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AMNA NAWAZ: Israel and Hamas 
have agreed to# 
pause fighting in Gaza to allow 
hundreds of##

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thousands of children to receive 
polio# 
vaccinations. Those pauses will 
occur##

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in specific locations for eight 
to nine# 
hours a day over three days 
beginning on##

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Sunday. The World Health 
Organization aims to# 
vaccinate 640,000 children under 
the age of 10.

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Meanwhile, in the West Bank, at 
least# 
16 people have been killed in 
what the##

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Israeli military calls 
counterterrorism raids# 
that began Wednesday in the 
cities of Jenin,##

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Tulkarm, and the al-Fara'a 
refugee camp.

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Among five militants Israeli 
forces say# 
they killed today in the city of 
Tulkarm,##

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Mohammed Jaber, a local 
commander they long# 
pursued. The Palestinian Islamic 
Jihad, the##

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militant force backed by Iran, 
confirmed Jaber's# 
death. Israeli officials say 
Jaber was linked to##

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-- quote -- "numerous terror 
attacks," including# 
the June death of an Israeli 
man, Amnon Muchtar.

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Jaber was killed in an overnight 
gun battle near a##

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mosque which left residents# 
caught in the crossfire.

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Khaled Abu Al-Ghiyab says he and 
his# 
wife barely escaped their home 
alive.

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KHALED ABU AL-GHIYAB, West Bank 
Resident# 
(through translator): The house 
went up in##

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flames as they shot three, four 
ro..

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got out. My wife's shoulder and 
arm were# 
burned. Thank God it only came 
to that.

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AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, families 
at the# 
al-Fara'a refugee camp buried 
their dead,##

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four killed in an Israeli raid 
yesterday.# 
Masoud Naaja's survived that 
raid. Today,##

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he buried his two children, who 
did not.

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The IDF released this drone 
footage today# 
they say showing a militant base 
inside##

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a mosque in the camp. Their 
forces have# 
now withdrawn from al-Fara'a. 
Also today,##

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Defense Minister Yoav Gallant 
said returning# 
Israeli citizens to their homes 
along the Lebanese##

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border, where fighting with 
Hezbollah# 
continues, must be a goal of the 
war.

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Just yesterday, rescued hostage 
Qaid Farhan# 
Alkadi returned to his village 
home near Rahat.

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QAID FARHAN ALKADI, Rescued 
Hostage (through# 
translator): I feel 100 percent 
and next to you##

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another 200 percent. Do 
everything# 
you can, if it's 
demonstrations,##

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everything to bring the people 
home from this# 
side to the other, and from the 
other side,##

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to bring them back as well. For 
me, they# 
are all human beings, no matter 
what.

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AMNA NAWAZ: His return is# 
bittersweet. Israel has said##

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that his bedouin Arab village 
was built# 
without permits and has plans to 
demolish##

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70 percent of homes there. 
Alkadi's home# 
has not received a demolition 
notice.

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For perspective on Israel's 
operation in# 
the West Bank, we turn to Steven 
Erlanger,##

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chief diplomatic correspondent 
for# 
The New York Times. He 
previously##

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met with the Islamic Jihad 
leader# 
who Israeli forces killed today.

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Steven, welcome and thanks for 
joining us.

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So these Israeli forces had been 
trying to# 
kill Mohammed Jaber for a very 
long time.##

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They actually thought that 
they'd done# 
so back in April, and then he 
emerged##

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alive three days later to kind 
of cult status# 
among people there for 
surviving. But tell us,##

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who was Mohammed Jaber and why 
was# 
he one of Israel's most wanted 
men?

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STEVEN ERLANGER, The New York 
Times:# 
Well, he was the leader of a 
group of##

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militants in the Tulkarm refugee 
camp.# 
And he'd organized them very 
well.

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So there was a collective of 
militants from# 
Fatah, from all the other 
factions. And after##

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the October 7 invasion by Hamas, 
they started# 
to recruit more people. And, 
spirited by that,##

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encouraged by that invasion, 
many of them,# 
like this kid Abu Shuja'a turned 
to Islamic##

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Jihad or to Hamas away from 
Fatah, because# 
they felt that Hamas had 
actually broken##

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through a complete stagnation in 
the# 
prospect of Palestinian 
nationhood.

