and soldiers have been abducted to Gaza. We don't know yet the exact numbers. They're estimated to be in the dozens, perhaps even hundreds. More than 1,800 Israelis have been injured as Hamas fighters took those cities, more than 22 different locations that have been taken yesterday by Hamas. We're now joined in the studio by Rafael Urshami, former senior intelligence officer in the IDF and a security analyst, and our senior correspondent Owen Alterman. Thank you both for joining us. Rafael, I'll start with you. What do we know about these centers of fighting? There was a briefing this morning by the IDF, but the information that we're getting, let's admit, very little. Okay, we have a problem since the beginning of this operation with the information coming from the IDF and security services. There's a lot of fog around what's going on. Right now, what we do know is that inside Israel, on the border with Gaza, there are still a few points where terrorists are active, circulating into cities. There are even some terrorists apparently left in the city of Zerot. Even though all night, there were very hard combats taking place there. So we are far from seeing the end of exactions being perpetrated by terrorists inside Israel. There are also more attempts to infiltrate from Gaza into Israel. They are continuing to this scenario because of the success they've had yesterday. As towards Gaza itself, the theater of operation there, what should be happening today is an order or an advice from the Israelis to the inhabitants of Gaza to evacuate their homes, their abodes, because there's gonna be a heavy bombardment of certain buildings and houses that house either offices or command post-operational offices of the Hamas. And we have now a new theater of operation, apparently in the north, with what at first seemed just a provocation by Palestinian factions, but seems to have been claimed by Hezbollah, which is another ballgame altogether, and with the retaliation dozed, but still of the IDF on Hezbollah targets. And that's not good news at all. Owen, let's talk about what's happening in the north. Just about half an hour ago, Hezbollah takes responsibility for firing some shells at Israeli posts on the border. This is a scenario that Israel is very fearful from. It found, the attack yesterday, found the IDF with most of its forces in the West Bank, securing settler activities in the West Bank for the holiday and not in the south. What is the situation in the north and why is this something that could create major escalation in this war? Because Hezbollah's a lot more powerful than Hamas. That's the bottom line. Everyone in Israel has known that, going back 20 years, that for all of the power and all of the training that Hamas has demonstrated over the course of the last day, Hezbollah has thought to have much greater firepower beyond its troops, just in terms of its missiles. And these aren't just rockets, by the way, these are missiles, as far as I understand. Rafael can correct me if I'm wrong. And many thousands, if not tens of thousands of them, this is an organization that's much better armed than Hamas is, that in some senses has deterred the Israeli military in the past. I'm not sure it will deter the Israeli military now, given what's happening. And that's why this is a situation that Israelis have paid very, very close attention to, ever since what was also a surprise. It'll be not as big as the last day, but in 2006, with the kind of war that Hezbollah was able to launch against Israel at the beginning of the rocket threat or the materialization of the rocket threat in Israeli communities. Haaretz, by the way, is reporting that the Asher Regional Council, which is the western part of the Lebanese border, western part of the Israeli side, of course, of the Lebanese border, is telling residents of frontline communities to evacuate their homes. Again, I think it bears repeating to viewers, these are communities that are inside of Israel's international borders. They are not in the West Bank, these are not settlers. Not that attacks and abductions of settlers are justified, of course not. But these are Israelis who are living in these communities and have been for the last 75 years. And it's also, I think, bears noting that the area and the regional council that instructed residents of those communities to evacuate is very far from the location where the fighting is happening, which is the other end of the border. So it speaks to concern about this genuinely spreading and spreading across the entire border. I don't know if that step was taken with advice from the IDF Home Front Commander, the military, or if that's a precautionary step taken by the regional council to avoid the kinds of scenes, the horrific scenes we've seen over the course of the last day. It also should be said, at least from the minimal amount that we know, and I say this with caution, the escalation on the Northern Front seems to be more gradual than what we saw on the Southern Front. Of course, we may not have complete information, of course, everything can change. Yeah, I'll just mention that Iran has approved that it indeed supported, of course, Hezbollah and Hamas in those efforts yesterday to infiltrate Israel, supported them militarily and financially, of course. So this is- Hezbollah was a long time Iranian proxy. We have to remember that Iran also stands behind this. Israel, meanwhile, is launching an attack, or retaliatory attack on Gaza. More than 230 people are dead in Gaza so far, more than 1,700 injured there. And the Israeli attacks on Gaza. Let's take a listen to Minister of Defense Yav Galan speaking last night about the Israeli mission in Gaza. Today, we saw the face of evil in a brutal and criminal, indiscriminate attack against the citizens of Israel. They did not distinguish between women, children and elderly. They hurt everyone. They will realize very quickly that they made a mistake, a serious mistake, and will pay the price. 15 years ago, as the commander of the Southern Command, I was close to breaking Hamas. Then the government stopped me. This phenomenon will not change. We will change the face of reality in Gaza for the next 50 years. What was is not what will be. We will act with full force. I asked the citizens of Israel to be patient and support the IDF and the security forces. Rafael, what does it mean when Yav Galan, Minister of Defense, says, and then later we hear Prime Minister Yav Galan also saying that we will change the paradigm, that we will not be held back by the cabinet as we have before, because this government wants to go all the way. What is important when you start an operation or a war is to define very clearly what is the final objective. We had in the protective border a lot of hesitation. It took a couple of weeks before we knew what the objective was. And it was a very big mistake. We found that the tunnels would be an objective, but that was not very convincing. So this time they have to define, and I think they tried with the text that was voted last night, to define the objective as dismantling the military power of the Hamas and possibly also its political power inside Gaza. That's the objective. What would that mean? Is that clear enough? Not really. Are we speaking of dismantling or destroying the Hamas? How far are we willing to go? What does it mean that dismantling the military power? Does it mean that we'll have some military power left or none at all? The objective is a little clearer than usual, but not clear enough, not convincing enough. I think it's also not deterring enough. I think they should have had stronger words to say like we are going to destroy them, we're going to kill them all or something like this because we have to understand that who is listening to this? All the other factions, including the Hizballah, they are listening to that language. They're also looking at the strikes. The strikes of last night were not muscly enough, not good, no deterrence. Let's hope that maybe tomorrow, today, with the evacuation of citizens from their homes in Gaza, there will be a strike that are more spectacular because people are watching under Hizballah, even though Nassal Khasrallah is a very cautious person, he's not as hotheaded, I'd say, as the Hamas people, the Islamic Jihad people, he's very cautious, but he's watching and who do you feel that there is some kind of hesitation on our part, not enough determination, a weakness, he might be thinking, okay, that's the time that I can go in. Now I have an opportunity to do it that might not come back. So quickly, if, for instance, the Israeli have an emergency government, if the Israelis unite, because what prompted all this is the feeling that Israel is weaker these days because of the political turmoil and other symptoms and that, of course, inspires people to attack. So all in all, the first hours of a war are decisive in two ways, defining a clear objective, what do we want to achieve and strike very hard from the start. Okay, we now want to turn to our Ariel Osseron, Middle East correspondent who is in the city of Ashkelon, that's the biggest Israeli city located close to the border with Gaza just 13 miles or so north of the Gaza border on the Mediterranean coast and there was a direct hit, both at the hospital in the city overnight and also in a house, in an apartment. Ariel, we see from the images and from the reports that the strike, the shell, it actually hit what we call the security room that is located in many apartments, just evidenced how severely hit, how severely hurt you can be if you are in those security rooms that so many Israelis are spending the last 24 hours in. Indeed, Ariel, and I'll ask our cameraman, Olen, to straight away show you this exact, the exterior of the safe room, as you see as opposed to the other windows, the window that was hit has like a special panel on it to secure it even more, but it raises the question given that this is facing south and south is where the rockets came from, how come safe rooms are directed south with the window? And so this is one of the many, many questions that down the line Israeli emergency services and the military home front are gonna have to look at the question of positioning safe rooms facing south, facing the direction from where the rockets are expected to come. But this building is just one building that has suffered a direct hit last night, where in a complex we don't wanna get too into details because for security reasons, but surrounded by a bunch of these different six, seven story buildings, nearly every one has suffered from a direct hit over the past 25 hours since this war began. And we're talking to two citizens here who are concerned, who are worried. And one of them is Gadi Murad, who is in fact the neighbor of the family whose home suffered a direct hit in that safe room, explaining about what happened in the middle of the night. Let's take a listen to what he said. We heard a very powerful boom, something unusual. And when we left the shelter after 30 seconds, I heard the neighbor shouting loudly in Russian. I immediately opened the door, saw him in a panic, asked what happened. Then he took me to his shelter and I saw his wife lying motionless there. He tried to move her and she didn't respond at all. And there was a big hole in his shelter, meaning there was a direct hit to his home. Indeed, Ariel, so that's just one example of numerous direct hits, not only here in Ashkelon, but elsewhere in the community surrounding the Gaza Strip throughout the morning, sirens continue, not here in Ashkelon, but overhead. We hear the constant flyover of Israeli jets flying south few minutes later. We hear a boom, which is believed to be a strike in Gaza. And then a few moments later, we hear them flying back in the direction of North. This has been going on all morning here and as well as all night and as expected to continue in the coming hours. Okay, Ariel, Osiron, thank you very much. And international response is flowing in since yesterday, more than 24 hours now into this war between Israel and Hamas. President Biden came out and with support for Israel, he's not the only one. Similar sentiments coming from Paris, from President Macron, Germany, the UK, and many other countries. Let's take a listen. Israel has the right to defend itself and its people, full stop. There's never justification for terrorist attacks. And my administration's support for Israel's security is rock solid and unwavering. When such a terrorist attack occurs, everyone who values life must stand in solidarity. In Ukraine, we are especially sympathetic to what has happened. Thousands of rockets in the sky of Israel, people killed right in the streets, cars with civilians being shot, the humiliation of hostages. Terror has brought all this, unfortunately, also to the streets of Ukrainian villages and cities. Our position is absolutely clear. Anywhere in the world, anyone who brings terror and death must be held accountable. Well, this is an abhorrent attack on Israel. This is indiscriminate. Civilians being targeted, killed and murdered. And as well, many of them being taken as hostages. This is a dreadful circumstance that people didn't see. Coming wasn't foreshadowed, a shock attack. When Ultraman senior international affairs correspondent, what sort of mandate does Israel have from the White House, from other world leaders with regards to the current operation, its current retaliatory attack in Gaza, what are world leaders actually saying to Israel? That's a great question. There's two parts to that, Ariel, what mandate and for what time period. Before we get to that, even beyond what we saw, look, buildings lit up in the Israeli flags in places that you might not automatically think of in Azerbaijan, of course, close military relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan, but nonetheless, to see buildings in Baku lit up with the Israeli flag, obviously is