children, get rid of everyone. People should not get rid of the criminals there. If you do not get rid of them now, they will not be released. More details are likely to emerge about October 7th as more of those who were kidnapped are expected to share their stories as well. Now to the Organization of Angels, the ZAK organization is one of the most highly revered institutions in Israel. And rightfully so. We're talking about volunteers who help with the extremely difficult and painful process of collecting the remains of terror victims so they can be identified and laid to rest properly. And our Uri Shepira is reporting from Kibbutz Niroz, one of the community's hardest hit on October 7th on their work there. Nearly two months after Hamas onslaught in southern Israel, volunteers of the ZAK organization are still working hard to collect body parts from the Gaza border area. Here in Kibbutz Niroz, 38 people were murdered. Israel Khasid, a volunteer and the spokesman of Zaka Tel Aviv, recalls the horrific moments when his crew first arrived to Niroz. We found blood on the bed, so we had to cut off the sheet and bury it. This house looks exactly as it was when we arrived here. One of the bodies was laying on the bed. It had melted from the heat. We had another body here and another one of a 15-year-old, which was lying on the grass, half burnt. In one of the houses, the team found human tissue and remains of hair. Khasid tells us about the tough moments he and his crew faced after October 7th. One incident broke me and forced me to take some days off. I couldn't communicate with my family or anyone, actually. It was a baby, the same age and size of my daughter. Some of his body parts were removed. When I saw him, I was devastated. I said, that's it, I can't take it anymore. I'm 25 years old, someone else should do this job. I got home and hugged my daughter. My wife told me, Yisrael, this is your mission. If you feel that you can't do it, take some time off. But then after several days, I saw that there were still hundreds of bodies, which remained unidentified, and it's very urgent, because the bodies are decomposing and if we'll wait any more, it'll be very hard, if not impossible to identify the bodies. So I stood up and I said, that I'm willing to sacrifice my soul and body in order that we'll identify and bring as many people to burial in Israel as possible. As we walk inside one of the houses, we're greeted by evidence of the mental challenges that the crew faces. I had a conversation with a psychologist yesterday. He begged me to tell him what I've seen here. I asked him if he can handle it. He said, yes, we spoke for 15 minutes. I tried to hide some of the details from what I've seen here. I told him about one case which really touched my heart. I couldn't sleep after it. As I told him the story, he stops me and said, I need to take a break and drink something. I can't take it anymore. When I heard it, I understood that the psychologist is also a human being. We perform like machines, hours and hours, days and days, without sleeping, without any break for our souls. Israel says that there are still eight missing people from October 7th. Some of the bodies or body parts were transferred to the Abu Khabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv. We had one body that was classified as a terrorist body. It had weapons on it. The CT scan engineer told us that it was not a terrorist body, but an Israeli resident. But all the documents had shown that he is a Hamas terrorist. He showed our volunteer David a scan that showed that he had coronary artery bypass surgery. He said that this surgery was done in such a professional way, he doesn't believe that the body belonged to a terrorist. They checked the list of missing people and they found someone on the list who had the exact same surgery. Our ambulance went to Tel Heshomer Hospital and got his medical records. They cross-checked the information and came to the conclusion that the body belonged to him. They couldn't identify the body in any other way, because the body was totally burnt out. We went to Tel Heshomer Hospital and got the medical records from him. He showed us that it was the same person who had the exact same surgery, but it was the same person who had the exact same surgery, because this body belonged to him. Zakatel Aviv is a branch of the famous volunteer organization which has existed for nearly 30 years. It numbers around 400 volunteers. Its main goals are identification, extraction and rescue of bodies and body parts. Many of the volunteers here are ultra-orthodox who see their mission as a religious decree. Bringing complete bodies to burial is a custom in Judaism. We'll continue to work and we won't give up until the last murdered person will be buried. We still have several missing people. Many corpses still need more evidence that we need to collect. We'll continue to come here. We'll search inside the horrors time after time. Going back to these places where the horrors occurred is the hardest thing. But we'll continue to do it. We'll go back here and everywhere we need to go, any time, any moment, so we can find every small piece of information which can help us identify the bodies of those who are considered missing and who are not fully identified. Zaka Tel Aviv also operates a special center in Tel Aviv with special facilities for cases of mass casualties. This place is called the Reading Center. It is available for times of emergency to receive and to treat hundreds of bodies. We have family rooms, rooms to purify the bodies and to clean them. We have dozens of morgue freezers. We have a big space which can allow us to accept bodies from hospitals from all over Israel. Zaka volunteers say that despite the difficulties and challenges, they are proud to be a part of this organization which brings a final justice to the deceased. Perhaps another example of Israeli solidarity in the last few weeks. The business climate in the Middle East looks murky these days, as you know. But still, in the spirit of the Abraham Accords, business people meet in Dubai. Our Bastien Bore reports from there. Jordan has withdrawn from a major water and energy partnership that included the UAE in Israel. Saudi Arabia has suspended negotiations on its entry to the Abraham Accords. Bahrain has announced that it is breaking off economic relations with the Israelis. But despite the war in Gaza, Middle Eastern entrepreneurs want to keep looking at each other, regardless of origin or religion. I think it's a temporary moment of history, what is extremely sad. Of course, our biggest wish, like everybody in Israel, is we want to get free our hostages. No question about it. We want to stop the situation. To be really honest, at the beginning we had ourself the idea, are we really making this event? Are we postponing it? What are we doing? Finally, we decided seeing the relationship between Israel and the UAE and how friendly everything is going on and staying on at the moment. We decided we should event now more than ever because I think it's more important now than ever to build bridges, to build communication. In 2022, trade between Israel and the UAE jumped 109% to $2.5 billion, as compared to $1.2 billion in the previous year, making the Emirates the 16th largest trade partners of the Israelis. But the situation remains fragile for investors who prefer not to give in to the siren calls of political haggling. I was just talking yesterday to someone very prominent here in the UAE, and he was telling me that he says, I know this, he says to me, I know what's going on in the Arab media, and I don't listen to it, and I don't follow it, and I won't listen to it because I know it's propaganda, it's built on politics, it's built on money situations, trying to influence the people, and it's a sad reality that we have to deal with. I'm not saying that Israel's perfect either, no one's very well-trying, but always just to say the truth, and that's very, very important. What happened is an earthquake. It has to be said. We're not just talking about a war between two states involving only soldiers. Bad things did happen, barbarity, everyone was shocked. But Dubai, and the region as a whole, is a platform for business, and that's what counts. Today, we're not talking too much about politics. We hope that things will calm down for everyone's benefit. We're keeping our heads down, and things will pass. It's a very turbulent time, but I'm confident things will settle down. We're in a whirlwind today, which unfortunately is considerably slowing down our business. But we're quite optimistic for the next few months. We hope that the situation will calm down in the interest of universal values. While the impact of the war in Gaza is already being felt on world energy prices, it is not yet possible to assess the consequences for bilateral trade between Israel and Arab countries. Israelis and Emirates are still hoping to break the $10 billion trade barrier in the years to come. Yemen's Houthis are escalating attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, raising concern for the safety of key trade routes. The naval forces of the Yemeni armed forces, with the help of Allah Almighty, carried out this morning a targeting operation against two Israeli ships in the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait. The targeted ships were the Unity Explorer and ship No. 9. The first ship was targeted with a naval missile, and the second ship was targeted with a naval drone. The Iranian-backed militia said attacks like those on Sunday would continue until Israel ends its strikes on Gaza. But the IDF denied the ships had any connection to Israel and accused the Houthis of endangering the freedom of navigation in the region. One of the ships was damaged in a very serious way, and it seems that it could be in danger of sinking and other one was lightly damaged. This is an event stemming from negative sabotage of the Houthis. We need to see how the world will answer this issue. This past weekend saw four attacks against three separate commercial vessels operating in international waters in the southern Red Sea. Three vessels that are connected to 14 different nations, which goes to show you the extent to which this is truly a source of global concern and a threat to international peace and stability. The Bahamas flagged Unity Explorer bulk carrier was attacked in the morning and then again in the afternoon by anti-ship missiles. Then the Panamanian flagged No. 9 reported damage but no casualties caused by a missile from Yemen. A third ship, the Sophie II, which also sails under Panama's flag, said it was struck as well but suffered no significant harm. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Carney responded to the distress calls from these ships and provided assistance. In doing so, it detected three UAVs at three different times heading in its direction and it took action against all three of those UAVs. We have every reason to believe that these attacks, while they were launched by the Houthis in Yemen, were fully enabled by Iran. This is also one of those allegations aimed at projections which are made in line with efforts to deviate public opinion of nations and to cover up crimes by the Zionist regime and the US government. The US says it will consider all appropriate responses in full coordination with its international partners. But in the absence of significant action, such attacks off the coast of Yemen will only increase in frequency and severity. Back to you, Ben, I'm so the US is sending an envoy to the Gulf. Will that be enough? Again, I believe it's necessary but nowhere near sufficient, particularly at a time when some of the GCC countries are going to be receiving a call from Vladimir Putin. It certainly behooves Washington who wants to keep these countries in its orbit and actually has the capability to help patrol both the Red Sea and Babel Mendeb with a broader international maritime coalition that it is committed to freedom of navigation there and also committed to pushing back on the Iranian threat. So here is where action and not just words is going to be key from Washington. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line. But the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well. In news edition, I'm Benisa Levine, several developments on several fronts on day 63 of the war. As Israel intensifies its efforts to eliminate the Hamas threat from the Gaza Strip. Red Alert sirens sounding right now at this minute in Storot, Ibn An-Niram. That is happening right now as we speak. The IDF hitting 450 Hamas sites in the past 24 hours. Large plumes of smoke have been seen rising above the enclave on Friday morning just over two months since the brutal terror rampage in southern Israel on the 7th of October at the moment. One hundred and thirty seven hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza, including babies and the elderly. And these are the images of scores of Hamas operatives who have surrendered to the IDF. You can see those images on your screen right now. Now, the US is saying it has not imposed a hard deadline on Israel to end its operation in Gaza with a security adviser saying Hamas would continue to pose a threat to Israel if the war stopped today. So for the latest, let's go straight to our correspondent, Ariel Levin-Waldman in southern Israel. And as we started this broadcast just moments ago, Ariel Rocket Red Alert sirens sounding in parts of the south. What is the latest there? What can you tell us right now? And unfortunately, we seem to have lost that line to Ariel. We will go back to him very shortly later on in this broadcast. Meanwhile, the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the IDF retaliatory ground operation in Gaza is now at 90, including Master Sergeant in the Reserves, Gull Eisencott, the son of War Cabinet Minister and former IDF chief of staff, Gadi Eisencott. The 25 year old died while fighting in northern Gaza. He was laid to rest in Herzlier on Friday morning. The mourners included President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who hears more from War Cabinet member Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisencott himself at the moving service just a short while ago. Gull, my beloved son, I promise you that we will continue to be a loving, united and happy family so that your sacrifice and that of other falling soldiers will not be in vain and we will be worthy of it. I salute you, my beloved son. We love you forever, father, mother and all the family. Gadi, Gadi, we approved military plans and we knew the meaning. We know that the Elves and the maps can become Elves in the hearts of good and dear families. And you, my brother, my friend, my partner, you and your family are the embodiment of a personal example of placing the national interest above all personal considerations. You understood the meaning very well. Moving words, indeed. And now let's go to our senior correspondent, Owen Ultiman. He joins us from northern Israel. We know Benjamin Netanyahu isn't mincing his words when he talks about the concerns up north, specifically from Hezbollah. What is the latest where you are, Owen? And what can you tell us? Yeah, well, you're right, Pete. Of course, just in the last few minutes, as we know, those sirens and stirrups and some of the southern communities across from the Gaza Strip, and just over the course of the last few hours that move those moving eulogies for the son of Gadi Eisencote. So obviously the all out war in the South continues. Here on the northern border, not the same level of all out conflict, but certainly a steady drum beat of news and a steady drum beat of fire from across the Lebanese borders towards Israelis. We had an Israeli civilian killed yesterday, a 60-year-old farmer. Again, as you know, a lot of these communities have been