Transcripts For CNNW The Situation Room 20121119

Were live in jerusalem right now at the end of a sixth day of intense rocket fire directed at israel from hamascontrolled gaza, as well as militants and their supplies. Israeli Officials Say three people are dead, 68 people have been wounded. Officials put the gaza death toll at 104 with 860 people wounded. All the while world diplomats constantly are looking for some way to broker a ceasefire. In a little bit, youre going to hear my conversation with one of top negotiators attempting to achieve a ceasefire, the former british Prime Minister, tony blair. Hes here in jerusalem. I spoke with him today. Youre going to hear the interview. Thats coming up later. Well also hear from our cnn correspondents across israel as well as in gaza right now. Earlier in the day, i went to orbkalon where i saw what was going on firsthand on the israeli side of the border. As soon as we got there, the sirens actually started going on. You could see people running towards shelters. I started running after Israeli Soldiers demanded that all of us our cnn crew, myself, we get to a shelter. Usually they have about 30 seconds once the sirens go off before there actually is a rocket or missile that reaches the ground. In this particular case, when we were running, we got to a shelter. It was packed with soldiers, with civilians. And then we finally heard that thud. In this particular case, that iron dome, the israeli antimissile defense shield, which has been financed at least in some measure by the United States, it worked. And the incoming rokts and missiles were destroyed in the air. Later we walked outside and saw that plume of smoke showing those missiles, the rockets had been destroyed. Earlier in the day at that same school where we had been the iron dome didnt work successfully. And that rocket hit the ground. There was some damage there. No casualties on that particular road. We spent some quality time watching what was going on. And it was a significant situation. On both sides of the border, people are living and dying. There is intense, intense pain in gaza as well as in israel. Joining us now on the phone is a chief palestinian negotiator. Hes joining us from the west bank. Thanks very much for joining us. I know youre watching very closely whats going on. Is there you sense that the parties are any closer to a ceasefire . Well, i hope so. I think theres an interest for all parties to have a ceasefire. Actually we were monday in cairo and they agreed on a ceasefire, and the Israeli Government surprised us. And then i hope this will be an eyeopener for mr. Netanyahu. I hope that he will get one lesson. The lesson is that security will only be achieved through peace, through the twostep solution. Security will not be achieved through bombing and wars and warmongering. We need to reach this conclusion and we need now to support everything offered by the egyptians in order to get a comprehensive ceasefire. Thats what were working on. Hes fully engaged with all palestinian actions, including hamas, and is fully on board to achieve a blanket comprehensive ceasefire because thats what will help all concerned, palestinians, israelis, and americans. I know one of the issues the israelis are demanding in the Israeli Cabinet, im told is meeting right now, even as we speak, the socalled International Security cabinet, the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the things they want to make sure is that even if theres a ceasefire, the shelling into israel, some of these rockets and missiles dont resume two weeks from now or four weeks from now or whatever. How do you ensure that once theres a ceasefire, it holds . Well, i think, wolf, number one is we have to focus now in achieving a ceasefire. The egyptians are on board. The europeans are on board. The americans are on board. The turks aren board. Everyone is on board. Now, if israel commits to have a ceasefire, comprehensive, not to attack, then there will be guarantees from all parties involved in this. But i think we have a fire now. We have a fire, the first thing we should do is bring the children outside the building, extinguish the fire. And once we extinguish the fire, we can look at it the day after. At this moment, i think every possible effort should be exerted in order to reach a comprehensive ceasefire. It was said today that hamas is willing to engage in a full comprehensive ceasefire. The egyptians are i think theres a good chance to achieve this and all demands from all parties, everybody who has demands i know that the former british Prime Minister, tony blair, met with president mahmoud abbas, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, today. I spoke with tony blair later. Heres the question. Its a fundamental question. Does hamas control all of gaza because theres some speculation that theres Islamic Jihad even more radical groups that wouldnt necessarily honor a ceasefire. I spoke to to the little jihad tomorrow, theyre saying that ban kimoon is in touch with president morsi. Gaza is the most densely populated area. More than 750 wounded. If the Israeli Government is thinking about a land invasion, that will mean human disaster. And that will not ensure anybodys security. We all know that this will just push the whole region, not only us and the israelis, the whole region, in the back of conflict, bloodshed and violence and extremism. The most important thing is that israel commits to stop the attack. And everybody in gaza will be committed because egypt is brokering this. The egyptians can do that. And theyre the only ones who can do that, actually. What is your assessment of the u. S. Role in all of this . Do you believe the president , president obama, is doing enough to try to achieve a ceasefire . Im sure he is. Im sure hes engaged with the egyptians and the turks, with the europeans, engaged with us. But the key here is i think the egyptians i spoke to some of their officials this afternoon, they are exerting every possible effort there is in order to reach a comprehensive ceasefire. I think they can achieve it. Provide the guarantees for all sides. Is the Palestinian Authority what im hearing, i think the answer is yes. But you tell me. Is the Palestinian Authority youre associated with the president , mahmoud abbas, on the same page right now with hamas in gaza . Look, today, we are not the authority. We are all palestinians, wolf. It is our people. We know we want to reach peace. Thats our ticket to security and peace. Unfortunately, we have been unable for 20 years to achieve this goal. Today what we need to focus on is to reach a ceasefire, what we need to focus on is to stop this. Failure should not be an option. And i think we can do it tonight. The egyptians are determined and they can do it and they can deliver. Lets focus on one thing now to have a ceasefire. Saeb, lets hope there will be peace negotiations soon. Saeb, thanks very much for joining us. Thank you. Saeb, the Palestinian Peace negotiator. On both sides of the border, people are living and dying among the explosions. Arwa dame season is in gaza. Tell our viewers what youve seen today. Reporter throughout the day, we were seeing on different occasions rockets being fired from here towards israel. There were also a number of air strikes and other attacks that did take place. Theres a building behind me thats about 15 stories tall. We saw it being hit by three missiles. It would seem that the target was the head of the media office of the military wing of Islamic Jihad. He was killed, were later told, by palestinian sources. Another man also killed in that attack as well. Seemingly he died of a heart attack. He was a christian. Also in that attack, two children were wounded, wolf. And we do keep seeing, again, the civilians bearing the brunt of this conflict. A lot of women and children have, of course, been killed, been wounded as well. So far on this side of the border, more than 100 people have been killed. And right now, the streets are completely deserted, as they have been from the moment that darkness fell. People are just too afraid to go outside. And theres the constant buzz of drones overhead. Just a short while ago, we also heard another explosion, wolf. Is there any season that from your vantage point, arwa, in gaza, speaking to People Associated with hamas, that were any closer to a ceasefire . Reporter they say that negotiations are under way. They do have a list of demands that they do want to see materialized. And obviously at the top of that list is an end to the violence and having the siege on gaza to be lifted. It was hard to fathom a scenario where that would actually happen. And that is, of course, the great crux of this conflict, is that both sides are so polarized, so hardened in their demands. Its hard to see which side is going to budge first. When it comes to the population, a lot of them do say on the one hand, especially when you speak to people at funerals on the sites after these attacks have taken place, they say that they do want revenge. But at the same time when you speak to them in the market, in their homes, where people are really huddling together, trying to stay safe, they say that they really want peace. For decades, people here in gaza have been going through this ongoing cycle of violence, of fear, living a life that has really very little dignity to it. Many of them say that they feel as if they live in a massive prison. And all they really want to see is an end to all of this, a longlasting agreement that would result in them and their children being able to have the semblance of a normal life, wolf . And finally, do they say that as a result of a ceasefire they will flatly stop shelling israel will stop sending rockets, missiles into israel and wont allow additional weapons to start coming in or are they leaving that open . Reporter well, thats another of the sticking points, of course, the israelis are wanting to set up something of a buffer zone inside gaza. They do want to see the weapons stop coming in. They do not want to create a scenario where hamas is going to somehow be able to regain the capability to rearm itself or even further arm itself at this stage. But, again, as we have heard every single time the conflict between these two populations escalates to the point where its at, there are pledges, there are statements that are made. And then invariably one side violates the ceasefire. And every single time, each side continues to blame the other. Thats why it is so critical to have the sort of solution in place that can longlasting. But thats something that both of these sides, the International Community has struggled to make a reality, again, for decades now. Decades indeed. Arwa, well check back with you. Arwa damon is in gaza for us. Anderson cooper is in gaza as well. So is ben wedeman. Were standing by. The Israeli Cabinet is meeting, considering a ceasefire proposal. As soon as that Cabinet Meeting breaks up here in jerusalem, well have the latest on what the decision is. Were also about to get the Israeli Militarys response to the civilian deaths in gaza. Latest efforts to stop the rocket attacks coming into israel from gaza. Ill be joined by a spokeswoman from the israeli army. Thats coming up next. Meet the fivepassenger ford cmax hybrid. Cmax says ha. Cmax says wheeee. Which is what you get, dont you see . 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So its even more important to lower their cholesterol, and thats why, when diet and exercise alone arent enough, i prescribe crestor. In a Clinical Trial versus lipitor, crestor got more highrisk patients bad cholesterol to a goal of under 100. [ female announcer ] crestor is not right for everyone. Like people with Liver Disease or women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. Tell your doctor about other medicines youre taking. Call your doctor right away if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. These could be signs of rare but serious side effects. Is your cholesterol at goal . Talk to your doctor about crestor. [ female announcer ] if you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. Were continuing our coverage here in jerusalem. Joined now by a Lieutenant Colonel spokeswoman for the Israeli Defense services. Thanks very much for coming in. How serious is the possibility of a Ground Invasion by the idf, Israel Defense force, into gaza . Currently a ground operation is still an option, although we havent decided to go with this option. The forces are ready outside of gaza and should the order be given, we are ready to go inside. And you would go in with tanks, armored personnel carriers, heavy weaponry in a densely populated area like gaza . Various types of units. We are very familiar with the type of the densely Populated Areas with the urban warfare. Weve been busy developing different kinds of methods of precise munitions in order to stay away and refrain from targeting civilians, of course. And you dont think you could achieve your military objectives through air power or sea power . You think ultimately you might have to go in on the ground . Lets look at today. Today, 160 rockets were launched from gaza into israel. That was not a quiet day. And although the arsenal of the rockets is going down and has suffered a very severe blow, still were still getting rockets. Therefore, the goal of the operation is still to continue and defend the people of israel and also to target those terror organizations. The Israeli Cabinet is meeting right now, supposedly considering a ceasefire proposal thats come via the egyptians. What can you tell us about that . Nothing right now. We are waiting for the orders from the political echelon. But the operation is still continuing, as far as we are concerned. For example, we targeted a couple of hours ago a stadium. It was an open soccer stadium. But also one that hosted launchers, launchers of ojer 5 underground these are the ones that threaten tel aviv and jerusalem. But i was under the impression almost all of them had been destroyed already . Its true. But still they have some rockets of this type. We see that they have difficulties to launch them nowadays and therefore they still use the grads, which was approximately 40 kilometers. What is your estimate . How many more of these missiles and rockets do they have in gaza . They probably have thousands, even more. Thousands . There are 400 