quite striking. The European Parliament was lit up in the Israeli flag last night with a strong statement from the President of the European Commission. So it's not only coming from Joe Biden, from Emmanuel Macron, from others, it's coming from circles beyond those. It was interesting, by the way, to hear and to read what Volodymyr Zelensky had to say on one hand, condemning and standing in solidarity with Israel, but there was a little bit of, how do I put it, of nuance to what he was saying, of course, with the background of the feeling of hurt in Ukraine that they don't feel, from their perspective, that they've gotten the same kind of response from Israel in terms of what they've experienced. As for the mandate, look, the mandate right now is full speed ahead. It's a green light for just about whatever Israel wants to do, you know, that unless it reaches really the outer bounds of what's allowed under international humanitarian law. Of course, the real question here, Ariel, is what's the time frame? And that's what going back to the thing Raphael Yusami said is so important. There's been a big debate in Israel and in the television studios over the last day about how, was it imperative for the military to act quickly after this, or is it better to take stock, to act cautiously and understand that it would be better to act more surely than more quickly? There are arguments on both sides, but the best argument, one of the best arguments for acting quickly is that this wide international mandate, we know from bitter experience, evaporates rather quickly. And steps such as what Israel's taken, one of the few definitive steps that we know that the security cabinet took last night, cutting off electricity, fuel, and commercial goods, the entry of those into Gaza, is something that may be okay in the short term, but over the long term is going to be seen as more problematic abroad, and there is, as always, even given the horrible scenes we saw yesterday, which extend the period of time that Israel has, which expand the scope of actions that Israel can take, even so there is still a stopwatch. There is still a stopwatch counting backwards that hasn't changed and it won't change. And even with all of the strong words that we heard from international leaders, and by the way, strong support I think across the board in Israel for what Joe Biden has said, despite tensions over the past few decades and his own democratic administrations, that's not true with this president, and that's not true with this moment, certainly not publicly in any way. But again, even there, a stopwatch that Israeli decision makers sooner or later are going to have to be cognizant of. Thank you, Owen. There are big and great questions about the lack of intelligence that led to this major attack that broke out yesterday morning. Rafael Urshalmi, in 1973, people were talking about the vanity of the Israeli military after the 1967 war. What can you say about the Israeli intelligence that was basically found, I don't know, I can't even find the words to describe how something like this happens. Eh, this crossing was completely wiped out. We're talking about 25 soldiers that were killed so far. What are you hearing from intelligence officers? So it seems unlikely that the intelligence had no clue at all. There was some info, that info was probably not well interpreted, but even if it was interpreted correctly, what was misinterpreted is the time frame we had to react to what was going on in Gaza. I think there were signs of something cooking and the IDF, the big mistake, is to have sought that we had more time and wanted maybe to wait to strike, but to strike in a justified manner, saying look, we had no choice to strike because look, they were already, and what happened in the timing is that the Hamas started the operation earlier than was estimated by the intelligence officers. It doesn't mean they had no clue at all. They just had the clue, but not the proper analysis and time frame to do it. We'll come back to this, but I wanna turn to Chanda Selkut, our correspondent in Sderot at this moment. Chanda, I understand that there are still Hamas, gunmen active in the city as we speak, although the police station has been reclaimed by Israeli forces. Give us your update from Sderot. Aria, well look, the police station has been reclaimed by the Israeli military. However, they're still unclear if there are any Hamas members left inside of the city. However, they are starting to clear part of the debris here, even though a lot of the road is crossed off. Take a look behind me here. This is actually the vehicle, the first pickup truck that Hamas members entered the Southern city and this pickup truck is ingrained in the minds of both Israelis and Palestinians alike because the unprecedented images of the Hamas members on the back of this pickup truck, as well as transporting hostages back and forth in vehicles like this one and this one ultimately ending up at the police station where it was later moved, a standoff between Hamas and Israeli forces happening overnight. The military saying they were able to kill 10 of them and clear the police station, but they're still not giving the all clear in this Southern town as there are more standoffs happening in neighboring Southern communities. If they were to give the all clear here, the problem would be if there is still someone perhaps in hiding, if there is someone that just kind of was swept under the rug that they did not yet catch. So they are not yet giving the all clear here. They are still treating this as if it's an active situation. The reports are indicating the situation is clear. The military is saying otherwise. Is there active fighting at this moment in Sderot or is it just the fear that there are some terrorists still hiding somewhere in the city? I've lost you in my IFB but I will answer the question. Currently there is no active fighting. However, last night gun battles, erupting explosions heard and also renewed rocket attacks happening just moments ago, large interceptions happening above the Israeli military still not giving the all clear firefights happening in a lot of neighboring communities here while the Israeli military tries to regain control of the situation here. Thank you very much, Hamda.  Rafael Urshami, I want to get back to, of course, the major questions about how this happened to the best military in the world or is it Israeli vanity again? It is for sure a kind of vanity for sure. We had the feeling that we were, we are having the upper hand. We had the feeling that our proposals of socio-economical help to the Gaza people, the permits of work, to give work permits to more and more, just a few days ago, 3,000 more work permits for people from Gaza to come to work in Israel, trying to dissociate the population from the terrorists. All this we saw was working. The military told the government things are looking good for sure. But on the other hand, we saw moves by the government, for example, Minister Ben Kvir again and again, saying he would go on Temple Mount. So perhaps the military was doing its job. Was the government? The government would say the governments of Israel for many, many years have reinforced the Hamas instead of weakening it. They have thought that it was clever and cunning to have a Hamas in Gaza to divide Palestine in two and the PLO in Ramallah. After each round, they have allowed the Hamas, each round that was successful for the Israelis, they have allowed the Hamas after a few weeks to regroup, to rearm, to refinance itself, restructure itself. There was many, many years of wrong policy with zero deterrence and with the result that you see now. Thank you very much. Rafael Roushami, Owen Ultriman. Thank you for joining me. Our coverage here on I-24 News continues next. So stay tuned. And ready? Let's go. One show, a whole lot of perspectives. He is part of the problem. You want to talk about deep platforming? People are losing their lives. Not just what happened, but why does it matter? I'd like to finish my point. You're the one stretching terms here. You could be a fantastic CNN reporter. Join us every night, 8 p.m. Eastern on Global Live, The Global Conversation. He starts here. Take it as a hobby. And share it on social media. As for me, if I can do it, if I can do it, I'd be very happy to take it as a job. This week on I-24, we'll go through the historic city of Aco, which was an important city during the Crusades and today is one of Israel's tourist attractions. Betel Faraya, the house of the mariposas, a unique place in Aco where Muslim and Jewish women are inspired to cook and connect with the culinary world. Marcos Ayala, present in Israel at the show Amor Itango, a show full of virtuosism, passion and modernity. On the 24th, the Spanish magazine of I-24 News. And get to the heart of the story, even tougher, to make sense of it all. And that's where we come in. I'm David Matlin and each weekday, I'll take on the most important topics, breaking down the issues so you can decide for yourself. Zoom in each weekday here at I-24 News. The Middle East is changing. Old alliances make way for new partnerships. Bigger threats lead to new relationships and shared goals, meaning new opportunities. We speak to those who know the inside story and are at the heart of the changes. Don't get caught up with the same old story. Find out what's happening in Middle East now. Middle East now on I-24 News. Israel is at war. Since the early hours of the morning, Israel has been facing infiltrations of terrorists, kidnapping of Israelis, and a barrage of thousands of rockets emanating from the Gaza Strip, the biggest and bloodiest attack in years. Tune in for our extensive enrolling coverage of the Hamas' deadly attack on Israel. With reporters on the ground in depth analysis and most updated and accurate information, stay tuned with I-24 News. We're on the inside of political and religious passions in Jerusalem, breaking down the financial trends shaping the global economy, giving you key contacts, not just headlines, with the stories from Israel that touch the U.S. and those across the region with impact far beyond its borders. Hatch the rundown where the Middle East meets the world. You're watching I-24 News. I'm Ariel Marguliet. The 27th hour of the Hamas' attack on Israel is ongoing at this time. Hamas' terrorists are starting to attack Israel in the Middle East. Israel is at war. Israel is at war. Israel is at war. Israel is at war. Israel is at war. Israel is at war. At this time, Hamas' terrorists are still active in seven different villages, kibbutz and towns in the south of Israel, terrorizing citizens. That those areas are Sderot, Kfar-Aza, Kisufim, Zikim, Army Base, Yechini, and Kibbutz-Beeri. More than 300 people have been killed in the Hamas' attack that started yesterday. Dozens of civilians and soldiers have been abducted to Gaza. We don't know yet the exact numbers. They're estimated to be in the dozens, perhaps even hundreds. More than 1,800 Israelis have been injured as Hamas' fighters took those cities more than 22 different locations that have been taken yesterday by Hamas. We're now joined in the studio by Rafael Urshami, former Senior Intelligence Officer in the IDF and a Security Analyst, and our Senior Correspondent Owen Alterman. Thank you both for joining us. Rafael, I'll start with you. What do we know about these centers of fighting? There was a briefing this morning by the IDF, but the information that we're getting, let's admit, very little. Okay, we have a problem since the beginning of this operation with the information coming from the IDF and security services. There's a lot of fog around what's going on. Right now, what we do know is that inside Israel, on the border with Gaza, there are still a few points where terrorists are active, circulating into cities. Some terrorists apparently left in the city of Jerot, even though all night there were very hard combats taking place there. So we're far from seeing the end of exactions being perpetrated by terrorists inside Israel. There are also more attempts to infiltrate from Gaza into Israel. They are continuing to this scenario because of the success they've had yesterday. As towards Gaza itself, the theater of operation there, what should be happening today is an order or an advice from the Israelis to the inhabitants of Gaza to evacuate their homes, their abodes because there's going to be a heavy bombardment of certain buildings and houses that house either offices or command post-operational offices of the Hamas. And we have now a new theater of operation, apparently, in the north, with what have first seemed just a provocation by Palestinian factions but seems to have been claimed by Hezbollah, which is another ballgame altogether, and with retaliation, those, but still, of the IDF on Hezbollah targets. And that's not good news at all. Owen, let's talk about what's happening in the north. Just about half an hour ago, Hezbollah takes responsibility for firing some shells at Israeli posts on the border. This is a scenario that Israel is very fearful from. We found, the attack yesterday, found the IDF with most of its forces in the West Bank, securing settler activities in the West Bank for the holiday and not in the south. What is the situation in the north and why is this something that could create major escalation in this war? Because Hezbollah's a lot more powerful than Hamas. That's the bottom line. Everyone in Israel has known that, going back 20 years, that for all of the power and all of the training that Hamas has demonstrated over the course of the last day, Hezbollah has thought to have much greater firepower beyond its troops, just in terms of its missiles. And these aren't just rockets, by the way. They're missiles, as far as I understand. Rafael can correct me if I'm wrong. And many thousands, if not tens of thousands of them, this is an organization that's much