the Israeli government. But what we had heard yesterday from a high-level source in the Prime Minister's office was that they had no evidence that anyone in the Kaffir family had been killed, that they believed they were still alive, and that they thought if there was any potential movement of hostages between the different factions inside Gaza that Hamas would still know where they were and still be able to provide them. However, we are now on day six of the hostages exchange and there has been no proof of life and there has been no Bebas family provided in any of these exchanges. So there is clearly something wrong. There's clearly some major issue with this entire saga. But again, that's the information that's coming out just moments ago, this claim that they were killed in an airstrike. Again, no proof of life provided. And Zak, of course, the verification of an update like that is so crucial right now. We've been talking here in studio about information that is confirmed and we wait to hear exactly what did unfold. But talk to us a bit about what the Kaffir Bebas specifically represented for the families of the hostages. He was the youngest hostage to be abducted on the 7th of October, nine months on the 7th of October. That was his age, obviously, 10 months now. But we wait for confirmation on exactly what has happened to him and his family. Nonetheless, what he represented specifically, these two beautiful redhead children, a terrified mother, videos we'd seen, footage we'd seen so many times, talk to us about what this all would represent for the whole nation and all those families waiting for word on those in captivity. Well, I should start by circling back to that conversation we had with a high level source in the Prime Minister's office who did stress that they did not believe that the family was killed. So this is certainly not the end of this chapter. There needs to be proof. There needs to be evidence. But as for what exactly this means for this entire, it's so difficult to put into words. When we spoke to some of our sources in the Israeli government, there was some level of confidence that the Bebas family would be included in the exchange. In fact, in the first two days of hostage exchange, when I spoke to someone in the Prime Minister's office, they still felt like day three was going to happen. And then when day three didn't happen, they thought, well, it must be certainly day four. Of course, not all of the officials are looped into these high, high level negotiations. But the information that was being passed down to them made it clear that they did believe that the Bebas family was going to be one of the first, one of the things that was told to me is how could you not negotiate and have the youngest hostage be the very first part of the negotiation, be the very tip of the spear for attempting to get hostages home. So it's still very difficult at this hour. But heartbreaking, heartbreaking moments again and again for this family. Correspondent Zach Andrews, thank you so much. As you say, we wait for verified information and we wait for confirmation of these reports. But for now, thank you very much for that update. Now, Noa Argamani was one of scores of people abducted from the Nova Music Festival on the 7th of October. She is still being held hostage. She is not in the group being released today. Her mother, Leora Argamani is terminally ill, and she has been sharing this urgent plea. Let's take a listen. I know you're done.  I need your support. Thank you, Lord Noa, thank you. Bye-bye. I need your support. Thank you, Lord Noa, thank you. Come on, thank you. Thank you, Lord Noa, thank you. Thank you. Beyond heartbreaking. And so now, for more, we welcome Jan Gorialtsan, a friend of Noa Argamani, who, as we've just been discussing, is being held hostage in Gaza. It's coming on for eight weeks now. Jan, thank you so much for your time. I cannot imagine the pain we heard Noa's mom. She just wants to see her daughter again. How is the family doing? What can you tell us? How are you doing? Well, thank you very much for your kind words. First of all, seeing that video, even though we're the one who filmed it and edited it, that is still very difficult to see. Noa's mother is in a really bad situation right now. She's physically ill. She got brain cancer, as you can see in the video. I've known Noa for half of my life. We've been friends since junior high. And we've been good friends since then as well. Her condition deteriorated in this few months rapidly. Now she is not able to walk that much. She is mostly in a wheelchair. As you can see with the video, her speech is also deformed a little bit. She cannot speak in English as she used to. This video is supposed to be in English at first. And at the end, we decided to do it in Hebrew because it was very difficult for her. This woman, she has only one wish. I think this is only basic for every parent to see their child. Getting back home safe, to save farms, to her room, to her mother's arms. And this is her dying wish. And it's not some sort of things that you see in movies and TV shows. This is her real life. This is the real thing. She just wants her family to be whole. I want to remind everybody in the world that Yola doesn't have another daughter. She only has Noa and her father. Yakova Gamani is also their only child. And she was the center of the house. She used to take care of her mother, of her illness. Going to doctors from hospital to hospital. Getting the best doctors that she could get for her mother. And now it's like a void in everybody's heart. And for the family, it was a big crisis. More at the beginning because Noa, for real, she was the center of the family and everybody was counting on her to help medically and do all of the bureaucracy. Since she was gone, the family's condition deteriorated. Her mother just hoping for good news every night. And me and my friends were watching the TV and the news hoping and praying that one of the names of their releases will be Noa's name. For me now personally, this is my biggest dream for now. Every time I only hear the word Noa, her name or see our photo, I kept a picture in her getting back to us. And we're praying and we're hoping that this will happen in the next few days. And Jan, we can see the pictures on our screen.  You can see how close they are. This is so incredibly tragic, unbelievable to think of that pain and that waiting. And as you say, that expectation each day, the family waiting to see will Noa's name be on the list. The family is being notified, of course, each day who is coming home next. The Red Cross, as we know, hasn't been able to get access to any of the hostages. So there isn't even confirmation of proof of life or how they are doing their condition. When was the last update that the family had about Noa and her condition? When was the last time they knew exactly where she was? Okay, so first of all, I'm going to explain it in two parts. The Red Cross, personally, we are really disappointed of the lack of help that they didn't able to get to Noa. Since day one, she's been held captive without her glasses. And she's practically blind without them. It means that probably her sight and condition is going to deteriorate in this couple of months that she doesn't have them. Since the first week, we've been trying and reached the Red Cross to get her this help, to get her her glasses and nothing. So I'm not sure how I'm supposed to answer that, but we didn't get really much help from that organization. Second of all, last time formally that we heard from Noa was at the videos that we see her driving in a motorcycle and then the other video of her being held captive in Gaza. So formally we don't have any evidence of her where she's being kept by which organization. We're just hoping and praying. This is the best that we can do and also notify televisions and all of the TV shows all around the world. We have our friends going all around the world, speaking with people, convincing people, explaining how hard it is for us, me and all of my friends, that we support the family from one hand and also doing the exploration and supporting our country and our nation, explaining the horrible situation that we're in. No doubt about that. The support you are having, the support around the country, and we hope for good news. Our thoughts are with you. Our thoughts are with Noa's mom as well, thinking of you all and hoping for good news. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Devastating indeed. And now, Daniel Higari, the IDS spokesperson is addressing the nation. And I reiterate, they are not verified yet. And now it reiterates what the brokers in the world are supposed to demand from Hamas, bringing back the women and children and checking the medical situation by the Red Cross. This is the outline. This is the agreement. And this is how we are preparing ourselves for tomorrow. Our heart is with the families of the abducted and those whose hostages haven't come back yet. We have a value-based commitment to do everything possible to bring back all the hostages. This morning, three citizens were killed in Jerusalem in a crash attack. The combatants of reservists of the ITF attacked the terrorists. Our forces are spread all over Judea and Samaria, and they prevent additional attacks. Today is the day of attributing the injured and the handicapped. We do so all year round, but today especially. The handicapped and the injured, you know that war is a heavy price to all of us. We are embracing to us those injured in body and soul on behalf of the commanders of the IDF. I salute you and bid you speedy recovery. Questions? Channel 11. First of all, the visit of Lincoln is America exerting limitations on the continuation of the war. And also, how many hostages are supposed to come back this evening? Are we not insisting on the 10? This evening, we are continuing to implementing the agreement. Mia and Amit came to Israel, and we finalized in this outline on a list of women and children. The Israeli citizens who came last night inside our list, the list of the State of Israel. These are citizens of the State of Israel. Yesterday we had 12, and today more hostages are going to come. This is exactly the agreement we agreed upon. So I reiterate, tomorrow as well, there are rules, women and children. This is the outline that was agreed upon. As for the question about the American Secretary of State, he came to a visit. He met the Chief of Staff and the Prime Minister and the Cabinet members. The Chief of Staff presented to him what happened until now in the war and also our directions for the next stages of the war. We in the Army keep talking to the American Chief of Staff and the Commander of the Central Command. And we look at it from a regional point of view. The entire region and all the terror activities that have happened and also the next stages of war. Just to understand, today we have another six or another eight such as this. I'm very iterated. I say hostages, men and women. There's an agreement until it's finalized, until it's materialized, it doesn't happen. Yesterday, 12 Israeli citizens came back, and they were on our list. And the agreement was on 10, but we insist on getting the maximum possible. This is what happened every day, and that's what can happen today as well. We published this week testimonies of soldiers that because of the ceasefires, they see army trucks of Hezbollah crossing the border. And they also shot anti-tank missiles. Why don't we thwart these posts? I don't know the information you're talking about now. We're going to check it, and I don't know exactly how to answer, but I can tell you one thing. In the Northern Command, I visited this week with the Chief of Staff. He spoke to all the commanders of all the battalions. He looked at the situation and also the stages ahead. He had a meeting with all the mayors. The situation is that we are completely ready in the North, and we are looking and we are observing ready to attack any terror activity against the citizens of Israel in all the borders, including the North. Thank you and good evening. IDF spokesperson Daniel Higari taking questions there at his daily briefing. And so many questions, of course, around the current hostage deal. So for more, we welcome to studio Major General in the Reserves, Eitan Dungart, former military secretary to three ministers of defense and former coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian territories in the IDF. Thank you so much for being here. And what an emotional few hours it's been. We had these heartwarming images of Mia Shem, 21 years old, embracing her mother and her brother when she came into Israeli territory. What a moment it was. And as well, we also know Amit Susana is back in Israeli territory. And that's where it ends because we don't know when the rest of the group of hostages are set to get back home. Your thoughts. And we get unfortunately used to it every night. Listen, we are dealing with butchers, liars, people that are leading the movement of Hamas that are not even worth to call them human being. So what do you expect to see every night what's going on the other end? I would like to move to the other side. Just what you have started here to say about the emotions, each event to contain it, to see it. Each of them is all the world for us. This is the way this is our nature. This is our way of looking at human being or at the country. What happened on the 7th of October is something that is not and never will be acceptable by us. And we should react on the way. What it's going now is again kind of psychological war that Hamas is trying to signal. With getting some points as looking as humanitarian movement suddenly or making gestures to tie or to Russia. What I expected or estimated even a week or two weeks ago when they have the meeting in Moscow to meet was clear. They will use it to get some point. But it's nothing worse. What they are doing now with the Bivas family, with the daughter of the mother that is very ill that you... No Archimani. No Archimani. And a list of 100, if I'm not mistaken, 38 people that are there is something that nothing can describe it only as to be cruel and to use this kind of cruel that we saw the signs on the 7th of October towards these people. What we can do now is first of all to complete, to use the window term that has happened with Hamas in order that we identify and said we have to make all the efforts to bring back all the hostages as soon as possible to hear. This is the timing. We will lose them. Even though we have suspicions that Hamas is not giving the list, is not allowed the Red Cross with the help of the Red Cross that in my opinion is not fighting to respect human rights in order to be visited by this organization. 