Before the war, the war is over. We didn't have a war to get the peace. Our war is over now. They're coming to rescue us. The coverage of Israel's war now at day 67. Fighting against Hamas' strongholds continues in various fronts across the Gaza Strip at this hour as more rockets have been fired into Israeli communities a short while ago. Also this morning, sad news on the falling of IDF reserve soldier, Master Sergeant Svika Lavie, who died after being wounded in battle two weeks ago, one of many brave heroes who lost their lives in the defense of the State of Israel. And as 137 Israelis are still being held hostage in the hands of Hamas in Gaza, Egyptian sources say that Israel has expressed willingness to promote a new hostage release deal with Hamas. However, both Hamas and Israeli sources denied that such a deal was even on the table. Meanwhile, on the northern front the Hezbollah terror group has fired dozens of rockets and anti-tank missiles towards Israeli communities and military posts out of Lebanon yesterday with Israel striking back. And last night confirmation from the US military that an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen struck a commercial tanker causing fire and damage but no casualties. The attack on the Norwegian tanker Strinda took place about 60 nautical miles north of the Strait of Babel-Mandab in the Red Sea. Last night, IDF Chief of Staff Hurti Alevi and Shin Bet, Chief Ronan Barr, both visited the Israeli troops inside Hanyunis in southern Gaza, vowing. There is no force which can stand up to the combined force of the IDF soldiers and the Shin Bet. It's a war of tunnel shafts and it seems to me that what is special about this war is that it should be both broad in order to collapse the operational and governmental infrastructures but also very focused in order to reach to our citizens and get them out. It seems to me that there is no force that can stand against this combination. There is a big pressure here and I think that this surrendering that the people coming out and raising their hands is also a break in their spirit. It also accelerates our achievements. In the end, we want to move forward quickly. We are securing our accomplishments in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the entrance in the south of the Gaza Strip and also deep down into the ground. Let's take you live now to Israel's northern border, I-24 News Middle East correspondent Ariel Osaran is there at Ayelet Hashachar Ariel. A very intense fighting in the northern front over the past 24 hours. What are we hearing from the IDF? Yes, guy, following another day of extensive cross-border fire on the Israel-Lebanon border in multiple parts of this border. A quiet night, tense quiet night along the border. This obviously following the anti-tank guided missile attack on nine homes in the border community of Mitura now. Thankfully, there were no injuries as a result of this attack. Hisbola saying that it had attacked a home in which some IDF soldiers were present inside because they tried to show that all their attacks are against IDF forces that the past 66 days have proven that that is not necessary of the case in every attack. But that was just one of seven attacks carried out yesterday by Hisbola, the IDF responding with artillery fire across the across the border as well as to the origins of those launches throughout the day. In addition, IDF fighter jets carrying out strikes on Hisbola infrastructure in southern Lebanon. And Ariel, another very troubling issue in the region these days is the threat of the Houthis in the Red Sea last night, another attack on a commercial vessel. What do we know? Indeed, guy, the Houthis have long gone past threats regarding free navigation and commercial passage in the Red Sea overnight. As you mentioned in your lead, according to American officials cited by Reuters, it was a Houthi cruise missile that was launched at a Norwegian flagged tanker carrying seeds and food and other material for Venice, Italy. Now, as this ship entered the Babel Mandab, that's the entrance, the southern entrance to the Red Sea. This ship was targeted with a cruise missile. There was damage caused to the ship and no reports of injuries. This was also the report by a UK ship monitoring company. Now, this obviously comes following a series of strikes and attacks, but also threats regarding the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea with the Houthis threatening to attack any ship that is heading towards Israel, even though this ship was not necessarily doing that as it was headed for Italy. But these reports also coincided with other reports in Yemen of explosions in the western port city of Hudeida. Now, those explosions could be connected to the launch to the attack on the ship, but as of now, that remains unclear. There's so many events there in the Red Sea. Are you also running the northern border? Thank you for that update. Stay safe over there. Now let's bring in retired IDF colonel Miri Aizen, the director at the International Institute for Counterterrorism at the Reichman University. Miri, thank you very much for joining us. Good morning. So Mir, let's continue with the previous topic. There is just so much that is going on. But the Houthis show no sign of slowing down their hostile activity, quite the opposite attacks on commercial vessels, drones and missiles towards Israel. What do you make of this threat and what more can be done? All I'm saying right now is how Iran is not involved. How Iran is using the Houthis. They are a proxy organization in Yemen. They are Yemenite. They are Shiite. They are supplied, trained and overwhelmingly using all of their different capabilities. How in the world do the Houthis in Yemen have cruise missiles? How in the world do they have the training and the capabilities? All of this goes back to the Iranian regime, to the Iranian revolutionary guards, to what they're trying to do. Iran wants everybody to be focused on Yemen on the Houthis. Iran wants everybody to be focused, perhaps a bit less on Hezbollah, but certainly on what's going on in the Gaza Strip. What does Iran not want, Guy, for anybody to notice that this is Iran? And in this case, everything I'm saying when I'm looking at Houthis has to do with Iran trying to make sure that the focus is not on Iran, even though they are the ones who are completely behind all of these actions. So obviously, Iran will be a hot topic later in the conversation as well. Just stay with us, Miri, because I want to go to our southern border now, where rocket fire has started again this morning. Our Pierre Klosschandler is there in the city of Sderot, Pierre, more rocket fire, and we can see plums of smoke just behind you. No, no, we're not in Sderot. We're in the communities facing the central area of the Gaza Strip. And we are on our way to this location near Kibbutzbury, which was the site of a massacre on October 7. And we were caught by the Red Alert, the rocket launching. We haven't heard of any damage and casualties, but most of the communities here have been abandoned by its residents since October 7. So there shouldn't be any casualties. Now behind me is the southern eastern south skirts of Gaza City. And you can see the aftermath of an airstrike on a presumed terror target in the southern outskirts of Gaza City. You can maybe also see some sort of a flare just near the source of the smoke, the smoke which is billowing on the sky over Gaza City. And at the same time, we know that the operation is deepening on three focal points. One is the northern outskirts of Gaza City in the Jebalia refugee camp. Then on the south eastern outskirts of Gaza City in Shejahia with fierce fighting with battle hardened battalions that according to the idea to the minister of defense, you have gallons is on the verge of collapsing as 500 Hamas terrorists and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists have surrendered in the past month, 140 of them since the renewal of the ground offensive after the breaking of the ceasefire on December 1. And the third focal point is further south in the city of Hanyunas, which is encircled and at the same time, which is being under operations in the heart of Hanyunas within Hanyunas. Yesterday, the head of the Shin Bet, Ronan Barr and the chief of staff went to Hanyunas, a show of support to the ground troops there. They were inside the city itself with the 98 division, which gathers all the commando units of the army that are operating in the heart of the city. And they said that the offensive is deepening both above ground and underground as according to Ronan Barr, the head of the Shin Bet, this is a war of tunnel shafts with thousands and thousands of tunnel shafts, which need to be neutralized guy. Yes. And Pierre, we can hear very well on our screens and the very heavy shelling of the IDF just behind you so that action is very clear there. We are seeing some IDF casualties on a daily basis, although the IDF is moving strongly in those strongholds. Talk to us about those threats that the troops are being faced with both the terror tunnels, but also explosives that those Hamas terrorists have left in the area for them. Well, the latest example is the tragic death of five soldiers of one unique battalion that was operating in the eastern outskirts of Hanyunas in Alkarara, which is a community really on the border with the with Israel facing the Kibbutzki Sufim in the central area of the Gaza Strip. There there was a school, the village was under operational control of the IDF already, but there was a school in which some terrorists were locked and the fired anti guided tank missiles on the Israeli troops as well as gunfire. And as the troops identified a tunnel shaft, they entered an arena of explosive charges of improvised explosive devices and five of the soldiers were killed the day before yesterday. And that shows you not only the ferocity of the combat, but also the complexity of the combat as the the the whole Gaza Strip is strewn with hundreds of kilometers of tunnels, but thousands of tunnel shafts that need to be neutralized because from these tunnels, many times Hamas terrorists are just popping up out of these tunnels and firing a rocket propelled grenade, such as an RPG on an Israeli tank or on a food patrol. And it's extremely dangerous because this is only a split second where you can see the terrorists popping out of this tunnel shaft and then entering back the tunnel shaft. So it's a very difficult and long battle ahead. Pierre Kloss Schindler on the Israel Gaza border. Thank you very much for that update. Stay safe over there. Still with us is retired IDF colonel Mary Eisen. Before we even get to speak about the Gaza, more action is taking place right now in Genine in the West Bank IDF troops. They're clashing with Hamas terrorists. Talk to us about the threat of this arena while Israel is engaged in obviously both in Gaza and in the fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hamas exists both in the Gaza Strip, but of course they've always existed in the West Bank. And as we know also guy in Lebanon and in other arenas inside the West Bank right now Hamas out of the Gaza Strip and the leaders that are sitting in Qatar and worldwide have been trying to get all of their different operatives, all of their trained tear operatives to take more action against Israel, Israelis, the IDF both in the West Bank and otherwise. The Israeli defense forces in the West Bank have been active, proactive going against the different both cache of weapons, the terrorists themselves. They too have the different type of booby traps, RPGs, weapons that have been smuggled into the West Bank over the years. This is a consistent problem right now. The IDF is being very active today in Janine. In other days, as we've noticed, it can be at the heart of Nablus or in the city of Tulkarem. These are different areas inside the West Bank. And these actions are not only against Hamas. Janine is an area that has a large relative presence of Palestinian Islamic jihad that we all know as part of all of this terror campaign against us. So these actions are preemptive based on intelligence information and take note again that most of the places where the weapons are held, where the terrorists are putting themselves in the booby traps in a mosque, in a school that's in the West Bank in areas that are under both in areas A and B in areas under the Palestinian authority control and under Israeli control. These are challenges that we have everywhere we go their use of these different civilian clear cut, you know, like what put the weapons in the school. I mean, not that I'm saying, you know, so you have to put it in your own house. They put them in these places to make sure that the photo ops at the stage that Israel takes care of them are ones that show the opposite of what is actually happening. These are terror arenas that need to be destroyed and taken apart. And to that point exactly, because you mentioned that those areas are being controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Well, Israel is concerned not just by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants, but also by the Palestinian Authority. Well, we heard Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday saying that the PA wants to destroy us only unlike Hamas in stages. What do you make of that? Of course, the Palestinian Authority should mention continues to pay salaries to terrorists who murder Israelis. I'm going to give in that sense that challenge itself for all of us right now that it seems far away at the moment. But in that sense, guys, that question of what happens in the day after in the Palestinian Authority exists almost 30 years they were established in 1994 were on the eve of 2024. The Palestinian Authority was responsible both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank for security and civil affairs in the Gaza Strip. It was taken over by Hamas in the West Bank. It is exceedingly challenged by Hamas, and it isn't that it comes out and it like likes Israel or wants to having said all of that. There's the quiet cooperation. But at the end, it's in their own arena right now, all of their statements, their open statements, the ones that they say out to the world are completely supportive of Hamas, not as much, they're very challenged by Hamas, but of the actions themselves of what they're going to call resistance of the fact that there's no question that for the Gazans right now, their civilians, their situation is not good. But in that sense, the future of what happens both in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip in that future, I think that the Prime Minister is stating very clearly the positions of most of the government right now on how they view what will happen at the end of this war on this war is no near the end. So I take it as opening points on what we want to see, we do not want to see a Palestinian authority that part of what it does is in its own way, supporting those same terrorists that are attacking us. It cannot be that the international community does so. What will be in the future, both in the West Bank and in Gaza? These are questions that we're not yet ready to really dive into. We need to destroy these terror military capabilities of Hamas, both in the Gaza Strip, which is being done very high intensity and in the West Bank, which is being done very targeted. All of this has to go on for us to get to the stage that we can talk about who is the civil authority that is going to be the active one in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. Yes, and to that point, exactly, obviously, our differences between Israel and the US about the future of Gaza, who will rule there, whether it will be the Palestinian Authority under the Fatah movement. And just last night, we heard from President Joe Biden, vowing that the West will continue to provide military assistance to Israel until it gets rid of Hamas. Let's take a listen to that. Sure. I've known Bibi for now 51 years as a picture on his desk of he and I when he was a young member of the Israeli service here, Foreign Service, and I was a 32 year old senator. And I wrote on the top of Bibi, I love him, but I don't agree with the damn thing you had to say. It's about the same today. I love him. Tough spot. Tough spot. We continue to provide military assistance to until they get rid of Hamas. But but we had to be careful. They have to be careful. The whole world's public opinion can shift overnight. We can't let that happen. So Mary, a reassuring message there from President Biden, we've seen such incredible support, really, of the American administration since the start of this war. What do you make of his message about public opinion in the world that could switch very quickly? Guy, we're all living that public opinion right now. You and I, both on I 24 News as we talk to the world, I completely in that sense, and both following public opinion, but I want to take it an edgy way further. We're right now you and I in Israel. And what we see from here, and I think what most Jews worldwide see today is not about public opinion. It is about overt anti Semitism. And let's separate between public opinion that I myself can support the fact that I really do feel very harshly right now how hard it must be for civilian Gazans inside the Gaza Strip.  