must reach the whole world. The I-24 News channel broadcasting from Israel, with dozens of correspondents throughout the world, brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries. They're going to be completely done down in their beds. The last one to get this is by Israel, the state of emergency and war in Israel. Bringing Israel's story to the world. I-24 News channels, now on Hot. Good afternoon and welcome to I-24 News' ongoing coverage of Israel at War, I'm Arielle Levin Waldman. Heavy fighting in the Gaza Strip continues as the IDF pushes on with its ground offensive to dismantle terror targets. The Navy played a heavy role in last 24 hours, providing critical fire support to infantry and striking Hamas positions that were attacking Israeli soldiers. Hamas is reportedly shifting to insurgency tactics as the terrorists lose ground.  The total number of Israeli troops killed in combat against the enemy now stands at 156. Released for publication on Sunday evening, the IDF has revealed that earlier this month it found a massive Hamas tunnel network beneath the Jabalaya refugee camp near Gaza City. Inside that tunnel, they also found and recovered the bodies of three Israeli soldiers as well as two civilians. The IDF has destroyed the tunnel and says Hamas has lost all their command bunkers in the north of the Gaza Strip. Though the military has said that the terror government's fortifications were far more developed than anyone expected. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to hold that the war will continue until victory over Hamas. His latest comments coming as the war cabinet is set to examine an Egyptian proposal for a new hostage deal following Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives visiting Cairo. And the northern part of the Gaza Strip has mostly been conquered by the IDF. There might be little resistance above the ground, but the massive underground infrastructure is still presenting a major challenge. Our senior defense correspondent, Jonathan Reghev, gave us this report. From the air on the ground and also from the sea. The IDF continues its striking Gaza on all fronts. All progress shows how the civilian infrastructure there is used for terror purposes. This is what was found in a school in the neighborhood of Sheikh Radwan. Don't look for notebooks or pencils. Like so many other schools here, the curriculum is completely different onto a nearby residence, and the images are quite similar. We are in the home of a Hamas official, very close to the underground infrastructure. We completed preparations for the bombing of this place. In a few moments, we will destroy the building. The above-ground area in northern Gaza has been practically taken over by the IDF, but that doesn't mean the fighting there is over. The underground area, such as this one underneath Gaza City, is full of tunnels which are used for multiple purposes. This network served as the northern headquarters of Hamas and Gaza. In the headquarters, which is located dozens of meters underground, we found weapons, infrastructure for the production of weapons and laboratories where weapons were produced. It is these tunnels where Hamas now mostly operate from. These images, taken by Hamas terrorists, show what the war in these areas taken by the army now looks like. Classic guerrilla fighting, terrorists coming out of their hideouts for a short time, locating soldiers, firing, and quickly returning to their hiding place. As this is happening in the northern part of the Strip, fighting is still mostly above the ground further south in Chanyunes. Between Gaza City and Chanyunes are various refugee camps whose residents have been asked to leave. Indicating an Israeli advance into those areas is also about to come. After taking those areas, a process which may take weeks. The IDF will certainly find plenty of tunnels there as well, which is why various Israeli military officials believe that full operational control of the Gaza Strip is still months away. And now joining us in a studio to discuss this a little bit more, we have Professor Uzi Rabi, Director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle East Studies at Tel Aviv University, as well as our senior defense correspondent, Jonathan Reghev. I want to open with you, Reghev, as we just saw that report focusing on the underground system in Gaza. We have to ask right now just how much progress the IDF has made dismantling this underground infrastructure because statements we've seen in the last 48 hours or so from the IDF say this infrastructure was far more extensive than anybody believed. Progress has been made, yes. There's still a lot of work to do. Also, yes, let's remember Hamas has been waiting for this pretty much since 2007, since taking over the Gaza Strip from Fatah and maybe even from 2005, since Israeli forces left. So they've been digging and digging and digging for 15 years. Yes, there were a few operations in which there were some Israeli incursions, but inside the Gaza Strip, but very close to the Israeli border, both in 2009 and 2014, ground forces went in, but nearly as it is done now. And this gave Hamas pretty much 16 years to dig and dig and dig. And this is what the IDF is now encountering. Progress has been made absolutely a lot of work to be still to be done. Also true. Okay, and we're going to continue this discussion in a brief moment. But first, we are going to get a live report from the south of Israel, our correspondent Pierre Klosian. There is standing by just on the Gaza border outside of Stura. Pierre, walk us through the latest developments we're seeing on the southern front. Right, just behind me, Roy Paltzman is going to show you an air force strike that occurred about 15 minutes ago on the eastern outskirts of the refugee camp of El Burej. Now this is the central sector of the Gaza Strip. And overnight, there's been heavy bombardments on the three refugee camps of the central sector of the Gaza Strip. El Burej, Nusserat, and Mugazi. And according to Palestinian media affiliated to Hamas, 68 Palestinians lost their lives, but they do not distinguish in their reports the non-involved Palestinian population and the Hamas terrorists that the Israeli air force is probably striking at. Now further south in Hanyunes, there's less bombardment simply because there's a risk of maybe harming the hostages that the army estimates that they are being held in underground tunnels with the political and military leadership of Hamas. Also, in order not to harm the non-involved civilian population of Hanyunes, a city of 200,000 inhabitants before the war. Now 150,000 seem to have been moving southward toward Rafah and the border with Egypt. But other displaced people from the north came and filled the evacuated area. So the army there is evolving and operating with five brigades into a very dense area and very complex area. Further north, if Roy Paltzman will show us, you will see also results of strikes in three neighborhoods south of Gaza City, Shejaiya, which is under operational control of the IDF, but still there are pockets of resistance. And then Zuchuadik and El Mugracha, which are two neighborhoods or towns that control the Salahadin access road to Hanyunes, and there's been fighting for over two weeks in that area. Now, in addition, the Ministry of Defense Coordinator of Activities with the Palestinian population has just announced that 80,000 vaccines against the measles, mumps, and rubella have been donated by UNICEF and were transferred with Israeli facilitation to the Gaza Strip in order to prevent the risk of an epidemic in the Gaza Strip, a risk which is very tangible, given that practically 2 million Palestinians out of the population of 2.2 million are displaced from their habitat and are cramming the southern sector of the Gaza Strip. So that's a very important step that the Israeli Ministry of Defense has facilitated. Well, thank you very much, Pierre, for that report from the South. We'll be back with you later in the show as the front develops further. We're gonna take people on a closer view of the front and basic life inside Gaza. Watch this video. It's a summer camp for Gaza's children where they learn such civilian skills as firing Kalashnikov assault rifles while under the tutelage of Hamas terrorists. The IDF says this entire facility was nothing more than an early life indoctrination and terror training center. Nothing new for the group, which has long used children as gunmen as well as suicide bombers in their war against Israel's existence. Hamas notably reports these casualties simply as children. We're going to return to the studio this time with Uzi Rabi as well. I wanna discuss a little bit more what we've seen in the war so far. Much of the propaganda and the Western response against Israel has talked about children victims in the war. I wanna see, Jason, what we just saw there. Hamas' use of children, child soldiers in these war, how widespread is this? Well, very, very wide. I mean, this is something that Hamas, since 2007, when he came to power in Gaza, he used the once upon a time Gush Katif, actually the Katif province, it is in Arabic Mawasi. And there he actually built up all these summer schools for children. This is part and parcel of this very cruel and lunatic indoctrination. Basically, it is based on stuff that is written loud and clear in the Hamas Charter. It is in the textbooks. What we do see here is just the complete leg of what is written in the books. Jews are dehumanized, Zionists are dehumanized. And basically, one Palestine from the river to the sea is something that every grown up actually is well entrenched in his mind. And basically, this is something that we are, I think just one manifestation of that was seen harshly in the 7th of October. We have to remember that this is exactly what the young boys actually had there for 17 years. A generation actually was created, which was inspired by the endless hostility toward Israel and Jews. And basically, we have to just market that and export all these photos, including actually the atrocities of the 7th of October, because what we are doing now is just to make the world understand what does that mean to have a terror state. What was actually exposed yesterday is what is to be found beneath the one time actually commander of the North Brigade, Ahmed El-Ghandour. All these tunnels behind or beneath his home, the headquarter of Hamas in the northern part of Gaza, of the Gaza Strip, this could tell you actually how a terror state is being comprised. And basically, when you look at the nitty gritty details, you would find that population, even by force or by will, they are part and parcel of the machinery. So in the Western mind, there is a dichotomy between Hamas and the citizens. This is not true when it comes to the Gaza Strip. Most of the citizens, or maybe kind of a great part of it, are part and parcel of the machinery. Basically, this is what Israel has to fight with. Now in Hanunas, actually, they just, they were stripped of their uniforms and they actually introduced themselves as citizens, which makes the whole thing much more complicated. We know that the hostages are there. The leadership, including Senwar, are seemingly there. And this is why actually we say that this is a focacai point. This is the basic point where actually we might actually have some answers to the questions we have asked for 80 days. And before we continue this, I'm gonna shift