55 days into the war now. After 55 days instead of demonstrated all over the world, we have the duty towards our people after what happened here on the 7th of October to make all the efforts to bring each one of them back home. But we are coming to the end in my opinion of this first stage or maybe for closing the road for now. There will be a block because Hamas is not going. I cannot even tell you whether I'm sure that all the hostages are alive. And the sign that Hamas is not cooperating means that something is wrong there. And on the other end, we are on AI readiness to continue with our mission to destroy Hamas entity, to kill Hamas leadership, to break as more as we can Hamas military structure and to bring together another entity in the coming future. And over and above everything you're describing right now, of course this morning in broad daylight, three Israelis, three civilians are shot dead and Hamas claims responsibility. Hamas is trying to press and to bring the West Bank and East of Jerusalem to increase the terror activities and to make a fire in order to join them to the circle of the battlefield around us. The main partner is Hezbollah, who is in Yemen, some she is malicious. And the lack of the West Bank and East of Jerusalem is something that I think that Hamas till now is disappointing and they are trying to press as more in this critical junction that are there to make them to join to this event. Who is missing there? The PA, the Palestinian authorities. If you see two events, what happened in Tulkarem a few days ago and the lynch ending two people in the middle of the night and calling all the population outside, Tulkarem is a city that till now was under the Palestinian authorities control and was a threat to Israel 20 years ago. And now what we see that what's happening there is a symbol of the bubbling, the connection between Janine to Hebron is much more close but till now I think that the IDF together with the inter-service succeed to prevent, to come each evening to all the places where they were to organization, where they plan to make a bloodshed and succeed to kill them and with a very low damage to what is around them from those who are not participating in this event. But I want to make clear two points. One, there is a timing bomb there. What is the pressure on thousands of people who are used to work in Israel every morning, more than 100,000 people who need salary, who need to go to work. This is something that Israel should consider very quickly. Secondly, is not to stop the support of the PA, the money that we are giving them. I'm not meaning Mahmoud Abbas is outside of the game after what he said that we bomb our people and kill them by themselves in our territory on the 7th of October but for a new leadership this is the alternative and I think at this point we have to make a very deep policy to declare on it and to try to end because these are the partners from the alternative we have and we have agreement with them. Right. And also as we know the US has been talking about a revitalized Palestinian authority down the line. You know US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is likely to have a press conference shortly if and when that does happen we will go there live for the latest but Etan I'd like your take on the developments up north because all along the focus right now as you're discussing the West Bank and obviously what is happening in the Gaza Strip right now but what is your concern about Hassan Asrallah, Hezbollah and its next steps and what does that mean for the thousands of residents up north who have relocated evacuated from their homes in recent weeks and are waiting to know when it's safe to go back again. Few important points. First of all when you say Hassan Asrallah you have to say Iran. This is the Iranian who are organizing all the story the architecture in this area in this round. Secondly, there is yet a deployment of Hassan Asrallah and the Hezbollah organization in a lot in a way down readiness for launching rockets for trying to attack and towards it there is a strong deployment of Israeli defense on the ground forces and readiness of the Air Force for offensive. But the choice that Hezbollah took in order to stop the fire together with the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas put them in a level that they connected themselves to the event very clear. What will be from this? This is the big question mark. One opportunity is the fact that when it will be renew the fire Hezbollah can change its policy and to go over not what was before the ceasefire but trying to increase the attacks and to create a big war between Israel and Hezbollah. Something that above all the umbrella of the United States that are really the manager of what's going here in the area are making made very clear from the first moment to Israel and especially to Iran. We don't are looking for any kind of escalation to a war between Israel and Hezbollah. But the end story when it comes Israel should make it very clear every day in its goals that we will return our civilian to live back near the border and Hezbollah will not be there. What are the options? They will withdraw after the agreement 1701 you can call a new agreement 1702 for example or a military escalation or both of them to break the final one thing it's clear. Our duty to our civilians in the north are like the duty of the state to the civilian in the south and everywhere. They should return safely back to their homes. Etan, thank God lots more to discuss stay with us but we're going to bring you this update because a deeper look at the tanks that have played a key role in this war against Hamas more so than in any previous operation in Gaza. I-24 News met with the commander of the armoured corps in southern Israel for his insights. More in this report. From these winter proof tents near the city of Bersheva in the negative desert the Israeli army's armoured corps leads its fierce battle in the Gaza Strip and from here strategic plans are issued for the forces in the field. The high ranking officer of the armoured corps is taking advantage of this truce to inspect the headquarters. He came here to ensure that lessons were learned and that his soldiers' performance in the field can be improved when the fighting is renewed. It is the armoured corps's finest hour. The Israeli people see this war as an armoured corps war. The advances in Gaza and much of the work there is being done by the armoured corps. Unlike previous rounds of escalation in Gaza where armoured forces were more sparingly used the Israeli army has assigned them a major role in this war realizing that relying solely on air support is not sufficient. The high ranking officer of the armoured vehicles lists what he considers the war's achievements so far. The elimination of Hamas terrorists in battle and the destruction of terror and weapon facilities in the heart of Gaza city. Everything we see in Hamas videos about the destruction of tanks is inaccurate and distorts the truth. I'm not saying that they don't fire or hit the tanks but they hit certain parts of the tanks that we can allow them to hit. Our tanks have been fortified and since the beginning of the fighting not a single tank has been destroyed. Tanks have taken damage but all of them were serviceable. Not a single tank has been destroyed? No. I tell you again there must be a distinction between damage to the tank and destruction of the tank.  The Israeli army attributes the relatively small losses to advanced technology the 360 range of vision made possible by the new smart helmets in the tanks and to the system that destroys anti-tank missiles before they hit the target but it also attributes it to infantry raids prior to armored forces arrival that have eliminated Hamas anti-armor units. A conversation with brigade and battalion commanders conducted by Hisham Ibrahim who participated in the invasion of Lebanon in 2006 did not leave the generational gap in Israeli society unmentioned. Maybe we should be satisfied with this generation. We doubted their abilities a little. We described them as the screen generation and said they couldn't take it. Listen, they fight like heroes. They lived up to the expectations and were victorious in every situation they were put in. And now for the latest on the ground. Let's go back to our correspondent Zach Anders. He joins us from Shiba Medical Center. So we just heard a short while ago, Daniel Higari, the IDF spokesperson saying there is no confirmation on that earlier report from Hamas talking about the Bebas family. Bring us up to speed on the latest Zach. What can you tell us? Well, I think the questions that we have at this hour is with the release of that video and the immediate rejection by the Israeli officials that they have no proof of life and no evidence that any of the members of the Bebas family are dead or were killed in any sort of situation that Hamas is claiming that they were killed and Hamas has claimed that they were killed in an Israeli airstrike. They don't give a timeline of when that happened. They don't give any evidence. They present the father in a lit room with a white background sitting on a plastic chair exclaiming that his family is dead. But there's no proof, there's no evidence of any beyond this claim in this video. The Israeli officials again have reiterated through several channels and high-level sources that they do not believe that they have seen any evidence that the family was killed or that anything has happened to the family. Of course, though this is strained and difficult because the last evidence apparently that is available comes from October 7th of them being taken hostage. So the information that we are working with is very sparse and some of the conversations that we have with Israeli sources stress that some of the information they're working with is very sparse as well, that they don't have much to go off either. So it is an extremely difficult situation that we unfortunately and we might have to wait some time before we have some sort of conclusion or evidence here. Of course, the family returning home is the ultimate goal of the Israelis, negotiators and the IDF and they're still working to, they say, around the clock find ways to bring them home. All part of that psychological warfare that we've been talking about for many, many weeks now sharing information, withdrawing information, lack of clarity, lack of evidence. It's all part of that strategy. But what we do know, Zach, is that 21-year-old Mia Shem is safely with her family and she's at Shiba Medical Center behind you. What update can you share? Yeah, a bit of good news as she had a warm embrace with her family as she arrived into Israel and then was taken via helicopter to a location just over the complex here at Shiba Medical Center. She was put into a van and then drove a very short distance to a location right behind my shoulder where she was admitted. The hospital staff are now, she's somewhere upstairs on a floor above us receiving care from a team of doctors and specialists that are going to be working on her case alone, just her, as there are roughly 27, there were 27 hostages that were brought to this hospital. 13 remain in care overnight. The hospital staff here say that each of them has a team, a score of doctors surrounding them, prepared at all times. It will be a little bit of a journey for her, it sounds like, for the healing process because she was injured on the 7th and then treated by doctors or some sort of medical staff in Gaza. They performed what appears to be an operation on her arm installing what has to be screws into the bone to be able to affix the metal rods that you see in the images protruding from her right arm, which is characteristic of a bad break for an arm. But some of the doctors again would say, in the normal circumstance that's not the kind of care she would get for a broken arm, so it will be a little bit, the doctors here have explained that it's going to be starting from square one because they don't know what her medical history is, they only know that she was injured, but they have to evaluate that injury themselves. None of the medical records are going to flow their direction, none of the timeline of when the treatment took place in Gaza and what the follow-up care was, none of that is available to them. Perhaps Mia will be able to share some of that herself and be able to describe what it was she went through to help the doctors and the medical team know exactly what happened to her while she was inside Gaza, but that is, I'm told, one of the very first things that they're focused on is attending to that previous injury and then they'll start to focus on holistic care with the rest of her physical and mental health. While we're talking to you, we are seeing again and again these images of Mia Shem embracing her mom and her brother what a moment, 21 years old, arriving back in Israel just earlier on, what a moment the whole nation watching and seeing that reunion. Thank you so much Correspondent Zach Anders, live from Shiba Medical Centre Mall, to come from Zach, of course, in the coming hours. Eitan, you've been working in this region, in the security field, in the intelligence field for so long. Every single Israeli life matters and the whole nation looks at that image of a mother, a daughter, her brother. They could have never known that this moment could happen. They have been waiting for seven weeks for this embrace. Unbelievable. I don't think that when you watch it, you can see any dry high that is looking in such a scenario. And with all of them, I met some of them during the studios, etc., you know, to see them in such moments and then now. And those who are coming, they don't know that what was before does not exist even. Some of their family members have been murdered. There is no mother or there is no father or there is no brother or there is no sister or grandfather or grandmother. It's something during all my military career, I didn't imagine in my bad dreams that we will face such a thing. And I believe that it will be something that will go with us for