now in order not to preempt anything that would be detrimental mainly to the families you said this is one of the best deals that you could imagine being on the table if you have a deal take it right now because I mean this guy can't change his mind in a moment so if there is a deal that is guaranteed by Qatar and by the United States and by Egypt let's go ahead but then what happens to those soldiers those men that are not part of this deal well you know we will continue the negotiations certainly we will continue our advance into Gaza and the Gaza Strip we will reach for most probably the border with Egypt and under pressure I think that Hamas will again will accept to negotiate a deal on soldiers versus prisoners in the Israeli genes I think that this is the momentum must be kept after this deal and not stop by saying okay that we have finished this is the first chapter no this is the first chapter of two chapters and speaking of the chapters it's not just in the south it's in the north as well where we've seen quite a bit of action today alone near the Lebanon border let's cross live to our I-24 news correspondent Zach Andrews is role right now Zach what can you tell us about the latest activity that we're seeing near the border with Lebanon yeah Nicole I'm just keeping my eye on two fighter jets overhead this is somewhat of when this does happen up here it does capture your attention because the airspace is locked down it's reserved down for only the Israeli fighter jets the helicopters and the drones so we pay attention to it obviously because we're looking to see what the level of activity is the last 24 hours has been incredibly remarkable with more heavy rocket launches from Hezbollah targeting IDF positions there was a base yesterday that was struck by apparently in the media we see two different rockets the extensive damage to the base on the ground can be seen in some of the reports published but the IDF says no casualties there were no injuries there but the big breaking news today is the death of two journalists inside Lebanon it appears that these two journalists one younger correspondent and also another younger cameraman were positions to try and cover or film towards the direction of Israel capturing some content when it appears they were struck now you'll remember back on October 13th a Reuters journalist was killed and what was later clarified was an IDF shelling event as they said the IDF said they were attempting to target Hezbollah the IDF has not commented on the death of these two journalists today and we're still working to confirm exactly where they were it does appear that they were stationed or situated with their vehicle or near the vehicle and it does seem as though they had their camera out through some of the pictures that are being posted on social media but I should stress that the IDF has not been confirmed yet and it will still take some time to corroborate and geolocate the images to make sure that this is coming from the right area and the right date Zach you mentioned a lot of that activity that you're seeing right above your head with some of those fighter jets in the Israeli skies following this increased activity the IDF striking hard some Hezbollah sites is this expected to continue into the overnight hours so far? Well if it's anything like the last week week and a half of course this will continue in fact as we speak it very well could be taking place these retaliatory strikes maybe important to note that Hezbollah has issued a statement again about these two journalists and vowed that they will retaliate on the IDF for their deaths these deaths the two journalist deaths of civilian deaths as well we're still working to confirm some of this information but the important part here is that Hezbollah is publishing retaliatory statements saying that they will ramp up or continue their heavy strikes tonight that's what we'll be keeping an eye on we can't say for certain when exactly these windows or these time frame the hours where this usually occurs but we have noticed quite a heavy amount of firing happening in the afternoon evening hours at least in my experience in the last week Zach Anders thank you for that update from the northern Israeli border with Lebanon now Jacques as we were just hearing from our correspondent up there quite a bit of action and this comes also after the mayor of Matula which is in northern Israeli town is warning that he'd like to see an increased security zone of 1.5 kilometers more similar to that of the south is this likely anything that we're going to see when it comes to that we already know tens of thousands of people have evacuated from the area well if the mayor had looked closer at the Lebanese part of the border he would have seen that all the Shiite villages have been abandoned have been evacuated and exactly a mirror like situation has been created there whereas from the sea to the Shabbat farm there's no Lebanese living there only the units of Hezbollah and then you have to remember that Israel has expanded its strike in south Lebanon I just heard that the commander of the Al-Qasam Brigade was killed in the town of Tyre while conducting his Cherokee jeep I think that Israel and as you mentioned earlier the two journalists and the about eight other civilians which means that Hezbollah will have to reciprocate at least and retaliation will be much harder than we know right now now we have to understand something concerning Hezbollah Hezbollah has been claiming from the beginning of the war till now that he has been holding Israeli forces I mean paralyzed and deployed vis-à-vis Lebanon forced the evacuation of 60,000 Israeli citizens and that the border has been very active since then but he hasn't solved or overcome the riddle of the defense that Israel has put in front of him he thought at the beginning that this was an advantage for Hamas because most of the power would not be turned against Hamas but now he understands that this advantage of Hamas so in order to repair what he thinks to be overcoming the riddle he has to drag Israel into an open confrontation he has to expand the confrontation so that Israel enters the war completely which means that if we do so and we are dragged into this war we would have to explain to the United States which is not interested in enlarging the conflict between us and Hezbollah to enlarge the conflict regional conflict this is the strategy adopted right now by Hezbollah and this is why you see that intensification of bombardments of activities from Hezbollah towards the border you've mentioned everything that's happening with the United States and they are a big factor as to what's happening here in the Middle East I mean even before the October 7th attacks Iran has long provided support to militias seeking to dislodge the American presence in Syria which is consisting of roughly 3,500 troops now since the Hamas massacre US forces have also been part of the circle of fire backed by Iran as there were 64 attacks on US forces in Syria and Iraq in less than 5 weeks our Middle East correspondent Ariel Osiron has the report a surge in attacks on US forces in the Middle East as anger in the region over Washington's support of Israel's military campaign Gaza increases US forces in the Anil Asad base in western Iraq suffered another rocket attack on Tuesday Iraqi security sources said there were no reports of injuries additional reports in Iraq of a drone strike on a truck convoy belonging to a Shiite militia west of Baghdad believed to be carried out by US forces these attacks must stop and if they don't stop then we won't hesitate to do what's necessary again to protect our troops since October 17th US troops in Iraq and Syria have come under near daily rocket and drone attacks recording at least 64 incidents and about as many injuries in that time US forces have responded with a few rounds of airstrikes targeting sites used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and affiliated groups these strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the freedom of action and capabilities of these groups directly responsible for attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria Iran says that the latest attacks on US forces in the region were a result of quote wrong American policies including support for Israel in its war against Hamas America's aid to the Zionist regime is encouraging them to kill and commit cruel acts of neglect against the Palestinian people and so as the number of attacks continues to mount part two has the frustration over Washington's limited response and it is only a matter of time before one of those claims the life of a US service member now after seeing how the United States is continuing to be attacked by Iranian proxies yet they also continue to urge Israel not to have a stronger response to Lebanon and in turn Iranian proxies in Lebanon so why is the United States not taking a stronger approach they're sending a big signal they're sending a big show of their different troops and their different weaponry in the Middle East but why are they not actually striking back when you talk about the United States you have to look at the broader picture we are talking about Biden versus Putin and this is where the game is it's not limited to what's going on here in the region this is why there are lots of consideration that we don't know of and their own interests it is not coincidental that they have