arenas for a little bit because as much as Hamas is the main threat in the room, they are still backed by Iran, who has let their proxies open lines of fire on Israel and Israeli interests all over the region, attacks against cargo vessels in and around the Red Sea continue. This time, a U.S. warship actually came under fire by Yemen's Houthi rebels. And what appears to be a serious escalation of security terrorization, a cargo ship off the coast of India also targeted with a missile that appears to have been launched directly from Iran. Robert Swift has more in this report. Ahbadi is there who's a high. Iran is upping its rhetoric and its hardware, unveiling a new cruise missile Sunday. The Talayya missile is completely intelligent, able to define new targets itself or through the mother system while in flight. The video showing off the weapon comes out after yet another escalation in the proxy war heating up Middle Eastern seas. A U.S. destroyer, the USS Labun, intercepted four drones that were inbound towards it. At around the same time, two nearby civilian vessels were targeted with additional drones, one scoring a hit. The aircraft originated in Houthi territory in Yemen and now mark 15 attacks against commercial shipping since October 17th, the U.S. military says. Iran argues that it is not responsible for the action of the Yemeni group. The Americans asked us to advise Yemen not to do anything against the Americans and even against the Zionist regime. We told them that Yemen has decided based on its own benefits, how it wants to interfere in the issue of Gaza. But in what appears to be another escalation, a civilian vessel was attacked off the coast of India. Damaged, it was escorted to safety by the Indian Navy. Rather than Yemen, this strike was launched from Iran, U.S. and Israeli officials say. Last week, Washington announced an international coalition to confront attacks on shipping, a move welcomed by Israel. We, of course, welcome the international coalition of 10 navies to repel the Houthi terror pirate threat. But merchant lines remain nervous, with up to 100 ships taking the decision to reroute around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, adding three to four weeks to their journey. Other vessels are listing armed guards on board in place of their usual destination data as they traverse the Babel Mandab Strait. The Houthis say they will stay the course while fighting in Gaza continues. A position that may be making them international enemies, but is also apparently popular closer to home. And we're going to open up with our studio discussion again, this time with you, Jonathan. The Iranian claim about a new, fully smart missile, are they talking about a true autonomous weapon system? Do they have the capabilities to create something like this? Or is another one of those cardboard fifth generation fighter jets and stealth drones that are propeller on it? I don't know the answer, but you know what? I'm guessing it's a second option, but you know what? I think we've learned what can happen when you underestimate your enemy. Israel all the time said that the real threat that comes from Hezbollah in the North, right? Hamas in the South, they're not really strong. They're not really threatening. We can take forces away from the Gaza division, move the menu elsewhere. The West Bank, for example, Hamas is deterred, Hamas is weak. So I think that we learned that underestimating your enemy is not good. Therefore, do I think that this is a real autonomous system which can fly by itself and therefore, of course, will be much more difficult to intercept? I think not. But I also think that we've learned the hard way that we have to respect the enemy more than what we perhaps do and take the threat seriously. Hamas was all the time saying, this is what we're planning to do and they did it. So let's take the threat seriously. Speaking of taking the threat seriously, we'll talk about the Houthis for a moment now because Uzi, we even have the Russians looking at the Houthis arsenal and saying, this is much more serious than anybody has ever said before. They are a serious fighting force that poses a major threat to global security. How has the world allowed this to fester for so long and just ignored the problem and what can be done about it now? As always, as Israel did with Hamas, you ignore it in the early stages and you are persuading yourself that this is nothing and you can actually deal with that in no time when there is a threat. And one day you have to just stand to kind of a very, very monstrous threat as is the case with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon. And now we have to deal with the Houthis. Houthis are there actually for 30 years. They were given birth in kind of a very, very Yemenite dialectics, you know, that were to do with the situation in Yemen, which is a very, very convoluted process of history. But what you see here is another manifestation of the activities of the Iranian octopus, I would say. What the Iranians are or do entertain themselves with is that the Americans are not that serious when they talk about a retaliation. And by the way, actually, the Americans do define their coalition as kind of a coalition which is based on a defensive manner. In my opinion, this is a mistake. What the Houthis had done till now actually must be, you know, must get kind of a harsh reaction or response as to say to Iran, both Iran and the Houthis that enough is enough. They are dealing with, you know, a worldwide sea lanes. They are harming basically the interests of so many states in the region and beyond. And what Iran is trying actually to do while tasting the water basically is just to make sure that everybody knows that the same can be seen in the street of Hormuz. They went as far as to talk about Gibraltar. But, you know, my, our experience and our bitter lessons from the past and from the 7th of October say that you have to nip it in the bud. And this is the stage where Houthis must be actually retaliated. The problem is that the United States wouldn't like actually the scenario or the possibility of having a regional war for well-known reasons. But in my opinion, it is just the same, you know, dynamics that we had seen with Israel and Hamas, Israel and Hezbollah, you know, I call it the begging doctrine. If you would like to shoot, shoot, and you have to do that in the early stages. And as Benjamin Begging actually, Menachem Begging, sorry, the late prime minister actually did it in 1981 in Osirak. This is exactly the way you have to treat such threats. I think that the Houthis are acting, you know, basically they are Yemenites and they have interest in Yemen. But here is one thing I should just remind everybody here. In Yemen, you have a coalition of tribes who are anti-Houthis. So this is just one option to start with. I'm not talking about the overall world now. Basically, somebody can make Houthis live in Yemen much more problematic. And these are the steps that must be taken in order to transmit, in order to just send the signal to the other side that we are well familiar with the Yemenite actually landscape. We know how to deal with that. We are going actually to play the cards within Yemen. And when it comes to the envelope, when it comes to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean or the Arab Sea, definitely the United States. And the coalition are very, very confident in the ability to just make the Houthis stop their activities. It must be dealt with day by day in kind of a very regular and well-organized manner. Absolutely. I mean, it just seems a little unlikely, given that it was in the United States, this administration that took the Houthis off the terror watch list, that stopped giving arms to Saudi Arabia specifically to stop them from giving it to the Yemenite coalition against the Houthis. Well, I mean, this is actually the history of mistakes being done by the West when it comes to Arabian Peninsula. And you know, it is similar to what Israel did with Hamas for 15 years. And this is why I say you have to be very, very consistent. Very consistent. You have to know who the bad guy is. In the end of the day, these are the bad guys. They are part and parcel of the Iranian missionary. And the Iranian missionary actually speaks in kind of a way which is unbearable and unacceptable in the 21st century. Certainly, the Lord was getting a lesson in the cost of appeasement and delays. Uzi, thank you very much. Jonathan, thank you very much as well. We are going to take a look at the Christian world celebrating Christmas, but not here in the Holy Land where Christianity was born. Celebrations overshadowed by the war in the region. And in many of the holy sites that would draw so many tourists this time of year, towns in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, well, not so much, Elisha Pira has the story. It's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year for Christians, but here in the Holy Land, Christmas looks a bit pale this year. As opposed to previous years, there are barely any Christmas trees and decorations around. Here in the old city of Jerusalem, one of the most sacred places for Christians, the Gaza war has overshadowed the celebrations. As on one hand, we are very saddened by the loss of human life. We're very sad that Israel has to engage in a war against the evil of Hamas. And at the same time, we have something to celebrate. So as it's been described, it's a bit like perhaps the Jewish understanding of the Sabbath. On the Sabbath, even if you're in a time of mourning or sadness, you don't fast and you don't mourn. And so Christmas for us this year will be something similar. The Christ Church was one of the first protestant institutes in the Holy City. Reverend David Pelegi tells his personal encounter with the situation. We're not doing anything special this year, although we have quite an extensive aid program helping the victims of the Israel Hamas war. And so that's taking most of our focus and our attention. But as usual, Uri will be having an open house. We'll be receiving the public. And then tomorrow, Christmas Day, we will also have a service as well. The current situation has also affected the tourism industry in Israel in general, and Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land in particular. Unfortunately, Christmas, New Year's, we just ended Hanukkah. This is the peak of the tourism season, any year, except for this year. This year's sad because we cannot celebrate Christmas. Christmas has been canceled in most places. People came here and went to see the lights in the Christian quarter, the Christmas bazaar, the merchandising. And Christianity, basically, was during that time. However, with tourism zero, following the attack by Hamas, we have no tourism. Issa Qasisiya is known as Jerusalem Center. For years, he's celebrated the holiday in his small, decorated old house in the Christian quarter. The so-called center on a camel has a clear message to Christians around the world. This year, it's not easy. Last year, I have 25,000 people visiting me in my center house in all December. This year, I have a few, like, let's say around 3,000 to 4,000 until now, where I have. But because there's no tourists also, there are no flights to come all the way to Israel. My message this year is hope, love, and peace from Jerusalem to the Holy Land and to the world. But despite the tension and the atmosphere, people of the