smuggling tunnels between gaza and the egyptian rafa. And these tunnels conveyed all sorts of munition, 24 7. The money for using those tunnels go to hamas. In addition, gaza has become the back yard of many african countries the past two years. The smuggling routes in the deserts are very convenient and theres no limit to the types of rockets that can enter gaza. This could go on for a long time, if it was a Ground Invasion. Israel occupied gaza once before, did not have necessarily a wonderful experience. This could be a disaster if you go back in there. Nobodys looking for occupation. Were looking to practice the basic right that israel has like any other country in the world. We want to have a rocketfree country. We want to have 3 million israelis, which is approximately 50 of the population, sleep quietly in their own beds rather than in shelters. We in the United States, whenever theres a military operation because there have been some bad experiences, when troops go in, they want to know what the exit strategy is. What would be israels exit strategy from gaza if you send in tens of thousands of Ground Forces . Well, when we organize such an operation, we usually have an assessment a few times a day. Then we plan our next steps. Its going to be hard for me to predict an end result. Of course, our hope is the rockets fire will stop, the terror organizations will lose a large portion of their arsenal. But this is currently the situation. Now, i cannot predict for but if israel withdraws quickly, they could rebuild that arsenal, hamas, pretty quickly f you go in, clean it out and then leave, whats to stop them from doing it all over again . We all prefer diplomacy than military action. And hopefully the diplomatic moves that are happening now maybe will change something. Are there rockets coming into israel from sinai, egypt, as well . Currently no. There have been a few. There have been a few incidents lately in which some groups maybe in the sinai desert tried to target israeli targets. They were remote. But still were concerned about this phenomenon. What about egypts israels relationship with egypt right now . Theres still a formal relationship but i take it its not that good. Well, egypt is not our enemy. Gaza and hamas inside gaza is our enemy. We tend to keep the peace treaty with egypt and respect that peace treaty. What about syria . There have been some incidents of fire coming into the israeli part of the Golan Heights from syria. Whats the latest on that . Our estimation is all the remotes events have to do with stray bullets or stray mortars. Nothing more than that. Its an internal conflict inside syria. And thats the way we treat it. Is it a serious situation on the Golan Heights right now with syria or is it a temporary thing . Its a temporary thing. The borders are quiet. We see it as an internal syrian conflict which has nothing to do with us. And youre on the lebanese border with hezbollah, thats quiet as well . Its quiet but tense. Hezbollah has acquired a huge arsenal of over 60,000 rockets and tried to think how many other militaries in the world even hold these amount of rockets. A speech was given today urging all the arab countries to smuggle rockets into gaza so hamas can use them. One final question, iran. What if any role are they playing in all of this . Iran is, i would say, pulling the strings in many of the terror organizations in the region. Hezbollah is one of them, hamas is another. They all go way back to iran. Lieutenant colonel, thank you for coming in. Thank you. Were going to continue to watch whats going on. You have a direct stake in this latest conflict in the middle east as well. Well prepare you for what youll see the next time you pull up to the gas pump. Stand by for that. Our crews also have dramatic new video of the devastation caused by israeli air strikes in gaza. Time to market reduced. Those are good things. Upstairs, they will see fantasy. Not fantasy. Logistics. Ups came in, analyzed our supply chain, inventory systems. Ups . Ups. Not fantasy . Who would have thought . I did. We did, bob. We did. Got it. [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. How you doing today . Im good thanks. How are you . Im good. [ gordon ] but for others, its all they can afford. Every day nearly nine million Older Americans dont have enough to eat. Anything else . No, not today. Join me, aarp, and Aarp Foundation in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger. Org. Nows a good time to think about your options. Are you looking for a plan that really meets your needs . And your budget . As you probably know, medicare only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. So consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like all standardized Medicare Supplement plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesnt pay. And could save you in outofpocket medical costs every year. Call today to request a free decision guide. With this type of plan, youll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. Plus, there are no networks, and youll never need a referral to see a specialist. If youre thinking about your options, call today. When you call, request your free decision guide. And find the aarp Medicare Supplement plan that may be right for you. Wolf blitzer is in jerusalem and well get back to him live in just a moment. But violence in the middle east is pushing oil prices up. Lisa sylvester is monitoring that and some of the other top stories in the windchill windchill right now. A lot of people are interested in this story. Oil prices rose another 2 a barrel today to 89 a barrel. Crude prices are up about 4 since fighting e ript ruptured between the israelis and hamas last week. Neither is a major producer of oil but investors are worried tensions could spill over into other parts of the middle east. And a ceasefire announced against Government Forces in colombia. The revolutionary armed forces of colombia say they will halt their attacks. Its meant as a goodwill gesture but its unlikely the government will resip reciprocate. Paul otellini has been president for eight years. Hes moving on. No successor has been named yet. But intels board called otellini a strong leader whos led the company through challenging times and market transitions. Thanks so much for that, lisa. Were going to throw it back to wolf blitzer in jerusalem now. Wolf . Joe, thanks very much. Were watching whats going on here in jerusalem as ive been pointing out, the Israeli Cabinet is meeting right now. Were expecting them to wrap up whatever theyre deciding. Were told theyre considering a ceasefire proposal thats come to them from the egyptians. As soon as we know whats going on, well of course share the breaking news with our viewers. We have a lot more to show you on both sides. Theyre suffering on the ground and behind the scenes, there are urgent talks to stop the shooting and the killing. Much more of the breaking news from jerusalem when we come back. So now i can be in the scene. Advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. Unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an antiinflammatory and a longacting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. Advair wont replace fastacting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. People with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. Advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking advair. If youre still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. Get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd. Com. child screaming underwater . underwater noises . The former british Prime Minister is working behind the scenes. Hes trying to help broker a ceasefire between the israelis and hamas in gaza. I spoke with tony blair here in jerusalem a little while ago. That interview coming up here in the situation room. These are bleak days for palestinians in gaza, to be sure. Every air strike brings potential death w little or no warning. All of this in a place where life was a struggle to begin with. Cnns arwa damon once again joining us with more on what the gazans are enduring. Pretty painful from what youre seeing and what from im hearing from you. Reporter it most certainly is. So far, more than 100 people have been killed on this side of the conflict. And tragically we have seen a lot of women and children among the casualties as well. And here on this side of the border, there are no sirens. Oftentimes, these strikes come with little warning. The large slap of concrete and mangled metal finally gives way. Buried beneath it, another lifeless body. Its the second child weve seen. There was also a baby. Others in the neighborhood say the blast killed all ten people who lived here. Israel says it was targeting the head of a hamas rocket launching unit. People we spoke with said they never heard of him. This was a family home. People here are telling us so far people who have been killed in this strike are women and children. They have not been able to find any survivors. Just moments ago from that back corner, they pulled out the body of a tiny child. Over here, theres another frantic effort under way. Tempers easily flare as frustration and anger mount. Shes my uncles wife, this young man shouts. Rage, coupled with sorrow, etched across his face. This is where she lived. Her elderly body finally dug up and carried away. There are no air raid sirens or bunkers in gaza. This strike came with no warning. The rescue efforts are not always so hopeless. Not far from here, just the day before, this 11monthold and his 4yearold sister both survived a multiple missile strike on their home. When the roof collapsed it somehow formed a prevent arch over us, the childrens mother says. For about 45 minutes, i thought i was going to suffocate. My leg was stuck. People could hear me screaming but they couldnt do anything, she tells us. In between her characterize, fears that her children were dead. This is what the building looks like now, the rubble that was cleared to save the family of ten piled back into the lot that was their home. I will never forget what happened, she says. I will die imagining it. I cant believe it, i cant believe these are my children. I tell myself, they are not my children. I cant imagine how they survived. I feel like im not myself. I cant believe that i am alive, talking to you, breathing. She tells us she wants revenge. But more than that, she wants peace. She says, there is no good that comes with war. And, wolf, that is really the sentiment that we are hearing from so many people that they have been speaking to. However, that being said, when the funeral took place for that family that had been killed in the air strike at the beginning of that story, we did see rockets while the funeral was taking place. It would seem being fired from gaza towards israel. Our colleague, ben wedeman, was at the funeral and he said that when that happened, people began chanting revenge, revenge. And once again, we see the scenario where the longer the killing goes on, the more hardened these two sides become towards one another. Arwa damon in gaza for us, well get back to you shortly. Stand by. Things got testy over at the state department in washington today when reporters pressed for details on how the u. S. Is trying to stop the fighting between israel and hamas in gaza. Lets bring in our Foreign Affairs correspondent, jill doherty, shes in washington. Jill, exactly what is the Obama Administration doing right now . Reporter well, theyre on the phone, wolf. The president is in asia. He is making telephone calls and practically every Senior Administration person is doing the same thing. President obama calling israel, Prime Minister netanyahu, and egypt three times to president morsi. And president clinton calling the egyptians three times. I looked at the list, egypt, turkey, qatar, the french, ban kimoon. And the whole entire is to press any country with any influence on either side but especially with the palestinians with gaza to put the pressure on them to stop the fighting. Egypt is clearly a key player. They have influence with hamas. Whats the u. S. Doing in its talks with the Egyptian Government . Reporter again, theyre putting as much pressure on them as they can. And there is some pressure because after all, the United States gives egypt about 450 million every year. So heres one expert that we talked to. This is how he explained how the egyptians can use their influence. Egypt is the key to brokering a ceasefire. Its brokered ceasefires between hamas and israel in the past. And it will be the key to brokering the current ceasefire agreement between israel and hamas to end this round of fighting. Egypt doesnt want chaos on its borders. Reporter but they have a balancing act, wolf. And you know that. Of course, they dont want any economic problems and that means they need the help of the United States and the International Community. But people in egypt have a lot of sympathy for hamas. They certainly do. And elsewhere in the arab world as well. Thanks very much, jill dougherty, in washington. Right now, here in israel, you can look up in the sky, you can see whats going on. You see a new Defense System literally knocking out incoming rockets. We have a closer look at what they call the iron dome. I love the holidays. And with my bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i love em even me. I earn 1 cash back everywhere, every tim 2 on groceries. 3 on gas. Automatica hoops to jump hrough. Thats 1 back o. [ toy robot sounds ] 2 on pumpkin pie. And apple. 