evacuated, but farmers in some cases need to be there to tend their crops, to tend their fields. We had two Israeli soldiers lightly wounded. And what seems to have been a relatively serious incident in the Hardove region were Israel, Lebanon, and Syria meet, a band of terrorists spotted by IDF soldiers at an outpost in the Air Force, brought in with a drone man from afar. And those terrorists were neutralized. It appears that according to Wallinus, they had on them grenades, rockets, and Kalashnikov rifles. So an infiltration attempt that really could, of course, put Israeli lives at risk. We had rocket fire across the border from the Syrian Golan into the Israeli Golan and the IDF confirming earlier on this morning Israel time at the Air Force responded by hitting targets in Syria, reportedly in Damascus. In the meantime yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu, as you mentioned, Benita, coming up to the north for a situational assessment at Northern Command, then going out into the field to see some of the equipment and to meet some of the troops. And had this message for Hezbollah across the border, as he put it, not far from where he stood. If Hezbollah decides to start an all-out war, they will turn with their own hands, Beirut and southern Lebanon, which is not located very far from here, into Gaza and Hanyunis. We are determined to bring victory. A clear message there from Benjamin Netanyahu, but talk to us about the broad and Middle East. There have been continuous attacks on US forces in Syria and Iraq, talk us through the concerns, through the lens of the Pentagon, and steps to make sure that a regional conflict doesn't escalate in the coming days and weeks. Well, you're right, Benita, here, of course, on the northern border, but you're right. Looking beyond Lebanon, beyond Israel's immediate north to developments across the region, and you're right, they mostly have involved the US military. About 70 US soldiers having been injured in attacks on US military bases over the course of October and November, and a potential escalation overnight, four o'clock in the morning, this morning, in Baghdad, in the green zone in Baghdad, a rocket fired near the US embassy, so potentially targeting Benita, this time not US military personnel, but a US diplomatic mission. Sirens were activated, people there were told to duck and cover. No claim of responsibility, but again, given that Sheikh militias have been, those who have been involved in Syria and Iraq, it stands to reason that those at least loosely affected with those groups in with Iran were potentially responsible for this potential escalation on a US diplomatic mission on the US embassy to Iraq itself. So obviously the United States still on guard, the Pentagon still on guard, and a reminder of the huge US military presence around the region, of course, with those troops on those bases, but also the two aircraft carrier strike groups in the Mediterranean parked here in the opening days of the war, and the US military activity that's also been, that has also been involved in shooting down missiles fired from Yemen towards Israel. Thank you so much, senior correspondent, Owen Ultiman, live from Northern Israel, more to come from Owen in the coming hours, thank you. And now from the north, we go back to the south, and we try again with our correspondent, Ariel Levin-Waldman, in southern Israel. Ariel, as we were coming to you at the top of this broadcast, red alert siren sounding, I understand, you had to dash to a shelter, bring us up to speed, what is the latest there, right now? Yes, that's the second barrage we got targeting near us just over the course of this day. As you probably were aware, we do not have very good reception for our equipment while hiding in a bunker, but that's where we were when we were supposed to go live just a moment ago. But you do see there is a response. If we zoom in, Dean, you can see those four plumes of smoke that were not there before, the IDF counterfire missions, likely from the artillery crews that we've heard throughout the day. That's been a very constant presence near our position, is a sort of tooth-shaking boom of the outbound artillery heading towards Mount Promley, something that definitely deserved it, given what just got fired at us only a few minutes ago. But that's been the normal case over the day. It has been a heavier day of strikes, though. 450 air strikes is what the IDF said took place in the last day, last 24 hours or so, which is roughly double what we saw earlier in the week. It's been averaging about 200 a day, but that's because it's a very significant fighting going on on the ground right now. Two major battles that we're seeing just in this exact set of hours here, we have the Battle for Jabalia. That's the so-called refugee camp, refugee camp in name only. That makes you think of tents. It's not tents. It's a fortified neighborhood with bunkers and tunnel networks underneath. That is one of Hamas' strongholds. I'm not sure if you heard that. That was another outbound artillery just behind us. A maze of Hamas strongholds that Israel is trying to get into to break Hamas' presence in the north. Also, there's the Battle of Chanyunas. That's the last major Hamas-held city in Israel. Over the course of the past few days, you did in Gaza. Israeli forces over the course of the past few days did surround Chanyunas and have penetrated deeper into that territory to try to get to the center, to neutralize the battles on the ground so they could start getting at the tunnel network underneath. But there were at least four battalions of Hamas gunmen, Hamas terrorists in Chanyunas, plus whatever else filtered down from the north of Gaza during the ceasefire and using the humanitarian corridors. So very heavy resistance there, which explains the heavy airpower that we've seen over the course of the day. And of course, it shows that Hamas is not out yet, just given what we've seen, still being able to bombard Israel south as well as Israel center on a very regular basis with that rocket artillery they have. And while that all unfolds, Ariel, a US official saying Israel has agreed to open the Karim Shalom border crossing for screening and inspection of that humanitarian aid delivered into Gaza via the Rafa crossing. Bring us up to speed on that front. So that's largely the case right now. Remember that the crossing was closed after Hamas initiated the war. Israel doesn't want anything passing through Karim Shalom. They don't want to have to let anything through that they don't know what it's going to be, given that Hamas will use virtually any material passed into the strip for the purposes of war and terrorism. Now Israel is not opening the strip, not opening the crossing, I should say, just yet for good transfer. The idea right now is to allow the screening of anything that goes through to make sure it's not a dual use material. Remember that almost anything you could think of, fertilizer, 100% of dual use material, they use that to make bombs. When you're talking about concrete, 100% a dual use material, you could be able to make buildings and make bunkers and underground tunnel networks. I mean, if you know what you're doing, they could even turn salt into a low-yield explosive. So it's definitely something that screening means you don't know what's going to get through, but they're going to have to check almost everything to make sure it's not going to get into the hands of Hamas. But it's important because the United States is demanding Israel allow more humanitarian aid in. They've been criticizing Israel because ever since the ceasefire, the temporary ceasefire ended, it's gone from 200 aid trucks a day to about 70 aid trucks a day. And the United States says this is not good for the civilians in Gaza, and the US has put the protection of civilian life in Gaza as one of the highest American goals in this conflict. The Americans want to see Israel win, but they don't want to see it happen at the cost of untold human misery and suffering in Gaza. And Israel knows they need the United States and they need to buy time to finish the operation with the United States. So they're going to allow just about any terms the United States wants so long as it does not jeopardize the war goals of defeating Hamas. Allowing more humanitarian aid in does allow Israel to have more time to work with as long as they inspect literally everything that passes through to make sure it can't be used for the purposes of warfare. You stay safe. Thank you so much for now, correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman, live from Southern Israel. Thanks, Ariel. And now it's a pleasure to welcome to studio retired Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander in the British forces in Afghanistan. Thank you so much for being here in studio. Many developments on many fronts, as we just heard right now. Your take on what is unfolding right now inside the Gaza Strip, it is nearly nine weeks into this war. There are 137 hostages still being held captive inside the Gaza Strip as this fighting all unfolds. Talk to us about the concerns around the safety of those hostages while fighting continues and intensifies at this hour. Yeah, I mean, I think we're beginning now to see the collapse of Hamas. And we saw this in yesterday, a large number of Hamas terrorists surrendered. And I've heard reports also of civilians in Gaza turning on Hamas in some cases. So I think that they're identifying that Hamas is weakening, otherwise they wouldn't be able to do that. And these Hamas terrorists are getting severely hammered by the IDF and have been for a number of weeks. And they're tough enough when it comes to getting into a community inside Israel, gunning down, raping, hacking to death, innocent civilians. They're not so tough when they come up against one of the world's greatest fighting armies. And I think we're seeing that. And it's not over. There's gonna be some hard fighting. More Israelis, unfortunately, are gonna be killed, IDF soldiers. But nevertheless, I think the end is in sight for Hamas. And they knew this, which is why they pressed for a ceasefire themselves, and were willing to release some of the hostages. They knew that the only way they could avoid their own destruction was by Israel, not continuing to attack. As far as the hostages are concerned, of course, that is a huge concern. And it wouldn't surprise me. I don't know how many are left alive of that 137, but I hope all of them or many of them. But it will still be a really tough task for the IDF to be able to rescue them, unless there is some other maybe short-term ceasefire with a hostage release deal as a part of that. There has been so much outrage in this part of the world about the fact that the Red Cross has not been able to get access to these hostages, as far as we know, 137 of them. Given your experience on the war front, does it surprise you that they haven't been able to get the basic details, including proof of life? Never mind getting medicine to elderly hostages. Never mind getting medicine or help or formula to babies in captivity for nine weeks. It doesn't surprise me, to be honest. And that's because they, as the IDF having to deal with a brutal, merciless terrorist organization, the Red Cross have got to do the same if they're going to get that sort of information or provide any kind of assistance. And Hamas are not, they're not an army as we would recognize. They're not reasonable people. They don't have any interest in humanitarian assistance or human values. They just don't. And they won't cooperate with the Red Cross. And if they don't cooperate, then the Red Cross simply can't do their job. Let's not forget as well that the Red Cross inside Gaza is not necessarily like the Red Cross everywhere else. Many of these are controlled by Hamas. They're intimidated by Hamas. And in many cases, they're supporters of Hamas. And if Qatar is able to a host Hamas leaders in great luxury from what we understand in Doha, and if Qatar is able to apparently try and broker a second hostage release deal still in the works, so to speak, then shouldn't it be able to put pressure on the Red Cross to do its job? Yeah, I think the pressure that they can exert is probably more on Hamas than the Red Cross. And I think, as I mentioned before, Hamas is not interested in doing something to alleviate the suffering of the people that they dragged into Gaza. They're only interested. And the only way they can be influenced is if there's some way for them to maybe survive or escape from Gaza. So I don't think that other than a hostage release deal to buy time for them, I don't think there's anything that even Qatar can do to influence the welfare of these hostages inside Gaza. There've been a range of potential options for Israel inside Gaza right now. Obviously, time is of the essence, and there is pressure from the US and elsewhere for things to wrap up, so to speak, as soon as possible. Flushing out terror tunnels with sea water. What do you make of that option? Obviously, there's a massive risk around it, but given, again, your experience in this field, is it a viable option? It's a very viable option, and it's a very good option. But of course, and there are other options as well, including destroying tunnels from the air, blowing them up from the ground, using sponge bombs to block them. But of course, with all of these different options, the IDF has to have in mind not just the destruction of the terrorists within them, but the hostages that are held perhaps within those tunnels. So I think that the idea of using sea water to flush them out is a good one. Obviously, the hostages have to be born in mine, but also the potential that that will lead to collapse of large elements of these tunnels, which could bring down apartment buildings and other things overhead. And the IDF, of course, have an interest in trying to avoid civilian casualties as much as they possibly can. Talk to us a bit more about exactly that because there is much scrutiny and much criticism of Israel, despite the fact that it is releasing pamphlets to warn people in advance to get to safe areas, and huge steps that are being taken to try and make sure that Palestinians, civilians are not harmed, yet that isn't the perception on the global arena largely. Talk to us about what you understand, the efforts that are being made to make sure that civilians are not hurt as this war intensifies. Well, the global position on the IDF's military operations is that they're war criminals from the start, whatever they do. That's the way it's seen. Despite these efforts. Despite these efforts. There has been a huge propaganda campaign which has turned so much of the world, including the United Nations on Israel. But Israel, I was over here a few years back with a delegation of senior officers, retired senior officers from around the world, many, many countries. And they all felt that their own armies could not achieve anything like the kind of standards that the IDF achieve in minimizing civilian casualties on the battlefield. And the IDF still use the same techniques today and they do everything they can to to minimize civilian casualties, far more than the laws of war require. And just by way of illustration, comparing to other conflicts, the UN figures say that since the Second World War, the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths in conflicts has been nine to one, nine civilians for every combatant killed. In Iraq, it was three to one, around three to one. In Afghanistan, it was between three and five to one. Israel in previous conflicts has had a ratio between zero point six and two to one, far better than even some of the American and allied armies that take great care. I think in this conflict, from what I understand so far, we may be looking at a civilian combatant couchy rate of two to