we love to see that hamas and the terror organizations get reduced for study determination and leadership for someone like benjamin netanyahu. this proves once again that leadership matters. israel has it. the question is do we? >> lieutenant colonel, thank you. it's been a significant day on "outnumbered," as we were able to confirm the death of the leader hamas, yahya sinwar, which comes on october 17th a few weeks after the death of the leader of has below. here on the noon hour of "outnumbered." we will keep you updated on the breaking news but for now we'll toss it over to "america reports." >> outstanding develop in the top of the hour as we watch live in the middle east. israel says hamas' top commander has been killed by idf forces

today in gaza. welcome, i am sandra smith, and here in new york together today. >> john: look at that. i'm john roberts come together in new york city. this is "america reports." sinwar had been in control the terror group since 2017, behind the brutal attack on oct october 7th, and it was also recently appointed the political head of hamas. sinwar also had close ties to iran. it's unclear at this moment if or how to run might respond to this. >> big question. trey yingst is on the ground. reaction is pouring in. first off, what is the idf saying? >> we were waiting for hours to bring you this developments. i have been on the phone with israeli sources all day who cannot confirm that the leader of hamas, yahya sinwar, is dead. he was killed today in southern

gaza. this was not a planned operation, but rather an israeli patrol that came across some movement and a cell of militants. among that was sinwar. the israeli military has released a statement. there confirming this news saying that the leader of the hamas terrorist organization that was responsible for executing the october 7th massacre has been eliminated. this is significant for a variety of reasons. it's the final leader from hamas that was considered to be a mastermind that the israelis have taken out. we understand that in the mastermind behind all of this, and over the summer in iran. the question is what will happen to the israeli hostages that remain inside of gaza? sinwar was a hard-liner, someone on the extreme end of an already extreme organization, who did not want a deal in recent

months, we are told, to allow the remaining hostages to be exchanged for palestinian prisoners. sinwar was a former palestinian prisoner. he spent 22 years in israeli jail and was released back in 2011 as part of a prisoner swap for just one israeli soldier. we understand that the israelis, and i'm just bringing all this to you as we get it. they have released a message to foreign ministers around the world delivering this news. according to reports, they are urging other civilians inside gaza to provide new information on the potential location of hostages. this just tells us that the israelis see this as an opportunity to move forward and basically stop what has been a stalemate between israel and hamas, to try to get the remaining hostages out of gaza. again, the latest information we can report at this hour: the leader of hamas, yahya sinwar is dead. it's been confirmed by the

israeli military. sources speaking to fox news it says it took so long to confirm because they brought the body back into israel. first they use dental records and then followed it with dna testing to ensure that this was indeed sinwar that was killed during the israeli operation in southern gaza earlier today. >> certainly would have a lot of information with which to identify them given that he was an israeli jail for 17 years. i take it there is no indication this point that hamas is going to lay down its arms and surrender. what might come next? >> great point. this does not mean the war is over. it means that yet another leader from hamas has been taken off the battlefield. in the past when a leader was taken up by the israelis, they simply replace them with someone else. it is different given the current state of affairs inside gaza. the israelis have systematically destroyed hamas battalions that operate throughout gaza, taken

out not only the leadership of -- but also the leadership from similar organizations. this puts hamas as an organization, in a position to where they are going to rely on leadership in places like qatar, turkey. senior officials who exist in the hamas political wing, not those on the ground directing those operations. they will see this as an opportunity to try to bring these officials to the table and say we will continue to operate what's left of the organization inside gaza if you don't cut a deal to get the remaining hostages out. the initial chatter we are seeing from israeli officials, and the sources that we have been talking with throughout the day waiting for this confirmation say this is an opportunity to get the remaining hostages out of gaza. they are still operating against hamas on the ground, and politically on the negotiating table, this is not an organization that negotiates in

good faith. they may see a breakthrough in these conversations. they will continue their operations to put pressure on the ground on hamas. israeli forces on the ground in this neighborhood of northern gaza, continuing operations there. as this news breaks. speak of the focus on the hostages a key one. the president of israel, in his response to the death of sinwar, in his statement in part reads "it's been years that he has been responsible for heinous acts of terrorism against israeli civilians and other civilians across the country and thousands of innocent people. his tears were -- dedicated to destabilizing the middle east and bloodshed." he puts an emphasis in the statement. "we must act to bring back the 101 hostages still being held in horrific conditions by hamas terrorists in gaza.

