nicating with him he was 20 minutes drive from her he went missing that's the last time we saw we had connection with him the phone got disconnected and his car is still there but we got information from some IDF soldiers that he's not in the car there are gunshots on the car but we're really just looking for anybody in the area of missing or to tell us if they've seen him because we're just really really praying around 6 a.m. on Saturday he called to our father and update that there is a missus alarm he and his friends found the car under the deck of the bar and they waited to hear the the interception of the iron don so they'll be ready to go out few moments afterwards he and his friends ran to the cars and started driving home in two vehicles my brother was alone in his car he saw in the side of the road two girls that tried to escape as well they was very nervous and afraid and our brother with his special self-control and nonchalant he just told them with a smile jumping girls I will take you home don't worry it's on me they started to drive but in a moment dozens of terrorists blocked the road from everywhere from both sides and started to shoot on them at that moment we called again to our father he told him that he is surrounded by dozens of terrorists they are shooting them with machine guns with Kalashnikovs and grenades he update my father that he must take an action he cannot stay in the car he cannot leave the car and hide hide in the field because they are shooting the people like ducks he said that he will confront them he took a decision and speed up and tried to avoid them since it was the only choice to escape this horror massacre my father told him do what you need I believe in you, I trust you be strong and go ahead so we speed up against them but they shoot the car he injured, he lost control on the car and the car flipped twice and he lost his conscience while the two girls had minor injuries the girls pretended to be dead but after 20 minutes our brother Rory started to regain his conscience but the terrorists noticed it and in act of a pure evil shooting again in a scene taken from the Holocaust period it's terrifying we got the entire story from the girls that he saved we found them on Saturday noon and they told us about this story they called him the angel that came from the sky to save them in the summer Saturday at 7am we didn't hear nothing from our brother in the end of the day we don't have any official information about Rory we don't know if he's alive and injured in hospital or is still in the field is he dead, is he kidnapped, nothing we are in completely darkness the government did have a point that it's as a special coordinator Gal Hirsch to deal with the issue of those missing and unaccounted have you had any contact with officials yet your family about your sister we are just talking to the news and waiting for someone to talk to us I sent Gal Hirsch like a thousand messages no one is talking to me Prime Minister Netanyahu is apparently going to address the nation even in the coming minutes what do you want to hear from the Prime Minister I want to hear something about her something about her about the other ones that missing no one of the families knows anything we don't know nothing we just keep posting on the social media a lot of videos, a lot of thoughts just about her, someone if someone heard from her if someone saw her with her broken leg you can't meet someone with a broken leg in a party like this no one saw her the IDF spokesperson did say that the list is being held captive it's being finalized have you heard anything from authorities until this point in time nobody got in touch with me so I have no idea what's going on I still hope that this courageous woman will just go out from her hiding place and I can hug her tomorrow but it's hard it's really hard and listening to all these politicians makes me sick because that's all they need to know and all they want to know everything they need to do they don't, they just talk they just talk and the international community worth nothing because it doesn't matter what is happening Israel is always to be blamed always and I said before and I will say again we don't need to think any longer about what the community around the world think because they will think anyhow bad about Israel Israel is always the one to be blamed and now the Hamas is saying we'll do this if now there is no place for Hamas there is no place for Hamas in this world it need to be destroyed the guy that came back to rest took them two of them, Gaia and Romy and also another guy named Afil, he took them in his car and apparently he was going to the north and the next time I got a phone call from Romy and she's crying and saying Mami I was shot I was shot and everybody in the car is shot and we cannot move we cannot go out of the car the car is jammed we cannot drive and we are stuck here Mami help me, I don't know what to do I think I'm going to die and the guy near her saying and please call my mom and tell her I don't know what you will tell her but just tell her that you heard from me that I was talking to and he gave me his mother's number and and I was talking to them and saying you are not dying you cannot die, you are not dying we are asking you, you will be okay and I told Romy you know what to do in this situation you have to breathe and be very calm and take control over the situation you cannot lose blood you have to be very relaxed and I was talking to her and she was saying Mami I don't know what to do please help and I was saying and I know I lied we will send you help tell us where you are and we will send you help send us where you are from the phone where you are here where the car is now so we can know how to locate you I didn't know what to do and I was talking to her and saying to Romy you will be okay you will be fine you will be we will help you and when you get better we will go to drink and we will go sitting in your restaurant the restaurant that you are working in we will go hiking and you will be okay and I am talking to her how much I love her and I am not talking anymore and I cheer God shuts around around them I am talking in Arabic I didn't know what they are saying and then in 1058 they closed the call and since then we don't have any information about Romy we just need to make sure that everything possible is done to find Baal and her friends so many families like you are looking for their loved ones they are heartbreaking and I just send you a lot of strength and we hope that you will hear good news very soon thank you thank you very much and we hope that everybody is going to come back home safe and healthy and we are just praying for everything to be better Thank you so much for speaking with us and we hope that you will hear this and might be able to help as