That's not anti Israel. People do not make those distinctions. We all need in that sense to take those steps. And I think President Biden said it clearly, we need to destroy Hamas capabilities, because you cannot allow that to continue to be we for ourselves also need to do so as carefully as possible, which is not easy because of everything that Hamas built as Pierre was describing before. It is such a hard task. And tomorrow morning, I want everybody or not tomorrow but today to look in the mirror and to talk about overt anti Semitism in 2023. It is here with us during Hanukkah and it's not something that should be a good word. Yes, the Jewish people certainly need to remember their history and also what we are fighting for right now. Obviously extremely symbolic on the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Let's switch gears now to the north. Israel says it wants some sort of a buffer zone with Hezbollah in Lebanon. How do you see the chances of that being realized? And can that even be done without a military intervention? The international community is following everything going on in its own way. It's as if the Israel against Hamas on the Gaza Strip is only Israel's problem. But as we all know from day one, Hezbollah from Lebanon on our northern border has not only been attacking into Israel, but has made in its own way Hezbollah has created a buffer zone into Israel. When Hezbollah attacked Metula overnight, that's a city in Israel in that town, they can claim as much as they want that it's against military because they are firing into houses that are 300 meters away. Of course, those places were evacuated to save people's lives. What Israel is looking right now is that this a cannot exist. And to do so, you need to make sure that there are no Hezbollah or any kind of these kinds of forces on in Lebanon to the north of Israel. Now I do not see an operation piece for Galilee like 1982. I do not see the 2006 Lebanon war. What I do do see is perhaps a portion of a stronger military campaign, but in this case, the intervention, direct intervention of way more international capabilities. Lebanon is a sovereign country. It's not the same as the Gaza Strip ruled by the terror organization Hamas. Hezbollah does not rule over Lebanon. Lebanon has additional forces. It has a Lebanese army. It has the Unifield Force United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon that's been there from 1979 and upgraded to a certain degree from 2006. Let's look at that in a different way. I'm not against a military force there in Israel doing something, but we do need to see that the international community is willing to act there as well. Amiria, let's go back to Gaza now. As we speak, 137 Israelis are still being held hostage there. The reports yesterday that Israel has shown willingness to go into another hostage deal. Obviously, still wants to release those Israelis, bring them back home alive. There's so many families that await them. Talk to us about what can Israel do in terms of its initiative to bring about into another hostage deal? Obviously, the military pressure is very important, but there is more that Israel perhaps can offer Hamas in exchange for those live Israelis. Israel has stated two clear objectives. One is destroying Hamas military capabilities and the other and it's equal. You can't look at them as separately is returning every single hostage alive and dead from the Gaza Strip. Both those that were taken October 7th and there were those that had been taken before. I put that on the table because guy, there is no easy situation. The pause and fighting that was taking place a few weeks ago, and it was not a ceasefire, it was a pause, was a humanitarian pause to enable bringing out Israeli hostages and in response A, we led in more humanitarian capabilities. By the way, the humanitarian capabilities are being led in all this time of fighting. It has not stopped because of that pause. And right now Israel is focused on destroying those millet Hamas military terror capabilities. Because when you do a deal with a terror organization, you're doing a deal with a terror organization. You don't believe them. You don't know if they're going to deliver. You don't know if they're going to change what they're doing along the way. And these are all challenges along the way. So yes, we have in our hands both prisoners that we've taken now in fighting, other prisoners that Hamas are going to release. Out of time, Mary Eisen, we thank you very much for your insight, more updates at the top of the hour. She has our soldiers are fighting on the front line, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well. news back to our rolling coverage of Israel's war now at day 67 fighting against Hamas strongholds continues in various fronts across the Gaza Strip at this hour as more rockets have been fired into Israeli communities a short while ago. Also this morning, sad news on the falling of IDF reserve soldier, Master Sergeant Svika Lavi, who died after being wounded in battle two weeks ago, one of many brave heroes who lost their lives in the defense of the state of Israel. And as 137 Israelis are still being held hostage in the hands of Hamas in Gaza, Egyptian sources say that Israel has expressed willingness to promote a new hostage release deal with Hamas. However, both Hamas and Israeli sources denied that such a deal was even on the table. Meanwhile, on the northern front, the Hezbollah terror group has fired dozens of rockets and anti-tank missiles towards Israeli communities and military posts out of Lebanon yesterday with Israel striking back. And last night, confirmation from the US military that an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen struck a commercial tanker causing fire and damage but no casualties. The attack on the Norwegian tanker Strinda took place about 60 nautical miles north of the Strait of Babel Mandab in the Red Sea. Last night, IDF Chief of Staff, Herzi Alevi and Shinbat Chief Ronan Bar both visited the Israeli troops inside Hanyunis in southern Gaza vowing. There is no force which can stand up to the combined force of the IDF soldiers and the Shinbat. It's a war of tunnel shafts. And it seems to me that what is special about this war is that it should be both broad in order to collapse the operational and governmental infrastructures, but also very focused in order to reach to our citizens and get them out. It seems to me that there is no force that can stand against this combination. There is a big pressure here. And I think that this surrendering that the people coming out and raising their hands is also a break in their spirit. It also accelerates our achievements. In the end, we want to move forward quickly. We are securing our accomplishments in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the entrance in the south of the Gaza Strip and also deep down into the ground. Let's take you live now to Israel's northern border. I24 News Middle East correspondent Ariel Osaran is there at Ayelet HaShachar Ariel, a very intense fighting in the northern front over the past 24 hours. What are we hearing from the IDF? Yes, guy following another day of extensive cross border fire on the Israel Lebanon border in multiple parts of this border. Quiet night tense quiet night along the border this obviously following the anti-tank guided missile attack on nine homes in the border community of Mitula now. Thankfully there were no injuries as a result of this attack. Hezbollah saying that it had attacked home in which some IDF soldiers were present inside because they try to show that all their attacks are against IDF forces that the past 66 days have proven that that is not necessarily the case in every attack. But that was just one of seven attacks carried out yesterday by Hezbollah the IDF responding with artillery fire across the across the border as well as to the origins of those launches throughout the day. In addition IDF fighter jets carrying out strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon. And Ariel another very troubling issue in the region these days is the threat of the Houthis in the Red Sea last night. Another attack on a commercial vessel. What do we know? Indeed guy the Houthis have long gone past threats regarding free navigation and commercial passage in the Red Sea overnight. As you mentioned in your lead according to American officials cited by Reuters it was a Houthi cruise missile that was launched at a Norwegian flagged tanker carrying seeds and food and other material for Venice Italy. Now as this ship entered the Babel Mandab that's the entrance the southern entrance to the Red Sea. This ship was targeted with a cruise missile there was damage caused to the ship and no reports of injuries. This was also the report by a UK ship monitoring company. Now this obviously comes following a series of strikes and attacks but also threats regarding the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea with the Houthis threatening to attack any ship that is heading to towards Israel even though this ship was not necessarily doing that as it was headed for Italy. But the these reports also coincided with other reports in Yemen that of explosions in the western port city of Hodeidah. Now those explosions could be connected to the launch to the attack on the ship. But as of now that remains unclear. There's so many events there in the Red Sea area also running in the northern border. Thank you for that update. Stay safe over there. Now let's bring in retired IDF Colonel Miri Eisen the director at the International Institute for Counterterrorism at the Reichman University. Miri, thank you very much for joining us. Good morning. So Mir, let's continue with the previous topic. There is just so much that is going on. But the Houthis show no sign of slowing down their hostile activity. Quite the opposite attacks on commercial vessels, drones and missiles towards Israel. What do you make of this threat and what more can be done? All I'm saying right now is how Iran is not involved. How Iran is using the Houthis. They are a proxy organization in Yemen. They are Yemenite. They are Shiite. They are supplied, trained and overwhelmingly using all of their different capabilities. How in the world do the Houthis in Yemen have cruise missiles? How in the world do they have the training and the capabilities? All of this goes back to the Iranian regime, to the Iranian revolutionary guards, to what they're trying to do. Iran wants everybody to be focused on Yemen on the Houthis. Iran wants everybody to be focused, perhaps a bit less on Hezbollah, but certainly on what's going on in the Gaza Strip. What does Iran not want guy for anybody to notice that this is Iran? And in this case, everything I'm seeing when I'm looking at Houthis has to do with Iran trying to make sure that the focus is not on Iran, even though they are the ones who are completely behind all of these actions. So obviously, Iran will be a hot topic later in the conversation as well. Just stay with us, Miri, because I want to go to our southern border now, where rocket fire has started again this morning. Our Pierre Klosschandler is there in the city of Sderot, Pierre, more rocket fire, and we can see plums of smoke just behind you. No, no, we're not in Sderot. We're in the communities facing the central area of the Gaza Strip. And we are on our way to this location near Kibbutz Bay Area, which was the site of a massacre on October 7. And we were caught by the Red Alert, the rocket launching. We haven't heard of any damage or casualties, but most of the communities here have been abandoned by its residents since October 7. So there shouldn't be any casualties. Now behind me is the southern eastern outskirts of Gaza City. And you can see the aftermath of an airstrike on a presumed terror target in the southern east outskirts of Gaza City. You can maybe also see some sort of a flare just near the source of the smoke, the smoke which is billowing on the sky over Gaza City. And at the same time, we know that the operation is deepening on three focal points. One is the northern outskirts of Gaza City in the Jebalia refugee camp. Then on the southeastern outskirts of Gaza City in Shejahia, with fierce fighting, with battle-hardened battalions that, according to the Minister of Defense, Yohav Galant is on the verge of collapsing, as 500 Hamas terrorists and Palestinian Islamic jihad terrorists have surrendered in the past month, 140 of them, since the renewal of the ground offensive after the breaking of the ceasefire on December 1st. And the third focal point is further south in the city of Ghaniunas, which is encircled and at the same time, which is being under operations in the heart of Ghaniunas, within Ghaniunas. Yesterday, the head of the Shin Bet, Ronan Bar, and the chief of staff went to Ghaniunas, a show of support to the ground troops there. They were inside the city itself with the 98 division, which gathers all the commando units of the army that are operating in the heart of the city. And they said that the offensive is deepening both above ground and underground. As according to Ronan Bar, the head of the Shin Bet, this is a war of tunnel shafts, with thousands and thousands of tunnel shafts, which need to be neutralized. Guy? Yes, and Pierre, we can hear very well on our screens and the very heavy shelling of the IDF just behind you, so that action is very clear there. We are seeing some IDF casualties on a daily basis, although the IDF is moving strongly in those strongholds. Talk to us about those threats that the troops are being faced with, both the terror tunnels, but also explosives that those Hamas terrorists have left in the area for them. Well, the latest example is the tragic death of five soldiers of one unique battalion that was operating in the eastern outskirts of Hanyunes in Alkarara, which is a community really on the border with Israel facing the Kibbutzki Sufim in the central area of the Gaza Strip. There was a school. The village was under operational control of the IDF already, but there was a school in which some terrorists were locked and they fired anti-guided tank missiles on the Israeli troops, as well as gunfire. And as the troops identified a tunnel shaft, they entered an arena of explosive charges of improvised explosive devices and five of the soldiers were killed the day