Rockets being fired on. Still fighting down south. People are still inside their home, their safe room, their Bomb Shelters and are forces are down there doing everything they can to get the terrorists to stop attacking our civilians. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. This is a Special Edition of the situation room. Israel at war. Were following all the Breaking News in israel. Want to go to clarissa ward. She and her team have just made it into the city north of gaza. Tell our viewers what you are seeing there. Reporter its quiet right at this moment, wolf, but as we were driving into town about an hour and a half ago, it was a very different picture. I think you should be able to show our viewers some of that video. Just an extraordinary barrage of rockets. At least two we know made a direct impact. The iron dome activated, lighting up the night sky and really even by the standard of what we have been seeing over and over again over the last 37, 40 hours now, this was a particularly fearsome barrage of rockets. Again, it does seem to be a little quieter now. We have been hearing a lot of planes overhead. You can be sure that there are going to be more strikes on the gaza strip. But very few souls needless to say out on the street. Most residents of this city are taking cover and sheltering in place until they have some sense that it is safe to come out, wolf. You are one of our truly courageous journalists watching all of this unfold. I know you actually went to the site of that Music Festival not far from where you are now. A Music Festival that was being held near the border with gaza. A lot of young people were there, a festival, that was eventually attacked by these ham Hamas Terrorists. Israel confirming that 260 people, mostly young people, were killed there. Not in a Missile Attack from the sky, but killed brutally by these terrorists who managed to cross into israel from gaza. Tell us what you saw. Well, wolf, its a gruesome scene. Basically as you arrive on this small, rural road, you start to see vehicles abandoned by the side of the road. Many of them have been shot up. There was clearly a very fears fearsome battle that went on between Israeli Forces and these militants. Thousands of young revelers were gathered at this peace festival. It was supposed to be. They were dancing the night away, celebrating, and about 6 00 a. M. , a barrage of rockets started. Then according to people on the ground basically all hell broke loose. Militants stormed the festival. They began killing people. Shooting people, stabbing people, kidnapping people. Most crucially, its still difficult to know about the fate of some of the people who attended. We spoke as you mentioned to the Volunteer Group thats basically been helping to identify some of the human remains. They said that at least 260 bodies have been found there but there are still people unaccounted for and as i said, we saw the bodies of many hamas militants along that way. Those bodies have been left out. We saw evidence that again, Israeli Forces have put up quite a fight there. One situation where an Israeli Police truck had tboned what appeared to be a truck full of hamas militants. So certainly, it was a brutal, bloody battle. It went on for hours. Some of these young people were hiding. Calling their loved ones. They were desperately begging to be rescued and so many of these people still dont know where their loved ones are. Have they been taken hostage . Have they been killed and not yet identified, wolf. Such a brutal, brutal attack. Based on what youre seeing and hearing, how secure is israels border with gaza right now . I know theyre trying to keep Hamas Terrorists from crossing into israel again. What are you seeing . What are you hearing . So there have been multiple incidents throughout the day, wolf, where the Israeli Forces have said they have been directly engaged with hamas militants. Hamas has claimed that its had multiple fighters who have been able to infiltrate across that border as early as this morning. We certainly passed the scene or came close to a scene, we had to turn around, where Israeli Forces were engaged in some kind of a fire fight with what they believed to be hamas mill itant on the ground. I would say that really is the all pervasive fear at the moment. One understands that there are multiple things that Israeli Forces are docontending with bu the priority at the moment seems to be narrowly focused on trying to ensure these towns,vi villag, that hamas militants are cleared out of these villages so people can be safely extracted from their homes. Some have been sheltering in place now for almost 48 hours. So that is clearly the most burning priority for israelis on the ground. The israeli Prime Minister as you know, has said hes preparing for what he describes as a long and difficult war. I keep hearing from sources im talking to in israel that theyre bracing exactly for that. That they think this war is only just beginning now. Is that the feeling youve been hearing from israelis as well . Thats very much the feeling. That you get when you talk to people on the ground. There so many things that still need to happen. As i mentioned, the First Priority is to stop is infiltration. To fix the