Happening now, israel formally declares war on hamas and the Palestinian Terrorist groups strikes back. Breaking news. Hamas has just fired a new barrage of rockets at israel tonight. And were learning that there has been a direct strike on the city of ash. We welcome our viewers here in the United States and Around The World. And im wolf blitzer and this is a Special Edition of the situation room. Israel at war. Announcer this is cnn Breaking News. And were following all of the Breaking News, our correspondents are positioned in israel and indeed Around The World to bring you all of the latet developments in this escalating crisis right now. Raising enorm ow fears of a major war in the middle east. Lets begin with Nic Robertson, youre not far away from the border with gaza. What more do we know about the new round of attacks that is underway right now . Reporter weve been able to see a couple of things from this location, wolf. Were seeing rockets taking off that are not intercepted quick which means they are complying toward the center of israel. Up towards the sort of tel aviv direction which is what hamas is claiming. We dont know if theyre impacting there but we suspect the iron dome defensive systems further up into israel will intercept them. What weve also seen and this supports part of what hamas is saying, hamas is saying it launched a massive barrage in on a town, i dont think we could call it massive, but weve seen outgoing missiles from gaza headed into the direction had a that has been intercepted and there were a number of impacts an intercepts but it does appear from the earliest reports that at least one of hamass rockets has got through, has impacted in the town and hamas tries to fire a lot of missiles and were hearing a lot of explosions just now. Because as soon as the barrages of missiles went out, we are heard fighter jets and helicopters in the air. There was an impact there. Probably in gaza, its right behind me where the impacts seem to come from. So israel is responding. You typically try to fire back at the launch sites of those missiles. So there is a real temper, a real rhythm of war with this. Wolf, weve seen this uptempo with the outgoing rockets ant the iron dome intercept them and were hearing the Helicopter Gun Ship come above here and of course heard the fighter jets and then the explosions inside of gaza. So there is a lot of moving pieces in terms of those rockets. On top of that, the Security Forces in sderot, as they are in other places are also still, and we had information in the past hour, still in this town trying to hunt down a suspected two or three hamas militants still at large in this town, wolf. Yeah, this is a Crisis Escalating clearly. The israeli prime minister, as you know, netanyahu has said this country is preparing for what he calls a long and difficult war. Is that the feeling shared by israelis that youve spoken to . Reporter i think people are still in a stage of somewhat shock with the situation. I spoke to a medic here, a doctor who was working in a Field Hospital just outside of sderot here and he was spending last 36 hours treating the casualties who have been as he described barbarically injured by hamas. And i think for people like him, Front Line Emergency workers, this is so out of their normal realm of experience. Hes used to treating casualties of Terrorist Attacks in israel but nothing of the bar barrett on this. The police behind me, it takes time to settle in. The Police Officers have just come back to sort of take control of the area around there bombed out police station. It is entirely different. And for the broader civilian population, they are coming to terms what has happened. Yes, the reality is people recognize that this is going to take some time to play out for the political decisions to be made, for the issues about the hostages to be dealt with, for the response to be delivered to hamas. It is going to take some time to put all of that in place. But i think were still in that phase of people are just till immersed in the utter shock and brutality of what has happened and the fact that there are still missiles flying around and that people are still in danger. If youre in ashco, you into he had to be ready to take cover and Central Israel not off the top for israel. And they confirmed 260 people, young people were killed at the site of a Music Festival being held in Southern Israel near the border with gaza. Not too far away. What are you hearing about that . It is shocking to hear that . Reporter this is just one of the parts of what happened on saturday. That is really blown away for want of a better expression. Peoples understanding of what hamas is capable of. They know they are brutal and do terrible things and theyre terrorists and that is how they operate. But the doctor was treating some of those people, wounded in re imand he said people were shot with rocketpropelled grenades and they had their throats cut and shot by gunfire with no way of attacking the militants coming at them. So and that is possibly a Missile Being intercepted overhead and not clear. But there are this is