well thank you Israel is officially in a state of war this is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we are talking more than 100 soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped we just don't know anything entire families including babies and children and elderly were butchered in their beds awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong everyone is showing up this is the unity the I-24 news coming to you live from Tel Aviv it is day 19 of Israel's war against Hamas a barrage of rockets were fired earlier in the day from Gaza Haifa in the north and Elat on the Red Sea no reports of any casualties the Israeli Air Force continues to pound Gaza killing another high level Hamas commander today the deputy chief has praised Qatar's diplomatic efforts as it continues to negotiate the release of dozens of hostages who are being held in Gaza and in Beirut senior leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad met with the head of the Iranian backed Lebanese based terrorist organization Hezbollah Haasan Nasrallah we can go straight to Israel's northern border now where we are joined by our correspondent Pia Steckelberg Pia tell us what is the latest in the attack that we've seen between Israel and Hezbollah indeed ongoing Laura only few hours ago rockets for in fact were launched from southern Lebanon towards the area of Kiryat Shmona and two communities further east towards the border on the eastern part of the Israeli Lebanese border they were not intercepted as they fell into an open area no reports of casualties or injured over there that comes after Hezbollah has fired an anti-tank missile early on the day towards an Israeli army in the community of Avivim there we are hearing that the idea is striking back towards the origin of these launches with artillery a fire and you mentioned it Laura if we need any more proof that the fronts are indeed connected there was a rocket launched from the Gaza strip toward the area of Haifa and the community south of Haifa earlier in the day the rocket exploded mid air so also there are no reports of injuries or casualties and that comes amid this meeting that you also talked about between this Pallah leader Hezbollah with the leader of the Palestinians Ziyad Al-Nakhle and one of Hamas is senior official Salih Al-Aroori in Beirut where it was discussed which steps could be taken further at this what they called a sensitive stage of the war and how to bring about the victory of the Palestinian resistance there in Gaza so that really showcases how Hezbollah is trying to emphasize how the fronts are connected there with Hamas in the south and how hard has Hezbollah been hit in the last few days Pira are there any reliable figures as to casualties on their side Well Hezbollah has said that 30 of its operatives have been killed since the beginning of the war as Israel is striking back towards the origin of fires there in southern Lebanon we are talking about skirmishes continuously along the border with Lebanon we're talking about not only one specific location we've been seeing quite some mortar shells and some anti-tank missiles fired towards the east but there really is not limited to one location so we're seeing how the northern front is constantly heating up in different areas then we also have to mention the Syrian front there yesterday to rockets being launched from Syria to Golan Heights communities Israel striking targets in Syria throughout the night and now also a few hours ago a report was coming in that the airport in Aleppo there towards the north in Syria was targeted in an air strike that is attributed to Israel so Israel is also there to throughout this year really target Iranian targets within Syria specifically airports as it is believed that Iran is trying to transport weapons to its proxies there in Syria Pia thank you very much Pia Stechelback with the latest from Israel's northern border well the United States has repeatedly warned Hezbollah not to join the fighting the US is well into preparations for a wider war in the Middle East there have already been attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria by Iranian backed forces our senior diplomatic editor Owen Altman has more the contest for America's role in the Middle East may be joined here on the border between Israel and Lebanon where each day brings the risk of wider war a war that could bring in American fighter planes a war that could lead to even more targeting of American troops we are concerned about an increase in attacks by Iranian proxies in the region whether they be targeting US interests or whether they be targeting other interests in the region we hold Iran accountable for those attacks those attacks include attacks by Iranian allied militias on US troops in Iraq and Syria a warning by Iran of what could happen should the United States enter a war full scale what we're seeing is a is the prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region US interests in the Middle East of course go far beyond the militia attacks as this war has taken on not only regional but global stakes of stopping radical Islam of proving commitment to allies and so these pictures from Norfolk, Virginia a few days ago sailors setting out in their aircraft carrier strike group fulfilling the mission given by US President Joe Biden in the leading days of the war two aircraft carrier strike groups will be positioned in the eastern Mediterranean and Iran knows it making clear the real balance of power well let me introduce our guest to you Daniel Shek is the former Israeli ambassador to France good evening to you and Lieutenant Colonel Dohan Avital is a former commander in the special forces of the IDF welcome to you as well Dohan and we're also joined on the line by Shadi Khalool on the ship's at the Alma Research Centre thank you for being with us Shadi I'll start with you if I may so we have the clear sign yet today didn't we that Hamas Hezbollah and other Palestinian terrorist groups are working together there they were holding talks in Beirut under portraits of the Iranian Ayatollahs what do you read into this what is the message they're trying to send First of all we've been at research and education center here in the north, we are focusing on those security challenges. And we've learned that Hezbollah and Iran actually, you know, give change of front in the world. And this is actually the evidence of this, you know, unification of front. And what like what is clear to me now that Hezbollah actually doesn't care about Lebanese people. We don't see any signs of Lebanese frenzy in this picture. We see Hezbollah, which is leading all this representing Iran. We see Hamas and we see Islamic Jihad, all Lebanese flags. No, nothing that reminds us that you are Lebanese. Now we can see that this even where it