3 ba on 4 trips to e airport. Its as easy. [ woman ] 3. Male annocer ] the bankamericard cash rewardca. Apply online or at a bank america nr you. She was a picky eater. Well, now im her dietitian, and last year, she wasnt eating so well. So i recommended boost complete nutritional drink to help her get the nutrition she was missing. And now she drinks it every day. Well, it tastes great [ male announcer ] boost has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones, and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. All with a delicious taste. [ dietitian ] now, nothing keeps mom from doing what she loves being my mom. [ male announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. President obama is keeping tabs on the crisis in the middle east while hes on an historic trip. The president is in cambodia but made a stop earlier in myanmar. Its a nation that emerged from bloody dictatorship and is now finding its way forward in the modern world. Cnns Jessica Yellin is traveling with the president. Reporter according to the white house, secretary of state clinton and the president s Top National Security adviser, both of whom are on this trip, are in regular contact with their counterparts in the middle east, trying to deescalate tensions in the region. Meanwhile, the president is focused on his work here on this trip in asia, strengthening and building u. S. Alliances in the pacific. It was in thailand, the president gave his first public remarks on the violence in israel and gaza, standing by israel. Theres no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders. So we are fully supportive of israels right to defend itself. Reporter and he put the onus on hamas to make peace possible. It starts with no more missiles being fired into israels territory. Reporter but thats not the focus of this trip. Less than two weeks after his reelection, he jetted halfway around the world to southeast asia. President obama says this is no accident. Reporter the trip is meant to strengthen trade and security alliances and counterbalance chinas growing influence. The dramatic highlight . A visit to myanmar, a country long under military rule, now undergoing a democratic transition. In a speech encouraging the nations reforms, he used his own identity as proof it takes time for full democracy to take hold. I stand before you today as president of the most powerful nation on earth, but recognizing that once the color of my skin would have denied me the right to vote. And so that should give you some sense that if our country can transcend its differences, then yours can, too. Reporter and the president made a symbolic visit to the home of former political prisoner and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. I would like to say how happy i am to receive president obama in my country and in my house. Reporter with him, secretary of state Hillary Clinton. He said, this is their last official trip together as she plans to leave the state department. I could not be more grateful, not only for your service, hillary, but also for the powerful message that you and a Aung San Suu Kyi send. Reporter in cambodia, president obama was there for two summits on the focus of trade. Very early tuesday morning, cambodia time, president obama spoke with israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and got an update on the situation. He also called egypts president morsi and according to the white house n that call, the president discussed with morsi the importance of getting hamas to stop firing rockets into israel. The president has publicly said he believes this is essential for stability and to get a piece in process. From here, the president will have a partial day of summits in cambodia, mostly focused on trade issues, before flying home in time for thanksgiving. Joe . Thats Jessica Yellin reporting. Now were going to continue the special edition of the situation room with wolf blitzer who is in jerusalem. Wolf . Joe, thanks very much. Thank jessica as well. I know the president has his hands full on all the ash of related issues. He halasz has a crisis here in the middle east with huge ramifications for the United States, indeed for the entire world. Were watching an Israeli Cabinet meeting thats continuing even as we speak. Right now, the Prime Minister of israel meeting with his National Security advisers, considering a ceasefire proposal forwarded by egypt. Were watching whats going on. The stake right now clearly enormous. When we come back, our own Fred Pleitgen is on the ground, in israel near the gaza border. Well check in with him when we come back. Is isnt just a headache. Trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] its the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. New bayer migraine formula. Pretty sweet, huh . Cute. But dont you have any apps on your phone that can make your life easier . Who do you think i am, quicken loans . At quicken loans, well provide you with myql mobile. This amazingly useful app allows you to take pictures of your mortgage documents using an iphone or android smart phone. So you can easily send them to us. One more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. Ooh, lala at etrade, our free online tools and Retirement Specialists can help you build a personalized plan and execute it with a wide range of low cost investments. Get a great plan and low cost investments at etrade. Even as the diplomats are trying to achieve a ceasefire, the israelis and hamas in gaza, they are still continuing their battle. Israel has a major advantage right now, an advantage called iron dome. Thats a missile Defense System capable of knocking out militant rockets coming out of the sky before they get anything on the ground. Cnns Fred Pleitgen explains how iron dome works. Reporter a kill that possibly saved lives on the ground. This video shows an iron dome missile intercepting a rocket fired from gaza at tel aviv on sunday. The Defense System had just been installed in israels largest city a few hours earlier. Several days into the conflict, its already clear the iron dome is having a big impact picking off hundreds of rockets. I got a tour of the israel aircraft industrys plant that assembles the air Defense System. Deploying them is a matter of minutes. Reporter this doctor is one of those in charge. One key element is an advanced radar. The radar searches, locates, tracks, intercepts and guides the intercepting missiles within several seconds, few seconds within the launching time. Reporter its extremely hard to shoot down shortdistance rockets like the ones coming out of gaza, in part because theyre not in the air long enough for older Radar Systems to lock onto them. The target is moving extremely fast. When you want to intercept it, you have to work you have to move faster, with more agility, with more maneuvering power relative to your target. Reporter the iron dome was only put into service in 2011, with breakthroughs in technology, it can detect and shoot down multiple targets in midair. But it isnt a perfect solution. This is the aftermath of a rocket strike in the town of ashkelon. One of the rocket that is hit ashkelon hit this carport and did substantial damage to the car as well. As hits like this one show, the iron dome cannot intercept all the rockets coming at israel from gaza. Still israels military says its very happy with the performance of the interceptor system. Rockets we want to doan down, we usually down. Usually these rockets, exactly the ones sent, launched from the terrorist factions towards bigger cities where you have more people living, we usually down them. But its not a 100 solution, unfortunately. Reporter and so the engineers at the Assembly Plant are working extra hours to assemble more iron dome batteries for immediate deployment. Fred pleitgen, cnn, ashkelon, israel. At the top of the hour, our own Anderson Cooper will join us live from gaza with more on ordinary peoples lives amid the growing destruction. Also coming up, my interview with the top middle east negotiator, the former british Prime Minister, tony blair. And now. You [ giggles ] the one and only, cheerios cool. You found it. Wow. Nice place. Yeah. [ chuckles ] the family thinks im out shipping these. Smooth move. You used Priority Mail flat rate boxes. If it fits, it ships for a low, flat rate. Paid for postage online and arranged a free pickup. And im gonna track them online, too. Nice. Between those boxes and this place, im totally staying sane this year. Do i smell snickerdoodles . Maybe. [ timer dings ] got to go. Priority mail flat rate boxes. Online pricing starts at 5. 15. Only from the postal service. 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In india, dance students from mexico performed during an International Cultural exchange program. And also in india, they stand in chesthigh water and pray during a religious ceremony. Hot shot, pictures coming in from around the world. And youre in the situation room. Happening now, deadly new israeli missile strikes in gaza, cnns Anderson Cooper standing by to join us live this hour. Also, were tracing irans complicated missile and Training Pipeline to hamas in gaza. And could former president bill clinton help stop the fighting here in the middle east . Ill talk about that and more with the former british Prime Minister, the middle east special peace enjoy, tony blair. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer in jerusalem. Youre in the situation room. Were coming to you live from jerusalem where there seems to be at least for now no end in sight to the fighting thats been going on between the israelis and hamas in gaza. Today, sirens warned of more rockets from gaza coming into israel, sending terrified residents fleeing for safety, seeking refuge in bomb shelters. Israeli Officials Say three people have died, 68 people have been wounded here in israel as the result of hamas rockets and missiles and the fear is just as deep in gaza as israeli missiles struck for a sixth consecutive day. Among the latest targets, Office Buildings used by some Media Outlets in gaza, according to palestinian sources. At least two people died in that attack, pushing the Palestinian Death toll righ now to at least 104 with more than 800 injured since the fighting started. Lets start our coverage this hour in gaza. Anderson cooper is standing by with more. Anderson, tell our viewers what youre seeing and hearing. Reporter wolf, we havent heard too many explosions over the last hour or two as darkness has come here in gaza city. Traditionally, a few hours from now, around 1 00 a. M. , 2 00 a. M. Is when we really start to hear the most number of explosions, strikes by Israeli Forces here in gaza city. We heard that certainly last night around that same time. So were going to be obviously up all evening long watching to see what happens. But throughout the day, there have been a number of explosions, outgoing rockets being fired from gaza city toward israel and of course incoming ordinates from israel. Most notably an attack on the Media Center Building which was hit on sunday as well. On sunday Israeli Forces said that they had targeted a hamas antenna on one of those buildings. Today three rockets slammed into the building. Its about four blocks from our location right now. We actually saw two of the rockets going into the second floor of the building. Israeli forces say they were targeting members of Islamic Jihad who they said were inside the building at the time. They said they killed one member of Islamic Jihad. Also confirmed that with palestinian sources here on the ground. One official from Islamic Jihad, which the u. S. And Israel Considers a terrorist group. Want to bring in our arwa damon who has also witnessed the attack. That was significant. It was the second day in a row that that building had been targeted, one Islamic Jihad official killed. Reporter yeah, most certainly was. This is part of this ongoing Expansion Campaign that we have been seeing on the part of the israelis where initially when this all began, they were really targeting what they were identifying as being the launch sites, where the missiles were going from gaza into israel. And we saw where they targeted government buildings and yesterday and today, targeting a building that houses one of the tv stations that is affiliated with hamas and this Islamic Jihad official as well. But that was a building where, at least as of yesterday, there was a lot of media there. Western medias were operating out of it as well. A lot of them have evacuated today. But many people here look at the fact that that building was struck two days in a row and they find it to be a concerning development. Reporter on sunday, israel gave advanced warning to journalists in the building to evacuate, that it was a building that would be on a target list and a large number of journalists left the building. But others went back inside. And israel says they were targeting a hamas antenna. But today the strike was clearly on lower floors and clearly seem to, according to israel, hit their target in the killing of that one official. We do see continued rocket fire through israel and weve seen it throughout the day. Reporter fair amount more of rocket fire today than yesterday. You see the response coming in from the other side. The number of the strikes that we saw today, according to hospital officials were, again, targeting these small lots that exist. But theyre very tiny in between the buildings here very narrow alleyways with israel trying to eliminate hamas and the other groups capabilities from being able to fire back. We spoke to residents who live in these areas who say oftentimes they are the ones that end up bearing the brunt of this ongoing back and forth. Many people were talking to say that at this point, the strikes could happen in any neighborhood, at any point in time. And they really dont know what to do or where to go to actually stay safe. Reporter unlike in the regions on the israeli side of the border, there arent air raid warning sirens here. The om incidence sense you get, you occasionally maybe hear something incoming. But you dont know where its going to be until the impact. And you look around to figure out where it was. You were at the scene yesterday of one of the most controversial strikes. Israeli Defense Forces sitting what they said was a building owned by a hamas official who was head of a rocket unit. Initially they said they had killed that hamas commander. They then backtracked saying they couldnt confirm whether or not he was alive or dead, at least ten member, though, of a family were known killed. You were there on the scene as some of the bodies were being pulled out. We were. And there was so much anger, so much frustration, so much sorrow etched across the faces of so many people who were there. One young man came in shouting, thats my aunt, thats my aunt. And rescue workers are trying to dig up the body of an elderly woman trapped there. We saw them lifting a sizable slab of concrete up. That was where they actually found the bodies of two of the children there. And for many of the residents living here, they believe that if the israelis truly knew that this commander was there, they would not have struck the house. They