part of the temper, the war that i was talking about. These bangs that were hearing here. But in terms of that music event, there were people were enjoying it, the sun was coming up in the morning and suddenly they were being attacked. The scale and the scope and barbaric that has caught people by surprise. And i think this is why were seeing the Death Toll Climb so steeply today. Is were still in the throes of getting to grips with what has happened and chasing down hamas militants that are still inside of israel proper as well as trying to recover and get to grips with the situation. Recover and identify all of those who were brutally murdered, at that music event. And that is why the figures have gone up so much, as medics could get in and as the Israeli Defense forces could get in there. It is just shocking. Everyone you talk to who has played a role in helping the recovery and rescue effort there, it is still in shock about it, wolf. These kinds of things have never happened in israel before. Young people going to a Music Festival and all of a sudden terrorists coming in with guns and knives and just slaughtering the young people. Killing them. Anyone for just going to a Music Festival. It is really shocking. Nic, tstay stafe over there. And scores of hostages as everyone knows has been taken by the hamas and including children and even holocaust survivors. Joining us now is amir for the newspaper and he and his family were rescued by idf soldiers after his home was besieged for some ten hours. Amir, thank you for joining us. Thanks for writing of your experiences. What a harrowing experience this has been for you, your wife and your two young daughters. First of all, how are you all doing . Thank you, wolf. Relatively were okay. Were safe. As you said, we were in the safe room of our home in our Beautiful Community loebcated o the the border with gaza for ten hours on saturday with no food, no electricity, no Cell Reception for most of the time. My two daughters were real heroes. They kept silent for the entire time, behaved in extremely pature way that i didnt believe a 3yearold and a 1yearold were capable. But they understand the severity through our emotions of the situation and they stayed silent until we were rescued. And yet, i have to say, israel is grieving right now. Yesterday was one of the darkest days if not the darkest day in the history of our country. We lost approximately 700 people so far, that is like more than half of the second antifatah which lasted for five years but so our situation was very tough and we were close to dying at some point. But many other people suffered much more terrible situation and this is right now a very, very sad and difficult situation. Yes, so glad that you and your wife and little girls are okay. And you write very movingly about your 62yearold father who did an extraordinary job at helping to rescue your family. Tell us about that. Yeah, my father is a retired general in the Israeli Military. On saturday morning when we realized what was happening, we started hearing first of all the rockets an the mortars falling on your community and then we ran to the safe room which for people who live in our area close to the border is usually where the kids are sleeping. So we just joined our two daughters in the room. We locked the door and the windows. And we expected something that we have experienced before. Mortar fire on our community. We are accustomed to it unfortunately. But then we started hearing automaker gunfire. And we realized that this is a different kind of event that terrorists have infiltrated our community. And at first we heard the gunfire in a bit of a distance, and this goat closer and closer until we heard it right outside of our window. They were shooting into our house. I told my parents that we are locked in the safe room. That there are terrorists in the neighborhood and that there is nobody there to help us. The Israeli Military was caught by surprise. And i have to say, wolf, what happened yesterday is the biggest failure of any Israeli Government in the history of this country. The government did not function and the citizens were left alone for long hours to try to defend themselves and so i told my parents who live in tel aviv, it is about a hour and 20 minutes drive that this is the situation. And my parents said were coming. Now, the roads were blocked. Terrorists were Infiltrating Community after community all over the border. What happened in our Little Community was not unique just to us. It was happening in many different places, at the same time. You mentioned this Music Festival, that is a ten minute drive from our home. More than 200 people were slaughtered there. And so the military was caught by surprise and did not have enough resources in the beginning to help everyone. And the tragic result is what were seeing, this large number of casualties. But my parents made their way toward the border area. And toward us. At some point they split, my mom stayed, you know, in a more safe place and my father began a very dangerous journey to try to get to our community. On the way, he witnessed