there's always the hope that this will reignite the fire to get those hostages out. >> certainly. you bring up a really important point. by killing the leader should not just of hamas in gaza, but of hezbollah in lebanon, they're trying to send a message to the iranian regime behind much of the funding and support for these organizations, that israel is not afraid to go after the leadership of these groups. we are getting the same from israel's defense minister who says this is a clear message to our enemies. the idf will attempt to reach anyone who has harmed the citizens of israel or our security forces. we will bring to justice. i want to talk about this for a moment, i mean i've interviewed a number of times since the beginning of this war. in his office in tel aviv, israel's version of the pentagon, he has a chart picked up a top was a photo of yahya sinwar. when i would go to his office, i will look at that chart --

top target, the most wanted man inside gaza. they understood the planning that yahya sinwar had put together to carry out that brutal massacre on october 7th. they know that as part of that 2011 prisoner swap that's 1,026 palestinian prisoners exchange for just a single israeli soldier. that allowed hamas to regroup and come to power in a way inside gaza they had never seen before. during many of the operations that they would conduct on those three and four day rounds of violence we would see, exchanges of fire, sinwar was ordering the rocket fire on israeli cities, sinwar was preparing the brigades to attack southern israel. ultimately on the morning of october 7th, sinwar remained at the top of the most wanted

list for the israeli military and government. this is a turning point for the israelis. certainly a potential opportunity for israel. when it comes to the hostages that remain inside gaza, but also for the future of the gaza strip. there will be a day after. the war will end mike one day whether it's by hamas laying down their arms, or more likely a diplomat solution. when that happens, there are serious questions about who will lead gaza. we know it will not be yahya sinwar. >> we understand that the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will make a statement sometime in the next little while about this. in terms of succession, negotiations, whether the war continues as it has, there was a logical line of succession. the military leader of hamas in gaza. there was the political head, and then there was yahya sinwar who was the head of hamas in gaza. he took over the role of military leader even though he

was the mastermind behind october 7th. then he took over as political leader when the other political leader was eliminated. who is next in the line of succession? who might take over negotiations, or is there somebody who would be anointed? >> this is a great question. hamas is running out of military leadership to negotiate with. they still have some political leadership alive in places like qatar and turkey. this is the most likely successor to yahya sinwar. he doesn't come from those brigades or the military wing of hamas. he was the head of hamas's political bureau from 1996 before they were in control of gaza until 2017. their other top officials who deal with international bodies like this person, an official who was educated in europe. their lower level officials still operating on the ground inside of gaza under the radar, but hamas is an organization

without a head. what they have done today is chopped off the head of the snake. the question is whether hamas will be able to regroup in small capacities inside of gaza to continue what has been a limited guerrilla style war over the past several months against h his -- israeli forces in gaza, or if they will see this at such a heavy loss that they will come to the negotiating table and see what they can get out of negotiations that have still move forward in small bits with the help of the qataris and egyptians. simply never unraveled to an area where they can come to fruition and a deal could be cut like the deal we saw in november. the likely successor is a man who is likely in qatar right now or possibly -- leadership from turkey. the bottom line is the masterminds behind the october 7th massacre are dead picked up italian heads from hamas are dead. a number of sources we developed over several years of reporting

inside gaza stopped responding throughout the war. sum had been captured, others were killed in israeli strikes. it's not just hamas. its islamic jihad leadership that's been taken out. some of the smaller organizations that previously held some influence inside of gaza, pflp and df lp, that had rockets before october 7th and had the ability to launch attacks of their own. this is a turning point in the conflicts. what israeli officials are telling us -- and they were telling us before the final confirmation of yahya sinwar today -- was that this is an opportunity to try and bring those remaining hostages home. according to a senior official that briefed me about two weeks ago, they believe around half of the hostages are still alive. we are talking about dozens of people that have remained inside gaza since october 7th that have been there under the control of hamas or other factions that are holding them that are still waiting to come home. >> on the ground in israel on this breaking news for us. we will check back in with you

again shortly. we will bring in keith kellogg, fox news contributor, former national security advisor to president trump and mike pence. your reelection to the news. >> thank you for having me. it's a righteous kill. it's great to. it was an incredible interview. he gave you all a ton of information. he used the word "opportunity," i think between three and five times. he is right. the leader of hamas, and they took out sinwar and hezbollah -- and others as well. they have now reset the battlefield, taken of the senior leadership. the hamas and -- there is an opportunity here. i hope this administration even though it's a short period of time can jump on that. there is an opportunity now. bring the remaining hostages,

