policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com. >> harris: breaking news with the idf saying they have rescued a colonel in the military, there she is, that picture released by the israeli government. that is colonel madish, she was kidnapped by hamas terrorists on october 7th and we are told the idf has rescued her from the hands of hamas today. keep it on fox, 1:15 p.m., state department press news conference. 3:00 p.m. eastern, white house news conference. don't miss any of it. "america reports" now.

>> it's really hard, like the 7th of october is still going on for us. it's -- it had been 24 days, but it's one long day for us all. >> john: breaking moments ago as harris just mentioned, israeli soldier released from hamas captivity after she was kidnapped in the initial raid of october 7th. according to the idf, released during a ground operation and appears to be in good condition. israeli media saying this photo was taken with her family after the joyous release. >> sandra: a big development. we are waiting a pair of briefings here at home and overseas. state department expected to provide an update, and tel aviv, benjamin netanyahu will update reporters as israel forces move deeper into gaza at this hour. it's all developing. welcome, hello, everybody.

i'm sandra smith. >> i'm john roberts in washington. good to be with you. this is "america reports". >> sandra: pentagon officials telling fox they have been attacked 23 times, and they say the strikes have iran fingerprints on them. >> john: according to the times of israel, the strikes against u.s. forces are due to america's support for israel. contradicting what president biden said last week. and iran is urging washington to change its "wrong policies." >> sandra: how should the u.s. respond? we'll ask congressman mike gallagher, and fox team coverage on the breaking news from the war in the middle east. >> john: trey yingst is live in southern israel. what more can you tell us about the release of the israeli soldier that happened in the

last couple of hours? >> good afternoon. private madagish, she was at the base, a base that sits just along the gaza border when she was kidnapped and held hostage for the past three weeks inside the gaza strip. in the distance you can hear outgoing artillery. israeli forces are inside gaza. she was rescued last night, according to the israeli military during their ground operation. idf says she was medically examined and is in good condition. you saw the photo with her family, a joyous moment for them, their daughter back home. what it's like inside gaza, israeli tanks moving throughout the strip. you can see the israelis marking targets on the northeastern side of the gaza strip. in the distance, you can hear the thud of artillery. this is a very active front and

as the israelis push deeper into gaza, they anticipate there will be more resistance and it's part of the reason they continue strikes against different positions. israelis are operating on the western and eastern side of gaza. the military says they are pushing deeper into the strip, trying to put new pressure on hamas, to also look for the hostages still inside. 238 people after the one piece of good news tonight, a spokesman for the israeli military talking about the situation inside. >> over the past day we have expanded ground activities with additional forces entering the gaza strip, including infantry, armored core, combat engineering, through integrated strikes at the ground forces and iaf, dozens of terrorists were eliminated who had barricaded themselves in building and

attempted to attack forces moving in their direction. we are conducting expanded ground operations in the gaza strip. >> significant damage inside gaza, people are digging through the rubble following expanded strikes. desperate for aid over the weekend, storming a u.n. food warehouse in gaza and taking everything that was inside. right now you'll see we are in a very dark position. we are waiting with the israeli military near the gaza border. we understand we are going to get some access to these artillery units you heard there before that sound that are firing currently into gaza. john. >> john: we look forward to your reporting throughout the afternoon. trey, thank you. >> sandra: our coverage continues at the israel-lebanon border as threats of a regional war grow. hezbollah faction nearing

israeli military bases. idf exchange fire across the fence. greg palkot is joining us live along the border with the latest, greg. >> hi, sandra. we have been here about two weeks now, and seeing a definite increase in activity, perhaps triggered by the israeli ground incursion in gaza against the group as ally, hamas. firing missiles, rockets, mortars, a stronger punch deeper into israeli territory, even claiming to have knocked down an israeli drone and israel has been firing back harder as well. we have been watching artillery, tanks and the drones used against hezbollah. now fighter jets are hitting farther into lebanon. you are looking at one of the most targeted israeli military bases on the israel-lebanon border. we are told hezbollah hits the place just about every day. lebanon, a few hundred yards

