Trey Yingst Reports On The Ground From Israel
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Yeah.

It's Live in the Bream with the host of Fox News Sunday, Shannon Bream. This week on Live in the Bream, I'm joined by Fox News foreign correspondent Trey Yinkst as he reports on the ground from Israel. Trey and I spoke Friday, February 2nd.

Here is our conversation. I am so honored to have this guest who has been in your homes for years, but really in an intense way in the last few months, bringing you the stories as they're happening, breaking them on the ground, minute by minute around the clock. He is our foreign correspondent, Trey Yankst. He is in the Middle East and in the middle of it all. Trey, thank you for taking out time to talk with us.

Yeah, of course. First thing I want to start with is, how are you? How is the crew? Doing this kind of story for a week or two or three at a time is taxing emotionally, physically. But to be doing it for months now, how are you guys? We're doing well. We're built for this type of story. Even 120 days into this conflict, that hits close to home for me and the crew.

It is something that we know how to do, how to cover a story of this caliber and how to make sure that we're keeping viewers informed about what's taking place on the ground and how it affects them. And so we're doing all right. It is certainly a challenge personally and professionally when you cover a story like this, because it is such a difficult thing to witness as a person and as a journalist. But that's what we do.

Well, we are grateful because you have long been our voice there, but especially in these very tense, unexpected times, you've just been steady and calm. And hopefully you're getting the breaks that you need, just the restoration that you need as well in the middle of this. Talk us through the shock of October 7th to where we are now. You mentioned 120 days in.

How would you assess operations are going? Israel, how is it assessing its timeline for, quote, annihilating Hamas? Is that ever truly going to be possible? So it's a very challenging situation on the ground. And the Israelis are still fighting block by block inside Gaza. Much of the fighting is taking place in the southern part of the strip around the city of Han Yunis.

but the focus for the israelis remains on trying to destroy hamas leadership and bringing the more than 100 hostages home and the official number is 136 hostages but we know that many of them are dead they will be simply trying to return the bodies to israel and

That's an important point in all of this because I think it speaks to the psyche of the Israeli people and what they are experiencing and what they have experienced the past several months. This has been a collective trauma for the state of Israel. The attack that started on the morning of October 7th

and the war that followed. And it's been a story that has been challenging to cover because as we've seen, the entire world is watching. There are a lot of emotions and politics involved. And at the core of all of this, it's a story about humans. And there are both Israelis and Palestinians suffering amid the war that erupted after this brutal massacre against civilians that took place in early October.

Yeah, I've talked with friends who live in the region, and they've talked about the psychological impact of all of this, how many funerals they've gone to, their children, their friends' children who are in the IDF, and that we talk about how small Israel is comparative to the amount of people that they lost October 7th and were wounded as well. I've never heard him that way, where he sounded...

really overcome just that this is a daily grind that you know some of us that are stateside here we go on with our lives we deal with domestic political issues and other things but that the heaviness of this on the people of Israel is something that hasn't been experienced in a generation it sounds like certainly in Israel's a population of just over nine million people and so everyone that you meet here knows someone who was affected by

by the massacre on October 7th. And nearly every household has a relative or distant relative that is somehow related to the war, whether they're fighting on the ground in Gaza, supporting the logistics behind the operation that's taking place, or another part of the society that is necessary to remain active as the country remains at war.

And so it's a story that touches everyone in this country in a lot of different ways. And I mean, we saw that in the south with our team on the 7th when we were reporting very close to the Gaza border. There were gun battles taking place around us, people dying in front of us. And at that time, our engineer from Fox in the Jerusalem Bureau couldn't reach his brother who lived in one of the communities along the border.

And for hours he waited to get answers about the fate of his brother. And ultimately his brother survived, but Hamas militants entered his home, tried to shoot open his bomb shelter, and when they were unsuccessful, they burned down his house. And just by a miracle, he survived.

But it just gives you another example of how close to home this story is just for our team as we cover it on the ground. What do you think are some misconceptions or missed angles or stories or truths about this war that maybe you worry aren't fully translating?

When we cover conflicts, not just here on the ground in the Middle East, but around the world, I always try to find moderate voices on the story to speak with. Because I think often the most extreme positions are the loudest and sometimes the most violent and most active.

And we've found that in this story. There are some far-right ministers in the Israeli government who are calling to resettle the Gaza Strip and remove all Palestinians. And that's not a viable option for moderates in Israel, for the United States, Israel's key ally, or for the majority of observers who are looking at this situation, understanding the complexities of the region.

