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00:00Well certainly that confirmation that we got from the Israelis earlier on today
00:04saying that Hassan Nasrallah would no longer be able to terrorize the world.
00:10We later heard a bit more information from the IDF, from the Israeli Defense Forces,
00:15saying that while they wouldn't give us the intelligence, the precise intelligence
00:20which led them to believe that they had eliminated, in their own words, Hassan Nasrallah,
00:25they said if we don't know something we don't say anything.
00:28But we know, this time we know Hassan Nasrallah has been eliminated.
00:34Now, in terms of the Israeli side, I'm here in Haifa, which is in the north of the country,
00:38a coastal city here.
00:40Earlier on in the week there were air raid sirens,
00:42people could look out of their windows at the sea behind me
00:46and see Israel's air defense system intercepting rockets
00:50which had been fired targeting the city from Hezbollah.
00:54We've not had any air raid sirens yet today here in Haifa
00:57or overnight, but there have been plenty of sirens going off
01:01in various different communities in the north of Israel
01:05as well as some parts of the occupied West Bank, in the north of the occupied West Bank.
01:10I have been speaking to a local resident here,
01:13he's one of the few people who's out and about, the streets are really quite quiet today.
01:17Most people are staying at home, close to an air raid shelter,
01:21staying with their families.
01:22But I have been speaking to, yeah, a few local residents,
01:24those who've decided to venture out, and one gentleman just told me
01:28that he felt safe enough to come out,
01:31because there are air raid shelters in regular parts,
01:34you can get to them quite easily here in Haifa,
01:36and also he said that he had been expecting a bigger backlash from Hezbollah,
01:41but so far we haven't seen that here in Haifa, that's what he told me.
01:46Of course, the big question for Israelis now is,
01:48how much and to what extent will Hezbollah respond
01:53and to what potential can they respond?
01:55How much have they been degraded by the Israelis?
01:59Now, you mentioned that the Israeli military was not willing to share information
02:04relating to intelligence that led to the attack,
02:07but do we have any clues as to what exactly led to this targeted strike
02:12and how Israel was able to pinpoint the exact location?
02:18Well, clearly all the signs are pointing to the fact that
02:22Hezbollah must have been infiltrated to some extent,
02:25because Israel's intelligence on the militia group,
02:28the Iran-backed militia group, was extremely strong.
02:31We've seen that in recent months,
02:33Israel managing to knock out members of the top brass of Hezbollah.
02:37Earlier on, not too long ago, we saw a group of some of the commanders
02:41of the elite Radwan force knocked out in an airstrike by Israel.
02:47Now, the Radwan force, they are infantrymen, highly trained.
02:51It would be them if Hezbollah would to have launched
02:54its own ground offensive into Israel.
02:57It would have been the Radwan force carrying out their highly trained infantrymen.
03:01Well, a whole load of their commanders got wiped out in an Israeli airstrike
03:04not long ago.
03:05We also saw the head of the drones programme being knocked out,
03:08the head of the missiles programme being knocked out.
03:11And, of course, who could forget that attack on the pages and walkie-talkies
03:15that Hezbollah members carry with them in their pockets?
03:19So, Israel's intelligence on Hezbollah is extremely strong,
03:23that we know for sure, but exactly how they say they know
03:27that Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah,
03:29has been knocked out, eliminated, in their own words,
03:32they're not willing just yet to share that intelligence with us.
03:35Now, those pager attacks followed one day later by walkie-talkie explosions,
03:41were they seen as a game-changer here?
03:46Certainly, if you talk to Israelis,
03:48I was speaking earlier on to a couple here
03:51who were walking around the streets of Haifa.
03:53One of them said to me, the younger man said to me that he's left wing,
03:59he's against war, he's against escalation,
04:01but in this case, he feels that Israel has done the right thing
04:05by launching that major strike on the south of Beirut
04:08because he said Israel had the chance to knock out Hassan Nasrallah,
04:11they were right to take it.
04:13Of course, we do not yet know to what the scale is
04:16of the civilian deaths and injuries in Beirut,
04:19but we are expecting that toll to be very high,
04:23and Israel says this is all part of Hezbollah's strategies,
04:26it's something Hezbollah has always denied,
04:27but this is part of Hezbollah's strategy
04:29of deliberately using people as human shields
04:31and putting their headquarters underneath residential buildings
04:35in the south of Beirut.
04:36Israel saw the opportunity to knock out Hassan Nasrallah,
04:40the group's leader, and they took it.
04:43And they didn't, according to the Pentagon,
04:45even tell the US beforehand.
04:47Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister,
04:50told his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin,
04:53as the aircraft, the Israeli aircraft,
04:56were already in the air and on their way to carry out those strikes.
05:01Now, Israel's chief of staff earlier said that killing Nasrallah
05:04was, quote, not the end of their toolbox.
05:08What can we expect in coming hours and days from the Israeli side?
05:15Certainly not the end of the toolbox.
05:17The message there is very clear,
05:18and we heard Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly
05:22saying this in New York just yesterday.
05:24He said the arm of Israel can reach anywhere in the Middle East.
05:27So the warning there is very clear.
05:30Israel feels that it's at the top of its game,
05:32it's made some big military successes here,
05:36and let no-one be under any doubts
05:39that Israel can go further and can do more.
05:42Question mark is, will Israel launch a ground offensive
05:45in the south of Lebanon and push even harder against Hezbollah?
05:51That, we do not yet know whether that is on the cards
05:53and whether the army, the Israeli army,
05:55will be given the green light for that.
05:57It would be highly symbolic for Israel to go into Hezbollah territory,
06:02but at the same time, there would be a risk to Israeli soldiers,
06:05capture as well as them getting killed.
06:08And here in Israel, when an Israeli soldier is killed
06:11or captured, it's a very big deal.
06:14Everyone in the country is aware and there is mourning.
06:17It's a big issue for Israelis to imagine their troops being put in danger.
06:22So there's a question mark.
06:23Will Israel launch a ground offensive in Lebanon?
06:26That we do not know.
06:27And of course, we do not yet know exactly what Hezbollah's response
06:29is going to be and to what extent they can respond.
06:32How degraded are they in terms of capacity?
06:35That we're still waiting to find out.
06:37And what are people around you in Israel saying
06:41about this potential of a ground offensive?
06:48Well, there is fear, as I was saying, for the risk to Israeli troops.
06:53Now, we know earlier in the week, Israel said that it had put its
06:57troops in positions, manoeuvred them into combat positions
07:01in the north of Israel.
07:03So they are prepared for the fight.
07:04They've not been given the green light that,
07:07but they would no longer have what they have, this air superiority.
07:10In the skies, Israel is far superior to Hezbollah.
07:14But down on the ground, in Hezbollah territory,
07:17is a whole different matter.
07:18And Hezbollah would have, to an extent, the upper hand of being
07:22on its own territory, of being defenders.
07:24That said, clearly, Hezbollah has been significantly degraded
07:28in recent days.
07:30The Pager attacks, the walkie-talkie attacks,
07:32disrupting their communications, many members of the top brass
07:36being knocked out.
07:37Hassan Nasrallah at the top as well.
07:40So, the question mark, of course, a ground offensive or not.
07:45There are advantages, Israelis will tell you,
07:47but there could be big disadvantages too.