he just had a pistol with him. He witnessed an ambush of a group of Israeli Soldiers by hamas. And he and another soldier intervened to help fight the terrorists. And then took two Wounded Soldiers back with them. They had already got in close to our community. But they went back the Wounded Soldiers and handed them over to my mother so they could take them to the hospital and try to save their lives. And then they returned and made the trip again and they joined a group of soldiers who were planning to begin the process of going from housetohouse, in this community. We are a community of about 500 to 600 people. From housetohouse to looker to the terrorists, kill them and free the people. And they did this methodically, they went through dozens of houses, we were not aware that this was happening because by that point we had lost all cell phone reception. But we heard the gunfire. We realized that there were exchanges of fire between the two sides and that is when i told my two young daughters who were beginning to lose patience after nine and a half hours, i told Them Grand Ffather is comi. Stay silent and stay quiet and grandfather is coming. And after another hour of this battles from home to home, that the soldiers engaged in. We heard a large bang on the window of the safe room and the voice of my father and my older daughter, shes 3 1 2 years old, she said grandfather is here. And that is when we started crying for the first time after ten hours in this situation. Did you ever think, amir, that because you live so close to gaza, in that kibitz, that the fall or the fence separating gaza could be penetrated along those lines by the Hamas Terrorists and that they would go into israel and start kidnapping and killing everybody they saw . Wolf, ill tell you, ho honestly, this is not something we could imagine would happen and i think hamas was surprised by its own success. I do not believe they thought on saturday morning when they began this operation that they would end it with more than 100 israeli kidnapped inside of the gaza strip which is something weve never had before. I remind you that 12 years ago israel, one of the previous governments of Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to release more than 1,000 Palestinian Terrorists, prisoners for one israeli soldier. For one soldier. A government in israel released 1, 1,000 prisoners. And if they thought they could kplap several israelis it would be a major win. They have more than 100 people in their hands right now. This is unprecedented and again the most important thing right now is to win this war. And to win it decisively for israel. But we also have to be honest about what happened here. This is the largest failure in the history of our country. Amir, the Diplomatic Correspondent for the newspaper and also the former washington correspondent for us. Amir, thank god you are okay and your wife and little girls are okay. We are all very grateful for that. Be strong over there. We will stay in touch. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. Well have much more on all of the Breaking News coming and there is a lot of Breaking News. Up next, ill speak live with a spokesperson from the idf. This is a Special Edition of the situation room, israel at war. [ sound of gunfire ] new video just coming in. This happened in thei israeli city moments ago in Southern Israel. Were following the Breaking News. Israeli police say the new Rocket Attack made a direct hit on an Apartment Building in that southern city. The Idf Spokesperson major Ben Wellhouse is joining us now. Thank you for joining us. You could update our viewers here in the United States and Around The World what is the situation on the ground right now amid this new barrage of rockets being fired into israel by hamas . Thank you, wolf, yes, it is just past midnight here in israel. And we are still under constant attack from gaza. Hamas and other Terrorist Organizations like the Palestinian Islamic jihad are still trying to invade by land and sea and air. We are still fighting for israeli territory. Families are still stuck inside of their home and uncertain what is going on outside. Waiting for people to save them. And as youve shown weve under constant attack all throughout israel, southern and Central Israel thousands of rockets being fired indiscriminately into israel from gaza. I know the latest rockets hit the city of ashculla, did they reach tel aviv as well. Yes, we have had rockets reaching tel aviv. Im talking you from tel aviv. My family lives here and my three children are constantly running down to the basement to the bomb shelter, im obviously not with them. But thousands, hundreds of thousands of people in israel tonight are spending their time in the Bomb Shelters with the sirens trying to protect themselves and their loved ones. At this hour, could you give us an update on how many israelis have been killed by these Hamas Terrorists and how many hostages are being held . Yes, we have now certain that over 700 people have been killed since this attack started. And it is important to mention that this is not just