And when you look at the Palestinian people inside Gaza, there's also a spectrum of Gazans that you talk to and that you meet. Some supported and even participated in the massacre on October 7th. And others are simply trying to stay alive and keep their loved ones alive amid violence.

One of the largest conflicts to ever take place in this part of the world specifically. And so I would say the misconception is sometimes related to the very loud and violent voices. And also the political understandings that people have about the region and the historical context.

Many times people will talk about the Middle East through the lens that fits the narrative they believe rather than the narrative that is based on facts and on history. And so we're constantly trying to put things into perspective, also give people context to why this war began with that massacre on October 7th.

And also explain that this is not a simple solution. There is no simple answer to the land or the people here. And it's been like that for hundreds of years and will remain like that. And so those are all angles to this story that we have to keep in mind when we tell the daily updates of what's taking place.

Yes. And it seems like on some issues, the White House has a little bit of daylight with the prime minister there. We saw the West Bank executive order this week that some people are skeptically questioning the timing of that as the president was going into a campaign stop in Michigan, where he's taking a lot of heat from lawmakers in the Arab American community who feel like he's not listening to them and their viewpoint and being tough

on Israel, brutal truths with them as an ally, that kind of thing. And we know they've had frank conversations. But this idea that State Department is working up more details on a two-state solution when Netanyahu sounds like there's just no interest in that at all. Is it even possible to think forward to what a post-conflict region would look like at this point?

It's a great question, and it's something we've seen from the Biden administration since the beginning of this conflict. They're trying to walk a tightrope, understanding that the statements released by the administration aren't all related to specifically the best interest of U.S. foreign policy. Some of them are political. Some of them are related to the president's own opinion or the administration's own opinion.

And that's challenging when you look at the Middle East today, because a few years ago, there were conversations taking place about the possibility of a two-state solution. There were normalization agreements happening between Israel and the Arab world. There was this Peace to Prosperity Summit back in 2019 with Jared Kushner and his team in Bahrain.

And there was an idea that maybe there could be a two-state solution or something that would empower Palestinians and also make Israelis feel secure, because that's part of the tightrope that anyone who's looking at a solution for the Middle East has to walk, understanding that there will always be Israelis and Palestinians here. And how do you express the interests of both parties without broadening or deepening an already existing conflict?

And so I think from an administration standpoint, there's been mixed messaging and interesting timing on a variety of policy decisions. And there is also this idea that you could bring two warring factions to a negotiating table and find a broader solution in the midst of a war. And it doesn't really match with the reality on the ground because as we've seen

The negotiations that are taking place simply to get hostages released, actually simply to just implement a temporary ceasefire, have been collapsing week after week. And Qatari and Egyptian negotiators are trying to get a deal together, but that's a very specific deal. That has nothing to do with what the future of the region looks like. And this question does remain, what does the day after look like once Israeli forces continue and ultimately finish their operations inside Gaza?

Well, and I'd like to get your sense, too, on the ground with the possibility of incursions to the north with Hezbollah, another front opening up as, you know, the Biden administration here is is trying to push back. And as we're talking, we've yet to see the response to the Iranian proxy attacks that took the lives of three U.S. soldiers and injured a couple dozen others.

But what's your sense about Israel potentially engaging in another actual front with Hezbollah, obviously a completely different foe than Hamas? Yeah, absolutely. It is probably the biggest concern for the Israeli people right now. They understand that ultimately Israel will achieve victory.

impart its goals inside Gaza. They'll never completely destroy Hamas because it's an organization based on an ideology that has widespread political support, not just in Gaza but in the West Bank. And they hope they will be able to rescue or diplomatically release some of the hostages that are being held by Hamas as we speak. The North is a totally different front. It's a front that is more supported directly by the Iranian regime

The IRGC has been smuggling precision-guided missile parts and components into southern Lebanon for the past several years. They have been preparing for the conflict that analysts believe will erupt in a matter of weeks or months.

And when you watch Israeli media, you can get a real sense of what the Israelis think is going to come next. They are staging forces on the northern border. They have artillery positions spread out along the border with Lebanon. There's daily rocket fire and drone attacks from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. And analysts here say they believe there is only a 30% chance of finding a diplomatic solution.