Holy Land are still dreaming of a white Christmas and hope for a better time next year. In the meantime, they wish everyone Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And we are about to go on a break. But when we come back in just three minutes, we have so much more to cover. So stay with us, and we'll see you again very soon. Hell is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she. As our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Esta semana, News 24, Israel bajo ataque. News 24 en español trae el análisis y la información de los acontecimientos de la guerra, espadas de hierro. Entrevistas exclusivas reportes desde la zona de guerra. La reacción de los países hispanoparlantes. News 24, el único medio en español que te mantiene formado y conectado con la comunidad latina en Israel. News 24, únicamente en I-24 News. Thank you for staying with us. Egypt has proposed a new ceasefire deal, a three-step plan that would begin with a two-week lull in fighting to free 40 hostages, remaining women being held and abused by Hamas terrorists, alongside three times that number of convicted terrorists to be freed from Israel's jails. After that stage, a unified Palestinian government would be formed, one that includes Hamas, and as the third stage, after that remaining hostages, all being freed and Israel withdrawing entirely from the Gaza Strip. Interestingly enough, inside sources have told local media that Israel hasn't flat out rejected this plan, at least as the basis for further negotiations, meaning any final form would look far different. Israel has consistently rejected any proposal that would allow Hamas to stay in power in Gaza after the terrorists murdered 1,200 Israelis in the most sadistic ways possible on October 7th and vowed to do it again. Israel has said the military operation will continue until the goals of shattering Hamas's military and political power are completed. Now for so much more on this, we are joined by Ruth Wasserman-Landed, who is joining us as a former member of Knessa and former co-chair of the Abraham Accords Parliamentary Caucus. Thank you very much for being with us. I wanna jump into this Egyptian proposal because on one hand, it seems like a non-starter, Hamas remaining in power, a ceasefire and withdrawal without the goals of the military campaign being reached. On the other hand, reports saying it hasn't been immediately rejected out of hand. I think the important thing to keep in mind at this particular moment is the fact that Egypt is back on track. And this is very interesting because until now we've seen mainly the Egyptian role which tended to be very constructive in former episodes regarding the release of different prisoners, Hamas prisoners, even before October 7th, but especially since then in terms of the humanitarian aid and so on whereas Qatar really played the very important role and was the bringer of the news. It almost seems following the visit of the high level delegations of the Islamic jihad and the Hamas in Egypt, if they wanted to sort of bring Egypt back into the frame and I wonder, I don't know, I wonder at what price? What are they asking of Egypt in return? Because nothing comes for free, certainly not for the Hamas terrorists and Islamic jihad terrorists. And let's not forget that these are not friends of Egypt or Cairo as there seem to be affiliated with the Muslim brotherhood and as opposition to the CC government and regime. So we need to remain vigilant as to what is the return that they expect from the Egyptian government. Well, would you speculate on what that might be? Well, if we take into account the fact that the Philadelphia crossing in the only possibility at all that exists for the Hamas and the Islamic jihad to come and go from the Gaza Strip, this is indeed very interesting because this is, if you wish, the only leverage that the Egyptians may have on the Hamas and the Islamic jihad and this is very sensitive because it has been declared very recently by Israel that it will increase its activity by the Philadelphia crossing. And this is something that has been done together with the Egyptians between Israel and Egypt knowing that this is very sensitive and that smuggling may occur. I think it's time that the Egyptians and the Israeli really put their finger on that particular aspect and the possibility, the potential of leakage because from there, both prisoners, hostages, Hamas operatives can go anywhere and they can smuggle anything inside as well. Is this really just a way of cutting Qatar out of negotiations entirely in favor of somebody that Israel can, if not entirely trust, at least operate with? Well, look, the Hamas serious significant and high level delegation and the Islamic jihad likewise of delegation, they came to Egypt. This doesn't seem like trying to cut off Qatar. This doesn't seem like an Israeli step. This seems like something that Qatar would be behind something that the Hamas and the Islamic jihad would want to do. It doesn't seem as if it's a step to have Egypt play a larger role that's been cocked by Israel. If you ask me again, I'm saying this cautiously but this is what it seems to me, something that the Hamas and the Islamic jihad backed by Qatar would need from Egypt. That's my feeling on the issue. Speaking of Egypt because it seems that Egypt is trying to present itself as more central in this conflict that Israel finds itself in, not just in this matter. We also saw reports of Egypt trying to create a land corridor for the transit of goods to bypass the Red Sea entirely. They certainly have a vested interest in making sure that that happens. Let's talk about Egypt's role here. So of course Egypt has a vested interest because it has the income that it has almost a half a million dollars for the transportation of each and every ship via the canal and via that gateway. So it would definitely want to have a stake. Let's say we're a say in the matter. Egypt has another very huge vested interest and that is that the Gazans will not steep into Sinai. They have clearly indicated that they do not want, and I'm telling you also that they don't trust either the Hamas or the Gazans. They don't want this problem to be exported to the Egypt. They know what is Gaza. They know what is Hamas. They understand that this is a potential kind of a nucleus that will grow either in the Sinai Peninsula and then of course inside Egypt in general. This is not something they want. So very interesting to keep on checking again cautiously. And I'm saying this with a huge respect for Egypt because the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement is strategic and important. However, this issue is extraordinarily sensitive. This is the only ground passage that the Hamas has anywhere. Well, thank you very much, Ruth, for breaking down the various very complicated interests in the region who gains and ultimately what's at stake. Thank you. And we are going to move to the heart-wrenching story that has captured the attention of the entire nation. The Beavis family remains held in hostage in Gaza. Their fates still uncertain. Yerden, Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir all kidnapped from their home in Nero's 78 days ago. As the days have turned into weeks and the weeks turn into months, their relatives are left pleading for answers and desperately seeking their return. More on this report adapted from Israel's Channel 12 News. So many days have passed. Not even my worst nightmares that I think I would still be sitting before you, begging, telling the story, trying to understand just how terrible it is that an entire family and their babies are in captivity, waiting for answers from those who are supposed to answer us, but we haven't received any. 38 children have been released from Hamas' captivity, two have not. I really love tractors, cars, but I can't find anything here. I think it was the last of the looters who did what they did to the house. The Beavis family is helpless. Walking through Yerden, Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir's home in Nero's, gathering the remaining items, trying to make sense of this painful story. Ariel really loved Batman. We found the drawing he made in kindergarten. He must have asked the teacher to write, I want to be a hero, fly and rescue people, stuck in a hole. It's chilling to think he wrote that before all of this. Batman pajamas, a token of their family. Yabba's his dog. They killed his dog. He tried to prevent them coming in. I don't know, I don't. I admit. For him to fire his gun and still make it out alive doesn't add up. They fired incessantly without a care for the cries and the screams of children. They were just hell bent on getting in and getting the family out. Seventy-six days into the war, even though almost everyone knows the story, it is our duty to retell it. Yerden and Shiri, together for nine years, raised both their ginger-haired children in Shiri's childhood kibbutz, Nero's. On October 7th, the entire family was kidnapped from their home to Gaza. Shiri, 32 years old, Ariel, four, and Kfir nine months old were kidnapped together. Yerden was kidnapped separately. Yerden, Shiri, Ariel, Kfir, they aren't just gingers, they aren't a symbol, they are a family. There were birthdays, holidays. That's the couch they climbed and breached the window with a drill. It was here, right here, where she stood and they surrounded her. In the last hostage deal, Shiri and the children did not return. Hamas, using psychological warfare, claimed that they had been killed. The IDF can still not verify or disprove the claim. Two weeks ago, Hamas published a cruel video of Yerden in captivity, in which he said his wife and children did not survive. He looks very, very thin. I think he must have lost 35 pounds. He receives the most horrible news a person can receive, that his whole family was killed, without us, the family, without support, without knowing if it's true or false. The video is like a noose, constantly tightening its grip on his neck. What have you heard about him from the released hostages? We mainly heard he was not in a good state, mentally, and that is before the video was released. One of them said he was depressed, not sleeping day or night. There were two captive women with him who saw he needed support, and they took him under their wing. At some point, he received some pills, which allowed him to get some sleep. When the women were released, they asked those who remained with Yerden to be mindful of him, help him. They really tried to make sure he wouldn't be alone once they were released.  