Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities, so do like I did and have one of your assistants' assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of $45 for three month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available.
Taxes and fees extra, default terms at mintmobile.com. Ben, were you surprised to find out, first off, that in the tunnels with Hamas in Gaza, that the Hamas militants were bragging to the hostages that they have direct links to the students in America? Well, no, not at all, to be honest. I mean, I think that if you look at some of the groups that have been marching up and down these protests, both in New York as well as in London, you're seeing those links. And I think that, look, Hamas on one level are terrorists, they're brutal terrorists, but they also have a political wing. They have people in Qatar. These people have influence around the world. So you mustn't just think of them as the bad guys underground. You've got to think of them as a bigger organization.
They have a lot of money as well. And they will be using some of that to create disturbances here, if they can, in Europe, if they can. So look, they are operating mainly in Gaza, but they are also doing their best to destabilize around the world. So I'm looking at, I got an email this morning and someone turned me on to a post talking about the attacks in Gaza. And people were saying, well, here come the complaints again about indiscriminate attacks into Gaza, killing innocents. And it turns out, according to Israeli Radar, which is a dependable source, Israel planned surprise assault last night, maximizes Hamas casualties by targeting the locations of nighttime Ramadan meals.
These IDF and Shin Bet collected precise intel. Air Force mobilized dozens of aircraft to attack numerous Hamas members in parallel. And then Hamas has said they have two, three hundred casualties. So judging by what they did with the pagers, don't you think the IDF is also capable of being just as targeted in Gaza? Yeah, look, of course, they're being targeted.
But look, no one can deny that a war is a war and there will always be civilian deaths like it's we must never deny that. Look, everyone that I speak to would generally say that the person responsible for the civilian deaths are Hamas. They're the ones who put these civilians in danger. You know, we also gather that the IDF managed to kill the deputy head of Hamas's political organization, effectively their prime minister.
So we know they are targeting their leadership. And remember, they've had two months during the ceasefire to watch Hamas grow back. We've seen the videos of Hamas moving around Gaza during the ceasefire. They are very active.
They are in public. And so you imagine for two months, Israel and the IDF have been watching them. I mean, identifying where they've been. And now they probably have a much greater target list because of the ceasefire, because they've been watching them. So, yeah, they will be targeting their leadership and presumably hopefully their tunnels as well. Who's replenishing their armaments? You know, I gather there is still some weapons flowing in from Egypt in those tunnels.
It is they also make some of their own weapons. You know, it's long been said that a lot of the aid that was going the pipes that were used for water, etc, are instead being used to make armaments. But one of the reasons that the Israel Israelis also went in is because they said that Hamas was planning another attack against Israel. They've moved everyone from the east of Gaza further into Gaza because they said they were getting ready to launch an attack. So they're not out of weapons. They still have the capability to do this. And look, Israel is trying its best to stop the weapons going in, but they seem to continue having them.
By the way, you have had so much experience in the region. You were the first that I knew of to interview these ISIS, this emerging terror organization that is now commonplace vernacular, sadly, in the region, although they just took out an ISIS head last weekend. But if the Houthi rebels are going to be targeted, we have to hit their leadership.
And it seems we did that over the weekend. Then I see this report, yet unconfirmed, but I sense that it is. This Zagros spy ship, the most advanced vessel in Iran's navy, was targeted and sunk in the Red Sea. The role it played was lining up coordinates and basically allowing the Houthi rebels to use their drones to strike the merchant ships like ours 174 times.
We just left it there until now. That ship's been there for years. And, you know, you look at the ships that are being targeted by the Houthis, they are European and American ships. The Chinese ships, they keep sailing through. And so, you know, these Iranian spy ships are letting the Houthis know which ships to target.
And you look at the disruption it's had on global trade, 70 percent of all, you know, shipping trade has been affected by this because the Iranians are providing intelligence specifically to the Houthis can target American ships, European ships. What about the arrogance and the boldness and audacity? Yeah, it's my ship.
Yeah, I'm doing that. I know it. You know it. Highest intelligence experts know it. And they felt impervious, like we'll never hit them. Well, the Strait of Hormuz has always been a weapon that Iran has used. They've effectively said, if you attack us, we will shut down the Strait of Hormuz and totally stop all shipping. That is still a weapon they have. And so they've always had control over that water.
They always think that they have a lot of control over it. And it's one of their great weapons. And I do think if there was ever an attack on Iran, we would see the Strait of Hormuz totally shut.
So that would be a big effect for trade, definitely. And if we are talking about enemy ships, you've got to look at all the Russian ships around the world, the Russian ships that are cutting the undersea cables, the Russian spy ships that are sailing up and down the American coast last year. You know, these people, they call the dark ships. They are out there. They turn off their responders and their trackers.
