170 terrorists have entered the Nakh al-Oz base. Saturday morning at half past 6, they have already identified a swarm of terrorists on the fence, and they asked for help. To be precise, it was at 6.29 a.m. And they were told, deal with it, we have other priorities. In that situation, the commander on duty needs to make a decision, make a decision, get them on a Hummer, get them out of there. Then they would be here with us today. According to the IDF investigation, this is what happened on the ground at the moment the barrier was breached. At 6.29, field observers had identified two armed men running towards the fence, the beginning of the infiltration.  At 6.31, the deputy battalion commander announces what he defines as a complex event. Seven minutes later, at 6.38 a.m., terrorists from Hamas's elite Nakhbayunat have fully crossed the fence. At 6.40 a.m., the procedure for dealing with an infiltration from the Gaza Strip was officially declared. Two minutes later, the platoon commander activates sentry tech systems that automatically identify threats and open fire, hitting some of the terrorists. But two minutes later, at 6.44, the system stopped working. The cameras did as well. At 6.51, a situation assessment finally made it through to IDF's southern command. Terrorists have entered the outpost. The battle inside the outpost lasted for many hours. The investigation shows that the amount of weapons the terrorists carried with them was much greater than the amount of weapons the IDF soldiers had at their disposal, both in quantity and in quality. During intense fighting, some of the soldiers took cover in shelters that turned into death traps. The majority of them were murdered or taken hostage. Some soldiers managed to hide in their dorms. Some locked themselves inside the war room. The hours of being barricaded and terrified inside the war room are as if taken from a horror movie. This is what happened. The terrorists did not enter the war room at any stage. They carried out the attacks from the hallway. They threw hand grenades within an incendiary substance that releases toxic gases. The goal? To asphyxiate everyone in the war room within minutes. The smoke that came into the closed room began to suffocate the 22 people who were locked inside. The soldiers could not open the burning door of the war room. Seven managed to make it through the window. One field observer and six fighters. We know that the explosion at the war room occurred between 1130 and 12, meaning that they were alive for five hours and no one came to rescue them. In this report by Yonit Levy two weeks ago, the parents of the field observers detailed how they conducted their own investigation into the events of that day, putting together fragments of information they collected. Even today, after the IDF representatives shared with them the initial findings, the full picture remains unclear. While the parents are waiting for a full and comprehensive investigation to take place, they are still insisting on viewing the remaining security camera footage themselves, all so they can fully understand the chain of events that led to the bloody battle of the Nahal Oz Outpost. 924 News, we'll be back at the top of the hour. Until then, I'm Sam Martinez. Thanks for watching. Israel is in a state of war. Families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where she is. Our soldiers are fighting on the front lines, but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. Welcome to the I-24 News Desk. I'm Sarah Martinez, live from Tel Aviv. Today marks the 76th day of the war as Israel's ground operation to dismantle Hamas and Gaza intensifies. A short while ago, rocket sirens sounded in Gaza border communities for the second time today after a 40-hour long. The IDF says it's nearing the end of its offensive in the northern part of the Strip and has begun fighting in new areas, including Hanyunas, where Hamas leadership is believed to be hiding. In the past day, the Air Force has struck over 230 Hamas targets in the Gaza enclave and discovered more weapons hidden inside schools. The Israeli army has also announced the death of three more soldiers killed in fighting, bringing the IDF tool to 137. Meanwhile, Hamas has reportedly rejected an Israeli offer to temporarily halt fighting in exchange for the release of the 129 hostages still held captive in the war zone. According to the Wall Street Journal, the terror group wants Israel to first implement a ceasefire before beginning negotiations. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, U.S. President Biden doesn't expect a new hostage deal between Israel and Hamas to come anytime soon. We're pushing it. There's no expectation at this point, but we are pushing it. And your reaction to 20,000 dead in Gaza that death toll reached today, right? Let's try. The hostilities are escalating in the north on Israel's border with Lebanon. I-24 News correspondent Zach Anders is on the ground. Zach, what's happening where you are? We're looking at some major developments here in the north. 15 separate communities along the northern border have been placed in a state of lockdown. Gates closed, roads closed, and there are more checkpoints. We've just gone through a checkpoint that was not there in the days before. This is a heavy level of activity that's taking place as a precaution. I'm told that it is the result of some strong language that's coming out of southern Lebanon, Hezbollah statements in Lebanese media channels. And as a result of yesterday, the IDF struck very hard. We're hearing last night at several positions throughout the south there was extensive damage and casualties. Hezbollah updated its figures for its casualties with 118 of its militants now killed since the fighting began. That is a number that has been growing exponentially in the last week. Yesterday we also saw damage to some communities where apparently Hezbollah was operating and potential civilian casualties that have not yet been confirmed. But the statements from Hezbollah are relating to civilian deaths. They are claiming that they're going to strike back with force today, prompting apparently a general broad assessment by the IDF telling the Upper Galilee Regional Council to take extra precautions today. And that's what we're seeing a very heavy presence here in the north. Everyone is in a state of standby as we are, again, not an offensive stage with the IDF. But this is, again, just a very strong stance today, a very great sense of precaution. And this escalation amid US and French diplomatic efforts to secure some sort of buffer zone on the ground there. Yeah, and that buffer zone is six miles to start. At least that's the negotiations we're hearing. That's significant because it does push some of the weapons that we have been seen used frequently in this conflict out of range. We have anti-tank guided missiles and mortars that need to be launched by militants, personnel on the ground. This is going to put them out of range, but not entirely. And Hezbollah still has a vast arsenal of heavy rockets at its disposal. That wouldn't matter even if they're able to get the original proposal, the buffer zone, all the way to the Lattani River. That does not push these heavy rockets out of range. They'll still be able to hit central Israel even. This is the concern, so we're still waiting to see where these diplomatic talks go. But so far, no major breakthroughs in the last 48 hours. Zach Anders, thank you very much for that update from the Israel-Lebanon border. I want to introduce my panel with me here in studio. Yaakov Labin, Military and Strategic Affairs Analyst for the Jewish News Syndicate and the Miriam Institute. As well as I-24 News Senior Correspondent Owen Alterman. Thank you both for joining me today. Yaakov, I want to start with you before we turn to the situation in Gaza. I want to get your assessment on the situation happening on the Lebanese border. I've thought for several weeks that Israel and Hezbollah are on a collision course. And I think we're seeing that collision start to happen. There's a fundamental clash of interests here. Israel is going to demand, as you just referred to in your question, to a buffer zone. It's going to demand that Hezbollah move back and in order to fulfill a basic requirement to allow Northern residents to come back to their homes. We have between 80,000 to 100,000 according to various estimates. People who are internally displaced cannot come back to their homes. Some of them are looking for permanent homes in central Israel. So this is a state of affairs. It's a crisis that cannot go on indefinitely. Chief of Staff last night said the IDF will change the situation fundamentally. Hezbollah understands that this is where it's going. It's not going to accept a buffer zone lying down. Diplomacy is just a weight and whole tactic both sides are using to prepare themselves, in my opinion, for the next stage, which is an escalation. And is there a clash in visions between what the Israelis see as the reality on the ground versus what U.S. and foreign diplomatic efforts see as the solution here when it comes to Hezbollah? Unfortunately, I think there is. Ultimately, there's a clash of interests. The United States, as a global superpower, is interested in preventing a regional war. It wants to hem in fencing the Israel Hamas war to the Gaza Strip and to not let it expand because it wants to prioritize the Chinese challenge in the Pacific arena. It wants to enable its forces to go east. It doesn't want to get drawn into a Middle East conflict. And Israel has an entirely separate set of interests, which is to never again allow a terrorist sort of proxy monster to grow on its border and threaten its communities as we had happening in Gaza and Lebanon. So there is this inherent clash of interests. And speaking of Gaza, IDF is intensifying its combat in Hanyunis where Hamas military leadership is believed to be hiding out. Talk to us about the difficulties on the ground, including Hamas' network of tunnels, where those terrorists are believed to be hiding and holding those hostages captive. So we've seen some very interesting updates from the IDF about what it's been doing in northern Gaza in recent weeks, which is detecting and taking apart this very elaborate tunnel network that was dug out in the Remal area of northern Gaza for the leadership of Hamas. And they were using this to move around all over northern Gaza. And then when they wanted to move above ground, they had ambulances taking them and then they could go back down into the tunnels, an incredible network of covert movement. And the reason that the IDF was able to do this in northern Gaza is because it has essentially entered the mopping up phase of the northern Gaza war. And in southern Gaza, it's still taking on the above ground Hamas threat. And it's beginning to prepare to go underground. That's where the Hamas leadership is believed to be hiding in Hanyunis underground, the last fortress of Hamas. So we're seeing this sort of order of operations above ground and then they're going underground. And briefly, before we go to our correspondent there on the ground, there are reports that Israel had knowledge of this massive tunnel four years prior. Yeah.  