This is my aunt Margit's house, and her husband, Josie Silverman. Ten houses down is Shiri's parents' house. Josie Silverman, 67, and Margit Silverman, 63, who suffered from Parkinson's disease. They were both murdered. After two weeks, the IDF found their bodies somewhere near the fence. They took a wonderful couple who love each other. Good people. My sister had a heart of gold. The house was burnt to the ground. Here stood such pretty sofas. There was dining table, photos of kids and grandkids. Very gentle people, very pleasant. I can't see them resisting. I tried to think why, why them? I tried to call her all day, no answer. Suddenly, at 4.30 p.m., someone answers and say in Arabic, death, death, death. So I said, who is this? Who are you? He said death again and hung up. Some Arab took the phone to tell me what he had done. Death. Yes. Just unbelievable. Their dog's head was on this table. They beheaded the dog and burned him. Did you see it? I saw a photo of it, yes. With talks of another hostage deal in the works and the hostage family forum raising the pressure on the government, Yerden's father, Eli, met this week with Prime Minister Netanyahu. It was a very good talk, to the point and with emotion. I believe they really want to do something, but we understand there's also the other side making things difficult. I really asked them to get Yerden out. I fear he might hurt himself. Do you believe in God? No, but I'm willing to do anything to get my kids and grandchildren back. I bought Yerden to fill in a kanukiya. What I can do, just let them return safely. That we may see Yerden, Shiri, Ariel and Kfir back with us, along with all other hostages. Yesterday, Yerden and Shiri's families, the Bebas and Silverman families, gathered together for the inauguration of a Torah in Niroz, and from there they went to Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. A Jewish community in the United States wanted to strengthen them and donated a Torah that had survived the Holocaust. All of you came especially from the United States to Niroz? Yes, the Bebas family hold a very special place in our heart. Ever since October the 7th, when we saw them on television, we noticed the two boys with the red hair and we have two boys with red hair. And it just, they came deep into our heart and in our souls and we couldn't get them out and we pray for them every single day. I await them. I await them all. I meant it everyone, everyone. The media, the decision makers, those who weren't there on October 7th, I'm mad at all of them. In the end, it's us who pay the price. Since this war has begun, an alliance between Palestinian Islamists and radical leftists has crystallized into the most prolific propaganda outlet on Earth. And Israelis have been massively outnumbered trying to present the truth in a digital battlefield that's been dominated by emotionally convenient narratives. Which is not to say some attempts haven't found some purchase. Idan Nimso has gone viral, debunking some of the most prolific lies that the enemy has been pushing. Let's take a look. From the river to the sea, where do the Jews go? They go back to where they came from. They killed 6 million of us. But don't just watch the video. We have Idan Nimso right here with us in the studio to explain. Well, just why you started making these videos? I started making these videos just, I was actually abroad when all this happened. And I think like all Israelis, I was just kind of thinking what I could do to try to help. And I don't know, I have good English and I thought that maybe I could make some funny videos and that's what I tried to do. Started making videos from abroad and started going pretty well. So just kept that in.  How do you confront these? Do you see something that just makes your blood boiling? Now I'm going to debunk that. Do you think, what are the common claims? How can I preempt the various claims that might be made? Is there a strategy? I think it's more of the second part of what you said. It's more of taking the basis of the Palestinian lies that are being told and trying to debunk them one by one. If sometimes there's something that is very outrageous that happens like the context with the American colleges, I'll make something that's specific about that. But I think that the more important thing to do is just to debunk the lies that are at the basis of the Palestinian, pro-Palestinian ideology. Is there a methodology in your videos? How do you think you can communicate with people at the most fundamental level that they're going to listen? Yeah, actually, I think all of my content stems from the way that I kind of approach this is that I thought that if I was not Israeli, if I was American or something else, to be completely honest, I probably wouldn't care that much about what's going on because people care about their own lives. And the only way that I would actually be intrigued into wanting to go and learn about this stuff is if I was actually entertained by it. And so what I try to do is to hook people by entertaining them. And then educate them through that. I try to make the video something that I would want to watch myself regardless of the conflict. And that's kind of how it happens. And then you just start thinking of people like humor, people like music. How can I use that and insert the specific arguments into there? And that's what I do. One of the challenges that I've observed since the start of this conflict and looking at much of the propaganda is a lot of the positions that people take and hold extremely close and extremely fervently are not positions they've been reasoned into. They've been emoted into them. They've been narrative into these positions. How can you use reason? Because I see you use a lot of facts and data in your videos. But how do you use reason to get somebody out of a position they never reason themselves into in the first place? I think that's a really good point. And that's exactly what is at the core of my content is that, like you said, a lot of the Palestinian propaganda is not, it is an emotional, they try to get you at an emotional level, not a logical level. And that's also what I try to do in my videos. So I do use reason, but I use humor because I think humor opens people up to understanding new ideas. And I think that's the best way to kind of convey messages, at least for me. And yeah, so I try to use humor and just as you said that they're doing to us, do the exact same thing, to get people on an emotional level. People also like things that they can relate to that entertain them. And so that kind of comes first. And then I try to insert the reason into there. Now, before they started, you were not a content creator at all. Right, yeah. So is this something that you see yourself pursuing in the long term? Or is this something that only for the duration of the war because you feel a need for it? That's a good question. I actually don't know. I think we'll have to see what happens. But so far, it's going good. So I think we're just going to keep doing it and we'll see. Now, of your videos, the most popular one was you responding to the go back to where you came from claim, 1.8 million views. It's only been up for a few days at this point. What are the lies, the claims, the narratives that really make your blood boil and make you feel, no, I have to respond to this? I try to do it less emotionally, usually. And I think that what is a great source of fuel to understand what things we need to tackle, you get by reading the actual comments and engagement and things on your post. So a lot of the things that I make are things that I see people commenting on my post. So go back to where you came from. I don't know. The poor Hamas doesn't indoctrinate children. All these kind of things that I see and I say, that's obviously false. I see a lot of people saying this. And that's a good kind of way to gauge what people really think. And that's how I try to tackle things. Do you get a lot of hate comments? Yeah. But I think everyone does. And I think that you can't really run away from that. And I actually try to use the hate comments for laughing at them and try to make content out of that and make the best out of it.  And I say, okay, some things you can't win, you're always going to have people that hate in the comments. So you might as well enjoy it. So now that you have become very popular, are you going to be creating a more strategic approach to your videos? You're going to be going and thinking, optimizing, how can I reach the most people? Yeah, I hope so. I mean, it's all, what I've noticed and what I think is really interesting to know, especially for also other people who are creating content about the war, is that it's very key to create, like there's a game of volume versus quality and quality wins by a mile. Like the difference between like a 70 to a 90 video is like out of 100, let's say. It's big, but 90 to 93 is also really big. And 93 to 95 is huge, like it's exponential. So I think that you do need to systemize it in the way that you can pump out a volume of content, but it's always most important to focus on the quality of it itself. And that's what we're going to keep trying to do. Do you find yourself getting dragged into these sort of online wars? Or do you simply just channel it into making videos? You don't get bogged down in the comments section. I do get bogged down. I think everyone does. I think it's a human thing. But I'm trying to be strategic with people that I respond to and to really make it, not fighting with people, but educating them through the comments. Do you have a favorite platform? Do you have one you think is the most effective to work with? I think they all serve different purposes. I mean, for the younger generation, there's going to be Instagram and TikTok. And Twitter is good for older folks. But yeah, right now I'm on Twitter, sorry, I'm on Instagram, and I'm going to be getting into TikTok and Twitter soon. Given how much absolute bloody ignorance there is out there, if you were to make a recommendation of you think the most important reading list to assemble for people in the West that don't know anything about the conflict, what would it be? That's a good question. I don't have a specific one top of mind, but what I would say is that it's important to follow creators from both sides. Reason being is even if you don't agree with what they're saying, it will open up your fee to receive both sides. So when I started making content, I didn't see any pro-Palestinian stuff. Now I do. And it's good to see both sides, and that's what I would start with. Well, thank you very much for the work you're doing. Thank you for being in the studio with us. It was a great discussion. That said, we are about to go on a break. We will see you again in three minutes when we get back breaking news updates at the top of the hour. So stay tuned for that. We'll be right back. Official dresser of i24 News. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Global de los dominicanos is in a state of war. Families completely gone down in their beds. We have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line. But the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. In the news 24, Israel Bajo Ataque News 24 en español trae el análisis y la información de los acontecimientos de la guerra, espadas de hierro. Entrevistas exclusivas reportes desde la zona de guerra. La reacción de los países hispanoparlantes. News 24, el único medio en español que te mantiene informado y conectado con la comunidad latina en Israel. News 24, únicamente en i24 News. Good afternoon and welcome back to i24 News's ongoing coverage of Israel at war. I'm Ariel Levin Waldman. Heavy fighting is continuing in the Gaza Strip.  The Navy played a very critical role last night providing fire support to infantry and striking Hamas positions that were attacking Israeli soldiers. Hamas is reportedly shifting to insurgency tactics as the terrorists lose ground.  The total number of Israeli troops killed in combat against the enemy now stands at 156. Released for publication on Sunday evening, the IDF has revealed that earlier this month it found a massive Hamas tunnel network beneath the Jabalia refugee camp turned fortified sector near Gaza City. Inside that tunnel, they also found and recovered the bodies of three Israeli soldiers and two civilians. The IDF has destroyed the tunnel and says Hamas has lost their command bunkers in the north of the Strip. But the military has said that these terror infrastructures of Hamas, these fortifications, were far more developed than anybody had expected. Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to hold that the war will continue until total victory over Hamas. His latest comments coming as the war cabinet is set to examine an Egyptian proposal for a new hostage deal following Hamas and Islamic jihad representatives visiting Cairo. Now for so much more on these developments, we turn now to our correspondent Pierre Kloschen there who is standing by in Israel South near Oshkolon, I believe, Pierre. Walk us through the latest here, the IDF, just hit a major weapons facility as well as concrete and tunnel manufacturing facility. Right. The thrust of the ground offensive is around an inside hanyuness with five brigades operating within and without the city of 200,000 inhabitants. But 150 of them moved south and were replaced by other displaced population that moved from the north to the south, to the city of Hanyuness. There, as you said earlier, the army, the Hamas, sorry, is switching to guerrilla tactics. And I spoke a few days ago to one of the soldiers that operates in Hanyuness, and he told me that basically Hamas is invisible. First of all, they're dressed in civilian clothes and they pop out of tunnel shafts and there are plenty of them in the area of Hanyuness to the extent that the army says it's been surprised by the amount of tunnel shafts in the Gaza Strip as well as the network of interlacing tunnels that still need to be discovered. If at the beginning we spoke of 500 kilometers of tunnels beneath the ground in the Gaza Strip, today the army's estimation is over a thousand kilometers of such tunnels and thousands and thousands of tunnel shafts dispersed in orchard because Hanyuness is surrounded by agricultural lands as well as tunnels where the political leader and the military leaders of Hamas seems to be hiding according to the IDF with the hostages. Now the progression of those forces is very slow. First of all, in order not to harm the hostages and the soldiers, but also not to harm the non-involved civilian Palestinian population. And yet the army operates with great determination less airstrikes per se, but a lot of support from the artillery, from the tanks, some airstrikes as well. And the progression is very slow and very cautious. Further north from Hanyuness, we've seen earlier a bombing of presumed terror targets in the central sector of the Gaza Strip. The refugee camps of El Burej, Nusserat and El Morazi. We know that overnight there were, according to Palestinian media affiliated to Hamas, some 50 airstrikes just on those three refugee camps in the central sector of the Gaza Strip. And we've seen earlier a helicopter flying very low and evacuating soldiers from the ground of operation east of El Burej. We know from the IDF spokesperson in Arabic who urged the Palestinian population of El Burej to move south and evacuate their place of living that there are ground forces operating on the outskirts and maybe also already inside the three refugee camps. Ariel. Pierre, thank you very much for that update from Israel South. We're going to go deeper into the subject of Israel South's tunnel network in this report by our defense correspondent Jonathan Regev. From the air on the ground and also from the sea. The IDF continues its strike in Gaza on all fronts. All progress shows how the civilian infrastructure there is used for terror purposes. This is what was found in a school in the neighborhood of Shekhradwan.  We are in the home of a Hamas official, very close to the underground infrastructure. We completed preparations for the bombing of this place. In a few moments, we will destroy the building. The above-ground area in northern Gaza has been practically taken over by the IDF, but that doesn't mean the fighting there is over. The underground area, such as this one underneath Gaza City, is full of tunnels which are used for multiple purposes. This network served as the northern headquarters of Hamas in Gaza. In the headquarters, which is located dozens of meters underground, we found weapons, infrastructure for the production of weapons and laboratories where weapons were produced. It is these tunnels where Hamas now mostly operate from. These images taken by Hamas terrorists show what the war in these areas taken by the army now looks like. Plastic guerrilla fighting, terrorists coming out of their hideouts for a short time, locating soldiers, firing, and quickly returning to their hiding place. As this is happening in the northern part of the Strip, fighting is still mostly above the ground further south in Chanyones. Between Gaza City and Chanyones are various refugee camps whose residents have been asked to leave. Indicating an Israeli advance into those areas is also about to come. After taking those areas, a process which may take weeks. The IDF will certainly find plenty of tunnels there as well, which is why various Israeli military officials believe that full operational control of the Gaza Strip is still months away. Joining us now in studio Brigadier General Amir Avivi, Director of Israel's Defense and Securities Forum, as well as the former Deputy Commander of the Gaza Strip Division of the IDF. Thank you very much Amir for being in studio with us. We are seeing some nightmarish fighting going on in Gaza right now. They've described tunnel entrances in every single house they come across that soldiers are being ambushed by Hamas fighters, popping up, disappearing instantly after taking shots. Are the IDF's tactics here effective? So the IDF is advancing. Of course there are lessons learned all the time and the commanders are learning the tactics and how to operate the right way. The reason why the fight is so fierce is we are closing on the heart of Hamas in Chanyones. So we understand that this is a defining moment. This is the stronghold of Hamas in the south. And the IDF is moving forward. It's operating with five brigades. Five instant brigades are operating with massive forces of combat engineers and tanks, of course with artillery and air force. And soon enough we'll see also a major attack on the central part of Gaza, on the refugee camps El Buraj, Nusrat, and eventually Deir El-Balach. And by doing that at a certain point we'll see the collapse of Hamas. It's just a matter of time. We have taken over the northern part of Gaza. There is only a specific place that they are still fighting in, an area called Tufah. A part of that, the north, is in the IDF sands. It's not that it's completely clean, but we control the area. We are moving in Chanyones and we control eventually this area. And then you have only two areas left. You have the central part of Gaza and Rafah. At the moment the citizens of Gaza are moving south to Rafah, to the area of El Muassi, which is Gush Katif, where our settlements were at the time. So Hamas is a big problem. It's just a matter of time, as the Minister of Defense said, that they will meet the rifles of the IDF. The fight for Chanyones has been far deadlier than the battle in northern Gaza was. When we're talking about these sectors left, Deir El-Balach, Nusrat Camp, as well as Rafah, are those going to be even harder or are we going to be able to safely say that Chanyones will be the great stronghold of Hamas and once it's cracked? So we'll have to see, but we have to understand what happened here. We attacked the north. We didn't attack instantly the north, the center, and the south. So basically we saw a retreat of many terrorists from the north to the center, to the south. So everything is concentrated now in the center and south. This is why the fight is so complicated, but nothing is stopping the IDF. The IDF is moving forward, killing really many, many terrorists as they are moving forward, and eventually will close on the central command of Hamas. As we did, by the way, in the northern part in Gaza, the whole headquarters that was destroyed by the IDF. And this is a very defining moment in the coming weeks. Now, we have to understand, even after that, there will be like a year at least, maybe more, until the IDF will clean the whole area. And even then, we'll have to continue working just as we do in the areas of Judea and Samaria. It's going to be very long, and we need to set expectations. But we might achieve in the next month or two what the government set, bringing down Hamas as a government and as an army controlling an area. This is definitely something the IDF can achieve. We've spoken at length about the tactical advantages that Hamas has gained through its tunnels. And certainly the IDF has total command of the air and is stronger on the ground. But is there a way to actually crack Hamas's fortresses underground without exposing Israeli soldiers, Israel's children to enemy fire? So, it's complicated. They have built the whole city underground. This is why the pace in which you can advance is not very fast because you control above ground an area, which is complicated enough in a very dense urban area. And then you have to stop. You have to really destroy the whole underground underneath the soldiers. They cannot move ahead because then they'll get attacked from the rear. So, they need to destroy the underground infrastructure, and only then continue moving forward. This is why this is not a classic Second World War maneuver with tanks running fast kilometers. This is a very, very systematic kind of war that you have to move slowly. And as you are moving slowly, destroy also the underground infrastructure. And the challenge there being while the engineering corps is doing that, that leaves them exposed to enemy fire. So, if you know historically that artillery is the queen of the war, in this war the combat engineers are the kings of the war. And everybody is looking for more and more combat engineers' capabilities. Bulldozers are number one needs a lot of TNT and different kinds of capabilities to destroy the underground infrastructure. And you cannot really destroy it without going inside. At the end of the day, to destroy underground infrastructure, you need to go in. And it's complicated because there are many booby traps and improvised explosive devices and also terrorist underground. So, you need to do it in a smart way, which I won't, of course, elaborate on TV how the IDF is doing that. But it's done. And we have destroyed hundreds and hundreds of tunnels until now, mostly in the north, but also in the area of Hanyones. I actually want to talk about tunnels more, but not just in the north or in Hanyones. We're now hearing reports from residents in areas in the West Bank that they've been hearing tunneling for a long time, particularly around Tulkaram. Right. So, there is a town called Bathefer. It's very close to Tulkaram and to an Arab town called Tuaika. And they have heard digging underneath them for a long time. And definitely when you see tunnels in the south and you see tunnels in the north, his father is no reason why not suspect that also Palestinians in the area of Judea and Samaria are digging tunnels near Israeli towns. And this is something that Shin Bet and the IDF need to really go into details and check what's going on in this area. What sort of equipment is being used to actually do the tunneling