generations, that the short memory of the Holocaust and the establishment of Israel state brought us such a day that will be in our memory like an Holocaust after the establishment and not to trust anybody of our enemies and to be responsible in much more professional and better way. This is the simple words to the future, to the long time of the Israeli future because without it we will not succeed to survive here and I think this is the something that will give us to keep this state forever as it will be. Eitan, thank God, stay with us. Lots more to discuss, so many emotions right now. We head now to the United Arab Emirates for the latest on the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 28, and we're joined by our Dubai correspondent, Bastia Bori, and of course Bastia, the whole Middle East, watching all these developments here, we're talking about it in studio, but the spotlight also falling on COP 28 in the UAE. Talk us through the impact of this war on the summit there. Well, the war in Gaza had already an early impact on this COP 28 since it affected the opening ceremony, which in fact opened with a minute of silence in tribute to all the civilian victims of this war or in other words on both sides, Israeli and Palestinian, so these are fairly neutral words chosen by the president of this COP 28 and it's obviously a kind of a strategic calculation because the UAE, which is as you said hosting this conference on climate change, has every interest in minimizing the impacts of this conflict because first of all it's happening only three hours away from Dubai and secondly it's a conflict that has great potential to disrupt the negotiations that will take place during this two weeks of conference. The fight to protect the environment is a fight that by definition must be global and yet divisions between states have been exacerbated by the situation in Gaza and as a result you have countries in the world that count in the fight against climate change, countries like Israel for instance, which are investing heavily in the sector and which will not be sending some of their leaders because we saw Isaac Herzog but Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Ali Kohan were due to make the trip but their visit was cancelled and much was expected of potential even informal meeting with Mohamed Salman in particular, the Saudi Crown Prince who needs Israel to ensure Saudi Arabia's energy transition. Certainly will be interesting to see who does in fact speak. We know here Secretary of State Antony Blinken is about to speak in Israel and let's see what he does say at COP28 tomorrow but for now let's leave it there live from Dubai correspondent Bas Diaburi. Thank you so much. And still in studio, Etan Dangot and we're hearing developments out of media in Cairo that there were some obstacles around this latest hostage release and they have been ironed out so to speak. So clearly Egypt Qatar playing a very heavy role in this delay so to speak and apparently sorting it all out. And I would like to emphasize the Egyptian role here. I think that at the beginning there was a tense between Egypt and Israel. You saw a CC is declaring some statements that we are not used to hear all over the years from the moment he came to be the president but as because there were some statements by unofficial Israelis like Israel is going to push people from Gaza towards Sinai and towards Egyptian entity and inside etc. After that you see that now Egypt is the relationship Israel Egypt strategic relationship and the way Egypt is moving ahead these agreement day after day they have really something that I have to say with appreciation to the way they solve the problems with very clear way and they are talking with Hamas and one thing is clear Hamas knows that Egypt is the oxygen for their future the door from Gaza to Egypt is the door from them to the world even the underground activities that I'm sure that in the last years there was digging underground tunnels again between and I'm not saying it by responsibility as something official but cannot be to build such underground activities inside Gaza without getting from Egypt the materials illegally and the way that Hamas did. Today you see that Egypt is moving ahead Hamas and by Egyptians umbrella you see that day after day they are solving the problems. I might say that I'm sure now they will solve the problem of today with the six that has to come to Israel probably is the theater of Hamas every night we will see them maybe later on in the middle of the night but I believe that they will be here. Having overcome the apparent obstacles to arrange for the latest group of hostages to hopefully get home soon in the coming hours at least what about seven o'clock tomorrow morning when that truce is supposed to expire so to speak we know the war cabinet is meeting we'll look at exactly what the implications are there right now though first let's go back to our Middle East correspondent Ariel Oceran he joins us from Hostage Square in Tel Aviv I can't imagine the emotions there what can you tell us Ariel what is the latest where you are? Right Benita so this is a big square and a big complex with many different booths and stands and we're hearing live music being performed in various stands throughout the night it has cleared up a little bit as the hour is getting later and it's getting a little colder but there are still dozens there are still dozens if not hundreds of people here learning about the hostages listening to stories about them and also trying to show their support to the families and loved ones and to raise awareness and that's the situation here but in the past few minutes reports in Egypt indicate that the obstacles that have been raised in implementing the seventh wave of hostage release have been removed according to Al-Kahira News Cairo News the today's hostage release will take place as planned during which six Israeli hostages are expected to be released following the two Israeli hostages two women Mi'ashem and Amit Sousa who have already been released and have reunited with their families in Israel Such a heartwarming special moment when we saw those images of Mi'ashem being reunited with her mother and her brother we saw their embrace and as you say as well Amit Susana also back home with more updates in terms of the time spans here when they get handed over the latest group of hostages to the Red Cross the likely time frames in which they will get back to Israel will they be split up as well into different groups any updates on that front at this hour Ariel Right Benita it's very hard to say at this stage and also from here because unfortunately it's Hamas that's calling the shots and orchestrating its propaganda circus for lack of a better description as it has over the past previous six nights and now usually we get word of the stage that the hostages are in after the fact and so we are awaiting the word to learn that they have been handed over from Hamas to the Red Cross that could potentially be happening right now we just simply don't know we will obviously learn about that from the IDF saying that it has confirmation from the Red Cross that it has received the six Israeli hostages expected to be released today after that they will be transferred to Israeli territory and then accompanied by Israeli military forces underway to Khatziri Mirbez and from there to hospitals in Israel but so far the most important part of that process the handover from Hamas to the Red Cross has not happened yet at least as far as we are aware we are following the situation closely and we will give you updates the moment we hear of any change in the status of the hostages that are expected to be released today Well we certainly are hoping to see more and more images of families reuniting embracing like we said like we saw just a little bit earlier with Mia Shem and her mom and her brother for now thank you so much Middle East correspondent Ariel Osaran live from Tel Aviv thank you and as we were discussing earlier Eitan Dungart we were talking about exactly that that Cairo had overcome the apparent obstacles in getting this group of hostages home at the same time there's another deadline so to speak and that is 7 a.m. when the current truce is said to expire what does it look like from a security perspective they pushed out and another group of hostages hopefully comes home what is your sense of how this is going to unfold First of all use the principle that even it's ended let's say 7 a.m. it doesn't mean that immediately we'll see tanks and the cannons and our shooting it will come on the timing that we will decide that this is the time to open and to do it can be on a different way but we are on a process and I think it's important to say that Israel is giving all the options in a goal to bring here as more as we can this hostages because you see the butchers on the other side so each one that we succeed to bring here in this timing that we took that the maximum is 10 days is to allow ourselves to look to the family's eyes to look to ourselves inside that we did everything we could in order to release them but the second principle we have not to forget that there are involvement of very serious countries like USA the state secretary of the United States is here we are talking about Egypt we spoke in a few minutes ago we are talking about Saudi Arabia those countries modern that are sitting behind on the second circle are waiting to see what happened so we have to be responsibility and if it's not going to be fulfilled I'm sure that when they work cabinet will say this is the endgame for this stage it will be the endgame but on the other way I can assure you that the IDF is now while we are sitting here already has been prepared in readiness plans are being confirmed again cabinet confirmed again so everybody is on their job on readiness to fulfill their tasks Eitan we were talking earlier about the psychological warfare the misinformation the changing information the reports that cannot be verified and now we're getting a report that six Israeli hostages will be released tonight we obviously were expecting eight plus Amit and Mia who are already home so exactly that families are waiting for word and now we're hearing a report that it's only six hostages what do you make of that? you know every night we're sitting here with every night there is another way of lie another way of cruel another way that shows you the guy who is not completed in his mind Sinwa this is the main butcher is planning another way to bring a tense to the Israeli society because he knows us very well he was in the jail we saved his life when we gave him a medical treatment that saved his life and this guy without his with his character is a completely a guy that will do all his can to signal sadness tragic to people he will be punished not now in the coming future but we will see how to press and to solve these kind of problems as I told you with the triangles of Egypt, Qatar, United States Hamas has lost of price they know it, let's not we are not on the place that we have to come to our knees for Hamas for releasing if Hamas decide to close it it will be closed they will be sorry for it very soon it raises the very emotional and sensitive issue of Palestinian security prisoners who are being released from Israeli jails because of course Yahya Sinwar was released in an exchange years ago we know too well what he has achieved so to speak in the time that he has been freed and yet if these releases continue if more and more hostages come home and let's be clear these are civilian hostages who are coming home more and more Palestinian security prisoners will be released from jails, how worrying is this? maybe I will surprise you that I'll tell you that Yahya Sinwar has no interest of those people that were released till now it's not in his interest he does not have any kind of respect to them what is important to Yahya Sinwar that his fellows, his colleagues the murderers that are sitting in jail that their hands are covering with blood these people who are his partners to the next murderer he made it very clear goal from the moment he was released that his main mission is to bring them back to Gaza and to release them from jail and this part will be in his mind when he will come to negotiate with us on releasing the elder people men and of course the Israeli female boys and men soldiers that he is keeping this is his main goal whether he come to it now I'm not optimistic he will come to it maybe only under looking where will be IDF in one, two, three weeks and then maybe he will be convinced to deal about it but this is his main goal not what he is doing what he is doing now was because the situation that he in his murderer partners understood very well the importance of the IDF by maneuvering in the north part of Gaza become a big threat that they need to stop it try to push it to the side and in the time of the ceasefire to full again the underground tunnels with food, water, fuel and organize themselves to the next step they are not now till now broken it will come understood they have to make a ceasefire to save their life immediately but now it will become a renewal and we will see the second shift of this war when Benjamin Netanyahu Joav Garland and others say that this will not be over until the Hamas threat is eliminated talk to us about exactly what that looks like because you can eliminate even the top commanders you can eliminate even the top leaders but to eliminate that mentality, that psychology that evil I'm going to stop you because US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is about to speak thanks for bearing with us through a long day so this is my fourth trip to Israel since the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7th on my last visit here I discussed the potential for humanitarian pauses to facilitate Hamas hostages the surge of humanitarian assistance the protection of Palestinian civilians and I said that there were a number of issues that needed to be worked through but that the United States was committed to achieving these goals today marks the 7th day of the humanitarian pauses in Gaza that the United States was closely with Israel, Qatar and Egypt to put in place the 7th day to live in freed and a returning home to their families the 7th day that significantly more humanitarian assistance is getting into the people of Gaza who need it and the 7th day that civilians