I'm Khaled Ben-David. It's day 34 of Israel's war against Hamas. We expected Defense Minister Joav Galan to speak in the coming minutes. We'll bring you that live. This has been an eventful day on several fronts. The IDF reporting major progress in its Gaza ground operations, saying its forces have taken control of key Hamas military strongholds in and around Gaza City. Now falling in those battles is Reserves Master Sergeant Dov Moshe Kogan bringing to 35 the number of IDF troops killed in Gaza. A major flare up in the West Bank today is IDF troops clashed with terrorists and Janine uncovering a weapons cachet there. 14 Palestinians reported killed in that firefight and two more in clashes near the city of Bethlehem. Meanwhile in the Red Sea Resort of Alad a drone managed to slip through Israel's air defense systems and explode on impact at a school building. No injury is reported. It's not yet clear from where the drone was launched but it was reportedly Iranian made. And just in the past hours the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group released videos of two Israeli hostages being held in Gaza. 77-year-old Hana Katsir and 13-year-old Yagil Yakov both of them kidnapped from Kibbutz near Oz. Islamic Jihad said that the two both of whom reportedly suffer from health issues will be released quote for humanitarian reasons. Now as in previous instances I-24 News will not air those videos in accordance with the wishes of the hostages family. Well joining me in studio our defense correspondent Jonathan Regev Middle East correspondent Ariel also on a lot going on gentlemen Jonathan some updates from you. So as you mentioned a lot going on in the past 30-40 minutes let's begin with Alad. There was a red alert siren about 15 minutes ago and now confirmation from the IDF that an object was flying towards Alad and was intercepted by the arrow missile defense system way outside the Israeli borders meaning much to the south of Israel. Of course the usual suspect would be Yemen. This is not the first time as you said the arrow missile defense system is meant to intercept threats coming from far away long range of threats and this seems to be the case a drone possibly which was sent from Yemen and was detected and intercepted far away from the Israeli coast possibly a ground-to-ground missile and was intercepted and yet the siren sounded in Alad sending people to shelter because of course once you detected first you want everybody to be safe and then of course try and of course early today those systems fail to detect this drone also we had a briefing from Daniel Higari the idea spokesman spoke a little earlier this evening talking about progress on the ground in Gaza so much so that even the chief of staff managed and the head of the Shabbat Shin Bet went into Gaza that is true and I think that's that's a very strong message the message is the commanders are at the front going into Gaza is dangerous it's very dangerous they do you want to put your your chief of staff your head of the internal security agency agency do you want to put your people in in that danger may be not but you do want to send a message the commanders are at the front they're not just watching it from from their their headquarters in Tel Aviv they're with with the forces up front with their sending their message of support from the ground we've seen Erci Alevi on the ground before we've seen the head of the southern command your own Finkelman we also have seen him before and today both the chief of staff and the the chief of the Israeli the internal security agency out there sending a message we're here we're with you we're with the forces the commanders are here and not back at the headquarters all right Aria the other major headline of the past couple of hours proof of life of two of the 239 confirmed hostages in Gaza indeed this is a video released by Palestinian Islamic jihad not Hamas and it's important to clarify that on October 7th when thousands of Gazans came into Israel a lot of them most of them were a lot of them were Hamas fighters Hamas terrorists but also Palestinian Islamic jihad also the other smaller terror groups in the Gaza Strip as well as thousands of civilians it is believed that all these groups are holding Israeli hostages and that makes it all the more complicated this these two and one of the hardest hit kibbutzim in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip they are in their late 70s and 13 they are believed at least according to Palestinian Islamic jihad they're releasing they're claiming that they will potentially be released down the line because of their health issues but again the fact that beyond just showing their images and their names that they're a proof of life other than that there is no added value to airing to showing these videos it is propaganda and psychological warfare on behalf of Palestinian Islamic jihad like we've seen on behalf of Hamas and so albeit there is a silver lining of a proof of life the the video saying that we chose not to air also at the request of the family and this just shows the complexity that you have Hamas hostages Palestinian Islamic jihadist hostages and also regular civilians in Gaza are holding hostages and that just shows how complicated the situation is all right Jonathan Regev did prepare this report on some of the military activities of the IDF today let's take a look at that he's really flag rises high and the anthem is heard on the Gaza beachfront deep inside the Gaza Strip shortly after IDF tanks appear on the beach road running down the Gaza city coastline step by step the IDF takes on a bigger part of Gaza city as the forces move forward they once again see how in Gaza there's no distinction between terror and civilian infrastructure this stairway leads to a terror lab where explosives are made and suicide drones are manufactured next to it is a shaft leading to a terror tunnel and what's right next door a room where three little girls used to live right next to the terrorists the main Hamas headquarters are mostly located under the Gaza ground those above the ground are well entrenched in residential areas where civilians are used as human shields as opposed to Hamas the IDF is interested in keeping civilians away from the fight we're trying not to harm these people we give all the people that live here a good heads up that are coming and we need to evacuate till the southern lake which is going south while this is happening in Gaza there's no let up of the anti-terror activity in the west bank a major operation took place in the city of Jenin on Thursday morning as IDF forces entered the city under heavy fire from local terrorists Palestinian reports say as many as 10 militants were killed in the operation as other Israeli forces also entered the Balata refugee camp in the city of Nablus another terror stronghold in the west bank along with the northern border there are three constant active arenas meaning the IDF is fully stretched and ready to engage on all of them and Jonathan again all this progress has Israel the IDF in Gaza pushing closer to of course the target of the Shifa hospital believed to be sort of the main command center of Hamas in Gaza that is correct the Shifa hospital in in in central Gaza the main hospital of the Gaza Strip and as the IDF spokesperson already exposed some two weeks ago under the Shifa hospital there's no parking lot or anything it's it's not civilian matters which which are dealt with but but Hamas headquarters tunnels and in operations room and possibly possibly the some of the leading Hamas figures may be hiding there we don't know but that's what is thought to be under the Shifa hospital maybe even within the Shifa hospital itself the forces are of course closing in going into a hospital conquering a hospital of course may create a humanitarian issue which may create a global outcry but at least for now these really forces are moving in slowly slowly but decisively all right so let's go to what correspondent Robert Swift he's down in the south near Gaza Kibbutz-Ruchama where certainly a sort of a special initiative is being taken a lot happening and a lot of focus on the hostages this evening Robert that's right we're down here at this event so that we could speak to some of the hostages and we're going to bring in the interviews that we've done with sorry I should say with some of the families of the hostages and we're going to bring some of the interviews with them to you shortly but even whilst we're here at this event the backdrop behind me you'll see is in the direction of Gaza not the lights you can immediately see that's in Israeli community but beyond that is is the Gaza Strip and behind me we're hearing constant booms and explosions as some of the combat that Jonathan was just describing is taking place a short while ago we saw an enormous airstrike the easily the largest explosion that we've seen here during the entire month of this court this reporting there was a substantial explosion and that is all part of the effort by the IDF to essentially to get at the the Hamas infrastructure which is around the Shifa hospital area but that's not the only front where this has taken place there's also of course activity taking place elsewhere in the country including in a lot where half an hour ago once again there was alarm rocket alarms were ringing out in that southern city this is understood the Israeli military have said that this was a missile that was fired and that they used the arrow three system which is a high altitude interception system they used that to intercept the missile over the over the Red Sea this comes several hours after a drone impacted in the the city of Elat there's no confirmation on where these attacks originated from but obviously it's already been seen previously in this war that the the Houthi organization which is based in Yemen and which has essentially declared war on Israel that it has launched a number of very long-range attacks using drones and using missiles towards Israel some of them even impacting in Egypt at times right and maybe just uh Robert explain uh what the event there at Kibbutz Surakama that I alluded to what their what their project is this evening so essentially what they're doing is they're they're using a laser display onto a screen to to list the names and ages of all those hostages who are still right now inside Gaza they're using this as a sort of memorial as in their words it was to to cast light in the darkness and this is an attempt by them to to display the names and to to send hope to those people who are trapped in Gaza all right uh Robert Swift this down in Kibbutz Surakama thank you for that gentlemen another very active front today the West Bank Ariel we have seen major clashes uh some of the biggest I think in in really even in months especially in the in the Janine area indeed for the second time today Israeli forces operating in Janine uncovering an underground cache of of explosive devices as well as uh taking out 12 eliminating 12 uh terror suspects the Palestinians are reporting uh that the casualties are up at 14 as well as arresting 12 uh suspects uh terror suspects and this comes as earlier in the day the idea dropped leaflets over Janine saying if you don't want us to come back and stop with a terror and you know Janine is kind of the West Bank and Janine specifically has been taking a a back seat in terms of the news cycle because we've been talking obviously more about what's been going on in the southern front as well as the northern border but the West Bank has not stopped has not come down ever since the war started since October 7th we're talking about nearly uh 1400 arrests about a thousand over 2000 arrests sorry nearly a thousand of those are Hamas members and this shows that the IDF uh Shin Bet police and all Israeli security forces continue to go after Hamas not only in Gaza and not only in the West Bank um there's also uh there's also a report on the Palestinian side that while Ismail Ania the leader of Hamas is now in Cairo visiting uh meaning with the Egyptian heads of intelligence uh it was reported that there was an agreement by Israel that they would not hurt him that's probably not an accurate uh uh report and there probably was no such arrangement but that just shows the level of fear that they have among themselves uh that they're being targeted not only in Gaza not on the West Bank but also potentially leadership abroad right and Jonathan you mentioned the uh IDF Chief of Staff uh Herzl Alevi going inside Gaza for the first time we have uh one of his comments from there let's take a listen our main point of strength are our partnerships I look around and see the IDF in every corner everyone is doing everything to make you as strong as possible keep moving forward thoroughly increase the pace we are behind you all right correction was the second time you wanted was the first time that Ronan Barr uh the head of the Israel security agency better known of the Shin Bet or Shabbat entered into Gaza and of course the Shin Bet playing a key role in intelligence uh in determining uh really uh which which targets to strike here and of course any information that might be on the hostages of course the Shin Bet the internal security agency they're basically they're the ones meant to along with the intelligence director of the army basically provide the intelligence where are the hostages where is the Hamas leadership where are the tunnels exactly you can't just go in it was very clear Hamas move very well that after it's such an attack such as a one on October 7 the Israeli army will storm in they've been preparing for this therefore storming in with major power that may not be the wisest thing that's why perhaps it took Israel some time to to to organize and to think exactly what would be the right thing to do that is why it took nearly three weeks for the ground operation to begin and now we're seeing how it is it is successful now we're seeing that in practically every time there's those clashes with Hamas terrorists they're they all end with the with IDF victory they all end with tens of terrorist uh killed that is because there's concrete intelligence all that concrete intelligence which was so dearly and and and severely missing on October 7th is now appearing and that that is what allows the IDF to to go in slowly but decisively all right and we do have as I said information now on two of the hostages proof of life uh one of them a Yagil Yakov 13 years old kidnapped from Kibbutz near Oz with his older brother or Yakov now just last week I spoke with their mother Renana Gomez uh about the situation and having her children uh taken hostage like that here is what she had to say to us oh we have Yoav Galant I'm sorry let's go to the defense minister operation began Hamas is being beaten badly receives one blow after another our fighters advance executing their duties with great success I say this evening as well we will not stop the fighting until we return the hostages we will do any action in order to do so at this time in the Gaza Strip are dozens of children some of them have seen their parents die in front of their eyes those animals have taken them and holding them will not stop the fighting until we return our children home as a father I wish to ask the entire world what sort of father stops searching for his children I see them as my children I will not stop the fighting and I will not stop searching for them until I get to them the fighters in Gaza are in the heart of the city they're in the Oscars of the Shati refugee camp near the Shifa hospital near the Gaza port those terrorists who are underground under Shifa hear loudly the thunder of the tanks and the bulldozers on the ground they hear under the ground and shaking of fear the IDF has began using new methods in these days to take care of