border. We saw a lot of materials like heavy Building Materials being taken, assuming that that was to try to repair these areas where those breaches were made. Then beyond that, of course, you have the priority of trying to rescue these hostages who are being held captive. Trying to ascertain how many are still alive. Where theyre being held. Then you have the broader issue of how to deal with hamas leadership inside the gaza strip. There have been a number of air strikes throughout the day but the real question is whether that will be followed up by some kind of a Ground Incursion. Certainly from what we saw today moving up and down that area along the border, a huge amount of Military Hardware is funneling in. A lot of reserve is funneling in. We saw tanks, Armored Personnel Carriers and we only expect to see that tempo continue. As you said, wolf, there is no sense yet of how long this would take but israels leaders are certainly telling people to brace themselves for a long fight ahead, wolf. Yeah, i think thats good advice, indeed. Stay safe over there. As i said, youre one of our courageous journalists on the scene and we appreciate it very much. And there are other dramatic stories emerging from those who survived the attack. Last hour, i spoke with an israeli journalist about his familys ordeal when gunfire erupted in their small kabuts near gaza. Israel is grieving now. Yesterday was one of the darkest days if not the darkest in the history of our country. We lost approximately 700 people so far. That is like more than half of the second fatah which lasted for five years but in one day. So in our situation was very tough and we were close to dying some points, but many other people suffered much more terrible situation and as a nation, this is right now a very, very sad, difficult situation. So glad that you and your wife and your little girls are okay. And you write very, very m 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 rocket and the mortars falling in our community 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, we locked the windows and we expected something that we have experienced before. Mortar fire in our community. We are accustomed to it, unfortunately, but then we started hearing automatic gunfire and we realized this is a different kind of event. That terrorists have infiltrated our community. At first, we heard the gunfire in the bit of a distance and it got closer and closer until we heard it right outside our window. They were shooting into our house. I told my parents we are locked in the safe room. That there are terrorists in the neighborhood and that theres nobody there to help us. The Israeli Military was caught by surprise. 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, its about an hour, 20 minutes drive, that this is the situation. And my parents said were coming. 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. Thats a tenminute drive from our home. More than 200 people were slaughtered there. 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. The large number of casualties. But my parents made their way toward the border area and at some point, they split. My mom stayed 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, i think he just had a pistol with him. He witnessed an ambush of a group of Israeli Soldiers by hamas and he and other soldier intervened, help fight the terrorists then took two Wounded Soldiers back with him. They had already got in close to our community but went back to the Wounded Soldiers and handed them to my mother so she could take them to the hospital and troy to save their lives. They returned again. When they arrived, they joined a group of soldiers who were planning to begin the process of going from house to house in this community. We are a community of about five to 600 people. You know, from house to house, look for 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 they were exchanges of fire between two sides and thats when i told my two young daughters who were beginning to lose patience after nine and a half hours. I told them, grandfather is coming. Stay silent. Stay quiet. Grandfather is coming. 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, whos three and a half years old, she said grandfather is here. Thats when we started crying for the first time after ten hours in this situation. Saba is here. The hebrew word for grandfather. Little girls broke out in tears. All of them did. Tibon wrote that the full shock of the event didnt hit him for hours until he was sitting with his family on a bus in the middle of the night evacuating to somewhere safer. Very, very moving article. Powerful story, indeed. Thank god they are okay. Theres more Breaking News, next. With iran involved in this attack against israel, what u. S. Officials are now telling cnn. Well have a live report from the white house. Thats coming up next. Stay with us. Youre in the situation room. Israel official declaring a state of war against hamas. And new this evening, u. S. Officials telling cnn that the administration has yet to find a smoking gun directly linking iran to these Terror Attacks. Cnns senior White House Correspondent mj lee is joining us from the white house. First of all, what are you hearing from the