one or less. That's terribly bad, of course, because two civilians killed for every combatant, but it's much better than most other armies, including Western Democratic armies, have been able to achieve because of the immense efforts Israel does put into this. One wonders why the rest of the world isn't seeing exactly what you are describing, but as you say, this is an unfolding situation. Many more days, potentially weeks, potentially months still to come, which brings me to my final question. The day after in Gaza, there is much speculation as to what that looks like. Obviously, no one can tell at this stage, but there are many scenarios that are being discussed, much speculation. Your thoughts on what, from a security perspective, it needs to look like in Gaza for this region to be safe again, for people to feel safe again. Well, once Hamas has been neutralized as a threat, and that can be brought about by either killing them all or most of them, forcing their surrender, as we've already seen, forcing them to flee, but in some way, with huge military force, as we've seen, persuading them that they've lost, and that will bring them down. But that is not the end of the problem, even if and when, as needs to happen, Israel manages to eliminate the leadership in Qatar and elsewhere, in Turkey and other countries. Even after that's happened, the threat hasn't gone. There will be a successor to Hamas among a population that is so opposed and has been indoctrinated since birth to hate Israel. So that problem's gonna exist, and the IDF, therefore, will have to maintain overall security control inside Gaza for the foreseeable future, perhaps forever. There may be some form of local security force put together of guards and citizens, but the IDF will have to maintain a direct presence inside Gaza, possibly establishing a buffer zone inside the Gaza borders, which it can control and monitor directly to prevent a repetition of the 7th of October. Well, one thing is for sure, what happened on the 7th of October can never be allowed to happen again in any part of the region, frankly, in any part of the world. Pure evil, nearly nine weeks ago. Retired Colonel Richard Kim, former commander in the British forces in Afghanistan. Always appreciate your insights. Thank you for being here in studio. And on a more personal note now, earlier, I spoke to Avi Har Tuv, psychotherapy and group facilitator in trauma and emergency from the Group One family about the collective trauma and the collective recovery in the country right now, just over two months into this war. Let's take a listen. I've been working with women who have become widows recently, this war, and I've been working with parents who are newly bereaved parents. And there's a lot of chaos and a lot of overwhelming as to how do we get going on with life now? Particularly the women who became widows have big question marks as to how to run life without the partner and facing things that haven't seen before like having to go to the bank, having to deal with paperwork, with insurance paperwork, with the wheels and raising their children alone and comforting them. At the same time, there's a very, very beginning of new questions, questions of values and the questions of how to be in this society in these times, how to be as a human being, how to be as a family, how to be as a collective. Talking of trauma, the haunting tales of Hamas captivity continue to emerge more in this report. Ken and the children are back, the grandchildren. Wow, it was hard. Everything mixed with everything. The sadness and the joy. They returned from a black place. They returned to no home. They returned to no father. They returned to no sister. But they returned alive. Ten days after Ken Goldstein Amok and her three children, Agam 17, Tal 11 and Gal 9, were released from Hamas captivity. They're trying to cope with life after the nightmare in Gaza. First of all, they are very afraid of every movement, of every peep that happens around them. From every peep they heard, they went straight with the collection of the children. They went straight with the collection of. He even laughed that one of them once went with the collection of upside down. I've been sleeping next to them for the past few nights. The whole family sleeps together now. This is the first time they've asked to sleep with you, probably since they were little, right? Yes. There was a friend here with two small dogs and they played with them here. They ran around. And right down here, they took down the cushions of the sofas and they built a tunnel for them, for the dogs. A few minutes earlier, Gal's teacher was here and she asked him, were you in the tunnel? So he told her, yes. He told her, it's like an Arab house and he did that with it. And you could stand? Did you have to crawl? No, no, I didn't crawl. I stood. They're talking about the army's bombs which scared the children terribly. The children less, but it finished them. Yes, it finished them completely. The bombings? Yeah, it destroys our soul. How were they treated? Kept as bargaining chips. In the end, they came back and they are healthy and everything is fine. On the morning of the abduction from Kfar Azar, Chen, her husband, Ndav and their four children entered the safe room. Chen said that the terrorists felt at home in the kibbutz. Everything was completely quiet. Slowly, they chose a car, drove, crossed the border, opened the trunk, loaded the bodies they saw. The terrorists continued to drive. Agam said to the boys, look forward, just not back. Seven minutes and you're inside Gaza. When the army arrived in the evening, they discovered that Ndav, the father and Yam, the eldest daughter, had been murdered. One of the things that preoccupied us during the 51 days that they were gone is whether they even knew that there is no longer a father and eldest daughter. They knew Ndav was badly injured and as for Yam, Chen saw that she was not alive. No words, absolutely no words. And with that, we wrap up this edition of Our Breaking News Coverage. I'm Benita Levine, back in a bit. Stay tuned, our rolling coverage continues shortly. This is I-24 News Breaking News Edition. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where she is. Our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. This week on News 24, Israel under attack. News 24 in Spanish brings the analysis and the information of the events of the war, Iron Spades. Exclusive interviews and reports from the war zone, the reaction of Spanish-speaking countries. News 24, the only Spanish media that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel. News 24, only on I-24 News. And I'm Benita Levine, several developments on several fronts on day 63 of the war. The Gaza Strip read a last minute in Storot, Ibim and near Amn. That is happening right now as we speak. The IDF hitting 450 Hamas sites in the past 24 hours. Large plumes of smoke have been seen rising above the enclave on Friday morning, just over two months since the brutal terror rampage in southern Israel on the 7th of October. At the moment, 137 hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza, including babies and the elderly. And these are the images of scores of Hamas operatives who have surrendered to the IDF. You can see those images on your screen right now. Now the US is saying it has not imposed a hard deadline on Israel to end its operation in Gaza with a security advisor saying Hamas would continue to pose a threat to Israel if the war stopped today. So for the latest, let's go straight to our correspondent, Ariel Levin-Waldman in southern Israel. And as we started this broadcast just moments ago, Ariel rocket red alert siren sounding in parts of the south. What is the latest there? What can you tell us right now? And unfortunately, we seem to have lost that line to Ariel. We will go back to him very shortly later on in this broadcast. Meanwhile, the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the IDF retaliatory ground operation in Gaza is now at 90, including master sergeant in the reserves, Gull Eisenkott, the son of war cabinet minister and former IDF chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkott. The 25-year-old died while fighting in northern Gaza. He was laid to rest in Herzliya on Friday morning. The mourners included President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Here's more from war cabinet member Benny Gans and Gadi Eisenkott himself at the moving service just a short while ago. Gull, my beloved son, I promise you that we will continue to be a loving, united, and happy family so that your sacrifice and that of other falling soldiers will not be in vain. And we will be worthy of it. I salute you, my beloved son. We love you forever, father, mother, and all the family. Gadi. Gadi, we approved military plans and we knew the remaining. We know that the Elves and the maps can become Elves in the hearts of good and dear families. And you, my brother, my friend, my partner, you and your family are the embodiment of a personal example of placing the national interest above all personal considerations. You understood the meaning very well. Moving words, indeed. And now let's go to our senior correspondent, Owen Ultiman. He joins us from northern Israel. We know Benjamin Netanyahu isn't missing his words when he talks about the concerns up north, specifically from Hezbollah. What is the latest where you are, Owen? What can you tell us? Yeah, well, you're right, Neat. Of course, just in the last few minutes, as we know those sirens in Steroot and some of the southern communities across from the Gaza Strip. And just over the course of the last few hours, those moving eulogies for the son of Gadi Eisencote. So obviously, the all out war in the South continues here on the northern border, not the same level of all out conflict, but certainly a steady drumbeat of news and a steady drumbeat of fire from across the Lebanese borders towards Israelis. We had an Israeli civilian killed yesterday, a 60 year old farmer. Again, Benitez, you know a lot of these communities have been evacuated, but farmers, in some cases, need to be there to tend their crops, to tend their fields. We had two Israeli soldiers lightly wounded. And what seems to have been a relatively serious incident in the hard dove region were Israel, Lebanon, and Syria meet a band of terrorists spotted by IDF soldiers at an outpost in the Air Force, brought in with a drone man from afar. And those terrorists were neutralized. It appears that, according to Wala News, they had on them grenades, rockets, and Kalashnikov rifles. So an infiltration attempt that really could, of course, put Israeli lives at risk. We had rocket fire across the border from the Syrian Golan into the Israeli Golan and the IDF confirming earlier on this morning Israel time at the Air Force responded by hitting targets in Syria, reportedly in Damascus. In the meantime yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu, as you mentioned, Benitez, coming up to the north for a situational assessment at Northern Command, then going out into the field to see some of the equipment and to meet some of the troops. And had this message for Hezbollah across the border, as he put it, not far from where he stood. If Hezbollah decides to start an all-out war, they will turn with their own hands, Beirut and southern Lebanon, which is not located very far from here, into Gaza and Ranyunis. We are determined to bring victory. A clear message there from Benjamin Netanyahu, but talk to us, Owen, about the broader Middle East. There have been continuous attacks on US forces in Syria and Iraq. Talk us through the concerns, through the lens of the Pentagon and steps to make sure that a regional conflict doesn't escalate in the coming days and weeks. Well, you're right, Benitez, here, of course, on the northern border. But you're right, looking beyond Lebanon, beyond Israel's immediate north to developments across the region. And you're right, they mostly have involved the US military, about 70 US soldiers having been injured in attacks on US military bases over the course of October and November, and a potential escalation overnight, four o'clock in the morning, this morning, in Baghdad, in the green zone in Baghdad, a rocket fired near the US embassy, so potentially targeting Benitez, this time not US military personnel, but a US diplomatic mission. Sirens were activated. People there were told to duck and cover. No claim of responsibility, but again, given that Sheikh militias have been those who have been involved in Syria and Iraq, it stands to reason that those at least loosely affected with those groups and with Iran were potentially responsible for this potential escalation on a US diplomatic mission, on the US embassy to Iraq itself. So obviously the United States still on guard, the Pentagon still on guard, and a reminder of the huge US military presence around the region, of course, with those troops on those bases, but also the two aircraft carrier strike groups in the Mediterranean, parked here in the opening days of the war. And the US military activity that has also been involved in shooting down missiles fired from Yemen towards Israel. Thank you so much, senior correspondent Owen Ultiman, live from Northern Israel. More to come from Owen in the coming hours. Thank you. And now from the north, we go back to the south. And we try again with our correspondent Arielle Levin Waldman in southern Israel. Arielle, as we were coming to you at the top of this broadcast, red alert siren sounding. I understand you had to dash to a shelter. Bring us up to speed. What is the latest there right now? Yes, that's the second barrage we got targeting near us just over the course of this day. As you probably were aware, we do not have very good reception for our equipment while hiding in a bunker. But that's where we were when we were supposed to go live just a moment ago. But you do see there is a response. If we zoom in, Dean, you can see those four plumes of smoke that were not there before the IDF counterfire missions, likely from the artillery crews that we've heard throughout the day. That's been a very constant presence near our position is a sort of tooth shaking boom of the outbound artillery heading towards Mount Promley, something that definitely deserved it, given what just got fired at us only a few minutes ago. But that's been the normal case over the day. It has been a heavier day of strikes, though. 