before yesterday. And that shows you not only the ferocity of the combat, but also the complexity of the combat as the whole Gaza Strip is strewn with hundreds of kilometers of tunnels, but thousands of tunnel shafts that need to be neutralized because from these tunnels, many times Hamas terrorists are just popping up out of these tunnels and firing a rocket-propelled grenade such as an RPG on an Israeli tank or on a food patrol. And it's extremely dangerous because this is only a split second where you can see the terrorists popping out of this tunnel shaft and then entering back the tunnel shaft. So it's a very difficult and long battle ahead. Pierre-Claude Chandler on the Israel-Gaza border. Thank you very much for that update. Stay safe over there. Still with us is retired IDF colonel Miri Aizen. Miri, before we even get to speak about the Gaza, more action is taking place right now in Genine in the West Bank. IDF troops, they're clashing with Hamas terrorists. Talk to us about the threat of this arena while Israel is engaged in obviously both in Gaza and in the fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hamas exists both in the Gaza Strip, but of course they've always existed in the West Bank and as we know also Guy in Lebanon and in other arenas. Inside the West Bank right now, Hamas out of the Gaza Strip and the leaders that are sitting in Qatar and worldwide have been trying to get all of their different operatives, all of their trained terror operatives, to take more action against Israel, Israelis, the IDF, both in the West Bank and otherwise. The Israeli defense forces in the West Bank have been active, proactive going against the different, both cache of weapons, the terrorists themselves. They too have the different type of booby traps, RPGs, weapons that have been smuggled into the West Bank over the years. This is a consistent problem. Right now the IDF is being very active today in Jenin. In other days, as we've noticed, it can be at the heart of Nablus or in the city of Tulkarem. These are different areas inside the West Bank and these actions are not only against Hamas. Jenin is an area that has a large relative presence of Palestinian Islamic jihad that we all know is part of all of this terror campaign against us. So these actions are preemptive based on intelligence information and take note again that most of the places where the weapons are held, where the terrorists are putting themselves in the booby traps in a mosque, in a school. That's in the West Bank in areas that are under both in areas A and B and areas under the Palestinian authority control and under Israeli control. These are challenges that we have everywhere we go. Their use of these different civilian clear cut, you know, like what put the weapons in the school? I mean, not that I'm saying, you know, so you have to put it in your own house. They put them in these places to make sure that the photo ops at the stage that Israel takes care of them are ones that show the opposite of what is actually happening. These are terror arenas that need to be destroyed and taken apart. And to that point, exactly, because you mentioned that those areas are being controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Well, Israel is concerned not just by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants, but also by the Palestinian Authority. Well, we heard Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday saying that the PA wants to destroy us only unlike Hamas in stages. What do you make of that? Of course, the Palestinian Authority should mention continues to pay salaries to terrorists who murder Israelis. I'm going to give in that sense that challenge itself for all of us right now that it seems far away at the moment. But in that sense, guys, that question of what happens in the day after in the Palestinian Authority exists almost 30 years. They were established in 1994 were on the eve of 2024. The Palestinian Authority was responsible both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank for security and civil affairs in the Gaza Strip. It was taken over by Hamas in the West Bank. It is exceedingly challenged by Hamas, and it isn't that it comes out and it like likes Israel or wants to having said all of that. There's the quiet cooperation. But at the end, it's in their own arena right now, all of their statements, their open statements, the ones that they say out to the world are completely supportive of Hamas. Not as much. They're very challenged by Hamas, but of the actions themselves of what they're going to call resistance of the fact that there's no question that for the Gazans right now, they're the civilians. Their situation is not good. But in that sense, the future of what happens both in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip in that future, I think that the Prime Minister is stating very clearly the positions of most of the government right now on how they view what will happen at the end of this war and this war is no near the end. So I take it as opening points on what we want to see. We do not want to see a Palestinian authority that part of what it does is in its own way supporting those same terrorists that are attacking us. It cannot be that the international community does so. What will be in the future, both in the West Bank and in Gaza, these are questions that we're not yet ready to really dive into. We need to destroy these terror military capabilities of Hamas, both in the Gaza Strip, which is being done very high intensity and in the West Bank, which is being done very targeted. All of this has to go on for us to get to the stage that we can talk about who is the civil authority that is going to be the active one in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. Yes, and to that point, exactly, obviously, there are differences between Israel and the US about the future of Gaza, who will rule there, whether it will be the Palestinian authority under the Fatah movement. And just last night, we heard from President Joe Biden, vowing that the West will continue to provide military assistance to Israel until it gets rid of Hamas. Let's take a listen to that. I've known Bibi for now 51 years. He has a picture on his desk of he and I when he was a young member of the Israeli service here, foreign service, and I was a 32-year-old senator and I wrote on the top of Bibi, I love him, but I don't agree with the damn thing you had to say. It's about the same today. I love him. Look, tough spot, tough spot. We continue to provide military assistance to Israel until they get rid of Hamas. But, but we have to be careful. They have to be careful. The whole world's public opinion can shift overnight. We can't let that happen. So, Mary, a reassuring message there from President Biden we've seen such incredible support really of the American administration since the start of this war. What do you make of his message about public opinion in the world that could switch very quickly? Guy, we're all living that public opinion right now. You and I, both on I-24 News as we talk to the world, I completely in that sense and both following public opinion, but I want to take it an edgy way further. We're right now, you and I in Israel and what we see from here and I think what most Jews worldwide see today is not about public opinion. It is about overt anti-Semitism and let's separate between public opinion that I myself can support the fact that I really do feel very harshly right now how hard it must be for civilian Gazans inside the Gaza Strip and I can feel that from here inside Israel as opposed to the horrific overt anti-Semitism that has taken over worldwide where there's no distinction between Hanukkah, Hanukkah and being anti-Israel, meaning that's anti-Semitism, that's not anti-Israel. People do not make those distinctions. We all need in that sense to take those steps and I think President Biden said it clearly, we need to destroy Hamas capabilities because you cannot allow that to continue to be. We for ourselves also need to do so as carefully as possible which is not easy because of everything that Hamas built as Pierre was describing before. It is such a hard task and tomorrow morning I want everybody or not tomorrow but today to look in the mirror and to talk about overt anti-Semitism in 2023. It is here with us during Hanukkah and it's not something that should be ignored. Yes, the Jewish people certainly need to remember their history and also what we are fighting for right now obviously extremely symbolic on the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Let's switch gears now to the north. Israel says it wants some sort of a buffer zone with Hezbollah in Lebanon. How do you see the chances of that being realized and can that even be done without a military intervention? The international community is following everything going on. In its own way it's as if the Israel against Hamas on the Gaza Strip is only Israel's problem but as we all know from day one Hezbollah from Lebanon on our northern border has not only been attacking into Israel but has made in its own way Hezbollah has created a buffer zone into Israel. When Hezbollah attacked Metula overnight and that's a city in Israel in that town they can claim as much as they want that it's against military because they are firing into houses that are 300 meters away. Of course those places were evacuated to save people's lives. What Israel is looking right now is that this A cannot exist and to do so you need to make sure that there are no Hezbollah or any kind of these kind of forces on in Lebanon to the north of Israel. Now I do not see an operation peace for Galilee like 1982. I do not see the 2006 Lebanon war. What I do do see is perhaps a portion of a stronger military campaign but in this case the intervention direct intervention of way more international capabilities. Lebanon is a sovereign country it's not the same as the Gaza Strip ruled by the terror organization Hamas. Hezbollah does not rule over Lebanon. Lebanon has additional forces. It has a Lebanese army. It has the unifield force United Nations interim force in Lebanon that's been there from 1979 and upgraded to a certain degree from 2006. Let's look at that in a different way. I'm not against a military force there in Israel doing something but we do need to see that the international community is willing to act there as well. Amiria let's go back to Gaza now. As we speak 137 Israelis are still being held hostage there. The reports yesterday that Israel has shown willingness to go into another hostage deal obviously still wants to release those Israelis bring them back home alive. There's so many families that await them. Talk to us about what can Israel do in terms of its initiative to bring about into another hostage deal. Obviously the military pressure is very important but there is more that Israel perhaps can offer Hamas in exchange for those live Israelis. Israel has stated two clear objectives. One is destroying Hamas military capabilities and the other and it's equal. You can't look at them as separately is returning every single hostage alive and dead from the Gaza Strip. Both those that were taken October 7th and there were those that had been taken before. I put that on the table because guy there is no easy situation. The pause and fighting that was taking place a few weeks ago and it was not a ceasefire. It was a pause was a humanitarian pause to enable bringing out Israeli hostages and in response A we let in more humanitarian capabilities. By the way the humanitarian capabilities are being let in all this time of fighting. It has not stopped because of that pause and right now Israel is focused on destroying those Hamas military terror capabilities because when you do a deal with a terror organization you're doing a deal with a terror organization. You don't believe them. You don't know if they're going to deliver. You don't know if they're going to change what they're doing along the way. And these are all challenges along the way. So yes we have in our hands both prisoners that we've taken now in fighting other prisoners that Hamas want to release. Out of time Miri Aizen we thank you very much for your insight more updates at the top of the hour. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front lines. But the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well. Job Israel's war now at day 67 fighting against Hamas strongholds continues in various fronts across the Gaza Strip at this hour. As more rockets have been fired into Israeli communities just a short while ago. Also this morning sad news on the falling of IDF reserve soldier master sergeant Zviqa Lavi who died after being wounded in battle two weeks ago. One of many brave heroes who lost their lives in the defense of the state of Israel. And as 137 Israelis are still being held hostage in the hands of Hamas in Gaza. Egyptian sources say that Israel has expressed willingness to promote a new hostage release deal with Hamas. However both Hamas and Israeli sources denied that such a deal was even on the table. Meanwhile on the northern border the Hezbollah terror group has fired dozens of rockets and anti-tank missiles towards Israeli communities and military posts out of Lebanon with Israel striking back.  The attack on the Norwegian tanker Strinda took place about 60 nautical miles north of the Strait of Babel Mandab in the Red Sea. Last night we heard from IDF Chief Hercil Levy in the Shin Bet Chief Ronin Barber. Let's take you first now to Israel's southern border. We're going to Pierre Klosschendler. He's standing by for us there Pierre. We heard heavy artillery earlier and the plums of smoke. What are you seeing on your side? Well it smells more or less the same guy. There's a lot of artillery out going pounding the area of the southern eastern sector of Gaza City near Wadi Raza. And I'll show you just behind me they were renewed airstrikes on an area which is very close to the Islamic University complex of Al-Azhar in southern Gaza City where earlier a few weeks earlier weapons depot were found there the army took over the Al-Azhar University and yet there are still a lot of targets and the plumes of smoke the columns of smoke that you see here are burning quite for a while it could be a fuel tank or it could be a weapons depot it's very hard to know but this is burning for quite a while already and further to the north you will see lit by the sun the neighborhood of Shejaia on the southeastern outskirts of Gaza City where close combat has been going on since December 1st and yesterday the Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant said that the most battle-hardened Hamas battalions are fighting inside Shejaia and also further north on the northern outskirts of Gaza City in the Jabalia refugee camp but he said that they're already on the verge of collapse since December 1st 140 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad terrorists surrendered to the Israeli troops in these areas as well as in Hanyunas which is further south and that's because according to the prior interrogation on the field that's because the chain of command has been broken as 50% of the regiments battalion and company commanders of Hamas have been annihilated since the start of the ground offensive on October 27th guy Barak Roshanler reporting from Israel's southern border with Gaza more updates from Pierre coming up later in the day now for more I'm joined in studio by retired IDF Colonel Dr. Jacques Neria former deputy head of assessment at the Israeli military intelligence and former foreign policy advisor to prime minister Itzhak Rabin Jacques thank you very much for joining us before we start the conversation I want to take a listen to things that we heard last night from IDF chief Herzia Levy and the head of Shin Bet Ruonan Bar both of them in Hanyunas