But ultimately, you know, the problem here is knowing about capabilities that were being built and not taking action against them based on this concept that it's possible to deter. It's possible to contain these concepts. Of course, you know, completely collapsed on October 7th in the most tragic way possible. And that entire concept will have to be revisited in a very thorough manner after the war. All right. Let's cross over to 24 News Correspondent Pierre Klochender. He's on the Israel-Gaza border. Pierre, rocket siren sounding for a second time this morning after what was a 40-hour long? Absolutely. And the rocket fire is emanating probably from Hanyunis because it's on the communities that are facing Hanyunis, again, near us, near him. And these places could probably be the staging ground of forces going inside Hanyunis or getting out of Hanyunis rotating. And therefore Hamas is trying to prevent that. I don't know if you hear the outgoing shells, but the IDF right now is striking with its artillery the little town of Almugraka, which is in the south of Gaza City and which controls the access road, the Salahadin road to Hanyunis. And it's a very important battleground for these ready forces as the thrust of the offensive right now focuses on Hanyunis. Also, you can maybe see the white smoke on the right of your monitor, which is Shejaia, where there are still strikes on a little town that has been basically the siege of very harsh battles. And further to the right, I can ask Igor Bazilenko, a cameraman, you will see now an airstrike from the Jabalia refugee camp, which is north of where we are. And Jabalia was stated to be by the IDF and the full operational control. But overnight and even this morning, you can see there are airstrikes on the refugee camp. Earlier in the night, it was announced that the army enabled the organized evacuations of displaced Palestinians that seek shelter in a school of Jabalia. They were evacuated and inside the school, they found a weapon depot. As usual, in such places, sensitive places where Hamas believed that the army would not dare to enter for fear of a humanitarian disaster, there is again an arms depot using infrastructure, civilians infrastructure as human shield. And you see more strikes in this particular sector. But this is a small sector of the central Gaza Strip. And the thrust of the offensive, as I said, is in Canunas, where an additional brigade has been added to at least two brigades and other units inside and around Canunas in order to put maximum pressure on the city which has become, according to the Israeli Defense Minister, the alternative terror capital of the Gaza Strip after the city of Gaza has been under operational control of the Israeli army. And Tia, you mentioned there the humanitarian crisis taking place in Gaza. Tell us a little bit about the efforts to bring in aid into the enclave. There is an effort not only by Israel but by many countries, including Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and others to alleviate the plight of the Palestinians because 80% even maybe more of the population of the whole Gaza Strip is now crammed into half of it in the central and southern sector of the Gaza Strip on 180 square kilometers. The UAE has installed a desalination plan on the Egyptian side in the Sinai Peninsula south of the Gaza Strip. And they've laid pipelines which are bringing water, desalinated water to 150,000 people. That's not enough because there are 2 million people now inside that sector in safe humanitarian zones or at relatives in Rafar or in Hanoones. And yet the Israeli army has also opened an additional crossing in addition to the Nitzana crossing which brings humanitarian trucks from Israeli territory into Egyptian territory. It takes an hour to reach the Rafar terminal. But the problem with the Rafar terminal is that its capacity is limited to about 100 trucks. So they opened under U.S. pressure another terminal, the Kerem Shalom crossing where the aid is transferred after inspection directly into the Gaza Strip. Now there are about 200 trucks a day that are being transferred to the Gaza Strip including four trucks of fuel and also four trucks of cooking gas for the displaced Palestinian population. The problem is those trucks are either hijacked by Hamas terrorists to supply their own forces or they're looted by the population so that the U.N. organizations have a very difficult time to gather that humanitarian aid into specific places and distribute it. We know also that the U.S. administration is trying also to revive the markets of Gaza in other words to bring in goods that are not necessarily only humanitarian in order to revive the economy of embattled Gaza but that is also going to take time because it requires inspections because it requires more capacity at the Rafar crossing and this maybe will give more hope to the displaced population of Gaza but at a later stage I believe. Jaqal Al-Shamler thank you very much for that update from the Israel-Gaza border. Still with me here in studio Yaqob Laban and Owen Alterman. Owen I want to start with you. New reports perhaps updates in hostage negotiations? Yeah from Al-Akhbar in Lebanon, Hezbollah linked media outlet and Sarah the spin may be back right as we remember from previous negotiations a flurry of reports about what's going on in the talks some of them true some of them false some of them somewhere in the middle all of them I think intended to have an impact on the negotiations themselves spun and put out there and leaked for a reason at any rate such as they are here's the information that's in that report Hezbollah asking for him a Hamas rather asking for a 10 to 1 prisoner to hostage ratio again remind viewers that the in the previous deal was a 3 to 1 ratio so obviously a big difference the United States actually being the actor that's pushing Israel for a longer truce more than a week of what we saw last time but a two week truce to get hostages freed it seems the number of hostages that would set to be released at 40 which has been consistent with previous reports again focusing on groups that Israel wants to see released women the elderly and the sick and injured and the hang up on Israel side less so about the ratio and the number that about the type of prisoner released and who would actually be released as part of this deal Sarah I will say this obviously when it's coming from Hezbollah linked outlet obviously caution is advised but there are some elements of this that actually in some sense ring true such as the idea that the United States would be the actor who wants the truce to be extended it's more of an American interest than anybody else's and the fact that the hang up on the Israeli side is less about the length of the truce I don't think it's all that material at this point whether the truce is one week or two weeks and even less about the ratio right as tough as that would be for Israelis to swallow but much more about who would be released which prisoners would be released that I suspect and I wonder what Yaakov thinks about this is likely to be the hang up on the Israeli side and if anything would generate opposition and pushback to this deal from a month within public opinion and more importantly from within those 30 plus ministers who ultimately would have to okay the deal it would be the who which prisoners would have to be released and that I think would be the Israeli backstop on this so again the fact that the spin is back maybe further evidence of the seriousness of the talks and the seriousness of which it is taken even if the information in this particular report may or may not actually itself be true and Yaakov has mentioned certainly some pushback in public opinion when it comes to the ratio as he mentioned of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages but I want to talk about the risk and more so the ratio the who would be released right exactly the who would be released there's a difference in that 10 to 1 who those 10 are and to my point what are the risks here of releasing perhaps a large number of Palestinian terrorist prisoners or as Owen said who those people are of course there's a risk Yahya Sanwar was released as part of the Gilat Shalit deal and now he's you know in charge of this war and the unprecedented mass murder that Israelis have experienced the risk is huge but I actually think I agree that Israel will demand the right to say who is going to be released which one which group which category of its captives will be released first but I think the element of time is actually crucial there's a very big difference between a week and 2 weeks in terms of a ceasefire operationally and tactically and I think essentially what Hamas wants here is to build up a dynamic in which a ceasefire will end up becoming permanent and it wants to trap Israel into that position it thinks that it can create dynamics which are not currently seen and then it will extend again and again until Israel will give up under the pressure of international pressure and various other factors other regional developments that's what Hamas is banking its entire survival strategy on and that's why they're demanding that time is such a critical asset time is the oxygen that they need to survive and this is the thing that Israel will not give them because otherwise the entire war effort will not succeed so I would just draw attention to the element of time it's crucial to probably the most important thing that's being negotiated here except for two things number one that whole theory that a temporary pause will lead to a permanent ceasefire was proven false in the first round of the military proved and the public here proved that it was willing to go back to war and second we're obviously in a different place in the fighting we're set to move on to the next phase such as it is with the lower intensity warfare to use the American language anyway so I guess given that is the risk the same from Israel's perspective now as it was before that first deal in November and the odds of Hamas actually getting benefits and profiting from that strategy aren't those odds longer this time than they were even in November when Hamas may have gotten obviously advantages through the truce I think that seems to be at least as a layman clear but not a kind of game-changing advantages that they at least wanted right well and that was a shorter truce but I think really the main thing is not the length of the truce but this hope that it will lead to something new from Hamas's perspective they think that they can wiggle their way out of this and end up ending the war with the leadership intact and surviving coming out joining the PA in some future regime they have these dreams of surviving the war and if they get that picture if they get that picture of them emerging Yahis and war death any of them emerging after this war intact they will declare victory and by the way rightly so so this is the most important thing from Israel's perspective is to make it absolutely clear that Hamas's demands for the length of the truce will not be respected if it's beyond a certain reasonable degree and let's also keep in mind what Hamas's original demand in this round of negotiations was a permanent truce and they weren't joking this is really what they want so again I'm drawing attention to the time as a concept that can lead to something as far as Hamas is concerned to survival that's the thing that they're after here before we start discussing the other Iranian proxies in the region threatening Israeli security I want to turn to you Owen quickly UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has touched on in Cairo what's on the agenda there yeah I think it seems like a broadly similar agenda Sarah to the previous stop on his agenda in Amman again wanting to be seen I think more than anything else visiting these countries and to be seen as doing something to move forward on the ideas that he put in that op-ed that he co-authored the idea of a quote a sustainable ceasefire to try to put flesh on those bones what exactly is a sustainable ceasefire because by his own admission you can't have a sustainable ceasefire until Hamas is defeated so then how can you actually have a ceasefire right now before Hamas is defeated at any