here? Is that something that could be restricted as long as there's IDF control on the ground such as there is in Judea and Samaria? Well, you know, it's classic engineering. You have different tools to dig underground. And some of it is manual. Some of it is using actually, you know, a drilling equipment. And what you see in Gaza is unbelievable. It's really a whole city. I hear from my friends in the Army that, okay, they knew there was a city underground. But the depths, how big it is, how elaborate it is, it's amazing. And everything is interconnected underground. All the battalions, the brigades, the houses of all the commanders, everything goes into this underground infrastructure. And this is a very important lesson because for a long time there were many people thinking, you know, you can withdraw, you can control from the air, you have intelligence. And here they showed us that they're able to overcome both these capabilities, air and intelligence, and build an infrastructure that you can only deal with by a ground incursion, as you are doing now. And given what we're seeing potentially in the West Bank, is there a way to stop them from replicating this sort of infrastructure there? So definitely, as long as you are in control of the area, as long as you have overall responsibility of the area, as long as the IDF can operate on every day basis, going into the towns, arriving into suspected areas, this will enable the IDF to control. And you see, for example, that from 1967 till today, in Judea and Samara and the West Bank, you don't have rockets. You don't really have a serious tunnel infrastructure. And this is due to the overriding security responsibility of the IDF. And this is exactly what we need the day after in the Gaza Strip. You need to control the Egyptian border just as we see it on the Jordan Valley. And you need full freedom of operation of the IDF everywhere in the Gaza Strip. This is the only way to ensure that this will never happen again. Because we just brought up the West Bank, so we don't want to bring our attention to some of what we are seeing there. To help us break down what's going on in the West Bank, we are now joined by Ori Wurtman, lecturer and research fellow at the University of South Wales. Joining us right now from the UK, you are somebody who pays very close attention to and analyzes some of the polls, the opinions and everything we see coming out of the Palestinian territories. And what we've seen in recent weeks, the last two months from polls, has been shocking to the Israeli and the international audience. Most famously being the Arwad poll that shows something like a 70% of 89% of West Bank Palestinians having total support for Hamas's armed wings. Break down these polls for us. Are these simply a reflection of wartime ideas? Or does it reflect a population on Israel's border that will never be able to be compatible with Israel's existence? Okay, thank you so much. You know, the bit of truth is that the Palestinian public is radicalized. And you know, a public opinion poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Server Research, led by Professor Khalil Shkaki from, the lady from December 2023 clearly shows that Hamas's barbaric carnage actually raised its prestige among the Palestinian public, which once again proves that they are not a partner for coexistence with the Jewish state. 72% of the Palestinians justify the attack by Samat on October 7. 63% of the Palestinian believes that the way to realize the Palestinian national aspiration is via an armed struggle, while only 20% of them believe that this must be achieved, let's say, through the negotiation table. Regarding the future of the Gaza Strip, 60% of the Palestinian prefer, and this is shocking to see Hamas's rule in the Gaza Strip compared to only 7%, he would like to see the Palestinian Authority there under Obama. You know, another shocking data is that 62% of the Palestinian believe that the Palestinian Authority is actually a burden on the Palestinian people, a figure that leaves no room for doubt as to what the Palestinians think of Abu Mazen and his regime. You know, on that topic, we have seen some new reporting suggesting that both the Emirates and the Saudis are trying to strike a deal that would remove a boss entirely and replace them with a Palestinian Authority acceptable to both the Saudis and the Emiratis. What do we make of this? I think that their aspiration are quite, let's say, aspiration, no more than aspiration. You know, according to the polls, if there are elections in the Palestinian Authority, the candidate of Hamas Tania would have won 78% compared to only 60% for Abu Mazen in the presidential election. And if you take other candidate, which is Marwan Barghouti, who is actually right now in the Israeli jail for conducting terror attacks, even then, if you ask the government, they prefer the candidate of Hamas, they prefer Tania. So I don't think that the Palestinian people actually want the Palestinian Authority under someone from the Fatah. They want Hamas. They endorse the Hamas carnage. And this is the neighbors of Israel. The world must understand. And they must stop with that blind addiction also in the United States government. They must end that blind addiction to the Palestinian Authority as part of the solution, because they're not in order that Israel can coexist with the Palestinian Authority or with a semi-Palestinian state. Other people can give that nickname for that entity.  I don't see other solution that the Palestinian public and the Palestinian entity must not only demilitarize, but mostly deradicalize in order that we'll have some good future for both people. Ari, what I found most remarkable in these polls is that the West Bank polling seems to be even more radicalized than the polling of Gaza. Does that mean brute force actually works in deradicalization? I know one thing that the bitter truth is that that operation, that justified operation that Israel must conduct in order to fight terrorism. It makes the Palestinian more radicalized, but this is something that it's not our concerns. Israel must fight terrorism, and that's it. I don't have any other comments regarding this, but the Palestinian public has a terrible, I don't know how to say it. They have a terrible situation right now because they're glorifying murder. If you want to be a superstar in the Palestinian public, you must murder a Jew instead of to be, let's say, a singer or poet or a lecturer at the university, maybe. This is the bitter truth. We have a very severe problem with a very radical public, and those are the Palestinians. And I'm saying this unfortunately, but this is the bitter truth. It's bitter, and there's just no good way to end that. Ari, thank you very much for breaking down the sort of culture that has built Palestinian society and the challenges attempting to live right next to that. Thank you so much, and I wish Merry Christmas to all the friends in Israel in the Christian world. Yes, and hopefully there's some good news this Christmas too. We're going to turn now to statements made in the media about this Egyptian ceasefire deal. And of course, Israel's governmental response to it with Prime Minister Netanyahu saying that this war will only end when there is complete victory over Hamas. Let's take a listen to this sound bite. Israeli citizens, we are deepening the war in the Gaza Strip. We will continue to fight until complete victory over Hamas. This is the only way to return our hostages, eliminate Hamas, and ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel. It will take time, but we are united. The fighters, the people, and the government. We are united and determined to fight to the end. War has a price, a very heavy price, in the lives of our heroic warriors. And we do everything to preserve the lives of our warriors. But one thing will not be done. We will not stop until we achieve victory. And we return now to Brigadier General Amir Avivi on this. We see these statements that are oftentimes a little schizophrenic from the government, with the pressure being put on them to reach a ceasefire from the families of hostages, and still saying that the hostages are number one concern, but also saying that the war can only end once Hamas is defeated. Is there a way to navigate this that yields any sort of result that's acceptable to Israeli society? Well, I think the society is united in achieving the goal of destroying Hamas. Everybody wants to destroy Hamas. And we understand that the only thing that can get Hamas pressured enough to be willing to negotiate again the release of hostages is the ground incursion. So these complement each other. We need to continue attacking fiercely, everywhere, until Hamas feels an existential threat, which is not far away. And once they will feel really existentially threatened, then not only they will be willing to negotiate, but also the negotiation will be with very little demands, mostly their lives. So we need to push forward. And this is exactly what the IDF is doing. And there is an understanding in the IDF and also in the government that this is the only way to go. Continue attacking fiercely, destroying their capabilities until they want to do a deal or they surrender. This is the way to end. In the last minute that we have, I want to address some of the things we saw in the polling, some of the things we just discussed with Ori there. Once Hamas is gone, should this war be taken to its conclusion, what stops this exact same society from creating a new Hamas? Can Israel truly maintain security control the way they do in the West Bank in perpetuity forever? Theoretically, yes. I mean, we'll have to control the Egyptian border. We'll need full freedom of operation in Gaza everywhere, just as we have in the West Bank, in Sudan, Samaria. And then really the question is, how do you deal with the society? And the way to do it is probably look at what Saudi Arabia did, what the Emirates did. They decided that they don't want any more radicalization in their society. And they are controlling fully the way they are educated in mosques. They have a group that every week releases what they're allowed to say in the Mosque. And they all say the same. Let's certainly hope that there is a possible conclusion. Thank you so much for breaking down the situation for us. For everyone else, though, we are out of time. Thanks for watching. The next show, 3 o'clock. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where she is. Our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. There have been countless memorable moments broadcasting with I-24 News in the past six years. But for me, the one that stands out the most was the first time that I had ever personally heard a rocket siren sounding in Tel Aviv. And at that moment, we were live on air in studio. I will never forget the moment our senior producer said to me in my ear, the sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv. The control room is going to the shelter. With me in studio at the time were Michael Herzog, a former Brigadier General. Today, the Israeli ambassador to the United States. And Arsene Ostrovsky, an international human rights lawyer. And their responses were completely different. Michael Herzog was calm and composed. And on the other hand, Arsene Ostrovsky was trying to phone his family and check in to make sure that his loved ones were okay. The camera that normally faces us was hoisted from above. There was an overhead shot of the three of us in the studio. You could see colleagues going to the shelter if you looked at the glass behind the studio. And obviously, we lost contact with our team on the ground, our reporters in Ashkelon and all the witnesses that we were speaking to during that time. When rockets are coming towards a residential area, they don't distinguish between race, religion, political views, cultural views. They just intend to harm civilians. And that moment, being in studio, hearing those interceptions overhead, was the most real coverage I have ever been involved in. Good afternoon and welcome back to I-24 News' ongoing coverage of Israel at war. I'm Ariel Levin Waldman. Heavy fighting is continuing in the Gaza Strip.  