in the heart of the fighting let's take a listen it's a war of tunnel shafts and it seems to me that what is special about this war is that it should be both broad in order to collapse the operational and governmental infrastructures but also very focused in order to reach to our citizens and get them out it seems to me that there is no force that can stand against this combination there is a big pressure here and I think that this surrendering that the people coming out and raising their hands is also a break in their spirit it also accelerates our achievements in the end we want to move forward quickly we are securing our accomplishments in the northern part of the Gaza Strip the entrance in the south of the Gaza Strip and also deep down into the ground So Jacques certainly a show of force by seeing the top branch of the security in the heart of Hanyunas we even saw Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inside Gaza a few days ago nonetheless to speak about the need to move forward quickly and at the same time maintaining the number of IDF casualties as low as possible that is obviously a very complicated mission in this difficult terrain yeah well that there's no easy formula I mean we are the we are facing a formidable fortification that has been built for the last 15 years and you cannot even compare it to the Maginot line in France or the Barley line vis-à-vis Egypt this is something much more complicated much more complex tunnels that are on on different levels up to five levels and very deep in the ground so there's no blitzkrieg to be expected we are not going to to win this war tomorrow morning it will take time and we have to advance very carefully in order not to as you said not not to administer ourselves casualties that are that are useless in the in this war we have to be very careful in how we fight how we fight Hamas there is a hope that the beginning of cracks in the ranks of Hamas and this is due to constant pressure that when you are facing the grinding machine of the war the Israeli war machine definitely it's not very easy to to to stand and to fight the Israeli forces certainly that are submerging the area that flooding the area with units then you feel the crux of it and you have definitely you have two choices either to surrender or to fight to the death and as we speak of course there are 137 Israelis that are being held by Hamas and Gaza this is an impossible situation i don't think that any modern military has faced a situation like this where it needs to fight a bitter enemy a well armed enemy while having to save the lives of its own citizens being held by by this group or this murderous terror group how do you manage such intense fighting while attempting at least to save the lives of your own civilians you know lessons the lessons of history have taught us that that hostages are generally used as human shields we saw during the the the Nazi period in in France and in Europe that there were hostages put on trains and they were supposed to to be the the human shield that would would guard the trains from being hit by by the allies and the allies hit the the trains and of course i mean ignore the ignore the fact or try to ignore it here we have a different problem the the hostages here are definitely a problem that has stemmed from the from from the the mishap the huge mishap of of the government and and the fact that those people were just left without defense for a long time and we haven't we have to repair that so we have to get to do the government and the military of course on the entire security and we have to do whatever we can in order to release them as i said earlier the few the earlier that if there is a deal whatever deal is offered to you just take it because with the with those psychopaths you don't know anything just can change from a from a minute to the other so we have to to to deal with what is possible and what is possible is what is being right now discussed hopefully that will reach an agreement you say that we need to take whatever opportunity that we have is there anything that israel can initiate in terms of a possible hostage deal does israel go to to Hamas to Qatar in egypt say well you know here's a thousand Palestinian terrorists let's let's move ahead with another deal now is this is something that's on the table well you know as far as i understand israel would like to the to at least to to release the women the children and the and the elderly who are sick and then and sick people and in order to do that i mean that there were approaches to Qatar and to egypt in order to just try to to understand if there is a chance that to discuss with the with Hamas about the the release of those people uh unfortunately till now there's nothing on the table and and Hamas has stiffened its position and saying that without a total cease fire there will be no exchange of of of hostages and this is where we where we are we have tried as you as you know two days ago to release a to release a hostage according to intelligence we had and we failed to do to do so because intelligence was not was was not accurate enough so i think that we're on both on both lanes we will continue on the one hand the the the military pressure while trying on the other hand to to find a common ground for for agreement on the further exchange of hostages that are held by Hamas Jacques stay with us because we want to go now to Israel's northern border our area also run is there a reality that's been a a quiet night certainly was not a quiet day uh yesterday on the northern front uh what are you hearing and what are you seeing there yes guy uh quiet but tense morning here in the israeli but on the border following a similar night but that was after uh an evening in which uh the northern border community of mitula saw nine homes damaged as a result of an anti-tank guided missile attack on what hezbollah said was an attack on israel for Israeli forces that were in those homes obviously um the idea of saying that there were no injuries in this attack but obviously there were no uh civilians in that area as mitula like many like almost all border communities in a distance of four kilometers from the border has been evacuated we're talking about eighty ninety thousand residents of the northern border communities who are now evicted many of them absorbed in other communities uh in in the north of israel further away from the border but at least the situation today so far no attacks no rocket launches but as we know this dynamic can quickly change in a moment's notice as it has unfortunately uh over these past sixty five plus days of this war between israel and hezbollah on the northern border and ariel meanwhile in the red sea an attack on a Norwegian tanker in this morning not a surprising claim of responsibility right so the houthis in their classic fashion have been building up uh the anticipation yesterday following the attack saying that they would come out with an important statement nine hours later they came out with a statement that surprised no one claiming responsibility for launching a anti-ship cruise missile at a Norwegian flanked tanker that was carrying vegetable oil and other food material that was intended for italy the houthis in a statement by the military spokesperson said that this tanker was actually carrying fuel intended to israel not sure where they get their information from but regardless saying that this is another attack following two days of threats in which they prevented additional ships from making their way towards israel this obviously following their threats that they will allow no ship to make their way to israel whether uh israeli national or not this a Norwegian flagged tanker now the owner of the ship was cited in arab media saying that the ship is now on its way to a safe port the houthis uh doubling down saying that they will continue with uh with their strikes on ships as long as israel's fight in uh in in gaza continues arid ars aran on the northern border thank you for that uh report uh jack very briefly let's speak about the houthi threat how does the world stop this obviously a major concern not just for israel right well you know there's a flotilla there's an armada there that is patrolling the the coast of somali in old fight piracy and i think that this is this is the right moment to just shift those this armada from where it is right now deployed into the the babel babel mandib straight and all equally and all along the the Yemenite coast this is one way that you can uh ensure the uh the safe passage of tankers and ships through the babel mandib straight we have to be to be aware that these are international waterways that have to it that are protected by international law and that the the the the houthis are here infringing on any it on every international law concerning the maritime law in this in this area so it is the responsibility of great powers the the u.s even the even russia and and japan of course that and europe to just to to combine forces in order to fight the the houthi threat in the babel mandib area dr. jacmi rea thank you very much for your insight now 58 police officers died protecting the party goers of the novel festival on october 7th making it the biggest tragedy in the history of the israeli police saghi was one of the police officers that survived after facing 14 terrorists our more ellen has more in the next report it's saghi's first time back in the fighting zone of the nova festival since october 7th barbara his girlfriend is with him he brought her for moral support but returning still made him uneasy it's hard to bring in a lot of memories a lot of people that you saw i did at that day that are not with us today a lot of a lot of memories i arrived here at six o'clock in the morning for morning shift here in the party a lot of young people happy dancing good vibes the stage was here in the middle all the people you can see the picture of the fortunately murdered was here in the middle of the dancing area the war room and the firefighter room and all this thing was in the back of the stage and when i arrived we just preparing ourselves to the to the shift to secure the area to make sure everything is okay everybody is okay and in about 6 30 kind of we saw a lot of rockets coming from gaza into israel police commander that was in the party i told us all the officer to go inside the party and stop the music and evacuate everybody out at first the police president asked the party goers to lie on the ground minutes later they decided to evacuate them completely as people were leaving the area the situation was revealed to be graver than imaginable someone from the party ran at me with his phone in his hand and he said to me my brother is on the line okay and someone shoot at him on the road on the main road immediately i took his phone and i ran into the police room and i tell the police officer that was there take the phone speak with him saghi together with two other policemen drove to the location of the shooting one of them was eliona ostafenko on the main road only 220 yards from the party area they encountered first signs of the tragedy that would unfold that day we get here and over there near the sign we saw a man just two like this with his hand and we drove to him and he says someone shoot at him and we look at his car and we see in the back door a bullet just a hole of wasn't injured the civilian told saghi he saw trucks with people holding weapons in this moment i pulled my gun and i take him and went like off the back of the road over there and we lay on the ground meanwhile eliona and another policeman went back to the party area to report and call for reinforcements we start to understood what's happening but we thought it's only a few ones that came here and they are still here around somewhere the three were now driving again trying to catch up with the terrorists finally they saw a car on the side of the road in this place we saw a white van and we saw a man lying on the floor near the van and he just put his hand on his belly and scream so me and elona i get off the police car and went to him and when i pulled up his shirt i saw a big hole in his belly because of a bullet and i said to elona i start to make a pressure and i get into the van from the other side i open the door and i see a guy laying on his back with his eyes open and i check if he had the pulse or something like this and he didn't have anything he was murdered while saghi and elona tended to the wounded the third policeman drove back to fetch the medical teams so we are here only me and elona with no communication no car on anything we stay with the injured people and then we saw two jeeps that come at us and they park like 100 150 meters from us and from each jeep we get off something like six or seven terrorists each so it's like 12 or 14 14 terrorists and they're just starting shooting at us the two were standing in an open field while outnumbered the terrorists were also better armed with rifles and rpgs elona and saghi had their personal weapons and two magazines with 15 bullets each saghi dragged the wounded civilian to the other side of the van an exchange of fire began as they tried to shoot back but they realized they didn't stand a chance i tell elona uh we have to run back but there is nowhere to run back here and then i see this uh this water pipe under fire they both ran as fast as they could they shoot at us the bullets are like everywhere and then the second before they reached the water pipe elona was hit exactly in this point like one or two meters uh from the pipe um elona said to me i'm hit and she uh she hold her hold her breath and she is felling over here and i get here behind this pipe and i lie right here and my head is behind this pipe and i'm right here and with my pistol i shoot at them and they shoot at me like tons of bullets the terrorists went back to the van to make sure the two wounded civilians were dead you are complete yourself with that thought that you're gonna die don't think it single the only thing you think of that's it one against 14 terrorists what chance that saggy have one of them go to their their jeep and he bring an rpg and he go over his knees and he shoot the rpg on me and the rpg is exploding like 10 15 meters behind me the 14 terrorists came into saggy's direction he played dead and didn't shoot back and then i see two army chopper just getting from this way to this way above this field and the terrorists see the chopper the terrorists see the chopper and they take three rpg and they shoot on the chopper luckily they missed but now the terrorist for some inexplicable reason go back on their jeeps and flee it is in this moment i check ilona that laying here and fortunately she she murdered ilona ostafenko was killed at the age of 25 in total 58 police officers died protecting the party goers of the nova festival on october 7 making it the biggest tragedy in the history of israeli police i think are going just to the to the terrorist direction and i ran to the to the road and uh just stop stop stop saggy could still spot the terrorists on the side of the road waiting for more cars to cross he updated the soldier inside the car the two did a u-turn in the intersection nearby they saw a group of a hundred nova festival survivors he took charge and put them all in a safe room the soldier is civilian with a gun and saggy guarded the entrance of the safe room for hours until the idf was able to extract them to a safe location over two months have passed and these beautiful fields that on october 7 became the landscape of an unimaginable horror movie are now again peaceful thanks to the men and women who put their lives in the line to save others another painful reminder of the terrible atrocities committed by these homeless terrorists on october 7 the heroism of the israeli police forces