soldiers or young men, these are women, these are elderly, these are children, entire families, absolutely massive executed in cold blood by hamas. Their bodies mutilated in some cases. Some of them taken back into gaza. And we know that we have tens of hostages now inside of gaza. Soldiers and civilians alike and women and children and elderly. They just took everyone they could and you see some of the things on social media, how theyre treating those people. And theyve taken them back into gaza. This latest strike that hit ashculla, does the iron dome, the air missile system, did it not work as far as all of the missiles launched against the town. Thank god for iron dome and the u. S. And our israel cooperation on that respect and we appreciate the u. S. Assistance so much. That is been declared today. But hamas is Firing Barrages with a aim of trying to overcome the iron dome. Your viewers will know weve been Fighting Hamas for years and each time they try and make an additional effort to over come our defenses and while we invest our money in trying to protect our people to give them Bomb Shelters and nair investing their money to think of new ways to cill our civilians. So sometimes these rockets manage to get through the iron dome and they have killed civilians inside of israel. And that is what weve been saying for years. This is the hamas that were fighting against. It is a terrorist organization. With a stated explicit aim of trying to kill as many jews, israelis as they can and what weve seen over the past 48 hours is a real you could really try to bring that into action. Major wellhouse, i dont know if you know this, but if recent moments, hamas claims it has also targeted ben guerrian airport, you could update the viewers, what is the situation there at the airport . Dont have specific information on that. It has been in the past that hamas has aimed toward our airport. That is their aim. Their aim is to try to disrupt life in israel and try to kill as many civilians they can. They fire towards our airports, our Residential Homes and our cities. They trying deliberately to kill civilians and these are clear war crimes, crimes against humanity and to kidnap civilians now and women and children to mutilate bodies. These are war crimes an it is the Modus Operandi for this. We have to stop them inside of israel and clear all of the areas of these terrorists who have come into israel and stop their ability from carrying out the attacks from inside gaza. This is not an easy ing this. While theyre trying to kill our children, theyre also using their children to try to shield their military operations inside of gaza. So it is not a difficult thing to do to stop the military activities. That that is what were trying to do now in israel and in gaza. Can you tell us, major, if we should expect a full scale Israeli Ground incursion into gaza to deal with these Hamas Terrorists . The government is not yet declared whether it wants to do a ground invasion. Certainly all options are on the table. You know, one of your previous guests mentioned this, we had one soldier inside gaza who was held hastage for many years and now we have tens and we know this is a terrorist organization and weve seen how they treat civilians so certainly our highest priority is to get those hostages home safe and sound. So all options are on the table no in order to get that done and to stop the constant attacks, thousands of rockets and drones, attacks from the sea, whatever we need to do to stop hamas from attacking us. What about the fear of a second front opening . How worried are you that hezbollah terrorists in lebanon might launch attacks against israel, start a second front, if you will. They already have. Yesterday we were fired on from inside of lebanon, inside of a school. They launched rockets into israel. We are fired back to the area where the firing came from and were keeping a close eye on lebanon and syria and all other fronts where attacks would come from. We have forced up north, we have forces down south, we have bought Up Hundreds Of Thousands of Reserve Soldiers and were covering all our fronts to make sure that we could protect israel and civilians. What about iran andi its rol in all of this. The Wall Street Journal is saying that iran played a role in helping hamas launch these strikes against israel. What would you tell us about irans role in all of this, major . Iran supported hamas and the Terrorist Organizations in gaza is nothing new. Hamas controls this territory in gaza. It is a terrorist organization that actually controls territory, that borders with israel. And instead of using that territory and its control over population to flourish and build something, theyve chosen it to try and carry out this campaign of killings israelis and that backed by iran and backed by funds and military knowhow and backed by weapons. So iran support of hamas and Islamic Jihad and other organizations is nothing new to us. So what is israel going to do about iran . Were doing everything we can now. Our immediate need is to deal with what is going on from gaza. Immediate need is to stop