Biden Administration about irans involvement . Well, wolf, what u. S. Officials are telling us tonight is that at this moment, there is no smoking gun yet that appears to link iran directly to the attack that we saw over the weekend, but theres just simply no denying irans history of aiding hamas. One u. S. Official for example telling me tonight of course iran is in the picture. Theyve provided support for years to hamas and hezbollah. What is interesting, wolf, is that we are beginning to see more u. S. Officials at least pointing to what they say is the likelihood that iran did play a role in planning and executing this attack on israel. For example, one democratic senator i was speaking to tonight said he expects to get a classified briefing tomorrow. He simply said yes, there is the history of iran funding and offering Financial Assistance to hamas so he personally believed that it is going to be likely that we will soon find out that iran did have a direct role. Now the administration, we can also report tonight, is holding a briefing for some key house members. This is supposed to be an unclassified briefing but either way, you can bet, wolf, that lawmakers are going to have a lot of questions for Administration Officials about what information they know at this moment in time including on this key question of irans potential role in the attack over the weekend. As you know, mj, President Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today that more u. S. Aid is on the way. What exactly did the president and Prime Minister based on what youre hearing, discuss on their call earlier this morning . Thats right, wolf. For the second time since the attack over the weekend, President Biden speaking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and again offering his condolences for the suffering that the country has seen and also pledging the u. S. s full support. According to the white houses read out of this call, President Biden updated the Prime Minister on the intensive diplomatic engagement undertaken by the United States over the last 24 hours in support of israel. The president also conveyed that additional assistance for the Israeli Defense forces is now on its way with more to follow over the coming days. Of course, this is a reference to u. S. Military assets that are being moved quickly to the region at a very rapid clip and of course, Administration Officials tell us that they are continuing on a rolling basis to have discussions about what additional aid the u. S. Will provide israel in the coming days. Is the white house concerned that all the dysfunction in the House Of Representatives right now, theres no speaker of the house, for example, that all that dysfunction could hinder americas response to these attacks . Namely its ability to quickly provide additional u. S. Aid to the Israeli Defense forces . Wolf, i think it is absolutely safe to say that there is a level of concern about the dysfunction as you put it currently playing out on capitol hill. Really affecting what kind of assistance the u. S. Can provide to israel quickly. As you know, the fact that there is not a permanent House Speaker really means that the u. S. Is in Uncharted Territory right now. Over the weekend, we heard one u. S. Official saying that this is simply a unique situation and u. S. Officials are trying to figure out given this political situation what exactly can they do and can they not do. For example, as we were d discussing before, if the u. S. Determines it wants to get through congress an assistance p package, how does that exactly work when you appear to have a not permanent House Speaker who isnt able to sort of exercise the full authority that a permanent House Speaker would have. Theres a messy situation on capitol hill that the white house is having to contend with but they are being frank that they, too, are figuring out what this means for any future aid they might want to give to israel. Mj lee, thank you. Amidst all of this, were now told the pentagon is sending a u. S. Aircraft Carrier Strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean. Orrin is joining us now alongside retired u. S. Air force colonel, cedrick layton. This is happening as you well know that israel is clearly preparing for some sort of Large Scale Campaign against hamas in gaza. Wolf, lets take a look at what the u. S. Is doing and what israel is doing here. What we expect to see with colonel layton. First, the Carrier Strike group. U. S. S. Gerald ford. Its headed towards the waters off the kcoast of israel. One of the big things you have to look at with a Carrier Strike group like this is that its a Military Presence in the re region and every time theres trouble in the region, you send the Carrier Strike group to show the flag of the United States. This can have up to 70 caircraf, up to 90. Its a formidable force. Includes the f35 and also has f18s on it so it is a major player in the region anytime it goes into an a region. Theyre not expected to head to israel. Who is this a message to and what role could they play if theyre not going to israel . These aircraft, they are aircraft that are designed to in essence show the flag in the Persian Gulf Region as well as over syria and over iraq. So with these