00:00Pranay Upadhyay continues to be with us.
00:02Pranay, what I want to understand here is how incredibly how the conflict has become
00:09primarily about the Strait of Hormuz.
00:11It's the threat of anti-ship mines, though there is no evidence really
00:17if the mines have been placed because they have not been used at all.
00:21But that's a threat and a chart that has been released by Iranian media
00:25considered close to the IRGC.
00:27There is, and there is a danger zone marked.
00:31What do you think is the strategy here to send out such a threat,
00:35especially to USA and Israel?
00:48Pranay, if you, yes, Pranay, I also believe I could see from the visual
00:52that you do have a special guest with you, and we'll take that in just a short while.
00:56We'll get your communication back on.
00:58Remember, eventually our colleagues, even though many would think Israel is relatively safe,
01:03it's not, ladies and gentlemen.
01:04It's a conflict zone.
01:05There have been missiles that have hit Israeli territory too.
01:08Pranay, I bring you in again.
01:10You want to talk about the Strait of Hormuz, but first go ahead,
01:14take a view from the guest with you.
01:15Go ahead.
01:17Pooja, I just wanted to tell you that if the fate of the ceasefire will be decided,
01:21it will be decided from this place, because I am currently in the northernmost settlement
01:25of Israel, and across this place, the hills you can see is the Lebanese territory,
01:30and that these are the bunkers for the local settlers here.
01:33And I have with me Leflin Colonel, retired from the Israeli Defense Forces, Leflin Colonel Ayal.
01:39What is the situation?
01:41How has been the last 24 hours in this region?
01:44And what can you tell us about this confrontation, which is going on across these hills?
01:49So in the last 45 days, we are, with a war with a terrorist organization, Hezbollah,
01:55we are continuing to strike these terror facilities all over Lebanon.
02:00The last 24 hours, although there is like signs of like a ceasefire,
02:04there was heavy bombing all over.
02:07Just today, two houses in two different communities,
02:10not far away from this place that we are standing,
02:13has been hit by Hezbollah terrorists.
02:15You know, we have to understand that shooting rockets towards civilian houses is a war crime,
02:22and they continue to do that, which in my understanding means that there isn't any ceasefire.
02:28There is a terror organization that's trying to force something because they are afraid for themselves.
02:34But Colonel Ayal, you know, Iran is insisting that if there is no ceasefire in the territory of southern Lebanon,
02:41if there is no cessation of hostilities or operation of IDF,
02:45then they are not going to open the state of Hormuz.
02:47And this could become a tug of war for this entire ceasefire process.
02:51So the war itself, the war itself started between Iran and Israel and the US.
02:57The Iran is the government that sponsored Hezbollah.
03:01We have to make the change in these two battles.
03:05Hezbollah is fighting for itself.
03:08Iran is fighting for itself.
03:09Iran cannot, and I hope that the United States will not tie these two situations together.
03:16If they want to solve the problem of Hezbollah,
03:19well, the government of Lebanon said what it should be.
03:22They should be dismantled from its weapon.
03:24Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, this is another issue.
03:27It's close to the fight between the U.S.
03:30You mean to say that this is unacceptable for Israel's idea to go for any cessation of their operation?
03:36They are not going to accept?
03:39So the Iranians, I don't know what they are going to say.
03:41No, no, it's about Israel.
03:42From the side of Israel, we've just heard that it probably will be a negotiation,
03:48a direct negotiation between Israel and Lebanon.
03:51And I'm blessed for that.
03:52It's important to have dialogue between, for the first time, between these two countries.
03:56The only, for me, as a person that's living here,
04:00that's shutting, that's getting these bombs day by day.
04:03You hear now the airplanes, maybe you will hear the bombs in a minute.
04:06We cannot, we didn't see that the Lebanese government can dismantle Hezbollah.
04:12I remind you and the audience, they promised on the 31st of December 2025
04:18that they dismantle Hezbollah.
04:213,000 rockets were shot from South Lebanon.
04:24How often do rockets get fired here and how much time do you get to go to these bunkers?
04:2915 seconds.
04:31Only 15 seconds?
04:3215 seconds, and it's an improvement because until two days ago, it was zero.
04:37So you heard the bomb and then you get the alarm.
04:41Now, I just want to ask you for a question.
04:44Let's say that your children is playing their ping pong and there is an alert.
04:50It's only 150 meters to the bunker.
04:53But on 150 meters, even UCN Bolt didn't run in 15 seconds.
04:58So this is our life.
05:00We are living in an understanding that in any second, even when we are standing here,
05:06we will not have the time to go to the shelter room, to the safety room.
05:10A lot of times, my child, when we were there a couple of months ago, we were going to the
05:17vehicle and it was like a bomb and then an alert.
05:21So this is our reality and this is why we cannot accept that Hezbollah will continue to have its weapon
05:28in order that we will be able to live a peaceful life here.
05:32So, Pooja, you heard, you know, you heard Lieutenant Colonel Ayal clearly, you know, showing us that what remains the
05:39reality of this region and across the hills, we can hear those sounds from the artillery fire, those sounds from
05:46the fighter jets going across.
05:48And, in fact, the operations are still on in this region.
05:51There is no ceasefire.
05:53There is no sign of any cessation of hostility or any cessation of operation in this region.
05:59He said that we get barely about 15 seconds to run toward the bunker, sometimes not even that.
06:05Pranay, thank you for getting us voices from on the ground, especially in border areas.
06:09And whether it's India or Israel, it's the border areas where usually the residents have to deal with the most
06:16difficult situation, especially when it comes to an active zone of conflict.
06:20Thank you very much, Pranay. Take care of yourself and we'll continue to play out all the ground reports that
06:24you're bringing in.
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