in Gaza have been able to move to safer areas I've come again here today to advance a number of goals our immediate focus is working with our partners to extend the pause so that we get more hostages out of Gaza and more assistance in we share the elation the relief of the families from more than a dozen countries including the United States who have been reunited with their loved ones and yet there are scores of family here in Israel the United States and around the world whose loved ones continue to be held captive and who are desperate to get them home safely we will not stop working until we get every hostage back home with their families and loved ones at the same time we continue to surge humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza together with the UN our partners in the region we have significantly increased the flow of food water medicine, fuel to power desalination plants, hospitals just over the past week the mechanisms that we help to negotiate and implement have more than doubled the number of trucks getting into Gaza but this is still not enough to meet the needs of its people which is why we continue to work urgently to get more aid in and to get it in faster sustaining and increasing the flow of humanitarian aid in particular fuel restocking stores with commercial goods these are vital to the lives and livelihoods and well-being of men, women and children that's especially true for the most vulnerable parts of the population children the elderly pregnant women people with disabilities and it's even more pressing as winter sets in the United Nations disease outbreaks the government of Israel agrees with the imperative of humanitarian assistance and the need to sustain it Prime Minister Netanyahu also made clear that Israel intends to resume its military operations against Hamas when Hamas stops releasing hostages as we've said from the outset Israel has the right to do everything it can to ensure that the slaughter Hamas carried out on October 7th can never be repeated Hamas cannot remain in control of Gaza it cannot retain the capacity to repeat that carnage that was only underscored by this morning's appalling terrorist attack on people waiting at a bus stop in Jerusalem which killed three Israeli civilians and wounded at least six others including two American citizens Hamas has claimed responsibility for that attack it called its perpetrators heroic we mourn those killed just as we mourn the loss of every innocent civilian life Israeli or Palestinian but as I've also said since I first came here after October 7th the way Israel defends itself matters it's imperative that Israel act in accordance with international humanitarian law and the laws of war confronting a terrorist group that respects neither in my meetings today with the Prime Minister and senior Israeli officials I made clear that before Israel resumes major military operations it must put in place humanitarian civilian protection plans that minimize further casualties of innocent Palestinians that means taking more effective steps to protect the lives of civilians including by clearly and precisely designating areas and places in southern Gaza where they can be safe and out of the line of fire it means avoiding further significant displacement of civilians inside of Gaza it means avoiding damage to life critical infrastructure like hospitals like power stations like water facilities and it means giving civilians who've been displaced to southern Gaza the choice to return to the north as soon as conditions permit there must be no enduring internal displacement all of this can be done in a manner that still enables Israel to achieve its objectives of course we know that every one of these elements is made more complicated by the fact that Hamas intentionally embeds itself with civilians within and below hospitals schools, apartment buildings, refugee camps but Israel has the most sophisticated one of the most sophisticated militaries in the world it is capable of neutralizing the threat posed by Hamas while minimizing harm to innocent men, women and children and it has an obligation to do so ultimately that's not just the right thing to do, it's also in Israel's security interest the prime minister and members of the war cabinet agreed with the need for this approach we discussed the details of Israel's ongoing planning and I underscore the imperative of the United States to give law of civilian life and displacement of the scale that we saw in northern Gaza not be repeated in the south as I told the prime minister intent matters but so does the result at the same time Hamas has choices too Hamas could immediately release all of the hostages it holds it could stop using civilians as human shields and stop using civilian infrastructure to stage and launch terrorist attacks Hamas could lay down its arms surrender the leaders who are responsible for the slaughter the torture the rapes of October 7th Hamas could renounce stated goal of eliminating Israel killing Jews and repeating the atrocities of October 7th again and again and again meanwhile everyone around the world who cares about protecting innocent civilians innocent lives should be calling on Hamas indeed demanding of Hamas that it immediately stop its murderous acts of terror and deplorable use of innocent men, women and children as human shields in our meetings with Israeli leaders here and in Jerusalem and Palestinian leaders in Ramallah we discussed our continued focus on preventing the conflict from spreading to the West Bank to Israel's northern border or to the broader region I raised our deep concerns about steps that could escalate tensions in the West Bank including extremist settler violence and proposals from parts of the Israeli coalition government to further expand settlements I made clear our expectations about addressing these issues we also focused on what we can what we must do now today after the conflict to create the conditions for a durable and lasting peace building on the principles that I set out a few weeks ago during the G7 meeting in Tokyo breaking out of the cycle of violence the cycle of conflict ensuring Israel's enduring security demands improving the lives of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank in immediate tangible ways and providing them with a credible path toward their legitimate liberation for statehood and ongoing conversations with Israeli, Palestinian and Arab leaders we'll discuss practical steps to make real a just and lasting peace and what each of us is prepared to do to help achieve it we have no illusions this is going to be easy we will surely have disagreements along the way but if we're going to move forward on practical steps toward lasting peace lasting security we have to be willing to work through these disagreements because the alternative more terrorist attacks more violence more innocent suffering is unacceptable that's why the United States is here and we're leading toward this goal with that happy to take some questions the first question goes to Humaira Pamuk with Reuters hello Mr. Secretary you said the US is urging Israel to ensure the protection of civilians before starting its operations in southern Gaza I'm wondering you've talked about what you made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu and the war cabinet but what concrete and specific assurances have you gotten from them if any based on what you heard from them today are you confident Israel will follow the international laws of war in southern Gaza when it resumes its military operations my second question is you and others in the administration have repeatedly said that the United States wants to see a revitalized Palestinian authority to rule Gaza and the West Bank so could you tell us what exactly the US vision is for a revitalized PA and does it include a reshuffle in the leadership thank you so as I said we made clear the imperative that before any operations go forward in southern Gaza that there be a clear plan in place that puts a premium on protecting civilians as well as sustaining and building on the humanitarian assistance that's getting into Gaza and the Israeli government agreed with that approach there are concrete steps that are not appropriate for me to detail here tonight that we know and we heard can ensure to the best of anyone's ability that that happens it's obviously challenging given the particular conditions that Israel has to deal with in getting to Hamas and making sure again that it can't represent the threat that it posed on October 7th but again Israel understands the imperative of protecting civilians the imperative of humanitarian assistance and will continue to work to ensure that carries forward in practice and again as I said to the prime minister to the war cabinet intent is obviously to start and it's vitally important and I'm very confident in the intent but results of course are fundamentally what matters with regard to the Palestinian Authority we've said and indeed I had an opportunity to discuss today with president Abbas the need for reform the need to revitalize to revamp the Palestinian Authority so that it can most effectively meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people and deliver for them there are a number of things that go into that including for example reform so that it more effectively combats corruption that it engages and empowers civil society that it supports free press and open media and a number of other things leadership choices force up to the Palestinian people and Palestinians themselves but there are a number of things that we think would be critical to making sure that again the Palestinian Authority can be effective in helping to advance the aspirations and the needs of its people for the next question Tal Shalev with Wala Secretary Blinken there are disagreements between you and the Israeli government about the way forward regarding the timetable is there a time limit from the U.S. point of view on the operation on the continuation of the operation in Gaza and another question there are about 140 hostages still left in Gaza many of them are reportedly severely injured and yet the yet cross hasn't yet visited them can you clarify if this was indeed included in the agreement and if it was why isn't it being implemented and why Israel pressured to continue to expand the humanitarian assistance to Gaza while the Hamas does not let humanitarian access to our hostages thank you first part of the question we support continue to support will continue to support Israel's efforts to do everything possible to ensure that Hamas cannot repeat the horrors of October 7th and that means among other things that Hamas cannot remain responsible for governance in Gaza and it cannot retain the capacity to repeat those attacks how Israel does it those are decisions for Israel to make but as I've said I believe it's very important that in engaging in that effort the way it does matters makes a big difference and as we've just discussed the imperative of putting a premium on protecting civilians and ensuring humanitarian assistance flows into Gaza is something that is vital to us and something that the Israeli government agrees with on the hostages I'm not going to get into any negotiations or any agreements but clearly it would be very beneficial and important for the Red Cross to have access to hostages to be able to check on their well-being and condition having said that of course none of that should be necessary there shouldn't be any hostages in the first place that horrific part of what Hamas did on October 7 is something that we are dealing with now every single day the positive development as I said we're now completing the 7th day where hostages have been returned to their families and that's a very positive and powerful thing it's something that we want to see continue and Hamas should release everyone right now but in the absence of doing that and as this process I hope continues yes it would be very good for the Red Cross to have access and to see them the question of humanitarian assistance is something fully apart from Hamas or the hostages because this is about innocent men, women and children in Gaza not Hamas who desperately need the aid who desperately need the help conditions in Gaza are very, very, very difficult and severe and the need for the most basic things for food for water for medicine for fuel to make sure that people can have clean water they can have sewage systems that work that's absolutely essential and it's imperative and as I said earlier particularly as we head into winter we're already seeing the potential for disease outbreaks because for example of a lack of potable drinking water so this is an imperative it's an imperative because it's the right thing to do it's an imperative because it's the necessary thing to do and again I come away convinced from my discussions with the Israeli government that they fully understand that but believe that and we'll act on it Vivian Salama with the Wall Street Journal Thank you Mr. Secretary I know it's been a long day so apologies for the bundle of questions Hamas is believed to have released the vast number of women and children that were in its captivity so what assurances of any do you have that Hamas might be open to releasing male hostages and on the flip side of that is Israel prepared to agree to the conditions set out by Hamas on that separately President Biden has signaled that the US is prepared to issue visa bans on what he described as extremist Israeli settlers what is the status of that and forgive me one last one on India federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged India in a murder for hire scheme targeting Sikh separatists and activists in New York who is a US citizen according to the indictment the assassination plot was organized by an Indian government official the US charges come shortly after Canada Canada's Prime Minister said that the Indian government participated in extra judicial killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil are you concerned that India is turning to tactics of violating international human rights law to silence its critics around the world thank you Thanks Vivian so three not bad but yes nice and concise so on the release of more hostages look I can't speak to Hamas's views or its intentions I can tell you that for the United States for Israel for other countries who have their citizens being held captive by Hamas