ti-tank teams but backed up by mortars this implies that the the israeli military are getting somewhat accustomed to the anti-tank teams and khizbullah are having to to escalate the use you know make it more of a combined arms attack backing up those anti-tank teams with the mortars in order to try and achieve the similar impact upon the israeli military thank you so much stay safe our correspondent robert swift in northern israel thank you rob and now for more on a personal account of the atrocities that unfolded on the 7th of october we welcome medic lino atias deputy director of emergency operations at united had salad israel and she joins us from new york lino thank you so much for speaking to us medics on the ground are the unsung heroes for sure take us back if you will to the 7th of october your recollections of what happened the 7 of october 6 30 am i was still sleeping in my bed in jerusalem waking up for alarm about rockets i headed to the headquarters in jerusalem receiving so we were receiving so many phone calls and updates from the medics and the paramedics around netivot of akim the rot and kibbutz in on the around gaza street every one of them was counting bodies every one of them was saying that there are still shooting attacks in the streets and they are not able to go out to save people it was devastated situations for us to make the right decisions whether they can go out or not not yet and then i just took the logistic car with all the hospital field equipment that needed just to open and field triage or hospital field and this is what happened i went down to the south together with the idf they chose the location of near kibbutz near niroz near sad and then they just started to receive so many patients to that field triage together with the paramedic of the idf and the paramedics and medics of united akala we treated so many casualties soldiers and civilians kids women men everyone everyone and together with the helicopter we took them to the hospital and then they asked the commander of the idf special unit asked us to enter up until the yellow gate of baeri he promised that they establish to manage a protective path for the ambulances to enter because the battle right now is ongoing but at the end of the kibbutz and not at the beginning and the entrance of the kibbutz to see so many bodies blood families who were tied up with bullets in their head i i i don't want to be so graphic and i think that everyone witnessed on the tv what happened but to be there to to smell the cars on fire houses burning to understand that there is people inside but you don't have the time or the equipment to save them and you just try to save whoever you can those who who still manage to survive i don't know how we did our best we did our best to fight on the life of every one of them everyone no matter if he was a a worker who came across the sea from thailand and to work on the field or an israeli or we didn't ask who this person is if it was a terrorist we understand immediately but otherwise we just treat everyone and we lost so many lives we lost so many lives this terror attack needs to be heard all over the world it should never happen again it should never happen again it should never happen again there is absolutely no doubt about that i can't imagine what is going through your mind when you are seeing the scale of what unfolded on that day so horrific at any point were you worried for your own personal safety as well talk to us about medic teams paramedics on the ground also at risk obviously in an unfolding situation like this yeah we took the risk we took the risk but yeah we did it under drills and express we we managed terror attacks in jerusalem and all over israel but not on that kind of scale and what helped us to manage that situation is that every medic didn't know what happened in the other kibbutz team or the other cities they thought it's only one or two terrorists and they can handle with the situation this is what gave them the hope and the brave to work under those kind of circumstances to be in the middle of a war zone but without understanding the amount of the terrorist i didn't understand that neither the idea for the beginning we just thought that it's uh yeah it's a it's huge area it's a war zone with several kibbutz team and cities but and also on the main road but no one understood that we are speaking about thousands of terrorists and the hope that we can still save someone just block my feelings i become like a soldier automatic soldier just to manage look for a single of life and every every life that i found someone still have a pulse i spite back to bring him safely to the hospital and to save his life and i didn't even mind or had a minute or second to to think what i'm feeling uh witnessing so many blood bodies and we we just yelled each other even like the communication was yelling because the rockets and the whistles of from the guns and the grenades we couldn't hear each other and everyone was automatically like a robot to manage and to handle that situation and everything just went so fast we didn't have time just to stop us think about ourselves we had the helmet the protective gear vest the commanders of the idea for control the situation and secure the the the path for us and that's it we just run and lean all in the time since then when you look back and you remember the children that you saw there the helpless people that you managed to rescue the people whose lives you managed to save are you speaking to someone about the trauma you and your team have gone through very briefly please definitely the psychotrauma unit of united at salas since about night already start to work with all the volunteers who've been there and they are still working i have the trauma units close tight to me and they also uh assisting the family um this was suffering from not knowing for 12 17 18 hours what's going on with us because we couldn't answer them lino atias you are a hero your team is a team comprised of heroes the deputy director of emergency operations at united at salas israel speaking to us from new york thank you so much the unsung heroes in this country thank you very much for speaking to us and sharing your recollections of the 7th of october as you say never again thank you thank you dr maire elrun it is so difficult day 26 and we keep on hearing these accounts and they are so devastating and so heartbreaking you spoke earlier about resilience how does the country move from this process this even try and make sense of this it's just so difficult it's so raw first of all it's really very difficult and the situation is quite very very grim no doubt about that but i must say that the history of the jewish people has proven to everybody that the jewish people is a very very resilient people group of people just to remind our those who watch us that three years after the holocaust which uh you know with all the what happened over there three