As the idea continues to fight Hamas Inside Israel and they are still crossing into the country from gaza, but the idf says it is going door to door in towns near the Gaza Border Helping Survivors to safety. Our Rosemary Church spoke last hour with the Idf Spokesperson who gave us an update on the situation now. We know that Hamas Terrorists are still fighting Israeli Soldiers in a handful of civilian communities in israel along the gaza border and, of course, this is to be a long operation and were really in the early stages of beginning to mourn the horrific massacre we experienced two days ago, what is the biggest massacre of israelis since the establishment of the country. So it is a very tense and certainly dynamic time right now. The fighting continues here within israel as we speak. Israel doesnt have control of the border areas, but when might that happen, do you think . Of course, its a top priority for us. We know there are civilians there and civilians still held hostage by hamas within those communities. So this is the main mission of the military right now and our main focus. You mention those hostages because hamas is now claiming they have more than 100 hostages. We dont know if that is the actual number, but how difficult will it be to bring them all home safely . Of course, bringing them home safely is a top priority. So many of us here in israel are directly impacted and when we see the images of the elderly, of children, of entire families who have been kidnapped, we are all devastated. So, of course, it is a top, top priority to bring them back alive and at this stage every option is on the table for the military. Explain the intelligence. Weve been monitoring hamas intelligence the last decade and its something weve expressed and echoed every opportunity, which is we understand that hamas, their entire mission and their entire reason for existence is to wipe israel off the map. They are very open about that and their investment over time of millions and millions of dollars into their weapon system, into their military capabilities is something that we have certainly been drawing attention to or trying to draw attention to globally for the world to understand that. Greg carlstrom is a middle east correspondent and is an author of how long will israel survive the threat from within . He joins us from dubais. Thank you so much for joining us. Theyre not rolling out a Ground Invasion, are they . But theyve got to get these hostages back and thats either through negotiation which seems impossible or a Ground Invasion. Does that make a Ground Invasion inevitable . I dont think it makes it inevitable, but it complicates the planning. If it wasnt for the hostages, it would be very high probability theyd be leaning toward Ground Invasion. There was a push for that in 2014, the last time there was a big war between israel and hamas when hamas kidnapped and killed three israelis. Prime minister netanyahu has a much more right wing coalition. I think there will be a real push for a Ground Invasion. Yes, the presence of those hostages really complicates matters. You run the risk people will be killed in crossfire. If there is a Ground Invasion, looks like it will unseat hamas from power, remove it from power. The group perhaps decide it has nothing to lose and execute hostages. Those are the things Israeli Security officials and israeli politicians are discussing as they figure out how to respond. We heard from our correspondent a Ground Invasion might be what hamas wants because they know the territory better and their defenses. Right. Back to 2014 when there was talk about this, there were a lot of people in the israeli army warning about exactly that, that its one thing to do an aerial campaign, maybe do a few raids near the border, but to go into gaza, you wind up with very bloody urban combat in an environment where israel has not had a presence in almost two decades. Israel withdrew troops from gaza in 2005. It doesnt have a foothold on the ground. Theres a real risk of a prolonged, very bloody battle and dont know what the end game is. Theres obviously a lot of sympathy for israel because of this horrific series of events that is still transpiring. Were hearing there are still attempts to cross the border. They will lose sympathy presumably when they go into one of the most densely Populated Areas on earth and inevitably the casualties escalate. Several of our countries are sitting on the sidelines and not even expressing sympathy for israel right now. They will. Thats what tends to happen every time there is one of these escalations in gaza. Gaza is a densely populated place. People have nowhere to go. There are no bomb shelters. There is nowhere to flee. Theyre hemmed in on two sides by the egyptian blockade and on the third side by the sea. The civilian casualties will be quite high, especially if there is Ground Fighting that goes street to street in densely populated neighborhoods. With arab states i think its interesting for how all of the talk many recent years about iraq israeli normalization, about the abraham accords, the response weve heard, the very neutral response weve heard to day will grow increasingly critical. This normalization of relations between israel and some arab states, including saudi arabia, was essential to president bidens middle east policy, wasnt it . What happens to that . American Officials Say its still on the table and theyre working on it. I think one thing to point out is even before all this when you asked people in the white house about israeli saudi normalization, they would say we really have to get it done before the end of the year because if this goes into 2024, the american political system will be consumed by elections. It wont be a time when we can get a big Foreign Policy initiative through, maybe a Defense Treaty for