those who are in the tunnels and for the elimination of tunnels and that will improve in the coming days all of our troops are working in order to find unique solutions to these challenges we'll work and we succeed I say here again we'll reach anyone who operated against Israeli civilians anyone who kidnapped and hurt women and children will get to all of them it will take a week it will take a month it will take a year and if it needs to it will take years it will not let go it will take all of them down there have no place under the sun there'll be no compromise with those who hurt our civilians and murdered them also in the northern front things are not quiet Hamas and Hezbollah continue to hurt Israeli civilians and receiving blows one blow after another our forces are set up with strong defense all over the northern front our pilots are sitting in the cockpit ready for order facing northward this war it is the most justified war and the most decent war that the people of Israel have experienced since they've established their state 75 years ago we're fighting against evil we're fighting against an enemy that attempts to hurt us and we're fighting against those who wanted to show their murder and brutality in order to scare us and take us away from our country I met the reservists today and I was impressed I saw thousands of fighters were only interested in beating Hamas they said to me we will stay here a month or stay here a year we will do whatever it takes until we reach victory these people left their homes left their families left their businesses left their work they all understand the meaning but say we will not stop will not if there's anyone that did not understand why we need a reserve army while he understands that very well today at the end of 2023 there's not one person in the state of Israel that does not understand why we need a reserve army one person who doesn't understand the importance of them I salute them I salute also the industrial security industries and all of those who work for us 24 7 on the ground in the support and in the industry another word on the future as the tanks and the fighters are in the heart of the Gaza city the fighter the pilots and the Navy fighters are firing at this hour there's also a process of renewal volunteers that come from all walks of life and help the farmers on the Gaza border communities they understand that agriculture is a vital part as well we will saw the seeds and will return to life of routine which to express my appreciation to all of those who are taking part in this important task the strong spirit of the public together with the impressive ability of the IDF will bring us back to where we need to be it is happening it is advancing I wish to show much appreciation for all those who complete those tasks thank you all right we just heard the Defense Minister Yov Galant there basically giving a summary of the current situation things we've been discussing in the studio no new information really put out there now I just before we went to the Defense Minister I did mention that last week I spoke with Renanna Gomez the mother of Yagil Yakov the 13 year old who's being held hostage in Gaza and I mentioned this evening Palestine in Islam and she had released a video of him I spoke with Renanna Gomez who's also her other son 16 year old or Yakov is also being held in the Gaza Strip about that situation here's what she had to say to us I would just want the world to enlist to the effort of releasing them as soon as possible mainly children or 32 children from the age of nine months to the age of 17 that were taken from their homes just imagine it was your child taken from your home from their own bedroom in your house taken dragged into a tunnel somewhere thrown into the darkness children should not be in prison and certainly should not be kidnapped and held hostages for almost a month now and they are not bargain chips in a war game they're not part of this and this is not a war it was a terror attack a horrific terror attack unfortunately we do see this terror group using that that child as a as a pawn in their play there well earlier Israeli president Isaac Herzog spoke with our Middle East now anchor Laura Celia a conversation about the war with Hamas and other related issues here is that discussion let's take a listen mr president first of all thank you so much for talking to i24 news we appreciate thank you it's a pleasure and I want to congratulate i24 for going from strengths to strengths especially in these very challenging days thank you thank you so much if I could begin the interview by asking you about your own personal experiences of that dark day october 7th what you saw what are the memories that will will stay with you well it started with a huge siren and when there's a siren i i automatically know it's war because i live during weekends in the same home i grew up in and when i grew up in it in 1967 we dug trenches we didn't have mamad we didn't have a shelter then we dug trenches all us on the entire family assuming that there will be a war a few days before the war started and during the war itself we were in a trench listening to the bombing and shelling on our homes and then in northern Tel Aviv so automatically I took my wife to the shelter but it was kind of mind-boggling it's beautiful weekend after a beautiful holiday of Sukkot and I immediately understood that it's something else doesn't make sense so I opened up tv I was planning to go to synagogue from but from that moment on life changed immediately because I kept on asking why can't I hear of fear leepstein the head of the regional council of shower negative usually when there are missiles from gaza rockets he immediately goes on the radio and explains what's going on and I kept on telling michael where's of fear he's a good friend of mine why doesn't he answer why why is there no you know interview with him and a few an hour or two later it was immediately announced that he was killed in battle but we were totally a uninformed about what's going on and and only through the media channels and reporting we understood that it's a hell has raked upon us and we are going through this cup of agony and pain ever since despite that I mean I've spoken a lot over the past month to uh to survivors people whose families have been taken hostage people who have witnessed things no human being should ever witness and despite that there is still um this kind of october 7th denialism people you know doubting what happened people saying perhaps the israelis are exaggerating do you think for that reason that the uh the body cam footage that the terrorists themselves recorded those films that were shown to a credited journalist should that be shown to the wider world or do you think there's no point some people will never really believe what some people will never really believe it because if they hate us they hate us and if they're prejudice prejudice I I still recall from my father's biography he wrote in his autobiography his description about the liberation of the concentration camps he was one of the first soldiers officers to enter bergen belson in germany as an as a british officer and he tells the story how he went to various camps and of course took took many german officers and generals as a as a you know prisoners of war and there was one a high ranking officer said I don't believe for a moment what you're talking about and that happened in the nearby camp although there was smell and there was everything was you know was clear to all the neighbors so my father took him there he told him if you show me that and it's true I will take off my sword I will take off all my ranks and I will break it as like a german officer of dignity admitting and that's exactly what happened and my father took him and he vomited and he cursed and he admitted and so forth and so on the same I wish I could do to all our enemies who say of course it's terrible all those who support them all those who accomplish with them all those who say okay but no there's no but the world cannot accept this type of brutality atrocities sadism none acceptable by any norms it has nothing to do truly nothing to do with the conflict with the borders with the palestinians with settlements or anything it simply has to do with hate and with a whole civilization of eight that wants to wipe all of us off the map that wants to reign in the middle east and the rest of the world it's a jihadist school of thought that the world cannot accept and it's not a war only between Israel and Hamas it's a war between two major concepts of life a civilization that wants to run the world in a with certain rules of the family of nations or a civilization that wants to wipe everybody's head shop their heads and reign the world according to fundamentalist rules what will quite despite this the Hamas leaders themselves keep going on tv and radio and making comments just yesterday one of them spoke to the new york times he said we want perpetual war we wanted this we wanted a violent response from israel because we don't want anyone in the region to have peace yet there are still people who maintain that they are freedom fighters they are representing the palestinian people and their legitimate grievances what do you say to them so they're hypocrites they are they're hypocrites or naive or simple anti-semites all of the above together at the end the the truth is the truth one needs to admit the truth the truth is the truth women and young girls were raped and broochered and brutally molested and and and babies were killed and burnt and i can go on and on and on this is unbelievable since the holocaust we haven't seen such an amount number of jews being killed in one day but killed brutally and tortured and you when you speak to those in the rabbis in the morgues who identify the bodies they tell you they've never seen such wounds in their life inflicted on on bodies and on human beings so first and foremost people have to admit to the atrocity that's it then you have to discuss about all other issues as well which we are in taking care of of course uprooting khamas and aiding the civilian population in gaza whilst working tirelessly to bring the hostages back home well it is of course the job of the the media to report the truth and i wanted to ask you about the international media do you think that there is an anti-israel bias um taking for example the bbc who refused to refer to khamas as as terrorist uh you yourself gave an interview to the bbc they they took out a portion of your answer i mean i gave a 28 minutes interview to the bbc to a very distinguished interviewer who came especially to meet me and she actually knows me for many years and they they left only six minutes chopping it by the way and editing it in a very negligent way it's not my job to go and start quarreling with them but i'm i must say i'm quite dismayed and i would have hoped differently and and and but it's not only the bbc there's a kind of this school of thought in certain quarry quarters of the western world that does not understand that this is a war on their life on their ability to enjoy decent liberal modern progressive democratic life or any other ability to live well even if it's not a democratic country nonetheless at the end in the most of the rank and file of the international leadership understands this and they are taking a firm position supporting israel and i am seeing expressions of support day in day out by leaders predominantly of course president biden vice president harris and the entire u.s administration and both sides of the island congress but also in definitely as you know united kingdom france germany and many many other important nations so the world understands the world we live in with digital impacts of you know of brainwashing like tiktok and other things does not explain to the average person the complexity of this situation and the clear need for moral clarity well you have been speaking to world leaders like vice president harris do you feel though that the window of legitimacy as it's termed for israel is is running out and there is increased pressure for a ceasefire or tactical pauses as president biden has called them we had of course that statement from the the g7 yesterday do you feel that pressure that is well the g7 starts immediately the first is the demand is the release of the hostages and and everybody agrees the hostages must be released it is unacceptable by any norms that kids you know ten ten months old baby to a 85 year old holocaust survivor should be there at all so i i would like to reiterate what prime minister netanyahu said just yes two days ago there will not be any ceasefire without release of hostages and the whole the whole discussion about humanitarian poses i must tell you i haven't seen or i'm unaware of any response from the khamas side to any of these ideas i see a lot of news a lot of spins a lot of background noises that come from third parties nothing is is put on the table we are progressing dramatically within the gaza territory to uproot hamas infrastructure and our military is doing an incredible job it's very complicated challenging dangerous but they're doing an outstanding job to uproot the ability of hamas to have military capabilities and to uproot their infrastructure so that they won't be able to rule gaza well that's israel's military objective isn't it to destroy hamas completely um the americans were criticized for going into iraq and afghanistan without a plan for what those countries would look like afterwards does israel have a plan or at least a vision for what gaza should look like so a lot of that is being discussed of course by the government i the president of israel doesn't deal with it on a daily basis there are many ideas it is a an opportunity the day after to enable the palestinians in gaza to live in peace and prosper but let me tell you when we pulled out of gaza in 2005 we came to our people and said the pullout will enable gaza to become the hong kong of the middle east or one of those you know beautiful sites that can evolve economically successfully nothing of that has happened we pulled to the last ayota and we only got terror we got thousands and thousands of missiles it became an iranian platform by kudda time 2007 and this iranian platform must be eradicated as a platform one vision involves the modern golf countries the united arab emirates and bahrain countries that you have visited and you did appear to to really have warm friendly ties with the leaders i still do of those countries um have you spoken to those leaders at all since i'm in contact with many leaders in the region all the time uh we all understand the geostrategic situation you mentioned it yourself you quoted the hamas spokesperson saying we wanted an ongoing war basically he said in order to prevent the inclusion of israel in the region so we have here two coalitions one and a coalition of very serious nations and strong nations who want to move forward in peace in regional security including the inclusion of israel in the region and the other doing whatever it can to undermine the normalization process so it is clear that the war is not only israel hamas it's also a war against the empire of evil which is headed by iran from tehran to undermine the inclusion of israel in the region you were also recently in turkey um are you shocked by president odwan's violently anti-israel rhetoric i was very sorry to hear that and i expressed my regret and my frustration and anger about it but the real issue is goes way beyond it it's the question as we spoke from the beginning do we accept such norms in the family of nations israel was not wishing to go to war we are not one godmongers we are peace lovers we were forced this war was forced upon us when i met president odwan two years ago i made it clear