the attacks inside israel, to stop the attacks couldming from gaza and were keeping a very close eye on all of our fronts, up north and elsewhere. You could confirm, major, that hamas has just said that they have taken additional israeli hostages on this day, sunday. You could confirm that . Well this is a very fluid situation. It is something that is ongoing as we speak. Rockets being fired on, were still fighting down south. People are still inside of their homes, inside of their safe rooms, inside of their Bomb Shelters and our forces are down there trying to do everything they can to get those terrorists out of israel and stop attacking our civilians and that includes everything that has been going on over the past 24 hours. What is your bottom line, message, mayor wellhouse, to the people of israel right now. They are understandably worried about what is going on . The idf is doing everything that it can to protect our people. We have called Up Hundreds Of Thousands of Reserve Soldiers and we have incredible cooperation with the u. S. Who is providing support. President biden is committed his unwavering support and backing that up with deeds and were doing everything that we can to stop this. I mean, just to imagine to have this terrorist organization on your doorstep. Neighboring territory and streaming through hundreds of terrorists and killing women and children and elderly. Thanks so much major for joining us. Well stay in close touch with you. Thank you for having me. Were staying on top of the Breaking News and theresy lot going on. A new round of hamas attacks launched against israel just now. Stay with us. This is a Special Edition of the situation room, israel at war. Were following all of the Breaking News, the death toll has just climbed in israel. The Idf Spokesperson telling me the death toll in israel is more than 700 people. Joining us now is william cohen, who served as Defense Secretary under bill clinton. Always good to have you. Thank you so much for joining us. As youve probably heard over the laeftst hour, hamas as unleashed strikes across israel, hitting Populated Areas and fired missiles up toward tel aviv. Are you worried about how much more this war could escalate right now . I am. But first, wolf, let me say, this one of the most tragic periods in the history of israel. The devastation is unanticipated and it is catastrophic and psychologically and militarily. So anything we could do and i think President Biden has said were going to reaffirm our support for israel and that is one of the reasons why i think youre seeing the Carrier Group headed toward israel. To reaffirm that support for them. I just want our viewers to know what youre talking about because the pentagon a little while ago announced it is sending a u. S. Aircraft Carrier Strike group, the uss gerald ford to the mediterranean. Do you think this will work, will this have an impact . Certainly symbolic as far as the Reaffirm Ation of our support. And that is a powerful capable, and two destroyers ab Cruisers Aand support ships so this is a major weapons package going to the region and it is there to deter others, the question, am i worried it might spread. Absolutely. And that is why the Carrier Group is going to be there to deter others from thinking they could take advantage of the turmoil that israel is experiencing right now. So, it is deterrence, it is a capable and it is a reaffirmation of support for the state of israel. But israel has a tough a tough problem right now as weve been discussing and youve been discussing. And Nic Robertson said it very clearly, the scale and bar barrett has shaken israel and us as well. It certainly has. Do you believe it is inevitable mr. , secretary, that israel is about to launch a Ground Incursion right into gaza . Not at this point. If i had to guess, think the first goal is to get hamas out of israel, to shut down the border, to make sure no more could come in and go after and kill all of those who have Terrorizing Thei israeli citizens. Secondly they look to say what do we have to do at all of the rockets being launched and how does hamas get so many rockets. Gaza is a poor area. It is impoverished. So where does the rockets come from. I think those loads lead back from iran. There is a fusion that runs from iran through syria to hezbollah and lebanon and that fuse has been lit and that is why the United States and everyone in the region needs to be concerned. I assume the movement of that u. S. Aircraft Carrier Strike force to the Eastern Mediterranean is designed not only to send a message to hamas, but also to send a message to hezbollah and lebanon and also to send a message, lets say to iran, which supposedly is behind so much of this. You agree . I do, absolutely. We cant prove it at this point. But i have no doubt that all roads lead back to tehran. They have been calling for the destruction of israel, theyve been supporting hamas, which is calling for the destruction of israel and so there is no doubt in my mind that their hand is involved here. But we also have to look at iran and maybe that runs all the way back to moscow