comes from. And it's true for the whole world who we are fighting now in this world. We are fighting Iran. And it's epoxy. Shadi, sorry to interrupt you for a second. Stay with us. We very much want to hear you. We're having a little bit of trouble with your sound. I'm going to let the technical guys get a handle on that. So do come back to us, Shadi, because we absolutely want to hear what you have to say. Don Avital, there we had it that meeting in Beirut today. A clear message for all the denials from Iran that it was behind the attack. There it is, plain for everyone to see. Sure. I mean, this is the alliance that we are facing and the alliance has to think it's operation. The prospect for further escalation is very evident. And we see it in many fronts, not only in the northern fronts, but only in Syria, only in the attacks of American bases, only the shooting of missiles from Yemen. So we have an alliance here, of course, supported, backed by Iran. And we have to consider what's next. Daniel Shek, you were the Israeli ambassador in France. I wonder if I could ask you a bit about the European position then, because we have seen in the past, haven't we, European countries, trying to contain Iran, obviously pushing for the nuclear deal, the JCPOA, and also refusing in some cases to label, to prescribe the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Do you think events that are happening now are a bit of a wake-up call for Europe? Well, to be honest, most European countries don't really need a wake-up call, at least not conceptually. Sometimes the practice is not exactly a reflection of the way Iran is seen, because I am not aware of any serious intelligence service around Europe that has any doubts about the role of Iran in what is happening in this region, but not just in this region. You're talking about the nuclear aspect, but I would remind you that in the efforts to renew some kind of JCPOA, a new version, there were attempts to include Iran's terrorist activities, meaning through the proxies. So there is an awareness, maybe there wasn't enough toughness behind it, but if there were any doubts, it's ridiculous to try and deny. Nobody really believes the Iranians when they say we have nothing to do. Yeah, there's one area where they have nothing to do, and that is the actual front line. They don't fight. They send others to fight their war. Okay, proxy groups as we're seeing around the region. Shadi Khalil, I think you're back with us now. Can you hear me, Shadi? Yes, I hear you. That's much better. I'm sorry to do this to you, but could you just go over what you were saying a moment ago, because we couldn't quite hear you very well. If you could tell us a bit more about what is happening? Well, as I mentioned, this is just a proof for the whole world who we are fighting. We are fighting this face of evil. This picture actually shows us who is this face of evil. It's led by Iran. We can see Khamenei there. And on top of this meeting, we see Hezbollah, the strongest proxy, and we see Hamas and Islamic Jihad, or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. This is what we call unification of fronts. And it's led by Iran. Iran is planning everything, is doing everything possible to actually fight Israel through its proxies. And at the same time, we see no flags of Lebanon in this picture, nothing that reminds us we are in Lebanon. And that's cynically actually using the Lebanese people as hostages, as human shields, for this face of evil that led by Iran with Hezbollah and its proxies in the region, Iranian proxies in the region. And Shadi, I mean, over the past two weeks, we've had this kind of tip for tap situation, haven't we? Hezbollah fires on an Israeli target. Israel fires back. I think Hezbollah have lost around 30 fighters. What is holding them back from getting involved? Are they waiting until the moment when Israeli troops go into Gaza? Are they deterred by the presence of the Americans? What is your assessment of what's going on? Well, I think that Iran actually and Hezbollah were surprised maybe by the power of Americans, by the forces that Americans sent here. And maybe they were a little bit recalculating their steps in the region and how they should react to what they were planning. So something was messed up in their calculations. And they didn't expect this American response and maybe Western world or free world response standing with Israel. So now I think what we are waiting for, actually today, I just saw the clashes over here in the border where I live. I saw Hezbollah anti-tank missiles to Avivim. I saw that and I saw the retaliation of Israel to the sources of fire. So I can see they are already actually in war with us. And it's just a matter of time when this mistake will be done and we will have a full war escalation here in this front. And what just a matter of time? What might that look like, Shadi? Honestly, as according to Alma Center research, we have posted and wrote about it and published. We are talking about 4,000 to 6,000 missiles a day for a long, long time. They can maintain that for about one to two months time. And we are talking about precision-guided missiles, a large amount. We are talking about UAV and drones with 2,000, at least 5,000 drones, like the ones they are using in Ukraine, like they sold it to Russia and they are using it in Ukraine. We might see infiltrations and these guys in the Radoan force, as you know, they were well trained and experienced in fighting side by side by Assad, who butchered his people. They fought the Syrian people and they butchered the Sunni Muslims there together with Assad. So these people are very well trained and very serious force, at least three, four times, even 10 times stronger than Hamas. So we're going to have a serious fighting here in the north. And I don't want actually to think about how this will look like because I hope Israel is very prepared for it. And they know exactly how to do it. They also have tunnels. Let's not forget that. They have tunnels. It's like a city of tunnels in south Lebanon in their like military zones that we also publish in our center. And all this together, it's a huge threat, existential threat to Israel that we must finish this era with eliminating it because otherwise we will find ourselves in the same scenario like it happened in Gaza and the south in the south of Israel when these ISIS Hamas people came and beheaded people and killing Israelis, slaughtering them and killing women, children, burning them. This might happen here in the north in large scale as well because the scenario would be maybe also for Hezbollah to open the borders for 50 to 100,000 Palestinians, like gunmen, to enter the northern borders from the Palestinian refugee camps. And this will flood this area with them and you can see what catastrophe