to him that hamas is a terror organization just like he feels as towards his enemies and therefore when we are bombed in our homes we must take actions to uproot them and kill them and get them out of the way get them all out of the city and that's exactly what we're doing there's been some really upsetting scenes um from university campuses in the united states uh jewish students having to barricade themselves in rude so i've seen recently people being beaten by palestinians ongoing ongoing all over the place it seems to be getting worse you wrote a letter to the head of some of the leading universities to all the leading i wrote a letter to all presidents of all universities in the united states and i got letters some back no not some not ready yet uh but the call is very clear these presidents must intervene it cannot be that there will be hamas supporters on campus hamas supporters means supporters of people who support and carry out crimes against humanity and genocide that's what they carried out they took entire communities and burnt them and chopped them and tortured them and raped them and abducted them this like it cannot be in a u.s campus or any campus that advocates human civil liberties and human rights that this will be allowed on campus but why do you think the the progressive cause has been so hijacked by them well i think the progressive cause must look at uh itself in the mirror and they don't want some of them don't really want to look in the mirror but a lot of the cultures that evolved in recent years has has become cultures that are indifferent and ignorant to the real truth of life between good and evil and they distort what evil is and they distort what good is i can go on and on about it we don't have much time but many people have written about it and there is a very fascinating publication called sapir sapir is a publication of thoughtful people from jews and non jews who discuss issues that are challenging the jewish world and it came out under the auspices of my monities foundation and one of the publications one of the editions had to do with the cancel culture in us campuses there's a whole culture of cancel meaning you can be the best person in the world the biggest uh civil liberties advocate but if god forbid you support a state of israel you're cancelled this cannot go on anymore cannot go on anymore it starts with israel but will end with the west they just don't get it if there isn't a rose in there europe would be next by these animals that we've seen on october 7th of course europe has been repeatedly attacked by jihad all the time um amid this spike in antisemitism then in europe and the united states um is israel preparing or should it prepare for a mass wave of aliyah immigration to israel it's always happens always happens and by the way i met some very distinguished jewish leaders and media people who came here and said we feel much safer here than anywhere else in the world and i assumed that would be one of the phenomenons of the outcome of the war and finally israelis right now are living through i think the worst the most traumatic period in an already very turbulent history how can the nation heal how can israel get through this look the cup of agony and pain is filled and we are seeing real torment sadness agony tears and emotions but i told the nation last week it's extremely natural to express emotions to express fear to cry we have to go through this poor period of mourning and but we are a very resilient nation we came out of the worst atrocities in the past the worst atrocity that humanity has known the holocaust we built a very strong nation we are an immense incredible people the people here are just amazing i fall in love with them every minute as i go out with michael to all sorts of places to see the people give you an example of what we went here through yesterday three sites that gave us the again the same perception the same proportion the same understanding what an immense nation it is and so much light it has we started with united hadzala in the headquarters down south and they were there the people who surrounded us was a muslim doctor who was abducted by khamas and liberated by the israeli police who's a volunteer of atzala atzio many Ethiopian immigrants haraidi jews secular jews veterans israelis and no-camera israelis all together doing great work in helping and aiding people then we went to the homefront command we saw hundreds of people working to assist the families of the hostages and coordinating all the efforts on being on alerts and and sirens and what's not and resilience and of course dealing with the needs of all the evacuees about 230 000 and then we went to a televised medical center to ikhilo of to the new war rehabilitation hospital and you go in with these amazing doctors and nurses and of course these amazing soldiers and their families nobody will break us nobody we are a very strong nation we shall overcome and we shall prevail and we shall win i think that's a very positive note to end thank you very much thank you so much thank you and uh president herzog spoke about the situation in the united states let's go now to the us because last night in los angeles a special screening was held at the simon weasenthal center for jewish community leaders there hollywood figures and journalists uh they were shown some of the unedited footage of the atrocities committed by khamas on october 7th israeli ambassador to the un gilad urdan spoke at the event while outside pro-palestinian protesters reportedly attacked israeli support israel supporters out on the streets this of course as the community in la is still reeling from the death of paul kesler a 69 year old man who earlier this week died after allegedly being assaulted by a pro-palestinian demonstrator while he was carrying an israeli flag now police they have questioned the suspect in the case but they have not arrested him while joining us now from los angeles israel bachar council general of israel to the pacific southwest and mr bachar thanks for joining us first we'll tell us about this event last night at the simon weasenthal center yes we gather three hello we gather 300 people in the summer visit the center and i think the center is its own message the place itself that's what we chose the the place it's a place the documentic atrocities of the holocaust and it heads by its side also the museum of tolerance so we are resolved we we are aware of what the the palestinians did to us or the hamas did to us but also we remember um our jewish values and it's kind of funny to me and weird you know that we are in this kind of a center is that pro-palestinian protesters are coming out and uh we're trying to uh um to interfere in the fact that we are doing such a solidarity night for israel and looking with open eyes at the atrocities that were done to us so sometimes i'm asking myself what are what are they rallying for exactly these pro-palestinians are we rallying for brutality they're committing brutality and that's what happened later on in a fight in a gas station in front of the center so sometimes you know we need to look at reality is is in fact even here such a um brutality and pro-hamas incidents so we are here and we are going to continue to show the movie uh more and more here in l.a and in the region and in other states uh like Arizona nevada yomi we're going to do it colorado we're going to do it and we're going to show these uh atrocities that uh being filmed in the movie all right and uh i know this gal gadot had some hand in arranging this i believe her husband was there uh our figures in hollywood in the entertainment community and in the la community they're rallying around israel at at this time because of course it is a in some areas as we know it as an area of controversy and divisions there in the us sure it is and it was for the last 20 years but i think that this time a lot of people in the industry hollywood industry understanding that this is something different uh and some people even are confused a little bit you know because for the last 20 years we heard a lot of uh a new framing which is you know we can criticize israel but it's not but it's not really criticizing the jews but i must be positive in the sense that a lot of people's are rethinking their position all position supporting israel condemning the atrocities uh rolling for a humanity um but at the same time and that's a positive that's very positive and i'm urged every producer every actor everybody in the industry that wants to meet and wants to understand more please call us i'm gonna sit and and when we'll explain each one of them the realities on the ground in israel and it's not sometimes you know it's not easy to change position if you have the position for 20 years it's not easy to come and change your position uh but we urge them to to look at realities as is however i would also want to to say uh there are people who are not out there they're not speaking out and i call it the whole of shame uh people do not understand what happened in october 7 and cannot even just condemn the atrocities something is wrong with the understanding of reality so i call each one every jew every american and everybody in the industry who do not understand what's going on uh to educate himself learn and can up for humanity and for anti-semitism right well what who did speak out of course is uh paul kessler may his memory be a blessing this man who was uh i killed apparently earlier this week um uh police uh say from what i've read police say they investigating as a homicide they question a suspect but he he was released uh uh talk about the impact of his death there on the on the community and if if you have anything about to say about the or more about the investigation into his death please do because i guess and it's still going on but but but the issue for me it's more deep now the fact that a jew is standing up in the corner with a flag supporting israel not supposed to be ended in israel he's not so he's supposed to come back home to his family he's not supposed to be to come to hospital and then lose his life but that's something that's unacceptable so urge the authorities to do whatever they can to find the truth and to do the right thing that they need to do and we are hopeful that that's what's gonna happen um it's definitely affecting the jewish community in l.a people are more afraid uh agitated and more careful um people are coming together more and uh people also uh you know some of them i mean i'm hearing that some of them even taking mezusa of their doorstep because they're trying because they are afraid to be single out or to be hurt uh but you know yesterday i was with ben stein mix on a library and i must quote him he said you know 50 years after the umki poor war there is a new jew there is the fighting jew so i think that all american jews need to be a fighting jew fighting anti-semitism fighting the wrong ideas standing up fighting for israel and you know this um distinction between uh um or the framing that was before before between uh i'm i'm willing to criticize israel inside it with his enemy and criticize in israel and that means i'm not criticizing uh uh the jewish people i think it's uh false especially at this time at that time and we need to come together all the jewish people with our friends in america and our many friends in america there's a lot of americans that support israel and needs to be said but to come together and fight it and be a fighting jew all right fighting jew israel bachar you're taking up your post there uh in southern california at a particularly challenging time it has to be said uh we wish you the best of luck thank you for joining us on i24 news all right well we've discussed of course uh the southern front gaza even down south to a lot and of course the west is the uh the escalation of violence in the west bank there was still an exchange of fire across israel's border with lebanon as well and of course and beyond that in syria uh reports of uh airstrikes at certain targets there and but also involving the united states and reportedly allegedly perhaps israel as well let's go to a correspondent mary mccullough in in the north there uh mary still we see that uh though that sort of almost become ritualistic exchange of fire between either hezbollah and other terror forces in south lebanon and the idf there on your side absolutely clever it's become very formulaic here we continue to see hezbollah launching these anti-tank missiles across the border into areas in northern israeli communities today we saw sirens ring out due to constant mortar shelling coming from inside lebanese territory into israeli communities important to remember that most of these communities along the israel god's israel lebanon border have been evacuated but we have seen hezbollah routinely also now try to hit some of these military observation posts as well as areas where units were stationed hezbollah for its part said today that it's targeted infantry unit in one of these communities along the border and the idf said in response it launched forceful attacks at the source of the launches of these fires it's just one of numerous times that the idf struck inside southern lebanon today all in reaction and retaliation for these attacks that were coming from within southern lebanese territory right and of course reports of military activity in syria as well of course israel not claiming credit for this but the us is also saying it is also attacking iranian linked militias other iranian proxies uh there and of course always the danger this could escalate uh regionally absolutely so we've seen israeli forces on high alert here but certainly throughout the region people are on high alert also the united states has been working actively they've been inside lebanon in recent days they've been sending envoys trying to address this situation the us for its part has always said if there's going to be further de-escalation in the region and further violence they're going to blame these iranian backed proxies those iranian backed proxies in iraq once again claiming attacks on us bases at least four different attacks today in syria were reported that's according to the pentagon attacks and spreading also throughout syria in mozal irbil bagdad all of these scene areas housing us troops all coming under attack by drones as well as missiles this is now there have been at least 40 attacks on us bases that have been housed the u.s. said yesterday that it launched these retaliatory strikes against these iranian targets israeli strikes also reported inside syria all right mary mccall affair uh on the northern border uh thank you for that and arielle again the u.s. which is just in here is the increasing involvement of the u.s. which its forces have also becoming under attack by other iranian proxies there uh in the north and it's it's happened uh an american official just was just quoted by rotors saying that they were attacked four times in the past 48 hours and as mary said over 40 times i i just want to just show this a live picture from gaza looks like very heavy air strikes we heard that from robert swift uh that's the uh that's uh from the gaza strip obviously heavy fighting still going on there in particular okay i'm sorry to know as it has been going on right in in recent weeks and this is uh these continued attacks on us bases in iraq and syria on the one hand they're being responded very quietly tacitly by the u.s. not even the same responses that israel is conducting as we're seeing in response to attacks on the northern border i mean when israel's attacked on the northern border it immediately responds to the source of fire that's not the u.s. policy they're trying to lower the tension as much as possible trying to uh absorb these attacks but indeed they're taking a toll in