That theyre defended. And that, again, this cant be allowed to continue. With regard to the second point, yes, this is something that were very focused on. We want to make sure that no other country or entity tries to take advantage of the situation. The president s been very, very clear about that. He said very starkly that any state or nonstate actor considering that, dont do it. Hes backed that up in a number of ways, including, as i mentioned the other day, deploying our largest Aircraft Carrier battle group to the area. So, thats clearly designed to help ensure that anyone contemplating getting engaged doesnt do it. But beyond that, a big part of my own conversations here throughout this trip, including today, following up the next couple days, is working with other countries to make sure theyre using their own contacts, their own influence, their own relationship to make that case, that no one else would be taking this moment to create chaos in some other place. I should mention,
The threat of terrorists and weapons in the area and locate hostages. This is not the all out Ground Invasion. Theyve also tweeted moments ago they are striking hezbollah targets in the north inside lebanon Secretary Blinken earlier in doha qatar asking about the larger Military Offensive expected in the coming days. The way israel does this matters. The way any democracy has to deal with such a situation matters, and to that end, we discussed with the israelis, urged the israelis to use every possible precaution to avoid armed civilians. Joining me now, ben rhodes, former Obama National security adviser to president obama. Ben, what Secretary Blinken was saying today and yesterday was that israel has a right to defend itself, that the u. S. Is firmly behind israels military decisions and helping with them, but he was very pointed in, again, today especially in qatar, that theyve urged israel to try to limit the damage to civilians. How do you do that with a Ground Invasion in that urb
Andrea mitchell picks up our special coverage of the war in israel right now. And right now on this Special Edition of Andrea Mitchell reports, israel orders a full siege of the gaza strip pounding hamas with new missile strikes after saturdays shocking Surprise Attack by air, sea, and ground, described as the first fullscale invasion from Hamas Into Southern Israel in history. More than 1,000 people are dead on both sides including at least nine americans. Hamas is also claiming to have more than 100 military and civilian hostages including men, women, and children, and some americans who could be used as Human Shields and bargaining chips. Yuni asher is among those pleading for the return of his wife and daughters after they were taken by hamas. My wife, my daughter raz less than 5 years old, and my little baby girl, less than 3 years old, theyre just little babies. Theyre not even girls. I dont even know if they ate enough, if theyre cold or hot, if theyre hurt. Ill be speaking to m
survivors sifting through the rubble in a devastated gaza strip where internet and power cut off by israel friday night has now been partially restored after pressure from the white house. president biden also pressing prime minister netanyahu to safeguard americans trying to get out and allow substantially more humanitarian aid into gaza including fuel that israel warns would end up in the hands of hamas. the reason those trucks are moving is because of president biden s leadership. that flow of trucks needs to increase and increase substantially so that there is enough food, water, and medicine to get to innocent people in gaza who are badly in need of it. and as the fighting rages on, there are growing concerns for the safety of hundreds of hostages. some of them american. held by hamas for more than three weeks. e weeks. good day, everyone. i m andrea mitchell in washington as israeli forces advance a war effort they say will be long and difficult with infantry, tanks
political ads do. pennsylvania, you can freely vote by mail now. some lawmakers want to get rid of it motivated by trump s false claims about the fraudulent nature of it. a lot of people will use it. there is a partisan divide in how voters use it. the republican national committee is trying to under dl mine that. democrats vote by mail in higher numbers. ads like this will keep the divide. you did so much reporting about election integrity and looking into what is new in different election cycles. thank you for your efforts. appreciate this reporting. stay on it. that s it for us today. see you back here tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern. catch our show online around the clock on youtube, on other platforms any time. thank you so much for joining us. andrea mitchell picks up our coverage right now. right now on andrea mitchell reports, biden and trump are in the final phase of debate prep, but taking opposite approaches to what could be a game changer. team trump