only attacked twice the militias the Iraqi militias in two different places and that's it but they have another problem now the problem of Babel Mandib the international waterways with the Houthis and are just kidnapping a boat partially owned by an Israeli but mainly a Japanese boat so the Americans have the US has to reorganize to face the danger in Babel Mandib remember that facing the piracy that was in the Somali course the United States organized UN NATO in fact NATO force that used to patrol the area so they might have to do the same so I mean they have in their mind to take care of the most urgent problem which is the waterways and then they will deal with the Houthis and of course with the Iraqi militias this is why they don't need another conflict this is why they don't want us to begin a conflict, a regional conflict with Hezbollah we're having some reports coming out now that they are making some progress on those hostage reports these are initial reports that we will be following up later on quickly Jacques I'm curious if we do see this ceasefire in the south, how does that impact what's happening in the north or does it at all well since now there is a question of blood between us and Hezbollah we have 9 people killed on our side and they have more than 100 and certainly now another 8 civilians another 2 journalists another the commander of the al-Aqsa brigade in the entire so it means that Hezbollah will continue to attack us on the northern front without consideration of what's happening in the southern front so it does seem to be too this is my my evaluation, my assessment is that they have another agenda and their agenda has to be continued well meanwhile we are seeing what's happening in the south Israeli families who have been evacuated from their southern communities they have been uprooted not just from their homes but really their entire lives one non-profit organization is holding classes at hotels around Jerusalem in hopes of filling a gap for children Arkana Rifkin reports they're trying to protect me because after what is really in my blood I'm really excited I have a lot of fear and it's OK because it's possible that's what's happening Israel's evacuated families of the south are trying to overcome the traumatic events of October 7 and the instability which followed at the same time they're in hotels biding time and seeking some sense of normalcy for their children. One organization has taken up mission to help those families regain routine and stability by providing technology and innovation workshops. And the idea is to give them two things. One is to give them the entertainment. Unfortunately, they were after a very difficult experience. We wanted to give them some fun experience but also to bring them some kind of window to what technology can bring. We already went to 10 hotels. Mostly 100 to 150 people come in each of our activity. Now we're starting another activity which is actually units that are fixed. So instead of coming to a hotel once a week or once every month, we basically want to give these kids a real sense of education. This is a debut community center event for Jerusalem youth to mingle with evacuated kids. Families are encouraged to come from their hotels. For some, this is their first time leaving hotel premises to socialize. It's really fun. The most I love here is all the friends and to do the activities and it's an amazing experience. I've never done an amazing experience and sometimes I did it because it's like an opening. Like, no one can explain it to me. With everything from virtual reality to 3D printing, video game programming and more, this weekly workshop not only provides a sense of stability but also exposes them to new opportunities and skills. There's a big wow effect. They can see that they can actually experience new technologies and for some of them, to be honest, at the first few days, there were people that didn't come out of the rooms in the hotel. So it was really a way to bring them out of their unfortunate situation, unfortunate experience they were and bring them something that they can finally open up, play, learn some new stuff. Seeing their creations come to life is an important component to the process, Dr. Modena says, as is easing them into a new normal. It's really nice, and it's great that I'm doing it, and it's really amazing, and I really like it. Noamana's cousins have high spirits. I know that Israel was alive and strong. Kana Rifkin, I-24 News, Jerusalem. Now, as we see all these families who have been uprooted from their homes, they've been evacuated for weeks now. Jacques, we are hearing reports that the IDF is considering allowing some communities within just past the four-kilometer mark to return to their southern communities. On the southern border, yes. Yes, we have the dining room of the Be'eri kibbutz was reopened. This is great news for this kibbutz who is just returning to normal. Normacy is very important. This is the way our life is in Israel, and we have to stick to it, and we have just to live with the danger, and hopefully the IDF will be just guarding our houses, our kibbutz, our localities, and eradicate the threat that Hamas has posed for so long against all those areas and inside Israel, and of course, I mean, deep inside the home front. So that certainly is a sign of hope going forward that these community members can move back. It's much sooner, might I add, than many people had originally thought. No, there are people who need their homes. They need their beds. They need to come back to the very home. This is the closest thing that you have near you, and the warmest thing that protects you. And it just really shows the strength of the Israeli mentality. I think this symbolizes it well. Retired Colonel Dr. Jacques Naria, thank you for your insight. As always, day 46 of the war, we continue to break down all of the latest developments here on I-24 News. You can always head to i24news.tv for updates on all of the stories we've discussed and any other breaking news at this hour. We're going out for a break, but thank you for tuning in. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Dozens of correspondents throughout the world brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries. Families completely done down in their beds. De la frontière de sépar israël, the state of emergency and war in Israel. Bringing Israel's story to the world. I-24 News channels. Going coverage of the war here in Israel, now in day 46, I'm Nicole Zadik live in Tel Aviv. A hostage release deal as at its closest point since the start of the war, according to Qatar mediators. Now reports say the deal includes at least 50 hostages, family children and their mothers released in exchange for a days long ceasefire and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners released. Now this news as Israel ramps up air strikes in southern Lebanon, following an increase in Hezbollah border attacks. Arab media is reporting at least eight people were killed in air strikes today, including two journalists from Al-Mayadeen, a Hezbollah affiliated news station. Now day by day, border clashes continue to ramp up. Now the mayor of the northern Israeli town of Matula has called for a security zone of five kilometers from the border similar to that of the south. Now, meanwhile in the south, the IDF says they have completely encircled Jabalia in northern Gaza, carrying out heavy strikes, while quote, preparing the ground for battle. And that's where we want to begin our coverage today in Israel south near the Gaza border where our I-24 news correspondent, Pierre Klauschenler, standing by. Pierre, within the past few minutes now, we saw some red alerts happening in those southern Gaza border towns. What can you tell us about the latest? Yeah, there's been some rocket fire targeting Kibbutz, Nakhal Oz and Kfar Azar, which were the site of massacres on October 7th. Just further south here, a few kilometers away. But we don't know of any damage or casualties. The Kibbutz have been evacuated after October 7th due to the massacres. And there's only, you know, the army is in it, not any civilians anymore. Meanwhile, we're hearing some new reports just about all of the activity that's happening in Gaza right now, not only the IDF encircling the northern town of Jabalia, but also we're hearing reports an elite unit using some new technology, the Iron Sting, for the first time. What are you hearing about what's happening inside Gaza at this moment? Well, this relentless pounding of presumed terror targets, even behind us on the northern sector of the Gaza Strip in Bet-Ranoun, we just had a lot of explosions from the Israeli artillery and the Israeli air force because although the IDF here has more or less full control of that sector, that doesn't mean that there aren't pockets of terrorism or tunnel shafts or tunnel that need to be neutralized. It's a very delicate task. And even though, for instance, in the Shatir refugee camp, which was taken over last week, there are still, as we speak, from time to time skirmishes with terrorists or suddenly a new target has been found. Now, in terms of Jabalia, this is the most dense refugee camp in the whole Gaza Strip. It's been fully encircled and the Israeli army has opened access for penetration inside the camp. But given that, there are tens of thousands of civilians who have not left the battleground and the Israeli army is urging them to move