those that are still alive, home. maybe we can finally see a path to somehow getting peace into the region. they are on their backfoot, clearly realized they are isolated. two surrogates in the region have been emasculated and are kind of on their own. this is a chance to reach out. opportunity for the west, for president biden, for the administration to reach out to the qataris or the saudis and say "how can we bring us together in a short period of time? bring the hostages home." how do we get a path to some type of piece? sooner or later you will have to have peace. the question is how? i will use this word. this is an incredible opportunity now. it's been handed to us by the israelis. how are we going to capitalize on its? frankly, i am not convinced this administration is prepared to jump on it. a short time till the election,

but he talk about it period to do something, it is sitting squarely in your face. the qatar's, the turks, the saudis asking how to figure this out, bring priests to the neighborhood, bring hostages home which would be an incredible first step, bringing the home and trying to bring the peace. he is right. it was a great strike. they have eradicated the leadership. he mentioned the leadership of the military brigades of hamas as well. here is your opportunity. how are we going to capitalize on it? >> you wonder who is in line after sinwar. this is a guy who was really committed to the hamas terrorist organization. spent 17 years in israeli prison, grew up in gaza, has been a leader for so long. he was against the mastermind of october 7th. i don't know it -- and there might be somebody next in line who shares the same commitment to the terrorist cause that he

did, or could the next leader say "we have been decimated, this is a losing proposition for hamas, and it's time to enter into negotiations with israel." then there's the idea that if you have removed the complete leadership of hamas, the top leadership in hezbollah, and you are about to go after iran with a retaliatory strike, do you do something that knocks that regime back so far that they say "it's not worth it to keep this up." >> i think you are right. i said it repeatedly, and i would go hard if i was israel against iran to send that message very clearly. there is a dual opportunity. this is when he reached out. the only people who can do this are the united states. you reach out to the allies in the region who say "this is an opportunity. let's capitalize on it immediately. how can we bring this to resolution?" all the hard core are gone.

you don't want to to a hard-core leader. talking to the family. what you don't want to do, you don't want to the hard-core retrench come back. this is an opportunity for them to do it. grab it as fast as i could and figure out how we solve this. number one, bring the hostages home. that's critical to the israelis. i have to laugh a little bit at what trey was talking about. i had been in the office of the minister of defense. right next to his desk, to the right of his desk across from the conference tables, they had all the leadership of hamas and hezbollah in xs across them. there was more than one. i was walking out of his office a few months ago. i said to him -- and he says "we will get them all," and boy they have.

there is now an opportunity to move forward. let's see who can grab it. >> if the election is pouring in. as you can imagine, israeli ambassador to the u.s. posting "the world is a safer place upon his death." among other things we know the vice president kamala harris, on the campaign trail, is going to be speaking shortly from milwaukee and could be addressing this. we know netanyahu will speak coming up. we don't have an exact time but are watching for that to happen. the minister of defense putting out an interesting statement talking about the illumination of sinwar, a murderer and terrorist, master terrace he called him, to tell my complaints to -- so many innocent israelis were murdered. he went on to say that sinwar joins a long series of -- "we will pursue and eliminate our enemies." it makes you wonder what the message will be from a netanyahu when he speaks.

>> yes. i will lay you money he will use a biblical reference. he has in every speech he's given when he talks about hamas, hezbollah, iran. that's how they look at this. they look at this as an exit central fight, fight for their lives. he keeps going back and will probably say to the iranians "this is next for you as well, we will attack anywhere our citizens are being attacked." they've got credibility now. that's why i think there is an opportunity. nobody can deny the fact that they will go back to their enemies. i don't care if they are in gaza or to run. they're going to go after them. sending a message: we can have peace or continued work." israelis -- continue this fight. to me, enormous opportunity for the united states to touch in a very positive way as long as we reach out and grab it.

i'm not convinced we are willing to and able to do that especially with the election cycle coming up. the opportunity is there. that was a great interview trav- coach wray gave, and opportunity. >> we will see if this happens. it is early hours yet. just confirmed they have been killed. we were sewell -- we will see where this goes. with spring and the former israeli ambassador to the united states michael oren. this is reminiscent of munich '72 were israel chased down and killed almost everyone responsible, everybody but the mastermind. in this case, they got the mastermind. >> they did and i agree with everything general kellogg just said. incredible moment for israel, the united states, the free world. to understand what this conflict is about. is not about israel and hamas, not even israel and has below.