in in addition to one contractor who has been killed there are multiple injuries in each one of these attacks and uh this is so that remains in the background as the u.s. is increasing its military presence off the coasts of israel right darry losar on jonathan reggae please stay with us we're coming to the end of this hour but we will uh continue this broadcast uh as i said very eventful day very heavy fighting uh on several fronts in gaza uh in the west bank uh a drone and possibly missile attacks on a lot proof of life of two of the hostages uh we'll carry on this uh broadcast live uh israel's war against hamas state 30 will stay with us israel is at war make an investment in israel bonds it is the most powerful and direct way to stand with israel visit israel bonds dot com and invest now made for me a unique concept in israel custom made men's fashion to your measurements made for me designer of all your events schedule your appointment at www dot made for me dot co dot il made for me official dresser of i-24 news good evening ladies and gentlemen 1600 people murdered and more than 3000 injured and the war with hamas continues we bring you firsthand testimonies from the front lines from those who survived and all the records of the atrocities by hamas follow us as israel fights terror from the south and north get the inside scoop on what's going on only on i-24 news welcome to or back to this special broadcast on i-24 news i'm kelev ben daveed it's day 34 of israel's war against hamas and an eventful day on several fronts the idea of reporting major progress in its gaza ground operation saying its forces have taken control of key hamas military strongholds in and around gaza city falling in that battle is reserves master sergeant dove mosha kogan bringing to 35 the number of idf troops killed inside gaza there was a major flare up in the west bank as well as idf troops clashed with terrorists and janin uncovering a weapons cache there 14 palestinians reported killed in that firefight and two more in other clashes near the city of bethlehem in the red sea resort of allot a drone managed to slip through israel's air defense systems and explode on impact at a school no injuries reported it's not yet clear from where the drone was launched but it was reportedly iranian made later on a missile was intercepted heading for a lot by israeli's iron arrow to defend missile defense system and just in the past few hours the palestinian islamic jihad terror group released videos of two israeli hostages being held inside gaza 77-year-old hannah katsir and 13-year-old yagil yakov both of them kidnapped from kibbutz near oz khama islamic jihad said that the two both of whom reportedly suffer from health issues may be released for quote humanitarian reasons now as in the previous instances i-24 news will not into will not air those videos in accordance with the wishes of the families of the hostages and still with us in studio we have our defense correspondent jonathan reggae of our middle east correspondent ariel osron and joining us in studio is douglas marie is a prominent british author and commentator he's been outspoken on a number of subjects sometimes controversially so one of those issues has been the influx of muslim immigration into european nations which he charges is helping undermine the democratic values of western societies he's also been outspoken in his defense of israel especially in the current conflict effectively making the case for its battle against hamas in the media and he's now here even doing some field reporting from down on the gaza border uh douglas before we speak i just want to know today is the 85th anniversary of christianacht the night of the broken glass the nazi pogrom aimed at the jews of germany and austria the german chancellor olav schultz spoke in berlin today at a memorial ceremony and he had this to say ladies and gentlemen jews have been marginalized for centuries still and again and again even here in our democratic germany even after the violation of civilization committed by germans during dishoa it is a disgrace it outrageous and shames me deeply any form of anti-semitism poisons our society as islamist demonstrations and rallies are doing now we do not tolerate anti-semitism nowhere douglas we'll get to uh what you've seen here and be doing in israel in a minute but i just ran that clip because it was striking that chancellor schultz mentioned the islamist rallies being seen in germany and linking that with anti-semitism even with the nazi period you i said before outspoken about as you see the influx of uh or the the impact of the muslim immigration uh eroding of some democratic values you've taken some heat from that certainly so i want to get your your your reaction to what we've been seeing what we've been seeing there in the streets of germany in the streets of the uk frame of other where these with these rallies uh which are not just pro palestinian but in many cases pro hamas well you say i've been outspoken i haven't been outspoken i've just said what everyone can see with their eyes but not everybody has spoken out about so that's why i say i'll but it's not controversial but what i've said for years has been that if you import people from different places in the world you also import the problems from those places if there was a war tomorrow between india and pakistan it would break out on the streets of britain as well because we have very large populations from both peoples it's inevitable that if you allow very large influx in the muslim world into europe into britain that has consequences as we see in america much small immigration to america but it has a very palpable effect you know you've got to remember that in europe far right anti-semitism of the kind that that we saw in the middle of the last century is so toxic it is so pushed to the margins there are still some scummy people who play around with these dark things but they're nowhere near the center of power anywhere in europe and haven't been for 80 years there are some people on the far left of politics who do play around with the same dark things particularly the anti-semitism and they come a little closer to the center jeremy corbin in the uk who laid a wreath remember the the grave or said he was present at the laying of the wreath of a grave to the people who carried out the munich olympics massacre he uh he got a bit too close to power but effectively the british public said we don't like this stuff we don't want this noxious anti-semitism but there is a bit of it from the far left in europe but the main driver the people who were marching down the streets in the center of berlin the other day their recent arrivals in germany and what we're hearing now from schultz from other prominent german politicians is i think an overdue acknowledgement of the fact that because germany since the last war decided it had to show itself to be a bastion of liberal values and decided those liberal values included liberal immigration values a country that did not need more anti-semites has imported millions more anti-semites now that is going to be a very big problem in the years ahead principally for germany as it is in my country in britain it is very noticeable that it is the mayor of london sadeek khan the first minister of scotland hamza yusuf and the head of labor in north scotland anasawa who are the first people in the labor party to call for the ceasefire and break for parties rules on this why because like much of the muslim world they don't care about their fellow muslims i'm i'm convinced of this and can argue it all evening they don't care when hundreds of thousands of muslims are killed in yemen they don't care when hundreds of thousands of muslims are killed in syria there has been not one percent of the people on the streets of europe in recent weeks who marched in those days and they don't really care what they do care about is when a conflict involves anyone from the muslim world and the jews the simple rage and i have worked for years with moderate muslims with liberal muslims with muslims who try to evolve on all sorts of issues with their religion the one thing that it is hardest to get even the most liberal muslims over is the right of israel to exist to self-determine to defend itself and we see the results which are hundreds of thousands of people across europe marching against the jewish state and by the way i mean i live in new york much of the time it's the same there the day after the massacre on october the 7th i went down to times square there was a anti-israel protest how do i know it's anti-israel and not just pro-peace well the the people waving placards glorifying what had happened 24 hours ago was one giveaway as it was that they didn't even allow israel to mourn the dirt the dead they didn't even found the dead before these people turned out i think is a deep shame for a country like mine we should feel intense shame that it's on the streets of london that people are calling for jihad and intifada we had a taste of intifada by the way ourselves on our london underground it's intense shame of the australians that it should be muslim migrants into australia that stand outside the sydney opera house and chant this i always say israel has as everyone in this room knows and everyone watching knows many problems of your own political problems all sorts of issues you can deal with those problems they're your problems but this this is our problem right well let's talk about that now in the context of the current israel's current battle against hamas as you said even those people who say that their friends of israel's are pressuring israel for a ceasefire we hear again the the accusations that the response is disproportionate even among people who are israel's closest allies yes well i mean uh i would say israel is the one country in the world never allowed to win a war you always have to a best have a draw i say you can israel can be attacked and israel is allowed to attack a little bit in order to return to the moment just before the attack that doesn't seem fair to me nor does it seem to me to be consistent with the rules of war historically war's finish when someone wins and someone loses and the victor knows if one and the person who loses knows they've lost the international community it seems to me including my own government in great britain never allows this to happen and don't forget i mean this is though it has been somewhat more supportive this is supportive as i always say that we have a democrat president in the united states and a conservative prime minister in the uk who have been very supportive it's true that at the penthouse level in politics abroad it's okay the foundations however rotten rotten you go two generations below joe biden in the democrat party you do not have the intense pro-israel feelings that joe biden has well it's a mix i would say there are some politicians and by the way it's the republican party i'm not making a political point i understand there are some exceptions and which he tore as there's a congressman from from the york for example there are there are exceptions let's talk about what you're doing here what brought you to come here to israel and what you've seen on the ground here i well i always come to israel during wars partly because i like to see with my own eyes always what i'm writing about i do that with any war i'm writing about i was in the ukraine last year reporting from the front lines of that conflict i thought it's very important to be here and see what's happening with my own eyes i was in one of the kibbutz you mentioned earlier yesterday seeing the remains of that community and i still think that the international community hasn't really allowed israel time to even grieve what happened it's it's extraordinary to me how i spent my life in news and media but it's extraordinary to me how this story got knocked down news agenda within 24 hours maybe and i think it's important ever to my new what new york post column tomorrow from near us i think it's very important the world knows more about this i think many people don't realize this was like a battalion sized terrorist deployment into israel and i think the stories need to be told and told far more even than they have been so far and i suppose the second thing is i want to see what's happening on the ground that's why the gaza border and doing more in the days and weeks ahead well if you could stay with us douglas because you mentioned that october seventh of course uh attack or even even beyond that you might say uh there is a some uh interesting development relating to that today a bombshell investigation by the ngo honest reporting suggested that photo journalists in the gaza strip may have known in advance about the october seventh massacre and that's creating a storm in israel and beyond a senior correspondent oan ultiman reports on how the episode is raising questions about the roles of some journalists in the conflict well of course sparking anger across israel pictures of the october seventh massacre not only from hamas perpetrators not only from israeli survivors but also here from photo journalists entering israel from gaza the subject of a report out wednesday from the pro israel watchdog group honest reporting what were they doing there so early on what would ordinarily have been a quiet saturday morning was it coordinated with hamas did the respectable wire services which published their photos a proof of their presence inside enemy territory together with the terrorist infiltrators the central questions are about the role of a journalist at what point is a journalist too cozy with the terrorist organization and at what point must a journalist step out and prevent a war crime at the expense of that journalist's core role documenting events and explaining reality they were there they were they witnessed terrorist attacks these people and instead of trying to stop these terrorist attacks they photographed them and to the world and they did things they were unethical one photographer a freelancer working with ap seems to have relished the attack and here is seen smiling with jacquia sinwar the leader of hamas in gaza if there were journalists who knew about the massacre who stayed quiet and filmed while children were being massacred they are no different from the terrorists and will share the same fate there senior israeli leader benny gants drawing his conclusion thursday with the unit of the israeli prime minister's office calling the photographers quote partners in crimes against humanity and asking media outlets for clarification as israeli's focus their anger at those they see as hamas's helpers and there has been some reaction from some of these media outlets since that reporter was prepared ap and new york times are saying they none of their staff members had any advanced knowledge of the attacks and they deny that any of their regular journalists crossed over in the border and there's at least a new york times does though there was one the cnn i believe did say it would no longer work with one of those reporters of course though less this raises some questions about the role in the media and anyone who has looked on youtube and seen you in the last over the last few weeks has seen you in some very combative in interviews with the media and this this conflict in particular i think because of again as you said the ferocity of or the the atrocious the atrocities committed by hamas would have certainly made israeli's feel this was something different and yet for some the narrative of the media went back to a very familiar tone fairly soon oh yeah it's always familiar i mean everybody knows how familiar it is who watches this conflict the normal thing is for entities like for instance the bbc cnn new york times is anything that comes out from the israeli