450 air strikes is what the IDF said took place in the last day, last 24 hours or so, which is roughly double what we saw earlier in the week. It's been averaging about 200 a day, but that's because it's a very significant fighting going on on the ground right now. Two major battles that we're seeing just in this exact set of hours here. We have the Battle for Jabalia. That's the so-called refugee camp, refugee camp in name only. That makes you think of tents. It's not tents. It's a fortified neighborhood with bunkers and tunnel networks underneath. That is one of Hamas' strongholds. I'm not sure if you heard that. That was another outbound artillery just behind us. A maze of Hamas' strongholds that Israel is trying to get into to break Hamas' presence in the north. Also, there's the Battle of Khanunis. That's the last major Hamas-held city in Israel. Over the course of the past few days, you did in Gaza. Israeli forces over the course of the past few days did surround Khanunis and have penetrated deeper into that territory to try to get to the center, to neutralize the battles on the ground so they can start getting at the tunnel network underneath. But there were at least four battalions of Hamas gunmen, Hamas terrorists in Khanunis, plus whatever else filtered down from the north of Gaza during the ceasefire and using the humanitarian corridors. So very heavy resistance there, which explains the heavy air power that we've seen over the course of the day. And of course, it shows that Hamas is not out yet, just given what we've seen, still being able to bombard Israel's south as well as Israel's center on a very regular basis with that rocket artillery they have. And while that all unfolds, Ariel, a US official saying Israel has agreed to open the Karim Shalom border crossing for screening and inspection of that humanitarian aid delivered into Gaza via the Rafa crossing. Bring us up to speed on that front. So that's largely the case right now. Remember that the crossing was closed after Hamas initiated the war. Israel doesn't want anything passing through Karim Shalom. They don't want to have to let anything through that they don't know what it's going to be given that Hamas will use virtually any material passed into the strip for the purposes of war and terrorism. Now Israel is not opening the strip, not opening the crossing as you say, just yet for good transfer. The idea right now is to allow the screening of anything that goes through to make sure it's not a dual use material. Remember that almost anything you could think of, fertilizer, 100% of dual use material, they use that to make bombs. When you're talking about concrete, 100% a dual use material, you could be able to make buildings or you could make bunkers and underground tunnel networks. I mean, if you know what you're doing, they could even turn salt into a low yield explosive. So it's definitely something that screening means you don't know what's gonna get through, but they're gonna have to check almost everything to make sure it's not going to get into the hands of Hamas. But it's important because the United States is demanding Israel allow more humanitarian aid in. They've been criticizing Israel because ever since the ceasefire, the temporary ceasefire ended, it's gone from 200 aid trucks a day to about 70 aid trucks a day. And the United States says this is not good for the civilians in Gaza. And the US has put the protection of civilian life in Gaza as one of the highest American goals in this conflict. The Americans want to see Israel win, but they don't wanna see it happen at the cost of untold human misery and suffering in Gaza. And Israel knows they need the United States and they don't need to buy time to finish the operation with the United States. So they're going to allow just about any terms the United States wants, so long as it does not jeopardize the war goals of defeating Hamas. Allowing more humanitarian aid in does allow Israel to have more time to work with as long as they inspect literally everything that passes through to make sure it can't be used for the purposes of warfare. You stay safe. Thank you so much for now, correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman, live from southern Israel. Thanks, Ariel. And now it's a pleasure to welcome to studio retired Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander in the British forces in Afghanistan. Thank you so much for being here in studio. Many developments on many fronts, as we just heard right now. Your take on what is unfolding right now inside the Gaza Strip. It is nearly nine weeks into this war. There are 137 hostages still being held captive inside the Gaza Strip as this fighting all unfolds. Talk to us about the concerns around the safety of those hostages while fighting continues and intensifies at this hour. Yeah, I mean, I think we're beginning now to see the collapse of Hamas. And we saw this in yesterday, a large number of Hamas terrorists surrendered. And I've heard reports also of civilians in Gaza turning on Hamas in some cases. So I think that they're identifying that Hamas is weakening. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to do that. And these Hamas terrorists are getting severely hammered by the IDF and have been for a number of weeks. And they're tough enough when it comes to getting into a community inside Israel, gunning down, raping, hacking to death, innocent civilians. They're not so tough when they come up against one of the world's greatest fighting armies. And I think we're seeing that. And it's not over. There's going to be some hard fighting. More Israelis, unfortunately, are going to be killed, IDF soldiers. But nevertheless, I think the end is in sight for Hamas. And they knew this, which is why they pressed for a ceasefire themselves, and were willing to release some of the hostages. They knew that the only way they could avoid their own destruction was by Israel not continuing to attack. As far as the hostages are concerned, of course, that is a huge concern. And it wouldn't surprise me. I don't know how many are left alive of that 137. But I hope all of them, or many of them. But it will still be a really tough task for the IDF to be able to rescue them unless there is some other maybe short term ceasefire with a hostage release deal as a part of that. There has been so much outrage in this part of the world about the fact that the Red Cross has not been able to get access to these hostages as far as we know 137 of them. Given your experience on the war front, does it surprise you that they haven't been able to get the basic details, including proof of life? Never mind getting medicine to elderly hostages. Never mind getting medicine or help or formula to babies in captivity for nine weeks. It doesn't surprise me, to be honest. And that's because they, as the IDF having to deal with a brutal merciless terrorist organization, the Red Cross have got to do the same if they're going to get that sort of information or provide any kind of assistance. And Hamas are not an army as we would recognize it. They're not reasonable people. They don't have any interest in humanitarian assistance or human values. They just don't. And they won't cooperate with the Red Cross. And if they don't cooperate, then the Red Cross simply can't do their job. Let's not forget as well that the Red Cross inside Gaza is not necessarily like the Red Cross everywhere else. Many of these are controlled by Hamas. They're intimidated by Hamas. And in many cases, they're supporters of Hamas. And if Qatar is able to a host Hamas leaders in great luxury from what we understand in Doha, and if Qatar is able to apparently try and broker a second hostage release deal still in the works, so to speak, then shouldn't it be able to put pressure on the Red Cross to do its job? Yeah, I think the pressure that they can exert is probably more on Hamas than the Red Cross. And I think, as I mentioned before, Hamas is not interested in doing something to alleviate the suffering of the people that they dragged into Gaza. Their only interest and the only way they can be influenced is if there's some way for them to maybe survive or escape from Gaza. So I don't think that other than a hostage release deal to buy time for them, I don't think there's anything that even Qatar can do to influence the welfare of these hostages inside Gaza. There have been a range of potential options for Israel inside Gaza right now. Obviously, time is of the essence, and there is pressure from the US and elsewhere for things to wrap up, so to speak, as soon as possible. Flushing out terror tunnels with sea water, what do you make of that option? Obviously, there's a massive risk around it, but given, again, your experience in this field, is it a viable option? It's a very viable option, and it's a very good option. But of course, and there are other options as well, including destroying tunnels from the air, blowing them up from the ground, using sponge bombs to block them. But of course, with all of these different options, the IDF has to have in mind not just the destruction of the terrorists within them, but the hostages that are held perhaps within those tunnels. So I think that the idea of using sea water to flush them out is a good one. Obviously, the hostages have been born in mine, but also the potential that that will lead to collapse of large elements of these tunnels, which could bring down apartment buildings and other things overhead. And the IDF, of course, have an interest in trying to avoid civilian casualties as much as they possibly can. Talk to us a bit more about exactly that, because there is much scrutiny and much criticism of Israel, despite the fact that it is releasing pamphlets to warn people in advance to get to safe areas, and huge steps that are being taken to try and make sure that Palestinians, civilians are not harmed, yet that isn't the perception on the global arena largely. Talk to us about what you understand, the efforts that are being made to make sure that civilians are not hurt as this war intensifies. Well, the global position on the IDF's military operations is that they're war criminals. From the start, whatever they do, that's the way it's seen. Despite these efforts. Despite these efforts. There has been a huge propaganda campaign which has turned so much of the world, including the United Nations on Israel. But Israel, I was over here a few years back with a delegation of senior officers, retired senior officers from around the world, many, many countries. And they all felt that their own armies could not achieve anything like the kind of standards that the IDF achieve in minimizing civilian casualties on the battlefield. And the IDF still use the same techniques today, and they do everything they can to minimize civilian casualties, far more than the laws of war require. And just by way of illustration, comparing to other conflicts, the UN figures say that since the Second World War, the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths in conflicts has been nine to one, nine civilians for every combatant killed. In Iraq, it was three to one, around three to one. In Afghanistan, it was between three and five to one. Israel in previous conflicts has had a ratio between zero point six and two to one, far better than even some of the American and Allied armies that take great care. I think in this conflict, from what I understand so far, we may be looking at a civilian combatant casualty rate of two to one or less. That's terribly bad, of course, because two civilians killed for every combatant, but it's much better than most other armies, including Western Democratic armies, have been able to achieve because of the immense efforts Israel does put into this. One wonders why the rest of the world isn't seeing exactly what you are describing, but as you say, this is an unfolding situation. Many more days, potentially weeks, potentially months still to come, which brings me to my final question. The day after in Gaza, there is much speculation as to what that looks like. Obviously, no one can tell at this stage, but there are many scenarios that are being discussed, much speculation. Your thoughts on what, from a security perspective, it needs to look like in Gaza for this region to be safe again, for people to feel safe again? Well, once Hamas has been neutralized as a threat, and that can be brought about by either killing them all or most of them, forcing their surrender, as we've already seen, forcing them to flee, but in some way, with a huge military force, as we've seen, persuading them that they've lost, and that will bring them down. But that is not the end of the problem, even if and when, as needs to happen, Israel manages to eliminate the leadership in Qatar and elsewhere and Turkey and other countries. Even after that's happened, the threat hasn't gone. There will be a successor to Hamas among a population that is so opposed and has been indoctrinated since birth to hate Israel. So that problem's gonna exist, and the IDF therefore will have to maintain overall security control inside Gaza for the foreseeable future, perhaps forever. There may be some form of local security force put together of guards and citizens, but the IDF will have to maintain a direct presence inside Gaza, possibly establishing a buffer zone inside the Gaza borders, which it can control and monitor directly to prevent a repetition of the 7th of October. Well, one thing is for sure, what happened on the 7th of October can never be allowed to happen again in any part of the region, frankly in any part of the world. Pure evil nearly nine weeks ago, retired colonel Richard Kim, former commander in the British forces in Afghanistan, always appreciate your insights. Thank you for being here in studio. And on a more personal note now, earlier I spoke to Avi Hartu of psychotherapy and group facilitator in trauma and emergency from the Group One family about the collective trauma and the collective recovery in the country right now just over two months into this war. Let's take a listen. I've been working with women who have become widows recently, this war, and I've been working with parents who are newly bereaved parents. And there's a lot of chaos and a lot of our wellness as to how do we get going on with life now? Particularly the women who became widows have big question marks as to how to run life without the partner and facing things that haven't seen before like having to go to the bank, having to deal with paperwork, with insurance paperwork, with the wills and raising their children alone and comforting them. At the same time, there's a very, very beginning of new questions, questions of values and the questions of how to be in this society in these times, how to be as a human being, how to be as a family, how to be as a collective. Talking of trauma, the haunting tales of Hamas captivity continue to emerge more in this report. Ken and the children are back, the grandchildren. Wow, it was hard. Everything mixed with everything. The sadness and the joy. They returned from a black place. They returned to no home. They returned to no father. They returned to no sister. But they returned alive. Ten days after Ken Goldstein Amok and her three children, Agam 17, Tal 11, and Gal 9, were released from Hamas captivity. They're trying to cope with life after the nightmare in Gaza. First of all, they are very afraid of every movement, of every peep that happens around them. From every peep they heard, they went straight with the Kalashnikov, even laughed that one of them once went with the Kalashnikov upside down. I've been sleeping next to them for the past few nights. The whole family sleeps together now. This is the first time they've asked to sleep with you, probably since they were little, right? Yes. There was a friend here with two small dogs, and they played with them here. They ran around. And right down here, they took down the cushions of the sofas, and they built a tunnel for them for the dogs. A few minutes earlier, Gal's teacher was here, and she asked him, were you in the tunnel? So he told her, yes. He told her, it's like an Arab house, and he did that with it. And you could stand? Did you have to crawl? No, no, I didn't crawl. I stood. They're talking about the army's bombs, which scared the children terribly. The children less, but it finished them. It finished them completely. The bombings? Yeah, it destroys our soul. How were they treated? Kept us bargaining chips. In the end, they came back, and they are healthy, and everything is fine. On the morning of the abduction from Kfar Azar, Chen, her husband, Nadav, and their four children entered the safe room. Chen said that the terrorists felt at home in the kibbutz. Everything was completely quiet. Slowly, they chose a car, drove, crossed the border, opened the trunk, loaded the bodies they saw. The terrorists continued to drive. Agam said to the boys, look forward, just not back. Seven minutes, and you're inside Gaza. When the army arrived in the evening, they discovered that Nadav, the father, and Yam, the eldest daughter, had been murdered. One of the things that preoccupied us during the 51 days that they were gone, is whether they even knew that there is no longer a father and eldest daughter. They