aircraft are part of the u. S. Presence in the middle east. And theyre designed to actually be part of the presence that the u. S. Has in the region as a whole and they send a message to folks like hamas, hezbollah, and to iran. Also worth pointing out the Defense Secretary has been in very close contact with his israeli counterparts and they expect to remain in touch. Lets bring it into gaza. Weve seen the u. S. Carrying out strikes against gaza. Prime minister netanyahu promising a prolonged campaign, is a Ground Incursion in your mind inevitable . Its not but its certainly possible. One of the things you have to look at when it comes to unone the areas we have here, lets go to this one right here. This is an area where you see is crossings. Some of them. That gaza has and all of this area is really part of what the israelis have to be focused on. One of the key things that you have to look at is this is a really densely populated area because the way in which all of these areas are mapped out, you have the highest Population Density in the world in this very small less than 130 square miles area and thats something that is really, really difficult when you have a whole region like this. This is one hot spot that really never goes away. Israel has talked about two goals here. Well take a look at the google map here to see how densely populated it is. One of them is to retaliate against gaza in a strong fashion and the other is to rescue scores or significant number of israeli and other foreign hostages. Can you do both at the same time or does one make the other impossible or endanger . All of these streets are incredibly nar row. Just take a circle and assume hostages can be in these areas like this. What an Israeli Force would have to do is locate the hostages and not take away from other missions there. So if theyre going to go ahead and do Something Like this, they have to be very careful they dont have Collateral Damage that would then endanger the hostages, their own forces and create real problems. For everything we saw aboveground, theres a city underground. Tunnels that hamas has had time to prepare. That israel has not had time to prepare. How much more difficult does that make it for israel . Really difficult because they have to learn every single nook and cranny of this place. If they dont have eyes on target, if they arent able to get there in a quick fashion and if they havent been able to do what we call intelligence preparation of the battle space, they wont be able to see everything they need to see to know whats around the corner. For special Operations Missions like hostage rescue missions, you need that kind of intelligence to do that. Another important question is israel has tried to warn civilians in gaza to essentially get out of the way of the attacks and stay out of the way. First, hamas has integrated into the population and second, we saw how densely populated it is. Where can they go . We have already seen civilians in gaza killed. Does this become inevitable as the campaign expands . Unfortunately, it does because when you look at one of the key areas, go to the explosion again, but we also have all the different areas here where the israelis are trying to evacuate their personnel, their civilian population and when it comes to the gaza civilians, about the only thing they can do besides going into the sea which is impossible, is go to egypt and thats as far as i know, opening up its borders to receive civilians from gaza. Theres a diplomatic effort. Thank you for your time. Wolf, back to you. Guys, thank you very much. Excellent analysis. Well have more Breaking News straight ahead. A live report. Thats coming up directly from israel. Stay with us. Lots going on right now. Including new explosions in israel. Well be right back. Cmon, were right there. Cmon baby. Its the only we need. Go, go, go, go ah Touchdown Baby touchdown are your neighbors watching the same game . Yeah, my 5g Home Internet delays the game a bit. But you get used to it. Try these. Theyre noise cancelling earmuffs. I stole them from an airport. Its always something with you, man. Great solid greek salad . Exactly dont delay the game with verizon or tmobile 5g Home Internet. Catch it on the xfinity 10g network. Were following all of the Breaking News. Very disturbing Breaking News out of israel tonight. A u. S. National Security Council official reporting that several quote several u. S. Citizens have died following the hamas Terror Attacks against israel and hamas is launching new strikes tonight. Israeli police say there has been a direct hit on an apartment building. Israel formally declaring war this morning following a Surprise Attack by militants. Now as fighting nears this the third day, air strikes have been raining down. At this time, israel says more than 700 people in israel have been killed by the terrorists. More than 2,000 others have been wounded and palestinian Officials Say at least 400 people in gaza have been killed and 2300 others wounded. Clarissa ward is joining us. Tell our viewers what youre seeing there. We have been Hearing Rockets fired off but nothing that really matches the tempo as we were arriving in the city where i think you just showed that video of this extraordinary