The Navy played a very critical role last night, providing fire support to infantry and striking Hamas positions that were attacking Israeli soldiers. Hamas is reportedly shifting to insurgency tactics, as the terrorists lose ground.  The total number of Israeli troops killed in combat against the enemy now stands at 156. Released for publication on Sunday evening, the IDF has revealed that earlier this month it found a massive Hamas tunnel network beneath the Jabalia refugee camp turned fortified sector near Gaza City. Inside that tunnel, they also found and recovered the bodies of three Israeli soldiers and two civilians. The IDF has destroyed the tunnel and says Hamas has lost their command bunkers in the north of the Strip. But the military has said that these terror infrastructures built by Hamas, these fortifications, were far more developed than anybody had expected. Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to hold that the war will continue until total victory over Hamas. His latest comments coming as the war cabinet is set to examine an Egyptian proposal for a new hostage deal following Hamas and Islamic jihad representatives visiting Cairo. Now for so much more on these developments, we turn now to our correspondent Pierre Kloschenler, who is standing by in Israel South near Ashkelon, I believe, Pierre. Walk us through the latest here, the IDF, just hit a major weapons facility as well as concrete and tunnel manufacturing facility. Right. The thrust of the ground offensive is around and inside Hanyunas, with five brigades operating within and without the city of 200,000 inhabitants. And 150 of them moved south and were replaced by other displaced population that moved from the north to the south to the city of Hanyunas. There, as you said earlier, the army, the Hamas, sorry, is switching to guerrilla tactics. And I spoke a few days ago to one of the soldiers that operates in Hanyunas, and he told me that basically Hamas is invisible, first of all, they're dressed in civilian clothes and they pop out of tunnel shafts, and there are plenty of them in the area of Hanyunas to the extent that the army says it's been surprised by the amount of tunnel shafts in the Gaza Strip as well as the network of interlacing tunnels that still need to be discovered. If at the beginning we spoke of 500 kilometers of tunnels beneath the ground in the Gaza Strip, today the army's estimation is over a thousand kilometers of such tunnels and thousands and thousands of tunnel shafts dispersed in Orchard because Hanyunas is surrounded by agricultural lands as well as tunnels where the political leader and the military leaders of Hamas seems to be hiding according to the IDF with the hostages. Now the progression of those forces is very slow. First of all, in order not to harm the hostages and the soldiers, but also not to harm the non-involved civilian Palestinian population. And yet the army operates with great determination, less airstrikes per se, but a lot of support from the artillery, from the tanks, some airstrikes as well and the progression is very slow and very cautious. Further north from Hanyunas, we've seen earlier a bombing of presumed terror targets in the central sector of the Gaza Strip. The refugee camps of El-Burej, Nusserat and El-Moghazi. We know that overnight they were, according to Palestinian media affiliated to Hamas, some 50 airstrikes just on those three refugee camps in the central sector of the Gaza Strip. And we've seen earlier a helicopter flying very low and evacuating soldiers from the ground of operation east of El-Burej. We know from the IDF spokesperson in Arabic who urged the Palestinian population of El-Burej to move south and evacuate their place of living that there are ground forces operating on the outskirts and maybe also already inside the three refugee camps. Ariel? Pierre, thank you very much for that update from Israel's south. We're going to go deeper into the subject of Hamas's tunnel network in this report by our defense correspondent Jonathan Regev. From the air on the ground and also from the sea. The IDF continues its strike in Gaza on all fronts. All progress shows how the civilian infrastructure there is used for terror purposes. This is what was found in a school in the neighborhood of Sheikh Radwan. Don't look for notebooks or pencils. Like so many other schools here, the curriculum is completely different onto a nearby residence and the images are quite similar. We're in the home of a Hamas official, very close to the underground infrastructure. We completed preparations for the bombing of this place. In a few moments we will destroy the building. The above ground area in northern Gaza has been practically taken over by the IDF but that doesn't mean the fighting there is over. The underground area such as this one underneath Gaza City is full of tunnels which are used for multiple purposes. This network served as the northern headquarters of Hamas in Gaza. In the headquarters which is located dozens of meters underground we found weapons, infrastructure for the production of weapons and laboratories where weapons were produced. It is these tunnels where Hamas now mostly operate from. These images taken by Hamas terrorists show what the war in these areas taken by the army now looks like. Classic guerrilla fighting terrorists coming out of their hideouts for a short time locating soldiers, firing and quickly returning to their hiding place. As this is happening in the northern part of the Strip fighting is still mostly above the ground further south in Chanyones. Between Gaza City and Chanyones are various refugee camps whose residents have been asked to leave. Indicating an Israeli advance into those areas is also about to come. After taking those areas a process which may take weeks. The IDF will certainly find plenty of tunnels there as well which is why various Israeli military officials believe that full operational control of the Gaza Strip is still months away. Joining us now in studio Brigadier General Amir Avivi Director of Israel's Defense and Securities Forum as well as the former Deputy Commander of the Gaza Strip Division of the IDF Thank you very much Amir for being in studio with us. We are seeing some nightmarish fighting going on in Gaza right now. They've described tunnel entrances in every single house they come across that soldiers are being ambushed by Hamas fighters popping up disappearing instantly after taking shots. Are the IDF's tactics here effective? So the IDF is advancing. Of course there are lessons learned all the time and the commanders are learning the tactics and how to operate the right way. The reason why the fight is so fierce is we are closing on the heart of Hamas in Hanyunis. So we understand that this is a defining moment. This is the stronghold of Hamas in the south and the IDF is moving forward. It's operating with five brigades, five infantry brigades are operating with massive forces of combat engineers and tanks, of course with artillery and air force and soon enough we'll see also a major attack on the central part of Gaza on the refugee camps El Burej, Nusrat and eventually Deir El Balach and by doing that at a certain point we'll see the collapse of Hamas. It's just a matter of time. We have taken over the northern part of Gaza there is only a specific place that they are still fighting in an area called Tufakh. A part of that the north is in an IDF sands it's not that it's completely clean but we control the area and we are moving in Hanyunis and we control eventually this area and then you have only two areas left. You have the central part of Gaza and Rafah. At the moment the citizens of Gaza are moving south to Rafah, to the area of El Muassi which is Gush Katif where our settlements were at the time. So Hamas is a big problem. It's just a matter of time as the Minister of Defense said that they will meet the reference of the IDF. The fight for Hanyunis has been far deadlier than the battle in northern Gaza was. When we're talking about these sectors left Deir El Balach, Nusrat Camp as well as Rafah are those going to be even harder or are we going to be able to safely say that Hanyunis will be the great stronghold of Hamas and once it's cracked? So we'll have to see but we have to understand what happened here. We attacked the north. We didn't attack instantly the north, the center and the south. So basically we saw a retreat of many terrorists from the north to the center, to the south so everything is concentrated now in the center and south. This is why the fight is so complicated but nothing is stopping the IDF. The IDF is moving forward, killing really many, many terrorists as they are moving forward and eventually we'll close on the central command of Hamas as we did by the way in the northern part in Gaza the whole headquarters that was destroyed by the IDF and this is a very defining moment in the coming weeks. Now we have to understand even after that there will be like a year at least maybe more until the IDF will clean the whole area and even then we'll have to continue working just as we do in the areas of Judean Samaria. It's going to be very long and we need to set expectations but we might achieve in the next month or two what the government set bringing down Hamas as a government and as an army controlling an area. This is definitely something the IDF can achieve. We've spoken at length about the tactical advantages that Hamas has gained through its tunnels and certainly the IDF has total command of the air and is stronger on the ground but is there a way to actually crack Hamas's fortresses underground without exposing Israeli soldiers, Israel's children to enemy fire? So it's complicated. They have built the whole city underground and this is why the pace in which you can advance is not very fast because you control above ground an area which is complicated enough in a very dense urban area and then you have to stop. You have to really destroy the whole underground underneath the soldiers. They cannot move ahead because then they'll get attacked from the rear so they need to destroy the underground infrastructure and only then continue moving forward. This is why this is not a classic second world war maneuver with tanks running fast kilometers. This is a very, very systematic kind of war that you have to move slowly and as you are moving slowly destroy also the underground infrastructure. And the challenge there being while the engineering corps is doing that that leaves them exposed to enemy fire. So if you know historically that the artillery is the queen of the war in this war the combat engineers are the kings of the war and everybody is looking for more and more combat