knew Nadav was badly injured, and as for Yam, Chen saw that she was not alive. No words, absolutely no words. And with that, we wrap up this edition of our Breaking News coverage. I'm Bernice Levine, back in a bit. Stay tuned, our rolling coverage continues shortly. This is I-24 News, Breaking News Edition. There are phrases that you know from where you come from. Look here, and the package for when. And loads that you already know where you're going. On international loads, Altiz, your people at NRD, access our website, Recargas.altiz.com.co, select loads and type the number you want to place the load. In addition, they receive the double of balance in loads of eight dollars or more. Altiz, the global network of the Dominicans. A state of war. Families completely gunned down in their beds. We have no idea where she is. Our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Breaking News Edition, I'm Bernice Levine. Several developments on several fronts on day 63 of the war as Israel intensifies its efforts to eliminate the Hamas threat from the Gaza Strip. At the same time, Red Alert sirens sounding in the last hour in parts of the south, warning of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. The IDF saying earlier it had hit 455 sites in the past 24 hours inside Gaza. Large plumes of smoke have been seen rising above the enclave on Friday morning just over two months since the brutal terror rampage in southern Israel on the 7th of October. At the moment, 137 hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza, including babies and the elderly. Sad news just in right now. The municipality of Bat-Yam has just announced that 53-year-old resident Aitan Levi, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th, has been murdered in captivity. It says he was a taxi driver taking a client from the center of the country to Kibbutzbury just at the time of the terror assault. It was believed he was still being held captive, but the army has just confirmed he was in fact killed and that Hamas still has his body. Meanwhile, these are the images of scores of Hamas operatives who have surrendered to the IDF. The US is meanwhile saying it has not imposed a hard deadline on Israel to end its operation in Gaza with a security adviser saying Hamas would continue to pose a threat to Israel if the war stopped today. So for the latest, let's start with our team in the north. We go live to our senior correspondent, Owen Ultiman. He joins us again from northern Israel. So many developments. Owen, the Israeli army confirming it's responding to rocket launches from Syrian territory by hitting targets in Syria, also striking a terrorist squad near the Hardov area. What is the latest up north? What can you share? It continues to be a relatively quiet Friday with little or no attacks along Israel's northern border. We have his bullet come out just over the last few hours and announce another of its fighters killed, the 94th. So showing that the Israeli military continues to enact to exact a toll on his bullet for its violations of Israel's sovereignty and for its attacks on Israel on civilians and on the military. You'll write two incidents overnight. The one in the heart, what Israel called the Hardov region where Israel, the Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian territories meet a band of terrorists spotted by those in an IDF outpost reportedly carrying rockets, grenades and Kalashnikov rifles then neutralized by a drone man from afar by the Israeli Air Force and that threat neutralized. But again, Benita had that infiltration squad gotten through. Again, we've seen already the kind of damage and the kind of death it could cause. Again, most of those Israeli communities largely evacuated along the border, but it's important to emphasize not entirely evacuated. So there well could have been local residents there or of course Israeli soldiers as well. And across the border in the Israeli Golan and the Syrian Golan, rockets fired into the territory of the Israeli Golan the Israeli military responding and confirming this morning that it had responded by attacking targets in Syria reportedly in Damascus and Benita reportedly from among the Syrian military itself. So showing if that report is true that this isn't in only about Shia militias and Iranian proxies that it is also about the Syrian military itself as well. Thank you so much. That's our senior correspondent Owen Ultiman live from Northern Israel. Thank you so much for that update. More to come from our team on the ground in the coming hours. Thank you, Owen. Now, still with security developments earlier, I asked Major Dave in the Reserves and Operations Officer in the Southern Brigade of Gaza for his take on the current IDF ground operation inside the Gaza Strip nearly nine weeks in. Let's take a listen. Despite having various escalations as well as protective edge, there are areas in Gaza which we have not visited for a long time, meaning 10, 20 years that we've never been inside of them. So Hanyunis and all the areas around there are, like he said, they're the Hamas stronghold and unfortunately you cannot move through those dense populated areas unless you level the buildings because every single building is filled with traps, wires, claymores or mines, everything. They mine everything including civilian ghazans, which I mean they would find the person that was unfortunately killed and they can even mine the bodies of the people in order to hurt our soldiers. So we need to move on the ground and also under the ground and that's why you see the intense fire power. Talk to us about the efforts that the IDF takes to make sure that while this operation is underway that civilians are not harmed in the process. So first of all, we have the leaflets. We have phone calls. We have people that are getting directions that we are actually pleading to the civilians that they would leave the area. We know that it's hard to leave and unfortunately Hamas is also not allowing them to evacuate which is why we also had the corridor at Salahadin which our own troops protected the Gaza civilians in order so that Hamas wouldn't attack them and as much as we try and attempt there's always going to be unfortunately some damage because Hamas is not allowing people to evacuate and they're actually holding them captive. Whether it's schools or kindergarten I remember seeing through observation that they would not allow the family to leave in order so that if we attack the missile silo next to it they would be hurt and then they can do their regular PR circle. So what do you do in a case like that? How does a soldier in the middle of a battle see civilians, see a family? How do they respond in that moment? Talk to us about your experience. So it's very complicated because you suddenly see a person and then you need to quickly assess whether it's a civilian or whether it's a Hamas operative. You can see there's also many videos of them just wearing casual clothing and then holding an RPG just for that same purpose that even if they are killed in action it would seem like a regular civilian once you take away the weapon. So in terms of the families and things that you do there are many videos that you see just people walking by and Israeli soldiers helping them out whether it's to evacuate or get clear of the area but it's very complicated because during intense warfare if suddenly you have a civilian caught in between Hamas they don't care for them. They are just interested in them getting hurt because then it's additional vicious circle of PR. Major Dave in studio a little earlier here at I-24 News now let's find out exactly what is happening on the ground. We go back to our correspondent R.L. Levin Waldman he's still in southern Israel and we know Sirens was sounding in parts of the south earlier including where you were during our last broadcast rocket fire coming your way talk us through the latest on the ground. The war is far from over and the situation on the ground only proves that just twice today our position was getting pounded by rockets aimed in this general area that just shows that they still have the ability to fire that ability to fire has been restricted somewhat as people in the center of Israel such as where you are in the studio are well aware those three times a day like clockwork that we saw at the earlier parts of the war has dropped to maybe every three days at a random interval when they got the opportunity that's because Hamas is losing ground on the ground as of today we are seeing those Israeli forces make significant moves in the Jabaliya refugee camp it's not a refugee camp with tents or anything we're talking about a fortified neighborhood with positions, tunnel networks and everything soldiers described as finding RPGs, Kalashnikovs, IEDs in every single home they come across but despite the heavy fighting there also heavy fighting in the south of Gaza in the Khan units Israeli forces saying they're moving ever closer through the center of that city today we are seeing signs importantly that Hamas is losing control on the ground and of the people in Gaza remember that this is a dictatorial terrorist regime if you speak out against them you generally disappear but people are now saying in fact to international media in many cases and accounts going viral on social media as well that they are blaming Hamas for the calamity that's befallen upon them we can't verify each and every account that we hear but there is a swarm of these accounts now let's take a listen to some of that this all of course raising questions about exactly what happens to that aid that comes into the Gaza Strip I know as well a US official saying Israel has agreed to open the Karim Shalom border crossing but it's also going to screen and inspect all the aid coming through via the Rafa crossing tell us more so what I'm talking about the Karim Shalom is not quite opening it for the transfer of goods at least not yet but opening it for a screening process that's because everything that has to go through has to be checked very thoroughly before it goes through to make sure that Hamas can't use it remember almost anything you can think of is classified as a dual use material that means it could be used for civilian purposes or it could be used for military purposes think about concrete it's necessary for construction but it's also used to build tunnels and bunkers and underground locations what about fertilizer for crops well that's also used for high explosives or for rocket fuel I mean even salt and sugar can be used in rocket fuels and low yield explosives themselves so for it to go through it has to be checked first to make sure that Hamas can't use it and even if it goes through if Hamas can't use it directly for military purposes make sure it's not going to be used by Hamas even after that point you can do some sort of system put in place to make sure that if food is going through it's going to humanitarian purposes and not going into tunnels to supply Hamas fighters who are running out of food in the tunnels because their stockpiles have been cut off and if we saw those pictures of the Hamas fighters that surrendered they're clearly not sure on food just yet so everything has to be checked to make sure it can't be used everything has to be checked to make sure it's not going to the wrong place it's going to take time it's going to take a lot of infrastructure to set up but Israel needs to do it to maintain American support because the Americans are very very concerned about the humanitarian crisis brewing in the Gaza Strip behind me and talking about the US support the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaking to Yov Galant on Friday urging increased efforts to protect civilians in Gaza increased delivery of humanitarian assistance and also curbing settler violence in the West Bank breakdown the latest developments in terms of the US stance on the unfolding situation here on the ground Well people might be forgiven for being uncertain what the US stance is because we've seen a lot of stuff come out over the past week or so where the messages have seemed almost schizophrenic and how far they're going back and forth we had Kirby last week saying that Israel only has a matter of weeks to finish the war but also we have the American administration officials saying that no no no Hamas has to be defeated and just the other day just last night actually until this morning we had the Americans saying no no no there's no time frame for finishing this war that said there are conditions the United States has and one of those is to reduce civilian casualties and the Americans do not like what they're seeing on the ground right now from Israeli data the ratio of target to collateral damage is about 1 to 1.5 maybe 1 to 2 depending on which figures you're citing that's better than the NATO average probably better than the average of conflicts over the last 40 years the UN has that at about 1 to 9 but the Americans want to see better numbers because it still yields a result of between 5,000 and 7,000 dead terrorists and a 15,000 dead total those aren't numbers that look good particularly when the United States is helping to bankroll the war and particularly when the United States is offering arms there's a lot of the American electorate that's very upset by that particularly in the Democratic Party particularly progressive wing of the Democratic Party that are directly accusing Joe Biden of those civilian deaths so he needs to do something to show his base that no the United States does take progressive concern seriously but at the same time he has to make sure that a key ally in the Middle East that's Israel here does win the war against a terrorist regime that is set for the destruction of this country so he's caught between a rock and a hard place between Israel and America's strategic goals as well as his very short-term electoral goals and he thinks and the American administration believes that by ensuring they can get civilian and humanitarian aid in they can more or less modify both sides while the war continues Thank you so much live from southern Israel our correspondent Ariel Levin-Waldman thank you so much Meanwhile the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the IDF retaliatory ground operation in Gaza is now at 90 including master sergeant in the reserves Gull Eisenkott the son of war cabinet minister and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkott the 25-year-old died while fighting in northern Gaza he was laid to rest in Herzliya on Friday morning the mourners included President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu here's more from war cabinet member Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkott himself at the moving service Gull my beloved son I promise you that we will continue to be a loving, united and happy family so that your sacrifice and that of other falling soldiers will not be in vain and we will be worthy of it I salute you my beloved son we love you forever father, mother and all the family Gadi Gadi we approved military plans and we knew the meaning we know that the arrows and the maps can become arrows in the hearts of good and new families and you my brother, my friend, my partner you and your family are the embodiment of a personal example of placing the national interest above all personal considerations you understood the meaning very well Israeli soldiers policemen and planes closed civilians took up arms and went out to defend their communities knowing that they were the last line of defense on the 7th of October more in this report I miss him so much my heart is dead my son my son my father why couldn't he be more careful how how could they not save him stay strong like you are you cheer me up all the time it's true it's so painful it's impossible I can't believe that Yossi was taken from me in