And these are weapons that many of these countries continue to use. So today, right now, you walked in and said they're talking right now, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. He usually goes on for hours. Steve Whitcoff talked for three hours.
I think the other time prior to that was even longer with translation. They're talking to the Zaporiza energy plant. They're talking about dividing up the assets of Ukraine that's already been acquired through an illegal invasion by the Russians. What is your greatest concern about this one-on-one meeting? I think, look, we've got to go back to the fact that we thought that this was a negotiation for ceasefire, that there wouldn't really be any discussions about splitting land or giving up power plants in this case, for example. But it appears as if Putin and Russia right now is already trying to get concessions. You heard General Keane early on, you played that soundbite, saying this is supposed to just be the unconditional ceasefire while you negotiate. Well, what I think may be happening in this meeting, it's been going on for over an hour at this point, is that Russia and Putin are perhaps really pushing to get some concessions at this point. And those concessions will be taken and put in the bag and they won't necessarily get anything, the US or Ukraine won't get anything in return for that. The greatest fear is that decisions, at least the Ukrainians fear, the greatest fear is that decisions are being taken without them and that perhaps during this phone call some land is being given up or it's being divided without Ukraine agreeing to it. And how can you begin a negotiation between sides when only one side, Russia, is participating in it? And if they come out and say these are our demands, doesn't mean we're accepting them. But it's, you know, in the beginning, sitting down three, with all three sides is probably not practical. Got to do the shuttle diplomacy thing, eventually get everyone in the same room where they sign off on things. But let's talk about your book and how, and I've asked you this on television today, it's called Resolute, how we humans keep finding ways to beat the toughest odds.
Is it hard? It would be hard for me to look at the Ukraine situation, the war you were covering, where you got injured, where both your legs, your arm, your eye, and you recover against all odds and not have any anger towards Russia, who clearly was targeting your car? Yeah, I mean, look, I think that Russia are the aggressors here. They definitely invaded a country.
You know, that is, my eyes incredibly clear. But, you know, my anger isn't going to affect how I, you know, the fact that I want this war to end. And I'm perfectly capable, despite my injuries of saying, we need a negotiation, they have to work towards a settlement. And I think that if you just got incredibly angry and said nothing, but they've got to be defeated totally, we won't stop fighting until they do. That doesn't lead to an end in this conflict. And so, you know, look, I write about that in the book, that at some point, no matter how difficult it is, you have to make some concessions, you have to come to the table.
And I just think that hopefully, that's what will happen. The only difference about this ending would be the international troops that would sit there and be the tripwire. Russia said that's a non-starter, but you can't tell France and Britain what to do. You know, Putin has made very clear there are lots of non-starters, all of them. There should be no European peacekeepers in there, that Ukraine should never have a pathway to join NATO at all, that they must not continue to get weapons.
The list is incredibly long. And I don't know where they are going to budge. But the Europeans are already saying quite clearly, we are putting together a proposal where 10,000 soldiers from the UK, from France, and we think perhaps from Germany, would be peacekeepers.
Can you fit that in? Can Russia agree to some kind of peacekeeping force? If they don't, we go back to 2014 in the Minsk agreement where they just keep going at it, unless there's security guarantees, and they make Ukraine what they call the porcupine state. So effectively, you arm them so much, you defend them so much that Russia can't attack again in the future.
Then any peace deal right now is almost a non-starter. So your first book was the number one bestseller in the country. And now this one, Resolute, comes out today. What do you want people to take away from this, as opposed to your first? You know, what was really interesting is that when I wrote the first, I was actually still in hospital when I started to write it. And I thought that the toughest part was going to be that recovery, learning to walk, being in hospital, recovering from the serious injuries.
And I actually found it was much tougher when I got home. You know, when you're in hospital, you're surrounded by doctors and physios and therapists, and they build you together, and you have this team, and you've got one goal. But when you take these injuries home, and you put added pressure on your family, getting back to your old life, you realize the things you can't do. You realize the way different people interact with you. I found that to be really quite hard. I was struggling with a traumatic brain injury. I talk about some of the flashbacks. I talk about the pain, as I kept trying to come up with painkillers.
And that was done just me and my family. And that is what sort of what happens to so many people, I think, who go through injuries, is that it is difficult when they're home. How do you get through that when you don't have that support anymore? And I've written very clearly about the hard times, the difficult times.
And I suppose I've written it because I hope maybe other people can read this book, and it can give them influence. Because when it came down to it, all these times were difficult. At the end of every single one of them, I got through it, I found a way. And for a second, did I ever say, I will find a way through. I always did.