years later the state of israel has emerged and been established this is the greatest indication that we can come up we can bounce back and we can bounce forward and we will do that in the sense that hamas made a huge strategic miscalculation on october 7th and there is no doubt in my mind that with our military and our civilians and people like erudat salah and zaka and others we will jump back and bounce forward after this war is over to the extent not only that people will will return to the gaza envelope which will be thriving but also in the sense that the whole structure within israel and in the region will be a much better one for everybody for us and also for our present opponents but future partners in the palestinian people and also in the gaza strip without hamas of course yes and to that exact point is ready president isaac herzog has been giving several high-level interviews to international media and really stressing that point of that biggest single massacre since the holocaust since the second world war yesterday he gave a long interview to the bbc where he also took a hit on the network for refusing to call the hamas terrorists for what they are a terror group and also speaking about how israel has caved in for so many years going for ceasefire after ceasefire while allowing hamas to attack israel let's take a listen to things that did not make the cut of the bbc they only played six minutes of 26 minutes of interview here's what they did not want to play reality there's a kind of there is everyone is there is a real culture of of atrocities that is coming forward with the whole army called isis hamas and al-qaeda it was in 9 11 it's in beheading people in europe it's in torturing and and doing what the hooties are doing down south it's all over the region either we fight them or not exactly that took a long time until Winston Churchill took over after he threatened and alerted against the nazi regime we paid the price we caved in we enabled again and again and again to have ceasefires and what happened what happened the highest amount of jews killed since world war two since the holocaust was on 7th of october it's eight times more in proportional numbers than 9 11 what else do you expect us to do how do we to protect ourselves as a family member in a family of nations what's our right here we don't want to inflict pain we tell people move out but we have to get these terrorists and get them out that's what we're trying to do right now and believe me we don't want to be there we're not a warmongering nation we have 350 000 of our sons and daughters mobilized in this battle simply for one reason to defend ourselves and to protect our people well it may not have been aired abroad but you will hear it here on i24 news that was the president isaac hurtzog and that is where we wrap up for now brigadier general dr mayer iran retired brigadier general thank you very much for being our guy as well as always appreciate your insight and that is a wrap for now i'm benita levine our coverage continues stay tuned trail is officially in a state of war this is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking within a hundred soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped we just don't know anything entire families including babies and children and elderly were butchered in their beds awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong everyone is showing up this is the unity meaning us this is i24 news we're coming to you live from televiv on this day 26 of israel's war with hamas the israeli defense minister yoav galant says that the idf is making immense achievements as it continues its ground offensive in the gaza strip but the war coming at a cost to israel the idf confirming today that 15 israeli soldiers have lost their lives in the fighting since october 7th while a barrage of rockets was fired from gaza today with reports of a direct hit in the central city of rishon lethion no reports of any casualties at this stage egypt has opened the wrapper crossing to allow the evacuation of foreign nationals and the injured meanwhile jordan has recalled its ambassador from israel as a protest against the ongoing war well before we go on let's head to the south of israel our correspondent jonathan regiff is there for us now jonathan according to the defense minister israel is making a great deal of progress as it moves into gaza yes that is correct and more and more progress is done is is more boots are on the ground and as israel intensifies it's a ground operation pushing deeper into gaza as that happens of course israel is able to dismantle installations kill hamas terrace but as you also mentioned in your lead it comes to the price this is a war comes to the price and the news of 15 israeli soldiers killed came in the in the past a few hours i think we'll see more and then let's remember one thing if we're hearing that idea forces are in a distance of two and a half maybe three kilometers deep inside gaza we have to understand that the gaza strip is a very narrow place it's it's not too far before the israeli army will be able to basically cut the gaza strip into two that's the strategy isn't it and we're hearing from the commander of idf 162 division soldiers are at the gates of gaza city now jonathan and that would allow the idf to move into the real hamas strongholds wouldn't it yes we can we can expect some some we can expect hamas strongholds to be within the city of gaza especially under civilian installations like the shefa hospital and not only there under schools under mosques and yes in if you really want to dismantle all of that there's no other choice but to go in with the ground forces as as good and and impressive as airstrikes can be you cannot eradicate hamas as the israeli leaders promised to do only from the air and despite the pressure that is coming down to bear on the hamas uh fighters inside gaza they are still managing to fire rockets every day sometimes three or four times a day at israel yeah that is true because the the gaza strip is far from being conquered there's still strongholds of hamas especially in the southern gaza strip but not only there there's still places up in the north where hamas is still operative and still able to fire rockets and and yes i don't think israel will reach the every rocket in every location and we have to understand that these are things that take time and during this time we can expect rockets to be fired still at israel even at central israel like we saw about three hours ago Jonathan some analysts are telling me that hamas might be only halfway through their stock pile of rockets is that similar to what you're hearing yes pretty much if we're speaking of some 8 000 rockets are so up until now the estimate is that they had at least 15 000 at the beginning of the war and uh yes they shot very much on that first day of battle to distract israel and to make israelis feel that this is a rocket