the idf the shin bet and the uh security teams in the kibbutz that saved so many lives and nonetheless 1200 israelis were slaughtered on that terrible Saturday and as we speak israeli soldiers are fighting against Hamas terrorists in Gaza across the Gaza Strip in the northern and southern parts of this trip in han unis in betlahia and bet hanun in many other areas as well as in the northern front against hezbollah terrorists to continue to fire rockets and anti-tank missiles into israeli communities our rolling coverage here on i24 news continues throughout the day more updates coming up at the top of the hour i'm gaya israel thank you very much for watching israel is in a state of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where she has our soldiers are fighting on the front lines but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well average of israel's war now at day 67 fighting against Hamas strongholds continues in various fronts across the Gaza Strip at this hour as more rockets have been fired into israeli communities just a short while ago also this morning sad news on the falling of idf reserve soldier master sergeant it's vika la vie who died after being wounded in battle two weeks ago one of many brave heroes who lost their lives in the defense of the state of israel and as 137 israelis are still being held hostage in the hands of hamas in Gaza egyptian sources say that israel has expressed willingness to promote a new hostage release deal with hamas however both hamas and israeli sources denied that such a deal was even on the table meanwhile on the northern border the hezbollah terror group has fired dozens of rockets and anti-tank missiles towards israeli communities and military posts out of lebanon with israel striking back and last night confirmation from the u.s. military that an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the koutis in yemen struck a commercial tanker causing a fire and damage but no casualties the attack on the norwegian tanker strinda took place about 60 nautical miles north of the strait of babel mandab in the red sea last night we heard from idf chief hertia levy and the sheenbet chief uh ron and barb let's take you first now to israel's southern border we're going to pierre clauschandler he's standing by for us there pierre we heard heavy artillery earlier and the plums of smoke what are you seeing on your side well it smells more or less the same guy there's a lot of artillery outgoing pounding the area of the southeastern sector of gaza city nirwa diraza and uh i'll show you uh just behind me they were renewed airstrikes on an area which is very close to the islamic university complex of al-azhar in southern gaza city where earlier a few weeks earlier weapons depot were found there the army took over the al-azhar university and yet there are still a lot of targets and the plumes of smoke the columns of smoke that you see here are burning quite for a while it could be a fuel tank or it could be a weapons depot it's very hard to know but uh this is burning for quite a while already and further to the north you will see uh lit by the sun uh the neighborhood of shejaya on the southeastern outskirts of gaza city where close combat has been going on since december 1st and um yesterday the israeli defense minister you have gallant said that the most battle-hardened uh hamas battalions are fighting inside shejaya and also further north on the northern outskirts of gaza city in the jebalia refugee camp but he said that they're already on the verge of collapse since december 1st 140 hamas and palestinian islamic jihad terrorists surrendered to the israeli troops in these areas as well as in hanunas which is further south um and uh that's because according to the prior interrogation on the field that's because uh the chain of command has been broken as 50 percent of the regiments battalion and company commanders of hamas have been annihilated since the start of the ground offensive on october 27 guy bear crush handler reporting from israel's southern border with gaza more updates from pierre coming up later in the day now for more i'm joined in studio by retired idf colonel dr jack neria former deputy head of assessment at the israeli military intelligence and former foreign policy advisor to prime minister it's hakar bin jack thank you very much for joining us before we start the conversation i want to uh take a listen to things that we heard last night from idf chief herzi alevi and the head of sheen bett ronan bar both of them in hanunas in the heart of the fighting let's take a listen it's a war of tunnel shafts and it seems to me that what is special about this war is that it should be both broad in order to collapse the operational and governmental infrastructures but also very focused in order to reach to our citizens and get them out it seems to me that there is no force that can stand against this combination there is a big pressure here and i think that this surrendering that the people coming out and raising their hands is also a break in their spirit it also accelerates our achievements in the end we want to move forward quickly we are securing our accomplishments in the northern part of the gaza strip the entrance in the south of the gaza strip and also deep down into the ground so zhaka certainly a show of force by seeing the top branch of the israeli security in the heart of hanunas we even saw israeli prime minister ben jimenez and now inside gaza a few days ago nonetheless to speak about the need to move forward quickly and at the same time maintaining the number of idf casualties as low as possible that is obviously a very complicated mission in in this difficult terrain yeah well that there's no easy formula i mean we are the we are facing a formidable fortification that has been built for the last 15 years and the you cannot even compare it to the margineau line in france or the bar left line vis a vis egypt this is something much more complicated much more complex tunnels that are on set on different levels up to five levels and very very deep in in the ground so that there's no blitzkrieg to be to be expected we are not going to to win this war tomorrow morning it will take time and we have to advance very carefully in order not to as you said not not not to administer ourselves casualties that are that are useless in the in this war we have to be very careful in in how we fight how we fight hamas there is a hope that the beginning of cracks in in the ranks of of hamas and and this is due to to constant pressure that when you are facing the grinding machine of the war the israeli war machine definitely it's not very easy to to to stand and to fight the israeli forces certainly that are submerging the area that flooding the area with units then you feel the crux of it and you have there definitely you have two choices either to surrender or to fight to the death and as we speak of course there are 137 Israelis that are being held by hamas in Gaza this is an impossible situation I don't think that any modern military has faced a situation like this where it needs to fight a bitter enemy a well armed enemy while having to save the lives of its own citizens being held by by this group by this murderous terror group how do you manage such intense fighting while attempting at least to save the lives of your own civilians you know lessons the lessons of history have taught us that that hostages are generally used as human shields we saw that during the the Nazi the Nazi period in in France and in Europe that they were hostages put on trains and they were supposed to to be the human shield that would guard the trains from being hit by by the allies and the allies hit the trains and of course I mean ignore the ignore the fact or try to ignore it here we have a different problem the the hostages here are definitely a problem that has stemmed from the from from the the mishap the huge mishap of of the government and and the fact that those people were just left without defense for a long time and we haven't we have to repair that so we have to bear to do the government and the military of course on the entire security and we have have to do whatever we can in order to release them as I said earlier the a few the weeks earlier that if there is a deal whatever deal is offered to you just take it because with the with those psychopaths you don't know anything just can change from a from a minute to the other so we have to to deal with what is possible and what is possible is what is being right now discussed hopefully that will reach an agreement you say that we need to take whatever opportunity that we have is there anything that israel can initiate in terms of a possible hostage deal does israel go to to hamas to katar in egypt say well you know here's a thousand palestinian terrorists let's let's move ahead with another deal now this is something that's on the table well you know as far as i understand that israel would like to the to at least to to release the women the children and the and the elderly who are sick and then and and sick people and in order to do that i mean there were approaches to katar and to egypt in order to just try to to understand if there is a chance there to discuss with the with hamas about the the release of those people unfortunately till now there's nothing on the table and and hamas has stiffened its position and saying that without a total ceasefire there will be no exchange of of of hostages and this is where we where we are we have tried as you as you know two days ago to release a to release a hostage according to intelligence we had and we failed to do to do so because intelligence was not well was not accurate enough so i think that we're on both on both lanes we will continue on the one hand the the the military pressure while trying on the other hand to to find a a common ground for for agreement on the further exchange of hostages that are held by hamas Jacques stay with us because we want to go now to israel's northern border our area also run is there a reality there's been a a quiet night certainly was not a quiet day yesterday on the northern front what are you hearing and what are you seeing there yes guy quiet but tense morning here in israel on border following a similar night but that was after an evening in which the northern border community of metula saw nine homes damaged as a result of an anti-tank guided missile attack on what his bill has said was an attack on israel for israeli forces that were in those homes obviously the idea of saying that there were no injuries in this attack but obviously there were no civilians in that area as metula like many like almost all border communities in a distance of four kilometers from the border has been evacuated we're talking about eighty ninety thousand residents of the northern border communities who are now evicted many of them absorbed in other communities in the north of israel further away from the border but at least the situation today so far no attacks no rocket launches but as we know this dynamic can quickly change in a moment's notice as it has unfortunately over these past 65 plus days of this war between israel and hezbollah on the northern border and ariel meanwhile in the red sea an attack on a Norwegian tanker in this morning and not a surprising claim of responsibility right so the who fees in their classic fashion have been building up yet the anticipation yesterday following the attack saying that they would come out with an important statement nine hours later they came out with a statement that surprised no one claiming responsibility for launching an anti-ship cruise missile at a Norwegian flanked tanker that was carrying vegetable oil and other food material that was intended for Italy the who fees in a statement by the military spokesperson said that this tanker was actually carrying fuel intended to israel not sure where they get their information from but regardless saying that this is another attack following two days of threats in which they prevented additional ships from making their way towards israel this obviously following their threats that they will allow no ship to make their way to israel whether israeli national or not this on Norwegian flagged tanker now the owner of the ship was cited in arab media saying that the ship is now on its way to a safe port the who fees doubling down saying that they will continue with with their strikes on ships as long as israel's fight in in Gaza continues all right after that on the northern border thank you for that report jack very briefly let's speak about the hooty threat how does the world stop this obviously a major concern not just for israel well you know there's a flotilla there's no mother there that is patrolling the the coast of Somalia in old fight piracy and i think that this is this is the right moment to just shift those uh this a mother from where it is right now deployed into the the bubble bubble mandib straight and all equally and all along the the Yemenite coast this is one way that you can insure the the safe passage of tankers and ships through the bubble mandib straights we have to be to be aware that these are international waterways that have to that are protected by international law and that the the the the the hooties are here infringing on any it on every international law concerning the maritime law in the in this area so it is the responsibility of great powers the the u.s even the even Russia and and Japan of course that and Europe to just to combine forces in order to fight the the hooty threat in the bubble mandib area Dr. Jacques Nibir I thank you very much for your insight now 58 police officers died protecting the party goers of the nova festival on October 7th making it the biggest tragedy in the history of the Israeli police saghi was one of the police officers that survived after facing 14 terrorists our more ellen has more in the next report it's saghi's first time back in the fighting zone of the nova festival since October 7th Barbara his girlfriend is with him he brought her for moral support but returning still made him uneasy it's hard to bring a lot of memories a lot of people that you saw I did at that day that are not with us today a lot of a lot of memories I arrived here at six o'clock in the morning for morning shift here in the party a lot of young people happy dancing good vibes the stage was here in the middle all the people you can see the picture of the fortunately murdered was here in the middle of the dancing area on the war room and the firefighter room and all this thing was in the back of the stage and when I arrived we just preparing ourselves to the to the shift to secure the area to make sure everything is okay everybody is okay and in about 6 30 kind of we saw a lot of rockets coming from Gaza into Israel police commander it was in the party I told us all the officer to go inside the party and stop the music and evacuate everybody out at first the police president asked the party goers to lie on the ground minutes later they decided to evacuate them completely as people were leaving the area the situation was revealed to be graver than imaginable someone from the party ran at me with his phone in his hand and he said to me my brother is on the line okay and someone should have him on the road on the main road immediately I took his phone and I ran into the police room and I tell the police officer that was there take the phone speak with him Segi together with two other policemen drove to the location of the shooting one of them was Eliona Ostafenko on the main road only 220 yards from the party area they encountered first signs of the tragedy that would unfold that day we get here and over there near the sign we saw a man just do like this with his hand and we drove to him and he says someone shoot at him and we look at his