thanks very much for joining us, i'm wolf blitzer, in washington. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. this is cnn newsroom. we're following the major breaking news out of israel this hour. israel declaring it is at war, war with hamas. it follows an unprecedented attack on israeli soil by hamas. at least 70 israelis are now confirmed dead. more than 900 wounded. numbers that are clearly expected to rise in the coming hours. the attack catching israel clearly by surprise. at sunrise, the palestinian militant group launched their offensive by air, sea, and land. hamas fighters infiltrating israeli towns launching more than 3,000 rockets into israel. scenes of urban warfare, as gunfights unfolded features israeli and palestinian militants and just a short time ago, i spoke with the israeli military spokesman. >> when we target someone, we go for a military target. these terrorists came in this morning, they didn't go only for military targets. they went into communities. they abducted grandmas. they abducted families. they killed children. a very, very severe morning. and we are going to respond. >> israel is now clearly striking back, launching its own air strikes into gaza. palestinians say nearly 200 have been killed there. israel also mobilizing its troops and calling up tens of thousands of reserve forces for active duty. this is a very fast-moving situation and it is unfolding, and i want to bring back cnn's hadas gold joining us from jerusalem right now. i know you're getting more information. what's the latest? >> reporter: the latest we're getting right now is the israeli military is confirming that there have been kidnappings, captors, what they're called prisoners of war, israeli soldiers and civilians, they are not giving specific numbers, but we do believe them to be in the dozens. we do believe that some of those, or not all of them, have been taken to gaza. we do have videos of at least some israeli soldiers appearing to be taken out of the israeli tank, by palestinian militants, but we are now hearing confirm place from the israeli military not only are these prisoners of war as they're calling them but we're hearing of hostage situations. these are hostage situations in israeli villages and at least two israeli villages and towns in southern israel. as we speak, hostages are being held by militants in israeli villages and towns near the gaza border, again, we don't have specifics on the numbers who are being held, but the israeli military clearly calling this a very, very active situation, as they try to clear out the militants from these areas. it is now entering hour 12 of this conflict. as we noted, thousands of rockets have been fired towards israel from gaza. and we are still referring regular reports of air-raid sirens going off, mostly targeting southern israel. we had a few sirens ourselves here, all the way out here in jerusalem earlier today. we heard several explosions overhead. those could have been inceptions. those could have been rockets making impact. we have not heard any sirens in the last few hours. it has been relatively quiet in jerusalem. not the case in southern israel at all. and most concerning is the infiltrations of these palestinian militants who came literal bebe air, para-gliding, by land, by sea, and there was a major question, what was the security failure, how did this israel not see this first of all happening, coming, how did the militants make their way in, were they already in israel, and we are hear brg the casualties, at least 70 have been killed, more than 090 wounds, this is on the israeli side of things, palestinians are reporting 198 killed and more than 1600 wounded the but some of those fatalities are said to be actually be within israel. so these would be militants who had entered israel being killed in firefights. this is a very, very quickly unfolding situation that is continuing to move very quickly. the israeli military is calling up tens of thousands of reservists, not only of course for the air strikes that we've seen going on targeting hamas targets in gaza but to reinforce israeli communes around israel, especially in the south. as they continue to contend with these militants. as we speak, firefights are ongoing in some of these towns around gaza, the town most, many people are familiar with that sits right near the border between gaza and israel, literally as we speak, fire fights continue. we are now entering hour 12, with accounts from israeli civilians essentially trapped in their homes as they hear gunfire going on right outside of their homes, calling for ask, asking for help, israeli families on air trying to find family members because there was a festival, a nature and music festival going on not far from the border that militants attacked, and so there is a fear of a number of wounded and dead as a result of that, as well. this is the situation that will likely go on for some time. israeli military, the israeli prime minister calling it a state of war. the response will likely continue in intensity over the next few hours, over the next few days, hamas is calling this the al-aksa storm, directly connecting it to a rise, and there was no a major raid at the compound, there was not a major clash, or a major capture of a militant of some sort that might have triggered this. and it is so clear that israel was caught by surprise. the parallels to 50 years ago to the day to the yom kippur war in 1973, and israel was also caught by surprise, an attack also on a jewish holiday, today is a jewish holiday, the parallels here are stunning. wolf? >> very significant indeed. is there any evidence so far that any of these military reservists who have been activated have been called up for duty right now, as a result of