believe that the israelis are actually trying to punish the population here for whatever reason it is. And that is one of the many reasons for this rising anger because all of the people who we spoke to there at the time said that there had been no activity in that area, meaning no missiles were being fired from that area. And at the same time, after the israelis identified the individual who they said they were initially targeting, the head of this hamas missilelaunching unit, people we spoke to said they never actually heard of this individual. And they simply believe that they keep on paying the heaviest price and this is israels way of punishing the population. Reporter israel says they believe he was there or possibly storing weapons or rocket there is at the house and that israel acknowledges this family was killed and said it was very unfortunate that they were in the house at the time. Our coverage here, wolf, will be going on all evening long. A lot more to report from this region and we have correspondent, as you know, all throughout the region in egypt as well as in israel on the border. Well be hearing from them. Wolf . Anderson, arwa, thanks very much. Well be checking back with you frequently. Want to bring in our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, right now. Shes getting new information about a possible ground war. Barbara, what are you picking up . Reporter wolf, im standing outside the Israeli Embassy, just come from a closeddoor briefing. Ambassador michael oren, the israeli ambassador to the United States, says all of the pan planning is done now for any possible ground action. They are ready to go in israel. The Israeli Armed forces, the u. S. Has been briefed about it. If it comes to it, they are now done with the planning and completely ready to go. But ambassador oren does very importantly go on to say, and i quote, we would like to avoid ground action. Oren saying they still want to get some sort of solution to all of this, get hamas to agree to stop firing those rockets. If it doesnt happen, though, they are ready to go now, wolf. Barbara, where do the israelis think the weapons are coming from, the weapons in gaza, the rockets, the missiles . Reporter well, this is a very important question, of course, because now hamas is firing in large groups, 15 rockets at a time, up to that many. Iran has been a longstanding source of weaponry. But what we have now just been told is the weapons are also coming in from libya. Since gadhafi fell, of course, very little government control in libya over those weapons. And a lot of smuggling, a lot of loose weapons floating around, now those are coming from libya into gaza. In addition, we are told hamas has some new firing techniques. They are burying the rockets in shafts underground, covering them with sand and then firing. So its all very dispersed across gaza. The old days of hamas storage bunkers, were told, are long gone. Dispersed weapons, the israelis have to pick them out one by one with their overhead surveillance and try and strike them, they say, with no civilian casualties likely. But this is now a key reason why its going to be very tough on israel in the days ahead, wolf. What are you hearing about u. S. Military personnel currently in israel . Reporter well, quite surprisingly, we did not think this was the case. But the israelis now confirm, they say there are a couple of dozen u. S. Troops still in israel. They were there for part of a military Training Exercise with the israelis. That was very well known. Everyone pretty much thought they were all out. But, no, in the last few days now, the israelis have moved those u. S. Troops from an air base in southern israel where they were in firing range of hamas rockets and theyve moved them to a more secure location in Central Israel that is now under that iron dome of israels air Defense System weve all talked about so much. Theyre hoping to get them out and get them back to their bases in europe in the next few days, wolf. Barbara starr outside the Israeli Embassy in washington with that information, thank you. Weve seen a Ground Invasion of gaza before. This one if it happens could be very, very different. Well take a look at some of the scenarios. And as rockets rain down on israel from gaza, were tracing what some call a pipeline, funneling weapons of training to hamas from iran. Maybe New Buildings . What about updated equipment . They can help, but recent research shows. Nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. Lets build a strong foundation. Lets invest in our teachers so they can inspire our students. Lets solve this. Up high ok. Dont you have any usefull apps on that thing . Who do you think i am, quicken loans . At quicken loans, our amazingly useful mortgage calculator app allows you to quickly calculate your mortgage payment based on todays incredibly low interest rates. Right from your iphone or android smartphone. One more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. A massive mobilization of israeli troops, tens of thousands of soldiers massing near the gaza border right now. The world is watching very, very closely whats going on as the pieces of a possible, repeat possible ground war unfold. An actual operation, though, could be very, very complicated. A lot of people are watching what that operation could be like. Our pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence is watching as well. Hes been speaking to experts. What are you seeing about a possible Ground Invasion of gaza . What would that be like, chris . Reporter wolf, if it does happen, what were hearing is it would be one of two options. Either, a, a fullscale ground assault involving tanks, airborne, Something Like what happened four years ago, if not bigger. The other option is a limited series of incursions by special Operations Forces and small groups of infantry with a very narrow objective, like such as taking out specific rocketlaunching sites that the air assault wasnt able to get to. If Israeli Defense forces invade gaza, theyd likely go under the cover of darkness. Where they have a Tactical Advantage on the battlefield through night vision equipment and the ability to operate in the dark. Reporter but theyd likely find hamas better armed than it was four years ago. We have better antitank weapons, for sure. And they might be more capability of inflicting damage on Israeli Forces. Reporter analyst jeff white says hamas first line of defense will be a kilometer or two inside the border fence. They would try to draw the idf into kill zones of ieds, snipers and preset mortar fire. But the israelis beat that tactic with better intel four years ago and now have new capabilities. Theyve developed cameras that they can actually roll or throw into a house that shows them whats going on inside the house. Reporter a former israeli general says israel is running out of targets outside of Population Centers while hamas leaders have holed up inside mosques or among civilians. A ground war could lead to a situation similar to 2009 when a u. N. Report accused israel of committing war crimes in gaza. That is weighing on the minds of israeli policymakers now as they consider whether to go into gaza on the ground. Reporter and theres also the smaller risk of casualties among the Israel Defense forces. If idf troops are kidnapped or even killed, that could cause a public backlash against Prime Minister netanyahu. And thats something he has to consider heading into an election, wolf. End of january, the israeli elections are scheduled. Thanks very much, Chris Lawrence. About 1,000 rockets have been fired at israel since this conflict began some six days ago. About 300 of those rockets are said by Israeli Forces to have been intercepted by whats called the iron dome antimissile Defense System. More than 600, though, have reached israel, have hit targets. And they forced israelis to scramble for cover. Its a safe room. It has thickened walls. More or less blastresistant. Its got metal windows and a metal door. And this is where the children are going to be sleeping tonight. Cnns Fred Pleitgen is in ashkelon, israel, right now near the gaza border with more on whats going on. Looks like that iron dome the israelis have built to defend Population Centers, by all accounts, seems to be working rather well, fred. Reporter it certainly is working rather well, wolf. One of the things we have to keep in mind when we hear those numbers of 1,000 rockets fired from gaza, only about 300 intercepted is that the iron dome is really an intelligent system. What it does is it only takes out rockets that are actually flying towards Population Centers. So if the computer determine that is a rocket is actually headed for a field or some other unpopulated area, it wont even attack that target. It will just let it drop. The Israeli Defense forces tell us that they can take out about 90 of the rockets that are aimed at Population Centers but nevertheless, of course, this is not a 100 solution. They say that one of the last things people should do is not heed the warnings that are going out there. When the air sirens go, they tell them, you have to take cover immediately. And certainly from what were seeing, that is actually what people are doing. Nevertheless, theres no doubt that the iron dome with the way that it operates and i have seen it in action combatting multiple targets, about 200 yards over our heads is something that seems to be very, very efficient, wolf. When i was in ashkelon earlier in the day and those sirens went off, everyone just rushed to a shelter. The military there insisting that everyone get inside as quickly as possible. Fred, we know that even as theyre talking about a ceasefi ceasefire and the Israeli Cabinet is meeting right here in jerusalem, israel is moving its military into a position for a possible, repeat possible, ground war. And you saw evidence of that firsthand. Tell our viewers in the United States and around the world what you saw. Referee yeah, absolutely. We were in the area around gaza. We traveled very, very far along the border with gaza. And you could see military equipment being moved in basically from all directions. Theres a lot of trucks down there moving towards the gaza Israeli Border. They have tanks on the backs, armored personnel on the backs as well as armored bulldozers. When you get inside the military zone, you see collection points. The way the israelis are doing it right now, they dont have one big place where they collect their troops. But its smaller, little places where the troops are being gathered. Those are hard tore hit by rockets from gaza as well. So weve seen a lot of soldiers come in, seen a lot of armor comes in. That seems to be continuing. From what were seeing, there is a lot of hardware in place. Certainly what were hearing from the Israeli Government, as you said s that they havent decided whether or not a ground offensive is going to be happening. But they say it is a very real possibility. They are willing and capable of doing that if they dont achieve their objective of stopping the rockets from gaza. From what weve seen today, they seem to be pretty serious about it. And it is certainly something that would be a real possibility, the capabilities are certainly there, wolf. The israelis making it clear theyre keeping that option open. In the next hour, ill be speaking with a spokesman for the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Well talk about whats going on. Fred pleitgen, thanks very much. A dramatic new show of support for hamas from an historic new government in egypt. Were going to tell you why and what that could mean for this conflict. Stay with us. Youre in the situation room. [ woman ] its 32 minutes to go time, and the candidates speech is in pieces all over the district. The writers desktop and the coordinators phone are working on a joke with local color. The secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategists tablet. And while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center. Working together has never worked so well. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center. Oh, let me guess ou see this . More washington gridlock. No, its worse look, our taxes are about to go up. Not the taxes on our dividends though, right . Thats a big part of our retirement. Oh, no, its dividends, too. The rate on our dividends would more than double. But we depend on our dividends to help pay our bills. We worked hard to save. Well, the president and congress have got to Work Together to stop this dividend tax hike. Before its too late. It was the best day in months for the markets. Lisa sylvester is monitoring that and some of the other top stories in the situation room right now. What do you have . Certainly was a good day for the markets. The dow jones up more than 200 points today, or 1. 7 . The s p and nasdaq both rising about 2 . Investors are optimistic that washington may reach a deal on the fiscal cliff. However, experts are warning that trading will still be a little choppy until there is a final deal. Also boosting markets today, two betterthanexpected housing reports. A sign of improvement for the battered housing market. Existing home sales climbing 2 in october and up 11 since a year ago, according to the National Association of realtors. Home sales are up nationwide, despite the devastation of Superstorm Sandy and record low Mortgage Rates are a key reason why people are buying right now. And the shutdown of hostess brands, put on hold, at least for now. A lot of people were wondering, theyve agreed with a key union to try to mediate their dispute. A bankruptcy judge says he wants the two parties to try to come together to an agreement one more time. Hostess ceo says he needs a final decision tomorrow. More than 18,000 workers that could potentially lose their jobs if hostess shuts down. I dont know about you, but i know a lot of people would also be sad if the twinkie absolutely. Is no more. Its an icon. Who knew a junk food pastry could create so much drama. 