saudi arabia through the senate. That wont be possible with the political situation next year. I suspect what happens now the americans are still pushing for it, but the attack on israel this weekend will certainly delay it, as will the israeli response and scenes of war out of gaza. That is not a good backdrop for the saudis or anyone else to normalize with israel. If this gets pushed off till next year, theres a good chance it remains tabled until after the election in november. Thank you very much for your analysis. Still ahead, families search for their loved ones as hamas takes dozens of israelis hostage. Well hear from one anguished father just ahead. Israeli military Officials Say they expect to clear all the hamas militants out of israel. Fierce gunfights are underway in several areas around gaza. A spokesperson says they are working to secure the border. Breach points still exist. More than 48 hours after the initial Surprise Attack its possible hamas militants are still crossing the border. Hamas is holding more than 100 hostages in gaza, including high ranking israeli officers. Families of those captured say they are desperate and pleading for their safe return. Cnns Becky Anderson spoke with one of them. Reporter the unspeakable anguish of a father describing the moment he saw a video posted on social media of his daughter pleading for her life. It was noah, frightened and threatened he says. Im so, so sorry. You dont want to believe it even though you can clearly see its your daughter. He now wants this video to be seen widely. 25yearold noah agmani seen here on the back of a Motorcycle Being driven away, her boyfriend seen here with two men holding his hands behind his back. A dark plume of smoke can be seen in the background. Theyd been among the more than 1,000 people partying at an all night Music Festival at the gaza border when it was raided by armed mass militants early saturday morning. Her father says noah and her boyfriend were kidnapped. Their whereabouts are unknown. Theyre assumed to be held in gaza. Im so sad at this moment. Shes my only daughter and his pain mirrored by so many others, parents, family members, wives, husbands filled with horror and despair thinking about the fate of their loved ones. In this video thats been circulating widely online, a woman is seen in the back of a truck as a militant puts a scarf over her head. Cnn has not been able to independently verify it. A resident told cnn his wife and two daughters age 5 and 3 were visiting their grandmother near the gaza border. He lost contact with them on saturday morning and suspected they may have been abducted. Later that day his suspicions confirmed when he saw the video. The woman was his wife. He told cnn he wants the video to be shown in the hopes of getting them home safely. There was no doubt in my mind. I recognized them surely, my wife, my two daughters, my two little daughters. So i know for sure they were taken. Reporter Israel Defense forces told cnn its taking pains to establish the exact number of hostages taken, emphasizing the complicated nature of the situation. So far they estimate there are dozens, possibly more, in captivity. This father has a message to whoever is holding his daughter. You have casualties just like we do. This is an opportunity to connect between the two nations to reach an honest peace. For now he sits at home and waits for news taking comfort from his family and noahs friends. Shes a very special kid, so loving, so giving. I miss her so much. Its only been 2 1 2 days. I cannot believe she is gone, he says. She made this house so alive, felt like this house is empty without her. Becky anderson, cnn, tel aviv. Theres so many layers to this, the personal stories, the conflict matters between these two areas and now weve got the international reaction, which is where it gets really complex. Absolutely. Theres a real focus on the diplomatic side and efforts to deescalate tensions. Weve seen the expression of solidarity, of support from israels allies, particularly the United States. President biden is very clear the u. S. Support is rock solid and unwavering. We heard sunday the u. S. Will be sending additional assistance. He says its on its way with more to follow in the coming days. Weve heard those repeated expressions of support from european leaders. We heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu staying hes spoken with the leaders of germany, italy and britain as well as ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy, all of whom he says expressed support for israel, but on the regional front there is a real sense of concern and fear around the potential of further escalation of this violence and the impact that could have regionally. Turkey says it stands ready to support any efforts to mediate some sort of Peace Agreement to reduce tensions between the israelis and hamas. They said they are determined to continue intensifying the diplomatic efforts that president erdogan has initiated so far. Of course, there has been some expression of support and solidarity with the Palestinian People as well. Weve heard from saudi arabia. Interestingly saudi has been exploring the possible of normalizing ties with israel up until this far. They have condemned the attack. Theyve expressed their wish for the violence to end but have also said according to the Saudi Foreign ministry they have been warning israel around the consequences of israels continued occupation of Palestinian Territories and failure to uphold rights and freedoms of the Palestinian People and that has been echoed by iran, iran a key player and key focus. There have been questions around the possible role iran may have played in supporting hamas. We have this statement from the iranian president who said iran supports the palestinian nations legitimate defense. Its backers