and disaster we might have here. All this scenario, I think we should be aware of. And I hope the Israeli government is actually considering how to eliminate this threat as soon as possible. All right, Shadi. Thank you. I mean, that's a terrifying picture that Shadi paints for us. Shadi is an expert in Hezbollah and its capabilities. Thank you very much, Shadi Khalil. Thank you. Dawn, Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas. Can it, at the same time, wipe out Hezbollah with the aid of the Americans? Yeah, I mean, we've said it before. I'm sure we can do it. The might of Hezbollah is what's described here is indeed, and then there's no comparison between the capabilities that Hezbollah has to Hamas. But I think what they don't have is the element of surprise. And we sit there very well, well-prepared, exchange those clashes and waiting for when the miscalculation of the threshold is crossed, which would enable our action. And I trust we have, as he was indicating, that we have the capabilities to block them. But the threat is there. And as he described it, in terms of the amounts of missiles, the precision, the soldiers that we met in 2006 and proved themselves in the battlefield, we have to admit it. We have to respect your enemy. But we can do it. We can stand to it. We know them. I know the generals of the North. I am confident we can stand to this challenge. Daniel Schaik. You know, there's a reason why the United States and many other powers are really scrambling to try and stop Hezbollah from entering the war, the American physical military presence in the area, the interventions of some European leaders who might have influence on the Lebanese government like President Emmanuel Macron just recently. I'm quite certain that he's active there. This would turn what, you know, with all the tragedies that accompany it, turn the localized clash between Israel and Hamas into a regional war zone. And that is something that will transform, as Owen Altman alluded earlier, it would transform this into something that is really a big problem, a global problem. So I think it's really a crucial issue. Will they or will they not? Just one more point. You don't necessarily have to want this to happen. And that's the problem. Sometimes the two sides, you know, with so to speak contained exchanges, something happens, something gets out of hand, and suddenly you're in a full-fledged war without even wanting to. Unintended consequences.  Well, quite, I mean, Shadi, if you can still hear me, Shadi Khalool, I mean, when you look at the rationale of Hezbollah, surely, you know, they must see what has happened to Hamas. Are they willing to risk being wiped out entirely if Israel will not hold back at all? It's not up to actually rational issues here. It's up to Islamic jihadi agenda. We know that they can suicide themselves for the sake of Iran. So it all depends on Iranian will and their maybe atomic bomb program. If they want to advance, they want to make Israel busy and make it busy with a long war with Hezbollah, with Hamas. And as the speaker said, the two speakers miscalculation might happen. And there's no rational issues here in this fight now and these clashes. It might happen any time. And according to the will of the axis, the Shia, Islamic and Sunni jihadi axis, this is the interest of Iran today. And that's what we are saying. That's what we are saying. There's no rational. It's all about fighting Israel as one front. They have this spiritual jihadi spirit now that Israel in 75 or 80 years should not exist or some El Mahdi feeling that the Mahdi is coming as they call it, like what we call it, the Messiah. And that's how they think. It's not the Western thinking like me and you, Laura. It's the other thinking. Even that Hamas might do the same before and nobody listened. I warned that Hamas is ISIS before and the people were joking and they silenced me and telling that you are too much extreme on describing them. But if that makes me sad because we can save many lives. I sent government, the government letters about this issue that Hamas is ISIS and that behavior is not different than ISIS in Iraq killing and massacring Christians and making genocide against the Yazidis and Christians. So this same ideology exists in Hezbollah, exists in Hamas, in Islamic jihad and all other jihadi organizations. That's what we are facing here. You're not the first one to say that to me, Shadi. But yeah, it is terrifying to hear what you're saying. So Duhon, there is a theory that the longer Israel keeps Hamas on the siege, they're living in those tunnels. They need fuel to get the air in those tunnels. While they're weaker, contained, Israel can turn its attention to the north. Do you think that might be a calculation? This is a philosophy that I heard, of course, because we were all under the impression that the ground offensive is very near. The hostages complicated the issue and I think we have to rethink now this dilemma and this is what the decision makers are trying to do. The Qatar involvement, even Zakhia Negbid, his expression that recommending Qatar means that Israel is looking for some venue in terms of the hostages. This is a dilemma Israel never encountered. And of course, the question is to how to balance it with the north, the dilemma to the decision makers and I think in the south, we think pounding, but we think all the time in terms of the hostages right now, this is the focus. They're in the forefront of everyone's minds. Okay, stay with us. Shadi Halul, thank you very much indeed. Shadi Halul is at the Alma Research Center. Thank you to you. Well, the Bedouin community in Israel's southern Negev desert have been severely affected by Hamas terrorism. Not only are they close to Gaza, they rarely have shelters or even warning sirens. Now members of one Bedouin community are coming together to find solutions. In a legal village with no formal name, now in mourning, 60 Israeli Bedouins live in this village in the eastern Negev. On October 7th, they were on the front line against Hamas rockets. Traces of the attack are still visible throughout the village. Rocket shrapnel on the ground and cars torn apart by the impact. All bearing witness to the violence, but it's the people who are most affected.  