launching and not a full on terror attack but still yeah plenty of rockets there and we can expect them to continue firing jonathan thank you very much jonathan regiff there in southern israel thank you very much indeed well with us in the studio danie ayalon is the former israeli ambassador to the united states great to have you with us danie so the immense achievements that's how the israeli defense minister put it in terms of israel's accomplishments in gaza so far but israel is under pressure isn't it today following that strike on the jubalia district of gaza city last night well first of all the military the israeli military is very capable it's probably one of the best in the world in terms of planning in terms of execution in terms of discipline and indeed you know we lost 15 dear soldiers but um could have been 10 times worse and the fact that they work very methodically very slowly they gather in intelligence as you know actionable intelligence as they move it's it's very important so at the end of the day i have no doubt that they will end up and they will have to end up at the bunkers of the heads of hamas there is no other way around it if we ever want to achieve here peace and some quiet and rebuild gaza that's that's the idea now in jubalia which they called you know euphemistically a refugee camp it's uh it's really they have higher rises there they have beautiful apartments there palestinians insist to call those refugee camps because they have never resigned to the fact that israel is in our own homeland here and they want to kick us out and they want to put their quote unquote refugees instead of our own population this is what they say and hamas is you know in their manifesto in their credo in all their publications is that jews have to be eradicated first from israel from israel then the rest of the world and for them is just one sharia palestinian state on all over the land and in jubalia there was also a strong hold of hamas we saw it from the the fact of the collapse of the tunnels when you hit some strategic points you know underneath jubalia like underneath north of gaza there are there is an underground city tunnels of hamas and the civilians were clearly not allowed to go into those shelters well hamas is saying that um jubalia was hit for a second time today they claim that dozens have been killed of course we cannot verify those figures but um i want to talk about egypt because egypt has opened the raffle crossing with gaza to let through around a hundred dual national palestinians along with dozens of injured it follows a deal that was broken by katar egypt has strongly resisted calls to accept refugees from gaza onto its territory even temporarily well to talk more about that we're joined now by dr marwa maziad she's with us now marwa thank you very much indeed for being with us marwa does this represent a change in policy by the egyptians not at all it's the continuation of the exact policy of saying aid into gaza only the national of foreign nationals like the us american palestinians out after the aid gets in for the past three weeks that has been the policy blinken wrote an op-ed today in the washington post saying aid into gaza repeating it like three four times throughout and this is the exchange the dual nationals only not the palestinians not the exodus of millions onto syni as somewhere circulating and perpetuating that only the nationals of foreign passports with and also we're talking 100 a few hundreds out after trucks and trucks and trucks should get into gaza so that these kind of allegations of almost war crimes that israel finding itself in would actually be alleviated so no change of policy exactness of the policy only taking three weeks in delay but somehow the united states and the egyptians have an understanding and israel seems to be complying right now and marwa what why is there so much resistance inside egypt who allowing you know women children ill injured people the elderly into syni even temporarily as israel works to destroy our mass i mean we've seen jordan lebanon and turkey erect huge camps for refugees fleeing the fighting in syria why the why the opposition the resistance to palestinian refugees okay let's explain no such thing as a palestinian refugees anymore after the legacies and trauma of nakba and all of that it's not going to be part of that won't happen also this twisted kind of analogy with the syrians who were sent to turkey in some demographic engineering almost basically syria turkey was interested in having those sunni turks get giving some nationality to them in order to engineer some demographic demographics in its own southeast uh region against the Kurds and using them for uh you know elections and stuff this nonsense egypt's not in uh involved in at all also the iranians well people fled the lepo and other cities because of the carpet bombing campaigns by the syrians and the russians they had nowhere else to go i mean to order them a lifeline no but but there were interests of these countries who are even absorbing those for their own interests so there were almost human trafficking in all these refugees egypt is not interested in any of that is not interested in depriving the palestinians of their land of their uh place and not interested also in turning syni which had fought israel and then had peace with israel in order to have sovereignty borders these things matter to egypt and then suddenly it's going to be some refugee camp for the israelis in order to get rid of the palestinians that nonsense that was circulating and it's kind of like balloon testing is flying completely against the will of egypt and the egyptians so even of the leadership if sees a kind of muse and maneuvers in order to give the impression that he can even entertain any of that he's very sure that the egyptians are not accepting this and that would further destabilize the relations between egypt and israel and it's not in the best interest at all that more egyptians now very modern moderate uh somewhat very uh normalizing of israel of israel and israelis would have this sentiment that this is nonsense almost a garbage uh uh suggestion so i would say israel should not even continue to test with this uh idea at all think of other things israel is it can be very helpful in other uh matters other issues just israel pushing for it i think the americans have asked for it as well the egypt is a big recipient of american aid is that not a consideration at all it is nonsense you know and and and no amount of one billion are you kidding me uh this is a joke so no no amount of pressure will lead to a geopolitical decision by the egyptian uh president or the egyptian leadership or the egyptian people against the will of something that they don't like so this is kind of a closed i think it was good that they test that it's circulating it but you now get the the the reaction well it's i mean it's kind of a i mean it's it's natural isn't