18,000 jobs also on the line. Thats also something to keep in mind. We hope theyre able to work it out. Certainly you dont want people losing jobs right around the holiday season. Thats for sure. Thanks, lisa. Its a huge stumblingblock in the quest for middle east piece. Will hamas ever accept the existence of israel. Wolf will talk about that and more next with a special mideast envoy, former british Prime Minister, tony blair. For about 30 regenerist microsculpting cream hydrates better than over 20 of americas most expensive luxury creams. Fantastic. Phenomenal. Regenerist. [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. How you doing today . Im good thanks. How are you . Im good. [ gordon ] but for others, its all they can afford. Every day nearly nine million Older Americans dont have enough to eat. Anything else . No, not today. Join me, aarp, and Aarp Foundation in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger. Org. Ilooking back if it wasnt for shriners hospital,. Things would just be really, really different. I lost my leg when i was a kid. There was a time when i felt like i wasnt going to be able to walk again. It was a pretty bad accident but shriners showed me who i could be again. They turned my whole life around. Hunters life is one of nearly a million changed by donations from people like you. Send your love to the rescue. Donate today. As the fighting between hauls and israel enter the second week, a ceasefire is trying to be brokered. The Israeli Cabinet is meeting right now to consider one egyptian proposal. Well update you as soon as we get new information. We also got an update on all the efforts just a little while ago from the International Middle east peace enjoy, the former british Prime Minister, tony blair. What are the chances of a ceasefire . I hope we can get one. People are working very hard for it. The egyptians, the u. N. Secretary general, ourselves, everybody is doing their best. If you dont deescalate this and get a ceasefire and be able to sort out the longerterm issues, youll have an escalation. That could be extremely serious, result in more innocent israelis, innocent palestinian citizens dieing. Who brokers those kinds of deals . Israel doesnt talk to hamas. Who brokers a deal like that . Egypt is very important. But so is the United Nations. We all play our part in it. But its not that its a great problem of communication. Everybody knows what has to happen. And the single thing that would make the biggest difference is if there was an agreement that everyone pursues their political objectives by peaceful means. Now, right now, youve got a situation where as the rockets come out of gaza, so israel retaliates, that puts innocent israelis at risk. It means that innocent palestinians are at risk and as weve seen in the last 24 hours, die. This is a terrible situation. The human tragedy of it, on both sides, is colossal. And, frankly, unacceptable. So i think the important thing right now is just to get the ceasefire in place and deescalate. But youve then got to deal with these two questions. If you carry on stockpiling and rearming and there are other players from outside iran, notably that is providing those types of weapons for people inside gaza, youre not going to get peace. If gaza carries on or we dont try and lift some of the whats called the blockade, you get more stuff going into gaza, you get some sense of normality back in peoples lives, people get a stake in the future. Youve spoken to u. S. Officials, i assume at very high levels. I assume youve spoken to Prime Minister netanyahu and the foreign minister. Youve just come from a meeting with the palestinian leadership. What did you meet with . Prime minister abbas and fayed. What do they want . Theres been a rivalry. Their desire is to have the thing deescalate and stop. But, again, longer term, were going to have the work out how we bring about unity in palestinian politics on terms that mean theres genuine agreement. And the only way youre ever going to get peace and the twostate solution we all talk about is if theres a united palestinian politics in support of the objective of the palestinian state by negotiation. Now, thats, as we speak right now, you have division, disunity and youve got no credible political negotiation. So i think the other thing that has to happen with the reelection of president obama, we have a chance of doing this, we have to put back in place a credible political negotiation. And then start to make changes on the ground that support the politics and dont operate against it. What about you . You represent whats called the quartet. Do you meet with hamas . We dont meet with hamas ourselves because of the quartet principles. I have a team of people down in gaza. Who report to you . Yeah. And theyre allowed to meet with hamas officials . They dont meet with hamas officials because, what, the u. S. Regards hamas as a terrorist organization . There are things called the quartet principles which basically mean if hamas wanted to engage in a political process, then theyve got to at least say, were giving up the violence and if we participate in the twostate solution, you have to accept one of the states is going to be the state of israel. So we dont. Ive worked primarily on the economic and security issues, on the west bank and then with gaza, trying to get a lifting of some of the measures. By the way, some of them have been over the past couple of years. But on the politics, the absence of a political negotiation impedes everything. Theres been some speculation, some talk is ive suggested this myself. I know john mccain did over the week, the senator. That bill clinton, the former u. S. President , be named a special middle east u. S. Enjoy. George mitchell had that until about a year and a half ago. What do you think of that idea . Theres no bigger fan of bill clinton than me. Hes got a huge experience in the middle east. But all these decisions have to be taken by the president and the new secretary of state. But whatever you do by way of people coming into the situation, whether its bill clinton, me, george mitchell, whoever it is, the essential thing is you have to have a strategy to move this situation forward. And i think the basic three principles offered are, one, a credible political negotiation, which has some shape or framework to it. So were negotiating the basic outlines of that negotiation. Secondly, there are changes on the ground, both in the economy and development that support the negotiation, dont operate against it. And thirdly, theres got to be some way of reconciling palestinian politics on the right type of basis so that youre dealing with a united partner on the palestinian side as well as the israeli side. Now, frankly, whoever of us come into this situation, if those three things arent present, its going to be very tough. Would you see hamas accepting israel . I dont know. And, by the way, we always assume that an entity like hamas is homogenous with one view and not different factions. What i do know is that if they think about this in a serious way and genuinely if the bit of hamas that is palestinian nationalists, if you like, right, and rather than being motivated by some broader ideology actually wants the best for the palestinians, the only way youre ever going to get a palestinian state is through negotiation. You wont get it any other way. Were here in jerusalem now. You see the state of israel. Its not going to disappear. Theyre not going to pack up and go. You can wait one year, one decade, one century, several centuries. Its going to be here. And the palestinians arent going anywhere either. So what seems to me to be sensible is that we agree, we pursue the political objectives peacefully. And that would hugely liberate the United States and the International Community to help because whilst you have events like gaza happening, they just put a great shroud over any political advance. So its really not complicated what needs to happen to get the politics moving again. But this is a region in upheaval and this is another part of the upheaval. Where does iran fit into this Current Crisis . Iran is there in the background of everything. Look, as i always say to people and its a somewhat controversial thing to say. But its true. Im not suggesting we do this. But the truth is, if there were change in iran, i would become 100 more optimistic about the region. The fact is, its not just the issue to do with this ak in addition of Nuclear Weapons capability, its the instability they push around the region the whole time, including in gaza. Some parts in some of the groups in gaza are absolute proxies for iranian power and they push these missiles into gaza which then cause the type of issue weve got today. So i think well, let us hope that in the end, it changes. The thing about this region is the whole of it is undergoing a huge process of change in which, to put it very rudely but i think reasonably accurate, you have the forces of modernization and openmindness here and the forces of closedmindedness there. I know youre doing your best. Good luck, Prime Minister. Ill need it. Thank you. Sirens have been going off throughout the day here in israel warning of incoming rockets and missiles from gaza. And we were caught up in it at one point earlier in the day. We were ordered to seek shelter. Take a look at this. . In the sirens ] [ sirens ] [ indiscriminate talking ] im going to tell you exactly what happened. By the way, were beginning to hear sirens going off in jerusalem right now. I dont know if you can hear them behind me. But were hearing sirens, first time were hearing sirens right now in jerusalem. Well have a lot more on the breaking news coming out of israel right after this. Obligations, but obligations. I need to rethink the core of my portfolio. What i really need is sleep. Introducing the ishares core, Building Blocks for the heart of your portfolio. Find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. Ishares by blackrock. Call 1800ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Read and consider it carefully before investing. Risk includes possible loss of principal. First of all, false alarm. No sirens going off in jerusalem right now. What we heard were not sirens. Want to make it clear. Sirens have not, repeat not, gone off in jerusalem. They had a few days ago, but not right now. Earlier in the day, we did hear the sirens going off in ashkelon where we were. Well bring you that report at the top of the hour. Hamas is stepping up its fight against israel with sophisticated new military power thats beginning to show a pipeline thats moving along from sinai into gaza. And some of it associated, we suspect, from iran. Brian todd has been taking a look at this part of the story. Brian, what are you seeing . Reporter this is an Extensive Network of support coming from iran that has emboldened hamas and led directly to this conflict getting ratcheted up. Part of that network is a new Missile System hamas has a at its disposal thats terrorized israel in recent days. Its name means dawn in arabic and its considered a gamechanger for hamas. The new missile with a much greater range with anything hamas has had before, capable of striking tel aviv and jerusalem from gaza. Its now a menace to the israeli population and a major why this conflict has accelerated. How did hamas get this sophisticated system . An israeli official sells cnn the missile is from iran. Matthew levet is an expert. The weapons in some cases are delivered whole. But in more cases, especially for the largers ones r delivered in parts. Reporter officials and analysts say this is part of an extensive pipeline of support from iran to hamas that has only grown in recent years. Part of irans shadow war against israel, the u. S. And their allies. U. S. , israeli and egyptian officials have long suspected the pipeline works this way. Missiles and other weapons are flown from iran to sudan, driven through eastern sudan, across the egyptian border and to the sinai peninsula. An israeli official told me some missiles are disassembled, brought through tunnels from sinai into gaza, then reassembled inside gaza by hamas. Egypts government has at certain times tried to disrupt the pipeline. But levet says now these weapon systems are being moved by criminal families. Theyre good at what they do. To take them on is something that the Central Government in egypt, the morsi government, does not want to do and may not even be all that capable of doing right now. Reporter we were not able to get egyptian officials to respond to that. But in recent months, the Egyptian Military has acknowledged that extremist groups and weapons are proliferating in sinai. The israeli official we spoke with says hamas is also getting grad missiles, other munitions from iran, as well as communications, command and control systems, and the official says hamas fighters and commanders have for several years received training inside iran, from the feared revolutionary guard. We couldnt get response from an iranian official at the United Nations to that today. But in recent weeks, when we reported on the overall pipeline from iran to hamas that, official called the allegations baseless and unfounded. Wolf . Brian, youre getting some other information as well about just how sophisticated this hamas Missile System has become. What are you learning. Just a short time ago, an expert with a weapons publication told me their Research Indicates the knew rockets are being launched from underground sites. He says they have the capability of popping up out of the ground, launching one or two missiles at a time at israel. Israeli forces can target launch sites once theyve been fired. But beforehand, much more difficult to find them. Brian todd reporting for us. Thank you. New signs the historic arab spring may have empowered hamas. Up next, the dramatic role and its a new one, that egypt is now playing in this conflict. You see they all have something very interesting in common. They have teachers. With a deeper knowledge of their subjects. As a result, their students achieve at a higher level. Lets develop more stars in education. Lets invest in our teachers. So they can inspire our students. Lets solve this. I wish my patients could see what i see. That over time, having high cholesterol and any of these risk factors can put them at increased risk for plaque buildup in their arteries. So its even more important to lower their cholesterol, and thats why, when diet and exercise alone arent enough, i prescribe crestor. In a Clinical Trial versus lipitor, crestor got more highrisk patients bad cholesterol to a goal of under 100. [ female announcer ] crestor is not right for everyone. Like people with Liver Disease or women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. Tell