At the beginning of the war, Europe was taking advantage of us. Now we have more than 200 of them. There is no such thing as a volunteer. There is no place.  With a senior Hamas official saying they'll respond, quote, very soon to the multi-faced truce on the table. The proposal was drafted earlier this week by the U.S., Egypt, Israel and Qatar. But there's still conflicting reports on what exactly it entails. How many hostages will be released and on what timeline. As talks are on the table, the ground offensive in Gaza pushes forward. The IDF released new body camera footage from a Hamas terrorist showing the exact moments before he was eliminated by Israeli troops in Hanyunas. As the offensive in Gaza's second largest city wraps up, Defense Minister Yohav Galant bows to push forward south to Rafa, which could come with some complications. Meanwhile, Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen continue their attacks on Israel. The IDF says the long-range air defense system intercepted a missile over the Red Sea, heading towards Israel's southern city of Elan. And from Israel's southern point to the north now, where IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah terror cell and military infrastructure in southern Lebanon. After rockets were fired towards northern Israel earlier in the day. We have live team coverage of all of these latest developments, so let's start on the ground in northern Israel, where our correspondent, Robert Swift, is standing by. Robert, let's talk about the latest developments happening in southern Lebanon. What can you tell us about the ongoing tit-for-tat battles? So just in the last few hours, Israel's Defense Minister Yohav Galant was up here on the northern border visiting troops based in the mountainous region of the Hermon. And he had some tough words for Hezbollah. He referred to the speculation around a ceasefire taking place in Gaza and said that if Hezbollah thought that this would cause Israel to ceasefire in the northern parts of the country, then Hezbollah are mistaken. He explicitly stated that if northern Israeli residents are not able to return to their homes, then as far as the IDF's concerned, it has reason to continue the fight against Hezbollah. Now, this is likely an attempt essentially to add to the diplomatic pressure that is being placed on Hezbollah, essentially trying to persuade them to withdraw further north to the north of the Lutani River, which is about 10 kilometers north of the Israel-Lebanon border, in order to essentially get Hezbollah to withdraw without the IDF having to escalate the fight it is already engaged in. While the IDF is plenty capable of taking on Hezbollah, it is likely that IDF commanders are not overestimating the threat that is likely to come from Hezbollah if that fight is to happen and if Hezbollah is to launch its rockets, launch its missiles, Israeli cities. And this is why Defense Minister Joff Gallant appears to be throwing some harsh words in that organization's direction tonight. Meanwhile, the IDF is commenting on the strikes taking place in southern Lebanon. They have yet to comment on an airstrike that happened near Damascus in Syria. What can you tell us about what's happening on the other part of northern Israel's border? Indeed, and they're not likely to. If the strikes on Damascus were conducted by the IDF, then it's unlikely that they will publicly comment on them. What we do know from a mixture of Syrian and Iranian media is that the attacks took place in a southern neighborhood of Damascus and that an Iranian officer was killed in that attack. He was an advisor to the local forces there. And this comes as they are reporting from Reuters yesterday that a number of senior IRGC officers have been withdrawn back to Iran because of the threat that is posed to them primarily from Israeli attacks but also possibly due to the heightening tensions between Iran and the US. It's understood that the Iranian officers will withdraw and leave their responsibilities to local militias and proxies that they've been working with on the ground up to this point. Robert Swift, thank you for that update from the ground. We'll be coming to you later through the broadcast as well. Meanwhile, I want to continue this conversation with the experts. I'm joined by Brigadier General in the Reserves, Hanan Geffen, former commander of the 8200 Intelligence Unit in the IDF, joining us from Central Israel. Thanks so much. Good evening. Let's begin with what our correspondent Robert Swift was mentioning about this alleged Israeli airstrike targeting IRGC advisors. This is something we continue to see, continue to point fingers towards Israel and really the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps continuing to be attacked. So what type of a response might we expect, if any? This is an ongoing operation, I'd say, for years now, trying to discern the supply of weapons, many kinds of weapons, the precision guidance to the research, for instance, as a major task of Israel. It's on the road through the Damascus area of the strategic warehouse in the bigger Damascus area. So this is an ongoing operation, they know it. They are taking measures. I'm not sure they will leave Syria because there are many IRGC advisors spreading around Syria, guiding them different militias, a huge number of militias that were gauged in the Civil War in Syria and they're still there. But specifically Israel is targeting the whole supply line, also this is what the Syrian and the Iranian claims, that Israel is targeting the supply chain, starting from the border of Syria up to the border of Lebanon. We have seen it many times in the last years. It's a continuous effort. And so we're continuing to see it, but is it leading towards any type of escalation? Because that's one of the main concerns right now, especially as we heard from Defense Minister Yoav Galan, that the fighting in the North, although they're hoping for a diplomatic solution, we're continuing to see this. And Israel says they're prepared for any sort of escalation in the North. There is a new operation, a disconnected operation in Syria, in the Syria area, if it was Israel and so on. This is one kind and I do not believe that we see a retaliation because these activities are supposed to be on the side of the Iranian to be under cover, concealed. And on the Lebanon front, I would say, I mentioned one of the interesting things that Minister Galan mentioned in his broadcast, in his announcement. He is attaching great importance to the diplomatic efforts and he specifically mentioned the Secretary of Defense, the American Secretary of Defense. And he's involved in this. And this is something I believe a new factor. There are boiling something in the diplomatic area in Beirut. We have seen many delegations. We have seen the involvement of an Amal leader, Nabi Bari, the chairman of the parliament, a prominent figure in the Shiite community and is a close ally of Hassan Asala. So there might be some hope that diplomatic solutions really, at the end, have some food. On the basis that we have been, I believe, two or three weeks ago. Hanan Geffen, stay with us while we turn our attention to the southern border where the fighting continues inside the Gaza Strip. Let's cross live to our I-24 news correspondent, Pierre Kloschenler, near the Gaza border. Pierre, what can you tell us about the latest operations happening in Gaza? Well, in the northern sector, and we're close to the northern sector of the Strip, there's been quite a few raids at the brigade level in western and north of Gaza City, in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Zayed of Tel El Hawa, of the area near Shifa Hospital, which was the main hospital in the northern sector, which the Israeli army invested and dismantled their Hamas infrastructure. But they're working not anymore at the division level. They're working at the brigade level, trying to mow the lawn, as they're saying, in order to counter any insurgency attempt by Hamas, trying to reassert its control in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip. But at the same time, Palestinian media affiliated to Hamas are noting that there are mechanized and armored vehicles that have pulled out in recent days from the Gaza Strip, from the northern sector, which would indicate an even more dwindling of the IDF forces in that northern sector. I remind you that for the past over a month already, the Israeli army has asserted that it claims its operational command control over the northern sector. In the central sector, there's also raids at brigade level with the last remaining reservist brigade in the whole of the Gaza Strip. They're dismantling the industrial military infrastructure of Hamas, which is the main industrial military infrastructure in the central sector. But at the same time, their task is to prevent the return of displaced Palestinians from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip, about one million Palestinians fled the combat zone in the northern sector to move south. In the southern sector, in Ghaniunas, and particularly in western Ghaniunas, that's where the thrust of the ground offensive is going on. With a full division operating there, the 98th division of elite commando units and combined combat teams, they're operating in the western sector and Yoav Galan, the defense minister, yesterday visited the troops in Ghaniunas and he said that the Hamas Brigade of four battalions that were dispatched in the four cardinal points of Ghaniunas is being dismantled and that the next stop would be Rafah. Now Rafah is a tough nut for a ground offensive, simply because this city, which had 200,000 inhabitants prior to the war in our house, 1.4 million Palestinians, mostly displaced, it would be extremely difficult to operate in such a crowded area. And besides, Rafah is a city that straddles both Gaza and Egyptian territory. So the Egyptians are very involved into a potential ground offensive in the city of Rafah. And the Israeli government and the Egyptian governments have been talking about that possibility. The plan would be to displace the Palestinian displaced population, to re-displace them either in the Al-Muassi safe humanitarian zone which is between Ghaniunas and Rafah on the Mediterranean seashore, or back to Ghaniunas. Pierre Kloschenler, thank you for the latest update on all of the ongoing activity inside the Gaza Strip. I want to come back to Hanan Geffen now to keep talking about the activities that's happening inside the Gaza Strip because as we're hearing from our correspondent Pierre Kloschenler about the ongoing operations, all of this is also taking place as there's 136 hostages still held inside the Gaza Strip. And I'm curious from an intelligence perspective because so far throughout the operations, the IDF has only been able to successfully rescue one hostage alive. So as we're continuing to talk about the possibility of maybe a deal on the table, whether it goes through, whether it doesn't, to release some of these hostages, what's the possibility of the IDF continuing to operate and rescue some of these hostages as they have really covered the entirety of the Gaza Strip at this point? Yeah, the hostage problem is, I believe the IDF has a clear idea where they are, how they are spread and they are spread between faction families, the Hamas that you had, some of them probably as more connected to their places, more known, some of them less. And that's why the IDF is taking this careful approach. Now, the activities we've seen now, why we call them, it's trying to enhance the decision-making to support the decision-making of the Hamas leader in the bankers. Because every day, the IDF is intelligence guard with the Gaza, the captive Hamas people supply the IDF is plenty of intelligence and the IDF is getting closer and closer to the location. So the decision-making on the Hamas people that control Gaza will be faster. Then what we see today is probably a deep discussion within the Hamas leadership in Gaza, within the end with the Hamas people that sit in Qatar trying to figure out the way out from where they are. They understand that the Israelis will not stop the war and this is a problem they did not anticipate it. They thought that by this time of the war Israel will be under pressure of the hostage families of the reservists of the general opinion in Israel after one year of this play that whatever played this well before the war they believe that there will be a different case. Now the fight is against the United Israel and United did not stop the war against the military that says we are not going to stop it we are reorganizing the process to enable us for months of going on we have all the support internationally so this is mounting it's all accumulating to mounting pressure on three or four people that should take the decision about the hostages going on the war. I would say at this time I would guess that the answer of the Hamas people will be okay let's go over the negotiation let's start exchange of hostages but let's talk about a permanent ceasefire this is what they are urging for they need it desperately and so far they do not have a way out from where they are. And that certainly seems to be the sticking point because while Hamas is pushing for a sustained prolonged ceasefire as we continue to hear from Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu they are not going to permanently remove troops and end this war until Hamas is eradicated so what are the hopes of actually coming to a deal when you have two absolutely opposite sides? Yeah that is the convincing power of the troops on the ground they will support the decision making in the Hamas leadership they will support the Hamas leadership to reach an agreement they need even a two-month ceasefire hopefully there is something happening in these two months they are getting desperate they see two million people as fear mention a God one from the north the other from the west the central Gaza a sentient in Rufia the families are there the friends are there they just we saw the other day so happy they were when I forced the both of us that there is a ceasefire so happy and so they are wealthy hopefully they reach this agreement because Israel is not going anywhere and in contrast what they have seen in the past in the last 15 years they were used to it in every operation, every exchange of fire and then Israel we say okay we continue we step back hopefully you agree you will keep to your word for ceasefire, prolong ceasefire this kind they never did and we ended with this kind of second independence war Exactly Hanan Geffen your insight as always we really appreciate it thank you for breaking down the latest Thanks Thanks Now I want to continue these talks about the hostage negotiations and anything that might be on the table I'm joined by Danny Ilone former Israeli ambassador to the United States and former Israeli deputy foreign minister joining me from Tel Aviv Danny thanks so much for being with us As we're talking about this hostage deal and reports that are on the table this is a deal that's been backed by the United States by Egypt by Qatar and by Israel and we're getting some new reports as to what exactly it might entail specifically the Israeli reports stating that it's going to be one hostage a day for 35 days that would be the first ceasefire that we're seeing and then negotiations continued and we could see 142 days ceasefire in total now again this is just according to some reports but the United States playing a very heavy hand in this it seems so what type of incentive does the U.S. have for seeing this type of a prolonged ceasefire Well first of all Nicole you're right the ceasefire let's say agreement has three components one is stopping the fire second is what the regrouping of the IDF or even leaving Gaza or most of it and of course the release the pace