it that there are you know there are three borders that gaza has two of them go to israel there's no way israel is going can i finish israel is not going to let anyone any palestinians from gaza into their territory egypt is the only egypt is the only country that controls the other border no there is a mediterranean corridor and that's why you see some syria cyprus offering to or the even the um uh the french offering some uh you know on marine type like ship for uh help with hospitals and by the way if you if we're talking about injured people who can be treated in a harish hospital or having some hospital that is that is doable that is something israel israel treated wounded syrians in its hospital well israel and syria are enemy states aren't they we're not talking about the wounded the one that can't be treated in a larish but ten cities okay and uh exodus of millions that kind of uh un uh you know it's almost a joke i don't know how to describe it all right and daniel daniel alone is with me that maro if you don't mind daniel alone is with me in the studio former israeli ambassador to the us you wanted to come yes hi doctor a terrible interview or propagating that so yes i'll tell you i'll tell you why because you know egypt and israel has a great peace agreement which worked very well for both countries let me also remind you hundred percent you know that also israel contrary to the camp david um protocol uh security protocol allowed egyptian military to come into the synai to fight who did they fight isis hamas the same thing goes now when hamas is also threatening through also the one not push itself a population onto israel while it's kind of like let me know no i'm not prepared of that without that solution so i'm i'm actually with you so we agree egypt and israel have a treaty that stood the time 40 years and counting because the interests of both countries are met israel has its security from egypt as a as a foe or or an enemy none of that and egypt has its synai back which was the whole fight right and that's lasting 40 years and and and counting and it's going to be more so don't trigger that by things that really are uh too much of a red line now even in the example you said who was egypt fighting at the time yeah ansar bitul makdis isis affiliates all those uh groups that were directing their uh arms against egypt but that situation did not include any displacement of egyptian refugees in fact egypt is is clear that it didn't export any of its problems in terms of like refugees people crossing to europe even with the uprisings and a decade of instability but this is a very sensitive issue to start thinking that oh while i'm taking care of hamas okay uh take those palestinians uh either temporary or permanently or whatever that is non-negotiable now you think about other situations and uh act accordingly i know i have i have a question not political question if if one palestinian child will be saved by crossing the rafa border into the synai and getting medical treatment you still would not allow him to go in no that is a palestinian child will be saved when we have the humanitarian corridors into gaza into gaza repeated three times by blinkin in his latest article and uncounting you get the aid to them you create you already pushed them what about the risk that hamas is stealing the aid marwa no that can be that can be controlled stealing the aid you know egypt is very adamant about no arms getting through these trucks there are so many measures of uh you know even from the israeli side it can look at through all of that for security and of course it wouldn't be diverged are you distrusting all those humanitarian workers you and workers mechanisms of no we're talking about once the aid is once the aid is inside gaza that hamas might steal the aid and it won't get to the civilians okay no there are you and workers and networks control that uh work work closely with those individuals work closely with the um so that none of that reaches anyone else make sure it reaches this child be the good image israel has lost so much over the past three weeks i lost an israeli friend in the kibbutzim a dear friend from the university of washington college we're very sorry about that i'm sorry i could not for more than three four years uh the days and then i start seeing the images in gaza and the same empathy i have for my israeli jewish friend automatically uh it was transferred to also the gazans even though i don't know many or any of them so marwa can i ask is is in a position now that it has if you're talking about this child and and being uh saved israel should should be that image now all right about time all right marwa thank you marwa i want to ask you something else i mean do you think that the egyptian leadership want israel to completely destroy hamas good question right now honestly mm-hmm there are some doubts even about that why maybe a year or whatever ago it was clear uh you know there were some alliance uh you know egypt uh the gulf countries ue south arabia israel and i even wrote about that and there was the turkey katar bloc and you know pan islamism and but with with with what's going on and re-shuffling some of the uh uh you know uh that everything's up you know in the air right now so um i'm not 100 sure you think i'm not sure that the egyptians who are as i say very moderate egyptians pro-peace sadati kind of people would look at this and and say that israel is doing the right thing uh completely uh even destroying the the destroying hamas in this way maybe the future uh that will secure egypt is something very similar to the israel the future that will secure israel is something similar to the peace treaty with egypt where you have an actual state that is as armed and capable but it doesn't use your its arms against you because there is peace and a treaty maybe now israel necessitates needs an actual palestinian state with formal armed forces that would be under the control of a political leadership that has peace with uh with israel like any other state any other country but having uh first of all teres terrorist groups that change into militants and then militias and all these competing orders of violence you suffered from that in lebanon with the hezbollah suffered from that among the palestinian polity with hamas maybe it's actually time to crave a palestinian state with an army even armed forces i'm not saying an army so so in a sense armed but it is so much in peace with you that it doesn't need to do any of that which is the situation of egypt this is the model doctor dr maziad one one more question maybe which is consistent with what you say about the palestinian state but egypt for decades controlled the gaza strip until 1967 actually it was all egyptian why didn't egypt build the palestinian state then at the time between 47 and 67 yeah 20 years yeah because i if you're going to tell me what was the wrong with the partition i should have