support for territories throughout the region, addressed it through sanctions, military force posture, do what we have to do to protect ourselves our troops. nobody is turning away from that threat or their historic and sustained support for these territory groups. >> john, just a follow-up to what peter asked, two questions, i assume when the president said aid is not getting fast enough to gaza that he's not critiquing our efforts to get it there. and without hanging a hook on who is responsible, is he saying that more can be done from our end? is there more that can be done to get the aid to them? >> i think he was referring to actors in the region. >> and then the second question, for many years -- you are going to meet with the australian government and they have supported the release of julian assange. we have not done so saying there were national security reasons. for the reasons that he has been charged are basically the same efforts that many reporters use, so is there any change of heart in this administration's efforts to free julian assange? >> i won't be able to talk about extradition matters, brian, you know, this is -- no, no, fair question, but something the justice department is handling and it's better if you go to them on that. >> thanks, admiral. so you have talked in here about contingency plans for this conflict potentially escalating, is the u.s. military planning for possible evacuation of hundreds of americans from the middle east? >> there is prudent planning and then there's sort of the tactical level planning right before you execute. what we are talking about here is just prudent planning and thinking. there are no active efforts right now to evacuate americans from the region. other than what we are doing in israel and providing charter flights. no active efforts. we are not parking ships off the coast and getting ready to send marines in to get people out of you pick the place over there. that's not happening right now. but what was reported in the press is nothing more than prudent contingency planning, and as i said at the outset, given everything that's been going on the last two weeks, it would be irresponsible if we weren't taking pen to paper and what that might look like. but no orders given, nobody prepositioned to do it, no moving in that direction. but, if it should get to that, my goodness, you would want to make sure we were ready to do it and do it like that. >> quick follow-up on the longer it takes for the house to agree on a speaker, how concerned are you, how concerned is the president that the administration is going to be able to get the necessary aid to israel as well as humanitarian aid. >> it's a concern. as i said early, we have appropriations to support ukraine and israel a bit longer. how long is a bit depends on the pace and the scale of the combat operations in both countries. but yeah, we wouldn't have put a supplemental request in, says in the first line, it's an urgent request. we would not say it's urgent if it wasn't urgent. we want them to act as quickly as possible. >> i wonder if -- we have heard numbers of several hundred americans in gaza, up to 600. do you have a more specific number of the actual number of americans in gaza right now? >> state department is a better place to go for that. several hundred i know is accurate. i wish i could be more detailed, but you have to go to state. a better count than i would. >> prudent planning process for the several hundred americans who are in gaza right now, if it's in a prudent planning stage -- >> no, no, don't mix up the two. the question i was getting was on the "washington post" report about regional evacuation planning. we are actively trying to get americans out of gaza, ambassador satterfield was appointed for that purpose, also to get humanitarian assistance in and we are doing that, but we know there's americans in there, we know they want to get out, we are working very hard to find safe passage for them. different than a noncombatant evacuation. >> current advice for folks who are kind of trying to gather near the rafah crossing in case that is where they would evacuate, advisable for americans in gaza to be at a certain location? >> i got this question yesterday and i really should refer you to the state department. they manage and handle our communication with americans overseas. >> i want to make sure i understood the idea of a ceasefire versus a humanitarian pause, and you guys clearly are opposed to a ceasefire, thinking that would be a victory for hamas. on the humanitarian pause, something the u.s. is actively pursuing or calling for that to be the case? >> you heard the secretary of state talk about the need to look at that, to consider the possibility of a humanitarian pause to allow aid to get in and get in unfetterred and to allow for the safe movement of people out. a lot goes into that. matt, the rafah crossing is open on the way in, not on the way out. a lot of spade work and diplomacy to get that to happen. i think it's -- again, i would refer you back to what secretary blinken said, but certainly that ought to be considered for the purpose of humanitarian assistance. >> one last thing on the ten americans that are unaccounted for. is there any confirmation that some number of those are currently being held hostage, or is it completely that the u.s. has no idea where those people are. >> no, the fact that they are unaccounted for means we truly don't know. we know again as i said a handful, less than ten, are being held hostage. but when we give you the number of unaccounted for, and the reason the number goes up and down, you get information. sometimes it's really bad news. sometimes it's not. so that number fluctuates. it has not fluctuated much, it's hung around 10, 10, 11. today it's 10. about you we are working real hard to solve those mysteries so the number is 0 and at least families know, they have information and we are working hard on that. sorry i was late. >> see? >> it's my fault. >> noted for the record. >> yes, noted for the record indeed. >> a couple topics. on the expanding uaw strike, obviously 5,000 workers walk off the plant in texas today. the strike is in the sixth week and ford laying off workers in michigan and ohio, i'm wondering how concerned the white house is right now that you can get a resolution that's in a timely fashion to avoid significant economic