of the release and how many prisoners will be released at any time Israel of course cannot accept any dictate about where the positions of the IDF will be and the longer and stronger the Israeli position is the more pressure there is on Hamas on the other hand you are right that the United States with heavy hand would very much like to see a ceasefire as a segue to a much larger agreement or a new arrangement in Gaza and here is where the Israeli government Prime Minister and the American administration differ and they differ on a few things whether the IDF should stay there until we find a new administration whether the new administration will call for the Palestinian Authority and thirdly of course is what would be the day after the long-term vision where the United States is looking for a two-state solution and of course the Israeli government right now is vehemently against it and the United States truly hasn't wavered throughout this whole war but they do continue to say on the one hand we support Israel and we want to see them eradicate Hamas and secure their borders but on the other hand continuing to see pressure to end this war immediately and so it does seem some different reports coming out of the United States that with the deal or the possibility of a ceasefire they're hoping that Israel might lose their military momentum and that's why we might see this war in the Gaza Strip. Yeah Nicole but these are not necessarily contradictory positions by the United States they do want to see the eradication of Hamas not only because it's a terror organization and of course on the terrorist of most countries and decent countries in the world western countries certainly the United States not only because of the massacre of the 7th but also because Hamas is the main obstacle on the Palestinian side for a two-state solution so the United States has all the reasons to eradicate Hamas and remove it from power. On the other hand there is pressure from American allies in the Gulf and Egypt and Jordan and also some pressure at home, political pressure at home on President Biden to stop the fire. So I guess what they're doing is continuing to put the pressure putting the ceasefire agreement on the table but not pushing Israel too much with also understanding that first of all Hamas is not given the answer and secondly because they know Israel cannot just accept any kind of offer. And the United States certainly looking at the entire regional impacts of everything that's happening here in the Middle East in fact Iran's President Abraham Risi said today that Iran will not start a war but will quote respond strongly to anyone who bullies it. And this of course comes during all of the speculation over how exactly Washington will respond to the three U.S. soldiers who were killed at a Jordanian base just earlier this week and so while we're looking at this it is a difficult position for the United States because on the one hand President Joe Biden needs to likely have a response but on the other hand we're hearing from the U.S. that they don't want to spark a larger regional war and it seems like Iran might not either. Right and again these are maybe two contradictory positions but democracy history shows and proves that are trying always to prevent wars trying to prevent small wars and then they fall into bigger wars and this is the key to the deterrence with Iran so far the U.S. response to the Iranian Bank militias on its forces more than 150 different attacks was less than adequate and that actually emboldened Iran and its proxies so here is the buying can the United States sustain more attacks like that which can lead into a escalation and a much wider war or will they stop now at this point it seems like they're trying to find a middle of the road where they will go after the militias maybe in a long or protracted campaign of a few days maybe a few weeks against the Iranian Bank militias but they're very careful not to go after Iranian assets in Iran but we have to remember that the main problem is Iran this is what gives the inspiration the finance the training the munitions and everything and even the orders to the proxies so I think without at the end of the day without direct threat on Iran I am not sure that any operation on the outskirts will be effective enough and all these decisions over what the United States might do of course it's happening during an election year and so how exactly does that play into the decision making factors that President Joe Biden might be facing absolutely this is really a dilemma from for political purposes he would like to have quiet he would like to have restoring to stability absolutely he would like to see even some breakthrough on a peaceful path in the Middle East where the normalization of Saudi and Israel can take place but all these are being held up by Iran and its proxies so long as we have this attack so long as Hamas continues to be a threat and his for sure that would be very very difficult for Israel to move forward and also for the United States so right now it's a major dilemma for the President does he want to take a leadership position and and that may be a political gamble I don't know how the American people will take it but sometimes you know you reach a juncture where you have to think are you a statesman or a politician and that's something which is I'm sure very much on Biden's mind it certainly does play into the ever developing situation that's unfolding here in the Middle East but Danny I alone we appreciate you breaking down all the latest for us here on I-24 those are all of the top stories at this hour on the 119th day of the war here in Israel with soldiers continuing to fight not only on the south in the Gaza Strip but also preparing for any type of escalation that might be coming on the northern front as well with the United States and international pressures also looking at everything that is unfolding throughout the Middle East here on I-24 News we'll continue to break it all down you can always head to I-24 news.tv for the latest updates we're going out for a quick break thank you for tuning in Israel is in a state of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the front line but the general perception is something that certainly needs to to be fought as well cores of countries completely done down in their beds the state of emergency and war in Israel bringing Israel's story to the world I-24 news channels welcome to the I-24 news desk I'm Nicole Zedek coming to you live from Tel Aviv it's Friday February 2nd we are 119 days into the war here are the top stories at this hour there's wavering reports on a potential hostage deal with a senior Hamas official saying they'll respond quote very soon to the multi-phase truce on the table the proposal was drafted earlier this week by the US Egypt, Israel and Qatar but there's still conflicting reports on what exactly it entails how many hostages will be released and on what timeline the talks are on the table the ground offensive in Gaza pushes forward the IDF released new body camera footage from a Hamas terrorist showing the exact moments before he was eliminated by Israeli troops in Hanyunas as the offensive in Gaza's second largest city wraps up Defense Minister Yoav Galant bows to push further south to Rafe which could come with some complications meanwhile the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen continue their attacks on Israel the IDF says the long-range air defense system intercepted a missile over the Red Sea heading towards Israel's southern city of Elan and from Israel's southern point to the north now where IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah terror zone and military infrastructure in southern Lebanon after rockets were fired towards northern Israel earlier in the day we have live team coverage of all of these latest developments so let's start on the ground in northern Israel where our correspondent Robert Swift is standing by let's talk about the latest developments happening in southern Lebanon what can you tell us about the ongoing tit for tat battles so just in the last few hours Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Galant was up here on the northern border visiting troops based in the mountainous region of the Haremon and he had some tough words for Hezbollah he referred to the speculation around a ceasefire taking place in Gaza and said that if Hezbollah thought that this would cause Israel to ceasefire in the northern parts of the country then Hezbollah are mistaken he explicitly stated that if northern Israeli residents are not able to return to their homes then as far as the IDF's concerned it has reason to continue the fight against Hezbollah now this is likely an attempt essentially to add to the diplomatic pressure that has been placed on Hezbollah essentially trying to persuade them to withdraw further north to the north of the Lutani river which is about 10 kilometers north of the Israel Lebanon border in order to essentially get Hezbollah to withdraw without the IDF having to escalate the fight is already engaged in while the IDF is plenty capable of taking on Hezbollah it is likely that IDF commanders are not overestimating the threat that is likely to come from Hezbollah if that fight is to happen and if Hezbollah is to launch its rockets, launch its missiles Israeli cities and this is why Defense Minister Yav Galant appears to be throwing some harsh words in that organization's direction tonight well meanwhile the IDF is currently commenting on the strikes taking place in southern Lebanon they have yet to comment on an airstrike that happened near Damascus in Syria what can you tell us about what's happening on the other part of northern Israel border indeed and they're not likely to if the strikes in Damascus were conducted by the IDF then it's unlikely that they will publicly comment on them what we do know from a mixture of Syrian and Iranian media in the southern neighborhood of Damascus and that an Iranian officer was killed in that attack he was an advisor to the local forces there and this comes as they are reporting from Reuters yesterday that a number of senior IRGC officers have been withdrawn back to Iran because of the threat that is posed to them primarily from Israeli attacks but also possibly due to the heightening tensions between Iran and the US it's understood that the Iranian officers will withdraw and leave their responsibilities to local militias and proxies that they've been working with on the ground up to this point Robert Swift thank you for that update from the ground we'll be coming to you later through the broadcast as well meanwhile I want to continue this conversation with the experts I'm joined by Brigadier General in the Reserves Hanan Geffen, former commander of the 8200 intelligence unit in the IDF joining us from Central Israel thanks so much let's begin with what our correspondent Robert Swift was mentioning about this alleged Israeli airstrike targeting IRGC advisors this is something we continue to see continue to point fingers towards Israel and really the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps continuing to be attacked so what type of a response might we expect this is an ongoing operation I'd say for years now trying to discern the supply of weapons many kinds of weapons the precision guidance to the research for instance as a major task of Israel it's in the world through the Damascus area the strategic warehouse in the bigger Damascus area so this is an ongoing operation they know it, they are taking measures I'm not sure they will leave Syria because there are many IRGC advisors spread around Syria guiding them different militias, a huge number of militias that were gauging in the civil war in Syria and they're still there but specifically Israel is targeting the whole supply line this is what the Syrian and the Iranian claims that Israel is targeting the supply chain starting from the border of Syria up to the border of Lebanon we have seen it many times in the last years it's a continuous effort and so we're continuing to see it but is it leading towards any type of escalation because that's one of the main concerns right now especially as we heard from Defense Minister Yoav Galan that the fighting in the north although they're hoping for a diplomatic solution we're continuing to see this and Israel says they're prepared for any sort of escalation in the north there are two operations and they are disconnected the operation against Syria in the Syria area if it was Israel and so on this is one kind and I do not believe they will see a retaliation because these activities are supposed to be on the side of the Iranian to be under cover and concealed and on the Lebanon front I would say I mentioned one of the interesting things that Minister Galan mentioned in his broadcast in his announcement he is attaching great importance to the diplomatic efforts and he specifically mentioned the Secretary of Defense the American Secretary of Defense and his involvement in this and this is something I believe a new factor there are boiling something in the diplomatic area in Beirut we have seen many delegation we have seen the involvement of an Amal leader Nabi Bari the chairman of the parliament a prominent figure in the Shiite Shiite community and is a close ally of Hassan Asala so there might be some hope that diplomatic solution at the end will be optimistic I believe two or three weeks ago Hanan Geffen stay with us while we turn our attention to the southern border where the fighting continues inside the Gaza Strip let's cross live to our I-24 news correspondent Pierre Kloschenler near the Gaza border Pierre what can you tell us about the latest operations happening in Gaza well in the northern sector and we are close to the northern sector of the Gaza Strip there's been quite a few raids at the brigade level in western and north of Gaza city in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Zayed of Tel El Hawa of the area near Shifa hospital which was the main hospital in the northern sector which the Israeli army invested and dismantled their Hamas infrastructure they're working not anymore at the division level they're working at the brigade level trying to mow the lawn as they're saying in order to counter any insurgency attempt by Hamas trying to reassert its control in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip but at the same time Palestinian media affiliated to Hamas are noting that they are mechanized and armored vehicles that have pulled out in recent days from the Gaza Strip from the northern sector which would indicate an even more dwindling of the IDF forces in that northern sector I remind you that for the past over a month already the Israeli army has asserted that it claims its constitutional and command control over the northern sector in the central sector there's also raids at brigade level with the last remaining reservist brigade in the center in the whole of the Gaza Strip they're they're dismantling the industrial military infrastructure of Hamas which is the main industrial military infrastructure in the central sector but at the same time their task is to prevent the return of displaced Palestinians from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip about 1 million Palestinians fled the combat zone in the northern sector to move south in the southern sector particularly in western that's where the thrust of the ground offensive is going on with a full division operating there the 98th division of elite commando units and combined combat teams they're operating in the western sector and the defense minister yesterday visited the troops in Hanyunas and he said that the Hamas brigade of four battalions that were dispatched four cardinal points of Hanyunas is being dismantled and that the next stop would be Rafah Rafah is a tough nut for a