your doctor about other medicines youre taking. Call your doctor right away if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. These could be signs of rare but serious side effects. Is your cholesterol at goal . Talk to your doctor about crestor. [ female announcer ] if you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. The u. S. Secretary general is in egypt right now pressing for talks to end the middle east fighting and expected here in israel tomorrow. Egypt is playing a critically important role, very different role this time around in the conflict following a dramatic shift in its relationship with hamas. Heres cnns nic robertson. Reporter with the situation has changed hugely since 2008, 2009 conflict and perhaps the biggest place its changed is in egypt and if you lock at this map you begin to see why some of the details. Zooming in to the border here between egypt and gaza and in to the rafah crossing. Perhaps symbolizing the way that egyptians in 2008, 2009 did not support hamas in gaza. Look what happened back then. This border was key for hamas in gaza to bring in humanmanitaria sup supplies. So, this time, it will be different because the political leadership, thanks to the arab spring, has now changed in cairo. Its essentially a Muslim Brotherhood government. Hamas is a militant offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and when the Prime Minister of egypt went to gaza late last week, he said that this situation was terrible. That it must stop and when you listen to the political leader of hamas speaking in cairo today, noting that he was speaking at a time when palestinian broadcast earls in gaza struck by israeli missiles, the very fact that he was speaking would never have happened under the previous egyptian leader hosni mubarak. Now he makes clear note that egypts position changed and israel needs to learn from that. Translator netanyahu wanted to test the new egypt. The great egypt. An egypt of the may 25th revolution, the leadership of egypt, the sons and daughters of egypt, the answer he got was not what he had expected. He wanted to test the countries of the arab spring and the arabs in the spring but the arabs did not fail us. Rather, failed him. So whens clear is that hamas is calculus now is different. That they believe that they can expect more regional support, specifically from egypt, can perhaps negotiate during these talks around a cease fire better terms with israel so that it is the difference. That just wouldnt have happened back in 2008, 2009. Nic robertson, cnn, london. Were going to take you to that Border Crossing coming up in the situation room. Also ahead, oonds cooper standing by live joining us from gaza city. Theres a lot going on in the middle east right now. Mp out. You know weve been open all night. Is this a trick to get my spot . [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. Save on ground shipping at fedex office. Anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating . Yeah. One Phillips Colon Health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. Approved [ female announcer ] live the regular life. Phillips. But proven technologies allow natural Gas Producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. Across america, these technologies protect air by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions. Protect water through conservation and selfcontained recycling systems. And protect land by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. Americas natural gas. Domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives. Thats smarter power today. At meineke i have options. Like oil changes starting at 19. 95. My money. My choice. My meineke. A string of murders in new york city all tied to the same weapon. The victims sharing many of the same characteristics. Now, police are trying to determine whether its coincidence or something much more sinister. Our mary snow is joining us with the details. Pa ri . Well, joe, police are stopping short of calling this a serial killer but not ruling it out and gone to the fbi with help of a profiler to track a murderer who committed three murders within miles of each other. Is the murder of another brooklyn store owner the work of a serial killer . Thats because ballistic tests showed the same. 22caliber gun used in the murder of three store owners. First victim, 65 years old killed in july. In august, another shop owner gunned down inside the store. Here at the scene the police found the body inside the store friday night. They say he was shot three times in the head and torso. In this case, as in the two others, Law Enforcement sources say each body was covered with clothes or merchandise. Police are not ruling out a potential hate crime. Two of the victims they described as jewish. One was egyptian. Also possible link in Police Commissioner says none of the three stores had surveillance cameras. Here you have three stores where the proprietor is there by himself, no cameras in any of these stores. So you would have to speculate that some sort of reconnaissance was going on, i would say, before the murder took place. Reporter at least one store owner plans to add surveillance cameras. If you work here, you will be scared. Not just egyptian but working in this area. Youre going to be scared. Reporter investigators are scouring surveillance tape from the street where the latest killing happened. Theyre looking to question this man to find out what he might have seen. But one cnn legal contributor working oz a prosecutor on the son of sam case says police tend to be very careful about calling homicides the work of a serial killer. Usually serial killers involved in far more homicides than that so i think its premature to label it but its certainly shaping up to be something very, very dangerously close to a serial killing. And joe, one other connection thats been talked about. The addresses of all of the victims contain the number 8 but police are down playing any connection. Joe . Mary snow, thank you for that. And youre in the situation room. Happening now, we should know in a matter of days, maybe in a matter of hours if israels air assault on gaza leads to a deadlier Ground Invasion. We are live in the region. We are covering the attacks on both sides of the border. Also, i have experienced firsthand the threat of rocket attacks on israel and the race to take cover. Will appeals lead to an actual cease fire . Ill speak with a spokesman. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. Across southern israel and gaza right now, you can smell the smoke. See the damage and feel the fear. Palestinian officials now say more than 100 People Killed in gaza after nearly a week of air attacks by israel. Israel says hamas militants can stop the suffering in a second if they stop shooting hundreds of rockets across the border. Those rockets have killed three israelis since the conflict began. The u. N. Secretary general has arrived in egypt as part of an Urgent International push for a cease fire. Israeli troops and tanks on the border awaiting the order that could come at any time to invade gaza and turn this to in to a fullscale war. My colleagues and i are in the region. We are covering all sides of this conflict as only cnn can. Earlier today i traveled to southern israel, tts near israels border with gaza where people live every day with a threat of rocket attacks and we experience what they go through firsthand. Within minutes of arriving in the city, the sirens went off. Meaning hamas rockets or missiles were in the air and on the way. Come on, come on. Reporter they take the warnings very seriously. They know that may have only 30 seconds before a rocket over a missile reaches the area. We are just running inside. Sirens have just gone off. We get in to the small secure room. Israeli soldiers and civilians are already crammed inside. They clearly have a very worried look. Thats because earlier in the day, precisely at this very high school a rocket landed. The damage is very visible. Fortunately, no one was injured. You can see it came through the concrete and landed at the school, a school here in ashkelon and the rocket damage down here. No one was injured by the other rocket that caused us to scramble to the shelter. Israels iron dome antiMissile System destroyed the rocket on the way to ashkelon. You could see the lingering plumes of smoke in the sky. Missile targeted this school. This is the third time. Reporter benny is the mayor and living this nightmare for a listening time. Maybe wounded people and especially children so when were traumatic, psychologically theyre scared . Of course. Reporter schools in the city closed since the latest exchange with hamas escalated in recent days. He said hes most worried about the children who have been traumatized by the explosions. This shelter designed for the children, many of whom sleep here. We drive over to a residential area of ashkelon where a rocket had landed the day before. We are here in a quiet residential neighborhood in ashkelon. You can see a rocket hit the area over here. If you go over there, you can see the damage over that garage area. The rocket apparently came right in there. But then fortunately everyone in this neighborhood had gone in to their shelters, their closed rooms and but you could see some of the shrapnel reaching across the street over here to this house over here. This is one of the safe rooms in this house but theres no damage inside. The owner of this home was at work in his office but his wife was inside the house. He said she ran in to the secure safe room and is okay. Ashkelon is eerie right now. The cafes and shops akrong the mediterranean beach are mainly empty. He was not optimistic about the immediate future. We are here along the beach in ashkelon. Lovely day. The begsun is just beginning to down right now and watching whens going on. It is empty. This area pretty much december late. The israelis staying inside their homes. Not going out to coffee shops, not going to theaters. At least in this area. At least for the last few days because of the pounding, the rockets that have been coming in. That iron dome, that thud you hear all the time over the sky and you realize not far away, a few kilometers of here is gaza. Densely populated area. Right along this same mediterranean. You know, my own sense is this could be a such a wonderful area if they could just achieve some real peace between the israelis and the palestinians but obviously that has to wait at least for now. But for now, theres a very deep silence on the beach. Unlike what we heard earlier in the day. Joined now by Anderson Cooper joining us from gaza city. I understand you heard some loud explosions moments ago, as well. What happened . Yeah. In the last five or ten minutes or so, there were two very large explosions very close to here. The impact, actually, you can feel it in this building here. Windows shaking. It is very close. The latest strike to the media center which was hit earlier in the day, Israeli Forces saying targets members of Islamic Jihad. One member, an official there killed according to israel and palestinian sources here. A man not affiliated with the group or said not to be was killed in that. Ben wedeman was on the scene and First Responders there and to see the wreckage. Seemed like the strike targeted to the second floor of the building. The second floor, anderson. There was a sign of a lawyers office. Obviously, we dont know if that was the case but our understanding is they didnt have an office. They were just sort of using that space because the building was by and large evacuated at the time. You also spent time today at the funeral of family that was killed yesterday in very controversial strike. Yes. This is a strike that took place just north of here in the suburb of gaza city on the delu family house. The israelis are saying that it was there was a member of the hamas rocket team who was there. But theres no sign that that was the case. But, you know, these funerals here are very bombastic. Very loud. Very full of sort of political rhetoric. But behind them there are really the tragedy that is are happening every day here. Lets take a look. Reporter the body of 5yearold yusef is held aloft as calls ring out for revenge. In life, he was a child known only to his family and friends. In death, yet another potent symbol for the cameras and the angry crowds. He and eight other members of the family were killed sunday afternoon in an israeli air strike on their home. Israeli Officials Say they were targeting a hamas military official. Though no hamas official is known to be among the dead. Under the banners of a hamas to the cemetery. When the crowd leaves and the chanting stops, the real mourning begins. Friends and relatives quietly pray for the dead. Quiet tears are shed for the latest to die so suddenly without warning. His brother was killed in another Israeli Attack sunday. Like so many here, hes weary of war and sees only more coming. There will be an escalation, he says. Israel wont accept our conditions. It wants blood for blood. He and his team of grave diggers prepared 15 graves. Their busiest morning yet and preparing for more. Whats left, he asks me . No one is safe anymore in their homes. The Main Cemetery for gaza city is out of town near the Israeli Border and, therefore, too dangerous to hold funerals at. Now, theyre bringing the dead here to the cemetery but this cemetery has no more room for new graves. Back at where the home once stood, mourners greet an egyptian delegation led by the head of the freedom and justice party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. A member of his delegation loudly vows vengeance against israel for the deaths of gazas children. Children caught in a struggle they were too young to comprehend. But not too young to die in. Obviously, seeing a lot of funerals here on this side of the border. Youve been covering this region for a very long time and fascinating. Depending on what side of the border you were on, really dictating how you see this conflict and whos to blame for it and each side convinced theyre correct. Yes. Its very much sort of a he said, she said. Each side blaming the other. And, you know, when you cover these stories, you cant help but sympathize with both sides, really. I mean, put aside the politic n politicians, the men in suits. You run in to