Transcripts For CNNW Anderson 20240703

Ac 360 with anderson also in israel tonight starts now. Good evening. It is 3 00 a. M. In israel where more evidence comes to light of the barbarity, the cruelty and depravity with which hamas began these Terror Attacks some four days ago. There is new video and accounts of what these killers inflicted up close on young and old, men, women, children, innocents. Youll hear from survivors tonight. President biden weighed in on it today and confirmed there are americans being held by hamas, and well by you that as well. But first, the latest on where things stand. Wee wre in about 19 or 20 mienls north of gaza. And its there in gaza within the last few minutes there were more strikes. And you can just hear a large thump of a distant explosion to the immediate south in ashkelon, essentially forces say they killed three militants overnight during a gun battle in the industrial area. Above ashkelon and throughout the day more incoming rockets for iron dome defenses to cope with. You see the images. Part of an especially heavy barrage that hamas launched at the city. Compounding matters, danger on a another front. A number of rockets were fired into the country from syria. They landed in open areas. No word, though, on damage or injuries. Israeli air force meantime spent all Day Hitting Targets in gaza, killing, they say, members of hamas leadership. The idf says the air strikes are focused on the groups infrastructure and operations, but does admit to striking mosques if there is hamas activity going on inside, they say. And as i mentioned a moment ago, we got even more video that shows nothing which could even remotely be described as an act of war, which is why as hard as it might be to stomach, we want to show it to you. It was taken from a cars dash cam. Its a little hard to make out. Its from saturday morning. Its near the nova Music Festival where the slaughter of more than 260 israelis took place and others. And its where at a bomb shelter where people had taken refuge. In the video, you see hamas gunmen arrive. One immediately approaches a shirtless man who is against the wall outside the bomb shelter at the top of the frame, forcing him to the ground, kick him several times. Another man approaches, menaces him, but is pulled away. The doorway you see there is to the shelter. More gunmen gather around the entry, some wearing fatigues, some in civilian clothing, all carrying assault rifles. And they kind of mill around briefly, Taking Turns Kicking and stomping the guy on the ground. As others back away, one of the gunman unclips some kind of grenade from his belt and lobs it inside the bomb shelter. Seconds later, a man who had been sheltering inside actually then runs out. We just saw him lobbing it. Runs out of the shelter. The gunmen open fire on the man, firing on automatic. And we dont know what happened to that person. Nic robertson visited this very shelter yesterday. He found bullet holes, empty shell casings, evidence of gunfire inside of the people taking cover inside. Were going hear more from nic in a moment about that, as well as his visit to a Border Kibbutz where he spoke with an id f Major General where he finally late yesterday cleared the area of dozens of hamas attackers and is now, frankly, unable to comprehend the civilian carnage he himself has seen. Some people run out with their children, and they kill them. They kill babies in the front of their parents and then kill the parents. They kill parents, and we found babies between the dogs and the family killed before him. Cut the head of the people. I heard during by childhood about a pogrom in europe and The Holocaust, of course. All my family came from europe and they are survival, et cetera, et cetera. I never think i would see in my eyes picture and things like this. Very emotional and strong stock market of support by President Biden today for israel from the white house. He spoke to hamas barbarity and americas response to it. So in this moment, we must be crystal clear. We stand with israel. Like every nation in the world, israel has the right to respond, indeed has a duty to respond to these vicious attacks. Let me say again to any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation, i have one word. Dont. Dont. Our hearts may be broken, but our resolve is clear. Is president confirmed that 14 americans are known dead so far, and at least some 20 are unaccounted for. He also confirmed that americans are among the hostages now being held by hamas, but didnt give a number on that. Now we mentioned the fighting, the Rocket Bombardment in ashkelon south of here. Lets go to cnns clarissa ward. I understand its been a busy night in ashkelon where you are. Hamas warned residents to leave the city before 5 00 p. M. Local time. So whats happened . At exactly 5 00 p. M. , anderson, a massive barrage of rockets came slamming into this city, most of them i should say were intercepted by the iron dome. But since then, really, i would say it was about four hours where there was just sort of a seemingly endless cycle of sirens going off, more