must be held to account for this. There have been questions whether iran has played a role in funding or Training Hamas fighters, particularly given the sophistication of the attack saturday. U. S. Sources say they do not have evidence to indicate iran played a role, but they are looking into this given the long history iran has of Backing Hamas and hezbollah in lebanon. Thank you. Still to come, some festivalgoers, soldiers and even children, what we know about those captured by hamas just ahead. Plus well speak with a woman who survived the attack in a bomb shelter with her two very Young Children, that story next. Nice footwork. Man, youre lucky, watching live sports never used to be this easy. Now you can stream all your games like its nothing. Yes [ cheers ] yeah woho running up and down that field looks tough. Its a pitch. Get way more into what youre into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. Is it possible my network could take my business to the next level . It is with comcast business. Powering all your devices with gigspeed wifi. And you get fast downloads and uploads. Pick it up pick it up oh we got this because its powered by The Next Generation 10g network. More speed for your business . Its not just possible. Its happening. Get started for 59. 99 a month for 12 months. Plus, ask how to get an 800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. Comcast business, powering possibilities. Were following Breaking News out of the middle east. More than 700 people are dead in israel after hamas launched unprecedented Surprise Strikes on Saturday Prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare outright war on hamas. Israels own attacks on gaza have killed more than 400 people with the idea of claiming to have severely degraded the capabilities of hamas in a series of airstrikes. Hamas has kidnapped young people who were celebrating a jewish holiday at a Music Festival near the gaza border, but the masked gunmen didnt just take hostages. They also murdered hundreds of festivalgoers. We caution you the images of the aftermath are very graphic. Reporter what happened just off this quiet border road was a massacre. The bodies of the perpetrators remain while the fate of many victims is unknown. Organizers of the super nova Music Festival say thousands of young revelers had gathered to celebrate the end of the holidays and just after 6 00 a. M. Hamas militants launched a bloody attack. Were just on the approach to where the dance part was taken place. Theres strecks vehicles all around that have been shot up. We see the bodies of one or two hamas fighters. Many victims spent hours in hiding waiting to be rescued and calling their loved ones. Many of them are still missing. Many of them are dead. Its very difficult to try to get a precise number. Now a Volunteer Group that handles Human Remains says at least 260 bodies have been found at the festival site. The government here took a bold step, releasing an image of scores of body bags in a tent where investigators were tasked with identifying them. You can see the body of at least one other person. Active fighting continued along this stretch of the border throughout the day, as Israeli Military forces poured in. Were seeing a bunch of tanks brought down this way. You can hear a steady stream of booms, apparently rockets, landing in the distance in that direction and certainly a feeling that people are on high alert. We tried to push further down that way. We were told we needed to turn around. Clarissa ward, cnn, israel. This woman and her very Young Children are survivors of the mass attack and she is eight months pregnant. Ali joins us live from the safety of jerusalem. Thank you so much for joining us. I cant imagine the trauma youre suffering. Thank you for making the time. Take us through what you first heard of the attack and how you responded. So my kids woke up very early saturday morning. We were having breakfast at 6 15 in the living room. They were having corn flakes and suddenly i heard our Kitchen Window is right towards gaza. So whenever theres missiles, we see them come first and then we hear the siren. I heard a little booming, thought it was maybe thunder. After one second there was a siren. I have to pick up my 3yearold and 2yearold in both arms and run to the bomb shelter. My husband was sleeping. We both went in and closed the door. The first bombing was 15 sirens in a row. In other words, there was missiles falling one after another without any pause. From that moment we understood that this is out of the ordinary. In other words, its not just an attack that is maybe one or two missiles and its over, but theres Something Different about this time. Its a holiday for us, so we generally dont have phones are not connected. We dont have an ability to know whats going on. A few hours later we understood once we were inside the bomb shelter we checked our phones and saw there is terrorists roaming in the streets shooting. There is missiles, that its not possible to even leave our houses. My 2yearold said to me, im scared. Im afraid, and for a 2year old to be able to express that for me was like shocking in this situation. It was a very scary, tragic moment for us to understand theres a war going on in the middle of our holiday. Its still going on as well, which i find extraordinary on the monday. There are still incursions and concerns of incursions and its just the beginning and i think theres a game changer that right now its not about the missiles. Its not about anything. Its about the manslaughter thats going on. Im in whatsapp groups all over the city, first of all, the civilians announcing shootings all over the city in different locations at the same time. Its horrifying, the amount of people. We hear arabs in our building shooting everywhere and killing civilians and my