it's about a fight for our national survival and the survival of the western world. but they represented was everything contrary to that world. tremendous opportunity. think about it as similar to the elimination by the united states of usama bin laden tragically, 3,000 americans were killed. proportionally on october 7th, would have been the equivalent of 40,000 american killed, 1200 israelis. you can imagine what this means for us. it's important to keep in mind that mr. sinwar spent time in israeli prisons, released a decade ago on the exchange but was sitting in prison not because killed israelis: he was in prison because he killed palestinians, palestinians who wanted peace. this man who is killed coming on october 7 killed 43 americans, took another -- unspeakable captivity. this is a great victory for our

way of life, for our civilization, and this moment must be exploited. >> it sends a clear message, the minister of the defense says to the guys ambassador -- the man who brett is and death to the gaza strip who made you suffer as a result of the murderous actions, the end has come. we are obviously watching these live pictures in tel aviv at this hour, but their reactions happening to this all over the world, can only imagine. >> we can't be overly sanguine. when we eliminated the head of as below into the two people who replaced him, it didn't change has blows policy at all. all 300 rockets just today. we don't know who will replace sinwar. it could be someone more rad radical. we have been prepared for the opportunity, possibly as well, but we have to continue the

struggle. frankly, there's no choice. this is a war for our national survival. we look to our great alley the united states to stand behind us. not to threaten to cut off arms and ammunition to us. i think that's a bad message to our common enemies, and dangerous for both countries. >> we are hearing from the house minority leader saying today, the state of israel, the middle east, the free world is a safer place with the death of yahya sinwar, terror will never win. in terms of what comes next, said maybe sinwar will be replaced by somebody more radical than he was. it's hard to imagine there would be somebody more radical than he was. you look back to world war ii. abbie lee a different scale but a different ideology as world war ii was. once hitler realized his army was in disarray and was suffering horrible defeats, he knew the allies were closing in on him, he took his own life. what you've got -- the head of

the snake in germany, the whole thing collapsed. is that possible here? >> it's possible but i would not rule out the opposite. that's a big difference between hamas and nazism, which was a secular political ideology. hamas were prisons a theology, the same as isis, al qaeda, the muslim brotherhood, any of the radical islamic organizations that seek to create an immediate -- to an empire -- the united states fought successfully against isis, against al qaeda. the idea is still rampant throughout the muslim world, and not just the muslim world, but much of the world today. look what happened in europe and south america and africa. it's a long struggle but is a struggle. money between israel and hamas, israel and hezbollah. it's a struggle between the west

and this horrendous idea which is the opposite of everything we hold dear. representative today, iran and the close alliance with russia. our troops have gone into these deep tunnels in lebanon, and -- being prepared for troops to come across the border, massacre civilians. found the most sophisticated russian arms in these trenches. the iranian-backed rebels have been firing hypersonic rockets at us, very fast rockets. where -- getting them from? where to iran get them from? russia. >> we were asking whether u.s. lawmakers had been briefed on the death of yahya sinwar, and the speaker of the house confirmed to have received a briefing. these on camera remarks in hebrew but translated from the defense minister. interesting to note, when he says yahya sinwar died while beaten, persecuted and on the run, not as a commander but

someone who only cared for himself. he said in these remarks it's a clear message to all of our enemies. the idf will reach anyone who tends to threaten and harm the citizens of israel it or our security forces, and will bring them to justice. "knowing that we're about about to hear from benjamin netanyahu a short time from now, but have not been given an exact time. you wonder what he will choose as that message. >> think it's likely he will choose a biblical message. it will resonate profoundly with the people of israel, but not only them, but audiences around the world. it's that moment for us, closure if you will. i received a phone call from the -- telling me that seal team six had taken on usama bin laden. "we got 'em," they said to.