rate I think there are some smaller scale goals here again moving more aid into the Gaza Strip that was a big part of the visit in Jordan presumably even more so in Egypt because of the geography that there will be real deliverables after because it's hard for me to imagine I think this is more political both internally in Britain and geopolitically for its other relationships in the Middle East and around the world for him to be seen as going out there and making this trip so again he's in Egypt and we'll meet with Samachukri the Egyptian Foreign Minister as we understand it over the next few hours and then at some point in the trip I'll meet with the President Sisi as well we'll see what the statements are probably of a similar flavor to those in Jordan again that there be concrete action more of the goal in the symbolism in the theater if you will maybe more than theater but in the statement being issued by the very fact of making the trip and showing this is the direction that he wants to take you a British foreign policy and speaking of foreign policy Israel's posture when it comes to the Houthis a new posture does it align with the U.S. Task Force to tackle that it's designed from the Israeli perspective to complement the U.S. Task Force but there's a couple of things being said here in the subtext on board a Sal 6 missile corvette in Elat the Red Sea City this is Israel's newest and most powerful Navy platform and he is saying that if these missile attacks on Elat don't stop and if this terrorizing of commercial shipping that's heading for Israel does not stop Israel will know what to do and he makes reference to air power and sea power which Israel can deploy those capabilities 2,000 kilometers to Yemen now he's saying this I think basically to say to the whole region look this may look like we're not responding but what's actually happening is we're giving this U.S. Task Force a chance if the Task Force fails to take offensive action if it just limits itself to intercepting missiles and drones on commercial shipping then Israel is going to take offensive action against Houthi targets in Yemen as a very bare minimum to make it clear to the other adversaries in the region that you cannot fire on Israel in Israeli and Israel is simply going to sit there and play defense that's a very bad message of deterrence for Israel so Gallant's statement last night was important in my view I want to speak to you a little bit about Iran's strategy that it's used over the years as we've seen using these its proxies in the region to undermine Israel's security and it's a bit of a if you think about it a brilliant strategy of sorts because they're really using these quote-unquote underdogs the Palestinians and the Gaza Strip and the Israelis that are going through a political and economic crisis again pinning Israel as the enemy here not the enemy but perhaps the aggressor it's quite interesting to see the Iranians are very high class strategists this is a big problem what they've done essentially is they've set up franchises and by franchise I mean setting up a terrorist asymmetric army armed with precision munitions and mass ability to deploy firepower firepower bases if we can call on that around Israel's border and they identify areas of failed sovereignty or places that already have sympathetic Islamist regime so the Gaza Strip Lebanon which in many ways is a fiction as a state as a real state they've tried to do the same in Syria and they're trying to do the same in the West Bank it hasn't really worked for them in Syria in the West Bank because Israel is there destroying the lawn whether it's from the air or the ground or both but in places where Israel has not mowed the lawn and by that I mean continuous security operations to take down these growing capabilities Lebanon and Gaza we face the situation that we're in now it's a very smart, devious, dangerous and destabilizing strategy the ultimate goal here is for Iran to be the dominant regional power to destroy this state of Israel they're fully committed to that this is part of their goal and make life here unlivable this is the Iranian goal and also to bring down these Sunni pragmatic states along the way this is their long-term goal and they're pursuing it and they have to be stopped That's a wrap for this hour's broadcast but don't go anywhere i24news will be back at the top of the hour with its rolling coverage of the war here in Israel if you want to stay up to date throughout the day you can connect to our website i24news.tv or on social media it's state of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well through the traffic faster we can get across town quicker ultimately it's cheaper for the folks who pay to use our services it's been so long and we don't know what's happening in Japan I think it's spreading in the middle of the world we're hearing the end of its offensive in the northern part of the strip and has begun fighting in new areas including Hanyunas where Hamas leadership is believed to be hiding in the past day the air force has struck over 230 Hamas targets in the Gaza enclave and discovered more weapons hidden inside schools the Israeli army has also announced the death of three more soldiers killed and fighting bringing the IDF tool to 137 meanwhile Hamas has reportedly rejected an Israeli offer to temporarily halt fighting in exchange for the release of the 129 hostages still held captive in the war zone according to the Wall Street Journal the terror group wants Israel to first implement a ceasefire before beginning negotiations speaking to reporters on Wednesday US President Biden doesn't expect a new hostage deal between Israel and Hamas to come anytime soon yes well we're pushing it there's no expectation at this point but we are pushing and your reaction to 20,000 dead in Gaza that death toll reached today hostilities are escalating in the north on Israel's border with Lebanon I-24 news correspondent Zach Anders is on the ground Zach what's happening where you are we're looking at some major developments here in the north 15 separate communities have been placed in a state of lockdown gates closed roads closed and there are more checkpoints we've just gone through a checkpoint that was not there in the days before this is a heavy level of activity that's taking place as a precaution I'm told that is the result of some strong language that's coming out of southern Lebanon Hezbollah statements in Lebanese media channels and as a result of yesterday the IDF struck very hard we're hearing about it last night at several positions throughout the south there was extensive damage and casualties Hezbollah updated its figures for its casualties with 118 of its militants now killed since the fighting began that is a number that has been growing exponentially in the last week yesterday we also saw damage to some communities where apparently Hezbollah was operating and potential civilian casualties that have not yet been confirmed but the statements from Hezbollah are relating to civilian deaths they are claiming that they're going to strike back with force today prompting apparently a general broad assessment by the IDF telling the upper galley regional council to take extra precautions today and that's what we're seeing a very heavy presence here in the north everyone is in a state of standby as we are again not in intensive stage with the IDF but this is again just a very strong stance today a very great sense of precaution and this escalation in mid US and French diplomatic efforts to secure some sort of buffer zone on the ground there yeah and that buffer zone is six miles to start at least that's the negotiations we're hearing that's significant because it does push some of the weapons that we have been seen used frequently in this conflict the anti-tank guided missiles and mortars that need to be launched by militants personnel on the ground this is going to put them out of range but not entirely and Hezbollah still has a vast arsenal of heavy rockets at its disposal that wouldn't matter even if they're able to get the original proposal the buffer zone all the way to the Lattani river that does not push these heavy rockets out of range they'll still be able to hit central Israel even this is the concern so we're still waiting to see where these diplomatic talks go but so far no major breakthroughs in the last 48 hours Zach Anders thank you very much for that update from the Israel Lebanon border I want to introduce my panel with me here in studio Yaakov Lapin military and strategic affairs analyst for the Jewish news syndicate and the Miriam Institute as well as I-24 news senior correspondent Owen Alterman thank you both for joining me today Yaakov I want to start with you before we move on to the situation in Gaza I want to get your assessment on the situation happening on the Lebanese border I've thought for several weeks that Israel and Hezbollah are on a collision course and I think we're seeing that collision start to happen there's a fundamental clash of interests here Israel is going to demand as you just referred to in your question to a buffer zone it's going to demand that Hezbollah move back and in order to allow the environment to allow northern residents to come back to their homes we have between 80 to 100,000 according to various estimates people who are internally displaced cannot come back to their homes some of them are looking for permanent homes in central Israel so this is a state of affairs it's a crisis that cannot go on indefinitely chief of staff last night said the IDF will change the situation fundamentally Hezbollah understands that this is where it's going it's not going to accept a buffer zone lying down diplomacy a weight in whole tactics both sides are using to prepare themselves in my opinion for the next stage which is an escalation and is there a clash and visions between what the Israelis see as the reality on the ground versus what US and foreign diplomatic efforts see as the solution here when it comes to Hezbollah? Unfortunately I think there is and there's ultimately there's a clash of interests the United States as a global superpower is interested in preventing a regional war it wants to you know hem in the Israel Hamas war to the Gaza Strip and to not let it expand because it wants to prioritize the Chinese challenge in the Pacific arena it wants to enable its forces to go east doesn't want to get drawn into a Middle East conflict and Israel has an entirely separate set of interests which is to never again allow a terrorist sort of proxy monster to grow on its border and threaten communities as we had happening in Gaza and in Lebanon so there is this inherent clash of interests and speaking of Gaza IDF is intensifying its combat in Hanyunas where Hamas military leadership is believed to be hiding out talk to us about the difficulties on the ground including Hamas's network of tunnels where those terrorists are believed to be hiding and holding those hostages captive. So we've seen some very interesting updates from the IDF about what it's been doing in northern Gaza in recent weeks detecting and taking apart this very elaborate tunnel network that was dug out in the Ramal area of northern Gaza for the leadership of Hamas and they were using this to move around all over northern Gaza and then when they wanted to move above ground they had ambulances taking them and then they could go back down into the tunnels you know an incredible network of covert movement and the reason that the IDF is able to do this in northern Gaza is because it has essentially entered the mopping up phase of the northern Gaza war and in southern Gaza it's still taking on the above ground Hamas threat and it's beginning to prepare to go underground that's where