better armed than Hamas is, that in some senses has deterred the Israeli military in the past. I'm not sure it will deter the Israeli military now, given what's happening. And that's why this is a situation that Israelis have paid very, very close attention to, ever since what was also a surprise. Not as big as the last day, but in 2006, with the kind of war that Hezbollah was able to launch against Israel the beginning of the rocket threat, or the materialization of the rocket threat in Israeli communities. Haaretz, by the way, is reporting that the Asher Regional Council, which is the western part of the Lebanese border, western part of the Israeli side, of course, of the Lebanese border, is telling residents of frontline communities to evacuate their homes. Again, I think it bears repeating to viewers, these are communities that are inside of Israel's international borders. They are not in the West Bank. These are not settlers. The attacks and abductions of settlers are justified, of course not. But these are Israelis who are living in these communities and have been for the last 75 years. And it's also, I think, bears noting that the area and the regional council that instructed its residents, those communities, to evacuate is very far from the location where the fighting is happening, which is the other end of the border. So it speaks to concern about this genuinely spreading and spreading across the entire border. I don't know if that step was taken by the advice from the IDF Home Front Commander, the military, or if that's a precautionary step taken by the regional council to avoid the kinds of scenes, the horrific scenes we've seen over the course of the last day. It also should be said, at least from the minimal amount that we know, and I say this with caution, the escalation on the northern front seems to be more gradual than what we saw on the southern front. Of course, we may not have complete information. Of course, everything can change. Iran has approved that it indeed supported, of course, Hezbollah and Hamas in those efforts yesterday to infiltrate Israel, supported them militarily and financially, of course. So this is... We have to remember... We have to remember that Iran also stands behind this. Israel, meanwhile, is launching an attack, an retaliatory attack on Gaza. More than 230 people are dead in Gaza so far. More than 1,700 injured there in the Israeli attacks on Gaza. Let's take a listen to Minister of Defense Joav Galan speaking last night about the Israeli mission in Gaza. Today, we saw the face of evil brutal and criminal, indiscriminate attack against the citizens of Israel. They did not distinguish between women, children, and elderly. They hurt everyone. They will realize very quickly that they made a mistake, a serious mistake, and will pay the price. 15 years ago, as the commander of the southern command, I was close to breaking Hamas. Then the government stopped me. This phenomenon will not change. We will change the face of reality in Gaza for the next 50 years. Not what will be. We will act with full force. I asked the citizens of Israel to be patient and support the IDF and the security forces. What does it mean when Joav Galan Minister of Defense says and then later we hear Prime Minister Anjan Yahu also saying that we will change the paradigm that we will not be held back by the cabinet as we have before because this government wants to go all the way. What is important when you start an operation or a war is to define very clearly what is the final objective. We had in the protective border a lot of hesitation. It took a couple of weeks before we knew what the objective was. It was a very big mistake. We found that the tunnels would be an objective but that was not very convincing. This time they have to define and I think they tried with the text that was voted last night to define the objective as dismantling the military power of the Hamas and possibly also its political power inside Gaza. That's the objective. What would that mean? Is that clear enough? Not really. Speaking of dismantling or destroying the Hamas. How far are we willing to go? What does it mean to dismantle the military power? Does it mean that we will have some military power left or none at all? The objective is a little clearer than usual but not clear enough not convincing enough. I think it's also not deterring enough. I think they should have had stronger words to say that we are going to destroy them we are going to kill them all or something like this because we have to understand that who is listening to this they are listening to that language they are also looking at the strikes. The strikes of last night were not mostly enough, not good, no deterrence let's hope that maybe today with the evacuation of citizens from their homes in Gaza there will be strikes that are more spectacular because people are watching under Hizballah even even though Nassal Khasrallah is a very cautious person as hotheaded I'd say as the Hamas people, the Islamic Jihad people is very cautious but is watching and who do you feel that there is some kind of hesitation on our part not enough determination, weakness he might be thinking ok that's the time that I can go in now I have an opportunity to do it that might not come back so quickly if for instance the Israeli have an emergency government overnight because what prompted all this is like the feeling that Israel is weaker these days because of the political turmoil and other symptoms and that of course inspires people to attack so all in all the first hours of war are decisive in two ways defining a clear objective what do we want to achieve and strike very hard from the start. Ok we now want to turn where Ariel Osiron Middle East correspondent who is in the city of Askelon that's the biggest Israeli city located close to the border with Gaza just 13 miles or so north of the Gaza border on the Mediterranean coast and there was a direct hit both at the hospital in the city overnight and also in a house in an apartment Ariel we see from the images and from the reports that the strike the shell it actually hit what we call the security room that is located in many apartments just evidenced how severely hit how severely hurt you can be if you are in those security rooms that so many Israelis are spending the last 24 hours in. And I will ask our cameraman straight away show you the exterior of the safe room as you see as opposed to the other windows the window that was hit has a special panel on it to secure it even more but it raises the question given that this is facing south and south is where the rockets came from how come safe rooms are directed south with the window this is one of the many many questions that down the line Israeli emergency services and the military home front are going to have to look at the question of positioning safe rooms facing south facing the direction from where the rockets are expected to come but this building is just one building that has suffered a direct hit last night where in a complex we don't want to get to into details because for citizens but surrounded by a bunch of these different six seven story buildings nearly everyone has been has suffered from a direct hit over the past 25 hours since this war began and we're talking to two citizens here who are concerned who are worried and one of them is a guy who's in fact the neighbor family whose home suffered a direct hit in that safe room explaining about what happened in the middle of the night let's take a listen to what he said we heard a very powerful boom something unusual and when we left the shelter after 30 seconds I heard the neighbor shouting loudly in Russian I immediately opened the door saw him in a panic asked what happened then he took me to his shelter his wife lying motionless there he tried to move her and she didn't respond at all and there was a big hole in his shelter meaning there was a direct hit to his home indeed Ariel so that's just one example of numerous direct hits not only here in Ashkelon but elsewhere in the community surrounding the Gaza Strip throughout the morning sirens continue not here in Ashkelon but overhead we hear the constant Israeli jets flying south few minutes later we hear a boom which is believed to be a strike in Gaza and then a few moments later we hear them flying back in the direction of north this has been going on all morning here and as well as all night and is expected to continue in the coming hours Ariel also on thank you very much and international responses flowing in since yesterday more than 24 hours now into this war between Israel and Hamas President Biden came out and with support for Israel he's not the only one similar sentiments coming from Paris from President Macron Germany the UK and many other countries let's take a listen Israel has the right to defend itself and his people full stop there's never justification for terrorist attacks and my administration's support for Israel's security is rock solid and unwavering when such a terrorist attack occurs everyone who values life must stand in solidarity in Ukraine we are especially sympathetic to what has happened thousands of rockets in the sky of Israel people killed right in the streets cars with civilians being shot the humiliation of hostages terror has brought all this unfortunately also to the streets of Ukrainian villages and cities our position is absolutely clear anywhere in the world anyone who brings terror and death must be held accountable well this is an abhorrent attack on Israel this is indiscriminate civilians being targeted, killed and murdered and as well many of them being taken as hostages this is a dreadful circumstance that people didn't see coming wasn't foreshadowed a shock attack when Ultraman senior international affairs correspondent what sort of mandate does Israel have from the White House from other world leaders with regards to the current operation the current retaliatory attack in Gaza what are world leaders actually saying to Israel that's a great question there's two parts to that Ariel what mandate and for what time period before we get to that even beyond what we saw look buildings lit up in the Israeli flags in places that you might not automatically think of in Azerbaijan of course close military relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan but nonetheless to see buildings in Baku lit up with the Israeli flag quite striking the European parliament was lit up in the Israeli flag last night with a strong statement from the president of the European commission so it's not only coming from Joe Biden from Emmanuel Macron from others it's coming from circles beyond those it was interesting by the way to hear and to read what Volodymyr Zelensky had to say on one hand condemning and standing in solidarity with Israel but there was a little bit of what do I put it of nuance to what he was saying of course with the background of the feeling of hurt in Ukraine that they don't feel from their perspective that they've gotten the same kind of response from Israel in terms of what they've experienced as for the mandate look the mandate right now is full speed ahead it's a green light for just about whatever Israel wants to do you know that unless it reaches really the outer bounds of what's allowed under international humanitarian law of course the real question here Ariel is what's the time frame and that's what going back to the thing Raphael you or Sami said is so important there's been a big debate in Israel and in the television studios over the last day about how what was it imperative for the military to act quickly after this or is it better to take stock to act cautiously and understand that it would be better to act more surely than more quickly there are arguments on both sides but the best argument one of the best arguments for acting quickly is that this wide international mandate we know from bitter experience evaporates rather quickly and steps such as what Israel has taken one of the few definitive steps that we know that the security cabinet took last night cutting off electricity, fuel and commercial goods the entry of those into Gaza is something that may be okay in the short term but over the long term is going to be seen as more problematic abroad and there is as always even given the horrible scenes we saw yesterday which extend the period of time that Israel has which expand the scope of actions that Israel can take even so there is still a stopwatch there is still a stopwatch counting backwards that hasn't changed and it won't change and even with all of the strong words that we heard from international leaders and by the way strong support I think across the board in Israel for what Joe Biden has said despite tensions over the past few decades in his own democratic administrations that's not true with this president that's not true with this moment certainly not publicly in any way but again even there a stopwatch that Israeli decision makers sooner or later going to have to be cognizant of thank you when they're big and great questions about the lack of intelligence that led to this major attack that broke out yesterday morning Rafael Urshalmi in 1973 people were talking about the vanity of the Israeli military after the 1967 war what can you say about what can you say about the Israeli intelligence that was basically found I don't know I can't even find the words to describe how something like this happens Erez Krossing was completely wiped out we're talking about 25 soldiers that were killed so far what are you hearing from intelligence officers it seems unlikely that the intelligence had no clue at all there was some info that info was probably not well interpreted but even if it was interpreted correctly what was misinterpreted is the time the time frame we had to react to what was going on in Gaza I think there were signs of something cooking and the idea the big mistake was the thought