It's a disaster. A rocket fell on the village around 6.30 a.m. We all ran to see what happened if anyone was hurt. There was only material damage, so we moved away and sat down in a tent, the whole family. Gradually, the people dispersed and there were just five people in the tent. Shortly afterwards, a missile fell on the tent. Four died and one is still in hospital. Given the urgency of the situation, the Israeli army provided concrete shelters the day after the war began, but these makeshift shelters aren't reassuring for the local residents. The situation is bad as our villages are not officially recognized. The state considers them wastelands, so we don't have any warning sirens, barely any shelters, miserable concrete blocks that were brought in the day after the attack, but it was too late and many families don't even have this. Since the beginning of the war, the Bedouin community has suffered at least 19 deaths from Hamas. Some by rockets, others killed at point-blank range during the terrorist incursions of October 7th. A traumatic experience for the entire community. The majority of casualties in the Bedouin community occurred within 48 hours of the attack. We lost around 20 people. There were many wounded and seven hostages. We were on the front line. Many of us live below the poverty line and half of the people live outdoors.  People are traumatized. Nevertheless, the Bedouins are getting involved. Volunteer initiatives have been set up to help both the Bedouin community and the region's Jewish inhabitants. In Hura, east of Behr Sheba, an emergency council has been set up. Since the beginning of the war, leading members of the Bedouin community have been meeting twice a week to evaluate the situation and find solutions to the most urgent problems. We're all meeting here to provide solutions to the lack of shelter and organize Bedouin volunteers who want to help. What's more, over 60% of the Bedouin community is under age of 18. So how can we continue to provide them with an education in wartime? We have to set up a remote education system, but half of the children live in unrecognized villages with no access to internet. So Zoom doesn't work. Initiatives that try to lighten the burden of war for populations, still in shock. Just before we go to break a report in the Wall Street Journal, saying that Israel has agreed for now to request from the United States, which says it wants to get its air defenses in place in order to protect its assets in the region, in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates to get its air defenses in order before Israel goes into Gaza in anticipation of attacks by Iranian proxies in the region on U.S. forces. We have, of course, already seen attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq. We saw Yemen's Houthi rebels trying to fire missiles at Israel as well. So Iran's efforts to drag the U.S. into a regional war very much on display today following that meeting as well in Beirut today. Okay, we're going to take a very short break. We'll be back with more right after this. Stay with us. Is officially in a state of war. This is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking. Within a hundred soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped. Help us, we don't want to do it. We just don't know anything. Entire families, including babies and children and elderly, were butchered in their beds. Awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong. Everyone is showing up. This is the unity. It was very hard for me to see him like this. You know, my son is a happy guy. Contestants de la guerra, espadas de hierro. Entrevistas exclusivas reportes desde la zona de guerra. La reacción de los países hispano parlantes. New 24, el único medio en español que te mantiene informado y conectado con la comunidad Latina en Israel. New 24, únicamente en I24 News. Israel is at war. Make an investment in Israel bonds. It is the most powerful and direct way to stand with Israel. Visit israelbonds.com and invest now. Made for me, a unique concept in Israel. Custom made men's fashion to your measurements. Made for me, designer of all your events. Schedule your appointment at www.madeforme.co.il. Made for me, official dresser of I24 News. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Okay, you're watching I24 News. We're coming to you live from Tel Aviv. Hamas fired rockets at the Red Sea city of Elat and the northern city of Haifa today. This as Israeli Air Force air strikes on the strip continue. A reminder of my guests. Right, we're going to go to the southern border. Our correspondent, Hamda Salhout is there for us now. Hamda, just don't wrap up the day's events so far if you would. Right, Laura. So rocket fire is still coming from outside of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military responding with heavy, heavy air strikes. Our cameraman is pointing to something in the distance here. This is active rocket fire coming from the Gaza Strip. We believe it's a little bit hazy due to the influx of fire that has been in the air over the last 19 days. So continuous activity here along the border. You could hear those explosions, still artillery fire, mortars all being used here along the border, both by the Israeli military and by Hamas. Now, we do have also information that the Wall Street Journal says that Israel agreed actually to delay its ground invasion in Gaza to give the U.S. more time to deploy additional aid that it needs around its bases in the Middle East in places like Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. So the Israeli military still striking in full force sources inside of the Gaza Strip are telling me that some of the strikes occurring today in Gaza City are scenes of unimaginable things to human eye. These are people who actually fled south, but because of the continued bombardment decided to go back north because they felt that there was no safe place. So here, these communities where we are in Sidot have been completely evacuated. The military has declared this a militarized zone. There is only really press and army presence here as the war continues, Laura. And Hamda, there is some debate isn't there over fuel, of course, NGOs and the UN are putting pressure on Israel to allow fuel deliveries into the territory. They say it would be for civilian purposes. But the concerns of Israel are that that fuel would get into the hands of Hamas, enable them to continue living in those tunnels where they're holding hostages, where they need air conditioning, where they need other supplies. Just tell us a bit about that debate that is raging right now. Right. So medical officials inside of the Gaza Strip, not only UN agencies are asking for fuel to continue the life saving medical needs that they require inside of hospitals fuel and excuse me a supply truck arrived today in Han Yunus with medical supplies, but the doctors in the hospital said they can't even use them without fuel. Now the Israeli military pushing back on wanting to send in fuel inside of the Gaza Strip, even releasing a post on X telling the UN agencies to get their fuel from Hamas, because they apparently do have some stocked up. So the fear of the Israeli military is that that fuel will go into the hands of Hamas and not go to the hospitals as the doctors would need, Laura. All right, Hamda. Thank you very much. Hamda Salhout there