damage. >> obviously we are monitoring all of this, everything you laid out. yesterday i was asked about sperling and secretary su playing point from the administration and helping, clearly not part of the negotiation but certainly helping communicate with the parties, both uaw and the big three. look, the president continues to believe that collective bargaining is incredibly important. the options under collective bargaining, uaw has the right to, you know, kind of think through those options. and so we believe that if everyone comes together in good faith, that there could be a win-win agreement. and so we are going to let them have those negotiations, have those conversations, obviously everything you laid out we are going to monitor very closely. i don't have anything beyond that. >> and on the supplemental packages, obviously you set up the national security focus last week. we have reporting, others have reported as well, there are plans to send up a domestic supplemental, talk through the idea of sending it in two different packages, especially because you have people like bernie sanders saying congress can't pass just tens of billions for priorities abroad without addressing the priorities at home. why did the white house choose to do it in separate packages? >> in director young's letter, she said there would be a domestic supplemental as well, it's coming this week. so, certainly it's going to lay out the president's priorities as it relates to disaster relief, as it relates to childcare, and so that is forthcoming. we did the -- certainly as you heard from the admiral with the supplemental that we released last week, the foreign -- the foreign one, international one, it said urgent on it in the first line, we believe it was incredibly important as we see the war in ukraine and happening with israel and hamas, we wanted to make sure we got that out there as soon as possible. but, the domestic one is coming this week, that's what director young said in her letter that you all, i'm sure you all saw, that there's going to be additional request on the domestic front and those are going to be priority and just as important, but also priorities for the president as well that is critical to domestic push or platform that he has. >> thanks, karine. we have heard from senate republicans humanitarian aid to gaza is an issue for them. are there any modifications to the aid package that would be red lines for the white house? >> i'm not going to get into hypotheticals or red lines. we believe there is no reason for congress should not pass we believe this national security priority, right, which includes as you know, critical aid to ukraine as well, and that's just aid to what is happening to israel, with what's happening in the region. but we also believe in strong bipartisan support. heard it from mitch mcconnell, heard it from chairman mccaul, from chairman turner. we believe there is strong bipartisan support for the supplemental package that was introduced by the president last week and we believe there's no reason, no reason at all congress can't get it through. >> does the president have any reaction that dean phillips will be seeking the presidential nomination? >> i'm not going to talk electoral politics 2024. one thing i would say outside of that is we appreciate the congressman almost 100% support of this president as he's moved forward with some really important key legislative priorities for the american people. i don't have anything to share on the 2024 from here. >> republicans have selected tom emmer as their speaker nominee. i know you've said very often that the white house does not have a vote in this process but emmer has been one of the more supportive republicans for ukraine aid across the board. do you see that as a positive signal? >> i'm just not going to speak to the process. i'm sure there are more steps to go before we get to the end here. >> sandra: a quick break from the white house briefing room and head to the pentagon now, where the pentagon press secretary brigadier general ryder is briefing. an update from there. >> as we have highlighted this includes capabilities requested by israel to include precision guided munitions, small diameter bombs, iron dome interceptors, and other critical equipment. continue to stay in close contact with our israeli partners on their defense needs and remain committed to the security of israel. we also continue to underscore the importance of safeguarding innocent civilians, palestinian and israeli, and delivering humanitarian aid to those in need. since the hamas terrorist attack we have been crystal clear we do not want to see the situation in israel widen into a broader regional conflict and as you've heard president biden, secretary austin and other senior u.s. leaders say our message to any country or group thinking about trying to take advantage of this situation to widen the conflict is don't. we have already deployed a significant number of additional u.s. military capabilities into the region to bolster our regional deterrence efforts, strengthen our capabilities there and enhance our ability to respond to a range of contingencies. in addition to the capabilities that we have already announced, i can also confirm that the new jersey air national guard 119th expeditionary fighter squadron arrived in u.s. central command area of responsibility with additional f-16 fighting falcon squadron bolstering u.s. posture to deter further aggression in the region. again, it is our aim to avoid any regional expansion of israel's conflict with hamas, but we stand ready to protect and defend our partners and interests and will act to do so. in terms of force protection, message is simple as secretary austin has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our troops and interests overseas. with that, associated press, alita first. >> hi, thank you. a couple things, just quick clarifications. can you give a better sense of what the total number of attacks against u.s. bases and iraq and syria has been. was there additional one today or not. can you sketch us out, because there's been a lot of kind of haphazard reporting on the numbers and how many people were injured in addition to the contractor that we know died from the cardiac arrest. and then i have one other thing. >> so in terms of those numbers and statistics, we are working with u.s. central