this war, are refusing to serve because of their earlier opposition to netanyahu government's judicial overhaul program? >> reporter: no, not yet, and we actually did hear from one of those major organizations representing those reservists. they call themselves brothers and sisters in arm. they sent out a statement quite early on the day calling on the reservists to heed the call to serve during this time and to go to their duty when called. according to the israeli military, they have not had, at least they have not recorded any significant effect on their preparedness or on reservists who are saying they will not serve as a result of this. this is the major test, everybody has been talking about, as a result of the judicial overhaul that netanyahu has planned and reservists saying i'm not going to serve a government with this type of judicial overhaul and there was a question, if there is a major military operation, how will they respond and so far we're seeing they're responding to the call to serve. >> that's what i'm hearing as well, hadas. right now i'm joined on the phone by michael herdoing, the israel ambassador to the united states. thanks for joining us. it is sad that we're talking under these circumstances right now. the idf, as you know says the fighting is ongoing right now. firefights and more than 20 various locations, as hamas militants attack by land, air, and sea. against israel. what can you tell us, first of all, ambassador about this rapidly evolving situation, with israeli civilians and hostages involved? >> so israel is looking at the war on a holy day in the jewish calendar, and hamas earlier in the day, launched thousands of rockets and they sent in dozens, reaching the border, and firefights and other means and now fighting going on as we speak in israeli villages across the border. this is war. this is an unprovoked war. and we have to fight this war, and we are to win this war and we will do it. >> as you know, ambassador, president biden has now spoken with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, what can you tell us, if anything, about that conversation, and the partnership between the two nations in this very critical moment? >> i would say it was a very good call, and we appreciate the stre strong statements of support issued by the white house and the state department. i think everybody understands that this unprovoked attack on israel deserves a very strong unequivocal condemnation and support for israel's right to self-defense, and as i said, this is war, and we're to fight this war and win it. >> i understand the israeli prime minister has convened his national security cabinet for an emergency meeting right now. what can you tell us about that? has there been a formal declaration of war just announced? >> there is a declaration in that we are in a state of war, and we are calling in reservists, for active duty. and i think hamas made a mistake by being overimpressed by the internal debate in israel, but everybody who knows israel knows that, or understands that in moments like that, israelis close ranks and join hands, and we are all in it together. >> israel and the world as you know, were caught offguard by this widespread, rather sophisticated hamas attack earlier this morning. how concerned are you, ambassador by that? was this an intelligence failure on the part of israel? >> there was an element of surprise. we'll get to that later. right now, we have to fight a war, and win, as i said. later on, we'll have time to investigate what happened. as i say, hamas was overly impressed by the internal debate in israel, but i also think that their intention is to derail the joint u.s./israel effort to bring about peace in the middle east. >> ambassador, you're the ambassador of israel to the united states. if israel is now in a state of war with hamas in gaza and potentially this could escalate into other areas as well, hezbollah, and south lebanon, for example, and maybe even from some groups on the west bank, what, if anything, do you need from the united states right now? what is your major need, militarily speaking? >> right now, we are assessing the situation, assessing our needs, and to the extent that we will need some support, we will not hesitate to ask for it. and i'm confident that the administration and congress will support israel in this difficult moment. >> and what happens in the iron dome, israel's very sophisticated air defense system, that has been so effective in earlier confrontations, we're seeing these pictures coming in from areas there, rehobeth, other populated areas, not far from gaza, civilian areas, that have literally been destroyed, what's going on with israel's air defense capabilities? >> well, i think you are already seeing it in action, what happened is, as we all understand, the hamas launched this surprise attack out of the blue, so not all the batteries were in a state of preparedness, but i think that is going to change very soon. >> this is clearly a significant moment in israel's history right now. and as you note and a lot of people have noted it coming almost exactly on the 50th anniversary of the 1973 war when egypt and syria surprised israel and launched the attack at that time, causing, it really caught the israeli military by surprise. help our viewers better understand, ambassador, how significant this moment right now is for israel and what could come next. >> this is a very significant moment for israel. israel is under attack. and i'm confident that the same as 50 years ago, we are surprised but we ultimately prevailed and won the war. i think the same will be in this case. >> ambassador michael herzog, thanks for joining us. >> thank you very much, wolf. the white house is now weighing in on the surprise