rockets coming in, people frantically trying to get to shelters. It had been then quieter for a little while. We then heard an announcement over the sort of hotel tannoy system telling people to stay in their rooms, and we could hear a Helicopter Gunship coming from that direction. It turns out according to Israeli Defense forces that there was some kind of a battle where three hamas militants were actually killed that resulted in a fire as well. We can still smell that fire and sort of see it glowing in the distance back there. But really, underscoring that despite what Israeli Forces had said earlier in the day, that they were confident that all hamas militants had been effectively killed or captured and pushed out of Southern Israel, in actual fact it does appear that there are still isolated skirmishes taking place, anderson. And clarissa, is it clear to you as if those gunmen that they were looking for had recently crossed over since the initial waves of people, of fighters coming across the border saturday morning and throughout the day on saturday . Or was this the holdovers, leftovers of people who had been here, who hadnt headed back, who had been hiding . I think its very difficult to say. The Israeli Defense forces havent released any information about that. One would assume, and i should say its calls for speculation, that these were militants who maybe had been inside Southern Israel for a couple of days, were perhaps lying low for a little while. Its not that hard for people to hide here. It is very hard for the idf to keep track of where lone gunmen may be lying in wait potentially. We saw along the roadside in a different part along the israeligaza border today another situation where the idf had closed off the road. They were very clear with us that we couldnt go beyond a certain point, because, again, they thought they had cleared most of these militants, but they are still finding incidents where they are popping up. And its difficult i think for them to have a precise knowledge of how many came in, when they came in, which ones were killed, who might still be here, anderson. Clarissa ward, thank you so much. Cnns nic robertson, as we mentioned, visited a kibbutz today that was the scene of atrocities, to put it bluntly, as many, frankly of the kibbutzs near the gaza border have been the scene of hamas was murdered we also have stories about a bomb shelter that we showed you a moment ago where hamas also murdered fleeing civilians saturday morning. Nic joins me now. So nic, what can you tell us about the bomb shelter near the Music Festival . Yeah, you really got a Sense Stepping in there, just looking at it from the outside, the ripped up shoes that were outside and the blooded water bottles. But stepping in, you really got a sense that something utterly, utterly awful had happened in there. The bloodstains on the wall, bloodstains on the ceiling, and this awful smell of the decay of human flesh. Horrible just this sense that something horrible had happened there, that people had gone in there because these are the rocket shelters that people go and hide in when they hear rockets. And it was just where the cars were parked where all Those Young Festival Goers were coming out, racing away, running away from hamas, trying to get in their cars and drive away. Nic, you went to a kibbutz, which was the scene of tremendous brutality early saturday, just like a number of these agricultural communities were attacked because they are very close to gaza. Can you just talk about what you saw . Because we played some sound from an israeli general who was involved in taking that kibbutz back from hamas militants in intensive fighting over the last several days. What else did he tell you . Yeah, i was really struck by, you know, what had happened there, that it was so close to so close to gaza, about i would say less than well, somewhere between half a mile and 3 4 of a mile to the fence. And so it was one of the first places the hamas militants would have reached, and they came in through the fence there. But the way that they treated the people, the way that people had been bound up and then executed, killed in their own homes was really something quite shocking. And this is what the general was explaining. It had taken the Israeli Defense force 48 hours to be able to ultimately defeat hamas. And he said when he got in there, of course, thats when they began to realize and see just how bad the situation was. As he described it, real concentrated brutality. Families killed together, mothers, fathers, children. He even said that some of them had been decapitated. Now we didnt see evidence of that, but we did see them loading the body bags of these innocent civilians, loading the body bags into the backs of trucks to take them away. And i just want to be clear, because there have been some people i talked to, a politician here who was talking about 40 babies who had had their heads cut off. I just want to be clear, this general you spoke to said that some people or persons did have their heads cut off. He didnt say a baby, but babies he said were