clearly we want to see this process continue move forward we want an eighth day and beyond so that people can be returned to their families and that applies to all hostages whatever category it may happen to be in but it's also up to Hamas and again I can't speak to their intentions I can say that I think this process has clearly been beneficial and the fact that so many have now been reunited with their loved ones and families is something we I think take joy in but a lot of unfinished business when it comes to bringing the hostages home with regard to extremist violence all I can all I can tell you is this we're looking to the Israeli government to take some additional steps to really put a stop to this and at the same time we're considering our own steps finally with regard to India first this is a an ongoing legal matter so you'll understand I can't comment on it in detail I can say that this is something we take very seriously a number of us have raised this directly with the Indian government in past weeks the government announced today that it was conducting an investigation and we look forward to seeing the results and the final question goes to Kassem Al-Katib with Al-Sharp Good evening Mr. Secretary and this is Kassem Al-Katib from Al-Sharp News my questions lots of discussion are going on you called revamp the Palestinian Authority leadership do you consider that we are free fair election in Gaza Jerusalem and West Bank so first as a matter of basic principle we support free and fair elections around the world including of course for Palestinians they should have a right to choose their own leaders and the way to do it is through free and fair elections but that has to be a process and it's something that we need to be talking about as we move from the conflict to as we've been calling it the day after looking at what needs to happen in Gaza as well as the West Bank but starting in Gaza particularly with regard to things like governance, like security like rebuilding and part of that discussion needs to be about what happens but again it's a process and it's something that work needs to go into in the time ahead I'm sorry I couldn't hear you so again we're focused right now on Gaza and what we need to see happen in Gaza to make sure that there is governance that is different from what it has right now which is Hamas that it has security that it has rebuilding all of those things are what we're focused on and need to be focused on and as part of that discussion we'll obviously look at the question of elections and when and how Palestinians are able to choose their leaders thank you thanks everyone have a good evening yes and that was US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken wrapping up his fourth visit here since October 7th and before we unpack this statement and this busy diplomatic day we want to turn now straight to the field I-24 News Correspondent, Nikol Tadek is in southern Israel, Nikol we are still awaiting initially eight Israeli hostages to be released today after two hostages were released earlier but in the last hour Hamas is indicating only six will be released and even those six are not yet on the go so what do we know let's try to clear the clutter it is an ever-ending waiting game it seems but yes as you've said those numbers have unfortunately been fluctuating throughout the day and as we're talking about these numbers it's important to remember we are talking about people we are talking about lives that have been held captive for almost two months now so as they continue to fluctuate these numbers initially Israeli media throughout the day reporting possibly eight Israeli hostages returning home today later that number was actually bumped up to ten with two Russian Israelis who might be returned as well according to Hamas now Hamas is claiming six and we're hearing from different Egyptian media sources as well that some of this delay apparently that we have seen in the return of the hostages throughout the night it says that they have figured out that delay and that they are moving forward with the release of those hostages but the release of six hostages so as far as what's happening right now these are just the updates that we're getting but we haven't really seen any movement happening in the Gaza Strip or these hostages to be handed over to the Red Cross so far the only movement that we've seen happened about 5 p.m. Israel time now it's 10 after 10 p.m. that was nearly five hours ago we did see Mia Shem and Amit Suzana finally returned back here to Israel but since then it's been pretty quiet and then I guess quiet on the news end but when you're talking about some of these different streets here specifically here in Ofakim this is exactly where Mia and Amit were brought through these streets they were welcomed home by crowds of Israelis waving their flags opening their arms a truly emotional sight to see the cheers and the love and a very very warm welcome but we want to see that warm welcome for more people tonight and that's exactly what many of the people here in Ofakim are waiting for and this is exactly the mirror image of those horrific scenes that unfortunately became a habit that the hostages in Gaza are being released while they're surrounded by not just armed terrorists but by a cheering mob, an angry mob I don't even know to describe their sentiments but surrounded with people in Gaza and then the homecoming surrounded with their people with Israeli flags obviously the exact opposite of that alright Nikol Tzedek not much is known but we're of course keeping tabs on every single development awaiting more hostages to be released tonight thank you very much Nikol for this and as there are more questions and answers we want to welcome now a here in studio Dr. Fadi Smale former senior staffer at the U.S. Congress and research fellow at the International Institute for Counterterrorism perhaps the only man who can provide some clarity or some answers at least we'll try to let's lower expectations tonight because we were both sitting here listening to U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken wrapping up again a fourth visit since the beginning of the war and I must say respectfully Dr. Smale we didn't really get a sense of what is to happen more of the same there's a tactical level that we are seeing right now negotiations last minute changes maneuvering pressures all this stuff I'm sure everybody talks about this all the time and then there's the bird's eye view and the answers are actually there but they're not convenient they're not happy answers and they're not pleasant answers actually to no one let me start with a very strong statement that again is real but it's not comfortable for several years now we have been told that the Palestinian issue is off the table there we have normalization nobody cares about the Palestinians they're forgotten they are out there nobody they are completely forgot they don't exist anymore alright it's a sideline issue it can be dealt with later whatever this this I'm trying to find a word for it that we can use on the air this massacre this action by this group of marauders that they did on October 7th did one thing among many which is bringing back the Palestinian issues and place its smack in the middle of international politics no doubt about that and it is not only about image everybody is so worried about the image the image is lost because the optics are impossible there is no way to win not in the not in the work culture that we live in now we cannot win that but what we can do is realize what's really going on here the substance and the fact is that what Hamas did it didn't do only to Israel it messed up with the process that was a global economic process and political and geo-strategic process that the last break of which would have been the normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia and this axis that goes from Asia all the way the Middle East into Europe and that would have been solidified and would have taken us into a very different 21st century and 22nd century they managed within 12 hours to mess all of this up so they became an international player this group of nobodies they did it because ruining stuff is much easier than building it when the Oslo process was derailed by the same exact people they did it, it was going and then they did it with a few bombs, suicide bombings the whole thing went to nowhere so this is the big picture now the question is how did it happen well, there's another uncomfortable truth but usually truths are inconvenient and uncomfortable and even annoying because that's the nature once we look at them we can start working Hamas was not born today and was born on October 7th and the whole processes and developments that led to that Black Saturday started decades ago that's what, you see where I'm going with that and this is why dealing with it has to look into the future, it will not be done by one agreement, Hamas will not go away in a minute, they have 40,000 fighters who are still, I think we didn't even touch them almost and of course Hamas has an idea and in this respect, Dr. Fadi Ismail we do need to ask if we are looking from the Berze and perhaps I will put that on the table and we'll go to our own Ultraman at the David Ender Continent on Tel Aviv where US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken just wrapped up his speech but they will say that there's also a question Dr. Ismail whether this pursuit of terror is driven by despair, by conditions or by ideology and this is also a question that should be put on the table well let me put it this way we studied this a lot at ICT with my teachers and colleagues there if you want to talk about this right now maybe we'll hold this thought right here, go to Owen and we'll continue from that Owen Ultraman at 24 years senior diplomatic correspondent US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken just wrapping up his remarks at tonight Owen we were trying to figure out here in studio whether we heard anything that could actually give us an indication of what is yet to come perhaps you can point that out I think a very clear message from the Secretary of State here Ali again not all of it new right a lot of these lines are things we've been hearing from the administration from him whether from John Kirby over the past few days this idea of a humanitarian plan before military operations start in southern Gaza of course we learned from the Secretary that at least according to him the Israeli government is on board with doing that of course the question is how does their plan look and what kind of plan does the Biden administration want to see and how do you negotiate that at least he doesn't concept that's on board he said but he said three things and I think it's questionable whether all and I think it was important because it was not said by him in his most recent statements that the United States still supports the ending of Hamas governance control over the Gaza Strip an important statement not only saying that October 7th must not happen again also that more explicit goal about the war that hadn't happened before but he also said two other things personally said the idea of protecting civilians and allowing humanitarian aid with the humanitarian plan and the third thing he said although he didn't say it here tonight was that Israel has that Israel's war is time limited right that was reported earlier on in Israeli media Ali all three cannot be true at the same time where it's questionable throughout the same time can you protect civilians have a war that lasts only weeks and also be able to achieve the goal of toppling Hamas it seems questionable whether all three can work together now it's possible that there isn't the time limit that somehow that was misreported and if that's the case you could have a lower intensity conflict in principle it seems to me that goes on for a longer period of time and leads to the toppling of Hamas but again it would take time so the goals I guess the goals are in tension with one another right the goal of protecting civilians the goal of having this end quickly and the goal of toppling Hamas going to be very very difficult to achieve all three at the same time and the United States is going to have to be clear sooner rather than later about how it sees the trade-offs and which of those it prioritizes and in terms of the international pressure or the American pressure more specifically that was expected or as you've put it earlier this week and the dog that did not bark yet when it comes to Israeli actions in the southern part of this trip Blinken did say that intent matters meaning that the US well aware of Israel's intent not to create collateral damage but so does the the result that's right and that was a new line by the way and at least by my read may go beyond Israel's legal obligations right certainly the idea of intent when judging an action right about the issues of proportionality and so forth I'm not sure that I mean that to me seems to be the central factor and now he's adding this other layer of results which I guess from the American perspective again he's in addition to looking at the legal standard of course looking at the pictures and the fallout on American interest which is why he's making that point and again to go back to the central tension here right is it possible to end Hamas control over the Gaza Strip while also protecting civilians to the degree that Anthony Blinken seems to expect is it possible he says it is but Ali I suspect it's a much much more open question and I suspect that the tension between those two goals if it hasn't surfaced already and of course it has it's about the surface in a much much more direct way as the United States is raising the bar on what it expects to see in terms of civilian protections and the question is will that mean that the United States and Israel have to compromise on their goals in terms of how much damage they want to inflict on Hamas and ending Hamas's control over the Gaza Strip again Anthony Blinken says you can do both the question is can you? Yeah some things someone will have to give I-24 News a senior diplomatic correspondent Owen Ultraman at the David Intercontinental in Tel Aviv with the delegation of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken thank you very much for this Owen back here in the studio with Dr. Fadi Ismail Dr. Ismail before we go back to our earlier