ground offensive simply because this city which had 200,000 inhabitants prior to the war now house 1.4 million Palestinians mostly displaced it would be extremely difficult to operate in such a crowded area and beside Rafah is a city that straddles both Gaza and Egyptian territory so the Egyptians are very involved into a potential ground offensive in the city of Rafah and the Israeli government and the Egyptian governments have been talking about that possibility the plan would be to displace the Palestinian displaced population either in the Al-Muassi safe humanitarian zone which is between Hanyunas and Rafah on the Mediterranean seashore or back to Hanyunas Pierre Kloschenler thank you for the latest update on all the ongoing activity inside the Gaza Strip I want to come back to Hanan Geffen now to keep talking about the activities that's happening inside the Gaza Strip because as we're hearing from our correspondent Pierre Kloschenler about the ongoing operations all of this is also taking place as there's 136 hostages still held inside the Gaza Strip and I'm curious from an intelligence perspective because so far throughout the operations the IDF has only been able to successfully rescue one hostage alive so as we're continuing to talk about the possibility of maybe a deal on the table whether it goes through, whether it doesn't to release some of these hostages of the IDF continuing to operate and rescue some of these hostages as they have really covered the entirety of the Gaza Strip at this point the other problem is I believe the idea is clear where they are how they are spread and they are spread between action families the Hamas that you had some of them probably is more connected to the places are more known some of them are less and that's why the IDF is taking this careful approach now the activities we see now why we call them it's trying to enhance the decision making to support the decision making of the Hamas leader in the bunkers because every day the IDF is intelligence guard with the Gaza and the captive Hamas people supply the IDF is plenty of intelligence and the IDF is getting closer and closer to the location so the decision making on the the Hamas control Gaza will be faster than what we see today is a probably a deep discussion within the Hamas leadership in Gaza within and with the Hamas people sitting trying to figure out the way out from this where they are they understand that the Israelis will not stop the war and this is for them is a problem they did not anticipated they saw that by this time the war Israel will be under pressure of the hostage families of the reservists of the general opinion in Israel after one year of this play that whatever play this war before the war they believe that they will be in a different place now they fight against the United Israel and United did not stop the war against the military that says we are not going to stop it we are reorganizing the process to enable us for months of going on we have all the we have all the support unfortunately so this is mounting it's all accumulating to mounting pressure on three or four people that should take the decision about the hostages going on the war I would say at this time I would guess that the answer of the Hamas people will be okay let's go over the negotiation let's start exchange hostages but let's talk about a ceasefire this is what they are urging for they need it desperately and so far they do not have a way out from where they are and that certainly seems to be the sticking point because while Hamas is pushing for a sustained prolonged ceasefire as we continue to hear from Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu they are not going to permanently remove troops and end this war until Hamas is eradicated so what are the hopes actually coming to a deal when you have two absolutely opposite sides yeah that is the convincing power of the troops on the ground in Kharim as they have they will support the decision making in the Hamas leadership they will hand the Hamas leadership to which agreement they need even if two months is far hopefully the subject happen in these two months they are getting desperate they see two million people as Pierre mentioned one from the north and the other from the west central Gaza the families are there the friends are there they just we saw the other day so happy they were for support was that there is a ceasefire everybody was bursting into so happy and so they are well hopefully they reach this agreement because Israel is not going anywhere and in contrast what they have seen in the past last 15 years they were used to it in every operation every exchange of fire and then Israel we say okay we contain it we step back hopefully you agree you will keep to your word for ceasefire for long ceasefire this kind they never did we ended with this kind of second independence war exactly, Hanan Geffen your insight as always we really appreciate it thank you for breaking down the latest thanks now I want to continue these talks about the hostage negotiations and anything that might be on the table I'm joined by Danny Ilone, former Israeli ambassador to the United States and former Israeli deputy foreign minister joining me from Tel Aviv Danny thanks so much for being with us as we are talking about this hostage deal and reports that are on the table this is a deal that's been backed by the United States by Egypt, by Qatar and by Israel and we're getting some new reports as to what exactly it might entail specifically the Israeli reports stating that it's going to be one hostage a day for 35 days that would be the first ceasefire that we're seeing and then negotiations continued and we could see 142 days ceasefire in total now again this is just according to some reports but the United States playing a very heavy hand in this it seems so what type of incentive does the US have for seeing this type of a prolonged ceasefire well first of all Nicole you're right the ceasefire let's say agreement has three components one is stopping the fire second is what let's say regrouping of the IDF or even leaving Gaza most of it and of course the release the pace of the release and how many prisoners will be released at any time Israel of course cannot accept any dictates about where the positions of the IDF will be and the longer and stronger the Israeli position is the more pressure there is on Hamas on the other hand you are right that the United States with heavy hand would very much like to see ceasefire as a segue to a much larger agreement or a new arrangement in Gaza and here is where the Israeli government Prime Minister and the American administration differ and they differ on a few things whether the IDF should stay there until we find the new administration whether the new administration will call for the Palestinian Authority and thirdly of course is what would be the day after the long term vision where the United States is looking for a two state solution and of course the Israeli government right now is vehemently against it. And the United States truly hasn't wavered throughout this whole war but they do continue to say on the one hand we support Israel and we want to see them eradicate Hamas and secure their borders but on the other hand continuing to see pressure to end this war immediately and so it does seem some different reports coming out of the United States that with the deal or the possibility of a ceasefire they're hoping that Israel might lose their military momentum and that's why we might see this war almost fizzle out in the Gaza Strip. But these are not necessarily contradictory positions by the United States they do want to see the eradication of Hamas not only because it's a terror organization and of course on the terror list of most countries decent countries in the world western countries certainly the United States not only because of the massacre of the 7th but also because Hamas is the main obstacle on the Palestinian side for a two state solution so the United States has all the reasons in the world to eradicate Hamas and remove it from power. On the other hand there is pressure from American allies in the Gulf and Egypt and Jordan and also some pressure at home political pressure at home on President Biden to stop the fire so I guess what they're doing is continuing to put the pressure putting the ceasefire agreement on the table but not pushing Israel too much understanding that first of all Hamas is not given the answer and secondly because they know Israel cannot just accept any kind of offer. And the United States certainly looking at the entire regional impacts of everything that's happening here in the Middle East in fact Iran's president Abraham Risi said today that Iran will not start a war but will quote respond strongly to anyone who bullies it and this of course comes during all of the speculation over how Washington will respond to the three U.S. soldiers who were killed at a Jordanian base just earlier this week and so while we're looking at this it is a difficult position for the United States because on the one hand President Joe Biden needs to likely have a response but on the other hand we're hearing from the U.S. that they don't want to spark a larger regional war and it seems like Iran might not either. Right and again these are maybe two contradictory positions but democracy's history shows groups that are trying always to prevent wars trying to prevent small wars and then they fall into bigger wars and this is the key to the deterrence with Iran so far the U.S. response to the Iranian back militias on its forces more than 150 different attacks was less than adequate and that actually emboldened Iran and its proxies so here is the bind can the United States sustain more attacks like that which can lead into a escalation and a much wider war or will they stop now at this point it seems like they're trying to find a middle of the road where they will go after the militias maybe in a long or protracted campaign of a few days maybe a few weeks against the Iranian back militias but they're very careful not to go after Iranian assets in Iran but we have to remember that the main problem is Iran this is what gives the inspiration the finance the training the munitions and everything and even the orders to the to the proxies so I think without at the end of the day without direct threat on Iran I am not sure that any operation on the outskirts will be effective enough and all these decisions over what the United States might do of course it's happening during an election year and so how exactly does that play into the decision making factors that President Joe Biden might be facing absolutely this is really a dilemma from for political purposes he would like to have quiet he would like to have restoring to stability absolutely he would like to see some breakthrough on a peaceful path in the Middle East where the normalization of Saudi and Israel can take place but all this are being held up by Iran and its proxies so long as we have this attack so long as Hamas continues to be a threat and his Bala for sure that would be very very difficult for Israel to move forward and also for the United States so right now it's a major dilemma for the president does he want to take a leadership position and that may be a political gamble I don't know how the American people will take it but sometimes you know you reach a juncture where you have to think are you a statesman or a politician and that's something which is I'm sure very much on Biden's mind it certainly does play into the ever developing situation that's unfolding here in the Middle East but Danny I alone we appreciate you breaking down all of the latest for us here on I-24 those are all of the top stories at this hour on the 119th day of the war here in Israel with soldiers continuing to fight not only on the south in the Gaza Strip but also preparing for any type of escalation that might happen here in the Middle East as well with the United States and international pressures also looking at everything that is unfolding throughout the Middle East and I-24 news will continue to break it all down you can always head to I-24 news dot TV for the latest updates we're going out for a quick break thank you for tuning in date of war families completely done down in their beds we have no idea where is she as our soldiers are fighting on the ground to be fought as well coming to you live from Tel Aviv it's Friday February 2nd 119 days into the war here are the top stories at this hour talks over a potential hostage release deal in exchange for a ceasefire are still reportedly underway with the moshchief Ismail Hane speaking to PIJ leader Zia Nakala on the phone both agreeing that any deal with Israel needs to include a complete stop to the fighting and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in the terms the Israeli government is not likely to accept now stocks are on the table the ground offensive in Gaza pushes forward the IDF released new body camera footage from a Hamas terrorist showing the exact moments before he was eliminated by Israeli troops and the offensive in Gaza's second largest city wraps up you know of Gallant vows to push further south to Rafa which could come with some complications meanwhile the Iranian backed Houthis in Yemen continue their attacks on Israel the IDF says the long range air defense system intercepted a missile over the Red Sea heading towards Israel's southern city of Elat and from Israel's southern point to the north now where IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah terror cell military infrastructure in southern Lebanon after rockets were fired towards northern Israel earlier in the day that's where we want to begin our live TV coverage on the northern front where our correspondent Robert Swift is standing by Robert let's break down the latest developments what can you tell us about everything that's happening on the northern front on the border with Lebanon so there's been a continuation of cross-border fire here today with first thing this morning there was really communities in the far eastern end of Israel's northern border and with the IDF responding with a series of airstrikes as well as artillery fire towards southern Lebanese village in the central area of the border region but the big news this evening is the visit by Israel's defense minister Yoav Gallant where he was once again on the northern frontier speaking with troops and had some harsh words for Hezbollah let's take a listen to what he had to say here at Israel's most northern point Hormon Mountain our forces are present they're defending patrolling and functioning to their full capacity we're promoting three main objectives in the north the diplomatic effort which is crucial yesterday I spoke with US defense secretary Lloyd Austin about the efforts to restore calm and security through diplomacy so civilians can safely return to their homes the second is the civilian effort which is very important we met with the people in charge of civil security and we're channeling the situation towards a possible return of civilians home when we decide the situation allows us to do that and third most important thing which is the primary reason for my visit is to have a close look at our forces their preparedness level from the Hormon Mountain to the sea to the Jordan valley the entire northern sector the Golan Heights and the Lebanese border our forces are on highest alert ready in large numbers and that goes along with the preparedness of the Air Force ready to launch at any moment to strike Hezbollah if Hezbollah thinks that if there's a ceasefire in Gaza they will stop firing and so will we they are seriously mistaken I'm saying loud and clear as long as we cannot assure the safe return of civilians to their homes in the northern communities we will not stop we won't stop until we reach this goal