>> we are now awaiting today's state department press briefing with matthew miller, set to begin in a few moments. meanwhile, president biden is set to speak during today's apec summit in california. scheduled to begin remarks at 1:45 eastern. and tonight, you do not want to miss the fifth annual fox nation patriot awards at the grand ole opry, nashville, tennessee. pete hegseth is hosting once again and you can stream the whole event live on foxnation.com. it's going to be awesome. we are all going to be watching. it's going to be so great. thank you for everyone to watching. thank you for joining us, and now here is "america reports". >> john: emily, thank you. all looking forward to tonight. fox news alert, awaiting an

update from the state department as america's strongest ally in the middle east faces growing calls worldwide to retreat from gaza's largest hospital. >> sandra: the idf saying troops are still going room by room at al-shifa hospital and have found extensive military equipment belonging to hamas, as well as computers that contain photos of the israeli hostages that could be beneath the hospital in an extensive tunnel network that we have been showing here on the program. we'll take you there live as the briefing begins in moments. >> the folks and democratic leadership have not been listening to the 80% of us from

diverse communities to stop the ceasefire and stop the genocide. >> sandra: violent outside a dnc headquarters last night, israeli troops inch closer to attacking the tunnels under al-shifa hospitals. i don't know roberts in washington. here we go again, sandra, another busy afternoon. >> sandra: "america reports". more than 150 protestors voicing deep frustration with president biden and top democrats for supporting israel, forcing capitol police to evacuate democratic lawmakers from inside the building and even placed the capitol on lockdown. >> john: fox team coverage from around the globe over two hours, and breaking news from the war in the middle east. we are going to start with griff jenkins, live outside the dnc headquarters here in washington. what started all of this and i understand that it has not

stopped, that a protestor confronted a democrat moments ago. >> that's right, john. just moments ago, a protestor confronting a democrat member of congress, get to that in a moment. let me show you where the chaotic scene started just behind me, the doors of the dnc just a block and a half or so from the capitol buildings, that's where 200 protestors locked arms, blockading the door, wanting to talk to democratic members they knew were inside and devolved into absolute mayhem. what a contrast it was, john, if we compare the protests we have seen this week on the mall, the pro israel protest, some nearly 300,000 down there. peacefully protesting. and here the scene of the dnc behind me, a small group clashing with the police. these protestors were demanding a ceasefire and also engaging, punching, cursing capitol police officers forcing the u.s. capitol to lockdown and

evacuation of lawmakers inside the dnc behind me. congressman brad sherman spoke a little while ago. take a listen. an these were violent demonstrators, they assaulted police officers, they punched police officers, they pepper sprayed them and these are the capitol police. these are the people who saved democracy on january 6th and such a shame to see these people attack the capitol police. >> as you mentioned just moments ago, shortly after the interview with sherman, a protestor eva from the group confronted him and wanted some answers. watch this. >> sir, sir. what is the strategy to -- what is the strategy to do that? there is no plan. >> i have to get your organization to call for hamas to disarm. >> sir, call for netanyahu to stop saying they are going to raze gaza to the ground and they are fighting human animals.

>> and john, the u.s. capitol police issuing a statement, we have handled hundreds of peaceful protests but last night was not peaceful. members of congress were in the building, police also say pepper sprayed the officers. six officers were injured, one protestor, 24-year-old man from new york was arrested for assault on an officer. the protest groups, by the way, issuing their own statement, john, saying that the police violently attacked them and that 90 protestors were injured in the process. john, we'll send it back to you. >> john: let me back up there, griff. i thought i heard you say one person was arrested? >> that's right. just one arrest, 24-year-old man from new york was witnessed punching a female officer, according to the police, and it's a bit of a surprise with so many people out here violent in the streets behind me, and only one arrest. we reached out to the capitol

police for a comment why just one arrest, they told me "correct." that's all they had to say. john. >> john: all right. you've got it right. as always. griff, thank you. sandra. >> sandra: thank you, john. multi-millionaire tech mogul and wife are reportedly funding a group behind anti-israel protests across the u.s. claiming he and his wife have made significant donations to the peoples forum, organized massive rallies and called for the end of u.s. support to israel. c.b. cotton has more. how long has the couple been in the social justice scenes? >> neville, according to the new report, his wife has also long advocated for far left causes. now a reporter with the free press saying she's uncovered a money trail linking them to a group called the people's forum.