fact I went there with the feeling that this wouldn't happen to me for what purpose why is he part of it Yossi, the good lord protects him but no one defended him until October 7th Mazal and Elitar knew nothing about them not what they looked like or what their real names were these are the friends of her son Yossi killed on October 7th who remained in the shadow I never knew them and I said to myself what a shame that Yossi never came home with them for dinner now when they come here they give me a little bit of strength but I miss Yossi a lot we spoke on Thursday morning maybe now is the time to show what he wrote to me it was Thursday you read it, I can't that I want to tell you how much I love you and really appreciate that you're here by my side you give me strength when I need it always thinking, always thoughtful warm, friendly with logic and always sincere it is important for me that you know how dear you are to me I love you, Yossi I love you those are three of the most valiant elite fighters in the secret and very special unit of the internal intelligence service the Shin Bet they are here to meet Yossi's parents and tell them about the side of Yossi they knew less about he had a strong personality those who knew him got attached to him in seconds at all levels the day before to the IDF chief of staff he knew how to connect with people just like that he gave so much of himself he would meet someone and two days later is invited over for a barbecue dinner we don't wear our ranks we don't treat people based on their position people follow us because of the leadership because of the personality of whoever leads the unit and Yossi was all of the above big time he knew how to speak to people we cannot show Yossi's photo and his face will probably never be known to the public our slogan is protect and not be seen in 99% of cases we were the ones to surprise the enemy we are the initiators those who direct the situation on October 7th we were surprised by the intensity of the attack the way it was done the numbers and that was what put us in great difficulty and that is what brought us in the first few hours in many ways, Yossi is like Emmanuel Moreno the heroic fighter of the famous special forces commando Syred Maktal but in the ranks of Shin Bet tales of his bravery and everything he did on October 7th will remain secret except for what the censors allow us to reveal it was half past six in the morning of the 7th of October I received the first phone call from Yossi he told me to believe it there's something weird going on here he was talking to me from his shelter and told me that he will call me back when he's on the road to decide what we're going to do as we drove south we realized that one of our fighters was hit and Yossi with another small team of fighters responded driving towards the terrorists under heavy fire he was in an area he didn't know and we could not yet understand the scale and the number of terrorists he was able to reach our struggling fighter after a few minutes and Yossi actually saved his life outside violent fighting was taking place on all sides and Yossi realized that the evacuation is well managed it's under control he analyzed the situation perfectly and said to himself that he is the first closest to the Kibbutz Mefal Sim and decided to support the fighters in the area Yossi is an experienced fighter with a lot of hours of combat and his belt he comes from Shate Shaloshesri the Marine Commanders Yossi was in a different level than the rest of us he often faced terrorists participated in many operations against them and had a lot of experience pretty early in the fighting he was able to get hold of one of the terrorists' tactical radios at first he listened to what they were saying trying to figure out where the terrorists are they killed two terrorists in a van they saw another group of about ten terrorists up the road he ran to an open area and the terrorists were hiding behind a concrete shelter at the entrance of the Kibbutz at this point he had been hit and that's where he died I heard on the radio that Yossi was wounded and the next call I got was not from Yossi it was from our medic he came by here he told me man, I can't keep fighting to save Yossi it's done and I know both of them very well I know about the commitment we have towards each other here however, when he told me that he did everything he could but could not save him and that was the end I realized that we're dealing with a totally different situation here did he suffer? no he didn't suffer? no, he didn't suffer first few days after Yossi died I didn't want to deal with it I tried to keep busy, don't think about it I tried to erase it sometimes I'd wake up at night saying to myself it can't be, can't be true but after about four days he stopped on the side of the road and said, I can't put it away anymore just like that I wanted a moment to process and I got on WhatsApp and listened to some of the messages he has sent me and the last one was a song this song suddenly hit me it cut off half my heart and I just stopped this repression disappeared all of a sudden emotions came pouring out it overwhelmed me because you hear Yossi in his own voice it was a prophecy Yossi was the son of every parent here in Israel he defended them all by himself all of them he protected the state of Israel he even told us once if not me, then who would do the job? I don't know I don't know he's not here it's just the body physical matter here materiality, I respect the cemetery and the burial which is important in Judaism in our heritage but for me, this is just a stone like you said it's not him, it's a stone I think that if there's, as they say a world beyond this one I am sure that he's up there giving it all he's got I have no doubt grief hit Eli three times during his life his brother, Lieutenant Colonel Yossi Tahar a senior officer at the paratroopers brigade was killed in July of 1981 fighting in Lebanon it was a huge crisis in my life a very, very difficult crisis I've carried it around for a long time 20 years later when Roy was killed then they asked me they told me you must be used to it but I said that that was not the case now I understand what my parents felt Roy, Eli's son fighter in the Nahal brigade was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 2001 when Roy died a part of me died it didn't hurt it was just that a part of me was dead at a significant price that Yossi, despite serving as a fighter who in the Navy commando and later in the Shin Bet would not be harmed that's what almost everyone thought those who knew Yossi at one point I said that's it I have the impression that that's it he's safe there with this protective layer around him I thought he was safe another unsung hero who died protecting this country and that's where we wrap up this edition of our breaking news coverage I'm Benita Levine, our rolling coverage continues shortly, stay tuned this is I-24 News breaking news edition thank you for watching is in a state of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something to be fought as well breaking news edition I'm Benita Levine, several developments on several fronts on day 63 of the war as Israel intensifies its efforts to eliminate the Hamas threat from the Gaza Strip at the same time Red Alert sirens sounding in the last hour in parts of the south warning of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip the IDF saying earlier it had hit 450 Hamas sites in the past 24 hours inside Gaza large plumes of smoke have been seen rising above the enclave on Friday morning just over two months since the brutal terror rampage in southern Israel on the 7th of October at the moment 137 hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza including babies and the elderly sad news just in right now the city of Batiam has just announced that 53 year old resident Aitan Levy who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th has been murdered in captivity it says he was a taxi driver taking a client from the center of the country to Kibbutz Bairi just at the time of the terror assault it was believed he was still being held captive but the army has just confirmed he was in fact killed and that Hamas still has his body meanwhile these are the images of scores of Hamas operatives who have surrendered to the IDF the US is meanwhile saying it has not imposed a hard deadline on Israel to end its operation in Gaza with a security advisor saying Hamas would continue to pose a threat to Israel if the war stopped today so for the latest let's start with our team in the north we go live to our senior correspondent Owen Ultiman he joins us again from northern Israel so many developments Owen the Israeli army confirming it's responding to rocket launches from Syrian territory by hitting targets in Syria also striking a terrorist squad near the Hadov area what is the latest up north there will be a relatively quiet Friday with little or no attacks along Israel's northern border we have his Bala come out just over the last few hours and announce another of its fighters killed the 94th showing that the Israeli military continues to enact to exact a toll on his Bala for its violations of Israel's sovereignty and for its attacks on Israel on civilians and on the military you'll write two incidents overnight the one in the heart what Israel called the Hadov region where Israel and Syrian territories meet a band of terrorists spotted by those in an IDF outpost reportedly carrying rockets grenades and Kalashnikov rifles then neutralized by a drone man from afar by the Israeli air force and that threat neutralized but again Benita had that infiltration squad gotten through again we've seen already the kind of damage and the kind of death it could cause again most of those Israeli communities largely evacuated along the border it's important to emphasize not entirely evacuated so there well could have been local residents there or of course Israeli soldiers as well and across the border the Israeli Golan and the Syrian Golan rockets fired into the territory of the Israeli Golan the Israeli military responding and confirming this morning that it had responded by attacking targets in Syria reportedly in Damascus and Benita reportedly from among the Syrian military itself so showing if that report is true that this isn't in only about Shia militias and Iranian proxies that it is also about the Syrian military itself as well Thank you so much that's our senior correspondent Owen Ultiman live from northern Israel thank you so much for that update more to come from our team on the ground in the coming hours thank you Owen now still with security developments earlier I asked major Dave in the reserves and operations officer and Brigade of Gaza for his take on the current IDF ground operation inside the Gaza Strip nearly nine weeks in let's take a listen despite having various escalation as well as protective edge there are areas in Gaza which we have not visited for a long time meaning 10, 20 years that we've never been inside of them so Hanyunis and all the areas around there are like he said they're the Hamas stronghold unfortunately you cannot move through those dense populated areas unless you level the buildings because every single building is filled with traps wires, claymores or mines, everything they mine everything including civilian Gazans which I mean they would find the person that was unfortunately killed and they can even mine the bodies of the people in order to hurt our soldiers so we need to move on the ground and also under the ground and that's why you see the intense fire power talk to us about the efforts that the IDF takes to make sure that while this operation is underway that civilians are not harmed in the process so first of all we have the leaflets we have phone calls we have people that are getting directions that we are actually pleading to the civilians that they would leave the area we know that it's hard to leave unfortunately Hamas is also not allowing them to evacuate which is why we also had a corridor at Salahadin which our own troops protected the Gaza civilians in order so that Hamas wouldn't attack them and as much as we try and attempt there's always going to be unfortunately some damage because Hamas is not allowing people to evacuate and they're actually holding them captive whether it's schools or kindergarten we remember seeing through observation that they would not allow the family to leave in order so that if we attack the missile silo next to it they would be hurt and then they can do their regular PR circle so what do you do in a case like that how does a soldier in the middle of a battle see civilians see a family how do they respond in that moment talk to us about your experience so it's very complicated because you suddenly see a person and then you need to quickly assess whether it's a civilian or whether it's a Hamas operative you can see there's also many videos of them just wearing casual clothing and then holding an RPG just for that same purpose that even if they are killed in action it would seem like a regular civilian once you take away the weapon so in terms of the families and things that you do there are many videos that you see people walking by and Israeli soldiers helping them out whether it's to evacuate or get clear of the area but it's very complicated because during intense warfare if suddenly you have a civilian caught in between Hamas they don't care for them they are just interested in them getting hurt because then it's additional vicious circle of PR Major Dave in studio a little earlier here at I-24 news now let's find out exactly what is happening on the ground we go back to our correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman he's still in southern Israel and we know Sirens was sounding in parts of the south earlier including where you were during our last broadcast rocket fire coming your way talk us through the latest on the ground yeah the war is far from over and the situation on the ground only proves that just twice today our position aimed in this general area that just shows that they still have the ability to fire that said that ability to fire has been restricted somewhat as people in the center of Israel such as where you are in the studio are well aware those three times a day like clockwork that we saw at the earlier parts of the war is dropped to maybe every three days at a random interval when they got the opportunity that's because Hamas is losing ground on the ground as of today we are seeing those Israeli forces significant moves in the Jabali refugee camp it's not a refugee camp with tents or anything we're talking about a fortified neighborhood with positions, tunnel networks and everything soldiers described as finding RPGs Kalashnikov's IEDs in every single home they come across but despite the heavy fighting there also heavy fighting in the south of Gaza and the Khan units Israeli forces saying they're moving ever closer through the center of that city today we are seeing signs that Hamas is losing control on the ground and of the people in Gaza remember that this is a dictatorial terrorist regime if you speak out against them you generally disappear but people are now saying in fact to international media in many cases and accounts going viral on social media as well that they are blaming Hamas for the calamity that's befallen upon them we can't verify each and every account that we hear but there is a swarm of these accounts now let's take a listen to some of that this all of course raising questions about exactly what happens to that aid that comes into the Gaza Strip we know as well a US official saying Israel has agreed to open the Karim Shalom border crossing but it's also going to screen and inspect all the aid coming through via the Rafa crossing tell us more so with the talk about the Karim Shalom