away. soldiers here on high alert, scanning the lebanon hand scape for any militant activity. after a weekend of heavy barrages across the border, israeli defense force sent out a clear message today, any hezbollah or allied militant gets near the security border fence will be eliminated. you are close by the enemy here. >> yeah, a lot of -- we don't know how much, but it's not clear here. >> are you guys up to it, are you guys good at defending this place? >> yeah, sure, we have a lot of guys here, strong, and we stand here every day and every night. >> we stand here every day and every night. that local says. the big concern for israel, the u.s. and others is whether the dangerous hezbollah will open up a full scale second front here, considering the events of recent days that is a greater possibility. sandra. >> sandra: greg palkot, thank you, john.

>> john: u.s.s. eisenhower aircraft carrier is reaching the mediterranean sea after deployment two weeks ago. the aircraft carrier will join another u.s. strike group in efforts to avoid more hostile attacks against israel. follows the blitz on u.s. military bases. bring in wisconsin congressman mike gallagher, serves on the house armed services and intelligence committees. congressman, good to have you with us today. i want to just mention to you this report in the times of israel that says that the stepped up attacks against u.s. bases in the region, syria and iraq, is directly linked to america's support for israel. that stands in sharp contradiction to what president biden said last week. what he said unequivocally, the attacks had nothing to do with the conflict in israel. what do you say? >> well, and of course the secretary of defense, lloyd

austin said the same thing, bragging about the strength of the attacks, separate than what happened with israel or hamas. ignorance of the connection between the groups or reveals something true about the biden administration's foreign policy, that they remain wedded to the nuclear deal with iran, biden will do whatever he can to defend barack obama's foreign policy legacy by resurrecting the nuclear deal, even if it involves pulling punches and in so doing, endangering americans in the region. until you change our iran policy, the policy of maximum pressure, you are not going to be able to make sense of the region or hoist semblance of stability on to the region why you are seeing words like this out of the administration. all has the effect of

undermining our deterrent posture, sending a signal of weakness throughout the region. we have been pursuing a policy of appeasement towards iranian regime for too long. we need to reverse it. >> john: and the deal swapping hostages and the $6 billion, seamed to appease iran to a degree. jake sullivan, what he said about the u.s. response. >> if american troops are attacked by iran and proxies, we will respond. we did respond. if attacks continue, we will respond. and i think the iranians understand our message. >> john: i talked to the former president, donald trump about all of this, on friday. i asked him, what do you think about the message that the biden administration is sending to iran? he said he would have been a lot tougher and as we know, when

iranian-based proxies carried out attacks against bases, the response from the trump administration was to take out soleimani. >> the former president happens to be right on this issue and the administration, the current administration is sending a message but it's not the one that they are intended. whether it's the terrorists in tehran or the genocidal communists in beijing like xi jinping, and striking expendable warehouses against attacks, and 31 americans have been killed by iranian proxy, and national security adviser had to scrub an article published in print in foreign affairs, had to alter the digital version, it went to print prior to october 7th and in the article he brags about

their diplomacy with respect to israel and hamas and gaza, the relative stability in the middle east, ultimate expression of the huberus of this administration, they are mugged by geopoliticality, a dangerous road to be on. >> john: maybe we will hear about that in the briefing this afternoon. speaker of the house, mike johnson, is going to separate out money for israel in a stand-alone bill delinking it from the president's request for money for ukraine. do you think that's the right way to go here? >> i think that's wise my ideal world, three things simultaneously. one, overall defense appropriations, we have not actually passed the bill that we would be supplementing, right. the most important for israel, our own security, pass a defense appropriations bill. tackle your most important challenge, the threat of communist china invading taiwan,

with the taiwan package and israel and then a separate track linking further assistance to ukraine for a common sense compromise on the border, that would require both parties to come to the table. i think the initial decision to separate israel out is a wise one by speaker johnson. >> john: congressman mike gallagher, good to talk to you and thank you for your service. so there you have it, sandra. is this language toward iran going to be tough enough to keep it out of the fray, at the moment it would seem to be limiting whatever response iran is having, but i think we are just at the very beginning phases of all of this. >> sandra: we'll see what comes coming up. we'll ask more and look at the geography of the current plans and lay out what might be the strategy for the israelis in the coming day. brigadier general spalding, dan