at the border with Gaza. And just to bring in our studio guest, Daniel Shek is the former Israeli ambassador to France. And Lieutenant Colonel Dolgan Avital is the former commander of the Special Forces of the IDF. So let's talk about that report then in the Wall Street Journal. The Americans are saying, look, don't go into Gaza yet. We need more time to protect our assets in the Middle East. What do you make of that? I think it's an interesting consideration because, you know, in military action, there's also always this window of operation. Okay. And in the window, there's too early and too late. And you have to calibrate many considerations. Okay. So one of them, of course, is the opening of the northern front, if, and so the hostages, the main dilemma, the negotiation right now. And if the U.S. puts this and our allies in this case, and if it's true, then it's for sure a consideration in the way we time any possible attack. So I can't verify that this is this report is completely accurate, but for sure, it's a it's a consideration. And how long might that take? When you go to the international atmosphere, it's also part of the window exactly. So it's really many considerations. You have to work them in tandem and dancing them together. I don't think it's a big deal for the U.S. to be prepared to. It's not a question of weeks, but whether this is was presented as a demand or this is like a conversation between the leaders of the two allies, this is a different story. And the diplomatic aspect as well. I sort of get the impression that the United States is not thrilled with the idea of Israel mounting a major ground operation in Gaza. And this might just be another way to delay it and buy some more time. We know that the time is used in on the axis between Washington and Jerusalem for intense conversations at every level from heads of state to commanders in intelligence and and other military aspects. And, you know, maybe this is another way to buy another few days, et cetera. Of course, what Doronavital says correctly, windows, they open, but they also close. They shut. So it's been over two weeks. There has been also, you know, I'm not a military specialist, but you've brought in hundreds of thousands of reservists, which for the moment haven't done anything. They have trained. I suspect they are training and they're preparing and all that. But you can't keep them eternally. It's sort of bringing the Israeli economy, not to a standstill, but it's slowing it down considerably. So all these things have to play into the decision making. And I agree with Doron completely. The major consideration currently also in the Israeli public opinion is the fate of the hostages.  Absolutely. And we will continue with that in a moment. So let's go to Tel Aviv's Dizengov Square, because our correspondent, Bachela Vintal, is there where the families of the hostages have gathered, haven't they, Bachela, to draw attention to the number of babies and children who are being held right now by Hamas. Absolutely. And as the conversation was unfolding in studio, there is a point there that is evidently very clear. This is being put forward on not just the public conscience here in Israel, but the public conscience all over the world. We are not talking about military personnel that has been kidnapped. We are talking about children, infants, young teenagers. These are innocence in a war time that have been captured, that have been taken into the Gaza Strip. And I'm going to move over just so you can see exactly the vigil and the display that's put on here in the center of Tel Aviv at Dizengov Square. These are teddy bears, giant teddy bears that have been blindfolded and splashed with blood. You can see now as the camera zooms in on the famous pictures of that nine-month-old Kvill and his brother Arielle, who were kidnapped with their mother, those images searing into the public conscience here in Israel. But this display and all the foreign and international media that's being here throughout the evening, making very sure that the world is getting a picture of this as well, because this is what we're talking about. We're talking about 30 giant teddy bears that are supposed to represent innocence. And what was even more perhaps tear-joking, Laura, is earlier while we were standing here, a father came to obviously pay his respects and to take some pictures. And his young child he was with could not have been older than about three years old. Just quietly went up and gave one of the teddy bears a hug. This is the innocence of war. These are not military operatives. And this is not even people within Israel that are, and yes, there's a fringe of them that are not involved in peace and wanting to see, you know, better times necessarily to put it that way. But again, these are children that were born decades, decades after the State of Israel. And the question that needs to be asked is, what on earth did they do to be involved in this conflict? So they are not part of the governments. They're not part of the military. They are innocence. And so this vigil very much pointing to the fact that these children are being held captive. They are still in the Gaza Strip under goodness knows what conditions, because there hasn't been any information forthcoming in terms of the conditions of many of the hostages. And more so than that, it's also being put out. Sorry, but sorry to interrupt you. I wanted to ask you, because of course we had the two freed hostages yesterday, the two elderly ladies who were released. And they did give a kind of a glimpse into what life was like in captivity, although it has to be stressed that one of the ladies husbands is still being held. And she would have been speaking under duress. She's not entirely free. But I mean, did that bring any kind of comfort, any reassurance to the other hostages families at all? It's a tough one, Laura. And it's a good question because to some, yes, there is room for positivity to know that some of these captives perhaps may be treated in good conditions. And again, both of the husbands are still being kept if I'm not mistaken in captivity. And there were two very interesting points to her conversation that she mentioned when she was speaking from the hospital, the first being that they separated the group. So we don't know necessarily if this was a control group that was being fed and treated relatively well, as they were saying, perhaps that was the truth of it all. But then the rest of them that was separated are not exactly in the same condition being that experiment. And the other thing is, as we mentioned, their husbands are still being held. They could have been under major duress and under a lot of backlash, if you want, or even some kind of blackmail to be seen to the press that they were treated in great condition by their