attack by hamas of israel. we're following all of the late-breaking developments. our special breaking news coverage will continue right after this. we're following the breaking news out of israel right now, israel is clearly at war right now with the palestinian militant group hamas in gaza. that war started earlier this morning when hamas launched various strikes against israeli targets. i want to bring in cnn's sam kiley who has covered israel and reporting from israel for a long time this. appears to be at least so far a major failure of intelligence on israel's part. what is your analysis? >> i think it is clear that it is a disastrous failure of intelligence, but that is the backward look, for historians already, i think, wolf, because right now, there is an ongoing firefight in israeli kibbutz, plural, there are hostage situations inside israeli territory, and now hamas, as has been partly confirmed by the israeli defense forces, claiming that it has taken hostages into gaza. possibly dozens of them. now, we have seen video at least of one israeli woman taken into gaza, in a captured israeli military jeep. we have seen other military images of a soldier, alive, being captured after his tank was destroyed. his where-abouts or indeed whether or not he is alive still is unknown. but conceivably, he is now a prisoner of war as the israelis would call him, and he inevitably will be treated as a hostage by hamas. this has been a very complex operation. very clearly sealed off even from hamas allies on the west bank, where there has not been a parallel uprising as hamas might have liked to have seen. precisely i think they needed to keep it very close and they have been able to penetrate through the gaza wall, as we know, in the past, they have used tunnels, they used them again, they used sea-born attacks, the idf has released pictures of them trying to stop some of those and successfully stopping some of those sea-born infiltrations into israel. and then even para-gliders flying over the gaza fence, and into israel proper. so all of this adding up to a very complex attack with a lot of for-planning by hamas militants beginning at dawn with the massive salvo of rockets now numbering at least 3,000 rockets fired in a day. a very substantial use of rocks, causing the israelis to be at least temporarily on the back foot. now, inevitably, that means that benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister, wolf, is essentially declared a state of war with hamas, there's mass mobilization of israeli troop, but the conundrum for the israelis now is how do they go in and stop this, how do they go in and rescue these hostages, and how do they go in and break the back of hamas, which they've tried and failed to do in the past. essentially, this is a trap that hamas has laid for israelis. hamas will know that they want to send in grounds troops, into gaza, and if the israelis do do that, no doubt, hamas has got all kinds of operational activity planned for that, now, of course, israelis have good intelligence, normally speaking, about what is going on in gaza, and are currently hitting a number of hamas, at least 70 hamas or alleged hamas locations inside the gaza strip. but the real problem is going to be how they're going on the ground, and this is how it unfolded in the last few hours. >> palestinian militants celebrate the destruction of an israeli tank near gaza. dragging what appears to be the body of a crewman from the vehicle. dozens of gaza-based palestinian fighters have infiltrated israel, under the cover of a massive rocket bombardment. in what could be the biggest israeli intelligence failure since arab nations attacked israel 50 years ago. hamas brought war to the streets. its bullets tearing into a civilian vehicle, locals filmed fighters on rooftops and shooting at police. here, the aftermath of the gun battle, israeli civilians lie dead on the street. close by, what are reported to be palestinian militants also dead. >> we are at war. not an operation. but at war. this morning, hamas launched a murderous surprise attack against the state of israel and its citizens. we have been in this since the early morning hours. >> israel has already hit back with air strikes. but the country's right wing government will be under pressure to attack deeper into gaza, as reserves are being mobilized, country-wide. >> it's very possible that we will witness a massive israeli ground operation in gaza streets, that basically will aim to try and change totally from the ground the conditions that have been revealed for the past almost two decades. >> israel's death toll climbed throughout the day of fighting. militants have claimed so far, without proof, to have taken israeli soldiers hostage. and the hamas-led operation is the most complex and ambitious in its history. here, militants on the west bank foreshadowed what was coming to cnn last octoberer. >> there are extensive meetings with the resistance sections in gaza on the west banks and with our brothers abroad about starting that fire. that fight now appears to have begun in gaza, with this hamas call to arms. if you have a gun, get it out, he said. this is the time to use it. get out. with trucks, cars, axes, today, the most glorious and most honorable history begins. but that appeal has so far not been answered on the west bank, or among israel's palestinian population. not yet. >> now, wolf, on the west bank, the israeli's military has reportedly up to half the capability there. so that may explain to some extent why there hasn't been a violent response yet from the palestinians and the israeli, palestinian, ethnic palestinian organization, it doesn't have much of a record of joining this kind of violent uprising that we've seen out of hamas. i