accepted the partition to begin with right uh but but to to think why didn't they build a build a state there so basically gaza on its own and the west bank on its own because back in the time okay i'll be honest with you they were thinking yeah they will they will have the entirety of uh of israel palestinia yeah i don't i don't hate it marvel let's let me accept this but i am now for by the way my my my my suggested uh proposition for a palestinian state is a palestinian state exclusively in gaza with gaza city as its capital i'm not even discussing the west bank i'm thinking a palestinian state in gaza with gaza city as its capital and this is your state anyone living in the west bank is a permanent resident of israel and can have a palestinian passport with this new palestinian state well it's governed by the palestinians and it's governed by uh uh not by egypt not by an arab entity of some sort will egypt have a role in any uh governance of a post hamas gaza in in some kind of international coalition advisory uh supervisory that kind of thing do you see my suggestion is is of course there could be interim anything but this is aiding the palestinians to become a state so that we can get over this they have their state it's there they have a passport they have an airport they have a a port they are collaborating with other arabs and non-arabs and cyprus up there and greece over there and israel next door okay and that's a state recognized so that we don't have the hassle of every time why are they unoccupied country why didn't they ever get the state it will just have to be it will just have to be demilitarized so they cannot threaten egypt or israel and iran you know iran has built something very i'm suggesting now something very provocative and think about it i'd even think if it is that kind of militarized meaning small armed forces but it is not this militia it's not this terrorist it's not that but it's an armed forces formal you know with the with the with the with the whole line yards of like you know formality and regalia or whatever but it has civilian control over it and that civilian government is a pro-peace pro integration pro whatever right and then the the people would feel secure enough that they have their own armed forces by the way they already have hanes so in a sense this is in practice existing except that it doesn't dress the way it should be dressed it doesn't look the way it should look and it doesn't think the palestinians can produce that kind of political leadership because they have said no to every offer of peace over the decades i think you know what laura this is a great question and i think it's almost as if you know it's almost an excuse we keep saying that so that we don't get to the point of having the state because we really don't want to have that and we thought it's not important maybe we'll have to re-examine what we just said what you just said and help them get there make it happen instead of saying you know we haven't found anyone because we say that so that we don't have the state i don't know why exactly but we're regulating them they are just Arabs they're not Palestinian and also this idea of like it's either or either the Palestinians take everything and there's no Israel or Israel somehow learn to say i want to take everything so that i'm not taken by so it's kind of like i'm gonna eat you for lunch before you before you have me for dinner but if we bypass all of this and it becomes kind of like having a state and i'm saying even in Gaza only this is the Palestinian state and it goes back to the philistines of ancient people of the sea and whatever it's a Mediterranean city it could be a beautiful state geographically and where it is is in a very strategic location and i'm sure you know there is a lot of willingness to help the people of Gaza rebuild their state in the Arab world but do you think it's not just Israel Marwa the Arab countries are also guilty of ignoring the Palestinians everybody will help but that starts with the non-circulation anymore of this idea of an exodus of the Palestinians over there so that there are no Palestinians anymore and somehow Gaza became a security zone that is you know protecting Israel and then all these Palestinians are around the border there if you get to that you already lost the Egyptians well are you hearing that from people in Egypt is that what they want they want to see a thriving Gaza they're willing to help they're willing to you know be part of a coalition yeah they don't want any suggestion of the Palestinians temporarily or permanently out of Gaza and into their country because for the reasons i enumerated no no they don't want to elucidate this Palestinian issue in fact they want them to have their state and also they don't want Sinai to become anybody's anything uh suggest anybody say Cyprus will have some refugees in Sinai because whatever it's not about the Palestinians no the answer is no sovereignty this is my country uh no okay it's sensitive no i think we've i think we've all right i think we yeah mara i think you made your point i think you absolutely made your point um very sorry are you are you on board with that i can't speak for daddy will you give me the thumbs up i think we can have a daddy do you appreciate mara's concerns with the historical connotations for Palestinians being displaced uh Egypt does not want to be party to that of seeing Palestinians I can yeah i can agree with everything provided one thing yes first of all Israel doesn't want to control Gaza Egypt doesn't want to control Gaza ever nobody wants to control Gaza but in order for Gaza not to come out in terror against Israel or Egypt by the way Hamas was also against Egypt we need to have a demilitarized Gaza with I would say an interim period to build to rebuild a I would say a society a um a civil society in Gaza if this is the case then of course Gaza can be the Palestinian state I agree and Gaza will be the capital of the Palestinian state absolutely the Singapore of the yeah but it has to right right so you see we agree so much future to be had so much potential absolutely and I think we've seen a willingness from the Gulf Arab states and from Egypt and from the United States as well to to kind of see things differently in Gaza and work towards a different future for Gaza so let's all hope for that Dr Marwa Masiyad at the Middle East Institute thank you very much indeed great to great to have you with us thank you Marwa Danny you're going to stay with us for a bit yeah by the way I think it's a great idea but what she did was she gave up in the entire Judea and Samaria it's not Palestinian all right let's take one thing at a time we're going to take a short break stay with us we'll be back with more for you rather just don't go away is officially in a state of war this is a very active scene and we need to get in the car as we're talking within a hundred soldiers and civilians have been kidnapped