captives because their husbands are still by and large. What really speaks to this is actually the image of one of them being Yorkevit Lyftcha, who shook the hand of her capital, of one of the people that were holding her hostage. And this doesn't speak to the fact that she was perhaps in duress, speak to the fact that perhaps she didn't know where she was. This speaks to the fact that Israel is about peace. Her and her husband were peace activists, peace activists in the kibbutz in which they lived, in which they drove Palestinian kids, sick Palestinian kids from the air is crossing to a lot of the hospitals here in Tel Aviv to get the medical care in which they needed. So between people like that and innocents like the teddy bears are representing behind me, it's really hard to understand how the international community is so blinded by their hatred that they can't see that as clearly as it is. Thank you very much. There is a vigil for some of the children being held right now by terrorists in Gaza. And Israel does continue to identify and bury the victims of the October 7 massacre. Many others await news of their friends and family members who are being held hostage. And for those who survived that dreadful day, life will never be the same again. Well, one of the survivors of the music festival that was attacked by Hamas terrorists and in which at least 250 people were killed. Ilya Pisatskov is with me now. Ilya, thank you for joining us. Welcome. Tell us your story. Hi.  You start to see literally hundreds of rockets above our heads. All you could hear is explosions of them. The iron dome just keeps working.  Just complete chaos. This is how it started. And I've spoken to other survivors from the festival and also people who lost friends and family. They say that life or death came down to the decision at what time you left the party. People who left earlier managed to get away thankfully with their lives. Those who decided to stay on were slaughtered. I mean, that must be something that weighs on your mind a lot. So I think the sequence of events that they definitely helped me. I think there was not a formula of how to survive that day. Some people who stayed in the event actually survived. Some people who left early was murdered. I was one of the people who left early in the car while I was driving back home. We stopped next to Kibbutzal Mim and then we started to hear shots coming from every different direction. So we just lied under the car. I couldn't lift my head. I left my head one second and I felt the whistle of the bullet so strong that my ear almost popped. It was everything was a matter of seconds. One wrong tone. One, I don't know, maybe a minute here, a minute there. And the results can be different. I mean, it was literally a few inches through my ear. Terrifying. Can I ask, did you lose friends that day? Yeah, unfortunately, Israel is a small country and obviously the music festival scene is also quite small. I know a lot of people from there. Unfortunately, there are many that I know. Who have been murdered and there are two good friends of mine that unfortunately is not with us anymore, Daniel and Rachel. I'm sorry. Hopefully they will find their peace. Yeah, I'm sorry. It's unspeakable what happened that day. It really is. And how are you getting through it? How are you taking care of yourself with your family, with people, with your community? What is keeping you going? Obviously, this is a very traumatic event for all of us. I mean, in each and every friends that I have, each and every person that I know, know someone who either been killed or murdered. This is how big and this is how awful of an event that is.  I don't know, staying with my friends a little bit, basically getting used to the new life that we have here right now. I mean, probably the, the world won't end in a few days. So it will take some time, unfortunately, but hopefully, I mean, not hopefully, we will definitely win. Well, Ilya, we're happy that you're with us. We're glad you're here. Thank you very much for talking to us. And we hope that we'll have better days soon. Ilya Fisatsko. Thank you. All the best. Bye. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Okay. Well, let's talk a bit about the diplomacy around the world as this war rages on between Israel and Hamas because the UN Secretary-General says he's shocked at what he says is the mischaracterization of his position on the war between Israel and Hamas. Antonio Guterres was accused of justifying the actions of Hamas by saying the October 7th massacre did not happen, quote, in a vacuum. He also criticized Israel's response. Well, Israel's ambassador to the UN has called on Guterres to resign while the UN humanitarian affairs official Martin Griffiths has been blocked from visiting Israel. Our Mike Wagenheim has the latest from the UN headquarters in New York. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres creating a firestorm here in New York on Tuesday with comments that Israeli officials say justified Hamas's massacre of Israelis and foreign nationals back on October the 7th. Guterres this morning giving comment and essentially doubling down refusing to apologize. Indeed, I spoke of the grievances of the Palestinian people and in doing so, I also clearly stated and I quote, but the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas end quote. And then I went on with my intervention referring all my positions on all aspects of the Middle East crisis. I believe it was necessary to set the record straight especially out of respect to the victims and to their families. Israeli officials from across the political spectrum from Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to opposition leader Yair Lapid condemning Guterres for his comments yesterday during a session of the Security Council here on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Already Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan has taken away a visa from Martin Griffiths, the UN Humanities, now going to explore the possibilities of revoking visas from other UN officials. Now this is not unprecedented territory. In fact, in recent years Israel quietly either revoked or refused to renew visas for members of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights this after that particular UN body came out with a blacklist of companies that were doing business in Judea and Samaria in the West Bank or so-called Occupied Territory. And also decades ago Richard Faulk, the UN rapporteur on the Palestinian territories at the time, was actually detained at Ben-Gurion Airport and sent back home Israeli officials refusing to let him in to investigate supposed Israeli crimes against the Palestinians. Reporting here from the United Nations in New York, Mike Wagenheim, I-24 News. That's our senior U.S. correspondent, Mike