authorities is treated with intense skepticism it's anything like according to israeli government sources which is a sort of warning sign it's a it's a scare quote and yet as we know for instance with the hospital car park bombing the other week they will quote not just hamas's account or something they'll quote hamas's figures on something the thing that people didn't pick up as much as the original error there was the fact that nobody could explain where the figure 500 came from right the only explanation was that somebody in hamas made it up handed it to the media and then the media ran with it well this is the same media by the way that is constantly telling us that we have to fact check and that they are the fact checkers the bbc even has a reporter whose full-time job is meant to be to discover disinformation within the world media and enlighten us well she should walk to the studio next door and she'd hear it going on all the time this is a big problem for the media but it's a consistent one they consistently believe the terrorists they and there's of course and some people watching will know this there's a structural problem within journalism in the west which is in a place like Gaza it is very hard to find somebody who is an honest reporter it's the nature of it I've known enough Palestinian journalists in my time as everyone here has who have not been able to operate in the areas they used to operate in because they've said one critical thing about one Palestinian figure who's in charge and they that's it for them so inevitably everyone is compromised everyone is compromised who's reporting from his own like Gaza and the media believes it needs the sources and instead of putting the scare quotes around the Hamas sources they put the scare quotes around the Israeli government sources and this has been the good news about this is that in this conflict in my view this the response to this is far far better advanced than it has been in any other conflict there is now a whole ecosystem of organizations people like honest reporting you cited there of of actual fact checkers in the media groups organizations individuals around the world who actually do chase this stuff up now and bring it to huge notice and we have the advantage of this being able to go around the traditional media sources and go straight to the public through social media so there's a battle on on in the social media as in the real world but I think actually that a lot of the truth is coming out in this conflict a lot more of the truth is coming out in this conflict than any conflict in this region I've covered in the last 20 years all right Douglas Murray you're one of those people here now reporting thank you for coming to Israel and it's at this time of conflict and thank you for joining us on i24 news great pleasure thank you now let's move to the US last night the leading candidates voting to be the republican nominee for president in 2024 minus of course the clear front runner Donald Trump took part in a primary campaign debate in Florida now there was some disagreements on issues like abortion and the best way to deal with China but in Israel's war with Hamas mostly agreement including how to deal with Hamas supporters in the US here is some of that I was the first presidential candidate to say if you are here on a student visa as a foreign national you're making common cause with Hamas I'm canceling your visa and I'm sending you home no questions asked anti-semitism is just as awful as racism and we've got to make sure they're protected and for everybody that's protesting on these college campuses in favor of Hamas let me remind you something Hamas said death to Israel and death to America they hate and would kill you too well for more let's go to us in the US correspondent Mike Wagenheim in New York and Mike Fairmount about Israel in this particular debate not a lot of disagreement maybe at least with one candidate taking a taking a different tone but certainly especially Nikki Haley vying to be trying to make a clear to voters that they're going to have Israel's back it was a debate that was heavily ensconced in foreign policy it was really surprising to see and nobody really outside of the first few minutes challenging the clear front-runner Donald Trump on any issue at all a very confusing debate but no doubt Israel was a part of in fact the republican Jewish coalition was a co-sponsor of yesterday's debate which was noteworthy in and of itself first time a Jewish organization has taken part in sponsoring a presidential debate whether general election or primary but yes Israel and the Israel Hamas war certainly a focal point for a good deal of the debate some parts that we didn't hear Nikki Haley was asked well what do you do with Hamas and she almost like out of a movie said finish them finish them meanwhile Ron DeSantis pretty much in agreement there Vivek Ramiswamy kind of the contrarian of the debate who I don't think really helped himself throughout the course of events yesterday continuing along his line of hey we'll do everything to support Israel diplomatically but he kept inferring that as far as financially goes they're kind of on their own he kept up that that foreign policy line of his own but in terms of the the quotes that we heard of what's happening here in America right now something that went unheard a moment ago Nikki Haley said what if it was the KKK that was demonstrating on these college campuses these presidents would be going nuts she said comparing it to how presidents are reacting so nonchalantly for the most part to what's happening on campuses here in terms of Hamas supporters demonstrating there on those campuses so for the most part everybody falling in line to the republican you know talking points on on Israel Hamas but again I don't think anybody gained too much ground on Donald Trump yesterday which was kind of the point of the debates to begin with Nikki Haley likely won Ron DeSantis I don't think hurt himself but in terms of the trajectory of the republican race it seems unchanged after yesterday correct and certainly President Trump by the way chose to appear in Florida not by coincidence at the same time as that debate Mike let's move on to US President Joe Biden he spoke briefly to reporters today while boarding Air Force One he was asked about potential ceasefire proposals for Gaza take a listen sounds not so great but let's take a listen longer than I hope it's a very interesting this underlying tension between well the Israeli government the Biden administration on ceasefires or humanitarian pauses the US saying there's have come to an agreement to allow a four-hour humanitarian pause each day in Gaza to allow civilians to move south Israel say Israeli officials saying that's nothing no we've been doing that anyway so clearly there is still this tension between at least on this on this issue between the two governments you know what that's number one it's expected and number two it's okay to some extent because in the end although there is disagreement on how to go about winning this war against Hamas and the humanitarian implications of it at the very end what you're hearing day after day hour after hour presser after presser for the White House whether it's Biden whether it's John Kirby at the National Security Council whether it's Tony Blinken at the State Department they begin and end every one of those press conferences and statements with essentially the same thing if not verbatim then in effect we have Israel's back here so the the the disagreements over how many hours the pause is going to go for or for what purposes those are things that can be worked through and even in the disagreements they can't be worked through there there are other areas where they can find common ground on and appear to be finding common ground on so I wouldn't read into too much into those those little disagreements that that are happening right now between the two governments because they just have somewhat different interests at this point in terms of the humanitarian concerns there in Gaza Israel more focused on making sure that Hamas is torn down once and for all the Americans see things from a different perspective foreign policy wise and so there's some natural tension in there I don't think it's a deal breaker for either side these these little arguments that they're having right now okay Mike Wagenheim in New York and Jonathan thank you Mike and Jonathan this whole issue of these of a ceasefire we've heard it again and again we've heard also from this evening no ceasefire but there will be as we said a new phrase a new that is exit a little lexicon in terms of this work by humanitarian pauses I've been in the south since the beginning of the week and every day from 10 to 2 there's there's it's not a ceasefire but let's say it's less fire let's call it this way to allow people move from the northern part of the Gaza Strip to the southern part of the Gaza Strip and you can actually hear it you're there in the morning and there's heavy very heavy artillery then at around 10 o'clock it stops not necessarily until 2 but maybe until half past 12 1 o'clock or so and then it resumes so I don't think anyone has signed a paper saying we will hold our fire for four day four hours every day or so but it's happening on the ground it's happening on the ground there are some hours during the day when there is the artillery is is is less intense so it seems to be happening on the ground as it is a on on on the issue of a bigger ceasefire Israel said it loud and clear whether it's the prime minister defense minister anyone else you want to ceasefire we want the hostages a very large number of hostages right and not this number that that they've been talking about 15 or 12 but keep in mind there were over 20 just for example Thai nationals being held in Gaza right kind of look the reports in Arab media that the negotiations right now are revolving release of four nationals they're not talking about Israelis this is in in the reports but if we go back to the humanitarian corridors my understanding is that the agreement with the US is supposed to increase to have another corridor and that's what we should be talking about not pauses but corridors corridors means that it's specified to a geographical area and that's in those geographical areas one the current corridor and the second the new corridor there there will not be bombing but the bombing does continue elsewhere and that's why calling it a pause I don't think is precise okay eight according to the IDF 80,000 Gazans made their way from north to south as well as over 700 humanitarian aid trucks already making it into Gaza Ariel also on Jonathan Regev stay with us we'll be back with more of this broadcast in just a few minutes be right this is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking within a hundred soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped entire families including babies and children and elderly were butchered in their beds awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong everyone is showing up this is the unity the special broadcast on i-24 news right before we went out to the break uh our middle east correspondent Ariel also on mentioned the supply of aid into the Gaza Strip because even while battling Hamas Israel continues to facilitate the supply and passage of food, water, medical supplies inside Gaza for the civilian population there our Pierre Kloschendler went down to the Nitzana border crossing into Egypt adjacent to Gaza to see close up just how that process is going we're at the Nitzana border crossing between Israel and Egypt and these are trucks that are going to cross to Egyptian territory reach the Rafa border terminal and transfer food water and medicines to the Gaza Strip to the non-involved Palestinian population there this is like a life supply for that population it carries all kind of food supplies energy bars water as I said medicine 100 trucks a day more or less are reaching the Rafa terminal from Egypt and crossing into Gaza the colonel that is in charge of the whole operation said that it's in coordination with the Egyptian authorities these are Egyptian trucks from the red crescent society and with coordination with the UN let's hear what he had to tell us this operation is with coordination with the Egyptians the UN the IDF it's it's complex with the operation but it's very efficient the colonel said that he hopes to increase the number of trucks that will cross to Gaza right now 100 trucks in batches of 20 trucks each time after they've been inspected by the Israeli authorities but there is one hour drive between Nitzana on the Egyptian side and Rafa the terminal to Gaza he ensures that also this is taken care of the convoys that are going out from Nitzana to Rafa is being monitored every second every matter by the IDF and these convoys are also coordinated with the Egyptian's army it would have been simpler to have Israeli trucks do a back-to-back at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip or at the Ares crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip yet both terminals were destroyed during the war when Hamas waged its massacres on October 7 on Israeli territory and thus Nitzana is the only solution this is Pierre Kloschendler i-24 news Nitzana border crossing Israel and now give us a sense of some of the scope of that A that is that is going through because it has increased substantially since the beginning of the the military operation right Caleb so I mean as I mentioned a few moments ago we have reached the point of over 700 aid trucks that have entered the Gaza Strip so far through the Rafa crossing and I think very interesting in Pierre's reporting that the inspection appears to be in Nitzana but not in Rafa so the question is what happens to the cargo from Nitzana to Rafa that's something and that's been an issue of some controversy about who gets to inspect the aid whether Israel is controlling it but Kogad the the the military branch that is responsible for this such coordination issued a tweet a few hours ago saying we've doubled our humanitarian aid inspection capacities we call on international agencies to increase the aid that they send into the Gaza Strip I think that's a very interesting call on international organizations saying that the fact that there's such a limited scope of aid going in you cannot put that on Israel Israel can now double this if the day before 64 trucks entered saying we can we can we have doubled our capacity of inspecting them you are more than welcome to increase the capacity of aid going in so far we have not seen an increase in said trucks from yesterday all right and as I said Jonathan the concern that we mentioned before about the inspection really has to do with the possibility of weapons or even fuel being shipped into Gaza through through Egypt so here's an idea you said a real 700 trucks or so right have already entered they can come in with their tanks full of fuel and that fuel can be perhaps then downloaded in Gaza and they can go back those those trucks back to the Egyptian territory a very very short distance say from Hanyunis back to Egypt can come empty where's all the fuel in Gaza it's it's it's I don't think there's a very there's a clear and good effective way to make sure what comes in yes there's far less cement or ammunition or anything else a war wartime material that go in now if we compare it with a month and a half ago but still those things can come in and this is why Israel is so concerned about that that all those humanitarian convoy is going into Gaza we know we know very well that the assistance will eventually not end in the end of the the civilians those are really needed but Hamas will will smuggle it for its own purposes all right so let's stay with us we're going to go back to our