--:-- Georgia Howe: As the death toll from the terror attacks on Israel continues to rise, the country is vowing to eradicate Hamas for good. Hamas terrorists bound, burned, and executed children. They are savages.
--:-- John Bickley: What steps is Israel taking to neutralize the terrorist group, and what help is the U.S. providing?
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, October 10th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Just a day after the massacre of hundreds of Israelis, the Democratic Socialists of America held a much-criticized rally in support of the Palestinians. We discuss the controversy on the streets and in the media.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And direct from Israel, we speak to a resident who was on the ground during the attacks.
--:-- John Bickley: All of our neighbor's sons have been called up. They are all on the front lines. They are all prepared to go save these hostages.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: Following the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust, Israel has declared war on Hamas, launching defensive strikes against the terrorist group and vowing to destroy them for good.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Cabot, millions around the world are still in mourning following these unprecedented attacks by Hamas. What's the latest out of Israel?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, at latest count, the death toll in Israel stands around 900, with another 2,600 wounded, many critically. According to officials, while the Israeli military has regained control of communities near the border, quote, there may still be terrorists in the area.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Among the dead are at least 11 American citizens. At latest count, it was believed Hamas had seized at least 150 hostages. That includes high-ranking military officers, as well as women, young children, and the elderly.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right, we've seen some horrifying reports. So let's talk about Israel's response. What's it been so far?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So shortly after the attack, Israel formally declared war on Hamas, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing, quote, mighty vengeance and preparations for a long and difficult war.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Israel has called up 300,000 reservists, the largest mobilization of its kind in the country's history. The majority of those forces are being sent, along with tanks and other weapons, down to the south near Gaza, while others are headed north to secure the border with Lebanon.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And around Lebanon, it's worth noting, there have already been two incidents of fighting. Looking ahead, the expectation is that Israel will launch a full-scale ground invasion of Gaza in the coming days to root out Hamas terrorists and then rescue those taken hostage.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: In the meantime, Israel's defense minister said, quote, no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel will be allowed into the territory until Hamas has been destroyed.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, as part of that effort, Israeli forces have begun targeted airstrikes on Hamas strongholds throughout the region. At last count, around 700 Palestinians, including dozens of children, have been killed in those strikes.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, what about Hamas? How have they responded just in the past 24 hours?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, they have continued their attacks, launching a barrage of rockets towards Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Monday. The terror group also announced Monday that they would begin executing civilian hostages on video every time an Israeli airstrike hit civilians, quote in their homes without warning
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But again it's important to remember as we mentioned yesterday Gaza is a densely populated region and Hamas terrorists are notorious for operating out of hospitals mosques and schools with the clear intent of using their civilians as a way of deterring attack from Israel.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, in a surprising move Monday afternoon, a senior Hamas official did tell Al Jazeera that the terror group was open to potential truce talks and, quote, political dialogues.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But in an address to the nation, Netanyahu appeared to throw cold water on the idea of negotiations, saying Hamas asked for a war and they'll get one. Though Israel didn't start this war, Israel will finish it. Hamas will understand that by attacking us, they've made a mistake of historic proportions. We will exact a price that will be remembered by them and Israel's other enemies for decades to come.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, moving stateside, what sort of reaction are we seeing from President Biden and or other lawmakers?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, this could well become the defining geopolitical moment for this president. On Monday, Biden had a call with Prime Minister Netanyahu and offered condolences and vowed to support Israel in their fight against Hamas.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But a number of GOP lawmakers, including presidential candidates, have heaped blame on Biden. They say the president's deal with Iran last month freed up billions of dollars for the regime there, which funds Hamas, and then helped pave the way for the attack this weekend.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the events in Israel are certainly putting new pressures on President Biden.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. Well, especially heading into election season, this is going to be a major issue.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, it will.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In the wake of terror attacks launched by Hamas that left hundreds of Israelis dead, rallies in support of the Palestinians have taken place across the United States.
--:-- David Marcus: So Dave, first, tell us about these rallies that got so much attention.
--:-- David Marcus: Morning. There was a major demonstration of a few hundred people in New York City's Times Square that was organized by Democratic Socialists of America. The group did not specifically applaud the attack on Israel, but obviously the timing raised red flags for a lot of people because this seemed to send a message that some Americans are celebrating the terror attack.
--:-- David Marcus: The cover of the New York Post on Monday showed a protester displaying a swastika on his phone. It was a pretty shocking display all around. There was also pro-Israel counter protesting. Things got testy, but thankfully there was no violence.
--:-- David Marcus: We also saw rallies in several other cities, including in Chicago.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right, multiple cities saw these kinds of demonstrations right after the massacre.
--:-- David Marcus: Now, there are six members of Congress who belong to the DSA. Did any of them condemn this rally in New York?
--:-- David Marcus: No, there's been silence about the rallies from these six members, who include Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar.
--:-- David Marcus: Another DSA member in Congress Rashida Tlaib did earn severe blowback for her statement on the attack in which she blamed both Israel and the United States but did not blame Hamas for killing hundreds of civilians and brutalizing thousands more
--:-- David Marcus: For now it seems as though these representatives stand by the DSA We have to wait and see if any of them step down from their membership but there certainly no indication of that so far.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah. There were also some very controversial moments in the media reaction the past day or so. What have we seen on that front?