barrage of rockets. The vast majority being inter intercepted the iron dome. At least two of them managing to breach the iron dome and make land fall here. One hit a bus stop, the other a building. Actually not too far from here. Theres no reports of casualties but certainly the effect has been very chilling. There are barely any civilians outside on the streets at all. Partly of course because its the middle of the night but also because people are sheltering in place. We did see a few people arriving at various hotels basically looking for shelter because the situation is so dangerous and of course, the fear of the Rocket Attack is just one of the many threats. The primary one that i would say people in this part of israel are focused on at the moment is continued infiltrations by hamas militants. We dont know exactly how many there may still be in this part of israel but we do know that there have been several incidents throughout the day of Israeli Forces firing on or fighting with militant hamas fighters and we actually as we were driving at one point, were forced to turn around because we saw a fire fight in the distance between Israeli Forces and hamas militants. So still a fluid situation. Were hearing a lot of activity in the skies in terms of jets. Obviously there were continued strikes in the gaza strip and everyone bracing themselves for another long night and what could be one of many long nights to come, wolf. What are you hearing from israelis as you travel around, as you walk around, drive around . What kind of messages are they giving you . They know youre a correspondent for cnn. I think the main message they give right away when they find out youre a journalist is like please come in, do your job, show the world whats going on here. I think the primary sentiment that you have is very emotional and a profoundly deep state of shock. The fact that there are all these hostages being held and these are not soldiers, many of them are women, are children, old ladies. That has had a profound effect on the psyche of the israeli people and theres a real and palpable sense of fear and a sense, honestly, that this will probably change the complexion of life here for quite some time to come in ways that people are only just starting to get their arms around, wolf. Be careful over there, clarissa. Thank you very, very much m. Well have much more on the Breaking News straight ahead. A very grim update just coming in. The death toll now more than 700 people in israel. Hor horrific details also emerging. Heres what the Idf Spokesman told me in the last hour. We are now certain that over 700 people have been killed since this attack started. Its important to mention that this is not just soldiers or young men. These are women. These are elderly. These are children. Entire families. Absolutely massacred, executed in cold blood by hamas. Their bodies mutilated in some cases. Some of them taken back into gaza and we know we have hostages inside gaza. Women, children, elderly. They just took everyone they could. Want to bring in Cnn National Security analyst, peter bergen. Hes here with me in washington and i want to bring in cnns Senior International correspondent in london, sam kylie. Sam, President Biden has warned other groups not to get involved here. He wasnt necessarily specific but what are the concerns beyond hamas . Well, he wasnt specific, youre right there, wolf, but you recall he pointed his finger in that kind of admonishing way, knowing exactly who he meant and anybody listening would have known. By that, he means across the northern border of israel into lebanon and of course hezbollah is backed some would argue, even run, by iran. And of course, it is the iranian who back, armed, trained hamas, historically. Thats who he was addressing, wolf. Peter, you spent a Career S Studying these various terror groups. How worried are you about this current conflict escalating . Well, if you accept the spokesman talked to you in the last hour and said iran historically supplied weapons, Military Technology and money to hamas, i thought it was fascinating that the Supreme Leader of iran said last week that anybody who normalizes relationships with israel is making a mistake and clearly making a very pointed reference to the u. S. Brokered potential deal between saudi arabia and israel. Those are three of irans worst enemies in a sense getting tot together to make a deal. So surely iran is very opposed to the potential of this deal. Yes, they have a long relationship with hamas and of course hezbollah is sort of an arm of the iranian government effectively. So we dont know whats going to happen next but thats the kind of scenario that were looking at. Whats the message of the u. S. When it sends this Aircraft Carrier battle group to the Eastern Mediterranean . Not far from the Israel Gaza Border and closer to iran . Whats the message the u. S. Is sending . A very carlear one, which ise have got an Aircraft Carrier with 70 to 90 fighter jets on it and were prepared to use it. And that will be heard loud and clear in lebanon as well. Lebanon is known to support hamas and hezbollah in all sorts of ways. Are there concerns based on what youre hearing that iran could become directly involved . Not just