gowdy. israeli defense forces continue to pound hamas encircling gaza strip and rejecting calls from president biden and others for a so-called humanitarian pause. israel says if you want to pause, release the hostages, otherwise israel is reluctant to pause and allow hamas to regroup and the world should be reluctant to take the word of a terrorist group that beheads children. alex hogan is live in southern israel and joins us now. alex. we ve started to hear artillery pick up, loudest blasts in the entire time here in israel, where you can feel the pressure and hear that echo ripple off into the distance. there is gunfire tonight, what appears to be machine gunfire in the distance in the direction of gaza strip. there were soldiers earlier tonight who asked us to cross the street to be closer to armed police officers. day 31, entering the early hours of the morning, idf spokesperson says what remains the main focus is rescuing those hostages. hamas terrorist organization