conversation perhaps a bit about what was reported and what was alluded to by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about his meeting with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas we have heard those new terms the American Administration Biden himself are using to define this new invigorated revitalized Palestinian authority that is set to take control at some point we again there are reports that Mahmoud Abbas is presenting his own sort of outline for what it could entail and this connects to your earlier remarks and the longer run here is another an inconvenient truth here if we're going to do if we're going to take stock of what went on yeah and I want to fix the problem I want to see this Hamas again I have to clean my language Marauders nothing that's a good word out of the picture it won't happen in one month it won't happen in one year it won't happen in one decade it will take time but not in one decade no of course not but we can make them I mean doesn't mean that it will be a decade from now as strong as they're now of course yeah just me now before we get all let's remember the basics you you started with very good question about terrorism right okay I don't want to go to the definitions there's like 140 150 of them in the world Professor Ganor my teacher has collected all of them and found five levels and five areas everybody who is interested can read Mr. Professor Ganor's book and get the that's not the issue the issue is this how do you deal with these organizations first of all there's a money issue right I mean people get frustrated people get angry people get injured and they want to avenge they want to do something but unless somebody offers them the infrastructure the tools the operational control the moral support the whole system in place they won't be able to or they will not go necessarily to that direction there's more than one direction in which you can engage in order to voice frustration and get results but just as a side note doctor is male just this morning we got a reminder to the quote unquote unquote good old terrorism we put aside this this attack fatal attack in Jerusalem as I said it's a climate yeah you don't make cause climate change within a few military just in terms of the resources element yeah but there's a difference okay and I'm saying once again because there's also resources resources also radio stations and TV station and social media teams and all these things now I remember during the 70s we were talking about the six when I was that young but the 70s were almost dated myself here we were talking about to the all these liberation movements all over the world that represent the spirit of the peoples and you cannot fight them I remember there was an army faction in Italy by the Meinhof in Germany and all that and we thought they are representative of some deep what in the end the minute the Soviet Union was broke got out of the picture the money dried up they disappeared because a lot of it the shining path all these that they just we don't hear them anymore where are they going to go away but it means that the people will have to go elsewhere so the financial they taking away the means in your money where your mouth is essentially and if I am for 20 years allowing 20 30 40 50 million dollars to walk into Gaza every month to the hands of Hamas what do you expect yes that is a stop and there's much more we can do we can talk about it once again exactly we'll put a stop right and we'll continue shortly because now as more of the hostages are now the freed and hopefully this term will become relevant to all of the hostages were made in captivity hospitals across Israel are learning as they go receiving more and treating more obviously each case for its own but here the latest update from the chief executive of the Schneider children's medical center these were once again the gut turning images of Misha reuniting with her mother after 55 days in captivity earlier tonight and as again we're still waiting for the release of at least six six more hostages we want now to say a very warm hello to Amichai Sdajma his step mother 85 year old Dica Hyman was a release from Hamas captivity just two days ago but two days out of captivity more than just two days obviously she's one of this squad of white haired superhero grandmothers from Kibbutz Niroz who reminded us all what the Israeli spirit is all about Amichai first and foremost we obviously are joining the joy that is probably filling all of you with those recent days but how was Dica what she heard I mean we have a very short conversation with her at the night she was going back home and she surprisingly what they consider sounds very good and looks good so she seemed like herself she first asked how we doing everybody is doing how the kids are doing so she's a very like a solid grandmother cares about everyone other than herself and yet Amichai we are hearing before perhaps we hear about the many challenges it is important to know that Dica is a veteran social worker who kept on working even past the age of 80 right so when it comes to emotional or mental resilience she's got it that she walked until she was able to travel anymore I think she was working in Doseva for many many years as a social worker helping families and children she wanted to keep working but was become hard for the community and so on so she stopped eventually at 80 again perhaps throughout the years collected so many elements of again emotional and mental resilience that came to the test during those horrific 53 days and unfortunately we're hearing more and more horrendous details on what the captivity looked like what are you hearing from your stepmother as much as you would like and want to share of course we do know that she not get any medicine for those 53 days that's one thing that is important to note she like many people in her age need medicine and she did not get it for 53 days another thing we know like I said I don't have a lot of information she was not held in a tunnel she was held in some house which is good and bad she's not in a closed underground but it's also make it less safe hostages are held in houses also might expose the other risks so basically the sooner home the better so put it inside yes no doubt about that and again we're trying to hang on to the to the glass half full here as much as possible take us to the moment of her homecoming to the moment you got the message we didn't know anything from October 7 until she was on the list so basically it's completely in a dark in terms of what's going on with her and how she doing and how she coping so that's all this seven plus weeks we don't have any information and then when we heard she was on the list that's a huge release because we know that she is alive people on the list are alive and then we anxiously watch the the videos that's what you have exactly what you're showing but yeah we watched the videos in Gaza where she was taking from my Hamas into the Red Cross ambulance she was in the building and then from the ambulance into the building they're crossing the border and then this is really important moments for us that we see that she is there and she is doing seem to be she originally she was on the wheelchair but then she actually from the building into the Israeli bus she was walking so that was a good sign that she is relatively with the health Yes Jewish Israeli kibbutzniks grandmothers our force of nature that's no doubt what so ever we're wishing you and your stepmother Dica a lot of together together time full of hugs and love and this is all that counts after this war she and all of you have been through thank you very much for speaking with us thank you thank you for having me I hope everybody will get homesick amen absolutely thank you back here in the studio with Dr. Fadi Ismail let's do before we talk again about the greater scheme of things are the bird's eye as you've put it earlier Dr. Ismail we're still it's 10.40 p.m. local time here meaning an hour and 20 till midnight from the dynamic of yesterday we understand that midnight does not mean that the day expires but rather later on until the early hours of the morning because we've seen this dynamic today and yet in this atmosphere it is quite evident that it is not sustainable he's talking about the ceasefire the hostage release day in day out Hamas will drag this as much as they can and I would do the same if they were in the way if I were there playing their cards of course there's one thing I don't know if they're thinking about this yeah they're taking a breather here they're reorganizing they're doing all they want to do but also does the IDF and in the end the spirit of the boys inside I'm getting echoes from there they're dying to go back into work they don't care about anything they just let us continue the work so I assume and I kind of assume that IDF planners are working very harder on the clock in developing the plans for further work and soldiers will fall they will and that's the way it is and that's how war happens and they're willing to do that the morale is at a place where I don't recall it ever happening you know so yeah and Hamas might be gained a few days but so did IDF those are Hamas that is regrouping or you know what we want them to regroup think about this when they're moving we can see them it's when they're sitting in those hideouts and not moving that's a problem from an intelligence standpoint everything they're doing now we can see if they want to regroup, fine it's easier to catch 50 together than catch one and the challenges in the south are difficult we can do it, we just have to let it do it you know what I'm saying now here's another problem there are time windows there's a question of ammunition there's a question of ammunition overseas although President Biden did open the stockpile but if we are Dr Ismail talking about more surgical ground operations meaning less area electivity we're talking about a different type of warden the one we've seen in the north different war economics war economics are important absolutely and they are the key so I'm sure IDF has done its first thing now it doesn't mean that we'll continue to do exactly the same thing we're not going to do exactly what they expect because that's not how we do war everybody is kind of lamenting that we're giving them time first of all let's bring every hostage back home this is a moral and strategic imperative because the people here need to see that happening the system failed these people let's call it what it is there will be time to talk about all of these things and we will talk in a very sharp language I'll be here and I will be using very harsh language and you know me I can use it but at this point in time let's win this thing but now bring as many as you can back home the term all let them ask a few days okay we'll manage the price tag again those horrific terms when we're talking about human lives and yet the price tag that Thomas will put on other groups as in soldiers and men different more complex but once again we're putting a stop but getting right back to it we want to take a listen now again as we're still waiting for the release of today's hostages earlier today release of two we want to take a listen to the aunt of Mia Shem Viviana down giving an update on on her beloved niece who came back home after 55 years days rather in captivity finally she's here with us she went through a big trauma it's very thin she's very weak a vet conducted a surgery on her arm no therapy she told them that she's not a soldier that she had foreign nationality a French nationality she knew what to say to them but I did not ask her questions I did not engage in any inquiries because the second we started asking questions we could see that it's tough on her it's difficult for her we're happy that she's with us but it is very difficult to see her like that that she was there she was there it was like a Russian roulette it was like a Russian roulette every second we're looking to see if Mia is on the list not on the list it was very difficult yesterday we thought that she was on the list and then they said that she wasn't it pales me completely what the families of the hostages are going through is not normal this entire situation is simply not normal and we must bring back all the hostages yes this is Viviana down the ant of Mia of Mia Shem and connecting to perhaps the economic element that Dr. Fadi Ismail here in studio addressed earlier the war front that is now on the back burner will soon be taking center stage the legal battlefield that is and we want now to take a look back to better understand it now and perhaps get a glimpse of the future a short recap on May 13 1996 Palestinian terrorists driving around West Bank spotted a bus packed with young boys they attacked the group hitting 17 year old David Boyd in the head an American citizen Boyd was pronounced dead an hour later he's believed to be the first American ever killed by Hamas the people who orchestrated the attack well what we want to focus on now is the legal fight of David's parents Stanley and Joyce who sued a host of American charities they claim for providing material support to Hamas and Juan so we want to head now to Chicago and welcome Mr. Daniel Schlesinger a partner at the Jazz Chica PC and a lead attorney who represented the Boyd family then Mr. Schlesinger thank you so very much for joining us we appreciate your time Sarah well money makes the world go round and more so when it comes to terror and this is what you were targeting back then in your case simply put what is the line the U.S. say and what are the legal grounds for this suit thank you very much for having me it's a pleasure to be here it's a horrific story as you mentioned David Boyd a 17 year old boy was a student in Jerusalem was killed at a bus stop he was the first American killed by Hamas terror and just a horrible tragedy it's worth noting that his attack as you mentioned was orchestrated by the same Hamas leadership that is now responsible for the atrocities of October 7 and this morning it all came back full circle as another bus stop in Jerusalem was attacked by the same Hamas leadership that orchestrated David Boyd's killing in 1996 just as the IDF is fighting its own battles to eradicate Hamas I think it's incumbent on all of us to do what we can to make sure that we eliminate Hamas to the extent that we can and Hamas established a group here Hamas