killed, correct . Absolutely correct. He said babies were killed. He said that heads were cut off. He didnt say of whom, of what age or of what gender, and we didnt see anybody with their heads cut off, and we didnt see any babies with their heads cut off. We do know that some of the executions, the style of the executions, and weve heard this in a number of different locations, and we heard it again in kfar aza today that people, that hamas was cutting peoples throats. And they were killing them that way. So was this what the general was referring to . Its not clear. Yeah. Yeah, he had said i think they cut the head off a person or people. Just the words matter because obviously it is sickening and brutal enough. We just want to stick to the facts. Nic robertson, really appreciate that reporting. Thank you so much. Well, the video that we showed you where civilians were slaughtered inside that gun shelter or gunned down fleeing the grenade tossed inside shows only one of many such shelters near the border with gaza and near that Music Festival site. We do not know if its the one in which Rafael Zimmerman took cover where he was wounded after he said hamas gunmen through gas or flashbang grenades inside, and where for hours he played dead as the people, dozens of people who were sheltering inside there crammed together were killed. I spoke with rafael a short time ago. Rafael, you hid out in a bunker near the Music Festival site. How did you find that location . About the bunker, i was inside of the festival, and we started to run after the rockets, a lot of rockets come in to the festival. A lot of, we cannot count how many. And we started to run, me and my friends, a couple of friends. And we stop at the car in the middle of the street like really close from the festival. And the car took us to the bunker. The bunker was like two minutes from the festival, really close also. And in the middle of the street, was a station was a bunker just to protect from the rockets. When you got to the bunker, were there other people already in it, or were you one of the first to get there . Me and my friends, like, we were one of the first to be there. And after came a lot of people, a lot of people, like i was in the like back of the bunker, because i was one of the first persons. So i was really in the back. And after that, almost 40 or 50 persons came inside the bunker. A really small bunker, like not for too many people. But theyre supposed to protect everybody. But its not what happened. Were people talking . Were people being quiet . Could you hear what was going on outside . Yeah. Like, we were inside talking about whats going on, and my friend, and he said, like, he had this experience in the army, and he said now were starting a war, and were supposed to stay here for like two weeks. Like two parties were outside of the bunker protecting. And after five minutes, five minutes, it started a big fight, a big fight of shooting. And they started to the police were fighting against the attackers . Yeah. Two parties. And i was like in the back of the bunker, and the police was inside another side, but outside. So after that, they started to scream allahu akbar, allahu akbar, and they through gas inside of the bunker. With the gas, you cannot breathe. Its impossible to breathe after 30 seconds. And like there was like a Smoke Grenade . No. It was a gas. Really gas. Because it was impossible to breathe. Like to for sure. Because a lot of people died because of that. Im sure about that. And in the middle of the gas, people became like insane, insane. And imagine, without breathing, you dont have like you cannot go outside because, you know, if you go outside, youre probably going to take you or theyre going to shoot you. So we didnt have option. We did not have option. Did they come inside the bunker and shoot, or were they just youre saying they were gassing you. They were gassing the people inside the bunker. The first thing was the gas. The first thing was the gas. After the they peek inside and started to shoot. They started to throw flashbang, a lot of flashbang, i remember. I really hurt because of the flashbang. A lot of i just protected myself, and after hours of that, i just covered myself with dead people, a lot of dead people. So i stayed for there inside for hours, just waiting for die, you know. I just wanted to die in peace, because i suffered so much, so much, the gas. I just in the middle of the gas, i just remembered i dont know how was, but now i know. Now i know how was. I just started to think how was in The Holocaust with the jews. Like in th30 seconds, you are dead. And you dont have option. You cannot breathe. Its crazy. Its crazy. I dont know in my life, i dont know. Thats what came thats what was in your mind, youre in this bunker with men and women, young people being gassed, and you thought of The Holocaust . Yeah. I thought about The Holocaust. I dont know how i keep to my mind like thinking. I dont know how. So i just are you on the floor . You said you covered yourself with people who had died. Were you sitting on the floor . Were you lying