is not quite opening it for the transfer of goods at least not yet but it's still a screening process that's because everything that has to go through has to be checked very thoroughly before it goes through to make sure that Hamas can't use it remember almost anything you can think of is classified as a dual use material that means it could be used for civilian purposes or it could be used for military purposes think about concrete it's necessary for construction but it's also used to build tunnels and bunkers and underground locations what about fertilizer for crops well that's also used for high explosives or for rocket fuel and rocket fuels and low-yield explosives themselves so for it to go through it has to be checked first to make sure that Hamas can't use it and even if it goes through if Hamas can't use it directly for military purposes you have to make sure it's not going to be used by Hamas even after that point you need some sort of system put in place to make sure that if food's going through it's going to humanitarian purposes and not going into tunnels to supply Hamas fighters who are running out of food in the tunnels because their stockpiles have been cut off we saw those pictures of the Hamas fighters that surrendered they're clearly not sure on food just yet so everything has to be checked to make sure it can't be used everything has to be checked to make sure it's not going to the wrong place and that's a process it's going to take time it's going to take a lot of infrastructure to set up but Israel needs to do it to maintain American support because the Americans are very very concerned about the humanitarian crisis brewing in the Gaza Strip behind me and talking about the US support the US defense secretary Lloyd Austin speaking to you I've got a call on Friday urging increased efforts to protect civilians in Gaza increased delivery of humanitarian assistance and also curbing settler violence in the West Bank breakdown the latest developments in terms of the US stance on the unfolding situation here on the ground well people might be forgiven for being uncertain what the US stance is because we've seen a lot of stuff come out over the past week or so where messages have seemed almost schizophrenic and how far they're going back and forth we had Kirby last week saying that Israel only has a matter of weeks to finish the war but also we have American administration officials saying that no no no Hamas has to be defeated and just the other day just last night actually until this morning we had the Americans saying no no no there's no time frame for finishing this war that said there are conditions the United States as and one of those is to reduce civilian casualties and the Americans do not like what they're seeing on the ground right now from Israeli data the ratio of target to collateral damage is about one to one point five maybe one to two depending on which figures you're citing that's better than the NATO average it's certainly better than the average of conflicts over the last 40 years the UN has that about one to nine but the Americans want to see better numbers because it still yields a result of between five and seven thousand dead terrorists and a fifteen thousand dead total those aren't numbers that look good particularly when the United States is helping to bankroll the war and particularly when the United States is offering arms there's a lot of the American electorate that's very upset by that particularly in the Democratic Party particularly progressive wing of the Democratic Party that are directly accusing Joe Biden of those civilian deaths so he needs to do something to show his base that no the United States does take progressive concern seriously but at the same time he has to make sure that a key ally in the Middle East that's Israel here does win the war against a terrorist regime that is set for the destruction of this country so he's caught between a rock and a hard place between Israel and America's strategic goals as well as his very short-term electoral goals and he thinks and the American administration believes that by ensuring they can get civilian and humanitarian aid in they can more or less modify both sides while the war continues. Thank you so much live from southern Israel our correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman thank you so much Meanwhile the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the IDF retaliatory ground operation in Gaza is now at 90 including master sergeant in the reserves Gull Eisenkott the son of war cabinet minister and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkott the 25-year-old died while fighting in northern Gaza he was laid to rest in Herzlia on Friday morning the mourners included president Isaac Herzog and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu he has more from war cabinet member Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkott himself at the moving service Gull my beloved son I promise you that we will continue to be a loving, united and happy family so that your sacrifice and that of other falling soldiers will not be in vain and we will be worthy of it I salute you my beloved son we love you forever father, mother and all the family Gadi Gadi we approved military plans and we knew the meaning we know that the elves and the maps can become elves in the hearts of good and dear families and you my brother my friend my partner you and your family are the embodiment of a personal example of placing the national interest above all personal considerations you understood the meaning very well Israeli soldiers policemen and planes closed civilians took up arms and went out to defend their communities knowing that they were the last line of defense on the 7th of October more on this report I miss him so much my heart is dead why couldn't he be more careful how, how could they not save him stay strong like you are you cheer me up all the time it's true it's so painful it's impossible I can't believe that Yossi was taken from me in fact I went there with the feeling that this wouldn't happen to me for what purpose why is he part of it Yossi the good lord protects him but no one defended him until October 7th Mazal and Elitar knew nothing about them not what they look like or what their real names were these are the friends of her son Yossi killed on October 7th who remained in the shadow I never knew them I've never seen them and I said to myself what a shame that Yossi never came home with them for dinner now when they come here they give me a little bit of strength but I miss Yossi a lot we spoke on Thursday morning maybe now is the time to show what he wrote to me it was Thursday you read it, I can't that I want to tell you how much I love you and really appreciate that you're here by my side you give me strength when I need it always thinking, always thoughtful with logic and always sincere it is important for me that you know how dear you are to me I love you, Yossi those are three of the most valiant elite fighters in the secret and very special unit of the internal intelligence service, the Shin Bet they are here to meet Yossi's parents and tell them about the side of Yossi they knew less about he had a strong personality those who knew him got attached to him in seconds at all levels from the simple soldier arriving at the unit the day before to the IDF chief of staff he knew how to connect with people just like that, he gave so much of himself he would meet someone and two days later is invited over for a barbecue dinner we don't wear our ranks we don't treat people based on their position people follow us because of the leadership because of the personality of whoever leads the unit and Yossi was all of the above, big time he knew how to speak to people and touch their hearts we cannot show Yossi's photo and his face will probably never be known to the public our slogan is protect and not be seen in 99% of cases we were the ones to surprise the enemy we are the initiators those who direct the situation on October 7th, we were surprised by the intensity of the attack the way it was done, the numbers and that was what put us in great difficulty in the first hours of the attack in many ways, Yossi is like Emmanuel Moreno the heroic fighter of the famous special forces commando Syred Maktal but in the ranks of Shin Bet his bravery and everything he did on October 7th will remain secret except for what the sensors allow us to reveal it was half past six in the morning of the 7th of October I received the first phone call from Yossi he told me, you're not going to believe it there's something weird going on here he was talking to me from his shelter and told me that he will call me back when he's on the road to decide what we're going to do as we drove south we realized that one of our fighters was hit and Yossi, with another small team of fighters, responded driving towards the terrace under heavy fire he was in an area he didn't know and we could not yet understand the scale and complexity of the attack and the number of terrorists he was able to reach our struggling fighter after a few minutes and Yossi actually saved his life outside, violent fighting taking place on all sides and Yossi realized that the evacuation is well managed it's under control he analyzed the situation perfectly and said to himself that he is the first closest to the Kibbutz Mefalzim and decided to support the fighters in the area Yossi is an experienced fighter with a lot of hours of combat on his belt he comes from Shethe Shaloshesre the Marine Commanders Yossi was in a different level than the rest of us he often faced terrorists participated in many operations against them and had a lot of experience pretty early in the fighting he was able to get hold of one of the terrorists tactical radios at first he listened to what they were saying trying to figure out where the terrorists are they killed two terrorists in the van they saw another group of about ten terrorists up the road he ran to an open area and the terrorists were hiding behind a concrete shelter the entrance of the Kibbutz at this point he had been hit and that's where he died I heard on the radio that Yossi was wounded and the next call I got was not from Yossi it was from our medic he told me man, I can't keep fighting to save Yossi it's done and I know both of them very well and I know about the commitment we have towards each other here however, when he told me that he did everything he could but could not save him and that was the end I realized that we're dealing with a totally different situation here did he suffer? no he didn't suffer the first few days after Yossi died I didn't want to deal with it I tried to keep busy don't think about it I tried to erase it sometimes I'd wake up at night saying to myself it can't be but after about four days I stopped on the side of the road and said I can't put it away anymore just like that I wanted a moment to process and I got on WhatsApp and listened to some of the messages he has sent me the last one was a song this song suddenly hit me it cut off half my heart and I just stopped this repression disappeared all of a sudden emotions came pouring out it overwhelmed me because you hear Yossi in his own voice singing a song that is almost like a prophecy Yossi was the son of every parent here in Israel he defended them all by himself all of them he protected the state of Israel he even told us once if not me then who would do the job he's not here it's just the body physical matter here materiality I respect the cemetery and the burial which is important in Judaism it's a stone like you said it's not him it's a stone I think that if there's as they say a world beyond this one I am sure that he's up there giving it all he's got I have no doubt grief hit Ellie three times during his life his brother Lieutenant Colonel Yossi Tahar a senior officer at the paratroopers brigade of 1981 fighting in Lebanon it was a huge crisis in my life a very very difficult crisis I've carried it around for a long time 20 years later when Roy was killed then they asked me they told me you must be used to it but I said that that was not the case now I understand what my parents felt Roy, Ellie's son fighter in the Nahal brigade was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 2001 when Roy died a part of me died it didn't hurt it was just that a part of me was dead Ellie was sure he had already paid the ultimate price and that Yossi despite serving as a fighter who in the Navy commando and later in the Shin Bet would not be harmed that's what almost everyone thought those who knew Yossi at one point I said that's it I have the impression that that's it he's safe there with this protective layer around him I thought he was safe another unsung hero who died protecting his country and that's where we wrap up this edition of our breaking news coverage and Benita Levine our rolling coverage continues shortly stay tuned this is I-24 News Breaking News edition, thank you for watching 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 I-24 News rd access our website www.recargas.tis.com.b select the number you want to place the charge also they receive the double of balance in charges of 8 dollars more Altis, the global network of the dominicans a bicycle attack in Spanish it has the analysis and the information of the events of the war, iron swords the reaction of the Spanish-speaking countries news 24 the only medium in Spanish that keeps you informed and connected with the Latin community in Israel news 24 only on I-24 News news edition I'm Benita Levine several developments on several fronts on day 63 of the war as Israel intensifies its efforts to eliminate the Hamas threat from the Gaza Strip at the same time red alert sirens sounding earlier in some southern communities warning of rocket fire from the Strip towards Israel the idea of saying earlier it had hit 450 Hamas sites in the past 24 hours in Gaza large clumes of smoke have been seen rising above the enclave on Friday morning just over two months since the brutal terror rampage in southern Israel on the 7th of October at the moment 137 hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza including babies and the elderly now the municipality of Bagian has announced earlier that 53-year-old resident Eitan Levi was murdered in captivity it says the taxi driver was driving a client from the center of the country to Kibbutz Berry at the time of the terror assault nearly nine weeks ago now it was believed he was still being held captive but the army has now confirmed he was killed and Hamas still has his body meanwhile these are the images of scores of Hamas operatives who have surrendered to the IDF they will be brought to Israel for questioning the US is meanwhile saying it has not imposed a hard deadline on Israel to surrender its operation in Gaza with a security advisor saying Hamas would continue to pose a threat to Israel if the war stopped today meanwhile the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the IDF retaliatory ground operation in Gaza is now at 90 including master sergeant in the reserves Gal Eisenkot the son of war cabinet minister and former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot the 25 year old died while fighting in northern Gaza he was laid to rest in Herzlia on Friday morning the morning included president Isaac Herzog and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu he has more from war cabinet member Benny Gantz and from Gadi Eisenkot himself at the moving service let's take a listen Gal my beloved son I promise you that we will continue to be a loving united and happy family so that your sacrifice and that of other falling soldiers will not be in vain and we will be worthy of it I salute you my beloved son we love you forever father mother and all the family Gadi we approve military plans and we know