command to get you a comprehensive list for the public record so we will endeavor to get that to you all as soon as possible. what i can tell you right now, and again, we are still continuing to ensure this accounts for everything, but between october 17th and the 24th, u.s. and coalition forces has been attacked ten separate times in iraq and three separate times in syria, via a mix of one-way attack drones and rockets. we are working to get you the facts on these and so again, we'll get that to you as soon as possible. i'm sorry, you said you had a follow-up. >> yes. can you say whether any of the prepared to deploy forces have actually been activated at this point and can you give us a better sense of what general, lieutenant governor glenn and this team is doing in israel. are they -- did that sort of double the number of advisers there, or -- and what -- what, just give us a little bit more clarity on what they are doing. >> sure. in terms of the prepare to deploy, the forces that have been notified under prepare to deploy orders, those forces have not been tasked to deploy at this point in time. i will say that separately the deployment of the terminal high altitude area defense battery and the additional patriot battalions we announced this weekend, their deployment is underway. i'm not going to be able to go into numbers, i'm not going to be able to go into locations other than to say to an undisclosed location in the middle east. again, those forces are aimed at enhancing force protection for forces in the region. i can they will you the thad battery is coming from fort bliss, texas and the patriot battalions and batteries from across fort liberty in north carolina and fort sill in oklahoma. as it relates to general glenn, we have asked a few officials with relevant experience to help israeli officials think through the kinds of questions they need to consider as they conduct their planning, including advice on mitigating civilian casualties. as i'm sure you've seen reported, these officials to include general glenn have deep experience when it comes to urban combat and so again, they are there temporarily with their military expertise to just go through and discuss some of the hard questions that the idf should consider as they plan various scenarios. i will be very clear here, though, the idf will and always will make its own decisions. they are not there to direct, again simply to provide advice. back into the room here. matt. >> thank you, pat. can you say what, if any, efforts the u.s. is making to prevent future attacks on u.s. forces by these iran-backed militias in the region. have there been any counter strikes, any kind of efforts to thwart future attacks and if not, why not. >> thanks, matt. again as we announced this weekend, we are posturing additional forces in the region for two reasons. one, again to bolster our broader regional deterrence efforts, and two, a clearer message that we will protect our forces. we will always maintain the inherent right of self-defense and if there is a response should we choose to have one, we would do that at a time and place of our choosing. thank you. megan. >> a group of senators sent a letter to osd yesterday about a new over-the-counter birth control pill requesting tri care cover it. does osd plan to respond by the end of the month as the senator has requested? >> i don't have anything to provide on that. i'll take that question as always we will respond to congress appropriately, i'll take that question for you. thank you. >> thank you, very much, asking about china, the chinese defense minister was removed today. so does the pentagon believe engagement between the u.s. and china is more likely to happen because china argues that sanctions of mr. reed was major obstacle for the meeting? >> thank you for that. i've seen the press reports as i'm sure you can appreciate, i'm not going to comment on chinese military personnel or moves. i will stay we still believe it is very important for the senior leaders of our two nations to continue to engage, to include between our two militaries so we will seek opportunities to keep those lines of communication open to prevent potential miscalculation. >> has the department been preparing or stepped up preparations for mass evacuations if the conflict spreads beyond where it is right now? >> yeah, so i don't have anything to announce in that regard. as you know and heard us say in the past, we are a planning organization, it's what we do, so again, we are going to do due diligence to ensure we are planning for a variety of contingencies. as it relates to the situation in the middle east and u.s. citizens in our embassies, i would refer you to state department. >> are there any discussions through intermediaries between the u.s. and iran? >> so again, on the diplomatic side, i would refer you to state. certainly from a dod standpoint, our focus is communicating with partners in the region. you have seen us read out several calls to include one today with the secretary. i think it was today, may have been tomorrow, it blurs together, or yesterday, rather, the secretary austin and his iraqi counterpart. so again, that continues to be our focus. karla. >> thanks, following up the question, do you believe that these at least 13 attacks on u.s. forces in iraq and syria, do you believe that iran is responsible for these? were these all conducted by iranian-backed proxies? >> well, you know, i think we have been pretty clear on this, and my colleagues at the white house yesterday talked about this as well. we know that the groups conducting these attacks are supported by the irgc, and the iranian regime. what we are seeing is the prospect for more significant escalation against u.s. forces and personnel across the region in the very near term, coming from iranian proxy forces. and ultimately from iran. so, by virtue of our announcement over the weekend we are preparing for this escalation, both in terms of defending our forces and resprespond decisively, we always reserve the right to defend ourselves and will never not take action to protect our forces overseas. >> can you confirm which iranian-backed militias are responsible for the attacks? >> i'm not going to go into specifics here from the podium, other than to say we know the groups are iranian proxy groups. >> can we get a break down of the injuries that have occurred