friends. Yesterday we left our home after we were there all Saturday Night and all sunday morning. We understood in order to function we need our kids to not be in this scenario. My friends saw people being shot. What was the decision to go to jerusalem because that was a brave move in itself . I could say one of the more scary moments of my life my husband was driving super fast and praying the whole way. We were trying to get out of the outskirts as fast as we can. During saturday that we had the bombings a neighbor of mine, her husband was enlisted in the army during sabbath. They came with her three little kids and was with us in the bomb shelter and we were together in this time because thats what we do. We stand together. Everybody is helping each other. The humanity and amount of like togetherness and love that people have for each other and its not what you feel on the outside when terrorists try to just come and kill you in every corner. I think thats the main difference of caring for life. I believe we have a strong army, a strong government, a strong country and yet theres children and mothers and right now im trying to help get diapers and wipes and formula for babies and kids that are still stuck in the middle of the war zone, cant get out, dont have food. We left our key to our neighbors, told them to take all the food we have, take all the supplies you need. Yes, its hard to leave your home. On the other hand, the trauma my kids will suffer that i dont think necessarily you need to be in combat in order to be a part and rather be safe in this moment and that the soldiers do protect and defend us. Hopefully well all be safe and there will be peace in israel. Youre now in jerusalem. It will take you a very long time to decompress this, of course. The atmosphere in jerusalem, is there some upset on your side the intelligence was so bad you didnt have any warning this was coming . Youve been quite complimentary about the government and military response. Are you frustrated they didnt know beforehand . I think theres going to be so much time to check what happened and how and everything, but right now the focus in my eyes needs to be to be able to fight and combat and protect the israel nation and country. I have two friends that their husbands were slaughtered in the massacres. The names are just coming. I think right now it doesnt help or give any advantage to ask ourselves what happened to the intelligence, but more to focus on being able to fight back and being able to protect ourselves and defend ourselves and be able to come out of this situation strong, alive and with the democratic amazing country that we have because i think the value of life we have has no value as a terrorist. In gaza they come and want to kill and manslaughter. My moms cousin is kidnapped in gaza right now. We found out because theyre looking for her and cant find her anywhere and shes been kidnapped, an 85yearold woman kidnapped into gaza. Can you imagine how you even be able to physically take an 85 yearold woman into gaza into captivity . Im so sorry to hear that. What information are you getting . Whats the Support Package around her family . Right now theres a lot of unknown and unclarity and theres not a lot of information and i think that right now theres also so many different units and focuses. Right as we speak theres people, civilians still saying terrorists are coming in shooting everywhere. The same truck i saw in the news with terrorists standing on it i saw from my window. In other words, i saw the vehicle with the terrorists standing with their guns up under my Window Roaming around the streets looking where they can shoot. I saw the missiles Saturday Night go out from gaza while making myself some dinner a few minutes out of the bomb shelter and i knew in a minute theyre going to get sirens in the center of israel in. Other words, i already know when theyre going over our heads not landing by us, but going to tel aviv, going to the rest of the country. Thank you so much for joining us when youve been through so much. Im so glad to see youre well and youre pregnant when all this happened and the amount of stress you must have suffered. Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you. Ill have much more on this Breaking News of the coverage of israels war against hamas after the break. Get exclusive offers on select new volvo models. Contact your volvo retailer to learn more. Israeli troops say they are still fighting La Fighting Hamas on the ground in israel. A spokesman for the israeli Defense Forces tells cnn they arent in full control of all the borders yet. He says the military is still hunting down the remaining hamas operatives in israel. Oil price has surged and u. S. Stock futures fell sunday in their first reaction to israels war with hamas, although israel is not a Major Oil Producer, escalating tensions in oil rich nations seem to have spooked investors. Theyve already been selling off oil in recent weeks. Since then things appear to be changing. Lets look at the latest oil prices. Brent is up. Wti is up quite significantly actually. The conflict with hamas is having a big impact on Passenger Flights at israels main airport, dozens of flights delayed or canceled. American airlines canceled all flights from tel aviv to new york, jfk through monday, Delta Airlines canceling flight to and from israel through the weekend. Clare sebastian is joining us. Well talk about oil in a second. Whats more extraordinary about the flights is the ones still going. There are a few if you look at the arrivals board this morning. Most are canceled or delayed, but British Airways and emirates is still flying. British airways are closely monitoring the situation and are offering flexible Booking Options for people who want to change their flights. They have offered the chance to