>> since 2017 he has funded the people's forum up to $20.4 million and this organization is, it's a revolutionary socialist non-profit based in new york city and they have been one of the main drivers behind many of the protests we are seeing now on our streets. >> we found at least four massive pro palestinian protests between d.c. and new york city organized in part by the people's forum. the people's forum has several pro palestinian signs in the windows of its manhattan headquarters. the group proclaiming to advocate for marginalized communities and the working class. and kick starting the people's forum, a "new york times" investigation linked the tech entrepreneur to at least four non-profits, peddling chinese propaganda. singam denies ties to the chinese communist party but reportedly lives in shanghai. his wife had nothing but praise for china and the political system in the youtube video.

>> the idea that they control everything is like so crazy. what a crazy notion we have been sold. >> and we have repeatedly reached out to the people's forum for more details on the ties to the couple but have not heard back. it's co-organizing another rally to be held this friday, sandra, called, shut it down for palestine. >> sandra: that is a remarkable story. thank you. >> john: kerri kupec urbahn, i'm still impressed by xi jinping rolling podium, the car with the microphones. let's take a look at what happened last night outside the dnc, 150 people, according to the capitol police, violently caused mayhem. contrast with what we saw on the mall on tuesday where nearly 300,000 people got together peacefully rallying in support

of israel, protesting antisemitism, not a single incident we heard of. >> i'm confused by this. i don't understand why there was only one arrest. the capitol police tweeted they had -- they were dealing with over 150 people, and the key in this tweet, john, in the statement, acting illegally and violently. so if they -- this is law enforcement saying these people are operating illegally and maybe because let's go down the list, police said they moved dumpsters in front of the exits, pepper sprayed officers, attempted to pick up the bike rack, etc., etc., acting illegally, why only one arrest. doesn't make any sense. >> john: and they were on capitol hill, there were members of congress involved who had to shelter-in-place, who had to actually escape, one member had to lock themselves in the office along with the husband to get away from the crowd, to feel safe. capitol police officers were

assaulted, that's a federal offense. sounds kind of familiar, not exactly familiar, but only one arrest, and how do you think the doj will proceed against that one person who was arrested? >> some context here how doj operates in washington, d.c.. 93 u.s. attorney offices across the country, responsible for enforcing federal law. the largest office in d.c., not just the federal prosecutor for the department of justice and also the local prosecutor for the city and we know that they have the resources to devote to investigating breaches and the like. they put out periodic releases, giving americans updates on how many people they have arrested. i think it's over 1,000 at this point with respect to january 6th and how have they done this and continue to charge people by looking at surveillance footage. so i'm curious to see if doj is going to take a look at the surveillance footage outside of

the dnc headquarters. we certainly know they can. >> john: we do. the office, the u.s. attorney's office here in d.c. has refused to prosecute extraordinary number of crimes. >> 67%. >> john: brad sherman of california tweeted, was just evacuated from the dnc after pro terrorist anti-israel protestors grew violent. pepper spraying police officers and attempting to break into the building. thankfully, thankful to the police officers who stopped them and for helping me and my colleagues get out safely. he said this morning to harris falkner that these protestors know that violence was a force multiplier, turns 150 people into a crowd much bigger in terms of what the public sees and how it's perceived. you've got all of that

documentation from brad sherman there about evacuations, police had to protect us, pro terrorists attempting to break into the building. one person arrested. >> it's by -- it's bizarre. you are not just thinking about the crowds starting to surge and spray you with pepper, an assault, by the way, you are thinking why are they there. they are there because they are sympathizing with terrorist, terrorists who have done unspeakable acts against israelis, rape, beheading, etc., so of course you are concerned about the safety of the members inside. so it does raise questions why only one arrest. >> john: we will see if the u.s. attorney's office for the district of columbia takes the time to review the multitude of surveillance tape out there. >> take a look at the camera. >> john: see if other charges might be warranted.

>> sandra: we are waiting the state department briefing as we mentioned, a live shot at state as we learn more about israel's raid of gaza's largest hospital. video showing the idf uncovering weapons, gear and other equipment inside an mri room. israeli officials say the new finding are proof that al-shifa was used by hamas for terror. trey yingst is live on the ground in southern israel for us. what did you witness? >> sandra, good afternoon. the raid of gaza's al-shifa hospital is ongoing. we joined israeli special forces on the front lines of the fight between israel and hamas. >> in the dark of night, flanked by israeli special forces, we moved quickly into gaza's al-shifa hospital. >> you can hear the israelis are engaged in gun battles here with