that we had more time and wanted maybe to wait to strike but to strike in a justified manner saying look we had no choice to strike because look they were already and what happened in the timing is that the Hamas started the operation earlier that was estimated by the intelligence it doesn't mean they had no clue at all they just had the clue but not the proper analysis so we'll come back to this but I want to turn to Hamda Selkut our correspondent in Sderot at this moment Hamda I understand that there are still Hamas, gunmen active in the city as we speak although the police station has been reclaimed by Israeli forces give us your update from Sderot Aria well look the police station has been reclaimed by the Israeli military however they're still unclear if there are any Hamas members left inside of the city however they are starting to clear part of the debris here even though a lot of the road is crossed off take a look behind me here this is actually the vehicle the first pickup truck that Hamas members entered the southern city and this pickup truck is ingrained in the minds of both Israelis and Palestinians alike because the unprecedented images of the Hamas members on the back of those transporting hostages back and forth in vehicles like this one and this one ultimately ending up at the police station where it was later moved a standoff between Hamas and Israeli forces happening overnight the military saying they were able to kill 10 of them and clear the police station but they're still not giving the all clear in this southern town as there are more standoffs happening in neighboring southern communities if they were to give the all clear here if there is still someone perhaps in hiding if there is someone that just kind of was swept under the rug that they did not yet catch so they are not yet giving the all clear here they are still treating this as if it's an active situation the reports are indicating the situation is clear the military is saying otherwise Is there active fighting at this moment in Zdelot or is it just the fear that there are some terrorists still hiding somewhere in the city I've lost you in my IFB I will answer the question currently there is no active fighting however last night gun battles erupting explosions heard and also renewed rocket attacks happening just moments ago large interceptions happening above the Israeli military still not giving the all clear firefights happening in a lot of neighboring communities here while the Israeli military tries to regain control of the situation here thank you very much Hamda take care of yourself there and we'll be back with you shortly Rafaleer Ushalmi I want to get back to of course the major questions about how this happened the best military in the world or is it Israeli vanity again it is for sure a kind of vanity for sure we had the feeling that we were having the upper hand we had the feeling that our proposals of socio-economical help to the Gaza people the permits of work you know to give work permits to more and more just a few days ago 3,000 more work permits for people from Gaza to come to work in Israel trying to dissociate the population from the terrorists all this we saw was working the military told the government things are looking good for sure but on the other hand we saw moves by the government for example minister Ben Kvir again and again saying he would go on Temple Mount perhaps the military was doing his job was the government the government would say the governments of Israel for many many years have reinforced the Hamas instead of weakening it they have thought that it was clever and cunning to have Hamas in Gaza to divide Palestine in two and the PLO in Ramallah after each round they have allowed the Hamas each round that was successful for the Israelis they have allowed the Hamas after a few weeks to regroup to rearm to refinance restructure itself there was many many years of wrong policy with zero deterrence and with the result that you see now thank you very much Rafaleer and Ultraman thank you for joining me our coverage here on I-24 news continues next so stay tuned my name is Khanna Rithkin and welcome to this newest edition of Discover Bacherine we are a wealth of beautiful beach fronts to enjoy in Bacherine life here is centered on being active and enjoying the outdoors whether it's an evening volleyball match or diving into an immersive oyster shucking experience you will fall in love with all you have to offer back out the popular Marathi beach which offers fun for the whole family there are more than 17 water activities on offer including jet skiing kayaking, knee boarding and a water park choose from an array of delicious food establishments overlooking the crystal clear water and enjoy a beautiful afternoon sea tours on the island also offer hands-on snorkeling scuba and oyster shucking experiences for the family kids and parents can dive to collect oysters and learn how to crack them open to look for precious pearls at the annual sea festival visitors can also watch Bacherine locals shuck oysters for pearls island life means enjoying the outdoors from dong to dusk with a plentiful sea inhabited by more than 200 types of fish you can watch fishermen bring in the daily catch and explore the poor towns that are filled with oysters and highlight Bacherine's position at the crossroads of civilizations throughout history so much to do and see on your trip to Bacherine that will keep you active and taking part in the outdoor lifestyle that's all for now thank you so much for watching this episode of Discover Bacherine until next time, I'm Hanariske you could travel to the Middle East right now without packing and without a plane ticket would you? we are in Tel Aviv, Israel welcome to I-24 News digital we bring Israel and the entire Middle East right to your social networks on your phone on your desktop here I-24 News creates videos especially made for social media and believe me we are out there working hard right here, Israel and Nepal for the very first time is how they begin making original content streaming live even in the hard moments and filming docuseries with us you will find all the big stories you missed on television so join I-24 News on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube and discover the Middle East with us Israel is at war since the early hours of the morning Israel has been facing infiltrations of terrorists, kidnapping of Israelis and a barrage of thousands of rockets emanating from the Gaza Strip the biggest and bloodiest attack in years tune in for our extensive and rolling coverage of the Hamas deadly attack on Israel with reporters on the ground in depth analysis and most updated and accurate information stay tuned with I-24 News for tuning in our ongoing coverage of the war between Israel and this Hamas is continuing here on I-24 News I'm Ariel Margoliet at this time we are reported that presumably there are more than 100 Israelis that were abducted to Gaza these are estimates by experts close to the IDF and the Israeli government but the official numbers have not been revealed just yet we're also hearing that there are exchanges of fire with terrorists near Yated and Hamas terrorists are still active in seven different towns Sderot Kfar Azar Kisufim Zikim Army Base Yechini and Kibbutz Baeri all of this is happening as we speak and what you're seeing on screen is Israelis being abducted to Gaza yesterday young people who were at a party in the south soldiers as well as entire families mothers children and elderly were taken to Gaza dozens of civilians and soldiers have been injured more than 1800 Israelis are injured and shelling continued overnight on Ashkelon and others we're going to try and turn to our Hamda Salhout who is in Sderot Hamda can you hear us? no we don't let's turn to Ambassador Danny Ayalon joining us now thank you very much for being with us Danny this is perhaps the greatest surprise that Israel has experienced since 1973 and the attack then by two of the greatest Arab armies during the Yom Kippur war looking at the assessments that you're hearing from the government, from the military I have to say that my personal feeling and the feeling of many is that we don't know enough about what is happening and about what happened we're hearing that fighting continues in seven different spots around the country do you say that the situation is nearing control in any way and how should Israel act with regards to more than 100 people that were abducted in Taghaza these numbers are just insane Israel has been trying to negotiate the release of some bodies and prisoners that you can count on one hand what do you do with 100 prisoners and unfortunately the fog of battle still pursues and still ensues and it will take some time to clear it up as the military has been mobilizing for a major mock-up operation but first they have to clear up and make sure that our citizens in the border towns in the south are safe but it's 9-11 for Israel and you compare it to 1973 1973 we faced two regular armies formidable armies and of course 18 days and we took them out here what really adds so to the injury that this is not a formidable army it's a terror organization which is prepared and prepared and we know that it has been financed and equipped and motivated by Iran, Hamas is an Iranian proxy just like his Balaj just like the Houthis in Yemen or the Iranians' militias in Syria and in Iraq and other places in the Middle East but the failure here before even we discuss the intelligence failure which led to the operational failure in the first 24 hours is a concept that failed us because the concept was and again it's eerily resembling the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago the concept was that Hamas is deterred and that Hamas after they took over the Gaza in a coup against the Palestinian Authority back in 2007 that's now that they are in control they would be answerable to their people they would be responsible for the people's well-being and food and employment and all this and all these rounds of violence that we've had since 2007 until now were for one purpose to get more money to extort more money for themselves and to get better conditions for their people and indeed just last week we've had a which now we can consider it as a diversion because just last week we were on the cusp of another round of violence and what they did again was extorting to get more money from Qatar which they did to get more permits for Palestinian Gazans employees to come to work in Israel so they can send back money home and get more money from their table and it was all thought to be clear and this is why the army was off guard the intelligence thought it's all over but the concept failed because Hamas is a ruthless barbaric I would say I want to ask you about the timing you're a very experienced diplomat and politician I want to ask you about the timing for this where a year of protests against the government the prime ministers and others have from the right wing, from the extreme right have blamed the protest movement in weakening Israeli society and in portraying an image of weakness externally but on the other hand there have also been extreme extreme showcases of violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank threats of ministers like Itamar Ben-Vir from the extreme right to go on Temple Mount at a very sensitive time etc. What do you make of the events that led to this attack by Hamas yesterday what are we to blame? Well there will be a reckoning time after this war is over and after Israel will win this war because we have no other choice and we will win this war so it's painful to see all the casualties mostly civilians but definitely there is a great reckoning who formed this government will be answerable for many many questions there is also no doubt about the timing to mention that our enemies have perceived Israel to be weakened by the very bitter dispute that tore apart Israeli society which came after this so called judicial reform and based on moment of opportunity now granted operation of such a scale by Hamas takes months if not years to prepare but the timing is very much determined but the geopolitical situation by how the enemy perceives Israel's resilience and this is why I think the timing was now however just as in previous times before our enemies are again misjudging us because what you saw was Israel uniting just snapping out of all the political debates people spawned for later you see all those who were really Israeli patriots whether it's the pilots or other fighting reservists who said that they will not go back to their units as a pressure on the government but once the fighting started they all jumped to the one all the pilots jumped into their G suits went back and we will see Israel is best again Thank you very much Ambassador Dania Elon for speaking with us on this tough and meaningful day for Israel, thank you we now want to turn to Balzila hospital that suffered a direct hit overnight our Ariel Al-Saran is there and Ariel I understand that there are also a lot of relatives constantly more than 18,000 Israelis have been injured and also horrible and very difficult sites of families that are coming to the hospital to look for their loved ones right Ariel so out of the 1800 injured so far from this attack by Hamas whether it's the ground invasion or rocket fire to this hospital Balzila and so far 360 injured people have been sent here of them 96 are in critical condition and so staff here obviously throughout the past 25 hours have been working in increased capacity to deal with the large amounts of injuries now I will say that throughout today this morning the second day of this war the rate of arrival of injuries has dropped substantially compared to yesterday they are indeed still some active firefights taking place in the surrounding area closer to the Gaza Strip but as for today the situation here