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And so for a lot of people, he 
was a hero# 
because he kept surviving 
Israeli efforts##

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to kill him. But he represented 
a new# 
generation of young Palestinian 
militants##

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willing to fight and die for 
their dream of# 
a free and independent Palestine 
and to drive##

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Israeli occupiers, as they see# 
them, out of the West Bank.

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AMNA NAWAZ: And Steven, just to 
clarify,# 
Abu Shuja'a, who you referenced 
there,##

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that's the nom de guerre of 
Mohammed Jaber.# 
It translates to father of the 
brave.

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But when you met with him in 
person a reporting# 
trip to Tulkarm in the West Bank 
earlier this year##

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and he told you he'd switched 
allegiances# 
from the more moderate Fatah to 
the more##

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extremist Islamic Jihad, what 
was the reason# 
for that? Was that just because 
of October 7##

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or had that been building for a 
while? 
STEVEN ERLANGER: He switched to 
Islamic##

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Jihad partly because everyone 
among# 
his peers have lost faith in 
the##

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Palestinian Authority. They 
regard# 
them as collaborating with 
Israel.

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And they have been very 
offended# 
that the Palestinian security 
forces,##

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whenever Israel would come to 
attack people# 
like Abu Shuja'a, did not fight 
the Israelis,##

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but either collaborated with# 
them or actually stayed at home.

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So there's also been a growing 
dissatisfaction# 
with the leader of the 
Palestinian Authority,##

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Mahmoud Abbas, and also the 
feeling that the# 
Palestinian state was really 
going nowhere,##

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that there was a stagnation,# 
that life looked hopeless.

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And as ugly as the Hamas 
invasion# 
was, for many young 
Palestinians,##

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it expressed a degree of hope 
that their# 
own situation was not hopeless 
forever.

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AMNA NAWAZ: We just saw today 
the United# 
Nations secretary-general, 
Antonio Guterres,##

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say that these Israeli raids are 
fueling what# 
he called an already explosive 
situation in##

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the West Bank, but he also said 
they could# 
further undermine the 
Palestinian Authority.

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What do you make of that?

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STEVEN ERLANGER: Well, I think 
the Palestinian# 
Authority is pretty well 
undermined in ..

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partly through its own faults, 
but also# 
through the Israeli government's 
decision##

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to withhold taxes from them, and 
also after# 
October 7 they have closed the 
West Bank.

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So Palestinians who had legal 
permits to work# 
in Israel could no longer go to 
Israel to work,##

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and Palestinians living in 
Israel could no# 
longer go to places like Jenin 
and Tulkarm to##

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even shop, so the economy 
crashed. And the# 
Palestinian Authority was 
already weakened.

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Now you have these far right 
ministers inside# 
the Israeli government who talk 
about annexing##

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the West Bank who are 
encouraging settlers to# 
take more ground. So all of this 
does fuel more##

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militancy and creates anxiety 
among the Israeli# 
military that there will be a 
new wave of suicide##

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bombings and explosives used 
against Israelis# 
in Israel proper, let alone 
among the settlers.

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AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Steven, as you 
know,##

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Israel says the goal of this 
operatio..

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as you have reported on, has 
taken hold in many# 
of the refugee camps there in 
the West Bank.

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Knowing what you know about 
that# 
force, is that goal attainable?

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STEVEN ERLANGER: Well, it's 
impossible# 
to defeat an idea. This, we 
understand,##

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whether it's expressed by Hamas# 
or by Fatah or by these kids.

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They have a dream of an 
independent Palestine.# 
They have a dream of their land 
taken back,##

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of Israeli settlers and 
occupiers gone.# 
And there's going to be very 
little that##

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Israel can do to destroy that. 
The idea# 
of a two-state solution, I have 
to say,##

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seems farther away than ever.And 
it would require# 
giving Palestinians authority 
and sovereignty and##

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control over their own lives 
that Israel, for its# 
stated security reasons, is not 
prepared to give.

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So I see this third-front# 
war going on indefinitely.

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AMNA NAWAZ: That is Steven 
Erlanger, chief# 
diplomatic correspondent for The 
New York Times.

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Steven, thank you so much. Good 
to speak with you.

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STEVEN ERLANGER: Thank you.