hamas. >> down a hallway in the radiology department, soldiers point to piles of weapons and hamas booklets as evidence the building was used for military purposes. behind an mri machine, more guns and ammunition. israelis say are part of hamas grab bags away from injured palestinians. >> in terms of the patients here, hundreds of civilians, more than 1,000 internally displaced gazans. are they being protected. >> they are unharmed, no palestinian civilian was even hurt, injured, in yesterday's activity. >> as part of our embed, israeli force what areas we could report from. >> you can hear the gun battles outside the grounds. >> leaving the hospital underneath the roar of israeli drones. light illuminates a path. in an armored personnel carrier, we head to a staging area before

switching vehicles. taking jeeps across gaza provides a glimpse of the destruction along the strip, entire neighborhoods destroyed, many palestinians will have no homes to return to. despite the rising civilian death toll and widespread destruction, the israelis plan to continue the military campaign until hamas is destroyed and the hostages are freed. today israel's chief of staff visited the gaza strip. he said israeli forces are close to defeating hamas in the northern part of gaza adding they will start to operate in the southern part of the strip, pushing deeper into the enclave. leaflets were dropped near gaza's second largest city of khan younis.

>> sandra: trey, thank you. >> john: a lot more coming up in the next hour and 45 minutes. we are going to talk with ary fleischer and charlie hurt, and subject of peaceful protest as we saw on tuesday versus the mayhem last night outside the dnc. >> sandra: a lot to get to. a jam packed couple of hours coming up. we'll stay on all of it, john. >> john: we promise you, it's going to be good. that time of year for americans to start ordering gifts for the holidays. years past, it was porch pirates. now thieves are stealing expensive packages right off the delivery truck. shocking wave of robberies that's alarming law enforcement nationwide. >> sandra: as so many of the truck drivers stand back and watch. a scathing report from the house committee looking into congressman george santos and his 2022 campaign. he now says he will not seek re-election next year, but some of his republican colleagues are

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>> sandra: fox news alert, this news just in. the body of one of the hostages who was abducted by hamas was extracted, we are now being told, by idf troops from a structure adjacent to the shifa hospital in the gaza strip. john, we are learning this just now. that body was transferred to israeli territory. and the structure in which it was located, military equipment, this is where the rifles that we have been showing the video of was also found. this body of a hostage found in

gaza has now been -- that was abducted by hamas terrorists has now been extracted by idf troops per the idf. >> john: this is the body of weiss, she was abducted october 7th along with some of the other hostages. apparently she is a member of the idf and we had heard, i think it was the day before yesterday, sandra, that hamas was saying that an israeli hostage who was a member of the military had been killed by an israeli airstrike. now, we don't know if the latter part of that is true, how she died, but that would seem to square what the israelis found today with what hamas was claiming terms of one of the hostages who was an idf member being killed. >> sandra: her family has been informed. this is per a statement from the idf, that following identification process that was conducted by military medical

personnel together with the institute of forensic medicine, and the israel police. this all happened today. the idf and israel police representatives informed the family. she was abducted from her home, john, on october 7th by the hamas terrorist organization. the idf sends heartfelt condolences to the family. tough news, john. >> john: certainly is, and still more than 230 people held hostage by hamas. word a potential deal might be in the works being brokered by qatar for maybe 70 women and children to be released in exchange for some palestinians who are being held by israel. this might all take place and it has not been fully negotiated yet, or nailed down, in the context of a pause in the fighting from somewhere between 3 and 5 days. the concern on the part of the

israelis is if you give hamas a number of days in which it gets to catch its breath and maybe rearm and regroup, that could inevitably end up to be to the detriment of israel. for more on all of this, let's bring in someone who served as head of the national security council in israel, and served in several senior administrative positions in the mossad. he's familiar with that. first of all, ila, let me get your reaction to the news of the body identified by idf forces in a building near al-shifa hospital brought back to israel. >> yeah, that's a very sad story. i think the issue of the hostages is one of the most painful aspects of this horrible incident that israel has been

going through for almost six weeks. 240 people or so snatched from their beds, children, women, elderly, sick people, wounded, some of them have been abducted when they are already dead, some abducted when they are injured, we knew that hamas were not going to take good care of them, they don't take care of their own people, why would they take care of our people after they took them hostages and the fact this body was found today is very painful for the israeli r arrangement, but eventually this war cannot end before all of the hostages come back home. >> sandra: eyal, i think it's important to read the final portion of the statement from the idf. the national task before our eyes, it reads, is to locate the missing and return the abducted persons home. the idf is operating alongside