either through diplomacy or with military force only then we can be assured now the final comments from the minister there I think are the most interesting this is Joav Galant once again repeating something that he said about a week ago which is that if Hezbollah ceases fire that does not mean that Israel will necessarily do the same Israel still has objectives on the northern frontier which it wishes to see addressed and if a diplomatic option isn't successful then it does appear that Israel is signaling it will take the military route and that could demonstrate the situation here on the northern border even if there is to be some form of agreement and reduction in combat operations in the Gaza Strip Robert Swift thank you so much for that update on the Lebanese border it's certainly chilly out there thank you for your coverage meanwhile let's continue this conversation with my guest in studio I'm joined by Amir Oren defencing government commentator thanks so much for being here Amir as we're talking about everything certainly seems troops are preparing as we're hearing this statement from Defense Minister Joav Galant but what exactly could we expect as if they're hoping for a potential diplomatic solution but is that a long run and is it more likely we're going to see military escalations well Galant gave a very brief report on his conversation with Secretary of Defense Austin the fuller version which we find in Austin's readout has other items including the West Bank and the general tenor is containment of the fire in the region so that there will not be a regional war and that means that Israel cannot initiate a fuller war with Hezbollah just because Hezbollah makes good on its promise to stop its activities cross-border fire once Hamas does of course Israel would like Hezbollah to go north north of the Litany River in order for the residents to come back but you know it's each individual Israeli and their own considerations whether they want to go back the government cannot force them and if Hezbollah really withdraws its Radoan force the commander or infantry force whose guns and anti-tank missiles are gutting the Israeli settlements then probably the rehabilitation of these communities will start and people will go back hopefully Israel will also get a security council resolution claiming resolution 1701 calling on Hezbollah to withdraw but even short of that it does not seem plausible that once fire dies down in Gaza as well as in the northern border Israel will go on the attack speaking of that fire that's happening in Gaza let's go there we have a live team as well to give us an update on exactly what we are seeing inside Gaza with reports that maybe the firing is slightly slowing down but there are still operations happening throughout the Gaza Strip what can you tell us? No there's been a dwindling of Israeli forces in the northern and central sector of the Gaza Strip with a lot of reserve units pulling out and being demobilized but that doesn't mean that this is the end of the ground operation there I would say that in the northern sector they're actually intense fighting in some areas of Gaza city in the western part of Gaza city and the northern part of Gaza city neighborhoods such as Tel El Hawa, Sheik Zayed and around the Shifa hospital now Shifa hospital is the main hospital in the northern sector it was taken over by the Israeli forces already two months ago and the Israeli army showed the tunnel infrastructure being buried underneath the hospital and now the Israeli army after having withdrawn from certain residential area is operating at the brigade level mowing the lawn as they're saying that means trying to prevent any attempt by Hamas of insurgency and trying to reassert its control over certain parts of the northern sector of the Gaza Strip that's what the division 162 has been busy with in the past few weeks although Palestinian media affiliated to Hamas are saying that a lot of armored and mechanized vehicles have been pulling out of the northern sector of the Gaza Strip now in the central sector the main task of division 99 of combat combat teams is to prevent the one million or so Palestinians who fled the northern sector to bring the thrust of the fighting there which started on October 27 to come back to their to their places and and also to go on and dismantle what has been dubbed by the Israeli army as the main industrial military area of the Gaza Strip in terms of the manufacturing of long range rockets the thrust of the ground offensive right now is for the past two weeks in western Hanunez but already two months that the Israeli army under the tutelage of Brigade 98 of combined combat forces as well as elite commando units are operating in the western sector particularly where there are two hospitals the El Amal and Nasser hospitals that have been besieged for the past two weeks also according to Palestinian media because again there is an assumption that these hospitals house terror infrastructure tunnels probably now also the Israeli army is looking for the hostages so that's also one of the issues because according to the testimony of one of the hostages that was released back in November she was held inside the Al Nasser hospital the Israeli defense minister toured the area of Hanunez and said that the next stop is going to be Rafah but there's a lot of complication that are involving the Egyptian government and needs Israeli government approval Pierre Kloschen there, thank you for that update on all of the latest happening from southern Israel, thank you let's continue the conversation now once again with Amir Oren as Pierre is talking about the ongoing fighting that's happening in the Gaza Strip all of this of course is happening with the potential talks of a hostage deal that might be on the table a new statement coming out from both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic jihad that both leaders will not agree to any deal unless it involves a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from the Gaza Strip something that Israel in the past has said that's not going to happen it's going to be a deal when neither side can agree on the main issue so two issues here first the fighting itself is of course extremely complicated Nicole, you and I are sitting here on the second floor of this building and imagine if there was fighting here and at the same time below us on the first floor also fighting with only the ground floor separating us it's complicated that the IDF is doing an extremely professional job but nevertheless for the two months starting December the 1st and here we are February the 2nd for the first to the two months they've been doing that in Hanyunas they are yet to reach Yahya Sinwar the leader of Hamas or any of his top colleagues or reach any hostage which means that the various achievements do not add up to a strategic victory now this goes to the hostage deal usually if you have only two parties they can get a win-win formula where each can be satisfied here you have mediators you have other interested parties so there might be side deals side letters between let's say Hamas and Qatar and then Qatar in the United States then there can be promises which Israel cannot give them but Israel will be expected to deliver as you phrased it yes it's a dead end Israel cannot withdraw Israel cannot promise to stop the war altogether but it can promise to hold the campaign you have three levels a battle, a campaign and a war a war is an all encompassing term so there is some wiggle room the diplomats will have to find very creative phrases what about also the possibility of the security prisoners that are being released in this deal as well a new report from senior Hamas official Asama Handin in Beirut said Hamas wants to see terror convict in R1 Baguti release this is someone who is serving five life terms planning three terror attacks during the second Intifada killing multiple Israelis so we're talking about people like this that Hamas wants to see released yes Baguti first of all did not kill anyone he was aware of he was the superior of people who went out and took part in terror acts he's been spending almost 22 years now in prison so his term can be shortened now he is a leader of Fatah the rival of Hamas Hamas wants to be portrayed as having Baguti out fighting for the leadership of the Palestinian Authority Israel would probably like to release Baguti if all the other terrorists are out he's not Baguti he's not going to be singled out for staying in prison but there is a more complicated issue what to do about those Hamas killers who were only recently since October the 7th captured they have not stood trial and some of them are murderers rapists and who knows arsonists but this will be harder to swallow for the Israeli public we're talking about the events of October 7th this comes at a time where on Sunday actually the Israeli government is expected to hear and talk about possibly the return of some Israeli citizens back to their southern houses they've been out for nearly four months at this point what should we expect with some of those Israeli citizens and what the Israeli government might decide so many of these residents are close to 100 thousand depending on whether it's really on the border some of the agricultural communities or whether it's a town like Sderot they fear the return of rockets and of such rates now the fear can be SUH because the IDF is there less and less rocket launches however some of the buildings must be rebuilt the whole Kibbutzim were gutted they will probably come back when the school year is over this is in late June probably but gradually some of them, those without families bachelor's maybe they will come back let's speak to one of those residents right now as we're talking about the situation that is unfolding in the south I'm joined by Adele Rehmer from Kibbutzim near Eim she's joining us from Beersheva in southern Israel Adele thanks so much for joining us thank you for inviting me first off I just want to hear from you describe your experience to our viewers because you have been evacuated from your home for nearly four months now not living in your community for 119 days and give us a feel of what you've been experiencing on October 7th you mean and all of the days since then you haven't been in your home for four months now right so October 7th I was like everybody holding down the handle and hearing Arabic outside and gunshots and it was the most frightening day of my life frustrating waiting for the army to come save us for six or seven hours and I was in that safe room for 11 hours since then on October 8th we were evacuated to Elat we were in a wonderful hotel that hugged us that gave us the most amazing hug you can imagine and did everything they could the King Solomon hotel did everything they could to make us feel at home but the conditions are hard the footage that you were just showing now is footage of the capture of some of the people from my community we had five people captured five people slaughtered and we were a community in mourning we were a community that needs to heal and when you're in a situation like a hotel with so many people crammed into small spaces no matter how beautiful and wonderful the hotel is that's difficult my daughter left after a few weeks with my grandchildren who were highly traumatized because their dad shot a soldier sorry shot a terrorist inside their house in front of them they didn't see it but they heard it and they're severely traumatized so three weeks ago we started first of all the community with the help of the government body that is helping re-settle people re-locate people communities that have been evacuated the Kibbutz voted on coming to Berceva which is our go-to city for shopping for health for many different things so it's not strange to us it's only 40 minutes away 50 40-50 minutes away from the Kibbutz so it's people who work in the area of the Kibbutz are able to get there and we're being settled slowly but surely in apartments and I'm in a lovely apartment on the 21st floor 20 level floors above what I'm used to being very different than Kibbutz life it's not home it's not home so when we're talking about the possibility of returning home and talking about these horribly traumatic experiences you went through your family went through your community went through so how do you feel about returning and what is the government doing to eradicate any of those safety concerns you might have so on October 6th before I went to bed I told my son if you don't see me in the morning don't worry I'm going out to take pictures before sunrise of the wildflowers in order for me to be able to come back to live on Kibbutz Nireen, which I do want to do I have to have that same security again and not only a sense of security which we discovered was like the fog it dissipated has to be real security we know how to do what we're supposed to be doing in 1946 the pioneers of my community went to make the desert bloom we know how to do that right up to the border fence the army and the government have to do their job and make it safe for us to be there and do what we want to do and do what we have to do and live our lives there we deserve the same security that anybody else in the country has and for you on a personal level you're talking about the safety concerns but what will it take for you to return home I'll have to see what's going on on the other side I cannot live with neighbors like those anymore I cannot live with neighbors that are going to cause another pogrom cause another terrible massacre like they did and enough with enough of the rockets we can't have rockets no sensible country in the western world would be willing to put up with one rocket we have to finish that the Hamas have to be disarmed disabled destroyed there has to be new leadership in there that's going to be willing to make peace willing to be good neighbors the people in Gaza deserve it the innocence in Gaza and and we deserve it you know when I used to bring people to I used to tell them that I'm sure that the great majority of people in Gaza just want the same thing that I do safety for their children and food on their table unfortunately on October 7th something in my DNA switched and tragically I'm not sure that it is the great majority anymore they're going to have to prove it to me as well because we have 136 people of ours still in Gaza 119 days that is totally unacceptable Adele Ramer thank you so much for sharing your insight and your perspective into it to mention we have two of our people there you gave Burshtown and Nada Popelville are still hostages in Gaza 119 days thank you for giving them a voice also Adele thank you Amir let's continue this conversation with what Adele is talking about the sense of returning to a safe place in the south the sense of not having any rockets anymore is this a possibility or will something like rocket attacks always be prevalent in the south in southern Israel so Adele is certainly expressing the spirit and ideas of most perhaps all of the evacuees they have suffered so much that they are not going to take a chance on going back to a border which may erupt again however Israel would like to have a perimeter a sort of cordon sanitaire between the border and the urban area a kilometer a wide sort of area where anyone who gets closer will be shot the Americans and others will not let Israel keep patrols or other IDF troops inside Gaza in order to prevent the resurgence of Hamas so there you have the makings of a possible clash between Israel and other parties this patrol border of anyone who is coming near what about the possibility of anyone coming under if there is Hamas terror tunnels that are within a kilometer that the IDF is working to dismantle but that's the irony because Israel has taken care of this problem by putting the so called obstacle the wall which