at this point. Moscow is a big supporter of iran. Iran is supporting hamas. And now we have a connection and a fuse that runs all the way to moscow as well. Which is invading ukraine as we speak about the invasion taking place in israel. How much more complicated, mr. Secretary, would a full scale Israeli Ground invasion of gaza be with Hamas Holding for example so many israeli hostages right now and foreign hostages as well that were taken into gaza . It is going to be day by day. Israel could launch an allout assault on in gaza. They could level every building if they were to do so, and kill so many innocents, it would certainly turn out to be they would be called the villains in all of this. They dont want to do that. And they will not do that. So, they could level the buildings and the strike centers, they will not do so. I think theyre going to have to take it day by day and trench by trench and tunnel by tunnel if necessary. But they are going to get hamas, they are going to kill them, and theyre going to over time eradicate hamas from gaza. Former Defense Secretary william cohen, thank you for your expertise. Thank you, wolf. Were following all of the Breaking News. Right now new blasts have just been heard once again is a cross israel. Well be back in a moment. All right, this just in. Take a look at this. This new video obtained by cnn showing a rocket that partially crashed through a residential Apartment Building. You see it stuck in the ceiling. Cnn is unable to confirm where it was taken. It began circulating on Israeli Social media early sunday morning as rocks that made it through the Iron Dome Rain Down on the israeli city north of gaza. Joining us now, democratic congressman Josh Gottheimer of new jersey. A key heb of House Intelligence Committee. Thank you so much for joining us. Let me first get your reaction to this rather dark chapter in israels history. The only thing i could say, wolf, is it is been a gutwrenching couple of days. I think for everyone who cares about the u. S. Relationship and cares about just you look at videos like the one youre referencing, of rockets being rained down. Of course young children, women and grandparents, torn from their homes by Hamas Terrorists. 50 years after the Yom Kippur War and you realize how critical it is that israel be given the room to act decisively. They did not bring this on themselves. They were attacked by terrorists, iranbacked terrorists and now the key is to respond and root out these terrorists. A source is telling cnn, congressman, that House Intelligence Committee members like yourself got an unclassified briefing on the situation in israel this morning. First of all, were you in that br briefing, and if so, could you share with us what you learned. I waepts in that one. I received a classified briefing this morning so i cant share the content of the classified briefing at this time. But obviously weve seen what is out there. Weve seen the reporting. As you just mentioned, 700 plus israelis have been killed. Very focused of course on the hostages. Youre looking at 130 that we know of right now including americans. Americans killed and american hostages. We i think it is critical that israel be given the room to get those hostages back and they be Rueturned Straightaway and i the process in protecting democracy and the region and our critical ally, making sure that they have what they need to root out the Hamas Terrorists and weve seen now that it is official that their iranbacked. Iran was clearly involved in this. You see this access of iran, russia, china, acting together so i think weve got to be vigilant here as we act in as i should say as isreal acts with our backing in the days ahead. I want to get your reaction to what the House Foreign AffairsCommittee Chairman mike mccaul of texas said about irans role in these terror attacks. Listen and watch this. Listen to this. We do know that iran is behind this. They have financed this. Every step of the way. And theyve trained these terrorists. This must have been planned for months to strike on the 50th Anniversary of yom kippur, the war in 1973. And that is very evident. Do you believe, congressman, that iran played an operational role in these attacks against israel . Well, as we study the intelligence, well understand more but let me say that gib the fact that theyve now hamas and hezbollah and others have admitted that iran played a role in this, it seems like this attack doesnt just happen overnight. It appears to be coordinated. I assume well learn more about that but right now we have to be vigilant about lebanon in the north and potential attacks from hezbollah as attacks continue from the south and rockets continue to rain. So you have be very weve seen in recent months more coordination from iran, their proxies and hezbollah and hamas, and weve seen palestinian jihad deeply involved in this. So youre seeing much more coordination of these terrorists and their proxies in the last months and theyve been public about that coordination. It appears you saw that we saw that yesterday directly when appears that seems to be what happened