ordinary people every day when you cover these stories who have problems like you but have suddenly been dropped in to this hellish situation. Here in gaza, being bombarded the whole time. In israel under a rocket fire. I mean, you have to really to cover it properly you have to sort of see the humanity in both sides. And it really is a very human story on both sides of the border and regular life on both sides of the border ground to a halt. Israel they have air raid warning signs and get cover. You dont see people on the streets. Most people are indoors. Here its much more difficult. Gaza is much poorer. Even in the best of times life is much more difficult here than it is in israel. Israel is in a sense a first world country in terms of living standards. Here in gaza, about 75 to 80 of the population are refugees and they have moved out many of them have moved out of the refugee camps but you still have this situation where they look over the border and they remember the homes they lost and that might explain why theres so much passion here about this conflict. Its also such a densely populated area and the gaza city densely pop latted and rockets fired sometimes from residential areas, close to peoples homes. Thats something thats changed somewhat since four years ago. The technology has changed so that they can fire remotely rockets from inside gaza city. And a lot of the vacant lots that you find between some of the buildings have underneath the sand there are mobile not mobile but automatic remotely controlled rocket launchers so that means that any vacant lot down there could be a target. And as youve been reporting, the technology for some of these rockets improved allowing them to reach tel aviv and jerusalem. Our coverage will be continuing all evening long. Now back to wolf in jerusalem. Wolf . Quick question, anderson. How often are you hearing explosions right now . I assume youre hearing those israeli, you know, the drones flying over. You hear that buzzing sound. But what about actual explosions . Yeah. The drones are constant as you know and have been since obviously the conflict began. Day and night you hear the sound of the drones. Wolf question is how often are we hearing explosions . Tonight we have been hearing its pretty routine and constant. Regular. Not as much as in past nights. Tonights the quietest night yet but its young yet. Theyre 2 00 a. M. Hour you start to hear more explosions. Well see what happens this evening. Fingers crossed. Wolf . All right. Well keep your fingers crossed here, as well. Thank you. Well check back with you. Anger boiling over at the Border Crossing of gaza to egypt. Stand by that. Also going to tell you how president obamas trying to tamp down these middle east tensions, even as he visits another part of the world. We use this board to compare Car Insurance rates side by side so you get the same coverage, often for less. Thats one smart board. What else does it do, reverse gravity . [ laughs ] [ laughs ] [ whooshing ] tell me about it. Why am i not going anywhere . You dont believe hard enough. A smarter way to shop around. Now thats progressive. Call or click today. [ grunting ] theres natural gas under my town. Its a game changer. It means cleaner, cheaper americanmade energy. But weve got to be careful how we get it. Design the wells to be safe. Thousands of jobs. Use the most advanced technology to protect our water. Billions in the economy. At chevron, if we cant do it right, we wont do it at all. Weve got to think long term. Weve got to think long term. [ male announcer ] its that time of year. Time for campbells green bean casserole. Youll find the recipe at campbellskitchen. Com. Campbells. Its amazing what soup can do. I love the fact that quicken loans provides va loans. Quicken loans understood the details and guided me through every step of the process. I know wherever the military sends me, i can depend on quicken loans. Israeli officials tell me theyre prepared for a Ground Invasion of gaza if necessary. We have new information coming in right now from our own barbara starr, as well. She was over at a briefing at the Israeli Embassy in washington. Barbara, what are you learning . Wolf, im outside the Israeli Embassy. We just finished a closed door briefing. Ambassador warren says israel is ready to go, that the planning has been completed. Everything is in place for a Ground Invasion in to gaza if it comes to that. But boor orren says israel would like to avoid the need for that. Theyre hoping for a solution of this, an understanding, an agreement with hamas to stop firing those rockets, wolf. What about the overall situation, as far as u. S. Troops, u. S. Troops are concerned . There was a massive u. S. Easy rail he military exercise here in israel a few weeks ago and now learning some of those troops still are here . Whats going on, barbara . Israeli say, in fact, wolf, a small number u. S. Troops still in israel hangers on if you will from that exercise. But they had to move them. They were at a base in southern israel and that put them in range of those rockets from gaza. So the israelis have now moved them to a base in a more central area of israel covered by israeli air defenses. They feel theyll be much more safe there until they can get them out and send them home, wolf. Barbara starr in washington for us, thank you. Israels firing back for hamas rocket attacks but the country faces another kind of threat, as well. Cyber warfare. An unprecedented number of attacks. Stand by for details. [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. How you doing today . Im good thanks. How are you . Im good. [ gordon ] but for others, its all they can afford. Every day nearly nine million Older Americans dont have enough to eat. Anything else . No, not today. Join me, aarp, and Aarp Foundation in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger. Org. And the candidates speech is in pieces all over the district. The writers desktop and the coordinators phone are working on a joke with local color. The secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategists tablet. And while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center. Working together has never worked so well. President obamas reaching out to top leaders here in the at least even as he makes a historic trip to asia. Joe johns is back in washington with the days top stories. Joe . Barack obama became the first sitting u. S. President to visit myanmar. He met with the countrys president. It was notorious for political repression and traveled to cambodia. Our chief White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin reports in the trip the president has been staying in touch with mideast officials. Reporter he placed a call to Prime Minister netanyahu to get an update about the conflict between israel and gaza. Were told in that call the two men committed to staying in touch on the issue, the president expressed his condolences for loss of life on both sides of that conflict. President also were told spoke to egypts president morsi and in that phone call discussed the importance of getting hamas to stop firing rockets in to israel. The president has publicly said he believes this is crucial to creating the stability needed for a peace to take hold. Now, the president is traveling in asia with his Top National Security adviser and secretary of state clinton who are regularly in touch with their counterparts in the region and consistently updating the president. Cnns Jessica Yellin reporting from cambodia. We have a new snapshot of americans views of the conflict in the middle east right now. 59 say their sympathies more with the israelis according to our new cnn orc poll. 13 say theyre more sympathetic to the palestinians. Is 11 dont sympathize with either side. 57 of those surveyed say Israeli Military action in gaza is justified. 25 say its not justified. The United States government wants a military Appeals Court to deny the accused ft. Hood shooters request to keep his bear. Major nadal hassan says he had the right but the government questions if he grew the beard to make it more difficult for witnesses to recognize him. The Army Psychiatrist charged with 13 counts of murder tied to the 2009 shootling spree at ft. Hood in texas. Now going back to wolf blitzer whens giving us a special report here in the situation room from jerusalem. Wolf . Joe, thanks very much. Stand by for more of our coverage here in the region, from israel, from gaza, Anderson Cooper in gaza and back with his impressions and seeing the air strikes up close and also speaking with the top israeli spokesman for the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ask if theres a time line for a Ground Invasion of gaza. And Retirement Specialists can help you build a personalized plan and execute it with a wide range of low cost investments. Get a great plan and low cost investments at etrade. Is what drives us to broadcast the worlds biggest events in 3d, or live to your seat high above the atlantic ocean. Its what drives us to create ecofriendly race tracks, batteries that power tomorrows cars, nearly indestructible laptops, and the sustainable smart towns of the future. At panasonic, were driven to make what matters most better. 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Israeli cabinet has been meeting urgently to consider an egyptian proposal. Israeli troops are poised at the border right now, big numbers. The leader of hamas which controls gaza says his fighters are not afraid of a ground war. Israels been hammering away at gaza from the air for six days saying its going after terrorist targets. Retaliation for hundreds of rockets fired at israel by hamas and other militant groups in gaza. Lets go back to oonz cooper right now in gaza. I sake it, anderson, more explosions. Another one you just heard . Yeah. Probably about two minutes ago. Actually pretty close to the location were at right now. Off in that direction. Another large explosion. Three pretty significant explosions just in the last half hour or so. The other two were over in that direction close to the media center which was hit earlier in their day and thats the second time that media center as you know got hit. Officials saying they hit and killed an official from Islamic Jihad who was staying in an Office Inside that media center where as the attack yesterday they said was to hit hamas antenna but they said the strike killed one Islamic Jihad official today and another person working the building, wolf. When you talk to folks on the street there, whats the first thing they say to you, anderson, when they know youre an american journalist visiting gaza . Theres obviously a lot of anger directed to israel, frustration, resentment. And, you know, people are weary and tired and six days, going on seven days, basically hiding in their homes. Shops closed. Unable to go outside or only going outside to get basic necessities and then try to basically go back in and seek shelter inside of buildings. And theres a lot of anger resentment and grown over the last several days as people have experienced, you know, more deaths, seen other people wounded, as well. More than 100 People Killed here so far. More than 00 wounded thusz far and the numbers continue to grow with each day, wolf. Here in israel you have a debate. Theres a healthy debate going on, most of the israelis at least the ones i have spoken to seem to support the Israeli Government and a vocal minority quite critical. You read some articles in the israeli press. Do you get any criticism of hamas at all . Do you get a sense some people are saying hamas shouldnt be launching the missiles and rockets in to israel . You dont i dont think you hear such a vocal debate as you do in israel. Privately some people will express opinions and concerns to you but its not something you hear people vocally expressing and very different political situation here on the ground obviously in gaza city and throughout gaza. But, you know, as you know, the west bank area controlled by Different Group of palestinians. Fatah and obviously theres been a difference of opinion between those two groups but there is a lot of support. I mean, for hamas, hamas elected here by the people here. And especially under fire, theres been a lot of support and real questions remain about if there is a cease fire, moving forward, whether hamas is actually improved its situation politically over the other Palestinian Group fatah. Well have to wait and see how that plays out in the days ahead. Yeah. I suppose if there is a cease fire, that will dramatically increase hamass stature among palestinians and other arabs, i would venture to say. I have no doubt about that. Thanks very much. Any moment it seems the conflict between the israelis and hamas could tip one way or another toward a ceasefire or a major ground war. Joining us now, the spokesman for the Prime Minister of israel Benjamin Netanyahu. Mark, thank you for coming in. My pleasure, sir. How close are you to a ceasefire . I dont know. I hope close but i cant say for certain. If its possible to solve it through diplomatic means, we are happy to and prepared if need be to upscale, upgrade the military option. What does that mean to . If we have to. To protect our people from gaza, were willing to send Ground Forces in to gaza. Theres a lot of reports now that the Israeli Cabinet even as we speak right now is meeting, the Prime Minister convened the International Security cabinet to consider a proposed ceasefire thats come from egypt. Is that true . I can only say the following. Theyre looking both at the military operation and the options there and hearing about the diplomacy. Within way or the other we want to achieve our goal sen that is peace and quiet for the civilian population of southern israel on the receiving end of those rockets from gaza much too long. Is there a ceasefire proposal on the table . Wolf, you have to understand and i understand that its, you know, theres a conflict of interests between the spokesperson and the journalist but if diplomacy is going to be successful it has to be done with discretion and i cant go in to the details. Has the Prime Minister spoken once again with president obama . We have had two phone conversations between the president and the Prime Minister. Today, including today . No. There was one day before. We were told that he called the president called Prime Minister