their meaning we know that the arrows and the maps can become arrows in the hearts of good and dear families and you my brother, my friend, my partner you and your family are the embodiment of a personal example of placing the national interest above all personal considerations you understood the meaning very well so for more insight we now welcome journalist Neri Zilber a junked fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy to Studio Neri thank you so much for your time 90 Israeli soldiers have been killed in this ground operation so far and you heard right now the pain in the voice of Gadi Eisenkot unimaginable for him to be burying his 25 year old son fighting in northern Gaza the pain is so raw it is so real and it impacts people across this nation right now so it should be said that funeral for Gadi Eisenkot's son Gal was carried live on all the TV channels here in Israel and for a long time and all the eulogies not only of the father Gadi and Benny Gantz his political running mate were carried live but also Gal's brother in law and so that was beamed out to the entire country who was watching it live on this Friday afternoon and encapsulates the loss and the price the heavy price a lot of families are paying right now for the offensive in the Gaza Strip like you said 90 IDF soldiers killed since the start really of the ground operation inside the Gaza Strip and it was just a reminder number one that this isn't cost free that like Benny Gantz said the map that they send out to go fight are real people with real lives and real families back home but number two and to that point families are back home the soldiers are there in Gaza in this operation trying to protect the house as Gadi Eisenkot said and so we have to keep that in mind as we all follow this war the real people on both sides as Benny Gantz says we know the arrows on the maps and the hearts of good families and so many families impacted by what is unfolding right now over and above which the pain of the nation with 137 hostages still being held captive nearly nine weeks captive at the hands of a terrorist organization and now of course we know more and more details about the conditions in captivity given your experience in this field your understanding of what it's going to take for the fighting to continue and for Israel to do its very best to make sure that the hostages can come home safely and be reunited with their families here in Israel so it's a very tough dilemma balancing those two objectives and they are the two objectives of this war eliminating and destroying Hamas really as a military and governing force in the Gaza Strip and also retrieving the hostages who were seized on October 7th a deal that lasted about seven days that required a halt in the fighting a temporary pause a truce and so that worked that worked over 100 hostages not only Israelis also foreign nationals were able to come back home and get out of captivity now a similar bargain will likely have to be struck if more hostages are to be released it's going to be very difficult number one the ground offensive like we said in the northern now southern Gaza Strip and so that would require the IDF to stop the IDF does not want to stop once again and also Hamas it takes two to tango Hamas has to also make a decision that it's willing to release more hostages from its point of view though it might not be a bad thing to halt fighting for another week we can have two weeks because that also extends the clock or limits the clock rather that Israel has to prosecute the war as we know it's not all happening at a vacuum there is a lot of international pressure on Israel something we're going to talk about in a short while but right now let's go to our correspondent Ariel Levin Waldman he joins us from southern Israel and Ariel the IDF may be making strong gains in its ground operation but that hasn't stopped rocket fire from the Strip being sent towards some southern parts in recent hours no injuries but what is the latest this hour where you are what can you share well you have to understand just how widespread Hamas's rocket capabilities are people like to think oh maybe there's a warehouse here or a warehouse there and you hit the warehouse you take out the rockets that's not the case you see rocket deployments and rocket factories all across the Gaza Strip often in the least likely of places we've seen videos of them set up near refugee tents and humanitarian areas and firing from them we've seen video evidence of them set up underneath mosques and now the IDF actually just found a major rocket warehouse factory at the plant and launch sites at the Al-Azhar University in Rimal they said that underneath the university in addition to tunnels to connect them to the larger tunnel network of Hamas they found all sorts of rockets, rocket parts guidance systems, detonation devices explosives manufacturing warehouses and the like so while there is a lot of ground activity a lot of ground that has been secured already you don't actually realize how widespread the operation is how disparate the upwards of 20,000 rockets Hamas had in their arsenal was until you really see those pictures coming out of Gaza because it's not just a few storage facilities it's distributed across almost every inch of the Gaza Strip and it's not just their rockets either we saw testimonies from soldiers and local media saying that when they were going through Jabalaya as well as other parts of Gaza every single room every single house, every single apartment across had a weapon in it whether or not it was an IED whether or not it was an RPG whether or not it was a Kalashnikov rifle or something they were finding them in beds in kitchens under the children's playpen every place you can imagine has a weapon hidden and just because a large number of them have been fired and another large number have been destroyed doesn't mean Hamas is anywhere near the end of their military capabilities yet quite an unusual sight for a university and institution that the IDF will unfold we know Ariel the IDF targeting 455 sites in the past 24 hours earlier we saw those plumes behind you what is the latest specificity when it comes to movements in and around Khan Yunus what can you share this hour look the IDF has been fairly consistent about its statements they're not going to give you their exact locations but they're saying that they are moving deeper and deeper into the center of that city but it's a long and hard path ahead because each step they take in the Khan Yunus which is a Hamas stronghold Hamas stronghold by the way that does have four brigades of Hamas fighters inside plus all the people that managed to flee to that area and regroup during the ceasefire or when they were just scuttling down the road during the humanitarian pauses in the earlier stages of the war so a very stiff amount of opposition ahead for the IDF that they are overcoming is not quite as easily as you might think that's because there is a lot to do on the ground it is slow going as I mentioned before those reports from Jabali are just as true as Khan Yunus where you do have that urban warfare nightmare scenario where every single window is a sniper position it's an ambush site it's an RPG launching location so every day while they say they're moving closer to the center or they're moving through the center it doesn't mean they've secured the area yet so I'm just going to go ahead. Thank you so much live from southern Israel that's our correspondent R.L. Levin Waldman thank you for your coverage today Ariel and still with me in studio Neri Zilber and we're hearing weapons being uncovered at a university perhaps not surprising when we know the other sites where so many rockets and other forms of ammunition have been stored across the Gaza Strip your thoughts. It's not surprising at all the US military bunker Hamas has been ruling the coastal enclave to Israel Southwest for 16 years and it's used those 16 years to essentially turn schools, universities hospitals as we know and even civilian homes into weapons caches rocket launching sites command centers and the like this isn't a secret it shouldn't be a controversial point it's just a matter of the reality inside the Gaza Strip and so if an army like the idea goes in with the stated intention of dismantling the Hamas military apparatus and eliminating the threat of Hamas from the Gaza Strip to Israel especially to southern Israel this is what it will require and so we're seeing now as Ariel mentioned very deliberate house to house street to street neighborhood to neighborhood fighting and searches for precisely those weapons what do you make of the images that we saw in recent days of the Hamas operatives who surrendered to the IDF we know the images we've seen them now and those people are going to be brought to Israel and interrogated what kind of information could Israel possibly glean out of them there are a lot of suspects who are putting their hands up and saying we surrender right now so I'll caveat what I say by saying the information in the videos obviously came from the Israeli side from the IDF we don't necessarily know who these individuals are they all look like fairly young military age males but we don't know if they necessarily surrendered or if they were brought in from a different place we'll leave it at that but if they were actually dozens of Hamas militants and fighters or other fighters from other factions right it's not just Hamas and the Gaza Strip then it would be a sign that perhaps Israel has found a way to crack the underground tunnels again talking about Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip 500 kilometers bigger than the London underground underneath the Gaza Strip used again as fortified military positions and so perhaps if a dozens of fighters like we say in the video were taken without really a fight and surrendered perhaps that means the tunnels at least in northern Gaza Strip have been cracked and then they're brought back to a camp near the frontier between Israel and Gaza and interrogated for all kinds of information whether tactical or strategic you made mention earlier of the pressure that the US may or may not be putting on Israel right now the most recent comments we heard an official saying if the war was stopped today Hamas would still pose a threat to Israel so that deadline so to speak has been pushed out it doesn't exist as a hard deadline right now what does that mean for the IDF operation currently underway so we should be very clear the there hasn't been an American request to stop the war and to ceasefire especially not from President Biden perhaps some of his aides think otherwise so there is still road for the IDF to run as it were but we're talking maybe a few weeks perhaps a month or two it's not going to be a month long or years long campaign like perhaps some Israeli generals and some senior ministers would like it to be so there is still time what the US is asking is a more more of an emphasis on Israel to limit civilian casualties especially in southern Gaza and to facilitate more increased humanitarian aid again to southern Gaza so that remains to be seen whether Israel is able to to acquiesce to those American demands while still fighting a very tough urban war and so look there's still time left there's still a few weeks left but Israel has to take into account that there is a diplomatic clock on this operation. Neri stay with us we've got more to discuss other friends but right now let's take a look at the latest developments in the north of the country our senior correspondent Owen Ultiman was there earlier and filed this report a short while ago. Tensions continue on Israel's northern borders with the steady drumbeat day to day of security incidents overnight from Thursday to Friday night infiltration in the hard dove region on Israel's northern border where Lebanon and Syria and Israel meet where IDF soldiers in an outpost reportedly spotted a band of terrorists entering that area who reportedly had rockets grenades and Kalashnikov rifles once they were spotted the Israeli Air Force coming in with a drone man from a far neutralizing those terrorists but it just shows how attempts like these day in and day out present a potential threat to Israeli lives and livelihoods across the border and in fact earlier on on Thursday a 60 year old Israeli civilian was killed by an IDF soldier who had been fired from Lebanon he was a farmer and in many cases the communities along the Israel-Lebanon border and the Israeli side have been evacuated but in some cases farmers feel they need to stay or at least come back in order to tend to their crops and their fields and to save their businesses and sadly one of those civilians losing his life in the meantime in a separate incident two IDF soldiers lightly injured on Thursday and also on the border between the Israeli Golan and the Syrian Golan rockets fired into Israeli territory and the Israeli military responding it confirmed this morning responding overnight with attacks on targets inside Syria reportedly in Damascus in the meantime the Israeli government continues to warn Hezbollah about potentially deciding to escalate on this northern front and as always as I continue to be focused on action and activity in the Israel-Gaza border certainly tensions here continue to simmer and keep of course in mind that tens of thousands of Israelis are not in their homes on the northern border and are scattered throughout the country in hotels and hostels without a clear horizon about when they'll be able to return and under what conditions. Owen Alterman, I-24 News And still in studio Neri Zilber and talk to us about Benjamin Netanyahu's warning to Hezbollah we saw him going up north yesterday and issuing quite a stern warning to stay out of the phrase so to speak what do you make of that given the tensions that have been simmering throughout this war it's nearly nine weeks now. That's right Prime Minister Netanyahu said if Hezbollah chose to escalate then Beirut would look like Hanyunas in the Gaza Strip and we've seen this from day one very strong statements by Netanyahu and other senior Israeli political leaders to the extent that Hezbollah should not escalate further than what it already has done since day one of the Gaza war on Israel's northern border with Lebanon and so it's a threat meant to deter Hezbollah from taking further action firing rockets deeper into Israel and extending what it's already been doing now like you said for nine weeks and combined with that you also have a wholehearted preparations shall we say by the Israeli air force in particular to strike back hard not only in southern Lebanon like the IDF has been doing but further field into Beirut and even northern and eastern Lebanon if Hezbollah chooses to escalate and so it's a very direct warning to Hezbollah chief Hassan Asrallah that he needs to be very very careful in terms of everything going on in the Israel-Lebanon frontier. It's quite fascinating when one looks at the size of Israel the different fronts that it is facing in terms of threats and sometimes at the same time talking of which let's take a look at the West Bank because seven Palestinians were killed in the village of Tubas near Nablus that was during a gun battle with IDF troops talk to us about the concerns around tensions there boiling over spilling over can Israel handle that kind of pressure right now so it's a major concern all eyes rightfully so on the Gaza Strip and also Lebanon but the West Bank now for over two months has been anything but quiet anything but stable in normal times what was happening what's been happening now in the West Bank would be the biggest news not only in Israel but also internationally we've seen a wholehearted IDF operation going after Hamas and other militants in the West Bank very very hard like nothing we have we've seen re