based on these attacks and have there been any tbis that have occurred as a result of the attacks as well? >> we'll come back to you and that. thank you. jeff. >> when were the most recent attacks? you've mentioned 10 in iraq three in syria. and can you confirmed the carney used its five inch gun to shoot down the drone. >> in terms of the carney, jeff, i'm not going to go into specifics on the defensive systems. and as far as the attacks go, i can confirm, you know, and i think i talked about this yesterday, we had the attempted attack in syria, no casualties or damage to infrastructure. i am aware that there are data mine alerts out there talking about another potential attack today, so we are looking into that. i don't have any information to provide. but again, it is our intent to be able to confirm the details of these attacks since they have begun and make that available to the press and to the public so that two reasons, one, you asked the question, and two, we are very sensitive to the fact there is a lot of misinformation out there right now about whether attacks have occurred or not, so we would like to have something in the public record so that we can have a basis for truth as we go forward on this. thank you. >> chris, and then back to you, joe. >> a couple questions. just to follow up on the attacks. do you have -- did any of the attacks in syria come from inside iraq? >> chris, right now i just don't have that level of detail to provide. >> okay, and then second question, you've highlighted there is a very near term threat but it will take some time for these additional forces, the carrier, to arrive. so, what steps are you taking right now in near term deterrence to prevent attacks? >> yeah, so to be clear, we have significant capabilities in the theater right now. you've got the ford in the eastern mediterranean, expanded number of fighter aircraft throughout the region, in addition to the naval assets that are already in the central command aor. so there should be no confusion whether or not, you know, we have the ability to respond to any potential threats right now. the announcement over the weekend is intended to enhance those capabilities and sustain those capabilities for as long as we may need in order to both deter and protect our troops. >> one final question. do you have an update on the number of c-17 flights that have gone into israel? >> i do not, i do not. i can tell you that we are conducting regular near daily missions to provide them with support, but i will take that question and see what we are able to provide on that. joe and then back to the phone here. >> thank you, quick question. you say on the record if the huthis have mid rage missiles that can region israel. >> thanks, joe. i'm not really able to get into specific intelligence. i can tell you that it's our assessment that the range of those missiles was likely in excess of 200 kilometers. >> okay, let me go to the phone here. look, i studied advertising at the university of florida, please do not make me do math up here. let me go to jared from el monitor. >> hi, sir. thanks for doing this. there have been some news reports, including in my outlet, that citing israeli officials as saying essentially while they greatly appreciate the u.s. military support and coordination, that they feel that in order to maintain deterrence israel as a state in the middle east neighborhood they have no choice but to go ahead with the gaza campaign ground incursion. does the department share that? >> well, look, i'm not going to speak for israel. i think it's important to remember how we got here. so first of all, we have had a very long standing relationship with israel and have worked together for many years to ensure our mutual security in the region. as i highlighted earlier on october 7th, israel was attacked by hamas in a brutal and cruel attack. and so since that day we have worked hard to ensure that we are working closely with israel to understand what their defense needs are, to restore security and protect their people. and so that continues to be our focus. let me go to james, the messenger. >> appreciate the opportunity, the question was answered. thank you. >> thank you. come back to the room. yes, ma'am. >> how involved was lsd in google's decision to disable live traffic conditions in israel and the gaza strip at the request of the idf ahead of a potential ground invasion? >> i'm not tracking any involvement from dod on that. >> is the defense department providing israel with phoenix, ghost or other munitions and in that light, is the department supplying new or emerging tech weapons that have not been deployed by u.s. forces in conflicts yet? >> you've heard me talk about the kinds of capabilities we are providing. i don't have anything additional to announce at this point in time. as we have said, we continue to remain in close contact with israel, for example, secretary austin talking on a near daily basis with the minister of defense to understand what their needs are. and so as we have new capabilities they request we are able to announce, we will do that. >> two questions. yesterday this was one report of quoting u.s. official that israel is delaying its incursion into gaza to give the u.s. more time to prepare for wide escalation or conflict in the region. do you have a comment on that report? >> i saw those press reports. it's israel's decision as to when and how they conduct their operations. the relationship between the united states and israel right now is focused on again understanding what their defense needs are and making sure that we are able to support them in that regard. but we are also communicating with them as i highlighted earlier in terms of providing those kind of thoughtful questions and things to consider based on our lessons in urban combat, and so -- and then also emphasizing the importance of mitigating civilian casualties in light of this situation in gaza, and so that continues to be our focus. >> and in terms of we talked about deterrence, you talked about what was announced in the weekend, although it could be looked at it as more like defensive assets in terms -- as you highlighted between october 17th and october 24th, there has been 13 attacks on u.s. forces in iraq and syria. i don't know what your view is on deterrence and how deterrence works and whether it's a case of failed deterrence, my