00:005.11 here on the East Coast. Welcome back to Life Now from Fox and good morning to you. If
00:06you're just now tuning in, I'm Gina Francine. Right now we do want to transition to a news
00:10alert as relates to conflict in the Middle East. As we do so, I do want to transition
00:14to give you a live look at the Israel-Gaza border on this Wednesday morning. Look there
00:20in the distance, plumes of smoke. So we are working to see if that's a part of that new
00:25ground operation. Of course, we are waiting this morning for a response from Israel to Monday's
00:30news that Hamas has shown a positive response to the latest ceasefire proposal. The deal is
00:36being brokered by Middle Eastern diplomats. Let's check in now with Fox News National
00:40Correspondent Jeff Paul. He has the latest details from Tel Aviv.
00:46As Israel moves tanks into position ahead of a planned operation targeting Gaza City,
00:51there is a renewed push by Egyptian and Qatari mediators to end the war for good. A diplomatic
00:58source tells Fox News Hamas has agreed to a new ceasefire deal that is 98 percent similar
01:03to the last U.S.-backed proposal which Israel had previously approved. If we do not reach an
01:11agreement now, we are facing a humanitarian catastrophe. That will make the catastrophes
01:17that preceded it seem tiny before it. The new agreement involves a 60-day ceasefire that
01:22would see the release of 10 living hostages and the return of several bodies. 20 hostages
01:28are believed to be alive. In exchange, Israel would free Palestinian prisoners and begin a phased
01:34withdrawal from Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responding with some skepticism.
01:39I hear the reports in the media and from them you can be impressed by one thing. Hamas is under immense
01:45pressure. But so is the Israeli government as protests continue to erupt throughout the country
01:52calling for a deal. We just need the president, Mr. Witkoff and others just to push it in to the
01:59end zone and get the deal done. We know it's possible. President Trump weighing in on social media
02:05saying in part, we will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted
02:10and destroyed. The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be. But Palestinians
02:16in Gaza say time is running out. There is no life left. As you can see, living conditions are hard.
02:24Israel says it's now reviewing the proposal that Hamas already agreed to and will have a response by
02:29the end of the week. But it's worth noting that Prime Minister Netanyahu has long stood firm that
02:34the only way to truly end this war is by eliminating Hamas once and for all. In Tel Aviv,
02:40Jeff Paul, Fox News. All right, Jeff, thank you so much for that detailed report. A lot to dissect
02:46and discuss this morning as it relates to Middle East conflicts. So we want to bring into the
02:50conversation an expert on the Middle East with the University of New Haven, Ken Gray. Ken,
02:54good morning. Always a pleasure. Good morning, Janae. Glad to be back with you. So a lot to dissect.
02:59I want to first start with this new ground operation. A lot of criticism on Israel this morning
03:04about this ground operation saying it's taking away from the reality of a ceasefire. Break that down
03:09for us. Sure. So Gaza City has been under attack, under air attack by Israel now for several days. And
03:19this renewed effort there in Gaza City has now seen a call up of an additional 60,000 troops,
03:27plus 20,000 troops that are currently there have been told that they are going to be extended. And
03:34consequently, Israel is ready to devote a lot more resources back into the Gaza Strip, most
03:42specifically aimed at Gaza City. The idea here is to root out and hold, root out Hamas and hold the
03:51territory, which is a different approach than what the IDF had been taking, where they would go in,
03:57clear an area, then continue moving elsewhere, and not hold the area that they had cleared. Hamas was
04:03able to get back into some of these areas. And consequently, they continued to be a problem.
04:09So this operation is called Gideon's Chariots. And the call out went out just during the night. And we
04:19will see how quickly they are able to put additional troops into Gaza City.
04:26And speaking of that operation, the latest from Israel Defense Forces, they put this out about 30
04:31minutes ago on this Wednesday on X. They say, quote, over the last few days, IDF troops resumed operations
04:38in Jabalia and the outskirts of Gaza City. As you just mentioned there, Ken, IDF saying, quote,
04:43the troops are dismantling military infrastructure above and below ground, eliminating terrorists and
04:49consolidating operational control in the area, while warning civilians to evacuate south for their
04:55safety. Concerned this morning about the hostages still in Hamas captivity, are they safe while this new
05:01ground operation is underway? Yeah, that's a good question about the safety of the hostages.