netanyahu from his visit to asia. I know there are ongoing contacts with the United States. Americans are playing a very important part here in trying to get a ceasefire. We hope its possible. Is egypt playing a positive role . Egypt has a role to play. If egypt comes to the table here i think they can be instrumental in helping to get an agreement. Has israel spent a special convoy to egypt . Once again, im not going to go in to the details of the negotiations. In to the details of the diplomacy. Only to say for us, the most important thing is the end result. That is, that the people of southern israel can live normal lives without fear of an incoming rocket fired from gaza. That can be done through diplomacy or military action. I hope through diplomacy. On friday, cnn was told and he said i would say if we will see in the next 24, 26 hours more rockets launched at us i think that will be a trigger. Its been more than 48 hours. Since then, whens going on . We are showing restraint. We are giving diplomacy a chance and clear we cant wait forever. The missiles are raining down on our people. A fundamental challenge is that no doubt that hamas would agree to an immediate ceasefire but not mean anything because wed have rockets on israeli cities next week or week after. We want to know when this is over that its really over. That the people of southern israel no longer have to live in constant fear. Of those missiles coming from gaza. We want to come out of this with a sustained period of quiet for the people of southern israel. We hope its possible. We believe its possible. Once again, it will be achieved through diplomacy or military action. I hope diplomacy can work. Yesterday you launched the Israeli Air Force an air strike against a building in gaza that killed ten civilians including children. You were going after some sort of hamas leader. Is that what the target was . What happened . Obviously, a major blunder occurred. We dont want to hit innocent civilians. Civilian population of gaza is not our enemy. What happened in this incident . Our enemy is people shooting the rockets. Civilians were killed. I understand. We are looking at xhaktly what happened there. Obviously it was a foulup. We dont know exactly how or what happened. I can say the following and thats did difference of israel and hamas. When they shoot rockets in to israel and they kill a civilian, thats amazing victory and celebrate. When we conduct surgical operations against hamas, if an innocent civilian is caught up in the cross fire for its a failure. Were trying to do everything we can to minimize, to limit, to be as surgical is as humanly possible in a complex combat situation. We dont want to harm civilians. Theyre doing everything they can shooting the rockets. That was an intelligence failure. I dont know exactly what happened. But every time an innocent civilian or bystander is caught up in the cross fire between us and hamas its something that we consider a failure. I have you know theres innocent civilians this died in gaza. Hamas is deliberately endangering the civilian population of gaza using those civilians as human shields. Cnn reported. Other networks. They have been shooting the rockets out of the middle of buildup neighborhoods. Munitions, stockpiles, command and control in the middle of civilian neighborhoods. Forcing us to fight there. This is a war crime. You know, its illegal under International Law to use civilians as human shield and hamas does it. We nevertheless try to be as surgical as we can. Its difficult. Not once but twice targeted a building with International Media in gaza. Why . Weve had a situation, unfortunately, where hamas has used buildings where media is using for their own command and control. We had a situation today where four terrorists of Islamic Jihad hiding out in a building with International Media. In those situations, we are very careful. We do everything we can to make sure journalists are not harmed and we are surgical as is humanly possible and as far as i know no journalist was harmed. In that building. But are you going to continue going after that specific target . Well go after hamas and the other terrorists. We have to stop them from shooting rockets at aur people. Well always be as careful as we can to try to avoid harming bystanders. You want to give us the last question . 48 hours, 72 hours, whens the deadline . I hope that we can have a ceasefire and end this quietly. The people of southern israel no longer have to live in constant fear of an incoming rocket. Well do it diplomatic or military means. Thank you for joining us. My pleasure, sir. Top officials of hamas say they dont want a ground war but the groups political leader is defiant. His side of the story, thats next. Add up to 100 calories . Your world. [ whispers ] real bacon. Creamy cheese. 100 calories. [ chef ] maam [ male announcer ] progresso. You gotta taste this soup. Throughout our lives. One a day mens 50 is a complete multivitamin designed for mens Health Concerns as we age. It has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. One a day mens 50 . Stop stop stop come back here humans we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. 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I am pained for the families who have lost their loved ones. For all of the victims. For all of those who have their homes destroyed. Also in egypt, tensions are spilling over at the rafah Border Crossing with gaza. Cnns resa sayeh is there. Reporter we are at the rafah Border Crossing where egypts border meets gaza. Gaza is a very small piece of land. About twice the size of washington, d. C. It has four gateways, three of them are inside israel. Theyre pret much blocked off in an effort to choke off gaza. This is the only one leaving from gaza in to an arab ally. Thats egypt. While the air assault continues in gaza, violence increases, whens increased here is the anger by egyptians who want egypt and the government to step up and intervene. The people have changed. We have changed and we are not going to take that for we are not going to wait for the government to move. Well take things in our hand and going to lead the government in to certain position that is required for egypt. Reporter roughly 500 protesters here. They have made a sevenhour journey of cairo and lined up down the street. Each of them are showing their identifications to Security Forces and then heading in to gaza. We have asked them, when do you think they youll come back . We dont know. Were happy to be going in. Are you scared . Yeah. I mean, absolutely im scared. You hear bombs. You dont know what youre going in there for but i think thats i think thats what we have to do. You have to be scared and overcome that fear going in there. Reporter as more demonstrators file in to gaza back in cairo the arab league announced that on tuesday theyre going to send in more than two dozen arab Foreign Ministers in to gaza part of the arab leagues push to publicly stand with the palestinians. Also, in cairo, egypt spy chief in talks with hamas officials and israeli officials to establish a ceasefire, the same spy chief in 2011 helped secure the release of israeli soldier, many say if theres going to be a ceasefire, egypts spy chief will play a key role. Cnn at the rafah Border Crossing. A massive cyber attack on israeli websites. We have details of possible ties to a notorious group of hackers. , sweetest craforelobste that we can find. [ malennounc ] itti focrabfestt red lobster his ar, y 1 of 5ntrees like our ne crab d garlic shri. Halfpou otender crab pair with savory shrimp. St 12. 99. Odig into our hearty crab and roasted garlic seafood bake all with salad and unlimited cddar bay biscuit so much to choose from, so ittle time. So come into red lobster for abfest today and sea food differentlrom, so ittle time. So come into red lobster for abfest today when you take a closer look. At the best schools in the world. 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Not only hamas targeting israel right now, the country also hit by a massive cyber attack linked to a notorious group of hackers. Cnns lisa sill vester is joining us with more. What can you tell us about the siper attacks on israel . Wolf, people will talk about cyber warfare but now we are getting a look at just what part of that looks like. Over the week, hackers targeted Israeli Government and some private websites like the bank of jerusalem, it was a largescale attack and it had a familiar name that may be associated with it. Israeli government, defense, finance, trade and tourism sites all among those targeted. Israels finance minister acknowledging its facing Cyber Attacks on an unprecedented scale with over 44 million attempts to attack and disrupt government websites. In some cases, access was denied. In other cases, they altered the home page leaving a cases, hack home page. Cnn has not independently confirmed who was behind the attempts, but the Group Anonymous hosted a pro palestinian message on one of its websites. Quote, when the government of israel publicly threatened to server all Internet Communications into and out of gaza, they crossed a line in the sand. We are anonymous and no one shuts down the internet on our watch. Anonymous is is not a stated political ally of hamas, but is using this as a form of civil disobedien disobedience, says one former hacker. They used a form of hackeris measuri m to create attention. But cybersecurity expert says these are more than just nuisance attacks. Each attack is designed to figure out exactly what the landscape looks like, so from an anonymous hacker perspective, theyre attacking millions of times a day, but every time they do, they learn something new about the net work or the landscape theyre attacking. Most of the sites were quickly restored, but some are still down and the volume of the attempted disruptions is stunning. According to israels minister of finance, there were ten million attacks on the official website of the president. Seven million attacks on the website of the ministry of Foreign Affairs and 3 million on the Prime Ministers official site, all in just the last few days. This is a wakeup call for many countries that cyber war is a thu front. Millions of attacks can be carried out by a handful of people with far reaching consequences. If you can get at the Computer Network that affects this, then you really hitting the home front without having to put a person on the ground. Anonymous also taken to social media, twitter and posted a message on a website saying it does not support violence, but is pursuing this as a human rights cause. Meanwhile, israels chief human rights officer says it has deflected millions of these attacks and says right now, they are facing a war on three fronts. Physical, social media and cyber. Wolf . Lisa, thank you. Cnns intense focus on the israeli gaza crisis continues right at the top of the hour. Erin burnett is outfront. Erin, you have some major interviews coming up. Tell us more. Thats right. Were going to continue here to talk about this crisis and what could happen next. Were going joined by the ambassador to the United States, michael orrin, then were going to be joined by the Palestinian Ambassador to the United States to talk about that side. Both of those sides covered at the top of the hour, plus were going to be talking about benghazi. We have new reporting on who exact lly altered the talking points given to susan rice. Talking points that were different than officials appeared to know at the time that it was a video to blame for the attack. All of that coming up at the top of the hour, wolf. Back to you in israel. Thanks very much, erin. See you in a few minutes. Up next, giving you rare access inside israels missile Defense System known as the iron dome. Lets say you want to get ahead in your career. How do you get from here. To here . At university of phoenix were moving Career Planning forward so you can start figuring that out sooner. Ln fact, by thinking about where want your education to lead, while youre still in school, you might find the best route. Leads somewhere you werent even looking. Lets get to work. At meineke i have options. Like oil changes starting at 19. 95. My money. My choice. My meineke. Oil prices rose another 2 a barrel today to 89 a barrel. Food prices are up since fighting rerupt ed. Israeli defense Officials Say nearly 1,000 rockets have been aimed at israel over the past six days. About a third of them were intercepted by their iron dome Defense Systems. Fred shows us how the system works. A kill that possibly saved lives on the ground. This video shows an iron dome missile intercepting a rocket fired from gaza at tel aviv on sunday. The Defense System had just been installed at israels largest city a few hours earlier. Several days into the conflict, its clear the iron dome is having a big impact picking off hundreds of rockets. I got a tour of the israel aircraft plant that assembles the air Defense System. Dr. Israel is one of those in charge. One key element is an advanced radar. The radar searches, locates, tracks and intercepts and guides intercepting missiles within several seconds, few seconds, within the launching time. Its extremely hard to shoot down short distance rockets in part because theyre not in the air long enough for older Radar Systems to lock on to them. Moving extremely fast. When you want to intercept it, you have to move faster, with more agility, with more of a maneuvering power relative to your target. The iron dome was only put into service in 2011, with breakthroughs in technology, it can detect and shoot down multiple targets in midair. But it isnt a perfect solution. This is is aftermath of a rocket strike in the town. One of the rockets that hit actually came here and hit this car and as you can see, did substanti damage the car. As hits like this one show, it cannot intercept all the rockets coming at israel from gaza. Still, the military says its very happy with the performance of the intercepter system. Rockets usually down, usually these rockets are the ones sent from the terrorist factions to much bigger cities where you have more people living. We usually down them, but its not a 100 solution unfortunately. And so, the engineers at the plant are working extra hours to assemble more iron dome batteries for immediate deployment. And as fred points out, a lot of that iron dome technology