question to you, u.s. at this moment, how big are the chances that this conflict could be widened based on the reaction from groups that are attacking the u.s.? >> yeah, so a couple things there. let me just kind of break it down. so first of all, to your point, our focus -- there's a couple different things at play here and i think it's important to separate them into their parts. there is the situation with israel and hamas and their efforts to defend themselves against hamas. and so as i mentioned at the top, we are focused on supporting their defensive needs in order to protect their people. as we put these additional assets into the region, it again is meant to deter a wider conflict and to message those who might seek to make it a regional conflict, that that would be a very bad idea, ok. those capabilities give us options. they give us a wide range of capabilities to respond to a multitude of potential contingencies. you heard me talk yesterday, no one wants a broader regional conflict and so we are going to continue to not only ensure that we have those capabilities in the region, but continue to communicate clearly with our partners and our allies throughout the region directly and then also via messaging of these capabilities to potential adversaries or bad actors in the region. separately, we have forces in iraq and syria that are there for one purpose only, our forces in iraq are there at the invitation of the government of iraq to assist them in the campaign to defeat isis, ensure the lasting defeat of isis. our forces in syria are there as part of the campaign to -- to ensure the enduring defeat of isis. so as you see these iranian proxy groups, and it's not -- not the first time that they have done this, attempt to destabilize, attempt to divert attention, what i'm saying is that we are going to take appropriate measures to protect our people so that they can stay focused on the mission. so, right now this conflict in israel is contained to israel and israel fighting hamas. and that will continue to be a focus of ours. but we are also not going to hesitate to protect our people when they are in harm's way doing important national security missions like the defeat isis mission. thank you, laura. >> thanks, pat. just to clarify on the missile launched from the huthis, you said the range is in excess of 2,000 kilometer, is that correct? >> correct. >> so you assess that they do have missiles that can reach israel. >> correct. >> and again, i think to highlight what i said earlier, and i think it was this week, i don't remember, the time all blurs, but when we talked earlier about this, we still cannot say for certain what those missiles and drones were targeting but those missiles were within range of that ship, the carney, and so the carney made the decision to take those missiles down. >> have you seen any other such incidents involving those types of missiles? >> no, not at this time. mike. >> the munitions requirements for israel and ukraine are for the most part not in conflict with the exception of 1.5 millimeter howitzer round. what's the pentagon defense department doing to ensure their needs as well as the military needs to have the supply of those rounds on hand? >> great question. so a couple of things. as you know, we have been working closely with industry, not only in the united states, but working with our allies and partners and their defense industrial base to look at ramping up production of 155. in fact, just last week the national armaments directors met as part of the ukraine defense group process to look at how we can continue to increase that production. we are confident that we can meet both israel's needs and ukraine's needs going forward. i would also highlight again as you know the white house provided a supplemental last week, a request to congress for additional funding, and so of course those resources would be very welcome in terms of going forward to ensure that we are able to continue to provide the level of support that we need to both ukraine and israel, but we are confident that we have what we need to be able to support them at the same time ensure that our military readiness stays at the threshold it needs to. we will not sacrifice our own military readiness when it comes to defending the nation. back to the phone here. j.j. of wtop. >> yeah, thanks, general, for doing this. >> sandra: you've been listening to brigadier general ryder with an update at the pentagon, following the update from john kirby and karine jean-pierre, off the top, bill, do not want to see the conflict broaden as a regional conflict. if anybody in the region is thinking about escalating this or taking advantage of the situation, the message is don't, says brigadier general. >> bill: a couple things here. attacks on u.s. bases in iraq, ten times, attacks on u.s. bases in syria, three times, i did not hear a question as to how we responded to any of those 13 attacks, and maybe that's something that we can get to in a moment. >> sandra: 13 times in the last week, ten in iraq, three in air syria. >> bill: and just crossing right now, listening to the white house briefing for a time with john kirby and then karine jean-pierre, the briefing ended and the white house put out a statement apantly that the president has spoken with bin salman today and preventing a widening conflict and a level of cooperation and relationship once this war has subsided. >> sandra: john kirby also saying there is no evidence to indicate any other nation state or actor is preparing to escalate the conflict imminently, and also weighed in on the reported efforts to evacuation americans. he said "there are no active efforts to evacuate americans from the middle east" although we know there are charter planes that are departing reportedly, but no further detail on any of it. >> bill: and repeated ten americans unaccounted for. yesterday he was talking about the number could be a handful, it could be four, could be upwards of ten. but he was emphatic today, ten americans unaccounted for. he was not sure if they were alive or not but that was the statement from the podium at the white house. >> sandra: florida republican congressman and former green beret commander michael waltz. we have been listening to the white house, the pentagon, what's your take away from what we are learning from our leadership? >> my big take away