went down quite deep and really stopped the underground penetration but what happened was that Israel was too sure of the feasibility of stopping the Hamas and then Hamas simply came over the fence because if you can't do it underground and you can't send drones in such a manner which will then saturate the defenses you try to go with Toyota pickups with five minutes from the urban areas of Gaza to the fence another five minutes to the keyboards another five minutes with the abducted Israelis back to Gaza and in 15 to 20 minutes they disappear into the tunnels it's such a complicated situation going forward it's not Canada and Mexico bordering the United States you've been to Southern California up to Colorado and you know the borders this is where people live next to the danger and going forward also quickly I'm curious extra security in some of these kibbutz communities what might we expect there we're talking about the border but what about inside the kibbutz obviously they are going to beef up security by arming more people who live in the community they take care of themselves and they will fund it also platoons and maybe companies from the regular forces will be stationed there Amir Oran certainly thanks to continue to discuss and look forward to as everything continues to our goal to appreciate your insight as always those are all of the top stories at this hour we're going out for a break here on i24 news but thank you for tuning in you can always head to i24news.tv for all of the latest updates on the war here in Israel thank you so much for tuning in thing from Israel with dozens of correspondence throughout the world brings the truth from Israel to hundreds of millions of people in scores of countries completely done down in their best the state of emergency and war in Israel bringing Israel's story to the world i24news channels now on hot i24news.tv and Nicole Zadik coming to you live from Tel Aviv it's Friday February 2nd 119 days into the war here are the top stories at this hour talks over a potential hostage release deal in exchange for a ceasefire are still reportedly underway with Amash chief Ismail honey speaking to P.I.J. leader Ziyad Nakhala on the phone both agreeing that any deal with Israel needs to include a complete stop to the fighting and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza these are terms the Israeli government is not likely to accept now his talks are on the table the ground offensive in Gaza pushes forward the IDF released new body camera footage from a Hamas terrorist showing the exact dates before he was eliminated by Israeli troops in Hanyunas as the offensive in Gaza's second largest city wraps up Defense Minister Yohav Galant vows to push further south to Rafa which could come with some complications meanwhile Iranian backed Houthis in Yemen continue their attacks on Israel the IDF says the long range arrow defense system intercepted a missile over the red sea heading towards Israel's southern city of Elat and from Israel's southern point to the north now where IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah terror cell and military infrastructure in southern Lebanon after rockets were fired towards northern Israel earlier in the day that's where we want to begin our live-tea coverage on the northern front where our correspondent Robert Swift is standing by Robert let's break down the latest developments what can you tell us about everything that's going on in the northern border with Lebanon so there's been a continuation of cross-border fire here today with first thing this morning there was rocket attacks against Israeli communities in the far eastern end of Israel's northern border and with the IDF responding with a series of airstrikes as well as artillery fire towards southern Lebanese village in the central area of the border region but the big news this evening is that there's been an attack on the northern front where he was once again on the northern frontier speaking with troops and had some harsh words for Hezbollah let's take a listen to what he had to say here at Israel's most northern point Khermon Mountain our forces are present they're defending patrolling and functioning to their full capacity we're promoting three main objectives in the north the diplomatic effort which is crucial yesterday I spoke with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to restore calm and security through diplomacy so civilians can safely return to their homes the second is the civilian effort which is very important we met with the people in charge of civil security and we're channeling the situation towards a possible return of civilians home when we decide the situation allows us to do that and third most important thing which is the primary reason for my visit is to have a close look at our forces their preparedness level from the Khermon Mountain to the sea the entire northern sector the Golan Heights and the Lebanese border our forces are on highest alert ready in large numbers and that goes along with the preparedness of the Air Force ready to launch at any moment to strike Hezbollah if Hezbollah thinks that if there's a ceasefire in Gaza they will stop firing and so will we, they are seriously mistaken I'm saying loud and clear as long as we cannot assure the safe return of civilians to their homes in the northern communities we will not stop we won't stop until we reach this goal either through diplomacy or with military force only then we can be assured now the final comments from the minister there I think are the most interesting this is Joav Galant once again repeating something that he said about a week ago which is that if Hezbollah ceases fire that does not mean that Israel will necessarily do the same Israel still has objectives on the northern frontier which it wishes to see addressed and if a diplomatic option isn't successful then it does appear that Israel is signaling it will take the military route and that could demonstrate escalation here on the northern border even if there is to be some form of agreement and reduction in combat operations in the Gaza Strip Robert Swift thank you so much for that update on the Lebanese border certainly chilly out there thank you for your coverage meanwhile let's continue this conversation with my guest in studio I'm joined by Amir Oren defencing government commentator thanks so much for being here Amir as we're talking about everything that's happening on the northern front certainly seems troops are preparing as we're hearing this statement from defense minister Joav Galant but what exactly could we expect as they're hoping for a potential diplomatic solution but is that a long run and is it more likely we're going to see military escalations well Galant gave a very brief report on his conversation with secretary of defense Austin the fuller version which we find in Austin's readout has other items including the west bank and the general tenor is containment of the fire in the region so that there will not be a regional war and that means that Israel cannot initiate a fuller war with Hezbollah just because Hezbollah makes good on its promise to stop its activities cross-border fire once Hamas does of course Israel would like Hezbollah to go north north of the Litany river in order for the residents to come back but you know it's each individual Israeli and their own considerations whether they want to go back the government cannot force them to do it and if Hezbollah really withdraws its Radoan force the commander or infantry force whose guns and anti-tank missiles are gutting the Israeli settlements then probably the rehabilitation of these communities will start and people will go back hopefully Israel will also get a security council resolution reaffirming Resolution 1701 calling on Hezbollah to withdraw but even short of that it does not seem plausible that once fire dies down in Gaza as well as in the northern border Israel will go on the attack Speaking of that fire that's happening in Gaza let's go there we have a live team as well I want to cross live to our correspondent Pierre Kloschenler to give us an update on exactly what we are seeing inside Gaza with reports that maybe the firing is slightly slowing down but there are still operations happening throughout the Gaza Strip what can you tell us? No there's been a dwindling of Israeli forces in the northern and central sector of the Gaza Strip with a lot of reserve units that doesn't mean that this is the end of the ground operation there I would say that in the northern sector they are actually intense fighting in some areas of Gaza city in the western part of Gaza city and the northern part of Gaza city neighborhoods such as Tel El Hawa, Sheikh Zayed and around the Shifa hospital now Shifa hospital is the main hospital in the northern sector it was taken over by the Israeli forces already a month ago and the Israeli army showed the tunnel infrastructure being buried underneath the hospital and now the Israeli army after having withdrawn from certain residential area is operating at the brigade level mowing the lawn as they're saying that means trying to prevent any attempt by Hamas of insurgency and trying to reassert its control over certain part of the northern sector of the Gaza Strip that's what the division 162 has been busy with in the past few weeks although Palestinian media affiliated to Hamas are saying that a lot of armored and mechanized vehicles have been pulling out of the northern sector of the Gaza Strip now in the central sector the main task of division 99 of combat combat teams is to prevent the 1 million also Palestinians who fled the northern sector during the thrust of the fighting there which started on October 27 to come back to their places and and also to go on and dismantle what has been dubbed by the Israeli army as the main industrial military area of the Gaza Strip in terms of the manufacturing of long range rockets the thrust of the ground offensive right now is for the past two weeks in western Hanunas but already two months that the Israeli army under the tutelage of Brigade 98 of combined combat forces as well as elite commando units are operating in the western sector particularly where there are two hospitals that have been besieged for the past two weeks also according to Palestinian media because again there is an assumption that these hospitals house terror infrastructure tunnels probably now also the Israeli armies looking for the hostages so one of the issues because according to the testimony of one of the hostages that was released back in November she was held inside the Al Nasser hospital the Israeli defense minister toured the area of Hanunas and said that the next stop is going to be Rafah but there's a lot of complication that are involving the Egyptian government and needs Israeli government approval Pierre Kloschner thank you for that update on all of the latest happening from southern Israel thank you let's continue the conversation now once again with Amir Oran as Pierre is talking about the ongoing fighting that's happening in the Gaza Strip all of this of course is happening with the potential talks of a hostage deal that might be on the table and new statement coming out from both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic jihad that both leaders will not agree to any deal unless there's a ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from the Gaza Strip something that Israel in the past has said that's not going to happen so what should we expect from a deal when neither side can agree on the main issue so two issues here first the fighting itself is of course extremely complicated Nicole you and I are sitting here on the second floor of this building and imagine if there was fighting here and at the same time Hamas on the first floor also fighting with only the ground floor separating us it's very complicated and the IDF is doing an extremely professional job but nevertheless for the two months starting December the first and here we are February the second for the first to the two months they've been doing that in Hanunas they are yet to reach Yahya Sinwar the leader of Hamas or any of his top colleagues or reach any hostage which means that the various achievements do not add up to a strategic victory now this goes to the hostage deal usually if you have only two parties they can get a win-win formula where each can be satisfied here you have invaders you have other interested parties so there might be side deals side letters between let's say Hamas and Qatar and then Qatar and the United States then and there there can be promises which Israel cannot give them but Israel will be expected to deliver as you phrased it yes it's a dead end Israel cannot withdraw Israel cannot promise to stop the war all together but it can promise to hold the campaign you have three levels a battle a campaign and the war a war is an all encompassing term so there is some wiggle room the diplomats will have to find very creative phrases what about also the possibility of the security prisoners that are being released in this deal as well a new report from senior Hamas official Asama Handin in Beirut said Hamas wants to see terror convict Marwan Barghouti release this is someone who is serving five life terms planning three terror attacks during the Second Intifada killing multiple Israelis so we're talking about people like this that Hamas wants to see released yes Barghouti first of all did not kill anyone he was aware of he was the superior of people who went out and took part in terror attacks he's been spending almost 22 years now in prison so his term can be shortened now he is a leader of Fatah the rival of Hamas Hamas wants to be portrayed as having Barghouti out fighting for the leadership of the Palestinian Authority Israel would probably like to release Barghouti if all the other terrorists are out why not Barghouti he is not going to be singled out for staying in prison but there is a more complicated issue what to do about those Hamas killers who were only recently since October the 7th captured they have not stood trial and some of them are murderers rapists and who knows who knows what this will be harder to swallow for the Israeli public we're talking about the events of October 7th this comes at a time we're on Sunday actually the Israeli government is expected to hear and talk about possibly the return of some Israeli citizens back to their southern houses they've been out for nearly 4 months at this point what should we expect with some of those Israeli citizens and what the Israeli government might decide so many of these residents close to 100 thousand depending on whether it's really on the border some of the agricultural communities or whether it's a town like Zderot they fear the return of rockets and of such rates now the fear can be SUH because the IDF is there there are less and less rocket launches however some of the buildings must be rebuilt whole Kibbutzim were gutted they will probably come back when the school year is over this is in late June probably but gradually some of them those without families bachelors maybe they will come back let's speak to actually one of those residents right now as we're talking about the situation that is unfolding in the south I'm joined by Adele Rehmer from Kibbutz near Eim she's joining us from Beersheva in southern Israel Adele thanks so much for joining us thank you for inviting me first off I just want to hear from you describe your experience to our viewers because you have been evacuated from your home for nearly four months now not living in your community for 119 days give us a feel of what you've been experiencing October 7th you mean and all of the days since then you haven't been in your home for four months now right so October 7th I was like everybody holding down the handle and hearing Arabic outside and gunshots and it was