on the floor . Were you Still Standing . It sounds like there were so many people with you in there. Could you sit down . No. Everybody was like dead with the bodies on the floor, not sitting. I was like over with the people. I was like that. Like with the dead people, and on the top of them. And without move, because if i move, i know then probably theyre going catch me. At that point, did you know if there was anybody else like you who was still alive in that bunker . Yeah, yeah, because i felt i felt some bodies moving. I felt. But but with me just came out more six persons. Just that. Six people came out finally . Yeah. Yeah. Just that. I dont know how. I dont know how. After i came out from the bunker, i just watched myself just touch myself and said im alive. Its a miracle. Its a miracle. We were partying, you know, just partying and the life, young people, just living. A lot of people from all the world. It doesnt matter their religion. It doesnt matter from where you are. This is about life. What they are doing, it doesnt ask from where you are, which is your religion. So it doesnt matter. They just want to kill. And dead, and its not about land. Its not about religion. Its about dead and live. They are theories. Theyre not humans. Theyre animals. Theyre not humans. I understand you have Shrapnel Wounds in your back. Yeah. What do you do now . How do you how do you how do you on . Surviving this . What happens now . You know, when i came out, and i saw myself, and i saw one of my friends came out also, and one of them, hes a hero. I have to say that. He is a hero. I saw him going to the front of the bunker to try to protect everybody. And hes my friend. He was there, and he is dead. About your question, i am a miracle. I know that. I know that. Im a miracle. Im a survivor. And i have to be glad. I have to be, you know, happy about my life. Im really, really sad about everything that is going on. Everything, everything. I just want peace, just that. So if i am here, i can try to transcend this for everybody. Thats my mission here. Rafael zimmerman, thank you for talking to us. Its unimaginable what you experienced. Its it is unthinkable. And im sorry. More ahead. New developments from the white house as well as more on President Bidens uncompromising message to hamas and the commitment he made to israels defense. And later, my conversation with woman we spoke to the other day. Her name is ricarda louk. Her daughter shani is one of the hostages, and at first was believed to be dead. Tonight her mother believes its possible she may still be alive. Details on that ahead. Just a short time ago, National Security Council Spokesman john kirby told Cnns Wolf Blitzer that the white house is having active conversations with israeli officials about recovering americans now being held by hamas. Earlier today, as we showed you at the top of the program, President Biden threw his fullthroated support behind israel, pledging to, quote, make sure israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself and respond to this attack. Cnns Kayla Tausche is at the white house for us tonight. So a very strong statement of support from israel. A lot of israelis i spoke to were even surprised by the firmness of the resolve. What more can you tell us about the tone the white house is take thong war . Anderson, the white house has taken on a forceful condemnation of terrorism and antisemitism, starting at the very top with President Biden. And essentially, providing the most vocal support possible for israels right to defend itself full bore against hamas terrorists, in the words of National Security adviser jake sullivan, even with the risk that means civilian casualties could rise. The white house is also pulling out all of the stops when it comes to providing new assistance to israel in more tangible ways, suggesting that there is going to be an urgent request made to congress upon its return, and also the white house announcing that its going to be reupping ammunition and interceptors for israels iron dome, which Prime Minister netanyahu personally requested in his phone calls with President Biden. And while there is existing funding remaining in existing aid packages, anderson, the white house made it very clear that theyre going to be going back and asking for more. The administration said that they believe there are at least 20 americans unaccounted for or missing. Do we know how Many Americans at this stage the u. S. Believes were taken hostage and the administrations plan to try to aid israel in doing something about that . There is no clear number at this point, anderson, on exactly how many hostages they believe hamas has taken into custody. Jake sullivan told cnns mj lee earlier today that 20 or more americans are missing, but that it is still the administrations hope that they are simply going to be located in a different place, and that they have not been necessarily kidnapped. That being said, President Biden said that he has deployed hostage recovery experts. He has offered to share intelligence with israel to get some of these people home. And im told