hoffman, chad wolf, a lot to dig into as things are developing. we are waiting an update from the state department how the biden administration plans to bring home americans held hostage by hamas, an israeli soldier have been released, we'll bring you that briefing when that begins. >> john: israeli forces slowly pushing their way into gaza city deploying tanks and troops at the edges of gaza's northern border. what is their plan to take out hamas? tracking israel latest movements coming up next. >> they have modified the tactics here quite dramatically because of civilian casualties and also trying to preserve casualties from their own forces. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein.

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-- to be victorious. we will do this for those who have paid with their lives in horrific murders. we must do this for the sake of abductees, we are determined to win over this, against hamas. it's either us or them. us or them. it's a war over our life. we will succeed. questions, please. one question each, please, so we can -- we can cover all. i'm convinced that hamas act, only acts under pressure and under pressured. therefore i approved and accepted the idea, joint one with the id and mossad and the

security services recording the abductees and brought it to the cabinet to decide. i always acted in this manner and i think that we will not do something, we can spend long years with abductees in our hands. remind you who we are dealing with. murders of children and how brutal these things are done. i don't want to go into details, number one. the question, the other question, it's very simple. i have complete absolute faith in the chief of staff of the idf, head of the mossad and anyone who works under out in the field and in headquarters. i believe in them, i trust them and i'm part of them and i'm sure together we will succeed. channel 12 is asking now.

>> regarding, can you give more details about her, the soldier, megidish? can we expect other surprises? >> with your permission i will remain with only the notice i gave because while we want to -- while we want to advise you of more, but we have other needs how to win in the war, and how to see that all the abductees are in our hands. the action was made possible, thanks to the land maneuvers we have done. so if we use force and force we will more likely succeed. >> did megidish talk about the circumstances she was in and does she provide you with details that can help us to get

others? >> what she told us is between her and whoever she told it to. all the rest as far as i'm concerned has to remain by you also in appropriate manner, very simply because unfortunately we have a lot more hamas -- a lot more abductees of hamas. we should not go into details. >> the last few days there are more attacks by extremist settlers against palestinians. is it possible by what's happening in gaza could we end up having an explosion in judea and samaria. >> the state only -- only can use force -- there's no private

force, private individual can use force. anyone who does -- only the idf and mossad can use force when necessary. anyone else who does so, it would have to disturb us greatly. i have to say, i have to tell you very clearly and -- the overwhelming majority, 99.9% and more of those living in judea samaria doing their work voluntarily and normative people and a lot of people who do, those who do act in illegal manner of not even from judea and samaria. we are going to expell such people and they are not --

>> you described various -- the various front. is there a possibility for joint air action if it expands the war to additional, over and above to other fronts? i'm very happy with -- happy and important relationship we have with united states, which has expressed itself both by their displaying their force, their power, and also, and having headquarters and we have headquarters in cooperation between us and them, diplomatically and other ways, it's great for us the u.s. is by our side and i want to take the opportunity to thank the president of the united states and general austin, the head of the defense and secretary of defense. i think that austin, secretary

austin does great work for israel and anything that we need. more and above that. there's no need to go into details or specifics about this. it's not going to help -- obviously the u.s. is here and at our side. that should be sufficient to say. >> are you planning to also get rid of the threat of hezbollah? >> we are in a war in the south. this was the defining, what was defined. i think hezbollah is thwarted because it sees that israel has a lot of forces and also because we are exacting a heavy price and i'm hoping, and i think and hope that we can have peace and quiet remaining up in the north. it is thwarted, it seems.

>> i think that things are clear. that events that occur are difficult things that should not have happened. that is obviously clear. i've said and i say today i was -- i was minister of defense when this occurred. i'm responsible as well, both from the first of the beginning of the year and also for bringing victory against hamas. that's how we acted and how we liked.

