Israel affords Hamas 7 days to agree on ceasefire deal, or Rafah invasion | LiveNOW from FOX

Are taking a live look here one of the many cameras that we've had over in the Middle East over the last several months here this is the Israel Gaza border Israel reportedly given the Hamas terror group one final ultimatum one week to decide between a truce deal or an operation in dafa the Wall Street Journal reporting that update via.

Egyptian officials now all of this comes as reports started to circulate via Arab media that part of a truce deal would include Israel removing all Israeli troops from Gaza in exchange for the release of the hostages however Israeli officials saying today that an end to the war will absolutely not be part of any ceasefire deal want to talk about.

All of the latest developments here so let's bring in a friend of the show Mark Chandler director of government relations at Coastal Carolina University and professor of practice also a former senior intelligence defense official joining us now live thank you so much as always for taking the time to be here with us you're welcome Josh and good.

Morning to you good morning what do you make of this final ultimatum so to speak that is being reported I know you and I have discussed these similar ultimatums over the last several weeks but it sounds like this is kind of the final deal here according to Egyptian officials well I I think what you're looking at is Israel's had enough of the.

Negotiations and the games that Hamas has been playing and and so when we look at this I think the operational planning is pretty much done there'll be refinement of that uh as the IDF is prepared to go into Rafa but but the emotional turmoil that Hamas has been putting on the Israeli populace the families of the hostages there I think.

Enough is enough you have given Hamas enough time to reinforce its military positions all throughout Rafa and remember there's thousands of Hamas Fighters still alive to conduct these operations and so when you look at that I think Israel says okay now is the time don't play games come to us with a legitimate offer and there that offer.

Just to remind the viewers there's been multiple offers put on the table for the last several months and Hamas has turned them all down they're they're buying time and they're using the hostages as that kind of blackmail card now breaking out of Cairo this morning Hamas is indicating that it may and this could be under the pressure from Israel that that.

We've just talked about may be open to a deal for a an initial part of the ceasefire process you know release some number of hostages it'll be a small number that I don't want to get people's hopes up because Hamas is done this before and then pulled the the rug out from under everybody's feet so you could see a break in this but I think Israel.

Has had enough it's about time to to get rid of Hamas the plans essentially for that Rafa operation have been in the works for a while we've heard a lot about it it's been impending now for several months do we know what that operation overall would really look like what would be included within it well I I.

Think what now now there have been some air strikes this week some surgical air strikes going against Hamas operatives who are preparing to attack Israel or Israeli soldiers that's not part of the operation that's just trying to stay on top of what Hamas is doing now uh so you're looking at that but I think that will be part of what you see as a.

Campaign as Israel moves into Rafa don't forget the tunnel Network so you're fighting a a multi-dimensional aspect to the battlefield here a Subterranean aspect with all the tunnels you have Hamas continuing to use those Palestinians as Shields and then also the hostages as human Shields so when you look at that.

It's a complex complicated operation it Israel they've adjusted and it's it's hard for the Layman to kind of realize this they've adjusted the scale of their operations from when they started in Northern Gaza to when they went to conun to when they where they are now smaller unit tactics that can do more surgical operations if you will against selected.

Targets so as Hamas has its strong points then Israel will continue to attack those surgically with smaller unit tactics to avoid the civilian casualties that everyone is talking about it's up to Hamas to remove some of those now phase one absolutely is withdrawal of those refugees that are in there and that's that's underway Israel.

Has set up camps for those refugees to go to they're trying to set up evacuation routes Hamas is not cooperating with that and not allowing those refugees to vacate the Rafa area because they know that they can gain from any inadvertent uh civilian deaths so it's going to be a complicated operation beginning with air strikes uh.

Some some targeted UAV strikes and then selected small unit tactics moving in on the ground to try to take care of Hamas Fighters as quickly as possible and reduce the overall collateral damage over the last couple days we have heard from Israel where they have confirmed the death of another hostage another person who was held hostage.

There in Gaza we are told now that that person was murdered back on October 7th their body held captive uh by Hamas something that we have heard time and time again over the last several months they have also confirmed that a presumed hostage has been found dead after all this time what do we know about the remaining hostages and their conditions.

Because that has been such a big question here really since October 7th well well Josh let me first say something about this new revelation number one I think it it kind of remind Rems the viewers and reminds people of the barbarity of the Hamas attack on 7 October uh the the individual who was identified in Israel uh was.

Inadvertently buried with another body now that made identification what happened the burning the mutilation of the Israeli citizens back in October 7th identification very difficult and so I think it unfortunately brings up that that remembrance of that secondly taken a a body out after they killed the second hostages who hostage who was just.

Confirmed just shows that Hamas has no regard uh for the for the sanctity of life whether it's Israeli or Palestinian for that matter and so when you look at that I I think you just see nothing more than using the bodies of hostages and those hostages as some sort of negotiating tool now there's over 130 hostages remaining I hope you know and.

I've talked about hope is is not really a way we go about things but I hope that at least half of those are remaining alive at this time uh they've suffered torture uh malnutrition I mean they've suffered you know inhumane acts at the hands of Hamas uh for almost seven months now and so when you look at that I think that that we can hope that.

There's a lot of hostages remaining alive but I think unfortunately and it's part of the negotiation to release the names of the Dead hostages out there and that's what Israel really needs to understand out there it's just a sad remembrance a reminder of what happened on October 7 and we of course have to talk about.

Those college campus Gaza War protests that have been ongoing now for several days really several weeks the Associated Press now reporting that more than 2400 arrests have been made that number likely to rise over the coming days as more of these protests and encampments are planned there in your experience do these protests really have any sort of.