is a lot calmer than what it was yesterday but as we're talking just moments ago Israeli police releasing new information regarding the casualties among the police force saying that so far 30 police officers have been killed in clashes with Hamas fighters throughout the past day and a bit of them we're talking about the the commanders of the Rahat station of the Sigh of Shalom station and add to that also high ranking police officers yesterday who engaged also the head of the original council killed in clashes and gunfight the chief of fire chief of Sderot so this shows that in addition to the many civilians and soldiers who took part also emergency services military, police engaging yesterday and still today as you spoke to earlier in the situation in Sderot situation here in Ashkelon there have not been any sirens this morning since last night in the morning and yet the arrival of injuries to this hospital here continues albeit at a slower pace than yesterday also about the direct hit there in the hospital where did it hit briefly and is the hospital operating in full capacity the hospital has asked not to specify exactly where it hit but they're saying that it did not affect the operationality of the hospital one bit they've been continuing to operate in full capacity since that's good to know I have to cut you there because there is a briefing that's just starting by the IDF spokesperson Daniele Gami let's listen in we are evacuating some villages our mission in the next few days is to evacuate all of the citizens from the area of the Gaza Strip the surrounding villages and towns we will finish it in the next 24 hours we will reach every single town until we kill every terrorist that is in the parameters of the state of Israel the Israeli assault on Gaza is a strong assault we've so far targeted 500 targets among them houses of the commanders of the Hamas all of the governing centers of Hamas including buildings that are used for governance and we will continue with the attack there are hundreds of terrorists that are that have been killed and many have been captured we've killed more than 400 terrorists in Gaza and we have tens of terrorists in captive in the north there has been some firing of missiles military posts in the north Israeli IDF units retaliated with shelling and there isn't a continuing threat in the north we are ready with full capacity in the west bank and our preparedness is intact for all of Israel if anybody attacks Israel they will be severely attacked back as far as the number of dead from the attacks in Israel we have so far brief 26 families about the deaths of their loved ones in this difficult time our hearts are with the families our condolences we send our wishes for recovery to all of the injured there will be a website that we will establish that will have all the names of the soldiers that have been killed in this war we know that the public is hungry for more information people are welcome to approach the IDF we have problems there with a line in order to get more information about their families and loved ones you can dial 104 from your cell phone and get information and instructions about how to behave at home families can call the police hotline 105 that's the number that hotline will also give information with regards to anybody who is missing at the moment this is also where families should arrive to give any DNA samples we've gone through a very difficult 24 hours and the resilience of the villages and settlements across the country and around the Gaza Strip is incredible we will again evacuate the residents from those areas so we can continue with the fighting we continue with a severe strike on Gaza and there will be a heavy toll for this war there is a need and responsibility and national responsibility we ask for the public to take responsibility and not to share videos or information about events that have not been confirmed by the IDF please please only publish information that has been already published by the IDF spokesperson office there are families behind these stories the horrible acts of Hamas are a crime of war it's against international crime it's against Islam and we will come to terms with these people the resilience of the people and and the difficult days that lie ahead will be met by Israel's IDF and its strength in full capacity and there is some Q&A there we cannot hear the question by the journalists but we will definitely be able to hear the answer at this moment there is great preparedness in the north on the northern border he's referring to the firing of rockets on Israeli IDF posts on the northern border that Hezbollah has taken responsibility for this event he says is there isn't an additional threat at the moment there taking another question about the strike in Gaza the IDF is striking in Gaza widely commanders who are staying in houses will be will suffer strikes this will continue and increase in severity in the next few hours the IDF and the air force is using all of its capacity and power there is going to be artillery firing and Gaza is going to suffer great strikes on Gaza from any location that might pose a threat to the state of Israel that's the briefing by the IDF spokesperson at this time okay we now want to just recap on the main points from this and then turn to a member of Knessetra and Eskel so the IDF spokesperson saying that shelling on Gaza will continue and increase in severity in the next few hours Israeli IDF is planning to strike heavily in Gaza houses of commanders command centers governance centers and basically a variety of targets in the Gaza Strip he's also saying that there is an evacuation operation that is currently happening where the IDF is going to evacuate the residents of the Kibbutz settlements and towns around the Gaza Strip this will be completed according to the IDF spokesperson in 24 hours now of course there is a political side to everything that is happening in the country since yesterday we're now turning to a member of Knessetra and Eskel, she is from the National Unity Party thank you for staying with us on the line I know you were listening as well to the briefing by the IDF first and foremost I'd like to ask you as an elected member of parliament what do you say to the people of Israel across the entire country who are afraid to go out to the streets to go to work to go shopping for some groceries to go to an appointment with a doctor because we're hearing that there are still terrorists walking around among us Hamas terrorists in at least seven towns in the south of Israel but who knows maybe in other areas in the country as well Ariel, this has been the worst attack that we've experienced in 50 years probably since Yom Kippur it's devastating and I send my condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones this tragedy we haven't experienced in years and years and there will be time to learn the lessons and to do accounts for what happened right now we are at war Ariel you will remember this day as the first war of Israel and Iran war but it's not really Israel this is a call an war on the western world by radical Islam what we have seen and happened this is not Hezbollah this is not Umni Hamas this is planned and organized by Iran Hamas wouldn't be capable of doing such atrocities if it wasn't for the help and the backup of Iran and and this war is going to take a while what we've seen is not acts of war what we've seen in the last 24 hours are crimes against humanity these are full war crimes what we've seen with ISIS doing in the Middle East these are the exact same barbaric atrocities that our citizens had experiences I will say to our citizens that in these times it's important for us to unite together we will overcome it our army is one of the strongest army and united together we will be able to overcome this war as we've done many times before Yes can we expect to have a new government by the end of the day or by the end of the week you just mentioned the national unity and the need to stay together and I think everybody is pretty much fighting together and very much in shock by what we are experiencing we're seeing of course all of the movements including all of the protesters and the pilots of course going back to the ranks and fighting I do want to ask about the political side of things Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday summoned opposition former Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz where does this stand Lapid has said and Gantz have said that they will enter an emergency government what are the terms for such a government Look we don't do politics in these kind of times the government will get any backup needed in fierce and strong response that will bring back the security and the safety of our citizens and of our country this is the first thing and the only thing that is standing right in front of our eyes we will do anything and we will back up this government in any act that they do in order to return the security and the safety of our citizens and of our country anything beside that we put aside in these kind of times and obviously there has been some propositions and a conversation by Netanyahu and we will these are certain things that Benny Gantz is considering at this moment you could also just support this government from the opposition so my question is whether your party will use this opportunity to enter the government with Netanyahu on the condition that Ben Kvill and perhaps Smoltrich as well do not sit in this government and perhaps this is a moment where there is an opportunity for change in Israel because this government and the constitution of this government to this situation perhaps things has changed in this country yesterday was a declaration of war on our country and the only thing in front of our eyes is not politics, it's not opportunities and nothing like that what we will do is what's best for the security of our people in our country if we see that there is any position that we can assist and be a hand to reinforce that security and the in Israel security needs this is what we will do if you analyze what led to this attack yesterday by Hamas of course you mentioned Iran and you know the timing it's an interesting timing as we all know 50 years after the Yom Kippur war but also a year into this government in Yahu in which we are seeing a very extreme right wing fraction taking part we are seeing settlers praying in Chawara over the holidays attacks of settlers but also perhaps in Israel that seems weaker to the outside with a protest movement that has been growing strong and for almost a year now if you are looking at what led to this and why this timing you know was possible even what do you deduce I say that right now in these kinds of time we put all the accounts and all of the blame games aside what we have to concentrate is a security of Israel and we are at war we need to go out fight protect our families defend our country defend our home and this is the only thing that we are going to do a count on at this moment we will have enough time after this war to try and think and see what had happened what led what kind of failures or blame or anything like that this is not something we are going to do at this moment at this moment we are going to concentrate all of our energy into one thing Israel needs to win this war because as I said not going to determine only the future of Israel this is a war of radical Islam on the western world and on the western world and the only thing that we have to concentrate and put our thoughts at is how we are going to win this war and how we are going to make sure that never something like that will ever happen again Okay, member of Knesset Dasha in a scale from the National Unity Party thank you very much for joining us Thank you, Argan Oh and Ultraman Senior Correspondent here in studio Oh and the IDF Spokes person says there is going to be a large evacuation operation happening in the next few hours to be completed in 24 hours again the major question is why hasn't that started yesterday and also that attacks will increase on infrastructure of Hamas and Gaza everywhere, what are you hearing? Right well first of all Ariel a definable and measureable objective right with a time frame that we've gotten from the Israeli military right a marker in the next day X is going to happen X being to kill and evacuate to get rid of all of the terrorists in order to evacuate all of the residents finally a measurable definable and objective that we can test the military against that they've come to the podium and said another interesting point in that briefing is the fact that symbols of Hamas control are being hit again under international humanitarian law again we're starting to reach maybe in this case the outer bounds again these aren't necessarily military objectives right these are symbols of the Hamas control over Gaza potentially political again arguably very arguably legal given the circumstances and given what Israel's facing and given what Hamas is and has done but it's notable that that was highlighted I do think though that there still was an element of the substitute teacher speaking you know warning potential Palestinian terrorists in the west bank that they'll pay a high price I think after all that we've seen over the course of the last day and a half I think that phrase simply has to be put on the shelf by the Israeli military yes it's true that hundreds of Hamas terrorists have been killed soldiers have fought extremely bravely and we've heard and seen all of the stories but at the same time Israel is currently losing the war we can't lose sight of that I don't think that the military should be making immediate promises such as those when the situation is such as it is Owen something that just coming in Hamas Al-Qasam Brigade say and perhaps in response also to what we're hearing from the IDF that they are able to carry out infiltration operations to reinforce