>> i think the things that are unrelated to the war and we will do every question that occurs. thank you, thank you. >> until recently many believed that the promise of progress in the 21st century would enable us to move beyond the barbaric horrors of the past towards a better and brilliant future. many believed that we could go about our comfortable lives and that evil would simply pass us

by. it will not. the horrors hamas perpetrated on october 7th remind us that we will not realize the promise of a better future unless we, the civilized world, are willing to fight the barbarians. their goal is clear. shatter that promising future, destroy all we cherish and usher in a world of fear and darkness. ladies and gentlemen, this is a turning point, a turning point for leaders and nations. it is time for all of us to decide if we are willing to fight for a future of hope and promise or surrender to tyranny and terror. now, rest assured israel will fight. since october 7th israel has been at war. israel did not start this war.

israel did not want this war. but israel will win this war. hamas launched this war by perpetrating the worst savagery our people have seen since the holocaust. hamas murdered parents in front of their children, children in front of their parents, raped women, burned people alive. tortured holocaust survivors, kidnapped babies, they committed the most horrific crimes imaginable and they are a part of the axis of evil that iran has formed, axis of terror that works by arming, training and financing hamas in gaza, hezbollah in lebanon, in yemen, and other terror proxies throughout the middle east and beyond the middle east. fighting hamas and the iranian axis of terror. israel is fighting the enemies

of civilization itself. victory over these enemies begins with moral clarity. the difference between good and evil, between right and wrong, making a moral distinction between the deliberate murder of the innocent and the unintentional casualties that accompany every legitimate war, even the most just war. it means holding hamas responsible for the double war crime it commits every day by deliberately targeting israeli civilians while deliberately using palestinian civilians as human shields. it means making clear that the use of human shields is not only an immoral tactic of terror, but also an ineffective one. as long as the use of human shields results in the international community blaming israel, hamas will continue to use it as a tool of terror and so will others. hamas will use the basements in

gaza's hospitals as the command posts of its vast terror tunnel network. it will continue to use mosques as military positions and weapon depot. steal fuel and humanitarian assistance from u.n. facilities. israel is doing everything to get palestinian civilians out of harm's way, hamas is doing everything to keep the palestinian civilians in harm's way. israel urges palestinian civilians to leave the areas of armed conflict while hamas prevents those civilians from leaving those areas at gunpoint. hamas is also preventing foreign nationals from leaving gaza, and hamas is holding over 200 israeli hostages, including 33 children, holding them, terrorizing them, keeping them, as hostages. every civilized nation should stand with israel and demanding

that these hostages be freed immediately and freed unconditionally. i want to make clear israel's position regarding the ceasefire. just as the united states would not agree to a ceasefire after the bombing of pearl harbor, or after the terrorist attack of 9/11, israel will not agree to cessation of hostilities with hamas after the horrific attacks of october 7th. calls for a ceasefire are calls for israel to surrender to hamas. to surrender to terrorism. to surrender to bar barrism. that will not happen. ladies and gentlemen, the bible says a time for peace and a time for war. this is a time for war. a war for our commun future. today we draw a line between the forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism. it is a time for everyone to decide where they stand. israel will stand against the forces of barbarism until

victory. i hope and pray that civilized nations everywhere will back this fight because israel's fight is your fight. because if hamas and iran's axis of evil win, you will be their next target. that's why israel's victory will be your victory. but make no mistake. regardless of who stands with israel, israel will fight until this battle is won and israel will prevail. may god bless israel, and may god bless all those who stand with israel. >> first question go to news 18, india. take the microphone, sir. l>> good evening, sir. >> good evening.