the Hamas leadership is believed to be hiding in Hanyunas underground the last fortress of Hamas so we're seeing this sort of order of operations above ground and then they're going underground And briefly before we go to our correspondent there on the ground there are reports that Israel had knowledge of this massive tunnel four years prior yeah I mean there's going to have to be a long reckoning I think you know at the end of this war but ultimately you know the problem here is knowing about capabilities that were being built and not taking action against them based on this concept that it's possible to deter it's possible to contain these concepts of course you know completely collapsed on October 7th in the most tragic way possible and that entire concept will have to be revisited in a very thorough manner after the war that's cost over to I-24 news correspondent Pierre Kloschender he's on the Israel Gaza border Pierre rocket sirens sounding for a second time this morning after what was a 40 hour long absolutely and the rocket fire is emanating probably from Hanyunas because it's on the communities that are facing Hanyunas again near us near him and these places could probably be the staging ground of forces going inside Hanyunas or getting out of Hanyunas rotating and therefore Hamas is trying to prevent that I don't know if you hear the outgoing shells but the IDF right now is striking with its artillery the little town of Almugraka which is in the south of Gaza city and which controls the access road the Salahadin road to Hanyunas and it's a very important battleground for these ready forces as they're as the thrust of the offensive right now focuses on Hanyunas also you can maybe see the white smoke on the right of your monitor which is Shizaya where there are still strikes on a little town that has been basically the siege of very harsh battles and further to the right I can ask Igor Bazilenko cameraman you will see now an airstrike from the Jebalia refugee camp which is north of where we are and Jebalia was stated to be by the IDF and the full operational control but overnight and even this morning you can see there are airstrikes on the refugee camp earlier in the night it was announced that the army enabled the organized evacuations of displaced Palestinians that seek shelter in a school of Jebalia they were evacuated and inside the school they found a weapon depot as usual in such places sensitive places where Hamas believed that the army would not dare to enter for fear of a humanitarian disaster there is again an arms depot using infrastructure civilians infrastructure as human shield and you see more strikes in this particular sector but this is a small sector of the central Gaza Strip and the thrust of the offensive as I said is in Hanyunes where an additional brigade has been added to at least two brigades and other units inside and around Hanyunes in order to put maximum pressure on the city which has become according to the Israeli defense minister the alternative terror capital of the Gaza Strip after the after the city of Gaza has been under operational control of the Israeli army and tell you mentioned there the humanitarian crisis taking place in Gaza tell us a little bit about the efforts to bring in aid into the enclave there is an effort not only by Israel but by many countries including Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and others to alleviate the plight of the Palestinians because 80% even maybe more of the population of the whole Gaza Strip is now crammed into half of it in the central and southern sector of the Gaza Strip on 180 square kilometers the UAE has installed a desalination plan on the Egyptian side in the Sinai Peninsula south of the Gaza Strip and they've laid pipelines which are bringing water desalinated water to 150,000 people that's not enough because there are 2 million people now inside that sector in safe humanitarian zones or at relatives in Rafar or in Hanyunis and yet the Israeli army has also opened an additional crossing in addition to the Nitzana crossing which brings humanitarian trucks from Israeli territory into Egyptian territory it takes an hour to reach the Rafar terminal but the problem with the Rafar terminal is that its capacity is limited to about 100 trucks so they opened under US pressure another terminal Kerem Shalom crossing where the aid is transferred after inspection directly to the Gaza Strip now there are about 200 trucks a day that are being transferred to the Gaza Strip including 4 trucks of fuel and also 4 trucks of cooking gas for the displaced Palestinian population the problem is those who are either hijacked by Hamas terrorists to supply their own forces or they're looted by the population so that the UN organizations have a very difficult time to gather that humanitarian aid into specific places and distribute it we know also that the US administration is trying also to revive the markets of Gaza in other words to bring in goods that are not necessarily only humanitarian in order to revive the economy of embattled Gaza but that is also going to take time because it requires inspections because it requires more capacity at the Rafar crossing and this maybe will give more hope to the displaced population of Gaza but at a later stage I believe Thank you very much for that update from the Israel-Gaza border Still with me here in studio Yaakob Lapin and Owen Alterman Owen I want to start with you new reports of perhaps updates in hostage negotiations Yeah from Al-Akhbar in Lebanon Hezbollah linked media outlet and Sarah the spin may be back as we remember from previous negotiations a flurry of reports of what's going on in the talks some of them true some of them false some of them somewhere in the middle all of them I think intended to have an impact on the negotiations themselves spun and put out there and leaked for a reason at any rate such as they are here's the information that's in that report Hezbollah asking for him a Hamas rather asking for a 10 to 1 prisoner to hostage ratio again remind viewers that in the previous deal it was a 3 to 1 ratio but it states actually being the actor that's pushing Israel for a longer truce more than a week of what we saw last time but a two week truce to get hostages freed it seems the number of hostages that would set to be released at 40 which has been consistent with previous reports again focusing on groups that Israel wants to see released women, the elderly and the sick and injured and the hang up on Israel side less so about the ratio and the number that about the type of prisoner actually be released as part of this deal Sarah I will say this obviously when it's coming from Hezbollah linked outlet obviously caution is advised but there are some elements of this that actually in some sense ring true such as the idea that the United States would be the actor who wants the truce to be extended it's more of an American interest than anybody else's and the fact that the hang up on the Israeli side is less about the length of the truce I don't think it's all that material at this point whether the truce is one week or two weeks and even less about the ratio right as tough as that would be for Israelis to swallow but much more about who would be released which prisoners would be released that I suspect and I wonder what Yaakov thinks about this is likely to be the hang up on the Israeli side and if anything would generate opposition and push back to this deal from within public opinion and more importantly from within those 30 plus ministers who ultimately would have to okay the deal it would be the who which prisoners would have to be released and then I think would be the Israeli backstop on this so again the fact that the spin is back maybe further evidence of the seriousness of the talks and the seriousness of which it is taken even if the information in this particular report may or may not actually itself be true and Yaakov as Owen mentioned certainly some pushback in public opinion when it comes to the ratio as he mentioned of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages but when I want to talk about the risk and more so the ratio the who would be released right the who would be released there's a difference in that 10 to 1 who those 10 are and to my point what are the risks here of releasing perhaps a large number of Palestinian terrorist prisoners or as Owen said who those people are of course there's a risk Yahya Sanwar was released as part of the Gila Chalit deal and now he's you know in charge of this war and the unprecedented mass murder that Israelis have experienced the risk is huge but I actually think I agree that Israel will demand the right to say who is going to be released which one which group which category of its captives will be released first but I think the element of time is actually crucial there's a very big difference between a week and two weeks in terms of a ceasefire operationally and tactically and I think essentially what Hamas wants here is to build up a dynamic in which a ceasefire will end up becoming permanent and it wants to trap Israel into that position it thinks that it can create dynamics which are not currently seen and then it will extend again and again until Israel will give up under the pressure of international pressure and various other factors other regional developments that's what Hamas is banking its entire survival strategy on and that's why they're demanding that time is such a critical asset time is the oxygen that they need to survive and this is the thing that Israel will not give them because otherwise the ceasefire war effort will not succeed so I would just draw attention to the element of time it's crucial to probably the most important thing that's being negotiated here number one that whole theory that temporary pause will lead to a permanent ceasefire was proven false in the first round of the military proved and the public here proved that it was willing to go back to war and second obviously in a different place in the fighting we're set to move on to the next phase such as it is in the Israeli language anyway so I guess given that is the risk the same from Israel's perspective now as it was before that first deal in November and the odds of Hamas actually getting benefits and profiting from that strategy aren't those odds longer this time than they were even in November when Hamas may have gotten obviously advantages through the truth I think that seems to be at least as a layman clear but not the kind of game changing advantages that they at least wanted right well and that was a shorter truce but I think really the main thing is not the length of the truth but this hope that it will lead to something new from Hamas's perspective they think that they can wiggle their way out of this and end up ending the war with the leadership intact and surviving coming out joining the PA in some future regime they have these dreams of surviving the war and if they get that picture if they get that picture of them emerging after this war intact they will declare victory and by the way rightly so so this is the most important thing from Israel's perspective is to make it absolutely clear that Hamas's demands for the length of the truth will not be respected if it's beyond a certain reasonable degree and let's also keep in mind what Hamas's original demand in this round of negotiations was a permanent truce and they weren't joking this is really what they want so I again I'm drawing attention to the time as a concept that can lead to something as far as Hamas is concerned to survival that's the thing that they're after here before we start discussing the other Iranian proxies in the region threatening Israeli security I want to turn to you Owen quickly