and is in full coordination with the relevant national security institutions in order to pursue these tasks. we will not cease from the mission until it will be completed. where does this put us, this news and this moment in this war? >> so i mean, this is -- this is an incident that is important. a week into, a few days after we started the ground maneuver as you recall, the idf was able to identify the location of a live female hostage called ori and a dangerous rescue operation were able to take her while she is alive and bring her back to israel. this is a core aspect of the mission of the idf from the outset of it. of course to get them all out much more needs to be done and we have to remove hamas from

leading of gaza. so, when you ask about this day, you know, symbolically it's important because there was another family who got her relative back, even though it's unfortunately she's dead but at least brought to burial in israel, but this just, i think, gives a good example of how much we still have to do and how long this will take and how important it is the idf continues to do what they do. israel is not welcoming any ceasefire that would give hamas the opportunity to regroup and refresh and remaneuver and replenish all of the recruitment. this is the worst thing that we can do right now. hopefully we can have an arrangement or a deal or some sort to get all the kids and the women and the elderly back as discussed over the last few days so get the most of them that are still alive, hopefully many are still alive, we don't know that, because hamas is not sharing any information. so, this is all a part of a

campaign that has been waging for weeks now and will continue to wage for much longer. >> john: so eyal, and something i'm sure as a former member of the mossad you know a lot about. this tragic discovery was made as the idf is searching al-shifa hospital on the surface for evidence that hamas was in there using this as a military stronghold. but they have yet, as far as we know, to go underground, to what they believe is a vast hamas terrorist headquarters complex that is buried beneath shifa hospital. the hospital was built in the 1920s as a british barracks. upgraded by israel turned into the hospital in the 1940s. obviously israel knows a lot about what's underneath the hospital in terms of basements, rooms and things like that, potential for underground bunkers used as a barracks, but believed also hamas has greatly expanded that underground complex. what does israel know about what lies beneath the surface? >> so we know quite a lot, and

we have shared this information over the last few weeks in various aspects. there is the basement arrangement of shifa hospital, and you said has been upgraded on several times, i think the last time was in the 70s, also by israel in the time that full authority and responsibility of gaza. when hamas took over in 2005, they started the underground campaign and have accelerated over the last decade. a huge tunnel underneath the entire strip of gaza, mainly under gaza city and also under kahn younis and pop out. israel did start entering the underground of shifa hospital and footage released throughout

the day. we also went under another hospital, a children's hospital and found evidence of them holding hostages there. we found bottles of babies and diapers next to bomb vests and guns and other things you would not expect to have under hospitals. hamas is using all of its facilities, using its people as human shields and using hospitals to operate their terror activity. and another was paid by the world health organization from all of those issues, and shifa again has been given a lot of support from the international community and the u.n. and the idf did go under it, found many guns and evidence of terrorist activity under shifa, of course it's very big, and it's very dangerous, and the idf is moving very carefully. don't want to get into the places are booby trapped and we are not looking to harm our soldiers but we will finds it.

even if it takes time and we will need to continue this. it's very important for the audience to understand. hamas is using hospitals for its terrorist organization. i know it sounds difficult to believe, its definitely not by in accordance of the law, israel is blamed that we are not following by the international law, but look at what they are doing underneath their hospitals. this is really, really, really tragic and it's important we continue. >> sandra: and we continue to report on exactly that, as well as our own trey yingst. eyal, if you could stand by with us, the pictures on the screen while eyal has been talking has been the night skylighting up over gaza, trey. what's happening at this hour? >> hey, sandra. israeli forces continue to operate inside gaza at this hour. they used the flares you see live on the side of the screen to illuminate areas and marked targets so those forces can either move forward or use their air force to strike the

different targets. really, though, we are following the news of the body of a hostage that was found in a building near the al-shifa hospital complex. we are talking about weiss, and she represents one of what we understand to be 240 people that were held inside gaza following the october 7th massacre, and just to tell you a little about this woman who represents so many innocent israelis who were taken and slaughtered by hamas on october 7th, she was a woman in her mid 60s, undergoing cancer treatment, she had a husband who was also killed by hamas on october 7th. we know from reporting that she and her husband were hiding in their bomb shelter money as momad in israel, in a small community that sits near the gaza border. we reported from there often in the aftermath of that massacre, and this woman was a woman of peace. she was a woman who worked with kindergarten students and worked in the dining hall of her