And I've just tried to write about my thought process and how I did it. Understood. Resolute with Benjamin Hall is now out on Fox Nation, not only is the book out, the special is out. More with Ben in just a moment. As we talk about community, though, the most important for me is certainly family. And when I think back to that moment after the attack, the first thing when I regained consciousness and put the flames out was think about my wife, Alicia, and my three beautiful daughters at home. And I told myself in that moment that no matter what, no matter how long or how hard, I was getting back to them.
And it became the most simple thought. I'm coming home. I'm Emily Campagno, host of the Fox True Crime podcast. This week, author Cara Robertson joins me to discuss the Chilean story of Lizzie Borden and her sensational trial. Listen and follow now at FoxTrueCrime.com. I wanted to remember what it felt like to be on the ground after the attack. That's what I spent the train ride back to keep doing, closing my eyes, trying to remember the darkest moments, trying to picture Pierre in front of me, trying to recall the smell and the sounds, the heat of the attack. And that is Benjamin Hall, all part of the special Resolute with Benjamin Hall.
It's on Fox Nation, available today. And his book is out today, Resolute, How We Humans Keep Finding Ways to Beat the Toughest Odds. And Ben, I also thought it was important to bring up that not only did you go back to Ukraine, you sat down with President Zelensky.
And when he looked across at you, you worked for an American network located in Britain. Did he appreciate your sacrifice? Absolutely.
I mean, there's no doubt about it. Look, he understands both the importance of the media, but he also understands whoever is, you know, out there covering conflict and the risk they are taking on themselves. So no, you know, meeting him, he was more of a philosopher than I imagined. You know, you interview so many politicians, who just give you straight answers, short answers, but he would talk away and go in tangents and talk about the Ukraine and the ideas of peace and prosperity versus war and failure.
I was actually amazed at how philosophical he was in person. But certainly when it came to talking about Pierre and Sasha, who died that day, he was certainly incredibly... But you didn't write this book for the Russia-Ukraine conflict. You wrote it for everybody. You wrote it for people that are going through tough times.
Totally. I mean, I don't speak all that much about Ukraine. I talk about going back to Ukraine. But what I have found is that you may not be injured in the way I've been injured, but at the same time, everyone goes through some sort of traumatic event. Everyone has difficulties, whether that is just financial difficulties, whether that is anxiety or family, all those sort of things. You still got to find a way to get through them. You still have to find a way to stand up and say, you know, I'm not going to let this hold me down.
I'm going to find a solution. And that's what I've tried to talk about in the book. All these moments, and not just my moments, I've brought other people into the book. I've brought in a lady, 21 years old, who was taken by Hamas in the tunnels of Gaza and her story about how she rebuilt. I've spoken to American veterans about how they've gone through their injuries.
And look, there is a similarity in all their stories. When you are knocked down, all these people found ways of building it back up. And everyone's recovery is individual. You have to find what works for you.
But you can use various ways that I write about in which you can try and harness resilience. How have you handled with your family now? So your family's growing and now you're over here. How are you different with your family? Well, look, I mean, I now have four daughters.
Our latest baby was born six months ago. And look, I mean, it's fair to say that family means a lot more to me now than it did before. I'm quite open that I was working, you know, constantly. I was on the road most of the time. And I felt that that was important because I was providing for my family, but I was maybe missing some of their youth. I was away for most of their birthdays.
I was never at home any dinner and all these sort of things. I think now I think I was doing it in the wrong order. And so now my priorities being around my family and working side by side with that. So I think that's a lesson I learned. But like my family are absolutely remarkable. These my daughters have never let what happened to me knock them down. I think that they are stronger because of it. And we've had conversations that we would never have had at that young age.
But when you sit down and talk about injuries, you talk about death and you say, this is what life can be like. I think they're going to be stronger as a result. Right.
No doubt about it. And when people pick this book up, how is it different than your first? This is more for others, right? And the other one is chronicling what you went through? Well, this is this is still a continuation of my story, to be honest.
I mean, I talk a lot about both covering conflict, but I also talk about the difficult moments. But yes, this is trying to share what happened. And when I wrote the first book, many people reached out to me. I got thousands of messages saying, wow, your story has really inspired me. But how did you do it? You know, what was the way you've done it and how can it help us?
And this is an attempt to put that down and inspire those people. I make this book number one to Benjamin Hall. Congratulations.
Pick up Resolute. This week on The Bret Baier Podcast, my all star panel weighs in on the top stories at home and abroad. Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich, Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram and hosted the Richard Fowler show Richard Fowler. Listen and follow now at Fox News podcast.com. Listen to the show ad free on Fox News Podcast Plus on Apple Podcast, Amazon Music with your prime membership or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