UK foreign secretary David Cameron has touched on in Cairo what's on the agenda there? I think it seems like a broadly similar agenda Sarah to the previous stop on his agenda in Amman again wanting to be seen I think more than anything else visiting these countries and to be seen as doing something to move forward on the ideas that he put in that op-ed that he co-authored the idea of a quote sustainable ceasefire to try to put flesh in those bones what exactly is a sustainable ceasefire because by his own admission you can't have a sustainable ceasefire until Hamas is defeated so then how can you actually have a ceasefire right now before Hamas is defeated at any rate I think there are some smaller scale goals here again moving more aid into the Gaza Strip that was a big part of Britain presumably even more so in Egypt because of the geography that there will be real deliverables after these visits hard for me to imagine I think this is more political both internally in Britain and geopolitically for its other relationships in the Middle East and around the world for him to be seen as going out there and making this trip so again he's in Egypt and we'll meet with some of Shukri the Egyptian foreign minister as we understand it over the next few hours and then at some point in the trip visit with the statements are probably of a similar flavor to those in Jordan again that there be concrete action I think probably less the goal more of the goal in the symbolism in the theater if you will maybe more than theater but in the statement being issued by the very fact of making the trip and showing this is the direction that he wants to take you a British foreign policy and speaking of foreign policy Israel's posture when it comes to the Houthis a new posture does it align with the U.S. Task Force to tackle that it's designed from the Israeli perspective to complement the U.S. Task Force but there's a couple of things being said here in the subtext the defense minister Yov Galant on board a South six missile Corvette in a lot the Red Sea City this is Israel's newest and most powerful Navy platform and he is saying that if these missile attacks on a lot don't stop and if you know this terrorizing of commercial shipping that's heading for Israel does not stop Israel will know what to do and this reference to air power and sea power which Israel can deploy those capabilities 2000 kilometers to Yemen now he's saying this I think basically to say to the whole region look this may look like we're not responding but what actually happening is we're giving this U.S. Task Force a chance if the Task Force fails to take offensive action if it just limits itself to intercepting missiles and drones on commercial shipping then Israel is going to take offensive action as a very bare minimum to make it clear to the other adversaries in the region that you cannot fire on Israel and Israeli interests and Israel simply going to sit there and play defense that's a very bad message of deterrence for Israel so Galant's statement last night was important in my view I want to speak to you a little bit about Iran's strategy that it's used over the years as we've seen using these its proxies in the region to undermine Israel security and it's a bit of a if you think about it strategy of sorts because they're really using these quote-unquote underdogs the Palestinians and the Gaza Strip the Lebanese that are going through a political and economic crisis again pinning Israel as the enemy here not the enemy but perhaps the aggressor it's it's quite interesting to see the Iranians are very high class strategists this is a big problem what they've done essentially is they've set up franchises and by franchise I mean setting up a terrorist asymmetric army very well armed with precision munitions and mass ability to deploy firepower firepower bases if we can call on that around Israel's border and they identify areas of failed sovereignty or places that already have sympathetic Islamist regimes so the Gaza Strip Lebanon which in many ways is a fiction as a state as a real state they've tried to do the same in Syria and they're trying to do the same in the West Bank it hasn't really worked for them in Syria in the West Bank because Israel is there mowing the lawn whether it's from the air or the ground or both but in places where Israel has not mowed the lawn and by that I mean continuous security operations to take down these growing capabilities Lebanon and Gaza we face the situation that we're in now it's a very smart, devious, dangerous and destabilizing strategy the ultimate goal here is for Iran to be the dominant regional power to destroy the State of Israel they're fully committed to that, this is part of their goal build a nuclear umbrella over these proxies and make life here unlivable this is the Iranian goal and also to bring down these Sunni pragmatic states along the way, this is their long-term goal and they're pursuing it and they have to be stopped That's a wrap for this hour's broadcast but don't go anywhere I-24 News will be back at the top of the hour with its rolling coverage of the war here in Israel if you want to stay up to date throughout the day you can connect to our website i-24news.tv war on social media I'm Sara Martinez, thanks for watching Israel is in a state of war families completely gunned down in their beds we have no idea where she is our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well and welcome to the I-24 News Desk I'm Sara Martinez live from Tel Aviv today marks the 76th day of the war as Israel's ground operation to dismantle Hamas and Gaza intensifies a short while ago more rockets fired at Gaza border communities from Gaza after a 40 hour lull the IDF says it's nearing the end of its offensive in the northern part of the strip and has begun fighting in new areas including Hanyunas where Hamas leadership is believed to be hiding in the past day the Air Force has struck over 230 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip discovered more weapons caches inside a school the Israeli army has also announced the death of three more soldiers killed in fighting bringing the IDF to slain soldiers to 137 meanwhile Hamas has reportedly rejected an Israeli offer to temporarily halt fighting in exchange for the release of some of the 129 hostages still held captive in the war zone according to the Wall Street Journal Hamas Israel to first implement a ceasefire before beginning negotiations and let's cross over to the Israel Gaza border where I-24 news correspondent Pierre Pochandler is standing by Pierre, more rocket launches I understand Yeah, there was another rocket launch on the community of near host facing Hanyunas possibly a staging ground of the Israeli army and Hamas trying to foil the incursion of additional ground forces into the area of Hanyunas but no casualties as far as we know behind me there was just an a strike a few moments ago on the Direl Balach refugee camp in the central sector of the Gaza Strip that's already closer to Hanyunas and further to the north with Igor Basilenko will show you the area which was also pounded quite heavily by artillery fire a few minutes ago as well as the Almuraka town south of Gaza city which is also a strategic town in the sense that it leads to Hanyunas the access Salahadin Road is the main access road for the ground offensive entering Hanyunas from the north from the south of Gaza city to the north of Hanyunas in Hanyunas itself there's an additional brigade that has been deployed there in addition to the 7th Armoured Brigade the 98th elite commando unit brigade which operates inside Hanyunas in the heart of it and in addition to the paratrooper reservists of the 55th brigade but that's only the forces that are deployed on the whole Gaza Strip there's about 4 divisions about 80,000 soldiers on the ground in the Gaza Strip so the offensive goes unabated although there is a feeling in the public discourse that there is some sort of offensive getting bucked down inside Gaza but what we get from the IDF is some information which usually is delayed by at least 24 hours so we don't know exactly the state of the operation right now as we're talking what we know is that earlier in the morning the IDF said that there had been 230 airstrike, artillery strike and navy strike throughout the territory of the Gaza Strip it's not the maximum that we've heard from the IDF yesterday they said that in the previous 24 hours there had been 350 air, artillery and navy strike so this is less but that doesn't mean much in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip although it's under full operational control by the IDF there are still clashes of isolated cells and the forces are combing the area and finding more weapons more tunnels, more workshop of manufacturing rockets and weapons Thank you very much for that update from the Israel-Gaza border joining me in studio is IDF Colonel in the reserves IDF spokesperson for international media thank you very much for joining me today I want to ask you what is the state currently of the operation the war is still going on forces are actually surrounding Hanyunes and also we have troops within Hanyunes and we found an incredible network of tunnels beneath the ground these tunnels actually are part of the infrastructure directly connected to the leaders to the chief of Hamas and it proved that we are actually moving in in the right direction because we understand that we are destroying and revealing is the exact structure of Hamas terrorist infrastructures all over the Gaza Strip and more particularly in Hanyunes and speaking of that Hamas tunnel network how is the IDF tackling that landscape when it comes to obviously they cannot solve it we are actually using many tactics and I'm not going to elaborate about it but it is clear that because it's actually being trapped all over so we have to be very cautious very careful to deal with that but we have also other means of tactical and macro tactical antigens to check and to look into it in order to check for example we found like almost apartments beneath the ground 50 meters beneath the ground we found actually an incredible network of of a network of tunnel I'm sorry but very prepared very sophisticated that show that it was used by the leader of themself by Yakhiesi Noir by Mohammed Def and we are using many means to also get information to agent from it stay with us I want to cross over to the northern border hostilities part in our escalating our correspondent Zach Anders is there on the ground Zach I understand the IDF taking precautionary measures following this morning's rocket fire yeah 15 communities appear to be on lockdown today the upper galley regional council has responded from the request by the IDF to take extreme precautions today closing roads locking down some of these communities this kind of credible threat in southern Lebanon we have just been seeing some smoke behind us behind Kira Shemona and what appears to be apparent IDF strikes but the two ATGM launches these AT anti-tank guided missiles were taking place in communities just about 5-10 miles away from us here two separate communities there appears to be damage but the IDF says no apparent casualties or injuries with these two strikes happening in the last hour or so but there are a much further deeper level of precautions that have been taking place today like Kira Shemona has postponed funeral services that were set to take place in the town's cemetery this is not something that we've seen here before in the north or at least not since the early days of the conflict these level of precautions we've already gone through extended checkpoints so there's a apparent level of unease here in the north much more so than we've seen in