east and join the over 360,000 Palestinians who've displaced themselves from the battleground up north to the southern part of the Gaza Strip, which is bombed, but there's no ground offensive there. At the same time, the takeover of the Zaitun neighborhood south of Gaza, south of Jabalia, inside, close to the city center of Gaza City, has been almost completed. There were close quarter combats there. And the task of cleansing the area will take probably a long time, although the army is completing its takeover. There are three other neighborhoods in Gaza City, which are on the eastern outskirts of Gaza City, Aldaraj, Tufaq, and Shejaya. And there too, the army is urging the residents to move south. Here, Kloschenler, thank you for that update from the Israel-Gaza border. Now, I want to bring in my studio guest. I'm joined by retired Colonel Dr. Jacques Naria, the former deputy head of assessment for Israeli military intelligence, as well as former foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Jacques, thank you so much for being here. Now, one of the main headlines that people are talking right now is about reports of a hostage deal inching closer and closer, unfortunately, reports that we've also been hearing for the past several days, if not several weeks now, but Qatari mediators say it could really be happening now. Something that I want to touch on is some of the warnings that we're hearing from inside Israel, specifically National Security Minister, Ben Gavir, who's warning about the repercussions of a hostage deal like this, specifically releasing possibly hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Well, without insulting Mr. Ben Gavir, I think that his experience in military field is equal to zero. He hasn't even put a uniform one day in his whole life. So I think that he is the last one to give any advice to the army or to the government concerning security measures. This is one thing that has to be remembered. Second, it is true that we are maybe nearing a deal, and but as you say, it will never be a deal until it's a deal and until we finish. And we might encounter all the time, the new conditions that are set by Hamas, and we are all dependent of one psychopath.  I mean, today, he will say today it's nighttime, and then he said, no, it's on the contrary, it's the next morning. We will talk about the next morning, and then he will add condition to condition. So let's see that we finish the first phase of this deal, so-called deal, and we had to be very cautious, because I mean, the families have been really under pressure like a roller coaster. You know, there are ups and downs and everybody is having, I mean, the luxury of telling to the media we have information concerning this and concerning that, then there's nobody who has real sources and there's no one who is really near the negotiator. So we have to be very careful with that. In any case, we are talking about two main categories in the hostages. We are talking about the soldiers and the women's soldiers and soldiers, which is one category, which is not in the deal right now. And we're talking about families. We're talking about mothers and kids. We're talking about elderly people. This is more or less, and maybe some of the foreign workers who were in Israel, like the Thais, and this is what we are talking about. And if this is achieved or if there is a deal, my advice is go ahead with this deal, because you will never get something better on this issue. One of the parts of the deal that are also according to these reports is that if we are seeing this day's long ceasefire for at least some periods of time, the Israel is not going to be allowed to use their surveillance drones over the area. Well, you know, let's wait and hear what are the conditions of this ceasefire. What sort of ceasefire is going to be established? Are we talking about a truth or a shorter period of five days? We are looking at it as if we were paralyzed. After all, I mean, if Hamas is going to use or exploit those five days in order to reorganize, most probably we'll do the same. So, I mean, we will reach after five days, hopefully after we have finished the exchange of hostages and prisoners on the Israeli side. And by the way, we are releasing, we are not releasing innocent women and children. These are terrorists that were convicted by judges here in Israel. So, let's wait and see. I think that this is the best thing to do right now in order not to preempt anything that would be detrimental mainly to the families. You said this is one of the best deals that you could imagine being on the table. If you have a deal, if you have a deal, if you have a deal, take it right now. Because I mean, this guy can change his mind in a moment. So if there's a deal that is guaranteed by Qatar and by the United States and by Egypt, let's go ahead with this. But then what happens to those soldiers, those men that are not part of this deal? Well, you know, we will continue on the negotiations. Certainly, we will continue our advance into Gaza, into Gaza Strip. We will reach, most probably, the border with Egypt. And under pressure, I think that Hamas will again will accept to negotiate a deal on soldiers versus prisoners in the Israeli jails. I think that the momentum must be kept after this deal and not stop by saying, OK, that we have finished. This is the first chapter. No, this is the first chapter of two chapters. And speaking of the chapters, it's not just in the South. It's in the North as well, where we've seen quite a bit of action today alone near the Lebanon border. Let's cross live to our I-24 News correspondent, Zach Anders, who's in northern Israel right now. Zach, what can you tell us about the latest activity that we're seeing near the border with Lebanon? Yeah, Nicole, I'm just keeping my eye on two fighter jets overhead. Somewhat of when this does happen up here, it does capture your attention, because the airspace is locked down. It's reserved down for only the Israeli fighter jets, the helicopters, and the drones. So we pay attention to it, obviously, because we're looking to see what the level of activity is. The last 24 hours has been incredibly remarkable with more heavy rocket launches from Hezbollah, targeting IDF positions. There was a base yesterday that was struck by apparently, in the media, we see two different rockets. The extensive damage to the base on the ground can be seen in some of the reports published. But the IDF says no casualties. There were no injuries there. But the big breaking news today is the death of two journalists inside Lebanon. It appears that these two journalists, one younger correspondent and also another younger cameraman, were positioned to try and cover or film towards the direction of Israel, capturing some content when it appears they were struck. Now, you'll remember back on October 13, a Reuters journalist was killed in what was later clarified as an IDF shelling event. As they said, the IDF said they were attempting to target Hezbollah. The IDF has not commented on the death of these two journalists today. And we're still working to confirm exactly where they were. It does appear that they were stationed or situated with their vehicle or near the vehicle. And it does seem as though they had their camera out through some of the pictures that are being posted on social media. But I should stress that none of this has been confirmed yet. And it will still take some time to corroborate and geolocate the images to make sure that this is coming from the right area and the right date. You mentioned a lot of that activity that you're seeing right above your head with some of those fighter jets in the Israeli skies. Following this increased activity, the IDF striking hard some Hezbollah sites. Is this expected to continue into the overnight hours? And what has Hezbollah's response been so far? Well, if it's anything like the last week, week and a half, of course, this will continue. In fact, as we speak, it very well could be taking place these retaliatory strikes. Maybe important to note that Hezbollah has issued a statement, again, about these two journalists and vowed that they will retaliate on the IDF for their deaths. These deaths, the two journalist deaths, also coincide with reports of civilian deaths as well. We're still working to confirm some of this information. But the important part here is that Hezbollah is publishing retaliatory statements saying that they will ramp up or continue their heavy strikes tonight. That's what we'll be keeping an eye on. We can't say for certain when exactly these windows or these time frame, the hours, where this usually occurs. But we have noticed quite a heavy amount of firing happening in the afternoon, evening hours, at least in my experience in the last week. Zach Anders, thank you for that update from the Northern-Israeli border with Lebanon. Now, Zach, as we were just hearing from our correspondent up there, quite a bit of action. And this comes also after the mayor of Matula, which is in Northern-Israeli town, is warning that he'd like to see an increased security zone that of four kilometers more similar to that of the south. Is this likely anything that we're going to see when it comes to that? We already know tens of thousands of people have evacuated from the area. Well, if the mayor had looked closer at the Lebanese part of the border, he would have seen that all the Shiite villages have been