this evening that the State Department has already been in touch with families of some of these individuals to make sure that their wellbeing and whereabouts are, if not known at this moment, known very soon. Kayla tausche, thank you very much. More on how difficult it will be if and when israeli troops go into gaza on the ground. How treacherous any attempts to locate and rescue hostages may be. Cnns ben wedeman has done extensive reporting from gaza over the decades and knows the area very well. Ben joins us from jerusalem. Ben, lets talk about were talking about a population more than two Million People in a very small area with a Tunnel System that is very extensive. Yes. The Tunnel System is extensive, and its obviously for the exclusive use of hamas. And most gazans actually dont know where the tunnels are located. Oftentimes after israeli incursion, for instance, several years ago, i was in gaza after one of these flareups between gaza and israel. You could tell from cracks in the Middle Of The Road where there was probably a tunnel underneath. Now where would these captives be held . Probably in areas which are densely populated, like refugee camps. And areas where there are lots of civilians sort of to provide cover. And deter the israelis from really just going in with a large force. So the tunnels, the density of the population are going to pose huge challenges, in addition to the fact that, you know, keep in mind that according to the cia, 40 of the population of gaza is under the age of 15. So the danger that will come with an Israeli Ground incursion and probably a very large one this time around to the population and to people who are just simply too young to either be involved in any way in this conflict is massive, anderson. Lets talk about the challenges of finding some of these hostages, or any of these hostages during an aerial bombardment. Yeah, thats going to be very difficult. In an active war zone, to actually be looking for people, and lets not forget in addition to hamas in gaza, there are lots of other factions. Islamic jihad, the popular front for the liberation of palestine, the Democratic Front for the liberation of palestine, and many others heavily armed throughout the gaza strip. These people are members of the community, every neighborhood has several members of these armed militias who are ready and waiting for the israelis to come in. So finding these people is going to be difficult. And the intelligence necessary to find them is going to be difficult as well. Keeping in mind that what weve seen from saturday is the Israeli Intelligence isnt quite what many people thought. Despite the fact that when youre in gaza, the sound you hear 24 hours a day is drones overhead, all around the perimeter of gaza. There are balloons with surveillance cameras, cameras all around the walls in addition there are many collaborators for israel inside gaza. Despite that, the israeli, the Intelligence System failed. And keep in mind that in 2006, gaza militants captured gilad shalit, who was a soldier with the israeli army, and he was held for several years, i think until 2009 when he was released in an exchange of prisoners. But the israelis were never able to get him out. And its going to be even more difficult trying to get out more perhaps than 100 hostages who will be probably deployed all around the gaza strip, which i think as i pointed out before is twice the size of washington, d. C. Anderson . Yeah, and children among them, little children. Ben wedeman, thank you for reaction to all of this, as well as President Bidens comments today. Were joined by michael oren, the former israeli ambassador to the United States. Ambassador oren, thanks for being with us. We heard from President Biden today. He refrained from asking israel to hold back in any way militarily. Oftentimes in statements in the past there have been condemnation of activities by hamas but calls for restraint. There wasnt calls for restraint. He did call for operating by the rules of war. But im wondering what you made of what the president said. Well, its one thing to hear a green light, anderson. We heard a green light tonight. Listen, ive been involved in u. S. s relationship for many decades, both as a historian and i have never heard a speech like that. It was deeply impassioned. It was unequivocal in its support of israel. Its condemnation of hamas, of terror, of antisemitism worldwide, and it was very specific. It also surprised me the president went further than i expected to go, even the best estimates of what that speech could be. He was very specific by saying that the naval forces that have been moved toward the coast of lebanon and into the gulf of hormuz in the persian gulf were not just there to observe. They were there to deter in a very active way. He said there would be no boots on the ground. That could does not preclude other types of military activity. And he was very clear about sending a warning both to hezbollah and to its masters in tehran, you dont get involved in this. While the president was giving a very bright green light to israel to move