Forces along its northern border with lebanon. According to one u. S. Official, the idf is planning for a limited Ground Operation that could begin at any moment now. Israeli commandos have been conducting smaller operations over that border in preparation. Just two days after hezbollah confirmed its leader was killed in a massive Idf Strike in southern beirut. A 2,000 Pound Bunker busting bomb, according to an expert who spoke with Nbc News, dropped on the u. S. Designated terror groups headquarters. It follows the detonation of thousands of pagers and walkietalkies and promises they will do whatever it takes to secure the northern border. In addition to killing the hezbollah leader, they killed hamass leader and dropped bombs on Power Plants and Shipping Infrastructure used by the houthis in yemen. The goal, to harm or disable Irans Axis of resistance. The danger, a war in The Middle East that drags in u. S. Forces in. The u. S. Has been able to convince israel to scale back plans for a larger invasion. Does that hold . We start on that knifes edge. Joining us from beirut, richard engel. From israel, raf sanchez. Richard, what is the latest there . Reporter well, it seems that there could be an israeli invasion, a Ground Invasion into lebanon that could begin in the next several hours or in the next several days according to hezbollah and arab media. Lebanese troops have begun to withdraw in anticipation of an israeli move. According to the u. S. Source, briefed by israel on this matter, as you said, israel plans to cross the border, plans to cross the border soon, according to israels defense minister. According to this u. S. Official, israel said to the u. S. That it would be a limited incursion, limited in time, days, not weeks. It would be limited geographically. What exactly that means, however, remains unclear. How many days also remains unclear. U. S. Officials are also concerned that once it begins, it could expand. All wars take on a life of their own once they once the troops cross that zero line, once troops are in contact. It could also be that israel is telling the biden administration what it wants to hear. President biden has been pushing for a ceasefire. President biden has been openly calling on israel and other parties in the region have been doing the same, to have a ceasefire In Gaza, to have a ceasefire in lebanon. Going no officially its telling the u. S. That its crossing the border in what it describes as a limited operation. We will see how limited it is. We will see how limited it is once there is contact. Hezbollah has been prepared for this kind of operation. Yes, hezbollah leadership has been decimated. The leader of the group was killed last friday. The group still has Tens Of Thousands of fighters. I was just recently in Southern Lebanon. The area is full of hezbollah men who are ready to fight. There are dugin positions. There are tunnels, according to both israeli and american sources. Hezbollah has been taunting israel for weeks, begging them almost to come in because hezbollah believes that it has more of an advantage in Ground Fighting compared to trying to defeat israel, which it has vastly superior technology and a vastly a very sophisticated missile defense system. So something appears to be starting soon. The israelis have told the americans, its going to be limited in time and scope. But we will see once the troops are in contact and if they are in contact soon, if that is in fact the case. Raf, Benjamin Netanyahu was at the u. N. Speaking on friday. During that speech, he said that israels reach is long. They can reach anywhere in The Middle East if they need be. If they need to. We know netanyahu rushed back to israel after his speech. Thats when the strike happened on beirut, which ended up killing nasrallah. Whats the posture within israel . Reporter you drive across northern israel right now and you are seeing signs of an army on the move. There are israeli tanks on the sides of the highways, military vehicles moving around. As someone who has been here for the last year, it feels like what we saw around the borders of gaza in the weeks after october 7th. Israeli forces were massing. We didnt know exactly when they were going to go in. It was the unmistakable signs of a military that was preparing for a ground offensive. Multiple sources tell Nbc News that this israeli offensive into Southern Lebanon could begin as early as tonight. I can tell you, it it feels like things are moving very quickly on this side of the border right now. A little earlier, the israeli military closed a section of the eastern edge of the israel lebanon border. They declared it a closed military zone. We dont know, but every indication would suggest that may be where the sort of tip of the israeli spear will cross over into Southern Lebanon. We are seeing reports in lebanese media of intense israeli Artillery Fire in that same area. We know that in recent weeks israeli Special Forces have been carrying out limited raids over the border. That border about 15 miles north of where we are right now. These are probing operations. They are gathering intelligence. They are testing hezbollahs defenses. As richard said, the israeli military is apparently planning for limited operations. Back in 1982, the israeli military planned for a limited operation and ended up staying in Southern Lebanon for 20 years. It was a decision that rewrote the history of The Middle East as we speak. Netanyahu and his Security Cabinet are meeting in tel aviv. They may be authorizing a similarly momentous decision. Thank you very much. Joining us now, the former Prime Minister of israel. Thank you for joining us. Im glad you could make it. A lot has happened in the past few days, in the past week. Is this strategy of killing nasrallah, going