the most frightening day of my life frustrating waiting for the army to come save us and it took seven hours and I was in that safe room for 11 hours since then on October 8th we were evacuated to Elat we were in a wonderful hotel that hugged us that gave us the most amazing hug you can imagine and did everything they could the king Solomon hotel did everything they could to make us feel at home but the conditions are hard and the footage that you were just showing now is footage of the capture of some of the people from my community we had five people captured five people slaughtered and we were a community in mourning we're a community that needs to heal and when you're in a situation like a hotel with so many people crammed into small spaces no matter how beautiful and wonderful the hotel is that's difficult my daughter left after a few weeks with my grandchildren who were highly traumatized because their dad shot a soldier sorry shot a terrorist inside their house in front of them they didn't see it but they heard it and they're severely traumatized so three weeks ago we started first of all the community with the help of Tkuma of the government body that is helping re settle people relocate people communities that have been evacuated we the Kibbutz voted on coming to Bersheva which is our go-to city for shopping for health many different things so it's not strange to us it's only 40 minutes away 40-50 minutes away from the Kibbutz so it's people who work in the area of the Kibbutz are able to get there and we're being settled slowly but surely in apartments and I'm in a lovely apartment on the 21st floor 20 level floors above what I'm used to being very different than Kibbutz life it's not home it's not home so when we're talking about the possibility of returning home you're talking about these horribly traumatic experiences you went through, your family went through your community went through so how do you feel about returning and what is the government doing to eradicate any of those safety concerns you might have so on October 6th before I went to bed I told my son if you don't see me in the morning don't worry I'm going out to take pictures before sunrise of the wildflowers in order for me to be able to come back to live on Kibbutz Mirim which I do want to do I have to have that same security again and not only a sense of security which we discovered was like the fog it dissipated has to be real security how to do what we're supposed to be doing in 1946 the pioneers of my community went to make the desert bloom we know how to do that right up to the border friends the army and the government have to do their job and make it safe for us to be there and do what we want to do and do what we have to do and live our lives there we deserve the same security that anybody else in the country has and for you on a personal level you're talking about the safety concerns but what will it take for you to return home I'll have to see what's going on on the other side I cannot live with neighbors like those anymore I cannot live with neighbors that are going to cause another pogrom cause another terrible massacre like they did enough with the enough of the rockets we can't have rockets no sensible country in the western world would be willing to put up with one rocket we have to finish that the Hamas have to be disarmed disabled destroyed there has to be new leadership in there that's going to be willing to make peace willing to be good neighbors people in Gaza disturb it the innocence in Gaza and we deserve it you know when I used to bring people to Nirim I used to tell them that I'm sure that the great majority of people in Gaza just want the same thing that I do safety for their children and food on their table unfortunately on October 7 something in my DNA switched tragically I'm not sure that it is the great majority anymore they're going to have to prove it to me as well because we have 136 people of ours still in Gaza 119 days that is totally unacceptable Adele Rehmer thank you so much for sharing your insight and your perspective I just want to mention we have two of our people there you gave Bostan Nader Popov are still hostages in Gaza 119 days we have to bring them home Thank you for giving them a voice also Adele Amir let's continue this conversation with what Adele is talking about the sense of returning to a safe place in the south the sense of not having any rockets anymore is this a possibility or will something like rocket attacks always be prevalent in the south in southern Israel so Adele is certainly expressing the spirit and ideas of most perhaps all of the evacuees they have suffered so much that they are not going to take a chance on going back to a border which may erupt again however Israel would like to have a perimeter between the border and the urban area a kilometer wide sort of area where anyone who gets closer will be shot the Americans and others will not let Israel keep patrols or other IDF troops inside Gaza in order to prevent the resurgence of Hamas so there you have the makings of a possible clash between Israel and other parties and when you're talking about this patrol border of anyone who's coming near what about the possibility of anyone coming under there's Hamas terror tunnels that are within a kilometer that the IDF is working to dismantle but that's the irony because Israel has taken care of this problem by putting the so called obstacle the wall which went down very deep and really stopped the underground raids, the underground penetration but what happened was that Israel was too sure of the feasibility of stopping the Hamas and then Hamas simply came over the fence because if you can't do it underground and you can't send drones in such a manner which will then saturate the defenses you try to go with Toyota pickups it's only 5 minutes 5 minutes from the urban areas of Gaza to defense another 5 minutes to the kibbutz another 5 minutes with the abducted Israelis back to Gaza and in 15 to 20 minutes they disappear into the tunnels it's such a complicated situation going forward and in Mexico bordering the United States you've been to Southern California and up to Colorado and you know the borders this is where people live next to the danger and going forward also quickly I'm curious extra security in some of these kibbutz communities what might we expect there we're talking about the border but what about inside the kibbutz security by arming more people who live in the community they take care of themselves the army will fund it also platoons and maybe companies from the regular forces will be stationed there Amir Oran certainly thanks to continue to discuss and look forward to as everything continues to appreciate your insight as always those are all of the top stories at this hour we're going out for a break for tuning in you can always head to i24news.tv for all of the latest updates on the war here in Israel thank you so much for tuning in to the i24news desk I'm Nicole Zettig coming to you live from Tel Aviv it's Friday 2nd we are 119 days into the war are the top stories at this hour talks over a potential hostage release deal in exchange for a ceasefire are still reportedly underway with masjif Ismail Haniye speaking to a pij leader Ziyad Naqale on the phone both agreeing that any deal with Israel needs to include a complete stop to the fighting and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza the Israeli government is not likely to accept as talks are on the table the ground offensive in Gaza pushes forward the IDF released new body camera footage from a Hamas terrorist showing the exact moments before he was eliminated by Israeli troops in Hanyunas as the offensive in Gaza's second largest city wraps up defense minister Avgala vows to push further south to Rafa which could come with some complications meanwhile, Iranian back toothies in Yemen continue their attacks on Israel the IDF says the long range air defense system intercepted a missile over the red sea heading towards Israel's southern city of Elan and from Israel's southern point to the north now more IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah terror cell and military infrastructure in southern Lebanon after rockets were fired towards northern Israel earlier in the day that's where we want to begin our live team coverage at this hour where our I-24 newest correspondent Robert Swift has been standing by all night, Robert let's talk about the latest developments happening in southern Lebanon what can you tell us there on the northern Israeli border there's been a continuation of the exchanges of fire here on the northern border as is seen most days of this war the level of the attacks has been at the lower end of the spectrum by Hezbollah today one an attack on a number of rockets landing around the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona and surrounding communities in the far eastern end of Israel's northern border and also around about five o'clock local time Hezbollah said it attacked the Israeli village of Avivim which is right on the border in response the Israeli military conducted airstrikes as well as targeting at least one Lebanese village with artillery fire but now all this comes amid a visit by Israel's defense minister Joav Galant who was back up here on the border to see what the troops are up to speak with commanders and also to give some words of warning to Hezbollah let's hear what he had to say here at Israel's most northern point, Khermon Mountain our forces are present they're defending patrolling and functioning to their full capacity we're promoting three main objectives in the north the diplomatic effort which is crucial yesterday I spoke with US defense secretary Lloyd Austin about the efforts to restore calm and security through diplomacy so civilians can safely return to their homes the second is the civilian effort which is very important we met with the people in charge of civil security and we're channeling the situation towards a possible return of civilians home when we decide the situation allows us to do that and third which is the primary reason for my visit is to have a close look at our forces their preparedness level from the Khermon Mountain to the sea to the Jordan Valley the entire northern sector the Golan Heights and the Lebanese border our forces are on highest alert ready in large numbers and that goes along with the preparedness of the air force ready to launch at any moment to strike Hezbollah if Hezbollah thinks that if there's a ceasefire in Gaza they will stop firing and so will we they are closely mistaken I'm saying loud and clear as long as we cannot assure the safe return of civilians to their homes in the northern communities we will not stop we won't stop until we reach this goal either through diplomacy or with military force only then we can be assured now it's worth noting that this is not the first time that you have gallant has threatened Hezbollah that even if it is to stop firing on Israel that doesn't mean that Israel will not continue its attacks if its objectives in the area are not met and again he's emphasized the return of Israeli civilians to the communities in the north as being the condition that Israel needs to see on the ground in order for that not to happen whether Israel is gearing up to conduct some form of attack operation as things potentially come to a pause in the on the southern front or if these words are merely warning attempting to make Hezbollah from the the border without the need for Israeli military action we wait to see what happens here on the northern border Robert Swift thank you for your update on all of the latest developments happening there on the northern border now to continue this conversation I want to bring in my guest in studio I'm joined by Rafael Jerozalmi former senior intelligence officer with the IDF Rafael thanks so much for being here as we're talking about what's happening on the northern front and we do continue with the operations on the front even as maybe the operations could be dwindling and wrapping up possibly in the Gaza Strip going into more of this prolonged fighting but that's not the case on the northern front we're just getting started it seems it seems there is a possibility that the Hezbollah is linking its operations to what is happening in the Gaza Strip meaning would there be a ceasefire because of the liberation of hostages for instance then the Hezbollah might ceasefire too that happened during the first phase of the liberation of hostages would it happen again we don't know what is important to know is what the Israelis want to do want to achieve next week there's going to be a very important vote in the United States as to the financial support of the Americans towards the Israeli war effort linked to Ukraine linked to the border with Mexico but let's put it that way next week there's a big check coming and I don't think until then the Israelis should go against the Biden administration in starting an escalation that the administration in Washington doesn't want and has warned many a time the Israelis not to start so we will be nice kids until then once we get the check then maybe things might change of course the reality on the ground might also change certain things because one thing is for sure with all your respect to the check of the Biden administration with all your respect to the American support we cannot continue leaving this way we cannot have 100,000 people evacuated from their homes and not be able to promise them that they can come back safely that the kids can go back to their schools and to their bedrooms this is not possible unfortunately right now we did not achieve sufficient level of deterrence to have the Hezbollah at least retreat a few kilometers that's all we want we don't even want to apply the resolution famous 1701 resolution of the 10 nations would ask the Hezbollah to go 25 kilometers away from the Hezbollah but at least 10 that's all we want 10 because like this this is the range of an anti-tech missile at this point we would be able to tell Israeli people living on the border to come back home ensuring at least a bit of that safety but as you mentioned it does seem what's happening in the north is certainly linked to what's happening on the ground in the south so let's put our attention to what's happening in the south our correspondent Pierre Kloschenler is in southern Israel as we're talking about the residents in the north Pierre I want to turn our attention to the residents in the south also who come Sunday might have a little bit more information as the Israeli government discusses possibly returning some of these residents back to their homes in the south where they have been evacuated for months now what can you tell us right there's been yesterday evening communicate by the home front command who says that the localities the communities which are four to seven kilometers away from the Gaza border might be able to replenish themselves in other words the evacuees of those communities and I'm speaking about for instance the city of Zderot who is 35,000 inhabitants will be able to return to their homes the big question is whether there is a schooling system which is able to integrate the kids of those evacuees because right now they have found alternative schooling systems schooling system in Zderot has to be completely protected in other words from rocket fire because they're still rocket fire from the Gaza strip from time to time but for the communities that are really close to the Gaza border less than four kilometers away these will have to wait until probably the end of the operation first of all because those communities where the most hard hit by the October 7th massacre buildings in the communities have been destroyed and therefore it will take time for those evacuees to return to their homes regarding the communities between