>> my question to you is that how do you see the india stand on u.n. resolution, india abstained because in resolution there was no condemnation of terrorism. >> i think that resolution was deeply flawed. and i was sorry to see that even many of our friends did not insist that there be a full and powerful condemnation of the horrors that were committed here, horrors that no civilized country, including your country, and so many others, would tolerate. so i hope that we don't see a repeat of these kinds of resolutions. >> go to abc america, matt river. >> thank you, sir. it seems the level of support that you have among the israeli public has dropped considerably, the question is how can you

continue to lead this country effectively during a very difficult time and have you at all considered stepping down? >> the only thing that i intend to have resign is hamas. we are going to resign them to the dust bin of history. that's my goal, that's my responsibility, that's what i'm leading the country to do. this is my responsibility now. and it's something that i think unites the entire country. we are all supporting the soldiers, supporting our commanders, supporting the idf, we are supporting i think the unbelievable efforts of our reservists and our security forces. we'll continue to do that until victory. >> germany, michael. >> good evening, sir. channel 2, german television. i would like to ask you, a widespread discussion especially among the relatives of the hostages about the cause of

military action you have taken so far and the question is this the only way to free the hostages, of course you are successful in freeing one hostage on sunday. but there's a widespread criticism that this doesn't allow place for other negotiations. what do you explain to the relatives to the hostages for this course relying mostly on military pressure. >> i met twice with the families of the hostages. you felt their anguish, i felt their anguish. i know the sense of -- it's not only the sense of loss that bereaved parents have, it's a sense of not knowing, continuous anguish. so i fully understand their concern. but our common assessment of all of the not only the cabinet members, but also all the security forces and the military is that the ground action

actually creates the possibility, not the certainty, but the possibility of getting the hostages out because hamas will not do it unless they are under pressure, they simply will not do it. they only do it under pressure. this creates pressure and again, if we obviously greeted one hostage with open arms after yesterday's successful action by the idf, but we are committed to getting all the hostages back home. we think this method stands a chance. it's a goal that we are committed to. >> channel 7 australia, chris. >> channel 7, australia. i want to ask a question for my country, the people in my country are looking at this and

wondering, they agree with you, they want you to chase down hamas and destroy terrorism in this region, etc. but people can't understand why so many people, civilians have to die in this process. you argue that hamas is putting them up as human shields. is that a good enough excuse? are you inflicting here collective punishment on the people of palestine? >> not a single civilian has to die. hamas merely has to let them go to the safe zone that we created in southeastern gaza strip. there's a safe zone there. not a single civilian has to die. but hamas is preventing them from leaving, keeping them in the areas of conflict so i think that you should direct your questions to hamas, but i can tell you one thing. we are going out of our way to prevent civilian casualties, not only by asking civilians to move, calling them to move, arranging a place for them to be

which is safe, also putting in humanitarian support, food, water, with medicine and so on. i think that this question should be placed on hamas. and the more it's placed on israel, the more you are going to see this repeated again and again and again. so other groups, other criminal states, other criminal organizations will use civilians as human shields. we cannot give immunity to these territories. we cannot give immunity to these savages. we have to do everything we can to minimize civilian casualties, but we cannot give up the fight because then i think this will have disastrous consequences, not only for the future of my country, but for the future of your country, your countries. this is a battle of civilization against barbarians.

civilized countries will make every effort to prevent this. one example. i'll end with that, because i have to go to manage this war. and lead it. in 1944 royal air force bombed the gestapo headquarters in copenhagen, perfectly legitimate target but the british pilots missed and instead, they hit a children's hospital nearby and i think 84 children were burned death. it's not a war crime, you do not blame britain for doing, it's an act of war that accompanied such legitimate actions and did not tell the allies, don't stamp out naziism because of tragic consequences. they went to the end because they knew the future of our civilization was at stake. i'm telling you right now, the

future of our civilization is at stake. we have to win this war, we'll do it by minimizing civilian casualties, and may we succeed. thank you. >> sandra: you've been listening to benjamin netanyahu, prime minister laying out a very firm message, john, after his defense minister first spoke saying the future of our civilization is at stake. detailing the ground invasion that is ongoing, saying that it is either us or hamas, we are willing to fight the barbarians because they are willing to fight us. calling it a turning point for leaders and nations. >> john: and despite increasing pressure on israel to declare a ceasefire, at least long enough to get the hostages out, the defense minister saying there will be no ceasefire and benjamin netanyahu saying he