abandoned, have been evacuated. And exactly a mirror-like situation has been created there. Whereas from the sea to the heart of the Shabbat farm, there's no Lebanese living there. So only the units of Hezbollah. And then, you have to remember that Israel has expanded. It's strike in South Lebanon. I just heard that the commander of the Al-Qasam, one of the commander of the Al-Qasam Brigade, was killed in the town of Tyre while conducting his Cherokee jeep. So I think that Israel and, as you mentioned earlier, the two journalists and about eight other civilians, which means that Hezbollah will have to reciprocate at least. And retaliation will be much harder than we know right now. Now, we have to understand something concerning Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been claiming from the beginning of the war until now that he has been holding Israeli forces, I mean, paralyzed and deployed vis-a-vis Lebanon, that he has forced the evacuation of 60,000 Israeli citizens, and that the border has been very active since then. But he hasn't solved or overcome the riddle of the defense that Israel has put in front of him. He thought at the beginning that this was an advantage for Hamas, because most of the power would not be turned against Hamas. But now he understands that this is at the disadvantage of Hamas. So in order to repair what he thinks to be overcoming the riddle, he has to drag Israel into an open confrontation. He has to expand the confrontation so that Israel enters the war completely, which means that if we do so, and we are dragged into this war, we would have to explain to the United States, which is not interested in enlarging the conflict between us and Hezbollah to enlarge the regional conflict. This is the strategy adopted right now by Hezbollah. And this is why you see that intensification of bombardments, of activities from Hezbollah towards the border. You mentioned everything that's happening with the United States. And they are a big factor as to what's happening here in the Middle East. I mean, even before the October 7 attacks, Iran has long provided support to militias seeking to dislodge the American presence in Iraq and Syria, which is consisting of roughly 3,500 troops. Now, since the Hamas massacre, US forces have also been part of the circle of fire backed by Iran. As there were 64 attacks on US forces in Syria and Iraq in less than five weeks, our Middle East correspondent Ariel Osiron has the report. A surge in attacks on US forces in the Middle East, as anger in the region over Washington's support of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, increases. US forces in the Anil Asad base in Western Iraq suffered another rocket attack on Tuesday. Iraqi security sources said there were no reports of injuries. Additional reports in Iraq of a drone strike on a truck convoy, belonging to a Shiite militia west of Baghdad, believed to be carried out by US forces. These attacks must stop. And if they don't stop, then we won't hesitate to do what's necessary again to protect our troops. Since October 17, US troops in Iraq and Syria have come under near daily rocket and drone attacks, recording at least 64 incidents and about as many injuries in that time. US forces have responded with a few rounds of airstrikes targeting sites used by Iran's Islamic Revolution in their regards core and affiliated groups. These strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the freedom of action and capabilities of these groups, which are directly responsible for attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria. Iran says that the latest attacks on US forces in the region were a result of, quote, wrong American policies, including support for Israel and its war against Hamas. America's aid to the Zionist regime is encouraging them to kill and commit cruel acts of neglect against the Palestinian people. And so as the number of attacks continues to mount, so too has the frustration over Washington's limited response. And it is only a matter of time before one of those claims the life of a US service member. Now, after seeing how the United States is continuing to be attacked by Iranian proxies, yet they also continue to urge Israel not to have a stronger response to Lebanon and in turn Iranian proxies in Lebanon. So why is the United States not taking a stronger approach? They're sending a big signal. They're sending a big show of their different troops and their different weaponry in the Middle East. But why are they not actually striking back? Well, when you talk about the United States, you have to look at the broader picture. And we are talking about Biden versus Putin. And this is where the game is. It's not limited to what's going on here in the region. This is why there are lots of considerations that we don't know of and that the Americans have their own policy and their own interest. It is not coincidental that they have only attacked twice. The militias, the Iraqi militias, in two different places. And that's it. But they have another problem now, the problem of Babelmandem, but the international waterways with the Houthis and just kidnapping a boat. Partially owned by an Israeli, but mainly a Japanese boat. So the Americans have, the US has to reorganize in order to face the danger in Babelmandem. Remember that facing the piracy that was in the Somali course, the United States organized UN and NATO, in fact, the NATO force that used to patrol the area. So they might have to do the same.  And then they will deal with the Houthis and, of course, with the Iraqi militias. This is why they don't need another conflict. This is why they don't want us to begin a conflict, a regional conflict with Hezbollah. We're having some reports coming out now that they are making some progress on those hostage reports, these are just hostages negotiations. These are initial reports that we will be following up later on. Quickly, Jacques, I'm curious. If we do see this ceasefire happening in the South, how does that impact what's happening in the North, or does it at all? Well, since now, there is a question of blood between us and Hezbollah. We have nine people killed on our side, and they have more than 100. And certainly now another eight civilians, another two journalists, another the commander of the Al-Aqsa Brigade in the entire. So it means that Hezbollah will continue to attack us on the northern front without consideration of what's happening in the southern front. So it does seem to be two different. This is my evaluation. My assessment is that they have another agenda, and their agenda has to be continued. Well, meanwhile, we are seeing what's happening in the South. Israeli families who have been evacuated from their southern communities, they have been uprooted, not just from their homes, but really their entire lives. One nonprofit organization is holding classes at hotels around Jerusalem in hopes of filling a gap for children. Our Hanna Rifkin reports. It makes me happy. Because after what was really in my heart, I was really outside. I have a lot, I have a lot of fear. And I'm very happy to be here. I'm very happy. Thank you very much. Israel's evacuated families of the South are trying to overcome the traumatic events of October 7 and the instability which followed.  One organization has taken up mission to help those families regain routine and stability by providing technology and innovation workshops. And the idea is to give them to sing. One is to give them the entertainment. Unfortunately, they were after a very difficult experience. We wanted to give them some fun experience, but also to bring them some kind of window to what technology can bring. We really went to 10 hotels. And mostly 100, 250 people come in each of our activity. Now we're starting another activity, which is actually units that are fixed. So instead of coming to a hotel once a week or once every month, we basically want to give these kids a real sense of education. This is a debut community center event for Jerusalem youth to mingle with evacuated kids. Families are encouraged to come from their hotels. For some, this is their first time leaving hotel premises to socialize. It's really fun. The most I've ever been here, so it's a whole community. And to do the activities, it's an amazing experience. I've never done an amazing experience. And I've never done it before, but it's like an opening. I mean, no one has ever done it before. With everything from virtual reality to 3D printing, video game programming, and more, this weekly workshop not only provides a sense of stability, but also exposes them to new opportunities and skills. There's a big wow effect. They can see that they can actually experience new technologies. And for some of them, to be honest, in the first few days, there were people that didn't come out of the rooms in the hotel. So it was really a way to bring them out of their unfortunate situation, unfortunate experience they were, and bring them something that they can finally open up, play, learn some new stuff. Seeing their creations come to life is an important component to the process, Dr. Modena says, as is easing them into a new normal. They're really nice to me, and it's great that I do it, and it's really magical. And I really like it, it's good for me. Noamana's cousins have high spirits. I know that Israel was alive and strong. Khanna Rifkin, I-24 News, Jerusalem. Now as we see all of these families who