in the middle east. john: it comes as we are getting brand-new information about the u.s.s. mason shooting down another drone in the red sea today, the drone fired from the same houthi-controlled area as the ones over the weekend. we will take you to the briefing as soon as it happens. sandra: israel moving into the third phase of ground operations, 138 hostages are still in captivity and hamas has vowed to not release anymore until there is a ceasefire. hello, john, welcome back. john: good to be with you. john roberts in washington, america reports . israel continuing its campaign against hamas hitting the terror group s strongholds in southern gaza overnight. idf engaging in house to house gun battles after entering the second largest city in the strip. sandra: israel s military says it has killed about half of hamas mid level batallion commanders by now and prime minister benjamin netanyahu said moments ago idf forces are encircling the house of a senior hamas le