correspondent Mary McCall of there in the northern border and we've mentioned Mary here in the studio the displacement of Israelis of course the there's been a lot of focus and attention placed on the those living in the Gaza border area those communities having to relocate but people kind of overlooked the fact of how many tens of thousands have had to move away in order to move away also there from the northern border that's right club there's some 70 000 residents that's specifically the northern border area who've been evacuated to move that's all of those within four kilometers of the border primarily because they are within this anti-tank range that we continue to routinely see Hezboa launching across the border not just at Israeli military positions but also at civilian communities today we had a visit by Benny Gantz here and he met with the heads of the local regional councils and they were trying to pass along the message trying to urge the government to try and do more to protect this border area we've talked to a number of residents in the past few weeks as we've been traveling here and many of them are very fearful to come back to their homes of course there's a small contingency of those who've remained on the ground but many of them have looked at the events that happened October 7th and are very fearful of this similar event happening here there's some communities that lie just meters away from the Lebanese border and they have lived with this threat from Hezboa for years so now we're just seeing an uptick in violence but many of them are saying they really don't know when they're going to feel safe for them to come back home many of them packing for months at a time but Benny Gantz today urging them saying that they're doing everything they can to try and protect this northern border and that just while I all eyes are really focused on the south there are not less eyes focused here on the north that the military is trying to do everything it can to try and all right all right looks like we've okay lost sound on Mary McCullough there in the northern border and gentlemen again today wasn't made any major incidents on the north but especially what's going on also with Syria reports of more air strikes there allegedly by Israel and those clashes we mentioned before the US concern that northern border could heat up and look it is heating up gradually slowly every day since October 7th now the thing is that's interesting to look at is that the equation put forth by the Iranian Axis and also his below is that as Israel amplifies its ground operation in the Gaza strips so will they respond in like and also increase their response against Israel but Israel has entered Gaza has been in a ground invasion for about 13 days now that we didn't the only change that we saw was not on the northern border but that was the entry of the Houthis into the equation last night the army announced that it has the largest amount of forces or even earlier today the largest amount of forces operating inside Gaza in over four decades we and the amplification that we've seen is a missile from Iraq sent to Israel and this indicates that while we are seeing an escalation on the northern border which includes bombing gaps in the border fence that remain open and Hisbola is amplifying this on on social media on the other hand the the steps on the ground indicate that Nasrallah or that Hisbola is is not interested at least in the immediate present at a full-scale war now every time we say we we say what the intentions appear to be we have to take a pause for caution and a little bit of humility following October 7th but indeed this we the only thing we can do is analyze the steps in the immediate horizon according to what we're seeing evolve on the ground on the ground the situation continues to evolve but it does stop short of a certain threshold that we're not seeing be passed by Hisbola at least not over the past 34 days all right a gentleman the as the military operations being carried out people in the government are being very careful not to speculate too much about what we call the day after they say we have a job to do to eliminate Hamas free the hostages we'll deal with that subject when when when those jobs are done nevertheless certainly discussions behind the scenes the u.s. has been pressuring as secretary blink and just mentioned that whole subject at the g7 in toku the other day yeah yeah lapid the opposition leader and head of the asiatique party also spoke today earlier with i-24 news and he had this to say about the so-called day after the completion of Israel's military campaign against Hamas we only have bad choices but among between those those backed by choices the lesser bad is is that the Palestinian Authority will be back in Gaza they have the infrastructure there they have 20 some thousand people already working for them in Gaza with very strong support system of the international community and the Arab world but on top of this we will have to maintain our ability to enter Gaza whenever we think it's necessary in order to secure our borders so it's going to be some sort of a B zone B area like we have in the West Bank in which the Palestinian Authority is running things on the civil side of it and Israel has the the security control over what is happening but Mahmoud Abbas has no credibility amongst his own people his support is so low so how is that even a viable option well first of all it is a viable option because this is what is going on in the West Bank on the other and besides this is why I said this we we're going to need an unprecedented support system from the international community and the Arab world Saudis the Jordanians the Egyptians the Amirites everybody's gonna it's must be involved Jonathan I'm well put by Yahya Lepid there are no good choices for Israel for this so-called day after the prime minister on down have said that Israel does not want to reoccupy Gaza but it's concerned about how to maintain security how to make sure forces of Hamas just don't reassert themselves in Gaza there you have Yahya Lepid speculating about perhaps giving the Palestinian Authority role not a popular position with the majority of elements in the current government for sure true the current government will not allow that to happen period they're unhappy with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank they will surely not want to see the Palestinian Authority returning to the Gaza Strip and if we're speaking of the Palestinian Authority if Israel wants them to stay in place one way or another it will demand Israeli presence the only reason why the Palestinian Authority is able to run the Palestinian Authority is because Israel is around if Israeli forces were not entering there night after night after night and and were present in the area then Hamas would take over the West Bank just as it did in the Gaza Strip let's remember in 2005 those disengagement all of the Israeli forces all of the Israeli civilians left the Gaza Strip and basically handed it over unilaterally to the Palestinian Authority this was the solution in 2005 but the Palestinian Authority is basically unable to run anything that's why Hamas took over in 2007 if the Palestinian Authority will be back there and without any Israeli presence then Hamas will Hamas or some other organization will take it over therefore if if you want the Palestinian Authority somehow to run it it would demand some kind of an Israeli presence or at least some kind of Israeli nightly incursions just like we see in the West Bank now when when when Israeli forces come in night after night after night there will not be any other option of course the story of of the West Bank in Gaza is a different story what do you do with what we call here the Philadelphia route the one which separates the Gaza Strip from Egypt can Israeli soldiers go into Egypt to inspect can they go under the ground and of course as your controls all the border crossings between the West Bank and Jordan but it does not have that control between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and that would be a major change for Egypt to accept of course so so so Yareel Apid speaks about sort of an area B what is known as area B in the West Bank where the the Palestinian Authority has control of civilian matters and Israel has control of security matters but but again what would the Egyptians say they're aside here as well what about all the tunnels that we know are running even now even with President Sisi in Egypt we know he doesn't like Hamas we know he wants to maintain good relations with Israel and and yet those tunnels are up and going so so what do you do with all that very very big and serious and complicated questions which will have to be answered the day after and kind of yes sorry no if i may just we're talking about the day after and the cooperation with Egypt but we have to look at the the day prior and how we got to this and Israel or the blockade on Gaza in 2007 was imposed by Israel and Egypt for 17 years 16 years this blockade has been joined and it's not clear how the how Hamas got all their weapons if there's a blockade also from the Egyptian side how a month before october 7 500 Hamas fighters terrorists exited exited the Gaza Strip somehow made it to Tehran and training in Iran with the presence of the Quds Force commander this is happening while Egypt is on our side while Egypt imposes the blockade on the Gaza Strip and so any talk about the next day also needs to refer to grievances or or mistakes perhaps done in the in the days prior and that will be the only way that Israel can ensure that the threat in Gaza will not amplify and will stay as it is after it defeats Hamas all right kind of distressing that the west bank model is even being considered as an alternative for Gaza talk about the least bad choices now two international conferences regarding the Israel Hamas conflict took place today one in Paris the other in Riyadh both saw calls for an immediate ceasefire amid a report of a meeting between the heads of the Mossad CIA and Qatari officials over a hostage release deal on Middle East correspondent Ariel Osran is more on that day 34 of the fighting between Israel and Hamas and Gaza and on Thursday diplomacy finally took a frenzy in Doha the heads of the CIA and the Mossad met with the Qatari prime minister to discuss the parameters for a hostage release deal and a pause in the fighting according to a report in Reuters the trilateral meeting came after Qatari mediators met Hamas officials on Wednesday night to discuss a potential deal the meeting comes a day before Qatar's Amir travels to Egypt to meet with President Assisi and Cairo where Hamas chief Ismail Aniyah is currently visiting Qatar is adamant on continuing its effort based on our policies and humanitarian values related to the release of all civilian hostages our goal is to return them to their families but also to our brothers in Gaza to be able to live in safety and security Israeli leaders have so far shot down any talk of a ceasefire until Hamas frees all 239 hostages including 35 children but in a humanitarian conference on Gaza in Paris French president Emmanuel Macron called for a ceasefire while Egypt's foreign minister rejected attempts to displace Palestinians to Egypt today the situation is grave and is getting worse each day in the short term we should work on protecting civilians and to do so we need a humanitarian pause very quickly and we have to strive for a ceasefire this should become a possibility we condemn all practices aimed at imposing a new status quo a force in Palestinians to flee forcibly transferring them and removing them from their lands the number of displaced persons in Gaza has reached two-thirds of its population this is in itself another serious violation of international humanitarian law meanwhile in riyadh Saudi Arabia hosted a gathering of foreign ministers from the arab league ahead of the league's emergency meeting on saturday and so over a month since Hamas's onslaught on southern israel the middle east is showing unity in at least one thing fear of the conflict spreading into a broader regional escalation now we began this broadcast this evening with that news out of Gaza proof of life of two of the 239 confirmed hostages being held there by Hamas and other terror groups another of those is 22-year-old Evytai David he's been described by his family as a young man full of life love music and dreams Evytar excuse me but that life has been put on hold and potentially worse since he attended the nova music festival attacked by Hamas terrorists on october 7th he was subsequently seen in videos being taken into and then held hostage in the Gaza Strip or joining us Evytar's brother Eli David Eli thank you for joining us well tell us something first tell us what happened the morning how did your family find out and learn about what was happening to your brother well we all woke up to the sound of the siren and we ran to the bomb shelter it was very early in saturday morning and my mom started texting my brother and he was saying that everything's all right all right the festival's over and they are running away and so don't worry it was really he was coming my mother and all of us and um it took an hour and a half sort of and for him to lost contact completely he was disconnected around 7 45 a.m. and from that moment on his friends lost connection with us and we heard on the news that there was a full-scale attack on Israel and from that moment on we just started thinking what we can do who can we ask where can we look him and it took six hours very hard and painful and helpless hours and we eventually got two videos of Hamas it was really actually propaganda these propaganda videos that they released after the attack or even during the attack on social media yeah yeah so both of them were released in telegram and we saw my brother and one of them we saw him walking handcuffed right with his hands behind his back his shirt was torn being led by a terrorist he was holding a gun in one hand and my brother in a headlock with his other hand and on the second video which came alongside the first one we saw him inside a dark room with the other four guys they were all kidnapped from the festival one of them was my brother's best friend Guy he was at the festival with yeah he was him with the festival and that was actually at the first moment it was it made me so furious so furious to see my brother my brother so frightened and so humiliated that was really devastating for me right now yours is one of those cases where you were able to see your brother there being held with conclusively you could see it in that video that was released live inside Gaza being held captive when were you when did the government contact you about his situation so how long did that take it took it took two days two days right on that day there was already you could say proof of life at least that he was taken into Gaza yeah but again we try not to blame anyone it was so chaotic in the first 48 hours and everyone was were confused everyone tried to to collect data right so it's fine I'm not angry about I understand I understand so let's talk about you I see you you're wearing this t-shirt bring Evita home now the efforts family to raise awareness and of course you know we are not just a local channel here in Israel we're an international channel what message you might have also just for the international community about your brother and of course all of the hostages so I'll start start from that sure it's it's it's a nightmare for us and I think that the situation which young boys and girls are going to celebrate in a in a festival of peace like the Nova Festival yeah and they the only crime they committed was to celebrate and have fun and dance and hundreds of them were murdered