have been uprooted from their homes, they've been evacuated for weeks now. Jacques, we are hearing reports that the IDF is considering allowing some communities within the, just past the four kilometer mark to return to their southern communities. On the southern border, yes. On the southern, yes. We have the dining room of the Bayeri kibbutz was reopened. This is great news for this kibbutz who is just returning to normal. Normalcy is very important. This is the way our life is in Israel, and we have to stick to it, and we have just to live with the danger, and hopefully the IDF will be just guarding our houses, our kibbutzim, our localities, and eradicate the threat that Hamas has posed for so long against all those areas and inside Israel, and of course, I mean, deep inside the home front. So that certainly is a sign of hope going forward that these community members can move back. It's much sooner, might I add, than many people had originally thought. No, there are people who need their homes. They need their beds. They need to come back to the very home. This is the closest thing that you have near you, and the warmest thing that protects you. And it just really shows the strength of the Israeli mentality. I think this symbolizes it well. Retired Colonel Dr. Jack Naria, thank you for your insight. As always, day 46 of the war, we continue to break down all of the latest developments here on I24 News. You can always head to i24news.tv for updates on all of the stories we've discussed and any other breaking news at this hour. We're going out for a break, but thank you for tuning in. Each of war families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. The war here in Israel, now in day 46, I'm Nicole Zadik live in Tel Aviv. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there is progress on a hostage deal and is meeting with the war cabinet, the expanded cabinet and the government. This evening to discuss the latest developments and possibly approve the deal. Our reports say that the deal includes at least 50 hostages, mainly children and their mothers were leased in exchange for a days long ceasefire and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were leased. Now this news comes as Israel ramps up air strikes in southern Lebanon following an increase in Hezbollah border attacks. With Israel reportedly killing the deputy head of Hamas's military wing in Lebanon, along with three other senior operatives. Arab media is reporting at least eight people were killed in air strikes today, including two journalists from Al-Mayyadin, a Hezbollah affiliated news station. Now, day by day border clashes continue to ramp up. Another mayor of the northern Israeli town of Methulam has called for a security zone of five kilometers from the border similar to that of the south. Meanwhile, then the south, the IDF says they have completely encircled Jabalia in northern Gaza, carrying out heavy strikes. We'll pull preparing the ground for battle. And we want to begin our coverage today on Israel's northern border, where we find our I-24 news correspondent, Robert Swift, in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon. Robert, what are the latest developments? We're hearing reports that the IDF eliminated a Hamas deputy commander. What can you tell us? Yeah, so this is understood to be one of the commanders, that one of the commanders from Hamas, who despite being part of that organization and not part of Hezbollah, was operating in the south of Lebanon. There are a small number of slightly minor gas-based factions that operate out of southern Lebanon. And he's understood to be one of the commanders who was doing this. Now, it's understood that he was killed in a drone strike. The Israeli military has made a number of drone strikes throughout the day. And subsequently, Hezbollah have conducted what they've described as an anti-tank missile attack. And they said that this was in response to the killing of the two journalists earlier today. And speaking of those journalists killed, we're getting just the information from those Arab media reports, the IDF killed an Al-Mayadeen journalist. So are we expected to see some increased response from Hamas or Hezbollah really just anything on the Lebanese border coming into tonight? You know, it's likely that Hezbollah will conduct attacks and then they will attribute them as a response to the actions of Israel today.  So it's hard to say what's the exact cause behind that. But it advances essentially their information objectives to the entire, to something like the killing of civilians. They've done the same thing when there has been incidences of civilians being killed. It furthers their information cause and so it's likely what they'll do. Our correspondent, Robert Swift reporting from the Northern border. Thank you for that update. I want to bring in my studio guest now. I'm joined by Avi Melamed, the founder of Inside the Middle East Institute. Avi, thanks so much for being here. Let's talk about the significance of the IDF Israel killing the deputy head of Hamas's military wing in Lebanon. First off, what do we know about Hamas operating in Lebanon already? And is this really a sign that the IDF is going in and doing these targeted attacks, really assassinations? Well, Hamas is based in Lebanon. He's cooperating with Hezbollah, we know it for a long period of time. In fact, many of the attacks that were carried out in the last, since the beginning of the war along the Northern border was basically carried out by Hamas-affiliated members in Lebanon. They are mostly based in the Lebanese refugee camps, particularly in the south part of Lebanon, in the area of Tyre, in the area of Sidon and other places. There is a strong cooperation between Hamas and Hezbollah in that sense. This person that was eliminated today by Israel is yet another person in the chain of command of Hamas operating in the south part in Lebanon. In the end of the day, the major challenge in Lebanon is not the Hamas, it's the, of course, the Hezbollah. So is this a sign that Israel is going to continue to ramp up specifically these targeted attacks, targeting specific people, not only Hamas, but as you said, Hezbollah is the major threat? Yes, definitely. And this is part of this whole skirmish that we see in skirmish that we see in the last couple of weeks between Israel and Hezbollah along the Israeli-Lebanese border when Israel and Hezbollah are basically operating in what I call the zone between the orange line and the red line. Before we switch gears and talk about the hostage situation is that's also a major headline happening now with reports that a hostage deal is significantly underway, with reports that it's going to involve a ceasefire. How will a ceasefire in the south impact what we're seeing in the north right now? Well, it's very likely that ceasefire in the south kind of like will contribute to some kind of like a calmness in the northern part again, but we have to be very cautious about it because there may be a situation where while we'll have some sort of like late, let's say ceasefire in the south, there will be a continuation of kind of like skirmish along the Israeli-Lebanese border. We have to be aware of that possibility. We'll just to see how things will evolve on the ground. Because why would we stop seeing an increase in attacks from the northern front if it's Hezbollah doing these attacks rather than Hamas? Because we have to remember something very significant and this is something that we talked about, Nicole, and this is the unifying the arenas. You may remember that we talked when Hezbollah and Hamas basically worked together, one of the major concepts was unifying the arenas. And the concept was that when Hamas and Islamic jihad are going to war, Hezbollah is joined to the war full capacity. It didn't happen. And the Hezbollah contribution sort of speaking for that, currently for that situation is this skirmish that we see along the Israeli-Lebanese border. There was an interesting statement by the Hezbollah who says, I'm not going to stop my contribution unless the aggression against Gaza Strip is going to be fully stopped. So it may indicate that even if there is going to be a ceasefire, a fragile ceasefire in the South, we should may expect that the Hezbollah will continue those local domestic skirmish because the Hezbollah will have an interest to say, I'm continuing my contribution to this whole struggle because the Hezbollah is doing that because one of its major challenges that he is now facing a very substantial damage to its image because he didn't really came whole capacity into this war as he basically was marketing to the Arab world. And all of these talks of a ceasefire all revolve around the potential hostage deal we heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that there is significant progress. He's even going to be meeting with not just the war cabinet, not just the expanded cabinet, the government as well. So this is pretty significant it sounds like because if they are all going to meet, is it likely that they're going to approve such a hostage deal? It seems like they are. We have to wait and see what will be the final details about it. Apparently there is something that is really seriously brewing up and we are all waiting to see what will be the news about it. Let's go back to what I said since day one of this war. Israel is fighting against Hamas as if there are no