four and seven kilometers it will also depend on the goodwill of the evacuees if they want to stay where they are right now they will be able to stay until July until the end of the school year but if they want to return they will be able to return providing that the schooling system will be protected in their communities the government on Sunday will discuss that issue and to issue directives instructions for the residents for the something like 130,000 evacuees 130 evacuees who certainly many of them waiting to return home after nearly four months now Pierre Kloschenler thank you so much for your coverage from Southern Israel now coming back to Raphael you just saw me just to talk about the continued efforts not only happening to fight inside the Gaza Strip but also the rumblings of a new hostage negotiation deal that could be on the table as we're hearing from Hamas and the PIJ an official statement them saying we're not going to accept any site of a deal unless it calls for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip now this is something in the past Israel has said they want to accept but now there seems to be a lot more international pressure maybe pushing them to accept this type of a deal there's a no-no on each side the no-no on each side is of course to stop completely the war like to return back to that would send us back to the 6th of October I mean we would have waged all that war to avail so that's a no-no on the Hamas side it's the same no-no plus I remain very skeptical about the fact that the Hamas would liberate all the hostages they have to keep up at least some of them the odd 40 that are considered soldiers because they are their last ever human shield their life insurance would they give all the hostages back by the time the last Israeli hostages regains Israel home then we're entitled to bomb freely the old other assets the Hamas political branch the only thing that's stopping us from really hitting hard is because we are afraid to hit hostages so I do not believe that Mr. Sinois would just give this asset that easily so this being said there are some kind of negotiations I think too much is being made about it is going to take a long time it's going to happen tomorrow morning it's like an arm wrestling between the Hamas and the Israelis and this is very I would say Middle Eastern way of negotiating putting the bar very high and then going slowly and then high again and bluffing and I'm afraid that the Hamas is very good at that game they understand they have a very good leverage because we value so much human life and we've got zero leverage why have we got zero leverage because we cannot for instance starve the Gazan population because the Hamas doesn't care we can starve 2 million Gazan people the Hamas doesn't care we can harshen the conditions of life of the terrorists we detain in our jails or say we will not give them up so easily the Hamas doesn't care the Hamas doesn't care about really anything and what they do care about is inflicting pain is inflicting losses to the IDF is inflicting a loss of the economy the Israeli economy meaning what they're interested in is hurting us rather than feeling good or you're doing something good for them that's how they think so we've got zero leverage and they have the whole leverage and they know exactly that we're in a psychological trauma that we want these hostages we're willing to pay a very very high price are we willing to pay any price? No the manipulation certainly continues meanwhile as we're talking about everything that's happening and the potential for a hostage negotiation deal we know that the United States has played a pretty big hand in any potential deal that might be on the table as the war in Gaza continues these regional ramifications are certainly felt not only in the Middle East but in the United States with these wartime decisions being made during an election year so how exactly do US politics play into what's happening on the ground? I'll break it down I'm joined by David Christopher Kaufman an agent fellow from Tel Aviv Institute joining us from New York David thanks so much for being with us let's talk about first the potential of a hostage deal with the United States playing a pretty heavy hand with an incentive for a prolonged ceasefire maybe what are we hearing coming out of the United States and how does it impact President Joe Biden? Good evening Biden finds himself really in a pickle right now everywhere he turns he's under attack and the cause is Israel is Hamas is the hostages he needs to show that he has remained strong that he remains in control of this narrative that he's focused on retaliatory action against Iran that he's focused on ending or at least reducing the conflict in Gaza but also that he's focused on Israel and the need the very real needs of Israel and the need to return the hostages so without doubt the White House and the administration is clearly playing a big role a vocal role in trying to push ahead any sort of hostage deal but I think as much as the White House and Washington is very clearly concerned about the fate of these hostages very clearly concerned about the fate of Israel they're more concerned about the fate of themselves they're more concerned about Biden remaining in power and I believe that Biden wants some sort of momentum he wants some sort of deal in order to show that cause any deal of course will come with some sort of pause in the fighting will come with some sort of pause some sort of relief for the Gazan so he needs this deal to move forward as much in order to rescue these hostages and bring them home to their families to show his progressive base that he is pushing towards a de-escalation of the conflict in Gaza and an increase in support and an aid for the Palestinians and that these are not necessarily mutually exclusive targets mutually exclusive outcomes What about you talking about going for some of his progressive voters who might want to see a ceasefire but what about some of the Jewish Democrats that are supporting President Joe Biden but when it comes to what's happening in Israel how does it maybe alienate some of the Jewish voters in the United States I think it depends on which Jewish voters there are a lot of different kinds of Jewish voters just like there are also a lot of different kinds of African-American voters and these sort of specific demographics these are the targets right now of all this attention Jewish voters that traditionally have supported Democrats resolutely and it's likely that they will I mean every time we talk about this election and we talk about Biden and the focus on Biden which is very important we must also include a focus on Donald Trump and the fact that he will almost certainly be Biden's opponent at the end of this year the question isn't so much about will Jewish voters to continue to support Joe Biden the real question is will Jewish voters flee Biden and move toward Trump if their feelings around his support of Israel are not met and this goes both ways you know conservative Jewish voters you know will they go to Biden if sorry will they go to Trump if they feel that Biden has abandoned Israel progressive Jewish voters who have been very vocal it's unlikely they're gonna go to Trump but will they stay home will they not vote don't forget in America you know we're a country despite you know our very strong democracy and our focus on democracy we're a country that comparatively doesn't vote you know two-thirds 60% turnout that's a big turnout for America that leaves a lot of space for folks to either vote for other folks or to just not show up and not vote you know 2016 Trump got into office you know during one of the lowest turnouts ever and he won that office by very small margins in very specific states and that could happen easily again so as much as we're concerned about Jewish voters either remaining with Biden or opposed to shifting towards Trump we really want to make sure that Jewish voters vote. And it's not just the problem with Israel or Biden's decision making with Israel that's on the table right now it's also his response to Iran exactly how what type of response and when that response might come that could impact how voters are viewing president Biden. Yeah so the response to Iran of course is important and it's dominating the headlines but again here in America today people are far less concerned about Biden's response against Iran and much more concerned about the positive job numbers so this is what people in America are thinking about much more focused on the economy than Iran per se but Iran's important it's important because Biden must show a sign of strength and that actually is much more towards conservative or Republican voters don't forget in November a lot of Republicans don't want to vote for Donald Trump there's a huge no Trump faction within the Republican Party right now so what they want to see from Biden are you know signs of strength signs that he is a commander in chief signs that he is going to take the Iran threat seriously and you know Biden's already had some problems with Iran in the period right before October 7th you know he was the one who was the architect of releasing those billions of dollars in Iranian funds back to Tehran in exchange for six hostages I believe that deal was frozen in the wake of October 7th but Biden already has you know some baggage out there when it comes to Iran so those on the right who don't want Trump who are considering Biden but need him to be a strong leader this is the moment that he needs to appeal to them as much as he needs to make sure that his progressive base doesn't feel like he's overstepping so everywhere he looks it's a minefield provided right now. Everything happening during an election year quite a lot to break down David Christopher Kaufman thank you for bringing us up to date on all of the latest Thank you Now Rafael as we're talking about Iran and their proxies something to note today the idea of saying that they struck down another missile launched from the Houthi back to Yemen so it seems like Iranian proxies specifically the Houthis continuing to not be deterred by any type of response whether it be from the US from the UK from Israel they're still attacking because the novel coalition in the Red Sea is not doing the job I mean they have attacked the Houthis but in a dose of the way they haven't really struck them where they should have also the Iranians they don't control 100% their proxies we know that Mr. Nasrallah has his own agenda the Houthis have their own agenda and sometimes the puppets can just cut the strings and continue moving on its own so also the Iranians have declared that they're not interested in a direct conflict with the Americans they don't want this thing to escalate neither do the Americans and in a certain way raging wars through proxies might be the solution to avoid a direct conflict a direct American-Iranian conflict so they will keep here playing that game for quite a while until it will explode in front of their face because sooner or later this situation will deteriorate and the longer the Americans procrastinate and the worse it will become for the Middle East but also for the rest of the world and for America they're just doing the wrong moves at the wrong time and sending the wrong signals not deterring anybody as well so far they're only emboldening even the Iranians who are attacking everybody they're even attacking Pakistan so there's something wrong with the American strategy we've just heard some of the reasons because of the election year political reasons internal reasons but I think it's much worse than that it's a misreading of the map from the specialist of foreign affairs in the United States a misreading of the map maybe also from said to come in the army this is the Middle East the Middle East understands only one language language of force and so what you're implying also is that if there isn't a stronger response to Iran in the next several years maybe it could take a while but something is going to escalate further whether it's not now then later yes and if this continues for example this is simple Iran will have a nuclear weapon I mean nothing's been done to stop the Iranians during all this this conflict that we're seeing now and all the noise around the Houthis and the Hezbollah and all that the Iranians slowly slowly but surely are advancing towards a nuclear weapon they are developing a huge arsenal of missiles and drones so many they can spare them for the Russians I mean they've become a huge military superpower and they can they can do exactly what the budget administration is worried about they can destabilize the whole of the Middle East and this destabilization can impact the rest of the world as something here is completely wrong completely understandable because we are fighting a fight that the whole world should fight the fight of Israel and the Hamas or Hezbollah or whoever it is the Houthis are just now shot at us this is a fight that the whole world should fight because the whole world is being endangered by it and with all your respect for elections or not elections in next year in the States it was rightly said American people in the streets they are really worried about their wallet and they're not interested in what's going on so far away from home and that there is a link between their wallet and what's happening so far away from home in any case there is absolutely no reason whatsoever why the Israelis should fight on their own all these threats all these proxies and the Americans just sit there and do nothing with that though as you're saying the United States needs a strong response against Iran itself does Israel need a stronger response against Iran itself rather than just proxies that are attacking Israel yes but Israel doesn't have is not a superpower if we would have what the American army has we would be able to strike and we would strike we're still a small country we have a very good army but it's a small army compared and we have now wasted a lot a lot of ammunition on one conflict and we have to save some of the ammunition for the North we could spare to attack the whole of Iran which is a superpower as I said the military superpower but we would be happy to join a coalition that would do that I don't see how this Iranian expansion into proxies can be stopped without at some point you're going to have to face the Iranian directly and the more you wait the worse it gets because they get stronger the more missiles they've got more equipment they're training so the more you wait the worse it will be but in the end it will have to be and that's why I think the Saudis are panicking and want to have a security agreement they want now the Saudis are ready to normalize Israel because of the threat everything that's happening in the Middle East certainly a lot to unpack Rafael Drew Salmi thank you for your insight as always for going out for a quick break and tuning in 24 news desk I'm Nicole Zettit coming to you live from Tel Aviv it's Friday February 2nd we are 119 days into the war are the top stories at this hour talks over a potential hostage release deal in exchange for a ceasefire are still reportedly underway with Amash chief Ismail Haniye speaking to a PIJ leader Ziyad Nakhale on the phone both agreeing that any deal with Israel needs to include a complete stop to the fighting and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza these are terms the Israeli government is not likely to accept as talks are on the table the ground offensive in Gaza pushes forward the IDF released new body camera footage from a Hamas terrorist showing the exact moments before he was eliminated by Israeli troops in Hanyunas as the offensive in Gaza's second largest city wraps up the Israeli minister you know Afghan vows to push further south to Rafa which could come with some