And the Israelis, including the Defense Minister Yoav Golunt, have described this as a zero-sum situation. There will either be a diplomatic solution or a military solution. And again, they say there will be a 30% chance of finding a diplomatic solution. And so the most likely outcome, according to analysts who are speaking about the situation on the ground here in Israel, is a military operation to push Hezbollah back from Israel's northern border and allow the tens of thousands of internally displaced Israelis to return to their homes.

homes the timeline for that is up in the air but there are a lot of moving parts as you've noted because the region today is waiting to see what could actually take place in a matter of hours the American response against Iran back to Rocky and Syrian Shia militias and if there will be a response by the Iranians or their proxies across the region to that counter attack by the United States

Yeah. I mean, we're all standing by and waiting for this as they're what we've heard from the administration is we don't want to broaden the war through that region. We don't want to start a new front. We don't want to heighten the tensions any worse than there are. But then critics of that thought process will say.

You know, obviously what we've done with Iran, at least via its proxies, has not discouraged them. Us using the word don't has not been the formula for actually stopping them. Any sense there of how folks where you are are watching this potential response from the U.S. and with Iranian proxies? We know that Israel and Iran, obviously Iran would like to exterminate. Israel does not even believe it should exist.

But how wary are the Israelis of another front opening up that would be more specific to Iran itself? They're incredibly concerned because they understand that the largest proxy in the region, Hezbollah, has a missile arsenal of around 150,000 missiles and rockets. And many of them are precision guided. They will overwhelm Israel's missile defense systems. And there will be a high casualty rate here.

They're also watching the statements by the United States and the actions by the Biden administration. And this is what we have heard from sources. We have talked extensively with defense officials, with intelligence sources, with observers and analysts in the region about what's taken place since this war erupted before and after all of this began.

And the sense that I've gotten the past week to two weeks, especially trying to follow up on what the preparations are in the alert level for the Israelis anticipating this American response to the drone attack that killed three U.S. troops is is a confusion over how much is being leaked and how much is being explained and the posturing of the administration ahead of the response. They are projecting what's likely to take place.

And look, this could be a 4D chess move by the administration, and ultimately they strike deep in Iranian territory and destroy a drone factory. And all of this projection about hitting Iran-backed proxies in places like Iraq and Syria is just a foil. We don't know, but ultimately it seems like they're talking publicly and privately in a way that is giving these organizations time to prepare.

And the other thing has to do with an understanding of the region and how things work here. The administration, for their perspective on what's taken place, initially tried to deliver an American solution to a Middle East problem. They publicly in interviews said, our message to the regime in Tehran is don't.

Don't test us. Don't try. Well, 160 plus attacks later, they continue to target American interests in the Middle East. Three U.S. citizens are dead, more than two dozen wounded. And the conflict continues, this soft war between Iran and

its proxies and the United States in the region. And so this is a part of the world that doesn't react to words. They don't understand when someone says don't. They will continue and they will see that and interpret that as a sign of weakness. They understand hard power. And this is not a political statement or an opinion. This is a reality based on the facts on the ground. What we have seen and observed by actors, bad actors like Iran,

and its allies, when hard action is taken against them, such as the strike that killed Qasem Soleimani in 2020 outside of Baghdad's international airport, they look to the United States and they say, wow, they mean business. We need to recalculate what we're doing here on the ground. And so I think analysts are correct when they say these strikes that are expected by the Biden administration will be some of the most consequential of any

President Biden's term because they will determine the level of deterrence against Iran and its proxies across the region. They have in their hands and in their decision making the power to deter Iran from taking further action and further igniting the Middle East. Now, we'll have to wait and see what that response will be and if Iran will receive the message. And if they don't, you'll continue to see

Actors like the Houthis in Yemen, backed directly by Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, backed directly by Iran, and other militias in Iraq and Syria continuing their attacks against the United States and its interests. We'll have more Live in the Bream in a moment. This is Jimmy Fallon inviting you to join me for Fox Across America, where we'll discuss every single one of the Democrats' dumb ideas. Just kidding. It's only a three-hour show. Listen live at noon Eastern or get the podcast at foxacrossamerica.com.

Let me get to some domestic issues then, because we could talk about Israel and its domestic situation that it's got its own politics there. Obviously, it was very fractured going into October 7th.

There is, as when there is an attack on a country, we saw it here in the U.S. after 9-11, there is this momentary time of let's band together to do what we have to do to defend ourselves and our people and our national sovereignty. So we can talk separately about that. But because you touched on this administration versus the Soleimani attack under the Trump administration, how...