Wagenheim, reporting from New York. Apologies for the slight technical glitch in the middle of that. Let me bring in Hillel Noyer. He's the Executive Director of United Nations Watch. Thank you for being with us, Hillel. And what did you make of those efforts by Antonio Guterres to clarify the comments he made yesterday? Well, look, Laura, thank you for having me. And what I think the Secretary General is doing, what he did yesterday and today, he's trying to have it both ways. In his in his press statement today, he said he's shocked because he quoted from his speech yesterday where he said that the Palestinian grievances do not justify terrorism. But at the same time yesterday, he did say very clearly the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. Can you imagine a Secretary General of the United Nations saying the attacks on the World Trade Center killing 3,000 people did not happen in a vacuum? Al Qaeda has grievances, America has troops in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim lands. Of course, no U.N. Secretary General ever said that. On the contrary, when bin Laden was killed by the Americans at his hideout in Pakistan, then Secretary General Ban Ki-moon applauded the action. He welcomed it and he said that justice was delivered to Al Qaeda. So that was the moral clarity the U.N. could show against radical murderous Islamic terrorists like Al Qaeda. That is exactly what the U.N. Chief should have said yesterday regarding Hamas, which has committed atrocities that truly shocked the conscience of mankind.  They raped, they tortured, they mutilated. It was unspeakable the atrocities that Hamas committed for the Secretary General to say that these atrocities against innocent men, women, and children young and old did not happen in a vacuum. His attempt to contextualize, to justify is inexcusable. And Hilal, do you think it's right for Israel to deny entry to the humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths? Is that a move that might backfire? Well, I'm not going to get into the wisdom of that move. I think that at the end of the day, the U.N. officials will need access to Gaza. Israel, of course, will want international authorities there to manage the humanitarian situation. I don't expect that the refusal to give visas will be long lasting. I think Israel is trying to send a message. As your reporter indicated, Israel has done so from time to time in the past. So I think this issue will be resolved. I think Israel is trying to send a message today that this justification of Hamas terrorism is inexcusable. And how is this characteristic, Hilal, of the U.N.'s position towards Israel over the decades? Look, sadly, the United Nations, which is supposed to be an impartial body, many of its leading agencies, I'm speaking to you from Geneva, next to the Human Rights Council. This is a body that has one agenda item on the world at every one of its meetings and one standing agenda item targeting Israel alone. No other country, not North Korea. Russia, which is bombing Ukraine, not Syria, which is barrel bombing its own hospitals, has a agenda item of its own, only targeting Israel. And that's symbolic of what we see around the U.N. as a whole. General Assembly in the past year had one resolution on Syria, one on Iran, one on North Korea, and 15 on Israel. So Israel is demonized and delegitimized at the United Nations, and it promotes hatred of Israel, which only encourages terrorist groups like Hamas. All right, Hilal Noya from U.N. Watch. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Thank you. Daniel Schaik, if I could bring you in, what do you make of the decision to bar Martin Griffiths and more broadly about the U.N.'s position? Look, I didn't see much point in doing this. I have no words to or nor wish to defend Antonio Guterres. I think that if on Wednesday you have to explain a statement you made on Tuesday, then there's probably a problem with your statement, and he should have reread it on Tuesday rather than correcting it the next day. But still, I mean, in a situation of conflict, especially when the humanitarian situation we should remember is not just the situation of the Gazans. There is a humanitarian situation of 222 Israeli abducted people, and we will need the international organizations to help us with that. Well, on that, just on that, what do you make of the Israeli national security adviser, Tachi Honegbi, when he praised Qatar for its diplomatic efforts? If ever there was a situation where the saying whatever works goes, this is the one, whatever can bring back the abducted people, the hostages, we should do. And the Qataris certainly have the ability. They bear a certain amount of responsibility because they supported Hamas for many, many years, and they have a choice. They can either stay on the sides of the villains in this story, or they can become the heroes if they help liberate 222 innocent bystanders to this terrible massacre. And they're also a close US ally. I mean, which side do you think that they will choose, ultimately? Well, I don't know. I can only hope that they will choose the right side, and indications are that they want to. And if it necessitates praising them publicly, I'm all for it. Doha Navital, to what extent does this diplomatic pressure affect Israel's military operations and calculations? No, I think it has some weight. I mean, in terms of the political decision makers, I mean, the army prepares its plan, is ready. But the diplomatic background is important. I just would say what I'm trying to emphasize again and again. In the end, we are going to win this war in the battlefield and not in the PR domain. So I don't think, for example, games like the foreign minister not attending a meeting with the UN General Secretary. I think this is not the kind of way that a country like us, with established records, should behave. And in the end, in the battlefield, we'll show our hand and then hopefully also resolve the dilemma. But when you had this show of solidarity from the Western world, I mean, when all that this emphasizes the point, we have this show of support from all the Western world, we have to play with our allies. In any respect, the thing if we did mistakes in the last 15 years, this is a political point is by snobbing a little bit our allies in Western Europe or the US president in the context of the Iranian deal. And now we need them so badly. So I think let's change a course. Let's play with this alliance that is really behind us and then show our hand in the battlefield. Foreign relations are part of a country's strength, of a country's national security. And in a country like Israel, which is in a permanent war, more than anywhere else. All right, Daniel. Thank you very much indeed. And just before we go to break some news coming in, people