after the ports in yemen, killing the Hamas Leader an effective one . First of all, this is a strategy of defense. Yesterday, the houthis from yemen were shooting or the day before yesterday, they were shooting a ballistic missile aiming at tel aviv. We have to do something about it. Also the hezbollah for almost a year were shooting hundreds of rockets almost every day, hundreds of rockets against israel. They forced out 80,000 citizens. They were shooting and fighting and attacking almost every possible direction into the state of israel. Something had to be done. I dont think that this policy of Might Or Anything of this nature this is fundamentally a policy of selfdefense. The question is, whats next . What is it that we are trying to achieve now . This is similar a different question. Targeting of the terrorist organizations. I think they deserve what they got. Nasrallah personally was responsible for Killing Thousands of people in lebanon, in syria, and in israel over the last 30 years. It was a terrorist organization. One that was brutal and very extreme terrorist leader. There was no way that you could compromise with him. He deserves what he got. The other question is, how do we now bring an end to this conflict in a way that will allow us to bring back the israelis that left their homes to their homes in the border of israel. Will hezbollah agree to pull out from the border across the 40 Kilometers Line . I hope that they will do it. I hope that we wont have to use more military force. Im not happy and im not anxious to have this operation. I hope that the efforts americans are doing and the french are doing to bring an end to this with an agreement will succeed be successful and it will not require military operations. Let me ask you another question. You call this selfdefense, arguably so. If selfdefense means going into, reaching into iran, attacking iran and if israel believes it would be effective to do so, to take out the Ayatollah Or Somebody in iran, does israel do it . You know, katy, you are carried away by the impact of some of the recent operations. Pagers and walkietalkies and the killing of nasrallah. Dont push it further. Israel is not going to attack the leader of a legitimate leader of a country which is a member of the United Nations. Its not what we do. We do have to consider how to deal with the threats from iran. I think that the iranians are becoming more and more aware as of recently that if they will attack israel, they may face not just israel but also the united states of america and the british and the french. The american president , thank god, broke into The Middle East two Aircraft Carriers and one atomic submarine and many f22s, the most advanced military aircrafts. I think the iranians know now that if they will try to attack israel, they will have to face much more formidable power than just the state of israel. In any event, we have the right to defend ourselves. Certainly against those who are shooting ballistic missiles or conventional missiles from lebanon or from yemen as they were doing for a whole year now. I dont think that we are planning a war against iran. The Prime Minister of israel is carried away by his own rhetoric too much and will appreciate if he will restrain some of his arrogant rhetoric. It doesnt mean that we are going to attack iran. I have heard you speak eloquently about what the final solution thats a bad way to term it. The ultimate solution for peace in The Middle East. You talk about dividing Up Jerusalem and having there be a real Twostate Solution and jerusalem being ruled by the u. N. Security Being not jerusalem. Is that a possibility anymore . Is there anywhere within reach . Number one, im not talking about having jerusalem ruled by anyone. The West Side Of Jerusalem is the capital of the state of israel and forever will remain. The other is the capital of the palestinian state. Theres no problem. What i propose in addition is that all city Of Jerusalem, which is a center point, extremely sensitive and important for muslims, for jews and for christians, will be administers, will not have an exclusive political sovereignty but will be administered by a trust of five nations under the u. N. Security council principles and that two of the five nations will be palestine and the state of israel. I will tell you something, the Twostate Solution tied together with the former Foreign Minister and the ambassador of the United Nations of the Palestinian Authority, we propose we issued a joint statement signed by both of us that outlined what we believe should be, The End of the war In Gaza and the framework basic principles of the peace between israel and palestinians based on what i propose to the Palestinian Authority in 2008. You ask me, is this popular . I will tell you a secret between you and me. Is it supported by the majority of the israelis . No. Is it supported by the majority of the palestinians . Probably not. I will tell you something, had it been widely supported there wouldnt be a need to propose it. This is the time to put it up forward when it perhaps is not popular enough. There is no alternative for this solution. If someone wants to have a solution, we have to push it forward. I will tell you something. I keep saying it all the time here. Lets assume for a sake for our discussion that we will achieve what i think is almost impossible which is a total, absolute victory over hamas and the hezbollah. There will not be left one Hamas Person under the sun. Okay . They were vanished. We will destroy them. We will reach out to them. We will kill all the others. Then what . There are still 6 Million palestinians. The question that israel has to answer is, what are we up for . Do we want to remain occupied forever . Do we want to deny the palestinian