hamas-ruled gaza strip, calling it operation protective edge. a wave of israeli air strikes hit some 50 targets, including what they described as militant houses. rockets are also coming in from the other direction. since monday night, dozens of rockets have been fired from gaza into israel. now israel says it has at least 40,000 reserve troops on standby for duty in the israeli military. president obama is weighing in on all of this as well. he wrote an opinion piece for an israeli newspaper, a piece written before the escalation of tensions. in it, the president emphasized that peace is possible between israelis and palestinians and that, quote, peace is necessary because it s the only way to ensure a secure and democratic future for the jewish state of israel. any peace process may now be, though, in tatters, as the israelis and palestinians appear to be at a tipping point for a war. let s go to cnn s diana magnet,
will be deeply hosle iluding the population of crimea s tatar who are muslim and getting radicalized. it s in the northern caucasus where russia has been battling a ferocious mus political muslim insurgency. even as he lines up one more piece or half piece on his chessboard, vladimir putin will find that the price he has paid for it is quite high. let s get started. now for the latest on the ground in the region. we ll take you in a moment to the russian capital moscow, ukrainian capital kiev but go to the contested territory crimea. cnn s diana magnet is at the city of simferopol where people are saying something remarkable.
chessboard, vladimir putin will find that the price he has paid for it, is quite high. let s get started. now for the latest on the ground in the region. we ll take you in a moment to the russian capital moscow, ukrainian capital kiev but go to the contested territory crimea. cnn s diana magnet is at the city of simferopol where people are saying something remarkable. tell us. well, fareed, i m in the main square at simferopol the capital of crimea, this may certainly be staged for the various cameras that have been here, people have been chanting putin thank you russia putin waving russian flags.
diana, tell us. reporter: well, fareed, i m in the main square at simferopl, the capital of crimea, and this may certainly be staged for the various cameras that have been here. people have been chanting putin thank you russia putin waving russian flags. the flags that usually are around the square, crimeaen, russia and ukraine, all the ukrainian ones have been taken away. these people are saying we are not represented by the new government. we fear they will take away our rights and when you say that the ukrainian government has promised not to do away with the russian language, and is looking to try to incorporate delicate supports from the east from crimea, they haven t heard anything about it. so it almost seems as though this by the way is a communist
days, but this is all simply a precautionary measure, they say. an arrest in a gruesome international murder mystery. german police have captured luca rocco magnotta, a self-described porn star accused of killing and dismembering a student in canada. body parts were mailed to canadian police and to politicians. canadian authorities confirmed the arrest a short time ago. george zimmerman s lawyer says he will file for a new bond hearing. the man accused of murdering trayvon martin had his bail revoked by the judge in the case and was sent back to jail over the weekend. the judge said zimmerman lied about his finances in order to get a lower bond. so right now let s bring in christiane amanpour, host of cnn s international. she has scored a rare interview. that visit by maria castro outraged people. was she trying to make inroads and does she speak at all for her father s regime? reporter: well, two interesting questions. i don t think she was trying to make inroads exc