Interested or invested are Israelis, others throughout that region in our presidential race and who ends up either staying in the White House or going back to the White House? They're very interested. And actually, since this war began, have been, I think, in some ways,

pleasantly surprised by the amount and unwavering American support, but that is not something new. You have seen both Republicans and Democrats traditionally describe Israel as a key friend and partner of the United States.

And that's for a variety of reasons. And when you look at a map of the Middle East, a lot of those reasons make sense. And that is true across administrations. But they are watching closely to see what the outcome of the presidential election will be. They're watching closely to see during debates or town halls what candidates or the president himself will say about Israel.

Because they understand that U.S. support is critical to the survival of Israel in many cases because the defense budget accounts for that. There are certain parts of Israel's defense arsenal that are not possible without the United States. When you look at the amount of money that goes into the missiles that Israel uses in their Iron Dome missile defense system to shoot down incoming rockets or missiles,

A lot of that's coming from the United States. Right now, the U.S. has loaned two of those batteries to Israel, understanding that they're fighting an active ground war. And so they're watching very closely and they want to ensure that that support continues. Now, especially the Biden administration, but any administration will have to take into account the issue of the Palestinians, because inside Gaza, there are more than two million Palestinian civilians.

In the West Bank, you have millions of Palestinians. In Jordan, you have more Palestinians. Across the region, we're talking about people who rely in part on funding by the United States, whether it be through UNRWA or other organizations, to survive. And so...

That's another sort of angle to all of this that has to be discussed and considered is what will that support look like for the Palestinian people and how will that affect Israel personally?

after the next president is elected in the United States. And quickly before we go, could you give us a sense of the domestic politics there in Israel? Like I said, we obviously know anybody who's following the region that there was a lot of internal tension and strife and really big disputes going down. Paused a little bit after October 7th. Where do you see that going?

There were huge protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hundreds of thousands of people would take to the streets each and every week calling for his resignation, calling for an end to proposed judicial reforms that these demonstrators said threatened the Israeli democracy.

And when the war began, those demonstrations were immediately cancelled. If there is one thing that brings Israelis together, it is war. This is a society that is built on mandatory military service. It's a society that understands just how small Israel is and the threats that it faces from across the region. And so many differences were put aside in the early days of the conflict.

Because of that collective trauma that we talked about, what Israel experienced watching its fellow citizens die and be taken hostage into Gaza.

As the conflict continued, the support began to splinter, and it splintered in a number of ways. One had to do with the demonstrations that are now taking place as the families of those being held hostage call for a ceasefire to at least temporarily end the military operation in Gaza to ensure that their loved ones make it home.

Now, the Netanyahu government says that they will have to continue the operation in full force because that is the way they think they need to negotiate with Hamas, putting full pressure on the organization and at the same time, in parallel, going to the negotiating table with the Qataris and the Egyptians and trying to hammer out some sort of agreement.

You also have this question of responsibility. When you ask many people here what comes next for the prime minister, they say he's done. And they don't say that from a place of opinion. They point to polls that indicate he is polling at one of the lowest points since he's been in power. And that is partially due to the fact that.

There are Israelis demanding accountability for what took place. There were clear intelligence failures on October 7th that allowed the massacre to unfold in the way that it did. There were huge gaps of time in the response for the Israeli army to get soldiers into position and stop the massacres that were taking place, for hours in some cases.

And so far, there have been no large resignations or people stepping down from their positions to say, "This was my fault." And Israel has not forgotten that. And for a long time, there was an understanding of once the war is over, that price will have to be paid by someone. But as the war drags on and the possibility of another multi-front conflict erupting is on the table,

There are many people in Israel, especially the left, those who have traditionally demonstrated against Netanyahu, who say that answer needs to come now. And someone has to take accountability for what took place on that bloody Saturday morning.

Well, we know that this will not be resolved anytime soon. And we are forever grateful, Trey, to you for your excellent coverage and the team that you work with. We know it takes a lot of folks to get every bit of information on the air. And you have been tireless. And we're just really grateful that you are part of the Fox family in leading our coverage there through this really important moment in history. So, Trey, thank you for making time for us here on Live in the Bream and always on our shows across the spectrum on Fox News.

Of course. Thank you so much. Listen ad-free with the Fox News Podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. And Amazon Prime members can listen to this show ad-free on the Amazon Music app. From the Fox News Podcasts Network. In these ever-changing times, you can rely on Fox News for hourly updates for the very latest news and information on your time. Listen and download now at foxnewspodcast.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.