car and we see in the back door a bullet just a hole of a bullet he wasn't injured the civilian told Segi he saw trucks with people holding weapons in this moment I pulled my gun and I take him and went like off the back of the road over there and we lay on the ground meanwhile Eliona and another policeman went back to the party area to report and call for reinforcements we start to understood what's happening but we thought it's only a few ones that came here and they are still here around somewhere the three were now driving again trying to catch up with the terrorists finally they saw a car on the side of the road in this place we saw a white van and we saw a man lying on the floor near the van and he just put his hand on his belly and screamed so me and Eliona get off the police car pulled up his shirt and saw a big hole in his belly because of a bullet Eliona start to make a pressure and I get into the van from the other side I open the door and I see a guy laying on his back with his eyes open and I check if he had the pulse or something like that and he didn't have anything he was murdered while Sagi and Eliona tended to the wounded the third policeman drove back to fetch the medical teams so we are here only me and Eliona with no communication no car on anything we stay with injured people and then we saw a two jeep that come at us and they park like 100, 150 meters from us and from each jeep get off something like 6 or 7 tourists each so it's like 12 or 14 or 14 tourists and they're just starting to shoot at us the two were standing in an open field while outnumbered the terrorists were also better armed with rifles and rpgs Eliona and Sagi had their personal weapons and two magazines with 15 bullets each Sagi dragged the wounded civilian to the other side of the van and exchange of fire began as they tried to shoot back but they realized they didn't stand a chance I tell Elona we have to run back but there is nowhere to run back here and then I see this this water pipe under fire they both ran as fast as they could they shoot at us the bullets are like everywhere and then the second before they reached the water pipe Eliona was hit exactly in this point like one or two meters from the the pipe Elona said to me I'm hit and she she hold her hold her breath and she is feeling over here and I get here behind this pipe and I lie right here and my head is behind this pipe and I'm right here and with my pistol I shoot at them and they shoot at me like tons of bullets the terrorists went back to the van to make sure the two wounded civilians were dead you are complete yourself with that thought that you're gonna die the only thing you think about the only thing you think of is you are that's it one against 14 terrorists what chance did Sagi have one of them go to their their ship and he bring an RPG and he go over his knees and he shoot the RPG on me and the RPG is exploding like 10 15 meters behind me the 14 terrorists came into Sagi's direction he played dead and didn't shoot back and then I see two army chopper just getting from this way to this way above this field and the terrorists see the chopper the terrorists see the chopper and they take three RPG and they shoot on the chopper luckily they missed but now the terrorists for some inexplicable reason go back on their jeeps and flee it is in this moment I check Ilona that laying here and fortunately she she murdered Eliona Ostefenko was killed at the age of 25 in total 58 police officers died protecting the party goers of the Nova Festival on October 7 making it the biggest tragedy in the history of Israeli police I think are going just to the terrorist direction and I ran to the road and just stop stop stop Sagi could still spot the terrorists on the side of the road waiting for more cars to cross he updated the soldier inside the car the two did a U-turn in the intersection nearby they saw a group of 100 Nova Festival survivors he took charge and put them all in a safe room the soldier is civilian with a gun and Sagi guarded the entrance of the safe room for hours until the IDF was able to extract them to a safe location over two months have passed and these beautiful fields that on October 7 became the landscape of an unimaginable horror movie are now again peaceful thanks to the men and women who put their lives in the line to save others another painful reminder of the terrible atrocities committed by these Hamas terrorists on October 7 the heroism of the Israeli police forces the IDF the Shin Bet and the security teams in the Kibbutz that saved so many lives and nonetheless 1200 Israelis were slaughtered on that terrible Saturday and as we speak Israeli soldiers are fighting against Hamas terrorists in Gaza across the Gaza Strip in the northern and southern parts of the Strip in Hanunis in Bet Lahia in Bet Hanun in many other areas as well as in the northern front against Hezbollah terrorists to continue to fire rockets and anti-tank missiles into Israeli communities our rolling coverage here on I-24 News continues throughout the day more updates coming up at the top of the hour I'm Guy Azrael thank you very much for watching a state of war families completely gunned down in their beds we have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well to our rolling coverage of Israel's war now at day 67 fighting against Hamas strongholds continues in various fronts across the Gaza Strip at this hour more rockets have been fired into Israeli communities earlier this morning and sad news on the falling of IDF reserve soldier master sergeant Zvika Lavi who died after being wounded in battle two weeks ago one of the many brave heroes who lost their lives in the defense of the state of Israel and as 137 Israelis are still being held hostage in the hands of Hamas in Gaza Egyptian sources say that Israel has expressed willingness to promote a new hostage release deal with Hamas however both Hamas and Israeli sources denied that such a deal was even on the table meanwhile on the northern front the Hezbollah terror group has fired dozens of rockets and anti-tank missiles towards Israeli communities and military posts yesterday with Israel striking back and last night confirmation from the US military that an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen struck a commercial tanker causing fire and damage but no casualties the attack on the Norwegian tanker Strinda took place about 60 nautical miles north of the strait of Babelmandab in the Red Sea meanwhile last night Israeli Defense Minister Yav Galant said that Israel was open to a possible agreement with Hezbollah if it included a safe zone along the border with Lebanon and other security guarantees we have the ability to meet every threat in the similar way or beyond what's going on in Gaza and we do it every day this is why they have many fatalities and many more wounded if Hezbollah will allow an agreement process and I won't go into its details but clearly it cannot be that it does not include a situation in which there is a safe distance from our fence to forces that could shoot into Israeli territory or forces that could take action inside Israel if this is possible with the appropriate guarantee we can talk about it let's take you live now to Israel's northern border our 24 news middle east correspondent Ariel Osran is there Ariel the threat of Hezbollah on the north has only intensified since the second Lebanon war of 2006 it is still a major concern for the residents of the north many of them are displaced from their homes talk to us about how worrying is the prospect of an even greater escalation there right guys so the situation here on the ground after a quiet morning and evening we just moments before you came to me we heard a fighter jet fly overhead and then a boom behind me and the border with Lebanon and then moments after artillery fire still no confirmation as to what was the nature of this strike but the moment we get additional information regarding that we will obviously report on it but as you mentioned the situation on the north is very dangerous that's why the residents 80 90,000 of them have been already evacuated and as we heard with from Defense Minister Galant this is something that Israel needs to act to prevent but also that it is open for some kind of arrangement that would allow Hezbollah to stay to maintain some sort of monitoring capacity south of the Litany River but obviously a call by Israeli ministers not only Galant also Benny Gantz in a phone call yesterday with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken a call to enforce UN Resolution 1701 that prevents Hezbollah from carrying weapons south of the Litany River and that also coincides with reports coming out from Saudi media and Arabia reporting last night that Israel relayed similar demands to international mediators that and reiterating the call that the international community must act and pressure the Lebanese government to prevent Hezbollah from carrying out these continued attacks along the border yesterday we saw seven such attacks but prior to the ceasefire in Gaza that reached over 20 with a constant daily dynamic of escalation there's concern that this is that the situation is only continuing and will further exacerbate Our Ariel Osaran with the beautiful views of the scenery of the northern Israel unfortunately that is now a battle ground over there Ariel thank you for that update now for more I want to bring in in studio Yaqui Dayan former Israeli consul in Los Angeles let's start with the north and these reports also mainly in Saudi media about at least outlining Israel's conditions for international mediators regarding the situation along the border with Lebanon how likely are we to see any sort of agreement that would push Hezbollah back away from the border over the Lytani river without any sort of military intervention Yes so there is a clear understanding that Israel is not going back to the status quo that was on October 6th in the northern border this is a clear understanding that was conveyed to the Americans now clearly the Americans don't want to expand the war they are making sure that this war is not being expanded to the northern border and to Lebanon now the message was conveyed to the Americans is if the situation in the northern border is not being changed meaning i.e. if the Hezbollah is not being pushed to the Lytani river maybe a bit less but creating some kind of a buffer zone that would be unacceptable to Israel and we have to use military force now with this message being conveyed to the Americans the Americans together with the French that are playing a significant role as well and on those negotiations they are conducting those negotiations with the Lebanese now there is no Lebanese army or at least there is no general now standing in the heading the military so the the conversations are being conducted with the government with the military but there is a lot of skepticism in Israel that those negotiations will lead definitely to resuming and implementing 1701 the security council resolution or just pushing back Hezbollah and this is the big question if this is not being done so the only way out is using military force and when the intense the intense phase in the battle in in Gaza will end then we move to the northern border and we might see an escalation a further escalation to what we see now in the northern border and of course as we speak about the north the fighting continues in the south inside the Gaza Strip and last night IDF chief Hercie Alevi together with the head of the Shin Bet Ronin bar were inside Han Yunus let's take a listen to what they had to say it's a war of tunnel shafts and it seems to me that what is special about this war is that it should be both broad in order to collapse the operational and governmental infrastructures but also very focused in order to reach to our citizens and get them out it seems to me that there is no force that can stand against this combination there is a big pressure here and I think that this surrendering that the people coming out and raising their hands is also a break in their spirit it also accelerates our achievements in the end we want to move forward quickly we are securing our accomplishments in the northern part of the Gaza Strip the entrance in the south of the Gaza Strip and also deep down into the ground let's take you live now to the Israel-Gaza border correspondent Pierre Kloschendler is standing by there Pierre we saw their Halavi and Bar in a show of strength the two highest ranking heads of security establishments in the heart of the city that was controlled by Hamas just over a week ago talk to us about the significance of that well I wouldn't say that Han Yunus is under full operational control of the Israeli army right now as fighting is still going on on the outskirts the north and northeastern outskirts of Han Yunus as well as inside the city where the 98 divisions which was visited by the chief of staff and the chief of the general security services who work in tight coordination visited yesterday and you noticed they were sitting on the sofa in a Palestinian home and I think that this is a message to the Palestinian population as well as a message of support to the 98 division of all the commando units of the IDF that are fighting in close combat inside the city right now here you can see the pillars of fire that are emanating from the area of the El Hazar Islamic University complex which was already taken over a few days ago and where weapons were found and this has been burning for the past couple of hours so it could be a fuel depot used by Hamas or it could be maybe a workshop for manufacturing weapons we don't exactly know of course from afar and on the right of your monitor you will see Chejaia which is one of the last neighborhoods of Gaza city on the southeastern outskirts where close combat fighting has been going on and in the past half hour there's been a lot of targeting of presumed Hamas targets from the air we've heard the shrieking of the guided missiles that are launched by gunships and by the Israeli jets we've heard also the wearing of the rudder blades we hear the buzz of the civilians and attack drones the front is very very active and at the same time down south is Hanunas you can't see it much but there's still heavy bombing in the area of Hanunas in this direction and it's a matter of days the IDF says before Chejaia and the northern refugee camp of Jebalia fall into IDF operational control as 50 percent of the command chain of Hamas has been annihilated and more and more Hamas and Palestinian Islamic terrorists are surrendering because they don't get any more any orders from their commanders very heavy fighting all across the Gaza Strip at this very hour Pierre Kloschender reporting from the Israel-Gaza border thank you for that and as the fighting continues so does the battle to release some 137 Israelis that are held captive at the hands of Hamas in Gaza former Israeli ambassador to France and I-24 News Regular Daniel Schaek is also the director of diplomacy at the hostage and missing families form Daniel your efforts to release more hostages is not limited to the borders of Israel it is a global campaign you're in Prague right now first of all tell us about your mission there who is with you and who are you able to speak to well yes we have a whole international campaign we have as we speak I think three delegations in three different parts of the world all of them with different numbers of family members here in Prague I have representatives of three families and in a very quick 36 hour effort we're going to meet top people from the political parliamentary and media areas of the Czech Republic it has to be said that the Czech Republic is definitely one of the most friendly and understanding countries in the world concerning Israel so this is not a mission here