is this administration has an iran problem. i mean, since october 7th, they have been equivocating and mincing words on iran's direct involvement. now we are talking about complicity. every time we see someone come to the podium, they are lecturing the israelis on human rights and abiding by the laws of war which i think sends all the wrong signals. now look, those ten attacks on our bases are on top of 70 to 80 attacks on our bases in iraq and syria over the last two years. and what have we done about it? not a damn thing. and that's the signal that the iranians have taken. they can get away with it. their foreign currency reserves from 4 billion to 70 billion, oil exports from nearly nothing to 30 billion a year. they got 6 billion money for taking americans hostages. so, here we are in the house, granted we are having a lot of problems with republicans in the house right now, but we are sitting on this massive supplemental and it's typical washington d.c. to not talk about the policy but just to ask congress to throw more money at an issue, and i for one refuse to do that. >> bill: what about the lack of a question, comes up momentarily, what has the u.s. done in response to this? 13 in one week, i would consider that significant. >> that's my question and instead of problem the pentagon, from the state department, from the white house saying iran, here are the consequences you are going to suffer directly, if these attacks on u.s. forces and facilities continue, we get this kinds of bland, you know, well, we always reserve the rights to defend ourselves. i think most americans would say obviously but what are you going to do to stop it? and that's what our enemy, that's the message our enemies are not getting is what will be the consequences, what will be the cost, and as long as they see this perceived weakness and opportunity they are going to continue to take it. >> sandra: the biden administration said it remains concerned about potential for future attacks on u.s. soldiers in the middle east, you got to wonder what this phone call was, the white house released this news after the briefing was over, that biden and the saudi crown prince affirmed the importance of working towards a sustainable peace we are told between the israelis and palestinians as soon as this crisis subsides. you got to wonder what all these conversations are that happening behind closed doors, congressman. >> well, look, i certainly hope the saudis remain committed to normalization and a peace deal with the middle east. i hope that they will actually fund the movement of some of these palestinians out of gaza to get them out of the way of this conflict so they can't be used as human shields. i can go down the list of things that i hope the president said, but again, when it comes to public signalling, once again, our enemies believe that they can get away with it when they see -- when they smell or believe that they see weakness, then they are going to be emboldened. and when the underlying premise coming from this administration is deescalate, deescalate, deescalate, that's a signal to our adversaries that they can escalate and get away with it. >> bill: well, it was remarkable to hear an interview with bret baier, talking about the regional cooperation developing. really, you have the sense that we were on the eve of a new day in the middle east and all that now has been almost -- well, maybe, maybe, just going to have to see how this one wraps up. sir, thank you for your time. michael waltz, the republican from florida. >> sandra: thank, congressman. >> bill: steve, what is happening from your location tonight? hello. >> bill, more warnings about hezbollah probably trying to widen this war into a second front against israel. the latest warning coming from israel's president for hezbollah not to widen it no a two-front war. >> i think hezbollah is playing with fire. i think iranian empire of evil that is backing them and operates day in, day out to destabilize the middle east and the region is playing with fire. >> for two weeks now we have been seeing back and forth scrimmages between hezbollah and israel. hezbollah has been contained, they have been firing those shorter range anti-tank missiles, not the more powerful rockets, and just in a final sign here of how security is getting worse by the day, saudi arabia now evacuating its diplomatic families by military planes. bill, back to you. >> bill: thank you, steve. on the ground in beirut, lebanon. israel increasing across across gaza, unleashing airstrikes overnight. idf saying bombardment hit more than 400 militant targets and killed dozens of hamas fighters. the campaign to crush hamas ahead of anticipated ground inversion and as the terror group released two more hostages. on top of that all that, in tel aviv, lucas tomlinson reporting now. hello, lucas. >> hello, bill. we have learned moments ago that israeli forces killed six hamas divers trying to penetrate southern israel and learned that two rockets were just fired from syria into northern israel, landing harmlessly in the golan heights, and first heard the voice of the israeli hostage freed from hamas last night. and what it was like to endure hamas captivity the past two weeks. >> to tell you the truth, i've been through hell. we never knew that we would come into this situation. they stormed our kibbutz, they kidnapped me, laid me on my side on a motor bike and ran into the fields towards gaza. no difference between young or old man or women. it was very painful. >> the 85-year-old hostage was a peace activist, and used to help sick palestinians in gaza get to israel for hospitals for years. and her husband is still there, and up to ten americans among them. asking the gazans for help, offering protection and cooperation as you can see in the flyer. the hostage crisis has not stopped israeli forces from turning up the volume in gaza, carrying out over 400 airstrikes in the past 24 hours, killing several hamas commanders and just before coming on air, the flotilla 13, the navy seals from israel, stopped a terror cell from coming ashore. six hamas divers dead in the water. they tried to penetrate southern israel, the commandos, residents were asked to stay inside. and also endured another rocket attack in tel aviv, the first one in a few days and forces say it was the largest rocket attack on central israel since the october 