two of my brother's best friends were with him and they were murdered and that's something that cannot happen again nowhere and and also I I think all the time about the children and the elderly people and the sick people being held towards unfortunately two and two extreme examples we saw this evening and not a 13 year old and a 77 year old woman both supposedly suffering from health issues yeah and we don't know anything about them we don't know anything about the other 240 hostages and we have no information about them right and we don't know if the we know that the Red Cross is not coming to them and that's something we we demand right there was a protest outside the Red Cross offices in Tel Aviv yeah yeah demanding that they make a greater effort to get access to the hostages exactly that's something that we we crave for I mean we know we we know really anything about them and we we want to know just just to know what their medical situation is and to know that they are alive and healthy and if not again that's something we need to know and I call for for any government in the western world and and worldwide to to to help us get that information and help us get our loved ones back all right so well we certainly join you in first of all we join you in the morning of the lives that were lost as you said people who are certainly close to your brother and of course we will join you in the desire to as you say there bring Evieta home now and bring all the hostages home now and hopefully he'll be home safe and sound sometime soon Eli David thank you for joining us thank you so much on i24 news I want to thank Ariel Osuran our Middle East correspondent scene defense correspondent Jonathan Regev for also joining us that ends this particular broadcast would stay with us Ellie Hockenberg will be carrying on at the top of the hour so stay stay excuse me no strictly security we'll be joining we'll be joining us next so stay with i24 news with this continuing coverage made for me a unique concept in Israel custom made men's fashion to your measurements made for me designer of all your events schedule your appointment at www.madeforme.co.il made for me official dresser of i24 news good evening ladies and gentlemen to be in a state of war this is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking within a hundred soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped we don't want to do we just don't know anything entire families including babies and children and elderly were butchered in their beds awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong everyone is showing up this is the unity de la zona de guerra la reacción de los países hispano parlantes and this is a special edition of strictly security brought to your life from the jaffa port it's day 34 of the war in gaza the war in israel but it is a tri-lateral meeting in docha that might change the course of the battle the cia chief mosad chief and the prime minister of katal discussed a potential hostage release deal ahead of an expected trip of the emir of katal to egypt tomorrow the idf will allow a four-hour long tactical pauses in the ground operation in gaza but in the meantime idf forces took over more of hamas general headquarters in the city i-24 news was on the ground in gaza embedded with the idf forces for a close look at the progress let's begin so we're live from jaffa this evening as every week for the next 90 minutes we'll try to bring all the updates and analysts to you are starting now the idf is as we said progressing in gaza driving deeper inside the gaza city and exposing terror infrastructure but gaza is far from being the only active arena i-24 news senior defense correspondent jonathan reggaev with the details israeli flag rises high and the anthem is heard on the gaza beachfront deep inside the gaza strip shortly after idf tanks appear on the beach road running down the gaza city coastline step by step the idf takes on a bigger part of gaza city as the forces move forward they once again see how in gaza there's no distinction between terror and civilian infrastructure this stairway leads to a terror lab where explosives are made and suicide drones are manufactured next to it is a shaft leading to a terror tunnel and what's right next door a room where three little girls used to live right next to the terrorists the main hamas headquarters are mostly located under the gaza ground those above the ground are well entrenched in residential areas where civilians are used as human shields as opposed to hamas the idf is interested in keeping civilians away from the fight while this is happening in gaza there's no let up of the anti-terror activity in the west bank a major operation took place in the city of janin on thursday morning his idf forces entered the city under heavy fire from local terrorists palestinian reports say as many as 10 militants were killed in the operation as other israeli forces also entered the balata refugee camp in the city of nablos another terror stronghold in the west bank along with the northern border there are three constant active arenas meaning the idf is fully stretched and ready to engage on all of them let's bring in our guests here in the studio reserve major general etan dangot former military secretary to three ministries of defense and colonel olivia rapovich idf spokesperson in reserves for the international media thank you so much gentlemen for being with us this evening so etan put me on spot regarding the operation on the ground where is the idf currently what is he trying to achieve i think idf is coming to the major step in gaza and it's running i think in a way that with a lot of safe steps professional steps and success around all the north part of gaza gaza already has been divided the main half of gaza in the north is now under israeli control and above it we are surrounded now the hospital in the center part of gaza which is the symbol of the headquarters of hamas in the underground and upstairs and we are in a stage in order to take it the moment it's taken i think we are going to finalize with another areas that till now was not caught by the idf but only by fire and we will complete the mission as the first step that we put and our goal to destroy hamas structure destroy the leadership of hamas and to prevent any more for hamas to be presented in gaza as an entity olivia we see the idf putting a lot of shades and everything is very spooky when it comes to what the idf is doing and not doing if i was hamas i'm not so sure i would understand what's going on even being israel it's very hard to understand and that is deliberate what exactly are you trying to achieve i think you put the point in the right direction actually there are a lot of forces on the ground but from the very beginning as you know and you are specialists in the field it's not very clear what the idf is actually doing where on the what and that's because we need to make the situation not clear for the enemy and hamas right now underground mostly is not capable to really i would say define what are the moves from the idf so while we speak we see gaza at the same time and we see the the air force is still attacking we see all those attacks coming from gaza what exactly is going on right now the main main goal is to go within what we call in ibru the kiriya of the gaza city center which is the headquarters command and control facility the hamas within the gaza city area it is a very difficult process to move because we have to be very careful very cautious as you know but the result today it's around 50 casualties from hamas many of them are still underground not very clear how many exactly have been killed but the mission is going on right now olivier and you know two big questions one the chief a hospital everybody is is asking whether the idf is going to is going to go inside or not and second question is a potential hostage deal hostage deal in return for a ceasefire what do you say ceasefire no way no way in any in any in any sense right now as there are only what we call would say a window slot of time in order to make people move from the northern part of gaza city to the southern part yesterday it was 50 000 palestinian who moved with white flags today i don't know the figure but i think it's also a quite big number concerning ceasefire no way and it is a political decision as you know and for now the prime minister and she for hospital she for hospital remain the one not only but one of the main central places for hamas facilities and it's full of tunnels and the underground facilities it will be a big piece to deal with but the army and the minister of defense to the say that so our new means to deal with underground facilities so it and i ask you that the shifa hospital the main headquarters a symbol on one hand if israel goes in it goes in it tells everybody that there is no one nowhere in gaza which is sacred sacred which is safe on the other hand it's a hospital all the world will be against israel so what do you do i think it's already has been started the last week or even before idf spokesman every day is giving information about the scenic use of hospitals all over gaza for terrorism but then it's not you you served as kogat it's not you they use hospitals they use journalists they use an ambulance they use everything we never came in such very clear goal that this time the war is above all we are not going to pass on the the law of war but we are not going to pass on fitness that we will give to those murderers instead of leaving them in this place shifa is the junction or is the heart of the main center of the north part of gaza meanwhile even i was aware about it there is efforts to build the new structures of field hospitals or fleet hospitals in the south area of gaza i believe that in around two weeks already you will see a change of movement because more and more countries that support gaza convince from the facts that we show them about the terrorism that is used in the hospitals and let's say then speak about the ceasefire should israel be in favor of against because the americans ask they give israel a lot of money a lot of support no ceasefire in this stage and we cannot break it secondly ceasefire can be discussed only for releasing 240 hostages returning back to israel that should be the two main condition by israel to those countries are dealing it's very scenic the way they are trying to use or return on the system released to stop for days stop for eight hours this is the system of chamas and we must say that today there was another film released by chamas the islamic jihad in this case and we decided not to broadcast it we do not we don't play their game but by the way remark it's strange that jihad islamic going a little bit on the side and i don't see from my experience i don't believe was such coordination between chamas and jihad islamic i think that jihad islamic is trying to jump on a truck they feel they missed the opportunity to get prisoners or something like this we have to put it on the side as you said and to continue in our way we convince chamas only by power so stay please with me chamas was well aware that the october 7th terror attack will lead to an israeli incursion into gaza they prepared themselves for this incursion mainly through hundreds of kilometers of tunnels scattered all along the gaza strip which are now being used to fight the incoming forces i-24 news senior defense correspondent looks at the challenges rising from these terror tunnels this is the greatest danger awaiting the idea forces maneuvering deep inside the gaza strip chamas terrorists rising from a tunnel dug under the ground firing anti-tank missiles or placing ids and quickly disappearing many of the israeli casualties in gaza were hit this way hundreds of such tunnels exist below the ground of the gaza strip and those terrorists can pop up practically everywhere and as is so common for chamas the presence of civilians is never a consideration here you can see the idf soldiers exposing a tunnel opening this is part of a operation a ground operation that was conducted on the hospital then revealed a tunnel that was being used for terror infrastructures in the katari hospital as the forces now go deeper into gaza city more and more such tunnels are being exposed it is an extremely dangerous mission as you never know what awaits below the ground and those tunnels can rise up to the ground in every location this is the reason why heavy artillery is pounding on every area the army is advancing into especially when there is intelligence regarding tunnels that intelligence is superb but no one has the illusion that every tunnel will be detected and destroyed it means the threat will continue to loom on the forces operating in gaza for weeks or maybe even months to come so let's speak about the tunnels olivia the challenges that are facing the forces we talk about five hundred miles of tunnels all around the gaza street it's incredible i mean it's it's huge they prepare them for the last 16 years to make this war against israel and it's a big challenge as you can understand but there are the means existing in the in the army to to deal with it won't be simple but i think we learn with time to deal with that with this challenge and right now many of the operative hammers are within the tunnels for days for weeks now and it's a kind of pressure on them and we have to put pressure on them with together the military the military move on the ground and that's why that's one of the reasons hammers eight and that hammers is that hammers wants a ceasefire because they want to take the the food that we brought in the the the oil the fuel etc to take it down downstairs to the tunnels which will enable them to stay there for long and also just to add to what you said and you're right is to make an organization in their situation in the underground tunnels with those who are buried in these places to organize again attacks against IDF from the fact where they are now i think that above all hammers is every day is damaging slowly but surely and what is adding day by day bring them to a situation that they will be more and more interesting for a ceasefire they've never expect to be in my opinion even they were prepared in such a situation after two weeks of underground or in order to win eight and the IDF needs to go and take all the tunnels or there there can be other ways to win be surround stop pushing them to a very narrow places trying and it will be done mistakes by their leadership and succeed in killing or some of the leadership and when you combine together kind of these achievements you will have on the right place to climb higher but you need months for it remember you have on the west bank after the operation in 2003 it took us four years to complete the mission and here also the mission will be ended only after two to four years if you clean all the area but one thing is clear now Hamas will not be again the entity in Gaza and those are Olivier those are the goals one goal regarding Hamas that it won't rule Gaza and it won't have the force the other one deals with bringing home all the captives etc how achievable is it it is achievable because we need this goal to be achieved at the end of the day for Israel there is no victory without bringing them back home in any case so it will be I would say a two-head goal achievement but at the end of the day as you can understand the ground operation is very important and as much as it's going on right now and we have quite good results it shows that it is the right way to achieve the other goal which is the hostage on the kidnapped back home it and it's possible to bring the hostages by this ground operation or it's another tool to put pressure on Hamas in order to to get Hamas maybe to crack down or to give up some I think it's one of the main tools