it comes as the world health organisation says disease is spreading in the territory more rapidly than expected, with people living so close together in shelters and a lack of clean water.|srael s prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says there were strong indications that hamas were holding hostages at the largest hospital in gaza, but they had been removed when his troops raided al shifa this week. speaking to cbs news, mr netanyahu said there was no gunfight at al shifa because hamas had already fled. israel insists there was a hamas command centre at the site, but hasn t yet provided conclusive evidence. the israeli army says it s found the body of a second woman who was taken hostage by hamas as troops continue to search in and around gaza s biggest hospital. so let s get the latest from my colleague mark lowen we from my colleague mark lowen are getting reports fewer we are getting reports that involve fewer lorries actually making their way or being able to get into g
we continue here at cnn, our coverage of israel at war. you re most welcome, wherever in the world you re joining us from. i m richard quest in abu dhabi. here the time is 1:00 p.m. it s a few hours earlier in gaza, 11:00. they re two hours behind in gaza. and idf helicopters have been seen flying along the israeli coastline. these are pictures from ashkelon earlier today. now, ashkelon is only 20 kilometers from gaza. it is there, of course, that the idf says hamas has been is holding 230 hostage. and it is there where israeli military says it s hit more than 450 targets in the last day. israel says it includes hamas command centers, observation posts, and missile launch sites. first, let me update you with events overnight. these are the pictures israel says it s been targeting hamas tunnels and underground spaces, continues to urge everyone to go further south. in gaza itself, the near-total communications blackout apparently is easing, hospitals resume to be overwhelm
sentiment, but i also know that his death may not bring solace. to many. but now is a time to heal and with this search concluded, i know that law enforcement continues to fully investigate all the facts so we can bring what closure we can to the victims and their families. all 18 victims in wednesday s attack have now been identified. i want to begin with nbc s kathy park who was at the conference in lewiston. cathy, thank you for being. they re what else did we hear from officials, and how are you? this had to be an extraordinary few days. yeah, and an extraordinary 12 hours to be quite frank with you stephanie. so at 10:00 this morning we got an update as to how long enforcement was going to move forward with their investigation. they talked about the large police presence in the lisbon area, the boat launch in that area, that is where the suspect abandoned vehicle was located, and that s why they decided to ramp up the activity there, and then at 5:00 this evening, ju