believes the ground operation creates the opportunity to get the hostages out, puts more pressure on hamas. see if it's the case. they did get the one private in the idf out in recent hours, maybe there could be more hostage releases in the hours ahead. >> sandra: the israeli defense minister saying we will achieve absolute victory. the war he warned will not be short, will not be easy, but netanyahu saying we will fight for hope and promise. >> john: the sense i'm gets there, and i got the sense when i was there last week talking to the israeli people, this is probably just the beginning of a very long operation. matt miller over at the state department is briefing, jump over for a few minutes. >> i don't want to speak to the exact communications, other than to say we have maintained extensive conversations with the israeli government from day one, both from the white house, the state department, defense department, and i won't speak to

it further than that. >> long-term whether you are fairly certain it's going to happen again. >> ongoing military operation being conducted, so it's difficult to say with any level of faith what the ramifications of that military operation will be when you see significant strikes and ground operations and other events that could take down communications infrastructure. we believe communication access needs to be maintained for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, so families can communicate with each other. as we move forward, as we did this weekend, we will ensure to make sure it's maintained. >> we understand state had a rep in doha over the weekend, can you tell us about status on the release of american hostages. >> i will say secretary blinken discussed that as i said in opening remarks with the prime minister and foreign minister of qatar this morning. someone who he has been in close contact with, one of his first

calls on october 7th, we of course traveled there and met with him. and in that conversation they covered a number of things. two of the most important were, one, securing the release of hostages and two, securing the safe passage of american citizens out of gaza. there continued to be significant hurdles to doing both. hamas has not yet agreed to release anyone other than the four hostages, including the two american citizens and with american citizens who want to leave gaza, they do not operate their side of the rafah gate. so we are trying to work with the need to do both, we don't think it's useful to speak about it publicly but is a high priority obviously. >> sort of widespread reporting now that the release of the hostages, the negotiations have stalemated.

are you going to continue to send a rep to doha if no more americans are freed? >> we will work to secure the release of american hostages every day. i don't want to make public pronouncements or play pundit on the likelihood of doing that versus the likelihood of not being able to do it. i will just say we'll continue to work on it. no higher priority from the president on down. the president has personally worked on the question, the secretary has personally worked on the question, others from the white house and from here have worked on it. one of our top priorities. >> follow up question on that, would you characterize your oh the u.s. assessment of the ongoing negotiation, are you still just as optimistic, do you want to push back on the idea it's stalemated? >> i don't want to characterize them at all. i don't think it's useful for me to do so publicly as you'll know from coming to to briefings last week, there are a number of sensitivities as you can imagine, when it comes to

negotiations to try to secure the release of hostages and this is just one area where i think other than -- i will just say the less said the better. >> something you mentioned progress on fuel. does that mean the israelis have allowed fuel in? >> i don't want to speak to details other than we have made progress. significant concerns about diversion. literally the fuel that is provided to gaza is fuel that hamas uses to launch rocket attacks against civilian targets in israel so they have legitimate concerns about the fuel, we are trying to work through the concerns and establish a reliable delivery mechanism in the way we have for food, water and medical assistance. we are making progress on it. i would hope to do so in the coming days. >> and more broadly, just as the operation is sort of -- has

started over the weekend, expanded, operations by the israelis, i wonder, you know, are you concerned about the sort of scenario that i think has been talked about quite a lot that the israelis sort of add to a kwag meyer -- a problem in gaza, and if it drags on for a long time, a lot of civilian casualties, internationally, more and more disapproval of what israel is doing. is that a concern as this begins for the u.s.? >> so, i will say as a first thing, i will maintain my position of not kind of offering assessments of their military operations or any kind of thing about how they may proceed, we have talked to them about the importance of having tangible objectives that they can actually meet and a plan to meet those objectives and the same