doesn't really have existence in the United States but is Islamic Association for Palestine which was the manifestation of Hamas here in the United States and it provided all kinds of support financial and other support to Hamas to enable it to carry out this activity the battle we can fight here in the United States legally is under something called the Anti-Terrorism Act which allows us to sue not just the terrorists but people who provide material support to the terrorists and so on behalf of the Boyd family we obtained a judgment for $156 million against the Islamic Association for Palestine the embodiment of Hamas here in the United States we really anticipated that IAP just essentially moved down the street changed its name, put a new name on its door and continued operating as an organization called American Muslims for Palestine and what we're doing now is trying to enforce the $156 million judgment against IAP we're trying to enforce that against its successor AMP So just to be clear Mr. Schlesinger I'm going to go back to the detail of the past because those same organizations you targeted or addressed back then are still active still playing a pivotal role in steering not just public opinion but actions against Israel, Israelis, Jews nowadays in the U.S. Exactly right AMP is one of the organizations that's primarily responsible for creating and supporting SJP which is the Students for Justice in Palestine that's the organization that's leading all these horrible protests disturbing all kinds of activities like the Macy's Parade and the lighting of the Christmas tree but they're also more importantly making it difficult or impossible for Zionists or even for Jews to live on campuses of most American colleges these days and it's incumbent on us I think to help prevent the normalization of Hamas as horrific as the events of October 7th where groups like SJP are trying to create the impression that it's a reasonable response to Israeli oppression for Hamas to commit these atrocities and they're actually gaining ground in that and that's why I think it's vital for us to carry on these legal battles to help bring it to the attention of the American public that there is no moral equivalence that Hamas and sometimes there is no need for context as now is required by those groups to try and justify what happened on October 7th but I do want us to circle back as you mentioned to the legal fight that is yet to begin really there are many different dimensions to it but if you were to advise to Israel to Israeli should they pursue legal action against Hamas-related organizations or individuals in civil proceedings like you did back in the 90s I think it would be a great idea now the anti-terrorism act applies to anybody who provides material support to an organization like Hamas and anyone with American nationality is eligible to bring a lawsuit against these organizations as long as we can demonstrate that they are providing material support to Hamas any American national who has been injured by Hamas terrorist activities is eligible to bring lawsuits in the United States and perhaps similarly to this shift that Israel needs to make on many different fronts when it comes to public or global public opinion and yes perhaps also underground to be proactive rather than reacting to the other side maybe on the legal front this is a battle worth taking Mr. Daniel Schlesinger, a partner at Jastrik PCNN, a lead attorney represented the Boeing family we really appreciate your time and insight sir fascinating angle it again to be continued unfortunately thank you very much sir for your time thank you back here in the city with Dr. Fadi Ismail you mentioned earlier the issue of funds of cutting the oxygen for those organizations this is one of many ways to do so we're not even talking about this talking point about how Hamas keeps on surviving financially even now when we say we don't talk about this I mean you talk about it I'm not trying to say but I'm saying this point has been clear to us since my work even in Congress as a staffer I saw these community organizations that were hiding behind just community organizations working for Arabs and Muslims which is okay the thing is that people who ran these organizations were Muslim Brotherhood and now in the year 2001 2003 when everybody was trying to heal from 9-11 how do you tell people who were born and raised in the US or in the West that these nice folks holding festivals and holding large dinners and invite members of Congress and invite state senators and invite county supervisors how do you sit there being an Israeli tell them guys you've been playing I mean you just look you see that and you can read in the eyes of the guy and presents this image of I'm just here because I'm an American who happened to be a Muslim and you know that and he takes the mantle of I don't want to use names but some of those names became famous and he takes this mantle of representing the Muslims in the United States which he doesn't he just represents a very specific Muslim Brotherhood attitude and that's how they do it and that's how they manage to get into the systems so deeply and those organizations are obvious now there are other organizations that are still active in America that are too smart to do what I now let me answer a question if you buy if you for example now if you are let's say contributing half a million dollars for new carpets for a big mosque is that illegal you just buying carpets so I transfer the money to buy carpets do we know what happened to that money later probably not just buying carpets I promise you we don't know a lot of money is transferred physically it's called the hawaiida system so you have this event I'd say somewhere in Southern California in East Texas it doesn't matter and everybody's having a good time but these are the same mechanisms that some groups here in Israel have been urging the EU to to examine where is your money going but here's the deal I'm going to say the inconvenient truth the Israeli government allowed it so again all of this stuff we will have to look into very deeply very soon and in a very painstaking way because as I said this has been cooking for decades we will not fix it in in a couple of weeks if somebody thinks it's going to be fixed in the next two weeks I don't know how yes long way to go but we're focusing on the now and now reports that the finally at last the transfer of hostages Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip to the Red Cross is underway as we speak meaning that they're starting their way back home and at the same time Egyptian sources are telling the pro-Qatari, Al-Arabi, Al-Jadid newspaper that there are already contacts to extend the ceasefire in another day with Hamas signaling to the mediators, the Qatar mediators this is the last batch would be the first the last batch of hostages we will be able to provide that are currently in our hands quick break and we'll be back at the top of the hour with all the updates from the ground don't go anywhere made men's fashion to your measurements made for me designer of all your events schedule your appointment at www.madeforme.co.il made for me official dresser of i24 news good evening ladies and gentlemen our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception it's something that certainly needs to to be fought as well thanks for staying with us nasty deja vu but it's 11 p.m. local time and finally after much delay it seems that another group of Israeli hostages is going to get released tonight from Hamas captivity so for the latest we want to cross now live to southern Israel i24 news correspondent Nikol Cedric is there Nikol we spoke less than an hour ago and we still didn't know how many if at all now reports that the transfer has begun meaning a route to the first step of the of the way the Red Cross exactly Ellie we are getting those reports in just as we're speaking that some of these hostages are finally in the process of being handed over to the Red Cross as far as exactly how many that's a number that is still being thrown around and that's a number that we are anxiously waiting for because as we were speaking earlier Ellie these are lives these are people that have been kept in Hamas captivity and so finally hearing these reports that some movement after hours now as you said it's 11 p.m. Israel time people have been anxiously waiting all through the night even here in al-Fakim as earlier today we saw people lining the streets welcoming home two of those freed Israeli hostages me and shem and the mitzuzana but also hoping to see more of them returned home and as we are anxiously going through the night I want to also say that as many people are going to sleep they're unsure in these southern towns what they're going to be waking up to are they going to be waking up to another day of a halt in this fighting or are they going to be waking up to possibly the sounds of sirens or war in their neighborhood near the Gaza Strip so this is something that many of these residents also know is a reality as we go kind of against this ticking clock that is the ceasefire and this truce negotiations but as far as what we're looking forward to tonight we are looking at the movement hopefully seeing some of those hostages handed over to the Red Cross soon and from there from the Red Cross to Israeli forces and finally Ellie back here in Israeli territory yes they're still still some time several stops along the way but they're they're on their way back home and this is the only thing that matters tonight Nicole Zedek, I-24 news correspondent with the I-24 news team of course down south thank you so very much for this and we are moving now to the Shiba Medical Center I-24 news correspondent Zach Anders is not we will get back to Zach later on but for now let's do go back here in studio to Dr. Fadi Ismail rather you've mentioned earlier the issue of funds and that brings us to the chief orchestrator of this theater of horror that we're seeing here and I mean Iran we just transferred $10 billion there and the Saudis with their own attempt to solve to defuse the situation let's call it that way trying to throw money at the problem to invest in Iranian economy to try and encourage Iran to contain their proxies but to your field of expertise with American Congress, American politics there are reports at least that there is some level of dissatisfaction in the Pentagon with the Biden administration's decision not to to make Iran pay any cost at least not for now for what we've seen during recent weeks and that includes also the Houthis also the attack of pro-uranian militias on American forces not just the October 7th massacre not just the Palestinian issue. Seems that this is a night for inconvenient truths. Iran has outmaneuvered the West that's how it is they did it in a way I mean rule number one in the art of war since we're going to sound a little bit like that. I mean this is the big general I mean if you're going to intellectualize the conversation a little bit rule number one is a good general is the one that creates a conditions that make war victory inevitable for the army with as little investments as possible this is what Iran has do all the time this attack happened they did not invest anything in it and they got so many positive capital from it while remaining completely completely hidden or let's say protected and on top of all of this they're going to get money now we can't be very upset with the Biden administration but again the situation that we are in right now was created by decades worth of short-sightedness and not paying attention to bombing Iraq that was a big shield in front of Iran no but imagine in Iraq this Iranian policy of acting through proxies is the immediate after effect of the Iran-Iraq war it's actually already an occupation Iran today has an empire that starts in the eastern Afghanistan and ends up on the Mediterranean it controls four Arab capital cities directly militarily and through proxies which are small armies all over the place and it also has influence all over the globe they did this because it worked for three or four decades systematically and once we removed the big shield in front of them which was Saddam Hussein there was nothing to stop them so again now we understand the problem we are still stronger we are more advanced we have the moral high ground in terms of being the democratic world let's put that to work because the people of Iran are not happy Iran is as vulnerable as anybody else who just not playing into those vulnerabilities I don't know why there's a whole south in Iran that is basically an Arab south and there's a whole east north which is mostly Azeri who's Sunni they don't like the regime in Tehran and being very gentle there's so many ways that we can work there the people the young people the Clinton Serbia state of mind not in the same exact way but we should go to something similar to Cold War with all the I mean if CIA is ever going to do something positive that's the time Iran isn't very vulnerable we're not doing it enough but first we have to call things what they are yet now they have to cut deals with them because we have been maneuvered to a place where we are at the lose lose on the strategic level and on the tactical level with the families hostages and so on we face what I call a Sophie's Choice type of situation but now we can embark on a new road and within a few years we can be in a whole different place Yes, knock knock guess what the Cold War is Yeah, we have many tools that we can do stuff Back to the ground now I-24 News, Middle East Correspondent area of Iran Again, no matter how many times I will say it I refuse to say it without a caveat hoping it will no longer be the name the Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Ariel Again, finally it seems that the process is on to go and there are reports in Egypt as we speak that there are still efforts to release more hostages from other categories meaning that the process of today is getting a green light or is moving forward alongside the efforts to extend the ceasefire and the hostage release to another day Right, Eli, so just as you came to me the IDF issuing a statement saying that based on the information that it has received from the Red Cross the six hostages are on their way to Israeli territory meaning they have been released from Hamas and handed over to the Red Cross. This is the biggest, most monumental part of