kibbutz, her small community. and she was taken into gaza and slaughtered by hamas. she was unarmed, and this was the result, and unfortunately her story will not be unique, and we are being sensitive to the information that we know due to the families who are in desperate need of any information about their loved ones that were dragged into gaza on october 7th. but when you look at her photo, this woman in her mid 60s and you think about her story, and her five children who tonight have learned that their mother, in addition to their father, was murdered. it really cuts through this entire story, and the flares and the rockets and the bombs, this is a story about people and people who are mourning tonight, a country that continues to mourn in the aftermath of this brutal massacre that took place in early october. early october. >> john: john here. to be clear, because some of the initial reporting seemed to point to the idea that the

hostage that was found dead was a member of the idf. that would appear to not be the case. but hamas also said a couple days ago that an israeli military hostage had been killed in an israeli airstrike in gaza. do we know if that report might be true or is that potentially hamas propaganda? >> yeah so this is a different incident with a 19-year-old soldier and last week hamas release add propaganda video of this young woman speaking in front of the camera, and the end of the video they had photos of her body. hamas claimed she was killed in an airstrike. we have no way to look at the claims. hamas and islamic jihad claimed they were holding hostages in the tunnel system and the difficult part about the story, israelis don't know where all

the hostages are. they are trying to track down as much information as they can. israelis claim and have shown us laptops and notebooks they say have information about the hostages, they were able to recover from the al-shifa medical center. we were not able to independently verify those claims, either, look at the laptops or notebooks but gets to the core of the situation here. there are around 240 people still missing, some of them are dead, others being held alive by hamas inside gaza. we do know there are negotiations at a high level behind the scenes. qataris are involved, along with the egyptians, israelis and americans. israelis are trying to find diplomatic solutions to get the hostages that are alive out of the gaza strip but are negotiating with a terror organization. >> sandra: trey, thank you so much. >> john: the state department briefing is underway, dip in

live and listen to matt miller taking questions. >> i suppose none of that is particularly surprising but i wanted to ask you about the fact there are at least three american citizens, three americans who are signatories to this, who are heads of u.n. agencies, who this administration nominated, supported and lobbied for to win their positions who signed this. the first thing on that is -- >> go ahead. i don't think -- i don't think it calls for -- >> they are not employed by the u.s. government. >> correct me if i'm wrong, i don't think it calls for immediate ceasefire, correct? >> it calls for a ceasefire, i'll go back and look at it. >> happy to be proven wrong, i read the letter quickly this morning, i don't think it calls for immediate ceasefire. go ahead. >> well, anyway. >> i may have that detail wrong. >> i might have it wrong as well, and i'm sorry if i do.

but at any rate, the content of the letter is not in alignment with what the administration's policy is right now. obviously these three people that i'm focusing on are not employee or employees of the u.s. government and so they don't take, necessarily take their direction from the administration. so one, they didn't clear or let you know in advance that they were going to sign this? >> i am not aware whether we had conversations in advance of the letter. i would say we supported the nominees as you point out and support their ability and right and authority to make their independent judgments about what is the best policy. i will say one thing about what the letter calls for with respect to safe zones, i think the letter points out that they are opposed to safe zones in which there is not agreement from all the parties not to attack those safe zones. the point they are making, if you direct people to go to safe

areas, they have to be sure the areas actually will be safe and not just targets for the civilians who have been moved there. >> you are saying targets from -- >> civilians won't be targets. >> israeli -- israeli proposed safe area. >> what we are working on with the israelis and had conversations about this in the last 24 hours, is about what is the best way to implement protection for civilians in southern gaza, and we continue to work through those details. i don't have any announcements to make where we might land, but it's a conversation that's ongoing with the israeli government right now. >> and more broadly because we are all aware of the foment inside the administration and inside washington and inside the country about what the policy

is. but these are three prominent people, including, you know, two of which, kathy russell and amy pope, had senior positions at the white house. kathy russell still, as far as i understand, extremely close to both the president and the first lady. and then cindy mccain, you know, everyone knows who she is. is it problematic for you guys at all that you have these three people who are, you know, the heads of important u.n. agencies who are disagreeing with the administration's policy? >> again, i don't necessarily agree that they are disagreeing with our policy. we want to see that whatever protections exist for civilians in southern gaza, that there are areas that are protected from attacks from israel, from hamas, from palestinian islamic jihad,

anyone else operating there. so we would agree with that notion and it's something we are working with the israeli government to try to implement and figure out the details. >> administration does not support the creation of a safe zone. i thought that was one of the main -- >> no, we do want to establish areas that are safe for civilians in southern gaza. but working out the details of that when you have an armed conflict going on is complicated as it always is. >> so you are not -- you are not particularly concerned. >> no, not at all. >> ok. >> related but not totally. of course the operations in al-shifa hospital, there are also operations surrounding another hospital, which i think the name was ali ab, strikes on the jordanian military hospital in gaza. all hospitals, is it still your understanding that there would