forward. Maybe only t only caveat is what you mentioned, anderson. We in our armed forces in the United States and Israeli Defense forces operate according to law. And he juxtaposed this with hamas, which is a terrorist organization. I think you with probably read through the lines. I think in that was an expectation that the Israeli Forces moving forward would hew as closely as possible to international law. Jake sullivan made reference to ongoing discussions about civilians in gaza and the possibility of some sort of, you know, Border Crossing that perhaps they could use to get out of gaza from to avoid, you know, to avoid getting hurt in any kind of offensive thats taking place. Thats obviously something that egypt has been very resistant to in past years. Short of egypt opening up their border, is there any place for residents in gaza and gaza city who want to get out, can . Well, not really on the israeli side. Its not easy. The obvious place for refuge for these palestinians would be in el arish, South Of Gaza in the Sinai Peninsula under egyptian sovereignty. Again, the egyptians have always been resistant to that. This is going back a long time. There have been long time plans to try to resettle some of the Palestinian Refugees in al arish. That would be the only exit for them. On the israeli side, its populated, as we discovered much to our horror and as hamas knew in crossing the border and massacring israeli citizens. That would be a nonstarter. I think probably those discussions are touching on the question of humanitarian disasters. So israel has effected a total blockade on gaza. Now its long been misunderstood i should say my cards on the table, anderson. I was in charge of that blockade for the Israeli Government for about a year. I wouldnt wish this on anybody. But it was purely a military blockade. It was blockading armaments or what they call dual use items, things that could be used as arm nts. A 2 x 4 used to build a tunnel, for example. But it didnt cut out electricity. It didnt cut out food or medicines. In fact, if there was any restriction on the food and medicines going into gaza, it was hamas who did that. Hamas liked keeping a certain level of suffering in gaza to keep the population dependent on hamas and to keep the population angry. But there was a terminus through which israel had the capacity of handling about 1200 huge trucks of food and medicine ever day. Hamas would let in about 400. And that was very frustrating for us. But israel also worked to improve the electricity, the water supply in thinking erroneously on focusing on Running Gaza Strip and not killing us, it was a misconception. But now israel has cut off the electricity and cut off a lot of the food going in, and thats going to create a very dire situation in a very short period within gaza. I dont think that israel wants to see gazans starved, but were going to have to figure out a way perhaps with International Organizations like the red cross where Essential Foodstuffs can be brought into the strip. Ambassador michael oren, thank you. Thank you. Well, coming up ahead, this is one of the many people now missing after attending the Music Festival, the hamas gunmen attacked saturday. The mother of shani louk will join us next. We spoke with her on sunday. Tonight she believes she may have some word that its possible her daughter could be alive. 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. 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Like many of the videos circulating from that day, its disturbing, there is no doubt about it. The reason were showing it to you is it shows a level of planning and potential knowledge of how to infiltrate this particular kibbutz thats striking. According to the idf, the video begins outside the main gate of one of the kibbutzs that was attacked on saturday. You can see two hamas gunmen in camouflage holding rifles at the top left of the screen. Now one of the gunmen eventually crosses to the other side of the road. You can see him standing next to what look likes a guard house or security station. Both then wait for someone to arrive and open the gate. A few seconds pass. Eventually, civilian car arrives. As the gate then opens, the two gunmen rush from either side of the car, begin firing into it. We have cut that part out, murdering the people inside. Moments later, the gate is now open. The two gunmen are then able to enter. The car, with the apparently lifeless body of the driver, rolls forward. One of the gunmen appears to try to knock or tip down the camera filming the scene. The car keeps rolling forward. You then see one of the Gunmen Walking calmly into the kibbutz. According to israeli authorities, more than 100 bodies have been found at this particular kibbutz. Thats how bad this slaughter was. Im joined now by the International Spokesperson for the Israeli Defense forces Lieutenant Colonel jonathan konrikas. Lieutenant general, what is your assessment . When you see a video like this of the level of training and experience of some of these hamas fighters who took part early on in this terror attack . First of all, it hurts. It hurts to see that they were able to get into an Israeli Community and, yeah, you cut out the really gory details of hoy they fire into the vehicle. And what the viewers cant see or maybe theyve seen in other clips is the relative humidities of these activities. The whole attack, what were seeing is one of the last stages of a very meticulously planned and executed attack. This is what they were aiming for. This was the whole aim of the operation, to get into israeli communities, murder israeli citizens, take hostages, and get out. And that is unfortunately sadly exactly what they did. And today the world through the International Media was able to get a first access and see the carnage that they left behind, the dead bodies of israelis, women, children, parents, grandparents in the kibbutz, and its beyond words. The monstrosity is beyond words. Its something an israeli general who was there showing it to the journalists said that the only thing that he could reference it to would be scenes of a pogrom or Something Else from the second world war, The Holocaust. There is no other historic reference for a jew to look at the scene like this and understand what were seeing. Yeah, its really only in the last today and i think no doubt in the coming days the true horror of what occurred on many of these kibbutz, agrarian communities is really coming to the fore. We saw as you were talking about kfar aza. There is also near kibbutz communities. These are peaceful communities that have been there for decades and decades. These arent new settlements that maybe are controversial, that are controversial, and yet the level of brutality of the Terror Attacks in these kibbutzs, its really now just starting to be revealed. Yeah, you know. If we want to take to it the political, they were there, they were founded before 1948. And many of the people who live there i know, because i have friends there, are people who believe in the twostate solution, who had friends in gaza and who really believed that a longlasting peace could be achieved with gaza and palestinians. Ive had discussions with people in the kibbutzim, Friends Of Mine who believed in that. And then they wake up to hear gunshots in their kibbutz, and they fight for their lives, barricading themselves inside their bomb shelter, only to have their houses torched, for them to flee out of the Burning House and then massacred on the lawn in front of their house. And today we saw the bodies that were left outside of the houses in the kibbutz. And it is appalling. So there is no, you know, for anybody who is seeking to justify and explain on an academic level why would hamas attack these targets, there is nothing to it. This is pure unfiltered hatred, fueled by crazy religious extremism and some crazy idea that by Killing Israeli civilians, they can somehow beat israel and create some shariabased political entity in the wake of what they will destroy. All of these are, of course, dreams that never, ever will come true, but it just goes to show the kind of organization and the kind of beasts that we have on the other side of that border, their line of thinking. And again, this wasnt some local initiative and an operation that went astray or people, operatives on the ground who got carried away with themselves. This was the plan. The hamas spokesperson a day and a half after the attack happened, he said the attack went according to plan, and we are happy with the consequences. So that is what were looking at. Those are the consequences. Yeah. Lieutenant general jonathan conricus, thank you. I want to update you on the mother that we introduced you to several nights ago. She was desperate for word of her ms. Ing daughter, and she still is desperate for any information. She feels she may have a ray of some hope tonight. Her daughter is shani louk. She was at that Music Festival where a man i spoke to earlier made it out alive. But at least 260 people were slaughtered at that festival. Many were taken hostage as well. You probably have seen or heard about the video of shani louk that were going to show you that emerged shortly after the attacks. We have blurred it out. It is just horrific to look at unblurred. Its bad enough blurred. The video shows her seemingly unconscious in the back of a truck being displayed like some slaughtered trophy by these thugs, sitting on her. One gunmans leg draped over her waist. People are spitting on her. The crowds are charting god is great. Another holds a clump of her dreadlocks. The crowd, as i say, cheering, spitting. It is sickening. But it happened. And its real. I spoke to her mother, ricarda louk, just before air. Ricarda, thank you so much for talking to us. The last time i spoke with you, you had seen your daughter shani in the back of that truck being driven through the streets, people celebrating, chanting. It was horrible. What have you learned about shani . Yeah, we heard information that she is alive and that she has a bad head injury and is in the hospital. But thats all we know, and but thats all we know. And that gave us hope. After the video