previous days Zach Anders thank you very much for that update a chilling discovery following a military probe into the accidental killing of three escaped hostages in the Gaza Strip by Israeli soldiers one of the captives was recorded days earlier shouting for help during a gun battle between troops and Hamas terrorists during the clashes a dog from the military's Oketz canine unit was sent into the building the dog was killed by the Hamas gunman but a camera mounted on the dog which continued to record even after the animal was killed caught the voice of a hostage apparently Alon Shemri is calling for help the feed from the dog's body camera was not being monitored live and was only discovered on December 18th after the body of the canine was recovered now Iris Chaim the mother of Yotam Chaim one of the three hostages accidentally shot by IDF soldiers in the tragic event since a chilling recording in which she seeks to send a strengthening message to the soldiers from that very unit an inspiring message of compassion from the bereaved mother take a listen I would like to tell you that I love you very much and that I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I know that everything that happened is completely in your ears and in one ear apart from the Hamas with a smile on the blood I ask to hear from you and to think that you are doing the best thing in the world that can read, that can help us and the people of Israel we are grateful for you and do not hesitate for a moment when you see a sign do not think that you are just in a good mood you need to tell yourself because only this way you can protect us and in the first few minutes you will come to us everyone who is interested and we want to see you in our lives and to share with you and to tell you that it is a must to say such a thing and the best at that moment I would not be able to do anything with you no one would be happy nor ashamed nor envy nor be proud and tell you that I am proud very much So with me here in studio is Ida of Spokesperson for International Media in a very tragic accident. Tell me, what is the IDF doing to train its troops to avoid a future, a similar incident in the future, on a very complicated and complex battlefield where they're both facing terrorists and at the same time looking for potential hostages? First of all, again, I would like to convey our condolences for the families, for this tragedy that happened. And as you know, we made and we cut out a very deep and very precise investigation. And the soldiers actually behave not according to the rules of engagement and was clearly said by all the authorities in the Army on these rules of engagement in order to prevent such incidents, such a tragedy have been, again, transmitted to the forces all around the Gaza Strip because there is this possibility of hostages release or free or around in this combat area. So a tragedy that should be prevented the next time in case that, unfortunately, again, it could happen, but, of course, we'll do everything that this tragedy will not be repeated. And speaking of those hostages, Hamas has rejected Israel's proposal for a week-long truce in Gaza in exchange for the release of some 40 hostages which would have included women and children. I want to ask you, did that list include the Bebes family? I will tell you, Sarah, you know, this sensitive issue is dealt at the highest level, at the Israeli government level by the war cabinet. And the Army is actually following the directions and the instructions. So for now, I cannot elaborate or cannot give any element on it, except that the Army is continuing to do two big missions, two priorities. One, to eliminate Hamas in the Gaza Strip and two, at the same time simultaneously to do everything in order to release and to bring back home free and safe all the hostages. The issue of the way to negotiate or something else is a specific prerogative from the government. Just a quick update for our viewers. Now, rocket siren sounding pardon in the north. Hostile aircraft has been identified reportedly. Before we turn to the north, I want to ask you, how much of the Gaza enclave does the IDF actually control at this hour? We actually are moving in and controlling most of the northern part of the Gaza Strip, but it's not a war for territory. It's a war for eliminating Hamas. And it is very important to say it. It's not like we are moving in order to take territory. We are moving in order to destroy to eliminate to kill Hamas terrorists or to arrest them or to put them in our prison for investigation. But at the time that we are now talking together, we are actually working the IDF in three main points. Jebalia and Sajay, another point in the north and also in Hanyunes area, that the main points of combat frictions with Hamas and we continue to do so. I want to bring in to the conversation, Eliott Chodov. He's the IDF major in the reserves of political and military analysts. Thank you very much for joining us. Pleasure. Thank you. I want to get your assessment of the situation on the Lebanese border at this hour. It's clearly heating up. I believe that Hezbollah is feeling the pressure from Hamas to do something. And they're increasing their attacks, although still staying within the border area, although they've launched occasional drones in the direction of Haifa, I think are more symbolic than actual. They didn't launch enough that anyone would actually get through unless they were incredibly lucky or unlucky, depending on your perspective. So I think what we're seeing is an increased likelihood of casualties on the Israeli side that could cause a massive escalation. Not so much because Hezbollah wants it, but because Hezbollah wants to show that it's much more involved in the attacks against Israel, especially with what the Houthis are doing in Yemen. It's hard for them to stand by and do nothing. And I think that the Israeli response by shutting down areas, closing roads is an attempt to prevent the possibility of casualties and causing the whole thing to blow up out of control of Israel. In other words, if and when the time comes, we may escalate it, but we don't want it to happen by surprise or by accident. And many security analysts believe a direct confrontation with Hezbollah is unavoidable, despite diplomatic efforts by the international community to establish some sort of buffer zone there on the border. I think unavoidable is overstating it, but highly likely would be a better way of putting it. I think that the possibility of Israel leaving Hezbollah along the border is near zero. And accepting any sort of diplomatic solution would be folly given that they violated every single one that we've ever put together with them, whether it was unilaterally or bilaterally, whether it was after our withdrawal in 2000 or after the war in 2006. So anything that leaves them in power, even with some sort of an agreement to pull back beyond the Letani River, is simply a waste of time. Turning to Gaza, Hamas refusing Israel's proposal for a hostage deal of a one-week ceasefire in exchange for some 40 women and children. What does Hamas want here? They want an end to the war. They know that a week isn't going to do them any good. Marginally maybe to get in some more supplies through tunnels from Egypt, maybe to do a bit of a realignment. But they're being beaten so badly that a week does them really no good whatsoever. And they want an end to it. They're hoping either to get it by agreement, by demand, that will include pressure from Egypt, from the United States. But they, whether they meant to or not, on October 7th, they put all of their chips on one number and they played it. Now they're losing and they can only work for survival, not for some intermediate agreement that'll get them a little bit of time and maybe a few of their people out of prison. Israel's allies in Washington are pushing the IDF to wrap up this more intensive phase of the war. When do you expect Israel to shift, as we said to that next phase? I think in the north we're going to see that shift relatively soon. As was mentioned earlier, the operations in Jabalia and Seja'i are starting to wind down above ground and the underground, the tunnel operations won't have the apparent intensity at least that the above ground operations do. I think that we're still looking at at least a couple of weeks if not longer in Khan Yunus and the Rafiakh area in order to reach the same situation that we're in in Gaza, Jabalia, Seja'i in that area. I want to get your assessments on how the IDF is tackling the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. The IDF isn't really tackling it. It's a decision that has to be made on a political strategic level. In the meantime, the Americans set up their international naval force that I think remains to be seen whether it'll work. I don't believe that it will ultimately be the answer if it stays only defensively. In other words, picking off a drone here and a missile there. If the Americans and their allies decide to go after the Houthis and they have the power to do it, then the job is basically done for Israel. If not, then a decision is going to have to be made how to deal with them. And that means long-range air, possibly naval support attacks. Simply, as I said before, taking out a drone here and a missile there is not going to secure shipping in the southern Red Sea in the streets of Babelman Dip. I want to thank my guest IDF major in the reserves, Ali Akhodov. And with me here in studio, Olivier Khafovic, IDF spokesperson for International Media. Thank you. Turning to that fateful day of October 7th, a question on everyone's mind is how did Israeli military and intelligence agencies fail to read the signs of Hamas' imminent attack and how was it carried out so easily? Israel's Channel 12 News reveals new details on Hamas' attack on the Nakhal Oz IDF post on Israel's Gaza border. The results of the Hamas terrorist invasion of the Nakhal Oz outpost will continue to echo as the IDF investigates the events of the dark Saturday, October 7th. Today we can reveal what the IDF already knows about what happened at the base during the battle in which terrorists killed 66 soldiers, most of them field observers and soldiers of Golanic Brigade's 13th Battalion. The IDF that entered the Nakhal Oz is at a much higher level than any other IDF, but this is the IDF that arrived in the 3rd Battalion. The 1st Battalion arrived in the 60th Battalion. The IDF that entered the Nakhal Oz in the middle of the battle is the IDF that arrived at the base of the Nakhal Oz in the 50th Battalion. The general data on the invasion presented to the families barely begins to convey the magnitude of the attack. At half past 5 a.m., IDF Southern Command Assessment shows no unusual warnings. The forces, which are already in limited capacity, do not prepare for anything out of the ordinary. At 6.29, sirens sound across Israel as intense rocket fire begins from the Gaza Strip. At 6.54, the first invasion of the outpost by 70 terrorists commences. Six minutes later, at 7.00 a.m., a second invasion by about 50 more terrorists. Three and a half hours later, at 10.30, a third group of about 50 more terrorists invade the outpost. By this time, a total of about 170 terrorists have entered the Nakhal Oz base. Saturday morning, at half past 6, they have already identified a swarm of terrorists on the fence and they asked for help. To be precise, it was at 6.29 a.m. And they were told, deal with it, we have other priorities. In that situation, the commander on duty needs to make a decision, make a decision, get them on a hammer, get them out of there. Then they would be here with us today. According to the IDF investigation, this is what happened on the ground at the moment the barrier was breached. At 6.29, field observers identified two armed men running towards the fence, the beginning of the infiltration.  