hostages and Israel is dealing with the issue of releasing the hostages as if there is no war. And what we see right now, we have to remember something very significant. We talked about it Nicole couple of times for Hamas, the hostages is almost the last resort because they are basically relying on two cards trying hoping that that will save the rule in Gaza Strip or what is left from the ruling Gaza Strip. One is the story of the hostages and the other thing is the story of the American administration. They hope that the American administration will put pressure on Israel to end the campaign. They hope that as long as they could stretch the story of the hostages, that will put more and more pressure on Israeli government from the Israeli families of the hostages to basically end the campaign and bring everybody back home. This is the name of the game. And all the reports that we're seeing, this is not the end of it because the reports are stating that it's mainly going to be women and children. So how does this also prolong the fighting and how does it go into soldiers, whether that be women, female or male soldiers and males in general that are still hostage in Gaza? This is very significant question and people don't really talk about it. We have to remember, we are talking currently about civilians, particularly women and kids, but remember that we have soldiers that are in captivity in the hands of Hamas, reminding everybody for Hamas, holding the Israeli soldiers is a big card because Hamas always voted a Palestinian that he is going to release all the Palestinians that are imprisoned in Israel. We have to remember that and we have to remember something in addition to that, which is very significant and nobody is really talking about it, but it should be on the table. We don't know how many of the hostages are alive. And I think that one of the most significant thing that the Israeli government has to do, whether there is going to be right now a phase of some sort of a deal, one of the things that Israel must do is demand that the Red Cross will have all the accurate information about the well-being of the hostages that are being held by Hamas. We are looking at a long agonizing process. We have to take it into consideration. We may have to pay more and more prices, but we have to keep our eyes on the ball. In the end of his story, in the end of this story, Hamas will in Gaza Strip must come to an end. I have a question, because even if the Red Cross does get this list from Hamas stating who's alive, who is dead, who is injured, how do we vet and verify that list if it's coming from a terrorist organization? Well, that's a good question, but we have to rely on the reports of the Red Cross because in the end of the day, this is the least sort of speaking that Israel will have in its possession. Basically saying to Hamas, this is the information you provided through the Qatari government to the Red Cross. We are dealing with that specific information. Now, there may be a situation that none of the hostages are in the hands of Hamas. We have to remember that. We have to take it into consideration, but I have to reiterate it time and again, we are looking at a long process, agonizing process. We need a very strong nerve to deal with our story and reminding us all, we still have the story of the soldiers. We haven't talked about the story of the soldiers yet. And this is yet one other reason why in the end of the day, we simply have to end Hamas will in Gaza Strip. And the fighting is certainly happening in Gaza right now. In fact, let's cross live to our I-24 news correspondent, Jonathan Regev, who is in southern Israel near the Gaza border right now. Jonathan, what can you tell us about the latest action that you're seeing near that Gaza border? So what I can tell you, Nicole, is that actually we're not seeing a lot of it. And this is opposed to what has been happening here recently. We're in Sderot, which faces the northern part of Gaza city. I was here on Sunday and the artillery was extremely loud, especially in the area of Jebalia, which is just about what maybe two miles to the west of us. It was very, very loud. And it's not loud at all at the moment. Is that indicative of perhaps the deal that may be progressing according to the reports? Perhaps. We don't have any information about that. But we do know that it's relatively quiet now in the hour or so that we're here. It's been relatively, relatively quiet when it comes to rockets fired towards this direction. Since the morning, there have been red alert sirens, but not a lot of them. And therefore, is this an indication of something that might happen? Perhaps, we don't know. But what we do know is that we are hearing more and more reports of a possible deal, the reports coming from Jerusalem, from Washington, from Doha. And at least the last hour or so has been relatively quiet here. Indicative of a possible deal, perhaps. And all of that relative quiet as well happening as we're also hearing reports that the IDF is considering allowing residents who are within the four to seven kilometers from the Gaza border who have evacuated to possibly return home soon. What's the sense that you're getting on the ground if it is a safe environment for them to return home to? No, not a safe environment. And apart from that, we've heard from three different factors. One is two local councils, Shahr-Negyev and Snot-Negyev, which is a little bit to the south of where I am. And the municipality of Zderot, the city where we are, are saying that at least for the moment it is not happening. And if anything, we've heard from a defense minister, Yuv Galant, saying a few days ago that he thinks that this is something that may happen at the beginning of 2024, which is what about six weeks from now. So for the moment, this is not something that is happening. Not only that, we also heard reports from the municipality of Zderot and other factors that are the grants given by the states for people in hotels, people who are living in this area and now have been allocated to hotels that all these grants have been extended at least until the end of December. Therefore, at least until the end of the year, I don't expect people coming even to the communities four to seven kilometers and certainly not those who are closer to the border. All right, 24 News correspondent Jonathan Ragev, thank you for that update from Southern Israel. Now, obvious, we're taking a look at some of the reports coming out of what this hostage deal is all, what it's all taken apart of. One of the things that it's according to the reports is that the IDF won't be able to use surveillance drones for at least a period of time during this days long ceasefire. How could that complicate Israel's war efforts and all of the progress that they've made so far if they can't see what's happening, especially what Hamas is doing while they're not fighting? Well, I don't know about that specific detail, but I will say something like that. To the best of my knowledge, the IDF says to the government, look, we can handle this pose of four, five days that's not going to interrupt significantly our war plan and we can deal with it. One more thing that is very significant to mention and we talked about it, Nicole, in different occasions. The more the IDF is on the ground in Gaza Strip, the ability to gather information is enormously increasing and we saw some indication for that, for example, like in the story of Shifa Hospital and other places. So it's kind of like compensate. Let's put it this way in the context of like using those drones. But in the end of the day, I think that as I said before, we have to look at the way that Israel finally is setting the core, setting the objective and basically saying with all everything aside, the deals about the hostages, the poses and so on and so on, there must be what we say, an eye on the ball, meaning looking at the final objective, taking down Hamas-Wood in Gaza Strip. The Israeli defense forces at this point to the best of my understanding, basically saying to the government, we are moving very well according to the military plans, even ahead of schedule, we can continue, we can deal with a pose, which also of course supports the government. By the way, a pose is also in a way kind of like good for the IDF in many ways. So in the end of the day, I would say that if we're going to have a short pose, it's not something that to the best of my understanding is going to significantly disrupt the Israeli war plan. And we heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the progress in his words that Israel is making towards this hostage deal. Let's take a listen to what Netanyahu had to say. We are currently focusing on a very strong and active defense in the north in order to achieve a crushing victory in the south. Our first objective, annihilating Hamas. We will not stop until it is done. Second objective, bringing the hostages back. We're making progress. I don't think we should go into details at this time, but hopefully we'll have good news soon. The third objective, to ensure that what happened in Gaza will not happen again. We want to regain security and we will operate and restore security in the south and in the north. And the main instrument we have is the Israeli spirit that is manifested here through the soldiers and commanders coming from all parts of Israel and from all sectors of Israeli society. It's an amazing