entire families including babies and children and elderly were butchered in their beds awaken the giant and we are ready and we are strong everyone is showing up this is the unity vestment in israel bonds it is the most powerful and direct way to stand with israel visit israel bonds.com and invest now made for me a unique concept in israel custom made men's fashion to your measurements made for me designer of all your events schedule your appointment at www.madeforme.co.il made for me official dresser of i24 news please and gentlemen you're watching i24 news we're coming to you live from Tel Aviv on this day 26 of israel's war with Hamas the Defense Minister Yoav Galant says the IDF is making great achievements as it continues its ground operation in Gaza but the war does come at a cost to israel the IDF has confirmed that 15 israeli soldiers have lost their lives in the fighting since october 7th the barrage of rockets was fired from Gaza today with reports of a direct hit in the central city of Rishan let's see on no reports of any casualties and Egypt has opened up the Rafa crossing to allow the evacuation of foreign nationals and the injured Jordan meanwhile as we called its ambassador from israel as a protest against the ongoing war and a reminder of how complex this offensive in Gaza is because 240 hostages remain in Gaza among the babies young children and the elderly while many families suffering a complete agony for the past 26 days as they wait to hear news of their loved ones and with us now Aviram Meir and Orit Meir thank you for very thank you very much for being with us i understand your your daughter has been kidnapped is that right not daughter my son i'm so sorry your son your son i'm sorry my apologies your son tell us what happened tell us about your son my son is a 21 is old is a is a very happy guy social guy i very happy smart what can i say is that my son is all my life all my life i understand i understand what happened yeah what happened is that he went to celebrate in a party it was a Friday night he was supposed to start a new job on Sunday and that Friday he went to celebrate his friends on the party a party of love and the happiness and in about 75 p.m. a.m. my son they woke me up in the morning and called and said to me mom they closed the the party there are rockets rockets all over and the bombs and i'm hiding i don't know what's going on i'll call you every half an hour mom i love you and since then i don't have any contact with him that's the last time you had his wife yes yes after few hours we got a a a clip from the Tehamas published and i saw him he was lying this this clip he was lying on the floor on the floor with other young guys and a few of them were very were tight by hands and they were frightened and my my son covered his hands his face with his hands and i was looking at his face it was you know he was terrified terrified there's nothing no worse nightmare for a mother to see your child in in pain and suffering i'm so sorry i'll eat i'm so so sorry so i mean when you see that the operation is continuing the troops are moving into Gaza are you hopeful they're gonna they're gonna bring your boy back home we hope so we hope so yeah what i mean what what what kind of what kind of character is it do you think he'll be he'll be with the other hostages he'll be you know he'll have the strength he'll be talking to them he'll be helping people get through it is that the kind of guy he is i believe he's a strong guy i believe uh i believe he can he can manage but i'm worried of course he'll stay seven days if he's uh we don't know if he's alive we what is eating where he's staying how we sleep if he's alone with friends we know nothing about it and i'm so worried of course it's agony and i'm and i'm afraid i'm afraid that uh you know everything can happen yeah i want a sign i want a sign that is a life that is okay i understand what is what i mean it's yeah go another one we ask for a humanitarian visa for the hostages for all the hostages and among with them among them the we need something to say that he's okay and he's alive and we know that other hostages have lots of and this is the first stage of trust they have to do for humanity all the matter here is humanity this is what they have to give them medical and doctors and the great cross will see them absolutely very basic demands what's what's keeping you going 26 days of this absolute hell how do you how do you get through the day very hard very hard we can't sleep eat you know it's uh everything changed my life changed uh i'm i'm not working now i'm doing everything to bring my son back yeah we're very sorry for you it's absolutely horrendous what you're going through and we pray for you and we hope you you have a happy outcome to this we pray for your son our monk thank you so much thank you for talking to us thank you thank you it's really hard to hear it never gets easier to to hear those stories all right well daniel on is with me in the studio we're also joined now as well by alon avieta he's a palestinian affairs expert and former koga advisor and hi there thanks for being with us and it's really hard isn't it to hear those stories and and this is the challenge for israel now it has to destroy how mass it also has to bring back those hostages of course i think it's uh on the first priority no doubt about it i think there is no paradox or no um i would say no matter what is first target or what is the first goal i think it's a parallel we israel continue to work on both goals i mean first the hostages file or the hostages problem israel i think and i believe and that continue work on all channels to bring them back all of them without any separation without any difference between the civilians and the soldiers and so on second to continue destroy a hamas target it means with a lot of military forces from all kind of units special units tank battalions and so on inside a gaza city i think that as much as i can analyze the situation i would say that a few tanks divisions or brigade brigades are in the interest located in the interest of gaza city in order the gates of gaza city of course in order to destroy the headquarters of hamas the sites of command and control of hamas the sites of launch rockets explosives seniors of hamas leadership and so on we know that they've already that the main target is on the underground it means other shifa hospital it's not a story it's a fact that the center of hamas headquarters is located inside gaza city inside gaza strip but in the metro of gaza underground few dozens of meters underground those channels are not you know small places and some corners inside it's a it's a you can imagine 500 kilometers underground like a net and can they destroyed from above or only to a certain you can do part of the by air force by airplanes but not all of them you must use boots on the ground you know units that can use another so deep of course you have