7th massacre. >> bill: lucas, stay with me a moment here, the divers off the coast of gaza trying to swim into the coast of israel, is that the first time it happened over the last 18 days and what do you think? because we have been told that 25 mile stretch of eastern mediterranean coast off of gaza has been locked down by these israeli military. >> this is the first known report of divers in the water. certainly in the past week, bill, and just shows the reach of hamas, that while they are hiding in their -- in caves there in gaza, they still are managing to attempt to carry out. but it should be noted the attack was thwarted. israeli navy was on the scene along with commandos and they destroyed the base they came from. and the rocket attacks, 18 days since the worst terrorist attack in israel's history, hamas is still able to carry out these massive rocket barrages. we did learn that five israeli citizens were lightly wounded in the latest attack. >> bill: point taken on both those, lucas. thank you. live where it is evening now, nightfall in tel aviv. >> i don't have anything to announce in that regard as you know and you have heard us say in the past. we are a planning organization, it's what we do, so due diligence to plan for a variety of contingencies. as it relates to the situation in the middle east and u.s. citizens in our embassies, i prefer you to state department. >> sandra: that was the pentagon press secretary pat ryder commenting on the contingency plans of a major evacuation as the risk of a broader regional conflict escalates. let's bring in joey jones, fox news contributor and retired u.s. bomb technician. joey, great to see you. i say the risk of a growing conflict from the region. we say that because right now john kirby, brigadier general, said they don't see that happening right now. joey, thanks for joining us. i want to bring your attention to the board here, gives idea of the u.s. naval forces that have been deployed to the middle east and the u.s. military might that has now surrounded the region. you had the u.s.s. eisenhower, in the eastern mediterranean sea, moved to the persian gulf. 26th marine unit, and gerald ford and the whitney. and joey, toss this question, news from the pentagon a moment ago, attacks into israel from gaza paints the picture really of the rocket attacks and mortar attacks, anti-tank fire and the drone strikes. you can see them obviously throughout this region here. what we just heard from the brigadier general is an update from the pentagon on the u.s. forces attacked now at least ten times in iraq and three in syria. sort of highlighting the u.s. military bases in the region and joey, can you talk to the growing threat to some of our own as this conflict continues? >> yeah, i would love to have more details on the attack, not just who did it but what they did it with, what type of weaponry and how accurate they were. if the united states wants to do a deterrent, we can send billions of dollars of aircraft carriers and ships into an ocean and say be deterred. if a terrorist organization wants to do a deterrent, to keep us out of the fight, they have to take kinetic action, and be decisive. were they trying to kill us or deter us and i saw he didn't necessarily address that question on the head. and i don't know if he was asked that question directly but it's an important question. i did hear the question outside of the contractor whose life was killed, was anyone hurt, what our administration is trying to figure out. sometimes it's not what they say but what they don't say but we have to ask them we want to say that hamas and israel are in a war, the question that americans need to ask, are we in a war. are we at war in the sense of we have mobilized our military and take defensive measures and we have been attacked and from those prerequisites we are having war waged on us and for what purpose. >> sandra: it's a great question, joey. we have this graphic up here that we think your expertise can obviously weigh in on. the concrete jungle nature of what might -- this might look like if this ground invasion does happen. urban warfare notion of the dense area, narrow streets, the tunnels that they say could thwart even the most elite ground forces. and joey, we are highlighting obviously tall buildings where snipers can hang out, ability of drones to come in to collapse buildings, obviously making it tough for the grounds invasion to get in there. artillery, the tanks, the civilians, obviously, still at risk in all of this. and then the tunnels, obviously, which are below ground and can cause obviously major headaches for any ground forces to get in there. can you sort of add your expertise to what this would look like and how challenging this ground invasion could be? >> it's incredibly challenging. the reason why it's so challenging, just to set the stage of my own experience, i was injured in something called operation roadhouse taking a small town, none of the buildings were more than a couple levels tall, but five enemy fighters going against the marines, they knew they would retreat to draw us in, so stage rocket launchers and rifles in other buildings and retreat back. once we identified the location, they would retreat back to another set of buildings. it's a common and effective tactic. they took ieds and made the entire town a mine field, if hamas chooses to do that in gaza, that's what they are doing, choke points, if you see two roads come together in an intersection, they know you have to go through the intersection to get to either road, it's a choke point. ieds, a sniper on the intersection. what makes the idf vulnerable, they have to go in slowly knowing that ieds and mines are a part of hamas's arsenal. so they cannot roll down as fast as they can. block by block, sometimes feet by feet, takes hours and the whole time hamas is watching them. >> sandra: incredible information you are providing us. and joey, the terror watch list, arrests being made at our southern border, while we are looking at all of this happen over there, watch these numbers, oh, boy, i mean, we are looking at a trend that is clearly going up. fiscal year 23, this year alone, 169 on the terror watch list. arrested at our u.s. border. something to watch as the cbp just put out this statement, sounding the alarm, foreign fighters motivated ideology or mercenaries, to or from countries in the middle east through mexico, joey, quite a warning. quick final on that. >> yeah, i can't see your graphic but i think if you have -- i think i know the one you are talking about and should be a 0 there, 2018 or 2019, and then increasingly high from 2021, 2022. >> sandra: indeed. >> and here is the thing. president biden owns this, and we have to worry if politics wants the borders so open, politics how we respond abroad and it makes me worry. look no further than leaving americans in afghanistan and kabul, to worry about that. >> sandra: and there is the 0 you referenced a few years ago. there were no arrests on the terror watch list at the southern border and that has now skyrocketed to this number, 169. joey, you are great. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> sandra: bill. >> bill: tensions running high at the united nations. we talked about this a short time ago, exchange. antony blinken was there on behalf of the u.s.. u.n. secretary general made a speech in which he seemed to justify the hamas terrorist attacks, forced the israeli ambassador to speak out and he did. watch both exchanges right now. >> recognize attacks by hamas did not happen in a vacuum. palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. they have seen their land steadily devolve by settlements and plagued by violence. >> there is not two sides at this moment. there is only one side to support in front of the aggression of isis. therefore i decided to cancel my meeting with the secretary general later on today. >> bill: we'll see where it goes now. eric shawn live outside the u.n. with more now. eric. >> united nations secretary general, antonio guterres, calls for him to resign after his comments in which he seemed to justify and explain the blood thirsty savage and brutal terrorist attacks and acts by hamas. the israeli ambassador to the united nations gilad erdan saying he has to step down because the u.n. has lost its moral authority. the secretary general's comments came during the security council meeting earlier today on the hamas-israeli war, he talked about the israeli occupation as you heard in his comments there's been not happen in a vacuum. that ignored the fact israel withdrew from gaza in 2005, and that the gazans elected hamas to the legislature and then the hamas movement overthrough fatah to control gaza. the foreign minister eli cohen said there are not two sides to this, seeming acceptance of the nazi-like behavior of hamas here in the halls of the general assembly, those defending not democracy and freedom, but the terrorists. >> right now there is small children babies in captive, any cause for this, there is no cause for this. and shame on him. >> in protest, the foreign minister canceled his meeting with guterres, as ambassador gilad says too many people here accept hamas's claims and mockery what the u.n. supposed to stand for. >> u.n. is failing and you have mr. secretary general have lost all morality and impartiality. because when you say those terrible words these heinous attacks did not happen in a vacuum, you are tolerating terrorism. >> the secretary general's office will only comment on these remarks saying that the secretary general in about an hour will be meeting with family members of some of those who are missing and included in that group, some israeli officials. back to you. >> bill: eric, more to come on that, certainly. israeli forces meanwhile say they are ready to retaliate against hamas on the ground but the ongoing hostage situation may be halting the incursion. laser berman with me now. thank you for your time. i want to talk about the latest commentary about a potential ground invasion. the question went to the white house, john kirby has the -- does the idf have an effective plan, and he said that's a question for the idf. a lot of reporting here in the u.s. that american military personnel are in israel and they are the ones doing the consulting. can you -- how much do you know about that, that might be able to give us an idea about how much there is truth to that. >> sure, well i think you hit it right on the head, bill, that the fact that 18 days after the worst massacre of jews since the holocaust you have hundreds of thousands of idf troops basically idling, they trained, got ready, ready to go in, and i speak to friends called up and my unit called up as well, and by now they are done training and they are starting to play volleyball, starting to go home, readiness is starting to slip. you can only hold troops at the border so long. could be good reasons for it. could be israel wants to make sure this happens when troops are ready, that they want to soften up hamas defenses. but if you look at the record of idf operations over the past three decades, a reticence, casualty heavy, because of the reaction of the world and the american factor. i think it is quite obvious from statements from administration officials, from biden himself, that there is a discomfort in washington about the way israel is going to conduct this campaign. you've heard it every time an administration official gets in front of an microphone, they remind israel as if they need reminding it has to conduct the operation following the rules of war. and there was this leak to the "new york times" that there are senior u.s. military officials in israel advising. let's not forget there are probably people in the biden white house who are not happy with the amount of support israel has gotten, they are much more sympathetic to the palestinians and trying t send a message that maybe israel can't do this and the u.s. should rein in israel because israel cannot carry out this. i think that's -- >> bill: quite a statement. you wonder, too, what the hostages, the role that plays in the decision as well. lazar, thank you for your time. we have a lot going on. thanks for being here today. >> thanks, bill. >> bill: breaking news with sandra. >> sandra: stakeout cam for the foreign affairs committee, meeting on a classified briefing on iran soon. we expect to see lawmakers speak about what they can from that briefing on iran, obviously at a critical moment, bill, a lot of breaking news. and thank you for joining us here. >> bill: good to be with you, the statement of a widening war, not escalating. hope that's the case. >> sandra: sandra smith. >> martha: thanks. i'm martha maccallum. at this hour,