time, the same thing privately as we have said publicly, the need to protect civilian lives as they conduct their operations and operate consistent with the laws of war, international humanitarian law. but i will say there is another point to that larger question, which is we think one of the most important things we can do while israel conducts these operations is to perform all this work i started by -- i started this briefing talking about, to get humanitarian assistance in to gaza. and i should note, it is the united states of america that has been able to deliver these agreements to get food and water and medicine in. we have worked with the government of israel, egypt, united nations and humanitarian organizations, but the work by the president who has invested realtime and energy on it and the secretary who has done the same, and of course, our special envoy on the ground who has been able to broker these agreements, not just the agreements but work out the operational details to get food, water, medicine on the trucks inspected and delivered

in and is working hard to get those numbers increased so we can have sustained deliveries even greater than the number we had yesterday. so, i will say from our purposes, we think the best thing that we can do to address that larger question that you asked is to ensure that to the maximum extent possible, civilians in gaza are protected and have the lifesaving humanitarian assistance they need. >> lastly, we can come back to a discussion last week about following the war, and you made some, you know, i think your view is that the israelis are not targeting civilians but you haven't got assessment on whether overall the operations are following the laws of war. in the context of that, communications as the operation began, does that potentially speak to the issue of as you mentioned the israelis have given warnings to civilians, but

you cut the communications then doesn't that make it more difficult for them to follow through on the, you know, the geneva conventions would say, you need to make as many efforts possible to avoid hitting civilians, and additional point on that, benjamin netanyahu's comments on saturday, you know, bring up sort of biblical reference to amalach. i wonder if how the u.s. sees this, if you are citing these kinds of biblical verses, you know, making illusions to those historical facts, does that detract from your sense the israelis are going as a professional military trying to root out terrorist group rather than something a little broader? >> so, i will say one small detail on the first. they have other methods they have used to notify civilians, dropped leaflets and other

things, but why communication networks need to be open and functional for the very real humanitarian purposes and just with respect to the overall question, again, israeli -- the israeli defense forces are professional military. they have been doing this a long time, one of the most profe professional militaries in the region and all we can do is make clear they operate with the highest degree of professionalism and operate in full compliance with the laws of the war and we have made that clear from the president on down. >> quickly, just to follow up on simon's point on the goal, the end game. are you aware that -- is it clear in your mind that israel's goals, are they clear in your mind, you know exactly what they are? >> we do. they have been quite clear about that, they want to ensure that hamas can no longer govern -- that hamas can no longer govern

in gaza and no longer use gaza as a place to launch attacks against innocent civilians in israel. >> likely the war to go on until the last hamas person is neutralized. >> i will let the government of israel speak to the military campaign. >> let me ask you the numbers. today, your colleagues at the white house, i think john kirby, and sullivan spoke about thousands. we went back and forth the other day. there is a way to determine this. because there is the israelis keep records of all palestinian. dead, alive, born, you know, so on. it's called coga, they have the registry. everyone that is born, is registered with the israelis. everyone that died, they have identification numbers, you can compare those ids published by the ministry of health in gaza to the actual figures. would the united states do that,

to substantiate the figures we hear. figures are staggering, 8400, a lot of people. >> let me say this. we don't have the ability to offer independent assessments in gaza. we recognize thousands of innocent civilians have been killed. that includes a significant number of children. every one of those losses is a tragedy. whatever the number is. whatever -- and whether it's the number that has been released from gaza or whether it's some other number, every one of them is a tragedy and we mourn the loss of every one of those civilians why we emphasize israel must conduct all of its operations consistent with the laws of war and why we are working to deliver humanitarian assistance into gaza. >> i have a couple more questions. i want to ask you about the red crescent issued a statement israel is warning of the hospital and shifa hospital to vacate and they have been bombing.