a few techniques or ways to collapse those tunnels or to kill those tourists inside the tunnels it's a i would say a sensitive walk and i think that during the next days we shall see another achievements i mean military achievements up to the if it's getting a lot of heat following the strikes on the jubalia district they call yes of course we can so there are going to be more incidents yes but i'm not sure that jubalia incident was a mistake i think that i mean i mean there is a lot of international pressure on israel will that affect its military strategy or it does israel just need to shut out that noise yeah i think that up to the military program or the military plan we are on the right way it means we shall we shall challenge a few difficulties on our way inside the gaza city but step by step it will take time goal after goal i would say target after target there is a lot of a list and a lot of targets and hundreds of targets inside maybe more of that thousands including included those seniors of Hamas i think that the senior of Hamas that top five this is the this is the those are the main target of the israeli by the israeli idf and a military and agent and the shabak i mean the agency i think that as long as we can enter to the center of gaza city we should see a lot of achievements i say okay all right well hold that thought for us alone because i want to bring on another front yemen's iranian backed who's he rebels have declared war on israel they find several missiles towards the red sea city of elat and the military in saudi arabia is on high alert after four of its soldiers were reportedly killed in clashes with the hooties this week our middle east correspondent arie los around has more on the group and its intentions as israel deepens its ground offensive in the gaza strip and with controlled but escalating clashes in the west bank and with his ball and the north a new front is emerging but not exactly on israel's borders our armed forces have launched a large barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles as well as a significant number of drones at various targets of the israeli enemy the yemeni armed forces affirm that this operation is the third in support of our oppressed brothers in palestine more qualitative strikes with missiles and drones will continue until the israeli aggression the idf said its aero air defense system intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the iranian back toothies in yemen towards the southern city of elat fighter jets downed multiple drones following another attack early wednesday morning the idf deployed a navy missile ship to the red sea we are prepared on the red sea front as well as in every area of the state of israel for defense we also know how to attack in the place and time of our choosing for any security interest of israel anywhere we are required to operate in this violent show of solidarity initiated by iran comes to prove the existence of a united front against israel but maybe not entirely united as iran's most hardline newspaper kai han published on tuesday in editorial titled iran does not go to war for the sake of others in other words let the people of gaza lebanon and yemen die into fighting with israel but not iranians if this war is not stopped immediately and joint attacks against civilians the women and children of gaza by america and israel are not halted then the consequences for those who are waging this war will be grave the houthis attacks are also meant to send a diplomatic message to neighboring saudi arabia and through it to washington and the match led in yemen may force the saudi's and americans to take a stance and perhaps even join the fray well with us now hosane abdel hosane is a research fellow at the foundation for the defense of democracies thank you very much for being with us hosane and i want to um i'll lead to a piece you've written um about how the arab world should embrace the west because islamism simply isn't working for them how do you explain the hold that this uh this idea still has on people especially young people well this is unfortunate i think you know the maxine that uh if you're young and you're not leftist you're heartless if you're older and you're still leftist you're brainless now i think this is what you're facing i mean i'm fine with with university students being as as active as they are my issue is with all these professors and pundits and the older folks uh who are really instigating this identity politics and this identity politics in the west is coinciding with islamism and this is hurting not only the people in the west this is hurting islam in itself i think that there should be a battle to regain islam from the hands of militias and thugs and politics and just make restore islam back as religion as as a faith as a spiritual activity and that was the inspiration for my piece well would you say i mean israel right now is fighting uh not two but three uh islamist groups the houthis hezbollah and hamas i mean has israel been left alone to defeat islamism and has the west uh to a certain extent given up it is weary in its fight against isis a decade ago i think the west understands that it cannot take its eyes off the ball and that's why we still have us troops uh in iraq and syria and from time to time you you'd get some uh delusional islamists who would kill someone in france or or danmark or any anywhere else or even in new zealand uh so we understand that islamism is not uh over and that there's still a long way to go i think i'm i'm happy all the the support to see all the support that israel got and and like you just said that the fact that all these islamist countries or militias got involved in this war proves that this is not about palestinian standards of living or giving palestinians good lives this is about a messianic erroneous idea of of religious war between islam and other non-muslim nations or religions would you say that the palestinian cause is one of the biggest victims of islamist ideology it has always been the biggest victims before the islamist ideology it was the victim of the pan arab nationalism and i think now iran is using the palestinian issue hezbollah is using it the hothis too are using it and mind you the hothis are uh write out anti-semitic with their slogan their famous slogans death to america and death to the jews not not even to israel just you know saying it outright so i think all these characters are just distorting uh the um division for a better life for both israelis and palestinians well the uh the obama doctrine was to contain uh iran and to split the middle east between iran and saudi arabia do you think the events of october the 7th have been a wake up call for the biden administration do you think that they now see that it is iran pulling the strings of hezbollah hamas and the hothis and that this is a a a theocracy that cannot be contained i think to an extent it has been a wake up call