05:07Of course, they are the only real bargaining chip that Hamas still has to be able to try to get Israel
05:17to stop this and to survive. Remember, as we've talked about before, that as long as Hamas survives this
05:25conflict, in reality, no matter how badly they are hurt, how badly they are damaged, Hamas wins,
05:32because they would have attacked Israel, they would have withstood their attacks, and they would
05:38continue being the governing force there in the Gaza Strip. And so Hamas has to keep those living
05:47hostages still alive so as to be able to use them effectively as a bargaining chip. That's what they're
05:53trying to do right now with this current peace agreement, the ceasefire agreement that they are
06:01accepting, is that they are trying to use it, but not to release all the hostages, but instead to only
06:08release some of the hostages over this 60-day period. That is a deal that is going to be a deal-breaker.
06:16Both Netanyahu and President Trump have both rejected that idea of only giving up some of the
06:25hostages. They want all the living hostages out in exchange for a potential ceasefire.
06:33World leaders keeping a close eye out on Gaza this morning as I put on the screen a wide-scale view at
06:39the Israel-Gaza border. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this Wednesday brushing off accusations from his
06:45Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu that the Australian leader is, quote, a weak politician
06:51who have betrayed Israel by recognizing a Palestinian state. The Associated Press reporting that Netanyahu's
06:57extraordinary public rebuke comes after an August 11th announcement by Albanese that his government's
07:03recognition of a Palestinian state will be formalized by the United Nations General Assembly in September.
07:10Of course, the announcement followed by that tit-for-tat that we saw,
07:13cancellations of Australian and Israeli visas. Ken, as we are further discussing this,
07:19we see world leaders at odds, many of them, when it comes to this, quote, Palestinian state. Break that
07:25down for us as we are looking at this conflict in real time. Yeah, the concept of a Palestinian state
07:31right now, they don't have a capital, they don't control their borders, they're not really able to
07:38survive without external support with aid coming in. So this is purely a symbolic recognition. It really
07:47does not carry that much weight, but it's meant to put pressure on Israel. I went up and I looked at who
07:55has already recognized Palestine as a state, and there is a long list of countries that have already
08:02recognized Palestine as a state going back into the 1980s. And so again, this most current go-round,
08:11we've got France, we've got the UK, we've got New Zealand, we have Australia now the latest. These are
08:19all countries that either have already recognized Palestine as a state, or have said that if Israel does
08:27not meet certain conditions, they will recognize Palestine as a state within the next month or two
08:34months. And so trying to bring pressure to bear against Israel, but at the same time, what does
08:41that really mean? Palestine or Gaza Strip really cannot function on its own, and so this is really symbolic
08:50that the fact that the United States has been held on its own, and that is the only thing that is
08:54what we do, and that is what we do. So I think that the United States is going to be able to
08:58be able to find out more than anything else.
09:00And as you did mention earlier in our discussions, Gideon's Chariots, I do want to share this with the
09:03viewers to further show that you know what you're talking about. The latest from the Jerusalem Post,
09:03as they say, Defense Minister Israel Katz approving this Wednesday morning the idea of takeover of Gaza City,
09:09dubbing the operation called Gideon's Chariots 2. So the reality of the situation, the ground operation will still be underway,
09:17Ken, but the reality of a ceasefire, that's what people are holding on to hope for.
09:22Yes, and so Netanyahu is under a lot of pressure, internally and externally, to try to come to terms
09:30with Hamas for this ceasefire. This is an agreement where 98% of it was already on the table before,
09:41and that Israel had agreed to before, and Hamas had rejected. Now that Hamas is being
09:47threatened with this renewed effort in Gaza City, they're ready to come to the table. However,
09:53they still are holding on to their hostages. So I think the number of hostages that they are
10:01ready to release is going to be the stumbling block for this. If they were to give up the hostages they
10:08have, Israel would quickly agree to this, I believe. But Hamas then loses all of their chips in the game
10:20here as far as trying to survive. So Hamas giving up the hostages, Hamas ends up losing. Hamas holding
10:28on to the hostages, Israel continues to pound away at them. But things are not looking good for Hamas's long-term survival.
10:41Ken Gray, always a pleasure to talk Middle East conflict with you. Thank you so much for joining us bright
10:45and early on this Wednesday. You have a great and safe rest of your day.
10:48And really quickly, before we go to break, I do want to share this with you as we are further
10:53discussing that Gideon's chariots that Ken mentioned this just in from Israel Defense
10:59Forces in just a matter of seconds. They put this out on F same quote as part of the next phase of
11:03operation Gideon's chariots. 60,000 reserve orders were issued this morning. 20,000 of those people no
11:11longer in the military having their service extended. The IDF values its reservists and their vital
11:17role in Israel's security.
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