"Black Saturday": Trey Yingst on Capturing the Human Story Behind Israel’s Darkest Day

FOX News' Chief Foreign Correspondent, Trey Yingst, discusses his latest book, "Black Saturday. " The book takes an unflinching look at the Israel-Hamas conflict, presenting the war through multiple perspectives and shedding light on the human cost on both sides.

When Trey Yingst set out to write Black Saturday, he wasn’t just documenting another chapter of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. He was capturing a personal and deeply emotional story about one of the darkest days in Israel’s history—the October 7th Hamas attack—and weaving it into a broader narrative that accounts for all perspectives in the conflict.

Yingst, FOX News Chief Foreign Correspondent, has spent years on the frontlines of war zones worldwide. Still, this particular conflict-hit closer to home. On the morning of October 7th, Yingst found himself in southern Israel in the middle of a massacre that would change the course of the region's history. "There were literally people dying in front of us," he recalls. The immediacy and gravity of that day would later inspire him to document the harrowing events in his new book, Black Saturday.

Despite working 18-hour days covering the conflict, Yingst found the time to write a book that he says was vital in educating Americans—and the world—on what really happened that day. "I knew days after the initial Hamas attack that we had a really unique perspective," he explains. Yingst and his team were on the ground, just 200 meters away from firefights between the Israeli military and Hamas. The proximity to the violence gave him a front-row seat to history and a responsibility to tell the story in a way that would resonate with people on both sides of the conflict.

Yingst points out that Black Saturday isn't just about the horror of that fateful day but about the days and weeks that followed. Through interviews with Israeli soldiers, police officers, hostages, and civilians, he captures the complexity of the war from the Israeli perspective. But the book doesn't stop there. To provide a complete picture, Yingst also spoke with Palestinian civilians, doctors, and journalists to understand what the events of October 7th—and the subsequent war—meant for the people in Gaza.

"I talk to everyone involved," Yingst explains. "And that’s why Black Saturday is a book like no other." This approach reflects Yingst's commitment to truth and objectivity, a rare quality in today's polarized media landscape. By presenting the human experiences on both sides of the conflict, he gives readers a more nuanced understanding of the motivations behind the actions of Israelis and Palestinians.

The title Black Saturday came from social media, where many called October 7th the darkest day in Israel's history. For Yingst, it also represented one of the most difficult days of his life. "It was truly one of the darkest days of my life personally to see all that up close," he shares.

As Black Saturday hits shelves, Yingst hopes that his book will help readers learn more about the complexities of war and the human toll it takes. "I want people to not only learn more about what happened on the morning of October 7th but also to understand what the weeks that followed were like for both Israelis and Palestinians," he says.

In a world where media coverage is often one-sided, Yingst’s work is a testament to the power of balanced, human-centered journalism. Black Saturday offers readers a window into a conflict that continues to shape the future of the Middle East—one that will likely stay with them long after they turn the last page.