and we just got them today. there is still al qaeda and isis out there, but it's crucial we fight back all the time and always keep our minds open to the possibility of peace, the maybe will someone will come up in palestinian leadership and say "our goal is not the destruction of the jewish state." >> we are still awaiting an israeli response to the irani under attack with those 181 ballistic missiles they try to hit the nation with a couple weeks back. what is your sense of where that's going? our understanding is that benjamin netanyahu is -- to bidens requests to not get the nuclear facilities, to not hit oil facilities, and limit counterattack to military targets, but wouldn't that just keep a tit for tat going? you hit iran, iran hits back, you hit back again, and until you give them not just a blood he knows but break a few bones,

they are going to keep this up. >> i agree with you thoroughly. i would recommend you look carefully at the source of those reports that israel has agreed not to target both oil and nuclear facilities. look at the sources. israel's position has to be that all targets remain on the table, and that the blow we have to deliver to a run has to be something close to a knockout blow for precisely that reason. we cannot have tit for tat for iran. everything that has happened in the middle east over the course of the last year, the attack by hamas, by hezbollah, attacks by the rebels and militias in iraq, syria, and -- not just against the state of israel but against american troops some 200 times. this is all because of a r to -- all because of iran and it won't stop until they pay a

prohibitive price. the way to de-escalate in the middle east is through escalation toward iran. >> ambassador, appreciate you joining us. thank you. would spring and the former senior trump administration official and former lead negotiator with the taliban. moments ago, the defense minister posting on x "another mission accomplished." your reaction. >> i couldn't agree more. the killing of sinwar is a major events. like tim bassler just said before, this is israel's 9/11, usama bin laden. israel did a major thing not just for israel, but for the ited states. this guy wolves -- >> no question who was a really, really bad guy. the real question is what comes next. could he be as was suggested replaced by someone who is even more radical than he is? or is there a possibility that the next in line for hamas says

"we are beaten badly, it's the time to end the suffering for the palestinian people, for the israeli people, get some negotiation down there." >> that's a possibility now. i agree with almost everything the ambassador said that except finding something more radical, because i don't know how that's possible. sinwar was 100% dedicated to destruction of the israeli state. you could get somebody as bad but i'm not sure what worse than him looks. that's good from any perspective. this creates the conditions to get the hostages back. you think about israel right now, it is quiet and really taking over -- to quiet down, to kill sinwar. one other goal which is to react against iran and they will act against iran.

>> just seeing some of the updates from the israeli prime minister. making comments confirming sinwar's death, saying evil has been delivered a blow, but our task "is not complete," says netanyahu. "we will continue full force until our hostages return." he told the people of gaza "sinwar has ruined your lives." that's just some of what we are hearing right now. >> what we should do is -- this is the time right now to send a- are seal teams to fight. hamas is weak. they may do a few things and the ambassador mentioned before, shooting a couple of hundred rockets does not mean they are not going to do things here and there, but you have a system where the leader is eliminated. we need to get our boys home. >> that raises the question: how

weak is hamas? the reason why israel has been acting cautiously in terms of gaza, even though it seems like they have obliterated it, there are still pockets of hamas resistance hiding in bunkers, in tunnels, who can take some serious israeli casualties. we saw that not long ago when we saw a squad of israeli soldiers taken out. to put american boots on the ground would obviously presents enormous risk to them unless hamas is weakened to the point where you can just walk in and do not have to worry much about taking casualties. how weak to think they really are? all. >> they fighting guerrilla war, so their leadership structure has been stricken in a really bad way. they have miles of tunnels is not easy. i don't say it loosely. i don't think it's easy, but i think you have a weekend hamas

and the conditions that are possible. it doesn't mean you have a seal team that can go in without israelis, without knowledge, but i want to make sure we all recognize that we have five americans their. when you have americans that are there, this is an american ideal, that you don't leave them behind. we can be thoughtful about what we do hope so we minimize potential casualties but it doesn't mean we ignore the five people in tunnels being held by hamas. >> don't know if they were making these remarks live or if they were crossing the wire or perhaps remarks were received prior to him delivering them. this is crossing now, saying hamas will not rule gaza, this is an opportunity for them to free themselves from its tyr tyranny. seems to be one more crossing. we are told that we will likely see and hear from him directly soon.

the war is not still over. from what the message would be. >> at the end of the day, we need a strong palestinian leader that cares about palestinian people that we can work with is the united states, israel, and it can end as long as hamas wants to kill israel to show it cannot end until every hostages taken back. but this gives the opportunity. this is a huge deal today. it's going to open, strategically, getting her hostages back. when you look at sinwar and how he acted, when you read his profiles, this is a man that was committed until he was dead, so good, now he's dead. you are going to find potentially some more reasonable people. there is a hope of that. >> a hope. we know hope often does not spring eternal in the middle east. we see by the celebration of