in order to convince people but it's a mission to echo and to resonate the stories of the hostage families in order to keep the issue on the agenda and I must say with really it's heartwarming to hear the people here speak to see the people even on the street when we walk and the family members walk with their t-shirts with the images of their loved ones and people are empathetic people know what this is about and last night I went with we went all of us for a little walk with with the number two at the embassy in Prague which has been extremely helpful and she showed us a big wall with all the posters of the hostages and she told us here nobody tears them down the only enemy of these posters is the wind and the rain certainly heartwarming to hear that at least in some parts of Europe to see that support but ambassador as we speak there are various reports circulating in the recent days about the next possible hostage release deal one of them on a Saudi paper Ilaf says that a new possible formula will include the release of women children elderly young Israelis and even three senior IDF officers that are reportedly taken captive by Hamas and that would be in exchange for 300 Palestinian prisoners as well as senior Fatah official Marwan Baraguti what do the families know about these offers about this possible plans and what do you make of them well I'll say this the families obviously are not involved in the negotiations and don't know the details about a plan that is or isn't on the table you know I take this with a large grain of salt I'm sure my very good friend Yaki Dayan who's with you in the studio will understand when I say that such reports are floated by all sorts of people and may have all sorts of objectives and they don't necessarily reflect anything reliable the only thing the family say very simply is the state of Israel the government of Israel has to cease every opportunity that arises in order to renew the negotiations so that we have another agreement for the release of hostages and more than that the state of Israel should maybe take its own initiatives and not be only reactive to offers made through Qatar by Hamas that is their position now the details who will be released in exchange who won't this is not the family's business this is not the business of a civil society organization like ours this is definitely the responsibility of the state of Israel and we understand that there are all sorts of implications to it but from the family's point of view everything has to be done so that every single hostage is released Ambassador Daniel Schech Director of Diplomacy at the Hostage and Missing Families Forum thank you for your time thank you for the work that you're doing there for the families still with me is Yaki Dayan let's speak about some of the points mentioned there by Ambassador Schech first the Israeli initiative what do you think in terms of diplomacy of in terms of negotiation should Israel be offering on the table now a plan to release several hundred Palestinian prisoners senior officials and say to Hamas well this is our offer take it on the table does that show strength does that show weakness how do you see it just one word about one sentence maybe about Ambassador Schech who is doing a holy work since October 7th accompanying the families and really making sure that their voices being heard internationally this is really an amazing effort now about the about the deal I definitely think that Israel has to take an initiative here the hostages is one of the goals if not the main goal of this war releasing the hostages obviously and definitely Israel has to take an initiative as well Israel has to put on the table all kinds of all kinds of plans and all kinds of offers that has to be echoed by the Qataris by the Egyptians and by the Americans obviously definitely we shouldn't leave this only for the Qataris because the Qataris are representing Hamas and we want someone who will fully represent Israel now no doubt the Americans are fully involved are highly involved but we should contemplate with the Americans what kind of offers we want now as we mentioned before by the reporters and others the intense phase of the battle in Gaza definitely in the northern part of Gaza is about to be over we are about to take over the entire part of the northern part of Gaza and Hanunas is progressing it might take few more weeks but it is progressing and while there is a ground maneuver it is very difficult to stop this ground maneuver but if there is one reason to stop the ground maneuver is for an understanding to release the hostages and now I think we are in a much better position than before because we are much closer to Sinwar and the leadership of the Hamas so we are in a much better position to negotiate and definitely we should put now all kinds of plans all kinds of offers on the table one of the names that was mentioned in that report is Maron Baragouti Fatah Hafishal who of course is in prison for acts of terror against Israelis we have seen cases in the past like a Hamas official Hamas leader Yixin Wah who was released under a different prisoner exchange deal back at the time and reverted to terror it goes also with the fact that we heard Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday saying that the PA is also looking to destroy Israel maybe not the same way as Hamas does but in stages how do you see the prospect of releasing such a senior Fatah Hafishal at this time after everything that is going on and with the fact that the Palestinian Authority has yet to really condemn the massacre of October 7th continues to pay salaries to terrorists for acts that they for killing Israeli civilians what do you make of all of that there are two different things that you're asking me guys the first thing is releasing Maron Baragouti Baragouti is a murderer no doubt he has been convicted for 17 murders so he's not just just like that sitting in Israeli jail but nevertheless on October 7th Israel has broken the contract the unwritten contract between Israel and its citizens and no doubt that we will have to pay a very heavy price and also releasing murderers and if it is Baragouti this is the price in order to release all the hostages I have zero doubts in my mind and I believe that many others that he should be released it doesn't mean that we will stop pursuing and getting after all the murders of the Hamas and we'll continue to do that and the Palestinian Authority of Baragouti now the second question that you're asking me is about the Palestinian Authority so here I'll tell you two things one I believe that this is of Israel's interest to already discuss with our ally the Americans the day after and what will be in the day after the Americans are speaking about a revitalized Palestinian Authority and we should listen if we are not setting the conditions for the day after somebody else will put the conditions for us on the day after so we definitely need to be in this discussion now when they are saying a revitalized Palestinian Authority we should start the discussions what does it mean a totally different Palestinian Authority that is not supporting terrorism that is not supporting the textbooks that perpetrate the terrorist attacks that are not giving allowances to terrorist to families of terrorists all of the above and much much more than that so if it is being reformed maybe we can conduct the discussion but we should add another element to this discussion because what we have to tell our American friends is that we are dealing with the symptoms all the time when we are dealing with the Hamas and when we are dealing with the Palestinian Authority and Hezbollah and the Houthis we are all the time dealing with the symptoms and if the Americans like we want to see an entire new Middle East a different Middle East we should put in the equation into the equation the Iranians as well because if you don't deal with a problem then you won't be able to make a significant change in the region so the Iranians have to be on the equation of the day after and the Americans should not deal with that as an excuse but rather as a major element maybe the element in order to change the equation and to create a new Middle East Yes of course an administration that to a large degree has turned a blind eye to Iran in recent years let's take a listen to President Biden speaking about Israel and military age just last night I've known Bebe for now 51 years he has a picture on his desk of he and I when he was a young member of the Israeli service here foreign service and I was a 32-year-old senator and I wrote on the top of Bebe I love him but I don't agree with the damn thing you had to say it's about the same today I love him it's a tough spot tough spot we continue to provide military assistance until they get rid of Hamas but we have to be careful they have to be careful the whole world's public opinion can shift overnight we can't let that happen Yes so that was President Biden of course at the event of lighting Hanukkah candles celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah this week very interesting relations between President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu they do go a very long way back we can remind our viewers that at the start of this current term of Netanyahu there's a lot of discussion about the cold relations the fact that he was not invited to the White House well it seems like the war that was imposed on Israel has really turned all the cards and the strong relations between these two countries and between these two leaders is very clear so no doubt there are a lot of differences between Netanyahu and President Biden but at the end of the day we have to remember that Biden is a Zionist as he says as he defines himself as a Zionist and he has done for Israel now more than many other presidents maybe the only president that we can compare to President Biden is Harry Truman in 1948 when he decided to acknowledge to recognize the State of Israel against the will and the recommendation of his Secretary of State Marshall so this is really a unique president and as you mentioned the ammunition is one example I mean no doubt that the Americans are supplying ammunition more than 200 planes already landed in Israel and I can go on and on the diplomatic umbrella that Biden is supplying but there are differences major differences between Netanyahu and Biden we can call it love and hate and as you defined it very very correctly I mean before the war started President Biden even was not only ignoring Prime Minister Netanyahu but he didn't want to welcome him so at the end of the day the way to the way to work on that is on the day after at times of war your friends certainly show Yakida and former Israeli consul to Los Angeles thank you very much more updates coming up at the top of the hour thank you for watching so where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front lines but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well to our rolling coverage of Israel's war now at day 67 fighting against Hamas strongholds continues in various fronts across the Gaza Strip at this hour more rockets have been fired into Israeli communities earlier this morning and sad news on the falling of IDF reserve soldier master sergeant Zvika Lavi who died after being wounded in battle two weeks ago one of the many brave heroes who lost their lives in the defense of the state of Israel and as 137 Israelis are still being held hostage in the hands of Hamas in Gaza Egyptian sources say that Israel has expressed willingness to promote a new hostage release deal with Hamas however both Hamas and Israeli sources denied that such a deal was even on the table meanwhile on the northern front the Hezbollah terror group has fired dozens of rockets and anti-tank missiles towards Israeli communities and military posts yesterday with Israel striking back and last night confirmation from the U.S. military that an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen struck a commercial tanker causing fire and damage but no casualties the attack on the Norwegian tanker Strinda took place about 60 nautical miles north of the strait of Babelmandab in the Red Sea meanwhile last night Israeli defense minister Yav Galant said that Israel was open to a possible agreement with Hezbollah if it included a safe zone along the border with Lebanon and other security guarantees we have the ability to meet every threat in a similar way or beyond what's going on in Gaza and we do it every day this is why they have many fatalities and many more wounded if Hezbollah will allow an agreement process and I won't go into its details but clearly it cannot be that it does not include a situation in which there is a safe distance from our fence to forces that could shoot into Israeli territory or forces that could take action inside Israel if this is possible with the appropriate guarantee we can talk about it let's take you live now to Israel's northern border our 24 news Middle East correspondent Ariel Osran is there Ariel the threat of Hezbollah on the north has only intensified since the Second Lebanon War of 2006 it is still a major concern for the residents of the north many of them are displaced from their homes talk to us about how worrying is the prospect of an even greater escalation there right guys so the situation here on the ground after a quiet morning and evening we just moments before you came to me we heard a fighter jet fly overhead and then a boom behind me and the border with Lebanon and then moments after artillery fire still no confirmation as to what was the nature of this strike but the moments we get additional information regarding that we will obviously report on it but as you mentioned the situation on the north is very dangerous that's why the residents 80-90,000 of them have been already evacuated and as we heard from Defense Minister Galant this is something that Israel needs to act to prevent but also that it is open for some kind of arrangement that would allow Hezbollah to stay to maintain some sort of monitoring capacity south of the Litany River but obviously a call by Israeli ministers not only Galant also Benny Gantz in a phone call yesterday with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken a call to enforce UN Resolution 1701 that prevents Hezbollah from carrying weapons south of the Litany River and that also coincides with reports coming out from Saudi media and Arabia reporting last night that Israel relayed similar demands to international mediators that and reiterating the call that the international community must act and pressure the Lebanese government to prevent Hezbollah from carrying out these continued attacks along the border yesterday we saw seven such attacks but prior to the ceasefire in Gaza that reached over 20 and so with a constant daily dynamic of escalation there's concern that this is that the situation is only continuing and will further exacerbate our Ariel Osaran with the beautiful views of the scenery of the northern Israel unfortunately that is now a battle ground over there Ariel thank you for that update now for more I want to bring in in studio Yaqui Dayan former Israeli Council in Los Angeles let's start with the north and these reports also mainly in Saudi media about at least outlining Israel's conditions for international mediators regarding the situation along the border with Lebanon how likely are we to see any sort of agreement that would push Hezbollah back away from the border over the Lytani River without any sort of military intervention Yaqui Dayan former Israeli Council so there is a clear understanding that Israel is not going back to the status quo that was on October 6th in the northern border this is a clear understanding that was conveyed to the Americans now clearly the Americans don't want to expend the war they are