their fighters with additional forces and equipment so they're saying basically the way we infiltrate in there were 28 different points of entry on the border with Gaza they're saying we can still go in maybe not through those 28 points maybe in another way and rearm the people that we still have within Israel and they're naming number of locations that they call inside their occupied territories including Sufa outpost Kibbutz, Sufa Khulit and Yated in the Rafa access near Lafiyah that's what Hamas is saying at the moment that their channels into Israel remain open that they're not putting their arms down and that they're able to basically send both additional forces and also equipment into Israel Hamas says things doesn't always is not always good to its word but obviously worth paying attention to and one would hope that the Israeli military will be prepared for that kind of eventuality of course so the last 24 plus hours don't inspire much confidence on that point but look the reality is there are at this point so many forces in the area that obviously the situation it was at the beginning of yesterday but be that all as it may we now have a defined and measurable objective from the military in the short term of what it wants to achieve over the course of the next day and I think that's welcome for the public to hear that about what the immediate plans are as for the strengthening of the attacks on Hamas and Gaza listen Ariel we still haven't seen a movement from the air to the land to the ground which I think so many of us are expecting again we have not had the government come out and say plain English if you will or plain Hebrew if you will that the goal of this operation is to end Hamas control over Gaza we've talked about destroying Hamas's governing capabilities I'm not really sure what that means but at any event attacking symbols of Hamas control and political power over Gaza again Israel trying to go on offense but as you rightly noted still in a very very strong sense still playing defense again this far into the operation and he said it at the podium the idea of spokesperson battles still going on in the Karazakh Kibbutz people still hold up in their homes with terrorists walking around the community on the second day of this and that's not the only place where there is the potential that there are more fighters even if there aren't actual battles by his own admission at least in seven additional towns fighting is still going on or at least there is suspicion that there are still terrorists from Gaza walking around armed terrorists and also a reminder to our viewers more than 100 Israelis that's according to the estimates this morning that more than 100 Israelis have been abducted by Hamas to Gaza we don't know how many of them are alive but at least these are the numbers at this time women and children and entire families make a very very quick point again we talked about international humanitarian law and the potential warning signs for Israel of course it's true that Hamas did is an absolute war crime and we heard that from the podium that there's simply no argument and the treatment of the prisoners is another war crime potentially waiting to happen thank you very much stay with us please now let's talk about what's happening in the north as was mentioned by the idea of spokesperson Hasbala has taken responsibility for striking the border with Lebanon it responds Israeli defense forces carried out artillery strikes on targets in south Lebanon there are no reports of injuries or casualties at the moment but residents in northern communities at least in Mateh Asher in the Asher district have been instructed to leave their houses and evacuate to the south are you recommended not instructed at this moment but they were recommended to move southwards to leave the border area in fear of escalation we're now turning to Sarit Zehavi she's the founder and president of Alma Research and Education Center focused on the northern front thank you very much for being with us what do they know at Asher regional council that we don't that they are recommending to their citizens to evacuate and move southwards because we've just heard from the idea of spokesperson that there is no additional threat at the moment on the northern front I don't think they know something that we don't know I think they all look at the situation and make a situation assessment I would do the same to tell you the truth we saw what happened yesterday in the south and I think the main understanding and the lesson is that the time for alert is very very short meaning that if something will start at the same way like infiltration of terrorists into Israel from the north as well it will be very very difficult to evacuate the population on time and that's why they are not waiting for this to happen they are evacuating the population we understand that if Kisbala claimed responsibility for the habitat and shooting and Mando it wants to be involved we don't know in what scale yet but since it wants to be involved I don't think now is the time to take risks So how do you explain the determination of the idea of spokesperson saying that there is no additional threat in the north I'm not the idea of spokesperson I can't speak for him, I speak only for myself I'm an expert to the security and I live up north and I live in a far body and I made my own precaution as well and I must say for him Okay Let's talk about the events that unfolded up north, yesterday night there were some reports the Unifil forces had left their posts later those were gnawed by the Unifil forces themselves were saying that they are still in their posts but let's talk about the possible escalation if Iran is supporting Hezbollah as they do and have supported Hamas in this operation that they launched yesterday do you think the government needs to take greater action, not on a regional scale of Matea Sher but on a national scale and evacuate the residents of the north I think that the government now is very busy with the south the people of the south needs to be secured we are not there yet completely rockets are continued to be launched and I believe this is what it takes I believe that later today there will be more cabinet decisions as far as I understand the clock or the schedule if you like sometimes it takes time too much time to take these kind of decisions and that's why municipalities which are smaller and have better capabilities to make these kind of decisions are doing that again I'm not the speaker of the Israeli government but I understand things are taking time and I understand there is a lot on their plate and that's why it's good that we have leadership not only in the strategic level but also in the local level in the community let's talk about the timing of this attack I was trying to talk and get some insight about this from Sharena Skil just now a member of parliament but of course as a politician you know she's staying not trying not to perhaps harm any efforts to enter a new government an emergency government discussions that are now taking place I want to talk to you about the timing which has been said about the preparedness of the Israeli military in the last few months there has been a lot of criticism by Prime Minister Netanyahu and the extreme right with regards to the protest movement against the judicial overhaul that has perhaps weakened the facade at least of Israel outwards but then again there's also been settler violence ongoing settler violence in the West Bank in Chawara settler is putting houses on fire just over the last holiday we saw settler is preying in Chawara while villagers there were kept in their homes itamar ben gvir warning again and again that he would go on Temple Mount what do you make of the timing I will divide my answer tactically it's a symbolic time in 50 years to the young people war the whole issue of the internal crisis in Israel the political crisis in Israel is a very good fuel for the psychological warfare for Iran and for Hezbollah and the avenues but actually here at the Yama Center we saw the preparations of Hezbollah to war long ago and we warned against that long ago and this was before the current government okay before legal reform for everything we saw the borderline changing in front of our eyes we saw Hezbollah building positions we saw Hezbollah military operatives following us and following IDF soldiers we saw all the provocations on the border all of that happened long before the internal crisis in Israel and if you ask about the timing it's much greater than that the timing is a combination of two things first and the one again a lot of achievements in the past two years whether it's in Yemen the normalization with Saudi Arabia means that half of Yemen is now in the hands of the Houthis which are proxies of Iran whether it's in Syria the fact that Russia is in Ukraine enabled Iran to establish the status quo in Syria no competition anyone with Russia whether it's in Lebanon with Hezbollah which probably I don't need to elaborate understand what is happening there and all of that together with the fact that the Iranians are not paying any cost to any bad things they are doing encourage them that they should cultivate and prepare they plan to create multi-front attacks against the state of Israel they publish their intentions with a lot of propaganda they prepare the hearts and minds of the terrorists in all the proxies here in the region and we were aware of all of that the only thing we were not aware of is the fact that it started from Hamas and not from Hezbollah I don't know what was in the hands of the Israeli intelligence I'm talking about the open sources so maybe this is the only but this is tactical when we speak strategically the plan existed and now it has been executed why the specific timing because it's for the Iranians for the Iranian government it's a window of opportunity now just before Israel is gaining more achievements with regard to globalization with our countries especially Saudi Arabia all of that together is the main reasons why the Iranians are doing that now and I'm saying the Iranian government because Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jordan even Hezbollah are the tools behind a much major plan Salih Tzahavi founder and president of Alma Research and Education Center in the north in Teffan thank you very much for joining us thank you for having me Hamda Selkut, our I-24 news correspondent who has been in Sderot the last few hours Hamda, what's your update from there I understand that there is fighting still going on and renewed shelling on some of the communities in the area just moments ago the Israeli military saying that it killed more than 400 Hamas members it's still not known how many crossed over into the border yesterday into those southern communities there is fighting still reported in Biedi, Kfaraza and Kisufim however Hamas did release a statement that the military wing of the group saying quote we were able to carry out infiltration operations to reinforce our fighters and forces with equipment in a number of locations inside the occupied territory so Hamas is now claiming that they were actually still able to infiltrate the border and supply more ammunition and weapons to their members that are in the southern communities no word on that from the Israeli military however fighting is still taking place in around 7 locations we were in Sderot the Israeli military is not yet giving it the all clear while they have regained control they are still patrolling the area heavily really not letting a ton of people in and out out of fears of anyone that could be hiding there that could just pop out and kill anyone inside so the Israeli military still on high alert in these southern communities the idea of saying that giving a plan of what their course of action was going to be included in it was heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip and securing the Gaza envelope was also at the top of the priorities for that list because the fighting still continues it's been well over 24 hours since these infiltrations began since Hamas launched that operation against Israel in the south and now the fighting continues gun battles in several parts of the southern communities as Israel tries to regain control Hamda I'm seeing the traffic behind you the IDF spokesperson was just saying that there is going to be an operation to evacuate all the residents of the area in the next 24 hours wondering are all these citizens people who are fleeing under private vehicles correct the Israeli military is looking to evacuate all of these border communities remember back in May before the fighting began with Palestinian Islamic Jihad before that round of rocket fire the Israeli military had a few days of preparation awaiting their response so they were able to evacuate these southern communities well in advance so that there weren't a lot of people here when those rockets made impact the iron dome still in full effect here we have heard multiple Israeli authorities are looking to get people out because of the wild card that has been inserted in this round of fighting which is the infiltrations and because Israeli authorities do not know the number of people that crossed over the border they are looking to really clear the area so that they can secure the premises and really ensure safety for the people before they come back okay Hamda just with regards to the situation at the police station there what is the recent update earlier in the morning the IDF mentioned that has taken control again of the police station but then last time we spoke there was still fighting there according to reports that you were receiving what's the current status correct the Israeli military has regained control of the police station in the city of Sidot even evacuating Hamas vehicles that were there Hamas paraphernalia inside of the car as well as some personal belongings