people from their right of selfdetermination . Do we want to separate by agreement with assurances, with security . They will provide them the opportunity to live their lives alongside the state of israel. Thats what i propose. Thats what the other side proposed. We have to fight for it. Its not going to be easy. It doesnt its not trying to make me a very popular person perhaps among some israelis. In the long run, theres no alternative. We have to fight for that which we think is important for us. Mr. Prime minister, thank you very much. That last answer there was really what i was looking for with the first question. Might the solution here does it get you to an effective end . You have come closer than anybody else to finding peace between israel and the palestinians. We appreciate your time. Thank you, katy. We have to make a hard turn now. We will talk about the Death Toll from hurricane helene. Its rising. Officials in four states say more than 115 people have died. At least 35 of them from one north Carolina County alone. Look at this incredible damage where sudden flash floods washed away roads and bridges and homes. At least an entire town. Asheville, the city of asheville is now nearly unrecognizable. It was underwater at one point. It could take years to fully recover. In addition to fema, that includes the federal Communications Commission to help establish communications capability. The national guard. The Army Corps of engineers and the Department Of Defense that can provide resources at its disposal to rescue and assist in Clearing Debris and delivering lifesaving supplies. So far, thats over 3,600 personnel deployed. Thats growing by the day. Joining us now, Jay Gray who is in asheville for us. I just said asheville is nearly unrecognizable. What is it like down there . Reporter well, we are actually in boone right now. Its not far from asheville. Its the same here. I will walk you through some of whats happened here. You can see the Power Lines across the road here. This area residents tell us was filled with water in 30 minutes. Totally overrun. Snapping this pole as you can see here. The entire area here is caked in mud. You have the Power Lines down. See the vehicle over there . That suv was picked up and pushed over into that area. What the neighbors are telling us is, there was someone on top of that car as it was floating. The Fire Department came in and rescued that driver who was on top of the vehicle. A lot, obviously, unfolding here right now. As it is across this entire region. You have talked about it. More than 100 have died and more than onethird of the victims from the Storm And Aftermath are from the carolinas. Jay gray, thank you. Joining us now, the director and communications and Public Engagement of communications and Public Engagement, lillian govis. Its a terrible day. Its been a rough weekend for you guys. There are so many unaccounted for. Whats the expectation about all of those hundreds who are still havent been located yet . One of the biggest issues that we have been facing is the lack of connectivity. We dont have power. We dont have cellphone towers. We have had Hundreds And Thousands of people contacting us to try to make connection with their loved ones. Once we can get that restored, i think were going to see a pretty big Collective Sigh Of Relief from a number of people. However, as you noted, we do have 35 fatalities that we have confirmed here. We expect that that number is going to grow. Just last night i got to go home for the first time. It was after dark. I got lost trying to find my own home, which i was lucky to still have one, because all of the landmarks where i live in Black Mountain are gone. How do you begin to clean up from this . How do you begin to recover from this . What do you need . Well, we need first and foremost, a lot of people have been here to vacation and love it and think its beautiful. It sure is. Please dont come here now. We dont have any infrastructure to support anyone coming here that isnt part of a coordinated response. We do have donations set up on our website. You can reach out to volunteer. You can reach out to make donations. We can coordinate that. If you have large supplies of water, those sorts of things, we will get that out to the community. We started our first Water Distribution a little bit ago. We are seeing that response being really large. There are a number of people like where i live where the road has been washed away. The bridge has been washed away. They cant come to the Water Distributions. We have to do really specificized Swiftwater Boat to get them out and get them what they need to start recovery. Its going to be a long time. This hurricane made landfall as a big storm. It had a lot of damage. It hit an area not so populated. The destruction it has left in its wake in georgia, in South Carolina and North Carolina, also in florida, it is remarkable. Unbelievable to see these images. Biblical flooding in North Carolina. Were you prepared for this . Could you see this coming . We knew that something big and something major and something significant was happening. We had sent out messages telling residents to selfevacuate, especially those along our beautiful rivers. Those are lowlying areas. We had been sending text messages, calls asking the community to leave. But this storm was so insidious in the way it showed up while people were sleeping, and then took away every opportunity to get out. For a while, all of our interstates were closed. There was no way out. Not to the North Or South or east or west. We have a major interstate thats completely closed due to a landslide. We have individuals who are trapped because of landslides who we are trying our best to get to. We have more heavy equipment coming. We have lots a