making sure that this war is not being expended to the northern border and to Lebanon now the message that was conveyed to the Americans is if the situation in the northern border is not being changed meaning i.e. if the Hezbollah is not being pushed to the Lytani River maybe a bit less but creating some kind of a buffer zone that would be unacceptable to Israel and we have to use military force now with this message being conveyed to the Americans the Americans together with the French that are playing a significant role as well and on those negotiations they are conducting those negotiations with the Lebanese now there is no Lebanese army or at least there is no general now standing in the head heading the military so the conversations are being conducted with the government with the military but there is a lot of skepticism in Israel that those negotiations will lead definitely to resuming and implementing 1701 the Security Council resolution or just pushing back Hezbollah and this is the big question if this is not being done so the only way out is using military force and when the intense the intense phase in the battle in Gaza will end then we move to the northern border and we might see an escalation a further escalation to what we see now in the northern border and of course as we speak about the north the fighting continues in the south inside the Gaza Strip and last night IDF chief Hercie Alevi together with the head of the Shin Bet run in a bar were inside Han Yunis let's take a listen to what they had to say it's a war of tunnel shafts and it seems to me that what is special about this war is that it should be both broad in order to collapse the operational and governmental infrastructures but also very focused in order to reach to our citizens and get them out it seems to me that there is no force that can stand against this combination there is a big pressure here and I think that this surrendering that the people coming out and raising their hands is also a break in their spirit it also accelerates our achievements in the end we want to move forward quickly we are securing our accomplishments in the northern part of the Gaza Strip the entrance in the south of the Gaza Strip and also deep down into the ground let's take you live now to the Israel-Gaza border correspondent Pierre Klosschendler is standing by there Pierre we saw there Alevi and Barr in a show of strength the two highest ranking heads of security establishments in the heart of the city that was controlled by Hamas just over a week ago talk to us about the significance of that well I wouldn't say that Han Yunis is under full operational control of the Israeli army right now as fighting is still going on on the outskirts the north and northeastern outskirts of Han Yunis as well as inside the city where the 98 divisions which was visited by the chief of staff and the chief of the general security services who work in tight coordination visited yesterday and you noticed they were sitting on the sofa in a Palestinian home and I think that this is a message to the Palestinian population as well as a message of support to the 98 division of all the commando units of the IDF that are fighting in close combat inside the city right now here you can see the pillars of fire that are emanating from the area of the El Hazar Islamic University complex which was already taken over a few days ago and where weapons were found and this has been burning for the past couple of hours so it could be a fuel depot used by Hamas or it could be maybe a workshop for manufacturing weapons we don't exactly know of course from afar and on the right of your monitor you will see Chejaia which is one of the last neighborhoods of Gaza city on the southeastern outskirts where close combat fighting has been going on and in the past half hour there's been a lot of targeting of presumed Hamas targets from the air we've heard the shrieking of the guided missiles that are launched by gunships and by the Israeli jets we've heard also the wearing of the rudder blades we hear the buzz of the civilians and attack drones the front is very very active and at the same time down south is Hanunas you can't see it much but there's still heavy bombing in the area of Hanunas in this direction and it's a matter of days the IDF says before Chejaia and the northern refugee camp of Jebalia fall into IDF operational control as 50% of the command chain of Hamas has been annihilated and more and more Hamas and Palestinian Islamic terrorists are surrendering because they don't get any more any orders from their commanders very heavy fighting all across the Gaza Strip at this very hour Pierre Kloschender reporting from the Israel-Gaza border thank you for that and as the fighting continues so does the battle to release some 137 Israelis that are held captive at the hands of Hamas in Gaza former Israeli ambassador to France and I-24 News Regular Daniel Schaik is also the director of diplomacy at the hostage and missing families form Daniel your efforts to release more hostages is not limited to the borders of Israel it is a global campaign you're in Prague right now first of all tell us about your mission there who is with you and who are you able to speak to well yes we have a whole international campaign we have as we speak I think three delegations in three different parts of the world all of them with different numbers of family members here in Prague I have representatives of three families and in a very quick 36-hour effort we're going to meet top people from the political parliamentary and media areas of the Czech Republic it has to be said that the Czech Republic is definitely one of the most friendly and understanding countries in the world concerning Israel so this is not a mission here in order to convince people but it's a mission to echo and to resonate the stories of the hostage families in order to keep the issue on the agenda and I must say with really it's heartwarming to hear the people here speak to see the people even on the street when we walk and the family members walk with their t-shirts with the images of their loved ones people are empathetic people know what this is about and last night I went with we went all of us for a little walk with with the number two at the embassy in Prague which has been extremely helpful and she showed us a big wall with all the posters of the hostages and she told us here nobody tears them down the only enemy of these posters is the wind and the rain certainly heartwarming to hear that at least in some parts of Europe to see that support but ambassador as we speak there are various reports circulating in the recent days about the next possible hostage release deal one of them on a Saudi paper Elaf says that a new possible formula will include the release of women children elderly young Israelis and even three senior IDF officers that are reportedly taken captive by Hamas and that would be in exchange for 300 Palestinian prisoners as well as senior Fatah official Marwan Baruguti what do the families know about these offers about this possible plans and what do you make of them well I'll say this the families obviously are not involved in the negotiations and don't know the details about a plan that is or isn't on the table you know I take this with a large grain of salt I'm sure my very good friend Yaki Dayan who's with you in the studio will understand when I say that such reports are floated by all sorts of people and may have all sorts of objectives and they don't necessarily reflect anything reliable the only thing the families say very simply is the state of Israel the government of Israel has to cease every opportunity that arises in order to renew the negotiations so that we have another agreement for the release of hostages and more than that the state of Israel should maybe take its own initiatives and not be only reactive to offers made through Qatar by Hamas that is their position now the details who will be released in exchange who won't this is not the family's business this is not the business of a civil society organization like ours this is definitely the responsibility of the state of Israel and we understand that there are all sorts of implications to it but from the family's point of view everything has to be done so that every single hostage is released Ambassador Daniel Scheck Director of Diplomacy at the Hostage and Missing Families Forum thank you for your time thank you for the work that you're doing there for the families still with me is Yaki Dayan let's speak about some of the points mentioned there by Ambassador Scheck first the Israeli initiative what do you think in terms of diplomacy of in terms of negotiation should Israel be offering on the table now plan to release several hundred Palestinian prisoners senior officials and say to Hamas well this is our offer take it on the table does that show strength does that show weakness how do you see it just one word about one sentence maybe about Ambassador Scheck who is doing a holy work since October 7th accompanying the families and really making sure that their voices being heard internationally this is really an amazing effort now about the deal I definitely think that Israel has to take an initiative here the hostages is one of the goals if not the main goal of this war releasing on the hostages obviously and definitely Israel has to take an initiative as well Israel has to put on the table all kinds of plans and all kinds of offers that has to be echoed by the Qataris by the Egyptians and by the Americans obviously definitely we shouldn't leave this only for the Qatari because the Qataris are representing Hamas and we want someone who will fully represent Israel now no doubt the Americans are fully involved are highly involved but we should contemplate with the Americans what kind of offers we want now as we mentioned before by the reporters and others the intense phase of the battle in Gaza definitely in the northern part of Gaza is about to be over we are about to take over the entire part of the northern part of Gaza and Hanunas is progressing it might take a few more weeks but it is progressing and while there is a ground maneuver it is very difficult to stop this ground maneuver but if there is one reason to stop the ground maneuver is for understanding to release the hostages and now I think we are in a much better position than before because we are much closer to Sinwar and the leadership of the Hamas so we are in a much better position to negotiate and definitely we should put now all kinds of plans all kinds of offers on the table one of the names that was mentioned in that report is Maron Baragouti Fatah Hafishal of course is in prison for acts of terror against Israelis we have seen cases in the past like Hamas official Hamas leader Yixin Wah who was released under a different prisoner exchange deal back at the time and reverted to terror it goes also with the fact that we heard Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday was saying that the PA is also looking to destroy Israel maybe not the same way as Hamas does but in stages how do you see the prospect of releasing such a senior Fatah Hafishal at this time after everything that is going on and with the fact that the Palestinian Authority has yet to really condemn the massacre of October 7th continues to pay salaries to terrorists for acts that they for killing Israeli civilians what do you make of all of that there are two different things that you're asking me Guy the first thing is releasing Baragouti Baragouti is a murderer no doubt he has been convicted for 17 murders so he's not just just like that sitting in Israeli jail but nevertheless on October 7th Israel has broken the contract the unwritten contract between Israel and its citizens and no doubt that we will have to pay a very heavy price and also releasing murderers and if it is Baragouti and this is the price in order to release all the hostages I have zero doubts in my mind and I believe that many others that he should be released it doesn't mean that we will stop pursuing and getting after all the murders of the Hamas and we'll continue to do that and the Palestinian Authority of Baragouti now the second question that you're asking me is about the Palestinian Authority so here I'll tell you two things one I believe that this is of Israel's interest to already discuss with our ally the Americans the day after and what will be in the day after the Americans are speaking about a revitalized Palestinian Authority and we should listen if we are not setting the conditions for the day after somebody else will put the conditions for us on the day after so we definitely need to be in this discussion now when they are saying a revitalized Palestinian Authority we should start the discussions what does it mean a totally different Palestinian Authority that is not supporting terrorism that is not supporting the textbooks that perpetrate the terrorist attacks that are not giving allowances to terrorist to families of terrorists all of the above and much much more than that so if it is being reformed maybe we can conduct the discussion but we should add another element to this discussion because what we have to tell our American friends is that we are dealing with the symptoms all the time when we are dealing with the Hamas and when we are dealing with the Palestinian Authority and Hezbollah and the Houthis we are all the time dealing with the symptoms and if the Americans like we want to see an entire new Middle East a different Middle East we should put in the equation into the equation the Iranians as well because if you don't deal with the problem then you won't be able to make a significant change in the region so the Iranians have to be in the on the equation of the day after and the Americans should not deal with that as an excuse but rather as a major element maybe the element in order to change the equation and to create a new Middle East this of course an administration that to a large degree has turned a blind eye to Iran in recent years let's take a listen to President Biden speaking about Israel and military age just last night I've known Bibi for now 51 years he has a picture on his desk of he and I when he was a young member of Israeli service here foreign service and I was a 32 year old senator and I wrote on the top of Bibi I love him but I don't agree with the damn thing you had to say it's about the same today I love him it's a tough spot tough spot we continue to provide military assistance in Zoom to until they get rid of Hamas but but we have to be careful they have to be careful the whole world's public opinion can shift overnight we can't let that happen yes so that was President Biden of course at the event of lighting Hanukkah candles celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah this week very interesting relations between President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin and Netanyahu they do go a very long way back we can remind our viewers that at the start of this current term of Netanyahu there's a lot of discussion about the cold relations the fact that he was not invited to the White House well it seems like the war that was imposed on Israel has really turned all the cards and the strong relations between these two countries and between these two leaders is very clear so no doubt there are a lot of differences between Netanyahu and President Biden but at the end of the day we have to remember that Biden is a Zionist as he says as he defines himself as a Zionist and he has done for Israel now more than many other presidents maybe the only president that we can compare to President Biden is Harry Truman in 1948 when he decided to acknowledge to recognize the State of Israel against the will and the recommendation of his Secretary of State Marshall so this is really a unique president