of the militants who crossed over the Israeli military is not allowing press or any people who live in the area to go around the security area we have some incoming rocket fire here in interception coming overhead Ariel this is the Iron Dome at work you could see right now this is a fresh barrage of missiles from the Gaza Strip Hamas renewing its rocket attacks on Israeli territory vowing to continue these types of attacks until their mission is complete yesterday they launched what they are calling operation AXA flood to regain control of what they say quote are the occupied territories these types of missile barrages have been prevalent thousands of missiles sent into Israel as far north as Tel Aviv, Herzli, Btm and more you could hear those interceptions overhead we've also seen the Iron Dome missile defense system hard at work here in the south multiple vehicles with batteries reinforcing that missile defense system transported back and forth while they are trying to ensure safety here the Iron Dome is the first line of defense for the Israeli military for that rocket fire however it is not a hundred percent accurate so sometimes these rockets do make direct impact and hit places like open fields or like we saw in Tel Aviv yesterday houses yesterday as well other buildings and houses along these southern communities but the direct impact of these rockets is quite severe on the places that it hits but if the Iron Dome is able to intercept them it is a security measure that will prove that proves that they are able to combat the ongoing rocket fire from Handa we know that there are alarms sounding there now in Sderot and in the area though I'm not hearing them behind you but these are at least reports we're hearing and with the interceptions and the shelling that we're seeing behind you please I know you have a helmet there please keep safe this might be a good time to put it on even while we're speaking it's these are very very harsh times here in Israel so please take care of yourself and our crew there I do want to ask you about what you're hearing from Gaza as well because Israel has said that it is intensifying the attacks there in Gaza I know you have sources there too what are you hearing about the casualties on the Gaza side the F is saying that these are Hamas casualties how is the civilian population doing also some of the resources like power and water we've heard have been cut off well at the death toll inside Gaza stands at around 300 a lot of those people civilians I'll remind you the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world another barrage of missiles here get the helmets get the helmets fresh interceptions here happening missile defense system hard at work in the southern envelope communities Hamas Al Qasem brigades renewing rocket fire the Israeli territory here the iron dome missile defense system intercepting almost all of these rockets you can see now also Israeli troops running in the middle of the street here those loud explosions are the interceptions themselves when the Israeli iron dome goes and collides with that missile intercepts it from hitting any part of Israeli territory you can see the smoke over there perhaps it's over there Daniel there is smoke there indicating a hit that is the city of there that is smoke from a fire perhaps indicating a direct hit from one of these rockets in these latest series of barrages look the Israeli military is trying to secure this area and they're saying that people should evacuate because of not only the infiltrations by Hamas members but also the continued rocket fire like I said the iron dome is not 100% accurate so there are still hits that happen like what just happened directly behind us instead of yeah okay thank you very much Hamda please do put your helmets on and take care there we'll be back with you in a bit Owen Alterman what are some of the recent updates Israel is talking about around 100 people that were abducted to Gaza and I want to talk about that front in the minute and a half that we have left what can Israel do at the moment other than shelling Hamas is saying that these prisoners have been put in tunnels already yeah well let's start with the numbers Arielle the military being a bit cagey about giving us numbers and that I have to respect I think it's important to give people and the military has been careful in this sense information that's verified and that's accurate I do want to use the minute to talk about what not to do the most disastrous decision in the 75 years of the country I think we can now definitively say was the deal to free Gilad Shalit right more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners including leaders within Hamas who are now active in leading the attack on the war against Israel freed for the one Israeli soldier Israel cannot afford to return to that and to repeat that mistake this is a battle and a war that has to be seen in a wide frame obviously we all care very deeply about the safety of those who are abducted there needs to be intelligence gathering to try to find them to try to bring them home safely but I hope that this country will not return to the miserable failures of its fast policies on negotiating for the freeing of captives please stay with us here in studio and thank you very much for this but we're going to take a very short break please stay with us good opportunity to get a glass of water or something we'll have all the latest updates when we return in just a couple of minutes please stay with us because we go subsea and we utilize the hydrostatic pressure the weight or the water above your head we're able to save energy if you could travel to the middle east right now without packing and without a plane ticket Woody Israel welcome to i24 news digital we bring Israel and the entire middle east right to your social networks on your phone on your desktop here i24 news creates videos especially made for social media and believe me we are out there working hard right here Israel and Nepal for the very first time is how they begin making original content streaming live even in the hard moments there are literally rockets flying up in a bomb shelter and filming docuseries yes you will find all the big stories you missed on television so join i24 news on facebook twitter instagram and youtube and discover the middle east with us the middle east is changing old alliances make way for new partnerships bigger threats lead to new relationships and shared goals meaning new opportunities we speak to those who know the inside story and are at the heart of the changes don't get caught up with the same old story find out what's happening in middle east now middle east now on i24 news Israel is at war since the early hours of the morning Israel has been facing infiltrations of terrorists, kidnapping of Israelis and a barrage of thousands of rockets emanating from the Gaza Strip the biggest and bloodiest attack in years tune in for our extensive and rolling coverage of the Hamas deadly attack on Israel with reporters on the ground in depth analysis and most updated and accurate information stay tuned with i24 news a lot of perspectives he is part of the problem you want to talk about deep clad forming people are losing their lives not just what happened but why does it matter i'd like to finish my point you're the one stretching terms here you could be a fantastic CNN reporter join us every night 8 p.m. eastern on global life the global conversation starts here staying with us here on i24 news i am Ariel Margalit and our ongoing coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas in the south of Israel is continuing all the time latest information more than 300 Israelis have been killed in just the first day of fighting and more than 100 people presumably according to reports not official reports official reports speak of dozens but presumably more than 100 people have been abducted to Gaza women children elderly and IDF soldiers we're not clear how many of them are alive and how many bodies does Hamas have at this moment the IDF has just announced that it will start an operation to mobilize the population from the settlements villages and towns around the Gaza Strip to the center of the country or at least other areas of the country an operation that the IDF says will be completed in 24 hours the intention there is of course to clear the area from citizens so that the IDF can fight the terrorists that are still in Israeli territory we're talking about towns, villages and kibbutzes that apparently are still active zones fighting with Hamas terrorists in them those are Kfar Aza Kisufim Zikim Army Base Yechini and Be'eri and Al-Qasam Brigades Al-Qasam and Hebrew they are announcing in a short while ago that they are able to re-enter Israel with more forces and that they are able to also provide more ammunition to the terrorists that are inside Israel as well already we have with us here Rafael Roushami Senior Security Analyst and our Owen Ultriman of course but first gentleman I want to turn to Dean Elston he's the international spokesperson for the Israeli police thank you very much for being with us first of all very very difficult 27 hours by now maybe 30 for your forces give us as much as you can information about what's happening at the moment in these seven centers where the IDF says that there is still fighting well I can tell you it's a very hard-wrenching day it has been since the minute of the infiltration that we saw yesterday morning and our police forces together with the border police and all the security forces have been on the front line specifically the police and the border police who have been doing everything possible putting their life on the line in order to defend our people and it's with a very heavy heart that I announced the following of 30 police officers who gave everything they had they've seen multiple combative positions and ongoing being throughout the southern region and they're doing everything right now to defend our people it's an ongoing situation that's like I said it's heartbreaking there's just not even any words for it our condolences of course go out to the families of the police officers that were defending the citizens there and died in battle with Hamas militants that infiltrated Israel it's a terrible and horrible day for Israel with more than 300 dead 26 at least of them soldiers that were announced by the military so far these are only the ones that already got the notice the families already got the notice about their loved ones and now the officers as well just a horrible and terrible account of so far but I do want to try and get some information from you about your units on the ground people in the south of Israel are still terrified there are reports about terrorists that are still walking ground in these seven towns and settlements what can you share about these places I can tell you that from the minute of the infiltration the police and border police held dynamic situational assessments we sent large amounts of police forces from around the country to the southern region in order to give attention to the infiltration to the terrorist threats to the terrorist elements and they will and they have paid a very heavy price they're going to continue paying a heavy price this is in an enemy of western civilization not just Israel the enemy of anyone who differs from their extremist ideology and we will do everything possible in order to defend our civilians we've called up multiple battalions of reservists who at a moment's notice yesterday left their families at home they got their bags they ran to the closest bus station they ran to the closest base and they are already in the field right now these reservists are going to be giving support and reinforcement throughout the country from the northern border all the way to the south specifically in the south region the Kibbutz team and the Moshevim these border town communities and Gaza envelope communities that need that reinforcement we're going to do everything possible we're going to reach every single one of our civilians these are our people and let me tell you something it doesn't matter where you are in the world we need your support the international community needs to look very closely at the images that are being circulated because like I said before this is not just an enemy of Israel this is an enemy of western civilization Israel is the country of Christians of LGBTQ of atheists of people of all different backgrounds and we are going to do everything to defend our home I want to talk about these 30 police officers that have been killed I'm assuming that at least some of them you knew or your colleagues knew what can you tell us about about them about what they were saying in their last moments about what you were hearing over the radio what can you share with us about those moments of horror that you experienced in the Israeli police Israel police and the Israeli police which is under the Israeli police we're a family everybody knows everybody it doesn't matter what position you have right now it's a community and everybody knows each other and I can tell you that the police community is heart broken right now we're supporting the families of these police officers because they are our families as well they are our brothers and our sisters and we serve together we have the same goal and I say it year round we're going to put our life on the line in order to defend our people there is no regret here there is no concern of our officers not showing up for reserve or our officers continue to serve we know the price right now we're not fighting for something superficial we're fighting for our home we're fighting for our families and these 30 police officers that have fallen it's going to strengthen us as a community and we thank the Israeli community the public for their support during this time it's very tough but we do ask that you listen to the