complications meanwhile Iranian back toothies in Yemen continue their attacks on Israel the IDF says the long range air defense system intercepted a missile over the Red Sea heading towards Israel's southern city of Elan and from Israel's southern point to the north now more IDF fighter jets are in infrastructure in southern Lebanon after rockets were fired towards northern Israel earlier in the day that's where we want to begin our live team coverage at this hour where our I-24 newest correspondent Robert Swift has been standing by all night Robert let's talk about the latest developments happening in southern Lebanon what can you tell us there on the northern Israeli border there's been a continuation of the exchanges of fire here on the northern border as is seen most days of this war the level of the attacks has been at the lower end of the spectrum with about two attacks reported by Hezbollah today one an attack a number of rockets landing around the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona and surrounding communities in the far eastern end of Israel's northern border and also around about five o'clock local time Hezbollah said that it attacked the Israeli village of Avivim which is right on the border in response to Israeli military conducted airstrikes as well as targeting at least one Lebanese village with artillery fire but now all this comes amid a visit by Israel's defense minister Joav Galant who was back up here on the border to see what the troops are up to speak with commanders and also to give some words of warning to Hezbollah let's hear what he had to say here at Israel's most northern point in the city of Karmun Mountain our forces are present they're defending, patrolling and functioning to their full capacity we're promoting three main objectives in the north the diplomatic effort which is crucial yesterday I spoke with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the efforts to restore Kalman's security through diplomacy so civilians can safely return to their homes the second is the civilian effort which is very important we met with the people in charge of civil security and we're channeling the situation towards a possible return of civilians home when we decide the situation allows us to do that and third most important thing which is the primary reason for my visit is to have a close look at our forces their preparedness level from the Khermon Mountain to the sea to the Jordan Valley the entire northern sector the Golan Heights and the Lebanese border our forces are on highest alert ready in large numbers and that goes along with the preparedness of the air force ready to launch at any moment if Hezbollah thinks that if there's a ceasefire in Gaza they will stop firing and so will we they are seriously mistaken I'm saying loud and clear as long as we cannot assure the safe return of civilians to their homes in the northern communities we will not stop we won't stop until we reach this goal either through diplomacy or with military force only then we can be assured now it's worth noting that this is not the first time that you have Galan to threaten Hezbollah that even if it is to stop firing on Israel that doesn't mean that Israel will not continue its attacks if its objectives in the area are not met and again he's emphasized the return of Israeli civilians to the communities in the north as being the condition that Israel needs to see on the ground in order for that not to happen whether Israel is gearing up to conduct some form of attack operation as things potentially come to a pause on the southern front or if these words are merely warning attempting to make Hezbollah withdraw from the border without the need for Israeli military action we wait to see what happens here on the northern border Robert Swift thank you for your update on all of the latest developments happening there on the northern border now to continue this conversation I want to bring in my guest in studio I'm joined by Rafael Jerozalmi former senior intelligence officer with the IDF Rafael thanks so much for being here as we're talking about what's happening on the northern front and we do continue to see the IDF preparing for escalations on the front even as maybe the operations could be dwindling and wrapping up possibly in the Gaza Strip going into more of this prolonged fighting but that's not the case on the northern front we're just getting started it seems it seems there is a possibility that the Hezbollah is linking its operations to what is happening in the Gaza Strip meaning would there be a ceasefire because of the liberation of hostages for instance then the Hezbollah might ceasefire too that happened during the first phase of the liberation of hostages would it happen again we don't know what is important to know is what the Israelis want to do want to achieve next week there's going to be a very important vote from the United States as to the financial support of the Americans towards the Israeli war effort linked to Ukraine, linked to the border with Mexico but let's put it that way next week there's a big check coming and I don't think until then the Israelis should go against the Biden administration in starting an escalation that the administration in Washington doesn't want many a time the Israelis not to start so we will be nice kids until then once we get the check then maybe things might change of course the reality on the ground might also change certain things because one thing is for sure with all your respect to the check of the Biden administration with all your respect to the American support we cannot continue leaving this way we cannot have 100,000 people evacuated from their homes and not be able to promise them that they can come back safely and that the kids can go back to their schools and to their bedrooms this is not possible unfortunately right now we did not achieve sufficient level of deterrence to have the at least retreat a few kilometers that's all we want we don't even want to apply the resolution famous 1701 resolution of the 10 nations that would ask the Hezbollah to go 25 kilometers away from the Lebanese Israeli-Lebanese border but at least 10 that's all we want 10 because like this this is the range of an anti-tech missile at this point we would be able to tell Israeli people leaving on the border to come back home ensuring at least a bit of that safety but as you mentioned it does seem what's happening in the north is only linked to what's happening on the ground in the south so let's put our attention to what's happening in the south now our correspondent Pierre Kloschenler is in southern Israel as we're talking about the residents in the north Pierre I want to turn our attention to the residents in the south also who come Sunday might have a little bit more information as the Israeli government discusses possibly returning some of these residents back to their homes in the south where they have been right there's been yesterday evening a communicate by the home front command who says that the localities the communities which are 4 to 7 kilometers away from the Gaza border might be able to replenish themselves in other words the evacuees of those communities and I'm speaking about for instance the city of Zderot 35,000 inhabitants will be able to return to their homes the big question is whether there is a schooling system which is able to integrate the kids of those evacuees because right now they have found alternative schooling systems schooling system in Zderot has to be completely protected in other words from Rocketfire because there is still Rocketfire from the Gaza Strip from time to time but for the communities that are really close to the Gaza border less than 4 kilometers away these will have to wait until probably the end of the operation first of all because those communities where the most hard hits by the October 7th massacre buildings in the communities have been destroyed and therefore it will take time for those evacuees to return to their homes regarding the communities between 4 and 7 kilometers it will also depend on the good will of the evacuees if they want to stay where they are right now they will be able to stay until July until the end of the school year but if they want to return they will be able to return providing that the system will be protected in their communities the government on Sunday has to discuss that issue and to issue directives instructions for the residents for the something like 130,000 evacuees 130 evacuees who certainly many of them waiting to return home after nearly 4 months now Pierre Kloschenler thank you so much for your coverage from Southern Israel now coming back to Raphael you just saw me just to talk about the continued efforts not only happening with the fight inside the Gaza Strip but also the rumblings of a new hostage negotiation deal that could be on the table as we're hearing from Hamas and the PIJ an official statement them saying we're not going to accept any site of a deal unless it calls for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip now this is something in the past Israel said they want to accept but now there must be a lot more international pressure maybe pushing them to accept this type of a deal there's a no-no on each side the no-no on the Israeli side is of course to stop completely the war like to return back to that would send us back to the 6th of October I mean we would have waged all that war for to avail so that's a no-no on the Hamas side it's the same no plus I remain very skeptical about the fact that the Hamas would liberate all the hostages they have to keep at least some of them the odd 40 that are considered soldiers because they are their last ever human shield their life insurance would they give all the hostages back by the time the last Israeli hostage regains Israel then we're entitled to bomb freely all the Gaza assets the Hamas political branch the only thing that's stopping us from really hitting hard is because we are afraid to hit hostages so I do not believe that Mr. Sinois would just give this assets that easily so this being said there are some kind of negotiations thinking too much is being made about it is going to take a long time it's not going to happen tomorrow morning it's like an arm wrestling between the Hamas and the Israelis and this is very I would say Middle Eastern way of negotiating putting the bar very high and then going slowly and then high again and bluffing and I'm afraid that the Hamas is very good at that game they understand they have a very good leverage because we value so much human life and we've got zero leverage why have we got zero leverage because we cannot for instance starve the Gazan population because the Hamas doesn't care we can starve 2 million Gazan people the Hamas doesn't care we can harshen the conditions of life of the terrorists we detain in our jails or say we will give them up so the Hamas doesn't care the Hamas doesn't care about really anything so we have no leverage what they do care about is inflicting pain is inflicting losses to the IDF is inflicting a loss of the Israeli economy meaning what they're interested in is hurting us rather than feeling good or doing something good for them that's how they think so we've got zero leverage and they have no leverage and they know exactly that every single Israeli here is feeling for the hostages that were in a psychological trauma that we want these hostages we're willing to pay a very high price are we willing to pay any price no the manipulation certainly continues meanwhile as we're talking about everything that's happening and the potential for a hostage negotiation deal we know that the United States has played a pretty big hand in the potential deal that might be on the table as the war in Gaza continues these regional ramifications are certainly felt not only in the Middle East but in the United States with these war time decisions being made during an election year so how exactly do US politics play into what's happening on the ground I'll break it down I'm joined by David Christopher Kaufman an agent fellow from Tel Aviv Institute joining us from New York David thanks so much for being with us let's talk about first the potential with the United States playing a pretty heavy hand with an incentive for a prolonged ceasefire maybe what are we hearing coming out of the United States and how does it impact President Joe Biden Good evening you know Biden finds himself really in a pickle right now everywhere he turns he's under attack and the cause is Israel is Hamas is the hostages you know he needs to show that he has remained strong that he remains in control of this narrative that he's focused on retaliatory action against Iran that he's focused on ending or at least reducing the conflict in Gaza but also that he's focused on Israel and the need the very real needs of Israel and the need to return the hostages so without doubt the White House and the administration is clearly playing a big role a vocal role in trying to push ahead any sort of hostage jail but I think as much as the White House and Washington is very clearly concerned about the fate of these hostages and very clearly concerned about the fate of Israel they're more concerned about the fate of themselves the more concerned about Biden remaining in power and I believe that Biden wants some sort of momentum he wants some sort of deal in order to show that because any deal of course will come with some sort of pause in the fighting will come with some sort of pause what some sort of relief for the Gaza so he needs this deal to move forward as much in order to rescue these hostages and bring them home to their families as well as to show his progressive base that he is pushing towards a de-escalation of the conflict in Gaza and an increase in support and aid for the Palestinians and that these are not necessarily mutually exclusive targets and mutually exclusive outcomes. What about you talking about going for some of his progressive voters who might want to see a ceasefire but what about some of the Jewish Democrats that are supporting President Joe Biden but when it comes to what's happening in Israel how does it maybe alienate some of the Jewish voters in the United States I think it depends on which Jewish voters there are a lot of different kinds of Jewish voters just like there are also a lot of different kinds of African American voters and these sort of specific demographics these are the targets right now of all this attention Jewish voters that traditionally have supported Democrats was resolutely and it's likely that they will I mean every time we talk about this election and we talk about Biden and the focus on Biden which is very important we must also include a focus on Donald Trump and the fact that he will almost certainly be Biden's opponent at the end of this year. The question isn't so much about will Jewish voters continue to support Joe Biden the real question is will Jewish voters flee Biden and move toward Trump if their feelings around his support of Israel are not met and this goes both ways you know conservative Jewish voters you know will they go to Biden if sorry will they go to Trump if they feel that Biden has abandoned Israel progressive Jewish voters who have been very vocal it's unlikely they're going to go to Trump but will they stay home will they not vote don't forget in America you know we're a country despite our very strong democracy and our focus on democracy we're a country that comparatively doesn't vote two thirds 60% turnout that's a big turnout for America that leaves a lot of space for folks to either vote for other folks or to just not show up and not vote you know 2016 Trump got into office during one of the lowest turnouts ever and he won that office by very small margins in very specific states and that could happen easily again so as much as we're concerned a