At 6.31, the deputy battalion commander announces what he defines as a complex event. Seven minutes later, at 6.38 a.m., terrorists from Hamas's elite Nakhubayunat have fully crossed the fence. At 6.40 a.m., the procedure for dealing with an infiltration from the Gaza Strip was officially declared. Two minutes later, the platoon commander activates sentry tech systems that automatically identify threats and open fire, hitting some of the terrorists. But two minutes later, at 6.44, the system stopped working. The cameras did as well. At 6.51, a situation assessment finally made it through to IDF's southern command. Terrorists have entered the outpost. This is the room of the girls. They were killed. And the terrorists, from here, they were killed. In their dorms, some locked themselves inside the war room. The firecrackers they received were found in a number of bodies. In fact, he said to them, get out of the room, and that's very good. Everyone in the war room, within minutes. The smoke that came into the closed room began to suffocate the 22 people who were locked inside. The soldiers could not open the burning door of the war room. Seven managed to make it through the window. One field observer and six fighters. We know that the explosion at the war room occurred between 11.30 and 12, meaning that they were alive for five hours and no one came to rescue them. In this report, by Yonit Levy, two weeks ago, the parents of the field observers detailed how they conducted their own investigation into the events of that day, putting together fragments of information they collected. Even today, after the IDF representatives shared with them the initial findings, the full picture remains unclear. While the parents are waiting for a full and comprehensive investigation to take place, they are still insisting on viewing the remaining security camera footage themselves, all so they can fully understand the chain of events that led to the bloody battle of the Nahal Oz outpost. And that wraps this hour's broadcast. But don't go anywhere. I-24 News will be back at the top of the hour with more rolling coverage of the war unfolding here in Israel. If you missed anything from this broadcast, you can always catch up on our website, i24news.tv or on social media. I'm Sarah Martinez. Thanks for watching. Is in a state of war, families completely done down in their beds. We have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front lines. But the general perception is something that certainly needs to be fought as well. We can get through the traffic faster. We can get across town quicker. Ultimately it's cheaper for the folks who pay to use our services. Welcome to the I-24 News Desk. I'm Sarah Martinez, live from Tel Aviv. Today marks the 76th day of the war as Israel's ground operation to dismantle Hamas and Gaza intensifies. A short while ago, more rockets fired at Gaza border communities from Gaza after a 40-hour lull. The IDF says it's nearing the end of its offensive in the northern part of the Strip and has begun fighting in new areas, including Hanyunas, where Hamas leadership is believed to be hiding. In the past day, the Air Force has struck over 230 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. They discovered more weapons caches inside a school. The Israeli army has also announced the death of three more soldiers killed in fighting, bringing the IDF toll of slain soldiers to 137. Meanwhile, Hamas has reportedly rejected an Israeli offer to temporarily halt fighting in exchange for the release of some of the 129 hostages still held captive in the war zone. According to the Wall Street Journal, the terror group wants Israel to first implement a ceasefire before beginning negotiations. And let's cross over to the Israel-Gaza border where I-24 News correspondent Pierre Pochandler is standing by. Pierre, more rocket launchers, I understand? Yeah, there was another rocket launch on the community of near-hosts facing Hanyunas, possibly a staging ground of the Israeli army and Hamas trying to foil the incursion of additional ground forces into the area of Hanyunas, but no casualties as far as we know. Behind me, there was just a strike a few moments ago on the Direl Balach refugee camp in the central sector of the Gaza Strip. That's already closer to Hanyunas. And further to the north, with Igor Bazilenko, we'll show you the area of Shejaia, which was also pounded quite heavily by artillery fire a few minutes ago, as well as the Al-Muraka town south of Gaza City, which is also a strategic town in the sense that it leads to Hanyunas. The access Salahadin Road is the main access road for the ground offensive, entering Hanyunas from the north, from the south of Gaza City to the north of Hanyunas. In Hanyunas itself, there's an additional brigade that has been deployed there. In addition to the 7th Armored Brigade, the 98th Elite Commando Unit Brigade, which operates inside Hanyunas in the heart of it, and in addition to the paratrooper reservists of the 55th Brigade. But that's only some of the forces that are deployed on the whole Gaza Strip. There's about five, four divisions, about 80,000 soldiers on the ground in the Gaza Strip. So the offensive goes unabated, although there is a feeling in the public discourse that there is some sort of offensive getting bucked down inside Gaza. But what we get from the IDF is some information which usually is delayed by at least 24 hours. So we don't know exactly the state of the operation right now as we're talking. What we know is that earlier in the morning, the IDF said that there had been 230 airstrike, artillery strike, and Navy strike throughout the territory of the Gaza Strip. It's not the maximum that we've heard from the IDF. Yesterday, they said that in the previous 24 hours there had been 350 air, artillery, and Navy strike. So this is less, but that doesn't mean much. In the northern sector of the Gaza Strip, although it's under full operational control by the IDF, there are still clashes with isolated cells, and the forces are combing the area and finding more weapons, more tunnels, more workshop of manufacturing rockets and weapons. Yeah, Kalo Shander, thank you very much for that update from the Israel-Gaza border. Joining me in studio is IDF Colonel in the Reserves, Oryvera Fovic. IDF's spokesperson for international media. Thank you very much for joining me today. I want to ask you, what is the state currently of the operation taking place in Hanyunis? The war is still going on. Forces are actually surrounding Hanyunis and also we have troops within Hanyunis, and we found an incredible network of tunnels beneath the ground. These tunnels actually are part of the infrastructure directly connected to the leaders, to the chief of Hamas, and it proves that we are actually moving in in the right direction because we understand that we are destroying and revealing the exact structure of Hamas' terrorist infrastructures all over the Gaza Strip and more particularly in Hanyunis. And speaking of that Hamas Tunnel Network, how is the IDF tackling that landscape when it comes to, obviously they cannot send soldiers down there, it's too much of a risk. We are actually using many tactics and I'm not going to elaborate about it, but it is clear that because it's actually being trapped all over, so we have to be very cautious, very careful to deal with that, but we have also other means of tactical and macro-tactical antigens to check and to look into it in order to check. For example, we found like almost apartments beneath the ground, 50 meters beneath the ground. We found actually an incredible network of Tunnel, I'm sorry, but very prepared, very sophisticated that show that it was used by the leader themselves, by Yakhiesi Noir, by Mohamed Def, and we are using many means to also get information and to agent from it. May I stay with us? I want to cross over to the northern border where hostilities, pardon, are escalating. Our correspondent Zach Anders is there on the ground. Zach, I understand the IDF taking precautionary measures following this morning's rocket fire. Yeah, 15 communities appear to be on lockdown today. The Upper Galley Regional Council has responded from the request by the IDF to take extreme precautions today, it's closing roads, locking down some of these communities. This, after some sort of credible threat in southern Lebanon, we have just been seeing some smoke behind us, behind Kiryat Shemona and what appears to be apparent IDF strikes, but the two ATGM launches, these anti-tank guided missiles were taking place in communities just about 5, 10 miles away from us here, two separate communities. There appears to be damage, but the IDF says no apparent casualties or injuries with these two strikes happening in the last hour or so, but there are a much further level, deeper level of precautions that have been taking place today, like Kiryat Shemona has postponed funeral services that were set to take place in the town's cemetery. This is not something that we've seen here before in the north, or at least not since the early days of the conflict, these level of precautions we've already gone through, extended checkpoints, so there's a apparent level of unease here in the north, much more so than we've seen in previous days. Zach Anders, thank you very much for that update. A chilling discovery following a military probe into the accidental killing of three escaped hostages in the Gaza Strip by Israeli soldiers. One of the captives was recorded days earlier shouting for help during a gun battle between troops and Hamas terrorists. During the clashes, a dog from the military's Oketz canine unit was sent into the building. The dog was killed by the Hamas gunman, but a camera mounted on the dog, which continued to record even after the animal was killed, caught the voice of a hostage, apparently Alon Shemri's calling for help. The feed from the dog's body camera was not being monitored live and was only discovered on December 18th after the body of the canine was recovered. Now, Iris Chaim, the mother of Yotam Chaim, one of the three hostages accidentally shot by IDF soldiers in the tragic event, sent a chilling recording in which she seeks to send a strengthening message to the soldiers from that very unit an inspiring message of compassion from the bereaved mother. Take a listen. Peace to you. Peace to you. Peace to you. So, with me here in the studio is IDF spokesperson for International Media, Olivier Rafovich. Olivier, we just heard from the mother, the bereaved mother of one of those hostages that was accidentally killed in a very tragic accident. Tell me, what is the IDF doing to train its troops to avoid a similar incident in the future on a very complicated and complex battlefield where they're both facing terrorists and at the same time looking for potential hostages? First of all, again, I would like to convey our condolences for the families, for this tragedy that happened. And as you know, we made and we cut out a very deep and very precise investigation and the soldiers actually gave note according to the rules of engagement and was clearly said by all the authorities in the Army on these rules of engagement in order to prevent such incidents, such a tragedy have been, again, transmitted to the forces all around the Gaza Strip because there is this possibility of hostages released or free or around in this combat area. So a tragedy that should be prevented the next time in case that, unfortunately, again, it could happen, but, of course, we'll do everything that this tragedy will not be repeated. And speaking of those hostages, Hamas has rejected Israel's