be hamas commands in all those hospitals and more generally is again i repeat, is it legitimate thing to hit or strike or attack or what have you a hospital? >> so let me say a few things about that. we never said there were command posts in all of the hospitals. we said it is our assessment there are command posts in hospitals, did make specific assessment with al-shifa, but did not say there are command posts in every hospital in gaza but there are command posts in hospitals there and tunnels underneath hospitals there. let me speak first of all to the jordanian medical personnel that were injured outside a field hospital in gaza. we are deeply concerned that they were injured, jordanian government has done incredible work establishing this field hospital and other medical facilities in gaza. we think they are essential and must be protected, that work must be allowed to continue and we reiterate the obligations under international humanitarian law for all parties to take

feasible precautions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and urge all possible steps to mitigate civilian harm. as it relates to hospitals as we said before, we don't want to see hospitals struck from the air. we understand that hamas does continue to use hospitals as places where they embed their fighters. places where they have tunnels running underneath. and so it can be appropriate for israel to conduct limited military operations with respent to hospitals but we want to see them do it in a way that minimizes civilian casualties. we do not want to see hospitals in the middle of fire fights, do not want to see patients put at risk, we have called for the evacuation of hospitals when appropriate and support international humanitarian organizations evacuating patients so they could be put out of harm's way. as i said before, it's such a difficult issue because two things can be true at one time. one, we want to see hospitals protected. two, hamas is operating outside

of hospitals and israel has a right to try to attack hamas and hold them accountable and keep them from launching new attacks. how do you square these two things? the way we try to square it, numb we are one, no airstrikes on hospitals and number two, if israel is going to conduct limited military operations in hospitals as they are doing with respect to al-shifa now, try to did it in a way that minimizes civilian harm so they only are putting in jeopardy hamas fighters and not civilians. as is true he have day, i will -- you know i always come to you. go ahead. >> just to follow up on that one, so you say no airstrikes on hospitals. there apparently was one on the military jordanian hospital in gaza. and you say you are deeply concerned, you don't want to see hospitals struck from the air. but you condemn that strike. >> i'm going to say we are concerned about those reports. we are concerned that hospitals

was hit and do not want to see airstrikes against hospitals. we want to see hospitals protected. >> will the u.s. support establishing safe zones in northern gaza? >> said, i'll come to you. >> would the u.s. support establishing safe zones in northern gaza like field hospitals. you cannot evacuate these people and put them where they are not going to be safe. so calling for patients to be evacuated, field hospitals would de facto be the best option but if they are not safe either, how is -- >> i don't want to speak to specific proposals from the podium when this is an ongoing conversation we are having with the government of israel and with international humanitarian organizations, who themselves are trying to figure out the best way to implement this. reiterate the general principal, we want to see patients safe and places established where patients can be safe and patients are protected and

that's what we are in conversation every day with the government of israel about and the international humanitarian organizations and repeat as i said the other day, remember, it is hamas that is putting all of these people in harm's way. it is hamas that continues to operate inside hospitals as they have done inside mosques and schools, and other civilian infrastructure. hamas is the root of the problem creating such a difficult challenge for the international community and the israeli military. so, i don't have any illusions that hamas is going to change its practices, so that puts an added burden on israel to conduct their operations in compliance with international humanitarian law and we expect them to meet those obligations and we have conversations, we make that clear with them all the time. >> would you support safe zones in northern gaza because to this point you have only mentioned southern gaza. >> again, i'm not going to get ahead of the conversations that we are having with international humanitarian organizations about what the best way is to protect civilians from harm.

it is an ongoing conversation and i don't think i should prescribe where the conversations will land from here. >> you said you are pressing israel to conduct operations in confines of international law. have they done that to this point. >> we have not made any assessment that they have violated international law but are monitoring facts as they develop. >> on that particular issue, the president yesterday did talk about indiscriminate bombing, a different story than what was occurring before, he's kind of talking about how the u.s. has been able to influence the way the israelis are conducting this campaign. does that mean there was an assessment at some point it was indiscriminate? >> i will let the white house speak to the president's specific comments but the point he was making, when you look at the way they have conducted their military operation around al-shifa, it has been a targeted operation to move slowly into