instructions of the police officers that excuse me you listen to the instructions of the police officers because it's meant to save lives the police right now are going through the different kibbutzim don't make it harder for them to listen to the instructions stay close to protected areas stop spreading fake information that's stemming from social media this is only harming the security forces this is only giving the public anxiety the police know what to do right now in a situation like this we train for this and we ask for the cooperation of the public okay have you started working together with the IDF on the evacuation operation of the population around and the security forces are working very closely together right now whether it's the IDF the border police the police we're wearing different color uniforms we have the same goal we have the same mission right now and that's to defend our civilians that's to make sure that everybody gets to safety anybody who's in danger we're going to reach every single one of them Master Sergeant Dean Elston International spokesperson for the Israeli police thank you very much for being with us and our condolences of course go out to the families of the 30 police officers that have been murdered in battles since yesterday and we now want to turn to Barzila hospital in Ashkelon Ariel Al-Saran your update right Ariel so in the past few minutes there has been a barrage of rockets to the city of Sidorok nearby we could hear the boons but the barrage of fire at least today of rocket fire from Gaza appears to be limited so far since the late night hours limited to the line of Sidorok hasn't reached Ashkelon yet and as we discussed earlier the traffic the pace of traffic here is a lot slower than yesterday much fewer ambulances coming in given that the majority the vast majority of those who are injured who have been injured either from Hamas terrorists who infiltrated Israel or from shrapnel from rockets either rockets direct hits or rockets that have been intercepted they have also diminished throughout the day at the peak at the height of the situation here there were 360 people sent here but obviously that number has dropped in the passing hours now you talked earlier about the dean Elzdan talked about the fact that the Israeli police will reach everyone who has been injured or everyone who is hunkered down well there are still people who are out of contact who have relatives have come here to the hospital looking for them not knowing what happened to their relatives I spoke to one of them Lio Man her sister Amit she is a paramedic at the Beri Kibbutz now this is one of the numerous areas that there are still ongoing fighting and so it is very difficult to make it to her it hasn't been possible to make it to her since yesterday she described talking to her on whatsapp and hearing last from her at 2pm yesterday since then she has not heard anything she will bring you the full interview that we conducted with her in a short while but that is just one example of the confusion and lack of clarity that many Israelis still have today regarding the situation of their loved ones whether they are alive whether they are dead whether they are in Israel whether they have been captured and taken to Gaza by Hamas so many questions still remain and some of them also say that till this moment not one Israeli official has been in contact with them even to say that they don't know what is going on no one is talking to them and so we are here to bring their stories who will bring you the story of Lio Man and her sister Amit in the Beri Kibbutz in a bit thank you Ariel and the hospital suffered a direct hit overnight also another hit a woman was severely injured what you tell us about these strikes and earlier in the morning just maybe 20 minutes ago or so Hamda Salchoud in Sderot showed us some new barrages in the air coming out from Gaza were any of those directed at Ashkelon well maybe they were directed at Ashkelon but they didn't manage to make it here and threaten the locals in Ashkelon now according to the municipality there have been multiple barrages at the city this is according to the municipality of Ashkelon releasing figures not too long ago there have been 16 direct hits now you mentioned the directed at the hospital last night that did not involve any injuries or casualties and minimal damage was caused to the hospital it did not affect the capability and the capacity of work here at the hospital but indeed overnight 48 year old woman was taken to the hospital severely injured after a rocket hit directly at her home she was in the safe room but the rocket hit the safe room we showed images of that earlier of the safe room aimed at the south aimed to the direction of south where the rockets come from that also raises questions as to different regulations here in Israel in terms of positioning safe rooms but that obviously is the question to be looked at down the line there are still dozens of injured here many of them in critical condition as medical teams continue to work around the clock to try and save as many people as they can okay and now let's hear that interview that you just mentioned with the sister who is looking for her sister Lioman Lioman why are you here today I understand that you're looking for your sister that's right since yesterday around the hour of 2 o'clock PM that was the last time we heard anything any word from a little sister she is a medic in Kibbutz Bayri that's one of the Kibbutzes that's one of the Kibbutzes who was under a very serious attack of terror attackers and the rockets shooting still it's under a very heavy shooting so as I was saying Amici is the medic of the Kibbutz she was trapped in the clinic with the injuries and a multiple amount of dead people and injurious people while they are surrendered by terror attackers in the outside around the hour of 2 o'clock they got inside they was able to break in and they shot all of them Amit my sister just recorded a message because she was not able to type anymore she recorded us a message while we could hear all of the shotguns and ever since there we lost any connection with her we have no idea where is she if she is either alive or dead we have no idea if she is in the Israeli field in the Israeli territory or either in Gaza Strip we have no idea where is she we are desperate for any piece of information we are miserable and desperate for every piece of information anything the IDF says that there is currently fighting there but have any authority spoken to you what's going on? no one has spoken with us no one other government no IDF, no one we try to reach any kind of information all by ourselves the family and the friends that was the last time we heard from her she texted us she told us they are here, they are coming they are attacking us I love you very much, please be strong if something happens to me and after that nothing just mute, we have no idea so what brings you here to the hospital? I hope to see her coming out of one of the ambulance arriving in here that's it that's the reason why I'm here and keep checking in the information center we are checking in all of the other hospitals around the country so maybe they can find any sleight of information about her so what do you expect you're saying you haven't heard anything from authorities so what do you expect to hear from authorities? I would expect from the authorities from the government from anyone up there to reach to us to ask us how are we feeling how are we dealing with that situation she is a citizen in Israel she is a medic, she has devoted her whole life since the age of 15 for saving other lives just to ask us how are we, if we find anything maybe to pretend they are able to help but to reach to us in any other way absolutely no one not a single official no official authority has talked with us ever since yesterday not even once nothing at all and how does this make you feel at such a time like this the authorities are conducting themselves disappointment frustrating angry very much but still full with hope I haven't lost hope all of us are very optimistic because we don't really have any idea what happened there so everything might happen maybe even a miracle we don't know just horrifying and heartbreaking this is one story of so many who are looking for their loved ones at this time with dozens of people still missing more than 100 people presumably abducted to Gaza according to estimates Rafael Yerushalmi sorry we'll turn to you in a moment because I hear that Hamda Salhout is with us in Sderot again and has an update for us Hamda we're with you right Arya I can actually hear the Israeli military striking the Gaza strip in the distance but the Israeli military is saying that they're looking to evacuate all of these southern communities within 24 hours and it's because Hamas is saying that they are going to renew direct hits on the city of Sderot hitting it with more than 100 rockets a direct hit inside of the city that we'll go to next the situation inside of several Israeli communities is still very very tense ongoing gun battles between the Israelis and Hamas the authorities are looking to clear all of the area because they're saying quote they are going to eliminate everyone in sight which is exactly why they want to evacuate all of those residents I'm not sure if you can hear but there are booms in the distance indicating more strikes on the Gaza strip the health ministry they're saying that there are now 313 people dead thousands injured and air strikes that have been happening overnight and this morning on several different places the military says that they are striking all Hamas facilities or assets however the Gaza strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world so should there be any Hamas assets in a building it is likely that civilians live there too these are tall residential towers that have all completely collapsed people are not able to find loved ones still through the debris it'll take a lot of time to clear all of that up hospital staff there and medical authorities are saying that they are under a shortage of power and also medical supplies yesterday the Israelis cutting the electricity to the Gaza strip and the hospital director that's the biggest hospital in the enclave that treats most of the casualties that comes from these rounds of escalation with Israel says that they are now going to see much more catastrophic losses because of the sheer fact that they don't have enough equipment and enough power to deal with what's to come Hamda, two questions first of all the IDF spokesperson said that Israel has been calling on residents in Gaza to evacuate before strikes is this also what you're hearing from the Palestinians of course Israel is doing this in an attempt of course to reduce the number of civilian casualties and the other and if you could answer that first I understand that there is one person severely injured from a direct hit on a house and still were you are located were you able to hear that blast and what are the updates from there right that direct hit actually happened while we were live on air with you just a sure while ago we were able to see the black smoke reports of one person seriously injured as I mentioned in my previous report the rockets do make impact the catastrophe can be quite severe what this rocket will do it will destroy the house completely so the situation there is still just one person who is severely injured will head there next but to the question of the Gaza Strip the Israeli Prime Minister instructing Palestinian civilians to get out of the area but Palestinians are slamming these comments asking quote where do you want us to go or evacuate to because they don't have bomb shelters or other sort of areas that they could go to to safeguard their lives so the situation in the Gaza Strip is going to continue to be devastating as the Israeli military continues its airstrikes in retaliation for the attack and offensive that Hamas launched yesterday okay Hamda thank you Rafaleer Rashalmi I'll turn to you in last in last May the last conflict that Israel had major conflict that Israel had with Hamas this spread into mixed towns in Israel with clashes between Muslim and Jewish population we saw it in Acre we saw it in Jaffa in Jerusalem of course should we be weary of a situation that it escalates and enters Israeli towns north of the Gaza border we should be weary and we are weary I live south of this TV studio and there's behind us the old city of Jaffa and then the city of Batiam which were very hot spots during these events of confrontation between Jews and Arabs the streets are empty because of the situation I suppose but also especially at night full of border police guards and police from here to my home which is around a 10 minute drive there were seven checkpoints in those streets in the old Jaffa harbour area and Batiam promenade where the events took place last year last time we were taken completely by surprise that was another surprise they had in store for us but these violence that came from both sides remind you because we're thinking of the Arabs like trying to feast on the victory of the Hamas but we mustn't forget we have unfortunately today a very extreme fringe population who is also prone to violence so this could explode and the police even though they have all that work that you've heard of now with the situation have deployed in those areas and these mixed cities to avoid if there will be an implosion right now the Hamas has called for the Muslims of Israel the Arabic population of Israel to start uprising and to start attacking the Jews I don't think it's catching and I remind you that even when it happened last time it was we were talking about a few dozens of very racist and extremist people on both sides that you can compare to some hooligans football fans I wouldn't take it too seriously even though it's very ugly to look at