the day that they have finally ended their captivity in Hamas's hands. They are now in the hands of the Red Cross making their way in a convoy to Israeli territory and so that is regarding the six hostages expected to be released or to arrive in Israel. Today they have already been released according to the IDF but indeed this comes at the backdrop of reports coming from Qatari media based in the UK, the Arab Al-Jadid quoting Egyptian sources saying that talks to extend the ceasefire for another day meaning to include tomorrow as well are still ongoing and attempts are being made to convince Israel to accept the list of tomorrow and according to the report this list includes seven Israeli hostages in addition to three dead bodies of hostages now this is an interesting point according to the report Hamas informed the mediators that it only has enough hostages in its possession to extend the ceasefire for another day and in order to coordinate with other Palestinian terror factions operating in the Gaza Strip will need additional time this is a clear tactic by Hamas to try and continue to drag this process on to keep the fighting in Gaza at a stop and also trying to nibble at the limit that they have agreed upon with the mediators of 10 hostages a day we're already seeing attempts to try and break that and so this is the latest reporting regarding efforts to extend the ceasefire for another day tomorrow but not reports, facts IDF saying that the six hostages have been from tonight have been released from Hamas hands and are making their way with the Red Cross to Israeli territory tomorrow is possible but not certain and tomorrow is tomorrow even more so I-24 News Middle East correspondent Ariel Osseron thank you very much for this and now to this from women's rights groups who demand context for sexual abuse a drape of Israeli women through American girls who had this epiphany and fell in love with bin Laden all of a sudden too Greta and her love the trees hate the Jews campaign if the post truth era was an if until October 7th the aftermath diminished it and the most costly thing about it perhaps is that the voices who are calling spade a spade terrorist and anti-Semite anti-Semite are not many we are seeing live footage now of the Rafa crossing in Egypt again awaiting the release of the six hostages that are currently in the hands of the Red Cross and so the voices who are speaking the truth there are not many but those who do do a spot on look quick one just my opinion British Jews have learned not to be people-pleasers we're not people-pleasers we're not beggars we're not pleading to be liked or accepted and we're not accepting crumbs we're not trying to always be the most reasonable people in the room so no thinking we got to be gentle gently to win the favor of people who despise us or scumbags okay I hope American Jews will catch up and realize that and we want to welcome a live from London Oscar-nominated screenwriter British comedian Lee Kern thank you so very much for joining us well before I ask you why on earth did you get yourself into the Middle Eastern Quagmire you even came here in the middle of the war I would like to ask you the following because I'm genuinely curious when was the last time you heard someone saying I don't know or I don't have an opinion when talking about Israel the war generally speaking I just don't think that's going to happen in any society anymore because social media incentivizes people just shouting and giving their opinion it's the way to accumulate a kind of endorphin rush of attention you know clicks of likes it encourages people to pile it in heated topics it encourages aggression and it just chaos and that's how people get sort of social currency a kind of social credit by being involved and shouting about stuff so I think it's going to be a rarity for the rest of human society to have people just happily sitting back saying I don't know all my grandmother used to say that you change opinions like socks so maybe opinions is not something we should take such great pride in some opinions smell like socks as well well I've mentioned at the opening of our conversation that some of the examples of western youth simply you know losing connection to reality to an extent or more to the western set of values and here I do want to ask you what is it about western culture that has become so unappealing for the younger generation I mean just speaking broadly I think it's probably novel to you because you Israelis are dealing with your own headaches you've got a very real physical and systematic problem on your borders and you have to deal with that physically you probably don't see what's been happening for years in the diaspora in the rest of the world none of this is by accident the reason why there is you're seeing that there's little empathy for you and little solidarity for you there's been a deliberate conscious campaign by pro-Palestinian activists and Islamists in order to infiltrate every kind of community and space and subtly bit by bit radicalise them and siphon all their energy towards the Palestinian cause and to demonise and withdraw empathy from you so for example they will enter left wing spaces and they will say Israel are imperialists and colonialists they will enter spaces like Black Lives Matter say Jews are all white they will enter progressive spaces and say that Jews have privilege and so they're using the language that appeals to each of the communities and gradually radicalise them so that they have no empathy for you and actually this whole idea of intersectionality saying oh every cause is interlinked it's a complete con because the Palestinian cause it only takes one way it doesn't care about any other causes they're saying oh we all have to work together but they take all their energy and make everyone just focus and obsess on Palestine and against Israel and it destroys activism for all these other communities they don't realise the left wing community are no longer fighting to change economic policies so working class people they're not being helped in England or America the left are now focused on Palestine they have no power over they've got no ability to effect so it's very deliberate that you're seeing people are now insane is here to take the right stand quote-unquote and you know it's insane Mr. Kern because we're speaking and we're seeing images on the screen we're talking about trying to convince public opinion etc and we're seeing images on screen of the cars, of the Red Cross the trucks finally leaving the Gaza Strip with Israeli hostages that have been there for 55 days so this is it we're seeing now live images on the screen of the Red Cross carrying six Israeli hostages out of the Gaza Strip out of the hellish reality they've been in in the past 55 days in Hamas captivity Mr. Kern let's try to keep our composure and continue our conversation because it's become a nightly occurrence here in this again theater of horror public opinion in the UK as we've mentioned especially in the entertainment industry it is not supporting Israel okay let's put it that way aren't you worried that your outspoken nature even your visit here will have a negative impact on your career this is a very diplomatic statement I don't know how who cares about their career I don't know how I need you and I don't understand there's some good Jewish celebrities are speaking out but a lot that aren't if we've been told all our life to look out for when it happens again if you can't look at the slaughter of over a thousand innocent Jews babies being murdered tortured, burned, people being kidnapped if you can't decide do you know what I've been told I should speak out about then you're an idiot and I don't care about my career it's like you know what I've temporarily parked my dreams but for the sake of a bigger and more important dream which is the dream of the Jewish people to have the right to live in peace that's a far more important dream that affects the dreams of any Jew because none of us can ever have any dreams of any description unless we can actually live in peace and stay alive and so that's the main priority I'm not scared look I get attacked online all the time I get their threats what they do now is they fake tweets as if they're written by me to make me out to be a racist or discredit me so I have to deal with loads of legal stuff it's constant but what are you going to do it's like I'm having to make sacrifices you've got boys and girls in the IDF now having to park their dreams and their parents have to park their dreams their dream is for their kids to have a wonderful life so everyone's having to sacrifice it's just a form of service and I think more Jews are stepping up than you think and we're all in this together and that's the reason why I came to Israel was just a tiny little gesture just to show that when Jews are in trouble we don't run away from each other we run to each other we're one tribe, one family I no doubt about that and Mr. Kern again we're seeing those images of hostages coming back from captivity so I do reserve the option of speaking to you yet again when it will be time to heal because as we all know humor is an essential component of a Jewish survival throughout the year throughout the years plural of course oh boy we need it to cope with the aftermath we're going to win we're going to win it's not going to be fun or pleasant journey and it's going to be long and arduous but we will win because we've got no choice and one day we're all going to sit down and we are going to laugh and have fun together and hug each other and so just have faith that that's going to happen and just put one foot in front of the other don't worry about the end just keep walking and eventually we'll reach there and we'll be in the light amen Oscar nominated writer screenwriter a British comedian it was a pleasure speaking to you hopefully we'll be able to speak yet again in better times happier times thank you for this and again we're going back to the live images that we're seeing now on your screens the hostages six Israeli hostages being released now at the Rafa crossing in Egypt and now we can publish the names now of the six Israeli hostages who are making their way to Israel after 55 days in captivity Nile Margalit Amit Susanna was released earlier tonight alongside Mia Shem now being released Nile Margalit 41 year old Chenigo 29 year old 18 year old Bilal Elzadna and Ilana 30 year old Sapir Cohen 29 year old and Aisha Elzadna 17 year old they're all making the way back home now as we speak currently at the Rafa crossing in Egypt crossing now to the Shiba Medical Center 24 news correspondent Zach Andrews sending by there Zach you're getting the news together with us the hostages are on their way they're on their way Shiba Medical Center has already received one of tonight's freed hostages Mia Shem arrived over an hour ago and her mother came out to speak to the media in Hebrew as she discussed what her initial perception was of the condition and how she appeared or rather I should backtrack a little bit her aunt not her mother but her aunt did provide an update regarding her conditions she seemed weak and that she had apparently lost weight but that she was doing okay or she was so happy to be home one of the interesting things that was said according to the aunt was that she for we've all seen those images of her arm and of the metal rods protruding from what looks like they were trying to reset a break or something relating to like a fracture she says that Mia told them that it was a veterinarian that came in to provide the care that it was not a doctor and that that was who was responsible for tending to her health and well-being apparently which is a remarkable update yes and now we all remember you know it's a some sort of I wouldn't say dare to say closure because there's still such a long way to go and yet Mia Shem's video was the first one that was released in earlier days of the war while she was still in homaskeptivity we all remember those visuals of her and her broken arm and this surgery that looked in real time like a surgery no human should undergo and now we realize it was conducted by a veterinarian simply incomprehensible Zach and as we are researching those relieving images of six more Israelis making their way back home to Israel I do want to ask you about another symbol by force of this war the Bebas family those two little red heads and their mother and their father kidnapped to the Gaza Strip misinformation regarding their state well that's the real problem of tonight is the information that is coming out is coming through Hamas and a video of the father in a white background on a plastic chair exclaiming that his children and his wife have been killed and Hamas claims that they were killed in Israeli airstrike the IDF was very quick this and say we have no evidence no proof of life there is no sign of what has happened to them since October 7th and they were taken there have been many conflicting reports and the information that does come from Hamas sometimes is very difficult to attribute or use as something that we can report because this information is being relayed as part of a propaganda effort on their behalf but Hamas has exclaimed previous points in the war that they weren't separating families so one of the things that is interesting is if the Bebas father is still alive and looks well enough to be able to speak on camera and yet they're claiming that the mother and the two sons are killed in an airstrike then you have to wonder what happens to that claim that they weren't separated and that they were held together of course that's just one of the many claims that has been thrown out there throughout the course of the war so there's really no telling the IDF is once again exclaiming that they are pushing this point that they have no evidence yesterday when we spoke to a high level source inside the Prime Minister's office they did not believe that the Bebas sons were killed and they were I'll back up even further on the first day of the hostage exchange we were hearing through some sources that they were hopeful that the Bebas family was going to be included in some of the early releases and as each hostage day went on and the Bebas family was not there was not there day after day that hope did fade so here we are on day 6 and there's just a lot of broken hearts yes and yet until it is not official it's not over till it's over