Impact on the US response to all of this do us officials look at this and say well maybe some people are unhappy with the way this is being handled well I I so let me touch touch on to this in many ways first off you know I defended this country for over 20 years in the Marine Corps and in doing so you know I I respect our fundamental.

Rights you know and the right to free speech is one but this went beyond that so to answer your question first and foremost no this will not have an impact on any future action that the US does or doesn't do with Israel let's go back several months now we know Israel's been pushing back against the Rafa operation they push back against uh how Israel's.

Conducted their operations throughout they don't want them to conduct this Rafa operation they want evacuation of refugees they want an increase in humanitarian Aid and by the way over 400 trucks in the last few days have been going into uh Gaza on a regular basis and that's what Israel set up they need support from the Arab states they need.

Support from the UN to continue this so no there's not going to be uh a negative impact on how the US conducts its support toward Israel it's it's kind of set where it is it's it's kind of hypocritical publicly and then privately so we're going continue that support but I I want to point out this first amendment thing real quick you know as.

As we look at some of what those protesters have asked for I would just say if you're G to protest know what you're talking about know the basis for what you're protesting so let's talk about the ceasefire there was a ceasefire on six October no one's pointing out the fact in all these protests that Hamas violated that that.

Hamas has turned down at least four ceasefire proposals over the last several months so why aren't we protesting against Hamas to do that you know and then genocide they're talking about genocide being Israel's problem well hamas's Charter talks specifically about eradicating Israel and eradicating the Jews and when they're done there.

Let's eradicate the Christians as well I believe that falls under the definition of genocide so if if we're going to protest let's at least do it from an an educated informed point of view is we're going to do that and I think that's what we're kind of seeing is a misunderstanding a miseducation if you will among these protesters and sorry.

For kind of getting a little political there on that hey you're fine I'm here to you know get your opinion so no I appreciate that as an expert as somebody who has experienced a lot of different situations over the decades I appreciate you providing that perspective and I do want to ask you about something that is kind of ridiculous overall so many.

People are talking about this on social media but the houthis a designated terror group there offering college education for some of those protesters who are suspended from us universities and colleges because of protesting what do you make of that is it even a realistic concept are they just saying it to possibly spur more violence there.

Well I I think they're trying to show support for the protesters and and trying to create an alliance if you will at least you know a a psych logical and an emotional Alliance but but let me talk about that for a second Josh because this is at the vaunted and it was reinforced yesterday the vaunted sa University in Yemen so I think and a lot.

Of universities have this we call it a study abroad program I think this is an excellent opportunity for those protesters if they are sincere in their stance their anti-israeli stance to go study abroad now a couple of things as these stud students line up to do that because the universities can set this up as I said as a study abroad first and.

Foremost they they're going to need to study the Quran and they're likely going to need to convert to Islam now that's that's fine so they can go out and do that then as they go in there I think all the non-muslims need to realize that not only are they going to be treated as second rate citizens but probably third or fourth rate citizens as they go now.

Let's let's look a little bit at the women who would be able to go to this yes they can study but they won't have the choice of a academic program of what to study nor will they have the freedom of speech to speak out against what their professors may say so no original thoughts really going to be allowed as they work their way through that and and.

I've seen a lot about the lgbtq community who wants to support the Palestinian cause well if they go there then then I have to as sad as it is to say and it's very sad to say that there's intolerance in the world but they will likely be stoned to death for their personal beliefs so as as the students look at this and the students.

Want to support this and the houthis reinforced this yesterday with another invitation those are just some caveats that they might want to think about the freedom of expression that they would have because as these protests occur in the United States there will be no protest allowed there they'll be locked up in a prison that has nothing uh.

Compared to what a US jail would look like so that's an offer that at least they can consider all right Mark Chandler there as always thank you so much for joining us here and breaking down all the latest developments out of the Middle East as you always do is there anything else you want to add about any of this well well.

Jos since we ended on the houthis I'll just remind everybody that the houthis have increased their attacks in shipping uh this past week so they're being fairly consistent with that they had a new threat and that's a threat to attack any ships in the Mediterranean Sea uh us naval ships or other ships going into a port in Israel now that's over, 1300.

Miles from Yemen and so when you look at that I'm not sure of the the technical capability that they had to conduct such an attack but we can't put it past them and it's a threat they've made they have attacked Southern Israel with missiles so it's something to keep in the back of your head I want to shift quickly to the northern part of Israel Hezbollah has.

Continued a series of attacks in there into Northern Israel Israel's trying to counter those and strike back and do preemptive strikes there but you're seeing some Discord within Lebanon itself because while hezbollah's part of the government it doesn't run the government and some of the more moderate members of the Lebanese government have.

Spoken out against Hezbollah and the potential that they could have to create more destruction because of their attacks on Israel in in Lebanon so I think you're starting to see some concern there and then finally not related to any of this Josh uh Coastal Carolina had our commencement Yesterday by the way no protest and I want to say.

Congratulations to all of those new graduates heading out there into society out there I wish them all the best congrats to all those graduates thank you so much for taking the time as always to join us here and break down the latest we appreciate it you're welcome Josh I hope you have a great day you too and I do want to take you back.

Out to the live image that we do have right here showing the Israel Gaza border that is actually a view of Gaza coming in from Israel I do want to go over the latest details here that we were just discussing as Israel has reportedly given the Hamas terror group one final ultimatum one week to decide between that true steel or an operation.

In toafa the Wall Street Journal reporting the update via Egyptian officials and all of this comes as reports have circulated via Arab media that part of a truce deal would include Israel removing all Israeli troops from Gaza in exchange for the release of those hostages however Israeli officials saying today that an end to the war will.

Absolutely not be part of any ceasefire deal that they would agree to

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