you saw its impossible to see if shes alive or dead. It was very scary. And we were very worried. But now it gave us a little bit of hope that shes at least in a hospital. Even if its in a bad condition. But its better. And thats why we hope we can free her and get her out of there. Thats what were trying to do. How much confidence do you have in the information youve received . Can you say where you got this information from . I cant really reveal exactly where it come from. I dont want to endanger anyone. But it came from a reliable source through our friends. Thats all i can say to this. For now. I know last time we spoke you had said you had evidence that her credit card, somebody had tried to use her credit card repeatedly. I believe it was later on saturday. Has that given you any indication about perhaps where she may be . We noticed when they used her credit card, tried to use it, it was in jabaliya, somewhere in a shop. And it was near a hospital. But we dont know really if this is the hospital. There are many there are a few hospitals in gaza. And the second time it was an uber. So it also didnt give us much more information. Yeah. But you believe she may be in a hospital in gaza. Yes. We believe so. And have you heard anything from german or israeli authorities about your daughter . Or have you been in communication with german or israeli authorities . Yeah, im in connection with them. But theres nothing new. And we tried to put a little bit more pressure on by a lot of media and videos again from me today, especially to germany, to get the attention of germany and intervene and free our daughter. I know there is some discussions between israel and germany that they say whose responsibility is it to free her because she has a dual citizenship. And we feel like shes falling in between because the last message we got from germany that okay israel they will take care of israels citizens, so good luck with that. And that was the last message i got from the officials in the German Government. Which is a little disappointing now because israelis are not currently in a good position to negotiate. As you know, were in the middle of attacks back and forth, and nobodys talking about negotiations at the moment. Thats why we really plead to the German Government to help us now before its too late. I mean, shes in the middle of a war zone now in a hospital. There are many bombs around them. And sometimes no electricity, sometimes no water. So we dont know how long this can take. And we dont know really who to talk to. If she is in a hospital or and she is alive, what would you want anybody around her to know . I mean, to keep her safe, to keep her alive, to treat her as a human being and just to keep her well until we until she can return to home. Thats all. Just be human to a sick person that is injured. Ricarda louk, thank you for your time. Well continue to be in touch. Again, im so sorry nor what yo youre going through. Thank you. Thank you very much. Her mother still has hope. Coming up next, a woman searching for information on her cousin and her cousins two young children, just 3 years old and 9 months old. She has seen video of them being abducted from their kibbutz. Other Family Members are also now missing. Were going to talk to her ahead. Every hour things get clearer and more horrific. Its something that we cant really understand. A nightmare. A nightmare. Ifat is searching for any information about her cousin shiri, her kids and the rest of her family. When did you realize something had happened . Saturday morning. Around 10 00. We lost connection with my cousin. Reporter it wasnt until she saw this video saturday that eifat knew shiri and her kids had likely been taken hostage. I can see the horror in her face. I think they might have been in a state of shock. They were still dazed and not understanding whats going on around them. This video is horrible. But its the only proof of life we have. Other families dont have that. It gives me something to hold on to. Reporter shiri lives with her husband yarden and their two children. Have you had any word about her husband . Nothing. Nothing. We dont know. Reporter also missing is yifats uncle and aunt, yossi and margit silberman. My aunt has parkinsons disease. Without her medications her body stiffens. Were a small family, and half of them are kidnapped. Half of your family. Yeah. This is it. I cant believe this is happening. I cant believe this is our lives now. Reporter yifat has children of her own but cant stop thinking about shiris kids, ariel and kafir. I want to know that theyre being fed, if their diaper was changed. If kafir got his formula, his bottle, something to eat. They need formula. They need everything. We need a sign of life. Im so sorry. The only thing that helps me be sane right now is sitting here with you and showing their faces and telling their story. I want my family back. I want my family back. I try to be strong and stoic and speak clearly, but im devastated. I dont know what else to do. We need institutions from the world. We need someone to take care of those captive