the hospital, they are moving one building at a time, they have not -- it's an operation that is yet ongoing. they have not completed operations against every building in the hospital just yet, ongoing, and contrasting with the airstrikes that israel has conducted that even when targeted can produce significant collateral damage and loss of civilian life. >> indiscriminate is not this building assessment. >> what i think the president was referring to, contrasting ground operations with airstrikes, even when targeted can produce civilian casualties which we have seen and leads to the loss of thousands and thousands of palestinian lives. >> al-shifa specifically, you had talked earlier in the week about a plan to evacuate patients. obviously the israelis are now in the hospital and has not been an evacuation. was that something that you were trying to hold the israelis back from going in there so you could

get people out and i guess what happened, what went wrong? >> we have not tried to dictate the tempo of military operations to israel. we are not in position to do that from thousands of miles away. they have to make their own decisions about how to best conduct a military campaign. we were trying -- we were liaison with humanitarian organizations about conducting evacuations. there has been evacuations that have been conducted from al-shifa and other hospitals in the north, there was not any in the last few days as the military operation took place. i'm not in position to comment about what's going on on the ground. there was no significant evacuation that took place beforehand. >> you mentioned that the hope that there can be the safer areas in the south of gaza. israelis have started to drop leaflets on certain places around khan younis. are you concerned the area that

could be safe for civilians in gaza is shrinking and is going to be nonexistent? >> we are inactive conversations with the government of israel about ensuring that civilians can be safe from harm. we obviously saw the step they took with respect to khan younis, told people to move from the north to the south, we have been in conversation to impress upon them that as they continue to look at expanded military operations or ground operations in other ways, in other parts of gaza, they need to ensure that they are safe, this humanitarian corridors for civilians, there is protection for civilians, human pauses, so civilians can get themselves out of harm's way. and that we can get humanitarian assistance in to them and ultimately places that they can be safe from harm. that is an active, ongoing conversation between our government and the government of israel. >> let me go to said. >> thank you, you seem and the administration and the president

seem to be certain shifa was a headquarters for hamas, although no evidence shown. you talk about tunnels, the israelis have not shown, i don't want to get into that. so absolutely not even a shred of evidence. a backpack with one rifle. >> i saw a host of rifles in videos. >> maybe they are police protecting the hospital. >> i saw a host of assault rifles. i'm not aware there's an acceptable threshold level for assault rifles held in hospitals. not general humanitarian practice. >> let me go on with the director of the hospital said today. he was speaking to al-jazeera, i put the things in english, he said there are about -- by the way, do you consider the hospital to be militarily occupied by israel, is it an occupied territory? >> i don't have assessment --

try to establish a ground rule and we'll continue. i will, i'm not going to interrupt your questions, don't interrupt my answers. there is an operation right now, i don't have the exact facts, we don't have eyes and ears on the ground there. >> according to the director of the hospital, there is 7,000 people at al-shifa, under total siege, they destroyed something like 45 dialysis machine, 36 premature babies that are probably dead by now, but you know, there is no food, there's nothing. so, should the israeli army that is currently roaming, as you suggested, roaming, all the buildings and all rooms and all corridors of the hospital, should they be responsible for the good will of these people that are in the hospital? >> so, as i said, we expect

israel to comply with international humanitarian law and to the extent they are taking territory in gaza, of course we would expect that the patients would be treated humanely, access to food, water, medical care. >> best of your judgment, have they been doing that? >> i cannot -- i cannot speak to facts about what is an actively involving situation on the ground. >> israeli just destroyed this morning the last working flour mill in gaza. it's where they -- the only place where sunflowers are. is that suspected to be a hamas -- >> i cannot speak to an individual strike i don't have all the facts at my disposal. >> two more questions, one, i think to follow up on what some others are saying, they want a ceasefire. they want a ceasefire. the first time a ceasefire is such a dirty word, you know. so, why not go along with the

sentiment of the public. that would be quite democratic. >> first of all, i've seen a number of polls about this very question but it doesn't matter. we don't make our decisions based on polls. we make our decisions based on what we believe are the best foreign policy judgments on behalf of the american people and their national security interest. and the president and secretary have come to the judgment a ceasefire at this time would only benefit hamas. but, we have been very clear that we believe there should be expanded humanitarian pauses to protect civilians, that there should be ways for civilians to get out of harm's way and do everything to get humanitarian assistance in for civilians in gaza. the secretary has spoken very clearly that in his judgment, far too many palestinian civilians have been killed as a result of this conflict. far too many children have been killed as a result of this conflict. a tragedy that has been inflicted upon the people of gaza that is not of their own making. it's because hamas launched a