and were going to learn a lot more in the days and weeks ahead. Right now, the Number One Mission has to be to make sure that we back israel, our key ally, in the region. The democracy in the region and make sure that it could respond, get the hostages out and of course kill anybody who threatens israel. Well there is a problem, as you well now, the House Of Representatives which is now without a speaker and the house really nt cant do much without a speak. How does that impact getting potentially needed aid down the road to israel . I think it is critically important that we get a speaker as quickly as possible. And in the shortterm, israel has what it needs. You saw the president take action in terms of moving more forces into the region, to support israel and against hamas and any other of the terrorists activity. But i think we want to act quickly here and i know that the republicans are pleating in their conference, i believe tomorrow. And i think we also need to get the ambassador thats been nominated, get him approved as k as quickly as possible. And hes been nominated by the president to become the next u. S. Ambassador to israel. Israel does not have a u. S. Ambassador right now. He left a few weeks ago and jack luis confirmation is now before the u. S. Senate. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks, wolf, and lets pray here because i think its going to be a tough, tough weeks ahead. But i think we need to make sure that israels given the room to get those hostages including american hostages, out. And to act decisively here. Thanks again, wolf. Thank you very much. Well stay in close touch with you. This evening, cnn teams are on the ground right now reporting about loud explosions that are now being heard in the suburbs of tel aviv. Israels largest city. Hamas claims to be targeting the International Airport just outside of tel aviv as well. Well update you on all of that. This was the scene by the way there last night. The attacks leading Major Airlines to cancel dozens of flights to and from tel aviv this weekend. American and delta nixing all flights through at least monday. United and air france have suspended service to and from tel aviv indefinitely. The faa and israels Civil Aviation authority are Urging Pie Pilots to exercise extreme caution but commercial air links have yet to be postponed with the southern part of israel. Israels ambassador to the United Nations is calling this unprecedented and deadly Surprise Attack from hamas against israel, calling it quote israels 9 11. This ahead of an emergency u. N. Security Council Meeting that just concluded. Li listen to this. Look at this grandmother being forced to hold a haha hamas terrorist rifle as he takes a picture with her. This is inhumane. Inhumane. Mothers and their babies as well as babies separated from their mothers were brutally taken hostage. This is israels 9 11. And israel will do everything to bring our sons and daughters back home. Cnns senior u. N. Correspondent richard roth is joining us right now. Tell our viewers what you are learning. Well, they had an Emergency Meeting about an hour and 45 minutes but no decision, no statement was agreed to. The u. S. Deputy ambassador obviously thinking nothings going to happen, said they were happy that other countries did speak out against hamas. We heard from the israeli ambassador at the United Nations who was upset that now the world seems to care about the violence in the area. Israel expects and demands political and military support while advancing goals that are fundamentally at odds with International Legitimacy and consensus. Its policies are an assault on our humanity. The palestinian envoy, the israeli envoy, theyre not part, wolf, as you know, of these closed door discussions that took place and the United Arab Emirates ambassador said she expects a lot more meetings to come. Richard roth, thank you. Up next, well go back live to israel and get the latest on the response to the brutal attacks ongoing from hamas and the efforts underway to try to rescue israeli hostages and other foreign hostages who have been taken. This is a Special Edition of the situation room, israel at war. Happening now. Were following the Breaking News. Hamas fires a new barrage of rockets and missiles across israel tonight. You can see the skies streak, attempting to intercept the hamas rockets. One of the missiles did get past these Israeli Defenses and makes a direct strike in a city north of israels border with gaza. Israeli police say this was an Apartment Building that was struck. And just minutes ago here on cnn, israels military announced that the death toll has now climbed again. Were now certain over 700 people have been killed since these attacks started and its important to mention this is not just soldiers or young men. These are women, elderly, children, entire families absolutely massacred, executed in cold blood by hamas. Can you confirm, major, that hamas has just said they have taken additional israeli hostages on this day, sunday . Can you confirm that . Well this is a very fluid situation. Its something thats ongoing as we