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, there were a few moments that really raised eyebrows. For example, on CNN, Fareed Zakaria had a guest who claimed that most of the victims were military targets, which is just an abject and outright lie, unless a techno rave, for example, where 260 were killed with some kind of army operation.
--:-- David Marcus: The anchor made no effort to push back against it whatsoever.
--:-- David Marcus: Meanwhile, Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, who were accustomed to hearing attack conservatives, really lit into MSNBC coverage live on MSNBC.
--:-- David Marcus: Here's part of that. I love this show and I love this network, but I've got to ask who is writing the scripts? Hamas, they are not fighters. They are not militants. And I'm looking right at the camera. They are terrorists. It is a barbarian who rapes and brutalizes women, who kills children in front of their parents.
--:-- David Marcus: Guys, get this story right. Please talk to the Israeli mothers and fathers who lost their children. And please stop calling this a retaliation. This is a defensive measure against an organization that is committed to one thing, killing Jews, not a peaceful resolution of a conflict, but murdering Jews.
--:-- David Marcus: War is hard to cover objectively, but you have to start with the basic facts. And thus far, too many in the media on the left are still looking to equivocate and find both sides at fault, which appears to many as frankly quite callous given what we saw.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Indeed. Now, social media has been a factor here. What role has it played so far?
--:-- David Marcus: Well, we have seen the atrocities carried out by Hamas exposed for all the world to see. As horrific as it is to view, it really is crucial to understanding the reality on the ground with this terrorist group.
--:-- David Marcus: We also have firsthand accounts. Again, hard to witness at times, but important in making what's happening there more of a reality for the people.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, as you say, difficult, but very powerful.
--:-- David Marcus: Dave, thanks for joining us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Aryeh Lightstone was the senior advisor to the U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Trump administration. He was in Israel this weekend when Hamas launched its deadly attack. Aryeh joins us now from his home in Renana, Israel, just north of Tel Aviv.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: First of all, we're glad you're safe. Tell us what you've been through since Saturday.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: Israel has been under attack since 7 a.m. Saturday morning. The attacks were not just on the border towns where over a thousand terrorists burst in and have murdered and maimed and raped and kidnapped and pillaged Jewish people.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: Not only that, but they've also fired over 5,000 rockets indiscriminately from civilian areas. in Gaza at civilian targets in Israel.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: My home and my family have been one of those civilian targets. We've been in the air raid situation no less than 12 times, and we've seen the Iron Dome work for eight of those 12 times
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: The last 48 hours have been harrowing to say the least I been in the bomb shelter for 10 of those 48 hours and unfortunately received funeral notices of friends of ours who died on the front trying to save hostages.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's devastating news. I'm sorry to hear that.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: Now, why did this attack happen now? Why do you believe Hamas chose to strike this particular weekend?
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: Well, I think there are three different reasons. You've got the specific dates is 50 years since the Yom Kippur War, which was the last and closest thing that the people who desired to see Israel's destruction saw as successful.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: So 50 years to the date, that date has symbolism. But that date also has the knowledge that Israel's guard was down. It was a Sabbath. It was the end of the holiday season.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: But the macro reason why this happened is because the United States of America has been exceedingly weak over the last three years and has been feeding Iran billions of dollars of capital and allowing them freedom of operation movement.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: And when they say Hamas or Hezbollah is behind this, those are just fancy code words for saying Iran. Iran perpetrated this attack. Iran orchestrated this attack. And Iran is doing this with U.S. dollars.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, can you explain a little bit the geography of Israel and the Gaza Strip?
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: Sure. Israel's tiny. Tel Aviv is the economic hub of the entire Middle East. And if you were to drive without traffic 45 minutes south, you find the Gaza Strip.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: Now, the Gaza Strip is populated by about 2 million Palestinians. It has been since 2007 under the control of the U.S. recognized terror organization called Hamas.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: And since that time, Hamas has held captive, I don't know whether it's 2 million unwilling Palestinians or it's 1.9 million willing Palestinians. And they're that way because they're pawns for their so-called leaders.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: And why do I say so-called leaders? Because the leadership of Hamas does not sit in Gaza. The leadership of Hamas sits in Turkey and Qatar, taking out suites and villas at the Four Seasons and the Ritz-Carlton's, taking European money and living high on the lam while they deliberately keep their, quote, people debilitated and beaten down and angry so they can live off of this enormous scam.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Last question. Israel has cut off water, electricity, and food from Gaza. What do you expect the next steps will be?
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: Israel has suffered more losses today in the last 48 hours than in its history, certainly in any 48-hour period. The Jewish people have suffered more murders in the last 48 hours than they have any time since the Holocaust.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: This will not be an operation. This will not be something precise. This will be war. And in war, you win when you decimate your opponent. And I am optimistic that the Palestinians will see this coming and they will surrender a complete and total surrender.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I wish that reality would match my optimism.
--:-- Aryeh Lightstone: All right. Well, Aryeh, thank you so much for coming on and stay safe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Aryeh Lightstone. He was the senior advisor to the U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Trump administration. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.