terrorist attack on october 7th. israel has a right to conduct military operations to hold those terrorists accountable. we want them to do it in a way that minimizes civilian harm and we want to do everything we can to get humanitarian assistance to civilians. we are doing that every day. >> history did not begin on october 7th. let's not get into that. do you have anything to say about the visa waiver? >> we are aware of reports that there are american citizens in the west bank who are unable to transit through israel as they are allowed to do under the requirements of the visa waiver program. we have expressed concerns about that to the government of israel. i won't get into full details of private diplomatic conversations, but we expect israel to address those concerns. we expect them in full compliance with the visa waiver program and there are remedial

measures available to us if they are not. >> ok, on that, like they could be suspended? >> full range of remedial measures that can be taken before ultimate suspension. that is for any country in the visa waiver program, the ultimate action. measures to take to bring a country back -- i can't get into the specifics from here. hold on. a range of measures we can good into in detail. off line, go ahead. >> we can talk about this later, but literally, i mean, after october 7th it would be literally impossible for israel to continue to meet the criteria for this is what you are saying now that you have told, expressing your concerns to the israelis, hey, you are no longer in compliance with what you agreed to or fix it or something is going to happen? >> i am not going to get into the exact conversation we have had, but we have expressed our concerns that american citizens

in israel, or in the west bank travelling through, that want to travel through israel cannot do so, cannot fully exercise their rights under the program. we expect them to be able to do so. >> are israeli passport holders aware of the fact the actions of their government may be -- may eliminate them from the program so that they would have to go back and get visas? >> i don't know if they were before. they probably are now. >> the other thing is yeah, you said the letter that i mentioned earlier didn't talk about a ceasefire. >> was i wrong about that? >> yeah. >> okay, go ahead. >> we also renew our call for a humanitarian ceasefire to ease the suffering and to help facilitate humanitarian operations and the release of all hostages. you don't agree with that? you think that that's -- that's -- that's -- quoting. >> they called it a ceasefire. we are for humanitarian pause to allow the delivery of

humanitarian assistance and -- and ensure the release of all hostages. so -- >> humanitarian pause like in the g7 statement, humanitarian ceasefire. which is -- >> we disagree with the call for a ceasefire, absolutely. >> and that is still not a problem that you have 3, 2 of whom were former senior white house officials and one of whom, you know, is well-known and not just because of who her husband was, but for her own work and her own right. >> as i said -- >> publicly disagreeing with the administration and this is not like some 23-year-old kid who has -- who is working upstairs on the fourth floor or something like that. these are serious people. >> as i said, we expect them to exercise their independent judgment, fully support their ability to do so. with or -- with respect to a

ceasefire often times when ceasefire gets thrown around it's the idea of a ceasefire that will lead to a full cessation of hostilities, humanitarian pause, i understand it's called a ceasefire. >> you said they don't know what they are talking about. >> i don't want to get in the full details, but a short pause that would achieve the goals that they outlined is something that we would support, of course. >> just to clarify on the conversations ongoing about evacuations in hospitals, confirm, [indiscernible] would you be willing -- >> there are third parents who have expressed interest to do so and have not for a variety of reasons on the ground, remember, both israel and hamas who are parties to the conflict here, it's been impossible to ensure they could move safely to conduct evacuations. >> can you offer any clarity, is it hamas, is it israel -- you mentioned the conversations were

ongoing two days ago. that's a long time for critically ill patients or babies, all of the patients caught in this. >> israel has said publicly that they would welcome evacuation of patients. the problem has been hamas. >> update on the number of americans able to leave gaza, how many have been able to leave, how many are left and if you could separately address how much aid has gotten in. >> so, we have nearly 700 american citizens, legal permanent residents and family members who have gotten out of gaza through rafah gate. a little under 900 who are left of that number, around 300 or so are american citizens and the others are legal permanent residents and their family members. we are trying to get more out all the time. and remain in contact with the american citizens and family members that are left. in terms of the amount of aid that has gotten in, so -- a couple things i want to say about that.

number one, yesterday for the first time fuel moved in to gaza through rafah gate to allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance inside gaza, two issues, you know this, but for everyone, you have to get the trucks moving in through rafah to the gaza side of the border. once there, they unload into warehouses and then you have to have humanitarian implementers that have trucks and deliver the aid around gaza and the implementers had run out of fuel to do that aid, so we got fuel in yesterday to allow the delivery trucks to continue to do their works but because the warehouses were full, no trucks moved in yesterday. because they didn't have anywhere to unload. fuel went in, implementers have started emptying out the warehouses, trucks have started to go in through gaza. as of yesterday, around 1100 trucks had gotten in, none went in yesterday, but more a