cancel flights and get a voucher. People are still braving the situation. Weve seen people taking cover at the airport on the tarmac, including our nic robertson. Korean air said it will operate a flight tuesday. United did so over the weekend for staff and citizens of other countries who want to leave. A lot of people are closely watching the security situation. I think its a question of how this escalates. On oil this is quite complex. That region is Oil Producing and also diplomatic contagion, were all looking at saudi arabia, how it might react because it was moving more closely to israel. Some of this is a knee jerk reaction. We had seen oil prices come down by more than 10 in the past week. This hasnt reversed those losses we saw the past week, but i think concern of the conflict spreading, the spectacle of things like the u. S. Carrier Group Heading to the eastern mediterranean, pockets of violence seen elsewhere, the question of iran, which is the only Major Oil Producer that backs hamas, and the diplomatic context with saudi arabia putting in doubt the diplomacy towards a Normalization Agreement between israel and saudi arabia and potentially reduces the likelihood saudi arabia would be willing to raise production which would in turn stabilize oil prices. Theres a lot of uncertainty around this market at the moment. Thank you. Still to come, stuck in gaza amid israeli airstrikes, how citizens are struggling to survive amid the continuing fighting between israel and hamas. An Israeli Military official says israeli troops are still fighting against hamas on the ground inside israel. This comes two days after the militant Group Launched a Surprise Attack that killed hundreds. Israeli military is also keeping up its strikes on gaza saying it has severely degraded the capabilities of hamas. More than 430 people have been killed since the israeli strikes began. Overnight hamas claimed to have launched a Missile Attack on the Southern Israeli City of ashkalon. 100 rockets were fired. Inside gaza israel is unleashing devastating airstrikes on numerous sites it says tied to hamas and other militants and while the militant leaders are hiding out, Gaza Civilians are trapped in the strips narrow confines with nowhere to run. Reporter these are the first moments of what Prime Minister netanyahu warned will be a long and difficult war, airstrikes in the densely populated gaza strip that the Palestinian Health Ministry Says left hundreds dead and thousands more wounded. Israels military says it is targeting headquarters belonging to hamas and Islamic Jihad and released this video. Netanyahu vowing to avenge the hundreds of israeli lives lost with more ferocious firepower to come. Translator all the places which hamas has deployed hiding and operating in that wicked city, we will turn it into an island of ruins. I am telling gazas people to leave those places now because we will take action everywhere. Reporter but destroying are severely deterring hamas will prove extremely challenging for israels army. A significant and unprecedented number of Israeli Citizens were captured by the militant group according to the israeli army. This disturbing video geolocated by cnn being one of those victims, hands bounds and in captivity. Hamas claims the hostages are across the strip israel believes to be used as human shields. Still israels military is pressing on with air assaults underway. The idf says it is preparing for a potential ground incursion and that all options are on the table. Thousands of israeli reservists have been called up for the task. Israelis army telling gazans to clear the way for Operation Ordering families to leave their homes and providing locations for evacuation. With the conflict sure to engulf the whole of the strip, for most there is no way out. Gaza is largely isolated from the world by an israeli airplane, Land And Sea Blockade and egypts southern border closure. Electricity, which is mostly provided by israel, was cut off to the enclave and internet disrupted, unclear how Long Services will be severed. With hamas leadership reportedly going underground, the 2 Million People living in the 140 square mile territory have nowhere to turn. Fears that an unprecedented attacks on israel could yield unprecedented bloodshed in gaza. In new york competing rallies by supporters of israelis and palestinians, the pro Palestinian Rally got underway sunday afternoon near times square. Organizers said it was a right to resist apartheid, occupation and oppression. New yorks governor called it abhorrent and morally repugnant while new yorks mayor said people have the right to protest even though he strongly disagrees with it claiming it celebrated a horrific incident. Nearby counterprotesters showed support for israel and the hundreds killed during hamas attack on the country. Pope francis responding to the horrific attacks calling for an end to the violence. Speaking in st. Peters square sunday the pope pleaded to stop the attacks and weapons saying terrorism and war do not lead to any solution. The pope expressed sympathy to the families of the victims. Translator i follow with apprehension and sorrow what is happening in israel where violence has exploded even more quickly, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries. I express my solidarity with the relatives of the victims and i pray for all those who are experiencing hours of terror and anguish. He said, war is a defeat. Every war is always defeat. Pope francis also wants everyone to pray for peace. Im max foster. Our coverage continues after this short break. The power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network. This is cnn Breaking News. Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. Im bianca nobilo. Im max foster, continuing the cove
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