supporting them behind the scenes, but directly involved . I think they might well be. There are concern, these are among the options Down The Line being presented to the Israeli Security cabinet is what the Israeli Military might do is some kind of attack against iran. Particularly if they see a lot of iranian fingerprints on this hamas operation, which does, i have to say, all of the h hallmarks of a specialist operation. Certainly advised by if not devised by and supplied by iran. I think that would be a possibility up to the direct involvement by iran. I dont think they would want to get any of their personnel directly involved. They have got their personnel of course in syria and they have been hit in syria in the past by israel. And not retaliated drirectly using iranian personnel, but using proxies such as hezbollah and hamas. So i think they would rely here on hamas as a proxy, hezbollah as a proxy, jihad. More likely though is potentially, only potentially, Down The Line, israel treating this moment as their 9 11 moment and seeing if they cant, if they were so minded do some kind of Preemptive Strike for example against nuclear facilityies. Youve written about the impact it could have on any diplomatic breakthroughs that may be out there. Whats your Bottom Line Message . Well, i think the u. S. Brokered saudi israeli potential Peace Deal Looks like its dead for the foreseeable future. As a result of this war. As a result of this war. And surely we dont know yet if that was part of the calculus but it seems to me thats a plausible explanation. Sam, you agree . I do. I think peter said at the top of this this was part of the intent was to stuper that Normalization Process that could have an equal and opposite reaction because iran now will be blamed by those three big elements even though the saudis are supporting the palestinians, they will be very unhappy by the use of this extreme form of violence and of course, the Hostage Crisis is likely now to play out and really dominate all political and diplomatic activity. Even after the guns have fallen temporarily silent, that has got to be where the diplomacy will lie. That will be the focus of israels efforts and those will involve no doubt Back Channels through qatar, egypt. Possibly what hamas wants is direct talks with israel over these hostages. Guys, thank you very much. Straight ahead, were getting new details now from this s latt attack on israel as new explosions are being heard right now. Well be back in a moment. Number 10 downing street in london. The home of the u. K. s Prime Minister lights up in support of israel. He tweeted this picture just a little while ago with the message, we stand with israel. Very differently, there are more disturbing images coming out of israel. Murder and sheer chaos. The hamas attacks are leaving Family Members begging for help and answers. Palestinian militants kidnap a group of distraught women and children. In video posted on social media, its terrifying to watch. Even more so if the people being abducted are your family. Hes safe in israel but say hes terrified for his wife and two young daughters abducted from his motherinlaws home near the gaza border. He says the last days have been difficult. He hasnt slept and desperately wants to send this message to their captors. I want to ask hamas, dont hurt them. Dont hurt little children. Dont hurt women. If you want me instead, im willing to come. His anguish felt by families across israel as videos emerge of other kidnappings. Israel Officials Say hamas has taken dozens of Israelis Captive including women, children, and the eillderly. Many hostages were taken while attending an outdoor Music Festival. They were fired at as they tried to run away. Many didnt make it out as this next disturbing image shows. More than 200 were killed. The woman is taken away on a motorbike leaving her partner with his hands bound surrounded by captors. The families of both victims say they want the video to be shown in hopes of finding them, but noahs roommate says its extremely distressing to watch it. Its very difficult when you see someone so close to you and you know them so much that are being treated like this. Its very difficult to see it. Its make you like, shock. The israel Defense Forces say theyre doing everything they can to find the hostages and further protect its citizens. Evacuating communities, safe return of the missing is a top priority. What i can tell you is that were not going to stop until we exhaust every means. We will not leave any person behind and well do anything to make that happen. Israel has opened a Missing Persons command center. Theyve been advised to bring items that could be used for dna matches. Its an agonizing wait. This mother pleads for help to find her son missing since saturday. She says i want my child. I want you to help me find my boy. A pain shared now by many israeli families. Not knowing if a loved one is dead or alive or ever coming home. Thanks for all your excellent reporting and it for me this evening. Thanks very much for watching. Im wolf blitzer in the situation room. Ill see you tomorrow again, 6 00 p. M. Eastern. Our special coverage of israel at war continues right now, right after the quick break, with anderson cooper