israelis in the middle east in tel aviv, that it's being seen as probably the most significant event so far in this more in terms of israeli victories. you are famous around washington, d.c., for being one of the architects of the abraham accords. you were getting close to a deal for normalization of relations between israel and saudi arabia. now that the complete hamas leadership has been eradicated, and again we don't know who or what is coming next -- is there a possible window here for saudi arabia to step in and say "let's get this back on track," or as long as there is a conflict going on in israel will they stay on the sidelines? >> great opportunity for them to step up. i think it's good for the palestinian people. it is possible. i will tell you a couple things i think. iran lost their juice when we killed -- because when you look

at hezbollah, that was the weapon iran had. iran has been weakened massively. it's one reason why i think israel should attack again. that lets countries saudi, u uae -- >> adam, i'm sorry to cut in on you. benjamin netanyahu speaking. we do not yet have a trans translation. he has basically said that the region has an opportunity to stop the axis of evil. we can listen now. >> the greatest butcher, the one who murdered thousands of israelis has been eliminated today. came to account with us. hamas suffered a heavy blow today, but our target goal has not been completed. to the families of the kidnapped, i tell you it is an important moment in the war. we will continue with all force.

until bringing all those who are dear to you and dear to us, bring them all home. this is our utmost commitment, mine and ours come to the residence of gaza. sinwar ruined your life's. he hid in a dark tunnel, and was killed when he ran away in fear from our soldiers. i want to repeat again, in the clearest manner, hamas will no longer rule gaza. it's for you, gaza, to finally be free of his tyranny, and hamas fighters, those who -- telling you all, whoever is holding this out, whoever puts down their arms and allows them

kidnapped to bring them out -- will live. whoever harms our kidnapped is a dead man. a closer time to the victory. the darkness has been retr retreating, and the light has been rising. sinwar and others are no longer, i tell you, the residents of the area, there is an opportunity to create a new future of peace and prosperity. together, we can propose -- and bring good blessing. no the world knows why we insisted on ending the war.

this was the era where hamas and many of the other terrorists were hiding. and want to thank the idf, the security forces, and there are no better ones land them. will understand what happens to those -- we show the world how the good can win over the bad. the war is not over. it's a difficult war, and a heavy price -- from us. my condolences to the families who have lost their dear ones. they are fighting in the last days as well. bring us closer. as king david said, "i will pursue my pursuers until they were all destroyed." we are in a war of independence. we have to be unified, to be

brave, to be strong. we fight together, and with the help of the almighty, we will win. >> there is prime minister netanyahu reacting to the death of yahya sinwar saying the war is far from over. it's an opportunity to eliminate this axis of evil. the big question still is what comes next after sinwar? there is a possibility that you could kill him and hamas says we can't continue to fight, or the next radical terrorist comes along and says "not only will i do what he did but i will do this in addition." >> putting emphasis on hamas, said it twice, "hamas will no longer rule gaza." detailing the way in which sinwar ran away in fear before his death. was bringing the senior vice president for research at the foundation of defense of democracies.

thank you for joining us. i know in the wake of this news, you sent out a tweet. this is before the combination of yahya sinwar's death. he's now confirmed dead. you said "here's what needs to happen next." >> the bottom line is that the only real recognizable leader, maybe two leaders of hamas are based elsewhere. the qatari's are purported allies of the united states. we know that they have funded hamas, provided headquarters to hamas -- l as to the united states. this is the most to significant pressure on those that are forcing them -- to appear right now on al jazeera, declaring the full surrender to the israelis. the war should be declared over, they should call for the release of hostages.

"we should beat --" freezing their assets, maybe extraditing them to united states, israel, or a third country. this is the moment right now to encircle those leaders and put them finally on the defensive, make them surrender and end this phase of the war. you have heard over the course of the last 20 minutes or so a bunch of different people come on your airwaves talking about how the war will likely continue with hezbollah, like a lift iran, but this would be an important step i think in beginning to close out this war against an axis of aggressors led by the iranians. >> you talked about freezing the assets, even sending them to the united states. it's interesting for many people who just heard you say that. we were highly anticipating netanyahu's words, as we just got them. we could be hearing from leadership in the united states. we know vice president kamala harris is on the campaign trail.

we are told she could be speaking at w -- a short time from now. we are also possibly hearing from present buying shortly. what is there for the messaging for america at this moment? >> it's a tale of two days. yesterday, we were hearing from the right house that they were threatening to withhold military assistance to the israelis because of concerns about what was happening inside of the gaza strip. they are saying the way the israelis were operating this was -- and now we are waking up to very different news today. the israelis appear to have gained the upper hand. it appears that hamas' leadership -- and 23 out of 24 brigades have been destroyed. there is not a lot of heavy fighting to be done. the administration needs to for its full support behind, let the world know they are going to get their support. in lebanon, against iran.