to bring Hamas the situation together with the international community some Arab countries that will see the situation and as the time is running Hamas will estimate its situation and will be more and more interesting to make a deal but the fact is not to release two 15 or 20 we need the deal to first of all to demand to release all together and to bring it and to give something for it but Eitan I'll give you a difficult task I'll make you Ichi Sinoir for a second if you were him why would you give all the prisoners his prisoners in return for our hostages because the next day we will kill them all and kill him why should we do it because Ichi Sinoir at the end will calculate its situation concerning the future of Hamas in the Gaza or in the area in the when we will run more and more and I think when he will be aware that his life and the life of his organization is going to be very limited I think it will be changed and also don't forget Qatar is the real fuel for Hamas Egypt is the main gate for see the world together when the time is coming there is more and more pressures I think the interest and Hamas is a very clever a strategic organization they can change their strategic goals understand they will make enough for themselves Olivier last question regarding what you do trying to explain Israel in the world it is becoming more and more complicated if Israel received all sympathy around the world now we have the governments but we have less and less the people you are right I mean concerning the government I think the government most in the western world are with Israel they understand the the issues they understand the need for Israel to protect herself and to and to fight Hamas where you are right you have it's about the population the people progressive in democracies and it's more difficult but I think I think that it is still very important to continue the dialogue with them and right now we are facing a raise of anti-Semitism abroad but in the same time governments like in Europe and even in the States try to mobilize as their forces to make them understand that this struggle in Israel is not only our struggle is a struggle for all democracies against Islamism and the thing that for now even if it's difficult it's not it's not a lost battle is it complex is it possible to convince the people I mean look at friends that you know better than all of us you see the demonstrations you see the people you see the you hear the sounds you see the again David which is being drawn on Jewish people's homes yes it's how it looks like 70 years ago or eight years ago in Europe I may be going to surprise you right now but at the end of the day 80 percent according to last survey in France are with Israel 20 percent are against Israel and most of them are connected to minorities connected to muslim groups but at the end of the day the danger in Europe is felt very strongly and I believe I believe I'm not sure that at the end of the day today what we are doing in Israel is much more understood than it was before and for me is a quite good surprise but we have to continue to talk to to exchange information and while you speak we see the demonstration live from New York pro-palestinian support rally in New York City and you hear yesterday there was a screening of the IDF movie in LA you saw the demonstration outside a very violent rude but just loud ones there are still minorities big demonstrations but most of the people are quiet and I again believe that they support Israel this this war maybe the first time for Israel history is a war that the west on the world understand us they cannot accept everything but they understand us so eight and last question can is can is can israel stay on the convincing side on the right side it will be very difficult and even I can tell you in some cases no but we don't have a choice thank you so much for being with us this evening let's head up to the northern border and corresponded Mary McAuliffe Mary what's your update for this hour good evening this past hour has been relatively quiet inside Israel we had sirens hours ago and the IDF responded with a number of different attacks inside southern Lebanon we're hearing reports now though coming from inside southern Lebanese territory that they're ongoing airstrikes in the area of Ramia primarily targeted there we do know the IDF has been responding throughout the day to a number of different attacks though they said a series of mortar attacks were launched at IDF areas inside on the very near the Lebanon border Hezbollah for its part said that it had targeted infantry group along the Israel-Lebanon border saying that that was in response so once again show solidarity with the Palestinian people what we see here is continue to be a very formulaic response Hezbollah launching a number of different attacks into these northern Israeli communities especially areas where they believe Israeli military is currently operating and then the IDF responding using a variety of different means at their disposal from airstrikes to shelling we can routinely hear the sounds of artillery operating in this area so definitely continues to be an area where the IDF is on high alert and they say they're ready to respond to any threats coming from within southern Lebanon and Mary what do you hear from the civil front because most of Israel is in the cities and villages surrounding the border evacuated their houses what do you hear from them and from those who decided to remain to stay at home that's right so there's some 70 000 that's the estimate of residents who have been told to evacuate from this area so that's an area that's all within four kilometers of the border everybody is supposed to be evacuated but we have seen in the past week when things were a little bit quieter last week a number of residents chose to return to their homes but we saw last week exactly why these restrictions are in place a family in Kirishmona who had just returned after three weeks of seconds away from being hit by a rocket attack luckily all of them came out unscathed but it's causing the Israeli government to also once again reissue these warnings to pay attention to the home front restrictions if your area is evacuated to go to safer parts of the country especially if they're lying within these four kilometers of the border because this is an area that we continue to see hit by these anti-tank missiles which Hezla is launching across the borders those have a range of up to five kilometers that's the estimate we have now but what we see now is there's no shortage of missiles that Hezla continues to launch into these communities we saw an Israeli civilian killed here just this week also in past weeks we've seen civilians killed as well as soldiers so it definitely continues to be a high alert area but the Israeli government is trying to warn those just because it might not be as hot of an area as down south the threat absolutely remains yes Mary thanks for that keep safe eight and last question regarding the north how close are we if at all for another front I believe first of all I'm not as everybody waiting dramatically eight on a solar speech I think that we should keep a high alert we choose the way not to open and to be the first to open increasing or to increase the situation in the north but I believe next week we will have not a not different not easy days in the north if we continue in Gaza to press it will impact the situation in the north but not for a war Olivia we know each other from those days when Israel fought in southern Lebanon right now it's a conflict management situation we manage as we have to react when we are attacked but we consider the focus a main focus in Gaza right now we are ready for the north but we are focused in the south and hoping that the north will remain as it is right now and we are as you know ready for all defense defensive move and is in if needed offensive also and the world is trying to stop Israel from fighting in the north it's trying to stop his bala as well as well you run much more than his bala yes and we are examining today from young man few times don't forget yes gentlemen thank you so much for that a quick break for commercials and when we return i-24 news bring an inside look of the ground offensive in Gaza and much more we'll be right back don't go anywhere over 1300 people murdered and more than 3000 injured and the war with Hamas continues we bring you first-hand testimonies from the front lines from those who survived and all the records of the atrocities by Hamas follow us as Israel fights terror from the south and north get the inside scoop on what's going on only on i-24 news a strictly security brought you life from the jaffa poor thank you so much for being with us in the latest round of arms shipments from the united states to israel the white house informed congress that it intends to transfer 320 million dollars worth of precision bombs into jerusalem's hands correspondent or both sweet has more smart precise impact cost effective bombs or spice for short the biden administration is reportedly planning on sending a 320 million dollar package of these precision weapons to israel israeli designed the systems will be transferred from rafael usa to its israeli parent company the wall street journal reported the spice family essentially an upgrade kit the weapons boost the targeting and gliding capabilities of unguided bombs with these smart systems it's hoped israel can more accurately strike hamas weapons and infrastructure hidden among the gazon population the shipment comes as diplomatic pressure mounts on both israel and the us over the number of gassans being killed in israeli strikes with more accurate weapons it's hoped israel can better distinguish between its enemies and the civilians crowding the gazon battlefield but smart bombs are only as precise as the intelligence directing them and as the conflict continues to rage the fog of war only thickens for several weeks now hundreds of members of iran-backed iraqi militia groups have gathered at the border with jordan to protest israel's attacks on the gaza strip they demand to pass through jordan to reach israel and gaza in a move that also has jordan concerned middle east correspondent aril oseran with the details as pro-palestinian rallies continue to spread across the west and the middle east there's one country where anti-israel protests have gone one step farther than anyone our main demand is to allow us to go to palestine to help the palestinians let them open the borders and i will head there to fight or to provide moral or material aid we are ready for anything for more than two weeks now thousands of irakis have been amassing along the border with jordan in addition to showing support for hamas's october 7th massacre they demand free passage to reach the gaza strip following a call by iraq's influential shiaid cleric muqtada sadel to hold sit-in protests along israel's borders until it stops bombing gaza and jordan which has been one of the most vocal countries opposing israel's strikes on gaza is worried that pro- iranian militias in iraq will try to take advantage of the situation we will not allow you to desecrate jordan and we warn the people of the popular mobilization forces on the iraqi border if you come close jordan will be your graveyard iraq's support of the hamas iran axis comes as tehran's proxies amplify their strikes against us forces in syria and iraq on sunday u.s secretary of state antony blinkin visited bagdad and met with iraq's prime minister to try and prevent the conflict from spreading further across the region the following day however prime minister al-sudani visited tehran reaffirming with whom bagdad's real allegiance lies those who want the conflict to be contained and not to spread to the entire region should pressure the zinus regime to stop its military aggression and systematic slaughter and now i'd like to bring in our expert panel mr norman rule in washington dc 34 year cia veteran and national intelligence manager for iran at the office of the director of national intelligence and david daud senior fellow at the federation for defense of democracies also joining us from washington mr rule we start with you we see the cia chief uh uh jumping from jerusalem to doha and and back and forth current today in doha uh reportedly with the morsad chief uh meeting the kathari prime minister uh what's on the agenda good evening uh to you your viewers and to my good friend david it's clear the united states and israel are using every conceivable diplomatic channel in relationship to see how they can develop an architecture to free the hostages uh in gaza this is a torturous route but there as i say they're using every relationship that is on the table and the kathari are playing a role uh vis-a-vis gaza and vis-a-vis hamas we know but how effective can they be and what do they want or can give in return well the katharis have claimed for quite a while that their relationship with the muslim brotherhood and hamas provides them influence we haven't seen much of that influence in the last month four hostages have been released and that's a very small number there's a tremendous amount of suffering and i think we're watching the limits of that influence and the need to put more pressure on kathar to uh uh terminate its relationship with hamas as this hostage issue uh comes to a conclusion yes david daud we've heard yesterday a very interesting uh a saying from coming out of from washington by the white house speaker saying that israel should give limited ceasefire in order to be able to go until the end practically to to to to finish hamas's story and that's quite unique coming out from an official you know backing israel so strongly um again thank you for having me on and it's a pleasure to see your norm um it is uh it at the same time i think look we're dealing with a situation that is pretty unique in and of itself um as i don't need to tell you that the mass casualty attack that occurred on october 7th uh is is unique in the annals of israeli this uh is strange yes david we have some difficulties with the line so go back to you norman uh let's speak a bit about the our northern front you know uh starting by president biden say uh saying to the iranians and khizballah practically don't uh but ever since we're seeing khizballah trying to you know to play with israel on a limited level how concerned is washington from that uh front becoming more active well washington was clearly sufficiently concerned to send its largest most modern and most powerful aircraft carrier task force off the coast of israel and this task force contains uh missiles and aircraft that would be capable of uh helping to protect israel from any significant levities has below onslaught the assignment of the dwight eisenhower aircraft carrier group to the red sea um sends a powerful message that the united states is also sending this massive military deterrent capacity towards iran at the same time there appears to be a level of activity that the united states and israel and other countries in the region believe is below the line of what would generate a conventional conflict so we're watching multiple attacks in iraq we're watching daily multiple attacks across israel's northern border with israel and we're watching repeated houthi missile attacks and the international response from the united states other countries in the region against those uh militias has actually been quite thin so it tells you a line does exist below which there is more strategic patience yes norman and if i take your words uh it sounds like you know the us is here and is backing israel obviously financially and and sending arms and giving international support we see it in within the un but they're doing everything that is within their power and not to be dragged in pract