engineers capabilities, bulldozers are number one needs a lot of TNT and different kinds of capabilities to destroy the underground infrastructure and you cannot really destroy it without going inside. At the end of the day to destroy underground infrastructure you need to go in and it's complicated because there are many booby traps and improvised explosive devices and also terrorist underground. So you need to do it in a smart way not of course elaborating on TV how the IDF is doing that but it's done and we have destroyed hundreds and hundreds of tunnels until now mostly in the north but also in the area of Hanyunas. I actually want to talk about tunnels more but not just in the north or in Hanyunas we're now hearing reports from residents in areas in the west bank that they've been hearing tunneling for a long time particularly around Tulkara. Right, so there is a town called Bathefer. It's very close to Tulkarem and to an Arab town called Tweika and they have heard digging underneath and for a long time and definitely when you see tunnels in the south and you see tunnels in the north. His father is no reason why not suspect that also Palestinians in the area of Judea and Samaria are digging tunnels near Israeli towns and this is something that Shin Bet and the IDF need to really go into details and check what's going on in this area. What sort of equipment is being used to actually do the tunneling here? Is that something that could be restricted as long as there's IDF control on the ground such as there is in Judea and Samaria? Well, you know, it's it's classic engineering. You have different tools to dig underground and some of it is manual some of it is using actually you know, a drilling equipment and what you see in Gaza is unbelievable. It's really a whole city. I hear from my friends in the army that okay, they knew there was a city underground but the depths how big it is how elaborate it is it's amazing and everything is interconnected underground all the battalions, the brigades the houses of all the commanders everything goes into this underground infrastructure this is a very important lesson because for a long time there were many people thinking you know, you can withdraw, you can control from the air, you have intelligence and here they showed us they're able to overcome both these capabilities air and intelligence and build an underground infrastructure that you can only deal with by a ground incursion as we are doing now. And given what we are seeing potentially in the West Bank is there a way to stop them from replicating this sort of infrastructure there? So definitely, as long as you are in control of the area as long as you have overall responsibility of the area as long as the IDF can operate on everyday basis going into the towns arriving into suspected areas, this will enable the IDF to control and you see for example that from 67 to today in Sudan, Samara and the West Bank you don't have rockets you don't really have a serious tunnel infrastructure and this is due to the overriding security responsibility of the IDF and this is exactly what we need the day after in the Gaza Strip you need to control the Egyptian border just as we see it on the Jordan Valley and you need full freedom of operation of the IDF everywhere in the Gaza Strip this is the only way to ensure that this will never happen again Because we just brought up the West Bank I do want to bring our attention to some of what we are seeing there to help us break down what's going on in the West Bank we are now joined by Ori Wirtman lecturer and research fellow at the University of South Wales joining us right now from the UK you are somebody who pays very close attention to and analyzes some of the polls and everything we see coming out of the Palestinian territories and what we've seen in recent weeks, the last two months from polls is shocking to the Israeli and the international audience most famously being the Ar-Wad poll that shows something like 89% of West Bank Palestinians having total support for Hamas's armed wings break down these polls for us are these simply a reflection of wartime ideas does it reflect a population on Israel's border that will never be able to be compatible with Israel's existence okay, thank you so much you know the bit of truth is that the Palestinian public is radicalized a public opinion poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Server Research led by Professor Khalil Shkaki from lately from December 23 clearly shows that Hamas's barbaric carnage actually raised its prestige among the Palestinian public which once again proves that they are not a partner for coexistence with the Jewish state 72% of the Palestinians justify their attack by Hamas on October 7 63% of the Palestinian believes that the way to realize the Palestinian national aspiration is via an armed struggle while only 20% of them believe that this must be achieved let's say through the negotiation table regarding the future of the Gaza Strip 60% of the Palestinian prefer and this is shocking to see Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip compared to only 7% who would like to see the Palestinian Authority there under open map you know another shocking data that 62% of the Palestinian believes that the Palestinian Authority is actually a burden on the Palestinian people a figure that leaves no room for doubt as to what the Palestinians think of Abu Mazen and his regime you know on that topic we have seen some new reporting suggesting that both the Emirates and the Saudis are trying to strike a deal that would remove a boss entirely and replace them with a Palestinian Authority acceptable to both the Saudis and the Emiratis what do we make of this I think that their aspiration are quite let's say aspiration no more than aspiration you know according to the polls if there are elections in the Palestinian Authority the candidate of Hamas Tania would have won 78% compared to only 60% for Abu Mazen in the presidential election and if you take other candidate which is Marwan Barghouti who is actually right now in the Israeli jail for conducting terror attacks even then if you ask the government they prefer the candidate of Hamas they prefer Tania so I don't think that the Palestinian people actually want the Palestinian Authority under someone from the Fatah they want Hamas they they endorse the Hamas and this is the the neighbors of Israel the world must understand and they must stop with that blind addiction also in the United States government they must end that blind addiction to the Palestinian Authority as part of the solution because there are not in order that Israel can coexist with the Palestinian Authority or any Palestinian state other people can give that nickname for that entity unfortunately I see no other solution but to do what the world has done with the Nazi with Nazi Germany I don't see other solution the Palestinian public and the Palestinian entity must not only demilitarize but mostly deradicalize in order that we will have some good future for both people Ari, what I found most remarkable in these polls is that the West Bank polling seems to be even more radicalized than the polling of Gaza does that mean brute force actually works in deradicalization I know one thing that the bitter truth is that that operation that justified operation that Israel must conduct in order to fight terrorism it makes the Palestinian more radicalized but you know this is something that it's not our concerns Israel must fight terrorism and that's it you know I don't have any other comments regarding this but the Palestinian public has a terrible I don't know how to say it they have a terrible situation right now because they're glorifying murders if you want to be a superstar in the Palestinian public you must murder a Jew instead of to be let's say a singer or poet or lecture at the university maybe this is the bitter truth we have a very severe problem with a very radical public and those are the Palestinians and I'm saying this unfortunately but this is the bitter truth it's bitter and there's just no good way to end that Ari thank you very much for breaking down the sort of culture that has built Palestinian society and well the challenges attempting to live right next to that we're going to thank you so much and I wish Merry Christmas to all the friends in Israel in the Christian world and hopefully there's some good news this Christmas too we're going to turn now to statements made in the media about this Egyptian ceasefire deal and of course Israel's governmental response to it with Prime Minister Netanyahu saying that this war will only end when there is complete victory over Hamas let's take a listen to this sound bite Israeli citizens we are deepening the war in the Gaza Strip we will continue to fight until complete victory over Hamas this is the only way to return our hostages eliminate Hamas and ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel it will take time but we are united the fighters, the people and the government we are united and determined to fight to the end war has a price a very heavy price in the lives of our heroic warriors and we do everything to preserve the lives of our warriors but one thing will not be done we will not stop until we achieve victory and we return now to Brigadier General Amir Avivi on this we see these statements that are often times a little schizophrenic from the government with the pressure being put on them to reach a ceasefire from the families of hostages and still saying that the hostages are number one concern but also saying that the war can only end once Hamas is defeated is there a way to navigate this that yields any sort of result that's acceptable to Israeli society well I think that society is united in achieving the goal of destroying Hamas everybody wants to destroy Hamas we understand that the only thing that can get Hamas pressured enough to be willing to negotiate again the release of hostages is the ground incursion so this complement each other we need to continue attacking fiercely everywhere until Hamas feels an existential threat which is not far away and once they will feel really existentially threatened then not only they will be willing to negotiate but also the negotiation will be with very little demands mostly their lives so we need to push forward and this is exactly what the IDF is doing and there is an understanding in the IDF and also in the government that this is the only way to go we need to continue attacking fiercely destroying the capabilities until they want to do a deal or they surrender this is the way this is the way it will end in the last minute that we have I want to address some of the things we saw in the polling some of the things we just discussed with Ori there once Hamas is gone should this war be taken to its conclusion what stops this exact same society from creating a new Hamas can Israel truly maintain security control the way they do in the west bank in perpetuity forever theoretically yes we'll have to control the Egyptian border we'll need full freedom of operation in Gaza everywhere just as we have in the west bank in Sudan Samaria and then really the question is how do you deal with the society and the way to do it is probably look at what Saudi Arabia did, what the Emirates did they decided that they don't want any more radicalization in their society and they are controlling fully the way they are educated in mosques