we are seeing a possible turning of a tide in this war. the administration should be getting on the right side of history and -- >> we understand that antony blinken, the secretary of state, has had a conversation about yahya sinwar stuff with the prime minister of qatar and we know how influential they are with hamas leadership. this from nikki haley. she said last year, yahya sinwar yahya sinwar -- -- orchestrated the most deadly attack -- and it appears israel has eliminated him. the good it continued triumph over evil and may god continue to bless israel and her people." by the celebration as we see going on, the left-hand side of our screen in tel aviv, there is hope by the israeli people that this could be a turning point in this war. do you think it will be? >> it's a major psychological victory for the israelis, the

architect of the worst terrorist attack on israeli soil, in israeli history. a bunch of other leaders have been killed. i have already described as very few left at this point that represent the same hamas that carried out that attack. what we all need to remember is hamas is a proxy of the islamic republic of iran, and so was hezbollah, and a bunch of the shiite militias that have been firing on american and israeli assets across the region, out of iraq and syria. those funds are still hot. the war is not likely to end tomorrow but this is a tactical victory, it is a battle that would appear right now -- in a series of battles that are being fought across the region. of israel can press the advantage, lebanon, continued to pick apart hezbollah, that is another front we could see good news. we need to just continue to

support the israelis as they wage battles across the region and ultimately, hopefully, where term the irradiance who are still expecting a potential strike from the israelis in response to those 181 ballistic missiles fired a few weeks ago. if that happens soon, on the heels of the news about sinwar, and as we continue to watch hezbollah break apart, again we could be starting to see the turning of a tide in this war, and that would be good news. it's what the israelis need. i daresay it's what the west needs to see in the united states. >> jonathan schanzer, thank you. julien turner joining us live from the state department with more on the diplomatic front. we are getting an update that the u.s. secretary of state to just speak with qatar's prime minister about negotiations on a hostage deal, per axios right now.

>> the reason for that is this has been secretary blinken's number one priority since last october, when the events of october 7th occurred. he's been laser focused on trying to get a cease-fire deal that includes a release of the remaining hostages. himself personally working directly with qatar, with the israelis, talking to the palestinians mostly on a daily basis at this point. the reason he is speaking to qatar's leadership right now as a matter of top priority in the wake of this news is because this could represent a major opportunity for the people interested in peace and the region. once the united states publicly confirms yahya sinwar has been killed, they will move quickly to try and figure out who the successor is going to be. i'm told per sources this morning that's already been going on behind the scenes.

there's a handful of people placed in such a way that they might be able to take over for them. quickly. u.s. officials are determining behind the scenes who that individual is and how that may impact cease-fire negotiations including a hostage deal. as you know, for weeks, your officials from the president of the vice president -- been telling us that focusing on this deal is the only way forward. harris, vice president and presidential nominee said recently as the day before yesterday. from lincoln -- president biden back on may 31st. first laid out his proposal for cease-fire deal to the international community. that was essentially signed on to by united nations. he traveled there june 11th, came back and said "we are close to a deal, there was one holdout."

the holdout was yahya sinwar. if he is in fact and outed as a result of this idf attack today, however this new person may be represents, to the biden administration, a possible new opportunity to try to restart these talks as soon as possible. >> there's a real sense of irony in all of this. for months and months now, joe biden and kamala harris have been trying to convince netanyahu to stand down, negotiate some sort of cease-fire that would leave hamas in place. if they had done that, sinwar would still be alive, would certainly live to fight another day. now that netanyahu has ignore the pleadings of the biden administration and harris, yahya sinwar is dead and there's the possibility for a new beginning. >> no mistake about it --

there's going to be a great sense of relief that he's been taken out. nobody was hoping for him to live a long, happy, prosperous life inside of the tunnels in gaza, but the reality of diplomacy is you can't necessarily get up to the podium and say we are thrilled by the development -- but i think you can say based on all of the reporting we have done and reporting from others we have seen that it's a habit of element for the united states and one that gives leadership a lot of hope. to pending on who replaces them over the coming hours, the coming days, there is a new opening to try to restart these talks. they have been stalled out completely for about a month. there's a small time. make ready biden administration believes they could restart that without losing the momentum they say they have built up, but if this carried on for another few weeks and it's been two or three months of cease-fire negotiations stalled out completely, that's a much

bleaker picture. >> we will see if anything else happens aboard air force one with biden. if it could, that could be shortly and we will have that for viewers and listeners. thank you. >> the spring and fox news contributor and former cia station chief -- what's your really read as far as where we are and where we are going? is this potentially to beginning of the end of the war against hamas, or just the beginning of a new chapter? >> if there's one thing i learned from the time i spent in the middle east when i served at cia, it's that any optimism about the future is misplaced. look, this was an extraordinary tactical success by israel, justice has been served, but if the biden administration has to be careful not to see the world as they wish it were but as it is.