now we understand that the obama hypothesis of the grand bargain with iran of considering the iranian islamist regime as being smart and as a calculating cause and effect by now we know that it's neither smart it doesn't calculate it's messianic and it's crazy it shouldn't get nuclear it shouldn't get anything else uh so thankfully i think the biden administration has come to this realization unfortunately i don't see um that the us is showing a strong hand i think all these attacks that the us bases have been under and iraq and syria the reaction has not been one that would disinduate the the iran regime from from going after us troops or other uh uh targets for us allies in the region and we've just been having a discussion here about what a post hamas gaza might look like um how do you see that panning out do you see a role for the the moderate gulf states for egypt for the united states what are your what are your thoughts well absolutely all those countries that you mentioned first and foremost the gulf of course were there uh a huge enormous uh uh financial capabilities they can show a lot of support and also diplomatic support on the palestinian side you know i can think of at least a dozen of qualified palestinians for example uh the former prime minister of the palestinian authority salam fayyad there are dozens like him who work for the world bank and i m f palestinians who work on wall street so the palestinians are not really uh all people who look like uh khaled meshhal and smaid hania and the crazy messianic militia people there are a lot of of of qualified palestinians and i think with the right support from the gulf from the us from from europe from moderate uh arab countries at peace with israel i think it can work out i think gaza can be rebuilt a good experiment of governance building governance capacity can happen in gaza and once the experiment succeeds then then this thing might expand to other palestinian uh territories okay thanks very much hossam great to talk to you as always hossam abdo hossam at the fdd and if i could just get uh daniel alone and i'll never be able to pick up on a couple of the points there i mean danie um is israel the israeli right in particular guilty of sidelining those moderate palestinian voices that uh hossam was just talking about what i think that the israeli right that the hard right is is is guilty of not looking into the eyes of reality and also thinking in some grand historic gestures which have nothing to do with the good at politicking and with common sense and i believe that at the end of the day today when i see some israeli politicians thinking of now canceling the the disengagement bills of 2005 and bring back jews to gaza then you know that this is almost the uh you know the uh mere image of some other crazy messianics from other faith if we want to live here in peace and prosperity and security we need to bring the silent majority 80 percent of israelis would love to see peace and security with a palestinian state of course it has to be demilitarized we have to make sure that there's no incitement over there but you know oslo in oslo when oslo started 80 percent of israelis were for palestinian states when the intifada started 80 percent were against so it's very much a a response and a reaction to what's happening on the ground but however there's always the 20 percent 10 percent on the far left and 10 percent of the far east on the far right which are totally totally incapable of gov governing of making good future and we see it now we see the governance of israel today is in the hands of some of the far rights who not only are extremes in their ideology but they are very incapable incompetence in running the the very very simple things of economy and time in economy in times of instability on the on the side i think that danie will agree with me that this war has the potential to change the strategic structure in the middle east we should not miss it but i think that this file or this task or or goal is not on the israeli side also but i think that the international community should also join the opportunity or try to improve forward in order to arrange the the things all around and i think it should be after destroying the terror organizations all around which means hamas islamic jihad and the main goal is khizballah as long as i would even further the ayatollahs of iran they also have to be put you know into the ashes of history into the right well as we saw in that report i mean they don't want iranians to die for their cause iran is the main i would say the main challenge let's say but do you think that those moderate palestinian voices can can be built up because we've we've seen what's happened in the west bank in recent years that there has been how hamas has been taking hold isn't it because you know i know for dozens of years groups of moderate palestinians but the problem is that their voice is loud they don't have huge impact they're silenced of course they silent they don't have huge impact on the palestinian street on the palestinian leadership even in their environment or society and as long as we don't have you know a strong partner in the other side we should not go forward alone but i think that the security is the main base for any improvement and stability but also the technology you know the calamity of the palestinians for the last hundred years it's all because of their leadership from haja minel husaini in the 1930s who went over to hitler all the way down to here you know they do not want to see us here and this is what they teach their children and this is why they have never been able to really build a civil society what about the voices that husain was talking about there the former prime minister that there are moderate palestinian voices but they've been completely sidelined yes yes but you know with the those let's say for example a business businessman group right there is a big group of like mohammed ahlan yes like muhammad akhlan is not a middle level is not moderating he's very rich man and he came from gaza by the way considered as a refugee from hanyun as a refugee he was a neighbor of ih sinwar the same neighborhood they grow up yeah they know each other but muhammad akhlan he's living in the embers as long as abou masen muhmud abbas is the Palestinian president dahlan will be out of the territories so do you think he wants to come back i don't know if you saw there was a reason to be with him but he has ambitions does it yes of course he's a clever boy is a clever man and a clever guy and a connected guy he has a good mingling in the palestinian elite but they cannot do it alone this is the main point he has to be connected to other well it's the emirates taking a greater role in he has the potential i would say he has the potential but it will take time he know to speak with the powerful with the main factors the main elements in gaza strip but the first the base the basic