force and I salute you and tell you. We will continue until we achieve victory. Now, this came ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also meeting with the War Cabinet, the Expanded Cabinet and the government tonight at 8 to really take a look at that hostage deal. Avi, are we expecting any hiccups to come from the government meeting tonight? I know specifically we heard from National Security Minister Ben Gavir warning about the release of Palestinian prisoners according to reports. It might involve hundreds of Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for at least 50 Israeli hostages. Do we expect this to be controversial in tonight's meeting? It may be controversial, but I think that in the end of the day, if it's going to be something that is seriously on the table, I think that the Israeli government decision would be to go with that deal, basically to bring at least some of the hostages back home with all the ramifications that come along with that. Because one of the ramifications, I'm not talking about the politically one. I'm talking about the emotional in terms of the public opinion, of course, is that let's assume that there is going to be a deal and let's assume that some 50, 60, 70, I don't know the exact number of hostages are going to be released and back home, hopefully. We still have the others that are left and that means that the other families, of course, will increase pressure on the Israeli government to move on with additional deals to bring their beloved one back home. But I think that if there is going to be a substantial, very concrete offer deal tonight on the table of the government in the end of the day in the voting, I think that the Israeli government will take it. Certainly something we'll be continuing to look at into these coming hours, but let's turn our attention to what's happening abroad now. German authorities, they are cracking down on anti-Semitic hate speech, raiding the homes of 17 people in Bavaria, accused of targeting and harassing Jews online.  Now to break it all down, I'm joined by journalist and political analyst, James Jackson, joining us from Berlin. James, let's talk a little bit about these arrest raids. What's the significance of them? Specifically, all of them have been happening in Bavaria. Yes, so Bavaria is known as one of the strictest of Germany's federal states, 17 federal states. It's one of the biggest and it's one of the most conservative. And so in this case, the Bavarian state prosecutors, prosecution of crimes is a federal matter, as in as a question for the states in Germany. So they've decided they're gonna make a big show of strength and show that they don't tolerate anti-Semitism. They've raided 17 properties this morning, some of which were belonging to Hell's Angels, according to reports, a Turkish man who was, sorry, Turkish citizen who was member of the Hell's Angels for posting things such as pictures of Hitler who said, I could have killed all the Jews, but I left a few so that you know what they're like. So some pretty nasty stuff there across the state. We have seen an uptick in these cases of anti-Semitism and just general tension racism across Germany. Today we have the Islam conference, the conference of Islam taking place in Berlin, where the Interior Minister is discussing anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and Islam with a group of experts, although very few representatives of the Muslim community. So I think one thing that's interesting about this taking place in Bavaria in particular, is that as much as the Bavarian state prosecutors are making themselves out to be warriors against anti-Semitism, we actually saw something very interesting, very controversial this summer in the Bavarian election in late summer, where the Deputy Prime Minister of Bavaria, Hubert Avanger, was accused by his former teacher, as well as classmates of having made and been involved with anti-Semitic jokes, pamphlets, Holocaust jokes, including at or on a school trip to a concentration camp. So of course, he did not suffer politically for that. In fact, his party won an influence and he remained in his post, supported by the Conservative CSU, the Christian Social Union, who are quite a mainstream party here. His party's a bit smaller and only represented in Bavaria, perhaps also Rhine Line, Palatinate in the West. They're a growing party. So it's an interesting one in Germany, seeing how anti-Semitism on the one hand and in Bavaria is taken very seriously when it's in relation to Israel, when it's coming from members of Muslim minorities, but perhaps it is taken a bit less seriously when it's taken from senior German politicians. Well, and you also mentioned Germany's interior minister, also just urging Muslim groups to explicitly condemn the October 7th attack. So we are hearing some pretty strong statements coming out of the interior minister, but are the 5.5 million Muslims in Germany, are they expected to really heed any of these warnings or these statements? I think it's a good question. There has been criticism of this. It's not just the interior minister. In fact, also the federal president, Frank Walter Steinmeier, who said all Arabs, including Germans of Arabic descent to distance themselves from Hamas, condemn Hamas, that is a lot of people. And I think some of them would be quite offended to be put in the same bucket as this awful terrorist group, Hamas, that killed so many Jews so mercilessly. So there's been a bit of pushback, but I have to say, actually, the German politics is very much on board, all of the people I've mentioned, the interior minister, the president is from the Social Democrats, the ruling party of Chancellor Schultz, which is a center-left party. Whereas I think this kind of rhetoric in other countries might be considered a right-wing rhetoric, the idea that Muslims have to distance themselves from Hamas. So I think Germany is a country with a lot of Muslims, and it's actually a very diverse country, but you don't really see that represented in public life. You see, even today, at the Islam conference, there are very, very few actual Muslim community members represented there. So German politics is a bit of an insular bubble on this issue, and that could potentially lead to people feeling alienated, but it could also have some positive effects. So I'm not here to make that decision, but I think it's absolutely worth noting that you don't see many Muslims represented in German politics. I think the first minister ever from a Muslim background out of the 5 million in Germany or more 5 million plus was Gemma Zdemir, who's quite a conservative chap, a member of the Greens, and he only was appointed a few years ago as agricultural minister. So there's a lot to see, and I think there is a bit of tension bubbling in Germany about whether this crackdown on anti-Semitism is being fairly applied. James Jackson, thank you for that update about what's happening abroad right now. Thanks for joining us. Now, as we take a look at what's happening internationally, there's also a lot of international pressure continuing to beat down here on Israel. Also, international officials really planning the next day what's going to happen the day after in Gaza, specifically with the Palestinian Authority, which we continue to hear international pressure for the PA to possibly take over, even if it's a revitalized and reconstructed Palestinian Authority. But new reports also stating that Gulf states possibly financially assisting to rebuild the Gaza Strip and help with these efforts. So what does this all mean when it comes into the day after Well, Nicole, I want to make two comments. First one is about the West and the story of Gaza Strip. Ironically speaking, while many people in the Arab and the Muslim world criticize and hold Hamas accountable for what happened in Gaza Strip and not only from yesterday. Since it took over in 2007, Western circles constantly insisted to exempted Hamas from responsibility. Western circles who exempted Hamas from accountability, they bear responsibility for doing that. They have to know that. The second thing talking about the day after, yes, it goes back to something that I was talking about since the beginning of the war, which I called regional framework. And basically what I said is, any effectively addressing the story of Gaza Strip requires creation of what I call regional framework that brings together major players in the Middle East who has interest to basically create a new conditions on the ground in Gaza Strip. We're talking about Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and others. And they will build some kind of, there will be some sort of like scaffoldings that actually based upon that you could start applying on the ground. The many issues that you need to address because it takes an enormous financial resource in actually basically creating this new reality in Gaza Strip. So no wonder there that those major Arab states, particularly the Gulf States should be very proactively involved in settling the situation in Gaza Strip post the war. Certainly something will continue to keep an eye on. Abim Alamud, thank you so much for breaking down all of these latest developments on this 46th day of the war, everything that's happening here in Israel as we continue to keep an eye on specifically of what will happen tonight with the hostage negotiations here with the government in Israel. For all of the latest updates, you can always head to i24news.tv. These are the top stories at this hour, but always head there and our social media as well for updates on all of the latest developments not only happening here in Israel but really around the Middle East and around the world. We're going out for a break, but thank you for tuning in to i24news. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. This week on News 24, Israel under attack. News 24 in Spanish brings the analysis and the information of the events of the war, Iron swords. Exclusive interviews and reports from the war zone, the reaction of the Spanish-speaking countries. News 24, the only medium in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel. News 24, only on i24news. Coverage of the war here in Israel, now in day 46 of the quadratic live in Tel Aviv. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there is progress on a hostage deal and is meeting with the war cabinet, the expanded cabinet and the government this evening to discuss the latest developments and possibly approve the deal. Now reports say that the deal includes at least 50 hostages, mainly children and their mothers released in exchange for a days-long ceasefire and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners released. Now this news comes as Israel ramps up air strikes in southern Lebanon following an increase in Hezbollah border attacks. With Israel reportedly killing the deputy head of Hamas's military wing in Lebanon, along with three other senior operatives. Arab media is reporting at least eight people were killed in air strikes today, including two journalists from Al-Mayadin, a Hezbollah affiliated news station. Now day by day border clashes continue to ramp up, another mayor of the northern Israeli town of Metula has called for a security zone of five kilometers from the border similar to that of the south. Meanwhile, in the south, the IDF says they have completely encircled Jabalia in northern Gaza, carrying out heavy strikes while preparing the ground for battle. And we want to begin our coverage today on Israel's northern border where we find our I-24 News correspondent Robert Swift in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon. Robert, what are the latest developments? We're hearing reports that the IDF eliminated a Hamas deputy commander. What can you tell us? Yeah, so this is understood to be one of the commanders, one of the commanders from Hamas who, despite being part of that organization and not part of Hezbollah, was operating in the south of Lebanon. There are a small number of slightly minor gas and based factions that operate out of southern Lebanon. And he's understood to be one of the commanders who was doing this. Now, it's understood that he was killed in a drone strike. The Israeli military has made a number of drone strikes throughout the day. And subsequently, Hezbollah have conducted what they've described as an anti-tank missile attack. And they said that this was in response to the killing of the two journalists earlier today. And speaking of those journalists killed, we're getting just the information from those Arab media reports. The IDF killed an Al-Mayadeen journalist. So are we expected to see some increased response from Hamas or Hezbollah really just anything on the Lebanese border coming into tonight? It's likely that Hezbollah will conduct attacks and then they will attribute them as a response to the actions of Israel today.  So it's hard to say what's the exact cause behind that. But it advances their, essentially, their information objectives to the entire, to something like the killing of civilians. They've done the same thing when there has been incidences of civilians being killed. It furthers their information cause and so it's likely what they'll do. Our correspondent Robert Swift reporting from the Northern border. Thank you for that update. I want to bring in my studio guest now. I'm joined by Avi Melemen, the founder of Inside the Middle East Institute. Avi, thanks so much for being here. Let's talk about the significance of the IDF Israel killing the deputy head of Hamas's military wing in Lebanon. First off, what do we know about Hamas operating in Lebanon already? And is this really a sign that the IDF is going in and doing these targeted attacks, really assassinations? Well, Hamas is based in Lebanon. He's cooperating with Hezbollah, we know it for a long period of time. In fact, many of the attacks that were carried out in the last, since the beginning of the war along the Northern border was basically carried out by Hamas-affiliated members in Lebanon. They are mostly based in the Lebanese refugee camps, particularly in the south part of Lebanon, in the area of Tyre, in the area of Sidon and other places. There is a strong cooperation between Hamas and Hezbollah in that sense. This person that was eliminated today by Israel is yet another person in the chain of command of Hamas operating in the south part in Lebanon. In the end of the day, the major challenge in Lebanon is not the Hamas, of course, the Hezbollah. So is this a sign that Israel is going to continue to ramp up specifically these targeted attacks, targeting specific people, not only Hamas, but as you said, Hezbollah is the major threat? Yes, definitely. And this is part of this whole skirmish that we see in the last couple of weeks between Israel and Hezbollah along the Israeli-Lebanese border when Israel and Hezbollah are basically operating in what I call the zone between the orange line and the red line. Before we switch gears and talk about the hostage situation is that's also a major headline happening now with reports that a hostage deal is significantly underway with reports that it's going to involve a ceasefire. How will a ceasefire in the south impact what we're seeing in the north right now? Well, it's very likely that ceasefire in the south kind of like will contribute to some kind of like a calmness in the northern part again, but we have to be very cautious about it because there may be a situation where while we'll have some sort of like let's say ceasefire in the south, there will be a continuation of kind of like skirmish along the Israeli-Lebanese border. We have to be aware of that possibility. We have just to see how things will evolve on the ground. Because why would we stop seeing an increase in attacks from the northern front if it's Hezbollah doing these attacks rather than Hamas? Because we have to remember something very significant and this is something that we talked about, Nicole, and this is the unifying the arenas. You may remember that we talked when Hezbollah and Hamas basically worked together. One of the major concepts was unifying the arenas and the concept was that when Hamas and Islamic jihad are going to war, Hezbollah is joined to the war full capacity. It didn't happen. And the Hezbollah contribution sort of speaking for that currently, for that situation is this skirmish that we see along the Israeli-Lebanese border. There was an interesting statement by the Hezbollah who says, I'm not going to stop my contribution unless the aggression against Gaza Strip is going to be fully stopped. So it may indicate that even if there is going to be a ceasefire, a fragile ceasefire in the south, we should may expect that the Hezbollah will continue those local domestic skirmish because the Hezbollah will have an interest to say, I'm continuing my contribution to this whole struggle because the Hezbollah is doing that because one of its major challenges that he is now facing, a very substantial damage to its image because it didn't really came whole capacity into this war as he basically was marketing to the Arab world. And all of these talks of a ceasefire all revolve around the potential hostage deal we heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that there is significant progress. He's even going to be meeting with not just the war cabinet, not just the expanded cabinet, the government as well. So this is pretty significant, it sounds like, because if they are all going to meet, is it likely that they're going to approve such a hostage deal? It seems like they are, we have to wait and see what will be the final details about it. Apparently there is something that is really seriously brewing up and we are all waiting to see what will be the news about it. Let's go back to what I said since day one of this war. Israel is fighting against Hamas as if there are no hostages and Israel is dealing with the issue of releasing the hostages as if there is no war. And what we see right now, we have to remember something very significant. We talked about it, Nicole, a couple of times. For Hamas, the hostages is almost the last result because they are basically relying on two cards trying, hoping that they will save the rule in Gaza Strip or what is left from the ruling Gaza Strip. One is the story of the hostages and the other thing is the story of the American administration. They hope that the American administration will put pressure on Israel to end the campaign. They hope that as long as they could stretch the story of the hostages, that will put more and more pressure on Israeli government from the Israeli families of the hostages to basically end the campaign and bring everybody back home. This is the name of the game. And all the reports that we're seeing, this is not the end of it because the reports are stating that i