proposal for a week-long truce in Gaza in exchange for the release of some 40 hostages which would have included women and children. I want to ask you, did that list include the Bebas family? I will tell you, Sarah, you know, this sensitive issue is dealt at the highest level at the Israeli government level by the war cabinet. And the Army is actually following the direction of the instructions. So for now, I cannot elaborate or cannot give any element on it except that the Army is continuing to do two big missions, two priorities. One, to eliminate Hamas in the Gaza Strip and two, at the same time simultaneously, to do everything in order to release and to bring back home free and safe all the hostages. The issue of the way to negotiate or something else is a specific prerogative from the government. Just a quick update for our viewers. Now, rocket siren sounding pardon in the north. Hostile aircraft has been identified reportedly. Before we turn to the north, I want to ask you, how much of the Gaza enclave does the IDF actually control at this hour? We actually are moving on and controlling most of the northern part of the Gaza Strip, but it's not a war for territory. It's a war for eliminating Hamas. And it is very important to say it. It's not like we are moving in order to take territory. We are moving in order to destroy, to eliminate, to kill Hamas terrorists or to arrest them or to put them in our prison for investigation. But at the time that we are now talking together, we are actually working the IDF in three main points. Jebalia and Sajey, another point in the north and also in Hanuneh, Syria, that the main points of combat frictions with Hamas and we continue to do so. I want to bring into the conversation Eliot Chodov. He's the IDF major in the reserves of political and military analysts. Thank you very much for joining us. Pleasure. Thank you. I want to get your assessment of the situation on the Lebanese border at this hour. It's clearly heating up. I believe that Hezbollah is feeling the pressure from Hamas to do something. And they're increasing their attacks, although still staying within the border area. Although they've launched occasional drones in the direction of Haifa, those I think are more symbolic than actual. They didn't launch enough that anyone would actually get through unless they were incredibly lucky or unlucky depending on your perspective. So I think what we're seeing is an increased likelihood of casualties on the Israeli side that could cause a massive escalation. Not so much because Hezbollah wants it, but because Hezbollah wants to show that it's much more involved in the attacks against Israel, especially with what the Houthis are doing in Yemen. It's hard for them to stand by and do nothing. And I think that the Israeli response by shutting down areas, closing roads is an attempt to prevent the possibility of casualties and causing all things to blow up out of control of Israel. In other words, if and when the time comes, we may escalate it, but we don't want it to happen by surprise or by accident. And many security analysts believe a direct confrontation with Hezbollah is unavoidable despite diplomatic efforts by the international community to establish some sort of buffer zone there on the border. I think unavoidable is overstating it, but highly likely would be a better way of putting it. I think that the possibility of Israel leaving Hezbollah along the border is near zero, and accepting any sort of diplomatic solution would be folly given that they violated every single one that we've ever put together with them, whether it was unilaterally or bilaterally, whether it was after our withdrawal in 2000 or after the war in 2006. So anything that leaves them in power, even with some sort of an agreement to pull back beyond the Letani River is simply a waste of time. Turning to Gaza, Hamas refusing Israel's proposal for a hostage deal of a one-week ceasefire in exchange for some 40 women and children. What does Hamas want here? They want an end to the war. They know that a week isn't going to do them any good. Marginally maybe to get in some more supplies through tunnels from Egypt, maybe to do a bit of a realignment. But they're being beaten so badly that a week does them really no good whatsoever. And they want an end to it. They're hoping either to get it by agreement, by demand, that will include pressure from Egypt, from the United States. But they, whether they meant to or not, on October 7th, they put all of their chips on one number and they played it. Now they're losing and they can only work for survival, not for some intermediate agreement that'll get them a little bit of time and maybe a few of their people out of prison. Israel's allies in Washington are pushing the IDF to wrap up this more intensive phase of the war. When do you expect Israel to shift, as we said to that next phase? I think in the north we're going to see that shift relatively soon. As was mentioned earlier, the operations in Jabalia and Seja'i are starting to wind down above ground. And the underground, the tunnel operations won't have the apparent intensity, at least, that the above ground operations do. I think that we're still looking at at least a couple of weeks, if not longer in Kanyunas and the Rafiakh area in order to reach the same situation that we're in in Gaza, Jabalia, Seja'i in that area. I want to get your assessments on how the IDF is tackling the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. The IDF isn't really tackling it. It's a decision that has to be made on a political strategic level. In the meantime, the Americans set up their international naval force that I think remains to be seen whether it'll work. I don't believe that it will ultimately be the answer if it stays only defensively. In other words, picking off a drone here and a missile there. If the Americans and their allies decide to go after the Houthis and they have the power to do it, then the job is basically done for Israel. If not, then a decision is going to have to be made how to deal with them. And that means long-range air, possibly naval support attacks. Simply, as I said before, taking out a drone here and a missile there is not going to secure shipping in the Southern Red Sea in the Straits of Babylon dip. I want to thank my guest IDF major in the Reserves, Ali Khodov, and with me here in Studio Olivier Khafovic, an IDF spokesperson for International Media. Thank you. Turning to that fateful day of October 7th, the question on everyone's mind is how did Israeli military and intelligence agencies fail to read the signs of Hamas' eminent attack and how was it carried out so easily? Israel's Channel 12 News reveals new details on Hamas' attack on the Nakhal-Oz IDF post on Israel's Gaza border. The results of the Hamas terrorist invasion of the Nakhal-Oz outpost will continue to echo as the IDF investigates the events of the dark Saturday, October 7th. Today, we can reveal what the IDF already knows about what happened at the base during the battle in which terrorists killed 66 soldiers, most of them field observers and soldiers of Golan Brigade's 13th Battalion. The IDF, which entered the Nakhal-Oz IDF, is much more important than any other IDF. But this is the IDF that comes in three parts. The first part comes with 70 soldiers. The IDF that enters the Nakhal-Oz IDF is the IDF that, on the whole, comes with 150 soldiers. On the 50th anniversary. Right. The general data on the invasion presented to the families barely begins to convey the magnitude of the attack. At half past 5 a.m., IDF Southern Command Assessment shows no unusual warnings. The forces, which are already in limited capacity, do not prepare for anything out of the ordinary. At 6.29, sirens sound across Israel as intense rocket fire begins from the Gaza Strip. At 6.54, the first invasion of the outpost by 70 terrorists commences. Six minutes later, at 7.00 a.m., a second invasion by about 50 more terrorists. Three and a half hours later, at 10.30, a third group of about 50 more terrorists invade the outpost. By this time, a total of about 170 terrorists have entered the Nakhal-Oz base. Saturday morning at half past 6, they have already identified a swarm of terrorists on the fence, and they asked for help. To be precise, it was at 6.29 a.m. And they were told, deal with it, we have other priorities. In that situation, the commander on duty needs to make a decision, make a decision, get them on a Hummer, get them out of there. Then they would be here with us today. According to the IDF investigation, this is what happened on the ground at the moment the barrier was breached. At 6.29, field observers had identified two armed men running towards the fence, the beginning of the infiltration.  At 6.31, the deputy battalion commander announces what he defines as a complex event. Seven minutes later, at 6.38 a.m., terrorists from Hamas's elite Nakhuba unit have fully crossed the fence. At 6.40 a.m., the procedure for dealing with an infiltration from the Gaza Strip was officially declared. Two minutes later, the platoon commander activates sentry-tech systems that automatically identify threats and open fire, hitting some of the terrorists. But two minutes later, at 6.44, the system stopped working. The cameras did as well. At 6.51, a situation assessment finally made it through to IDF's southern command. Terrorists have entered the outpost. This is the only part of the fence, the battle inside the outpost lasted for many hours. The investigation shows that the amount of weapons the terrorists carried with them was much greater than the amount of weapons the IDF soldiers had at their disposal, both in quantity and in quality. During intense fighting, some of the soldiers took cover in shelters that turned into death traps. The majority of them were murdered or taken hostage. Some soldiers managed to hide in their dorms. Some locked themselves inside the war room. The number of bullets they received was a number of bullets. In fact, he said to them, let's go and see what happens next. It was very good. The hours of being barricaded and terrified inside the war room are as if taken from a horror movie. This is what happened. The terrorists did not enter the war room at any stage. They carried out the attacks from the hallway. They threw hand grenades with an incendiary substance that releases toxic gases. The goal? To asphyxiate everyone in the war room within minutes. The smoke that came into the closed room began to suffocate the 22 people who were locked inside. The soldiers could not open the burning door of the war room. Seven managed to make it through the window. One field observer and six fighters. We know that the explosion at the war room occurred between 1130 and 12, meaning that they were alive for five hours and no one came to rescue them. In this report by Yonit Levy two weeks ago, the parents of the field observers detailed how they conducted their own investigation into the events of that day, putting together fragments of information they collected. Even today, after the IDF representatives shared with them the initial findings, the full picture remains unclear. While the parents are waiting for a full and comprehensive investigation to take place, they are still insisting on viewing the remaining security camera footage themselves, all so they can fully understand the chain of events that led to the bloody battle of the Nahal Oz outpost. And that wraps this hour's broadcast, but don't go anywhere. I-24 News will be back at the top of the hour with more rolling coverage of the war unfolding here in Israel. If you missed anything from this broadcast, you can always catch up on our website, i-24news.tv or on social media. I'm Sarah Martinez. Thanks for watching.