would you tell the israelis don't bomb hospitals? sometimes the patients cannot be moved. >> as i said a minute ago, we expect israel to operate consistent with international law, including the need to take feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians and of course hospitals and other sites are protected civilian infrastructure. >> the west bank, an uptick in settler violence, they have guns, american guns that have been distributed to them and so on. they forced people out of a couple villages and so on. i wonder if you are following on this issue or everybody is caught on what's happening in gaza. >> we are following it, you heard the president speak publicly last week. >> on the grounds. >> we condemn all acts of terrorism and violence and the targeting of civilians, including the attacks by extremists and settlers in the

west bank. hold accountable settlers who carry out attacks, as well as any members of the israeli defense forces who stand by or fail to intervene when the attacks occur and we have made clear privately to the israeli government and publicly that these attacks are unacceptable. they need to stop, and those responsible need to be held accountable. >> i have three questions. first, save the children fund, u.s. funded ngo, said that more children in gaza were killed than all conflicts combined since 2019, and that's in three weeks. so does this number translate to you as you said that israel actually abiding by international law and not targeting civilians. >> i'm going to go back to the thing we have said before, the thing that makes this so difficult is that hamas continues to hide its military

infrastructure, its terrorist infrastructure inside civilian locations. they bury -- they buried their operations in tunnels under hospitals, under schools, they keep headquarters in residential apartment buildings. but if you listen to what jake sullivan and the president's national security adviser said on television yesterday, while this heightens the burden of israel it does not absolve them to act consistent with the laws of war. that is our clear policy. we have made it clear privately and publicly on a number of occasions. >> give you a small analogy, very simple. so if you want to shoot a bad guy and the bad guy grabbed three kids from the street and put them in front of them, do you shoot the bad guy with the kids? >> i'm not going to engage in -- >> i have to go to the same question, i'm sorry. >> efforts -- administration says hamas is holding back from leaving, is the administration

doing anything new to pressure hamas for foreign nationals. >> just as i won't discuss the work to release hostages publicly, i'm not going to talk about that publicly, however to say it's the subject of ongoing publications, and the prime minister, foreign minister of qatar earlier today. hamas is making a number of demands before they allow people to leave gaza. i'm not going to speak to those demands but something we are trying to work through. just as we believe they ought to release all the hostages they are holding, we believe they ought to release or let leave all the american citizens and other foreign nationals who are being basically forced to remain in gaza against their will because hamas won't uphold its responsibility to operate the rafah crossing to allow them to into egypt. >> and state department, israel, the last government-led charter

flight will leave israel tomorrow. is it because there is no demand, different reason -- >> it's purely demand issue. we had a charter flight leave yesterday with five people on it. we have seen the demand for the charter flights go down, to a lot of flights going out with 50% capability. i think the number of seats that we have offered, we have had something like 25% of them actually be filled. so continue to be ways to leave israel commercially. we have offered a number of ways over the past few weeks to leave through our charter flights. we have notified everyone the charter flight tomorrow is the last one we are currently planning so if they want to leave, now is the time to do it, don't wait for another flight but always conduct assessments in realtime whether there is additional demand, circumstances change on the ground and need to make additional arrangements, we will be open to doing so. >> five people?

>> how big a plane was it? >> i don't know, but it wasn't a small one, a regular commercial size charter flight, five people on it. so you can see why -- >> it was like a full size passenger plane only five -- it wasn't like a private jet. >> no, no. so you can see why we would revisit the circumstances of operating these charter flights. >> well, yeah, but -- so wait, does that mean -- i'm sorry to get into the weeds here, did the five people get charged the pro rata share? >> i thought we are charging the full cost of that. it is the responsibility of the united states to assist. they are charged a fair, but doubt it was that cost. >> you said the united states of america has managed to get the amount of aid into gaza since the beginning of the war. you said about 150 trucks. >> yeah. >> tomorrow secretary and secretary austin are going up to

the senate appropriations committee to testify about the administration's request for at least in terms of israel, i think it's $14.3 billion for israel. >> correct. >> and that's on top of what the u.s. already provides israel, which is 3.8, roughly, billion dollars a year. how much have you pledged to gaza aid? >> so, there is -- we pledged $100 million for gaza aid, but there is a significant amount, i don't have the number at my fingertips, a significant amount in that request to congress that is humanitarian assistance for gaza. i'm happy to follow up and get the exact number. in the request, not just funding for ukraine or the israeli military or to secure the border. also a request for humanitarian assistance. >> more than a billion dollars