if we expect his successor will lay down his arms and give up the hostages and agree to a cease-fire deal, i think that's unrealistic to say the least. i'm sure the cia -- full-court press to determine who the successor is. israel will likely target the person with lethal strikes. the one thing we know is that israel is driving a wedge between these terrorist groups, these irreconcilable terrorists and the civilian population. that's the basis of a counterinsurgency strategy that general david patria's worked and lets so well in iraq. that's the opening for u.s. foreign policy. what's missing is a u.s. strategy to take advantage. let's not let this opportunity go to waste. >> to your point, benjamin netanyahu when he spoke a few moments ago -- he said the

war is not over but the region has opportunity to stop the axis of evil and bring peace and prosperity to the middle east. talk more about that opportunity. he's obviously trying to put out an optimistic message about the future. >> israel has decimated hamas and has the leadership. they have destroyed hezbollah's capability to launch rockets at israel from southern lebanon, destroying and degrading hamas' capability in gaza. now is the time not to go easy on the terrorists, not to go easy on ironic, but to make it clear that iran would suffer and even worse penalty from us, more kinetic strikes as israel in the united states. if iran does not stop supporting these proxy terrorists. we need to interrupt and destroy the supply chain, the lifeline that they give to hezbollah,

hamas as well. things were all of this is headed. the next up for israel is a strike on iran. to get your first question, we are closer to the beginning of this conflict they on the end, but we need to be thinking about the post-conflict all reconstruction plan. >> that's a heck of a comforting thought. in terms of what israel does in response to the ballistic missile attack, that iran launched against it -- we are hearing that netanyahu has agreed to biden's wishes to not strike the nuclear facilities or any of the oil facilities. iran has vowed that the gulf states could be in their crosshairs. if israel were to attack. if you're going after military target, you aren't going to dissuade around from fighting back against those using its proxies in a detrimental way as it has for all these decades. if you were to advise netanyahu

about what to do to strike back against iran and not just in some sort of tit-for-tat way but in a way that was truly meaningful that would get them to change its behavior, what would you advise him to do? >> i think israel has to go high order. iran wants 180 ballistic missiles against israel. iran is back on their heels. they used to enjoy strategic depth by virtue of the fact that they would rely on the palestinian and iraqi, yemeni, and other terrorist proxies to die on their behalf. that's not quite the case anymore. israel has taken the fight to those enemies. not the united states. it's been israel by themselves. now is the time for israel with support from united states if it comes to that to launch the strikes that make it clear that they had better stop supporting proxy terrorists or else there will be worse strikes. i expect strikes on military

targets but i don't think leadership, energy, or nuclear are off the table. >> we will see. dan, thank you. just before we go to brick, a tweet "i want to salute israel, celebrate the liberation of -- a necessary move in the future, the mastermind of this massacre eliminated, the definition of justice served. my vote and my voice for israel will not waiver." >> benjamin netanyahu promising families of hostages "we will continue full force until your loved ones, our loved ones, our home." more on the breaking news when we return. a quick break. especially our perspective on food. on our path to find healthier products. we started good ranchers to connect families with 100% american born, raised, and harvested meats quality beef, pork, chicken and wild caught seafood. delivered to your door. because we want the best for our family and yours. when gathering at the dinner table.

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every day, veteran homeowners are calling newday to pay off credit card debt that's been piling up. many were shocked to learn they've been paying 22% on their credit card balances. and if payments were late, as much as 30%. that's over three times the interest rate on a newday 100 va home loan. pay off high rate credit cards and other debt with a lower rate newday home loan. save hundreds a month, thousands a year. >> john: the pentagon set to brief this hour as we can follow to breaking stories. first, israel confirms that the idf killed hamas' top leader yahya sinwar. he was the mastermind behind the october 7th attacks. he was killed in a firefight in southern gaza. >> sandra: israeli officials say they have