think ultimately those hezbollah will be the single biggest threat. they're very, very unlikely to join in this until they see real vulnerability on the part of israeli because they have been told in no uncertain terms by israeli that the consequences for lebanon would be absolutely catastrophic if they start to join in this sort of offensive. wolf? >> we're slowing our viewers live pictures coming in from gaza now. clearly the israeli response, the military response is unfolding even as we speak right now. and i just want your thoughts, because you spent a lot of time in israel, in recent years, and the israeli emergency services now reporting more than 70 israelis, many of them civilians, are confirmed dead right now, as a result of this hamas attack, and hundreds of israelis are seriously injured and have been taken to hospitals throughout israel right now. those numbers alone, they don't necessarily sound to a bigger audence all that big, but in a small country like israel, that has an enormous impact when the folks over there hear those numbers, right? >> it is not just the numbers, wolf, and i think you're absolutely right. 70 is almost an unprecedented number to be killed in operations, and in fact unprecedented operations coming out of gaza. 900 injured. these are not predominantly people i suspect being hit by fragments of descending rockets or explosives fired out of gaza but people who have been killed and injured in fighting with the hamas militants or indeed simply murdered by the hamas militants in the case of ordinary civilians, and that will be very galvanizing, right across the israeli political spectrum, to see something much more violent response coming from israel into gaza. wolf? >> and we're already seeing that this war, as prime minister netanyahu is calling it is, unifying the israelis, all of those reservists who were suggesting in recent months that they weren't going to honor, that they were called up for reserve duty because of their opposition to the israeli government's judicial reform plans, they are responding right now and responding in huge numbers, is that what you're hearing as well? >> yes, wolf. they actually said, their leadership has said officially that in this case, they are calling on their members to report for reserve duty as part of their natural service to the israeli state. and that is because this is being perceived even by the left in israel, and it is now in its militants and it is angry on an attack on israel itself. remember that hamas is an organization dedicated to the destruction of what they call, in hamas territory, the zionist entity. this is, they do not believe this is hamas, that israel has a right to exist at all. now that is quite a different proposition from being asked to serve and perpetuate the occupation for example on the west bank, which would have been a much more problematic issue for reservists being called up. but from many perspectives, within israel, this is a straight-up existential threat and a straight-up existential defense will be coming from those reservists, wolf. >> good point. sam kiley, thank you very much. we are also of course monitoring all of these late-breaking developments here in washington. in response to this unprecedented hamas attack against israel. i want to go back to our senior white house correspondent, mj lee. she is getting new information. what you are hearing now from the biden administration? >> reporter: wolf, we have just heard directly from president biden himself. he has released a statement after speaking with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. so let me read a part of that written statement. he says the united states unequivocally condemns this appalling assault against israel, by hamas terrorists, from gaza, and i made clear to prime minister netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the government and people of israel. terrorism is never justified. israel has a right to defend itself. and its people. the united states warns against any other party hostile to israel taking advantage in this situation, and my administration's support for israel security is rock solid and unwavering. the president also saying that he of course is going to stay in close contact with prime minister netanyahu. wolf, here in the u.s., it is impossible to overstate just what a complicated and volatile diplomatic situation now confronts president biden and his administration. first and foremost, there is the issue of the strained biden netanyahu relationship that we have been talking b the fact that these two men have known each other for a number of decades but in recent years, that relationship has really been tested, because of some of the actions that netanyahu and his far right government in israel have tried to take. there is also the issue of president biden going to be criticized almost for certain for the recent decision by his administration to unfreeze billions of dollars in frozen funds in exchange for -- iranian funds, i should say, in exchange to free americans that were being detained, given the iranian's historically supportive stance against, for hamas, that is going to be a criticism that is sure to come president biden's way. and then there's, of course, the issue of the deal that president biden had been trying to broker, to normalize relations between saudi arabia and israel, as a part of those talks, as you know very well, the u.s. has really been pushing for concessions to be made to the plalestinians, given the images we are seeing now and given the news that is breaking and given the situation what is simply described as war by the israelis, those talks seem to appear to have gone out the window, at the very least, are very much frozen, as u.s. officials really continue to assess exactly what is going on here, wolf. >> mj lee at the white house. thank you very much. we will get back to you soon. and cnn's breaking news coverage of this unprecedented situation in israel will continue right after a quick break. we'll be right back. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. we're back with our breaking news coverage. the war that no one saw coming, hamas today launching brazen surprise attacks on israel, at least 70 israelis are now confirmed dead, and nearly 1,000, 1,000 israelis are wounded and are in hospitals right now. plus, nearly 200 palestinians have been killed in israel's retaliatory strikes. this, according to the palestinian health ministry. these attacks from hamas today are not just limited to rockets. hamas militants infiltrated parts of israel by land and sea. and by air, using para-gliders we're told. we're also hearing reports of israeli civilians barricading themselves indoors as militants opened fire outside. we want to show you more of what it looks like on the ground, with this warning. this video is disturbing. it appears to show hamas militants near the gaza fence pulling an israeli soldier out of a tank. so many questions about how this major coordinated attack were undetected by israeli intelligence. the fear now that israel could be headed for a very, very dangerous ground war in gaza. and this ongoing situation will certainly have major international ramifications. u.s. officials are closely watching every development, and the u.s. embassy in jerusalem is now sheltering in place. let's go to cnn's natasha bertrand watching all of this unfold. fiscal, what are we hearing -- first of all, what are we hearing directly fwrt u.s. state department. >> reporter: we did get a statement from the secretary of state blinken who said quote, the united states unequivocally condemns the apawing attacks of hamas by israel including civilian communes and there is never any justification for terrorism and we stand in solidarity with the government and people of israel. he also said that the state department ex tends our coen doe lenses for the israeli lives lost in these attacks and we will remain in close contact with israeli parter ins and again, that the united states supports israel's right to defend itself. a common theme that we have heard across all of the messages coming out from the united states. now, we also learning that the secretary of state is at the white house right now attending meetings and calling his foreign counterparts about the situation in israel. the cia director as well has canceled a planned trip to a national security conference this weekend, in order to remain in washington and, quote, help provide support to the president and national security discussions as the crisis in israel unfolds. that is according to a cia spokesperson. now, this is obviously an all-hands-on deck effort really by the biden administration to get a handle on what is going on in israel and how they can best support the israelis. the secretary of defense also issuing a statement this morning, saying that he is closely monitoring developments in israel, and reiterating again the u.s.'s commitment to israel's right to defend itself, saying that remains quote unwavering. now, importantly, the secretary of defense said that the department of defense is over the coming days going to work to ensure that israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians, wolf, from these indiscriminate, this indiscriminate violence and terrorism. that rises questions about whether the u.s. is going to allow israel to tap into the u.s. stockpiles that exist in israel to potentially replenish their supplies and equipment, if this war does continue, and if it escalates even further. the u.s. has one of the biggest war reserves in israel, so the israelis could certainly take advantage of that. so much uncertainty right now, wolf, the national security team around president biden huddling now, to figure out what comes next, wolf. >> natasha, we will see what happens. thanks very much. natasha bertrand reporting. we are following all of the late-breaking developments out of israel. our special coverage will continue right after this quick break. we're following the breaking news out of israel, there is a war going on right now, the u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin is reinforcing u.s. support for israel, after today's attack by hamas in gaza that has left, that has killed at least 70 israelis so far, and wounded some 985 other israelis who are being hospitalized. secretary austin met with top u.s. military officials just a little while ago, including the commander of the u.s. military's central command. let's get more on what is going on right now, with retired colonel leighton with us, a cnn military analyst and cnn global affairs analyst kimberly dozer is with us as well. colonel leighton. what do you think the u.s. is doing right no to you help israel, from the president on down, there have been very strong statements for israel in this war with hamas? >> in concrete terms, wolf, we will speculate a little bit here, but the basic things that we end up doing is logistical support, if the israelis need it, and sometimes there will be intelligence sharing that will take place, and anything that the israelis will need in terms of even diplomatic efforts that might be ongoing say with the egyptians or some of the gulf states. so a lot of these issues will take place -- to perhaps help with the logistics aspects of this, and they will be moving things in, perhaps, to areas near israel, in case the israelis need to have their stockpiles replenished. >> kimberly, an israeli idf military spokesperson told me a little while ago that fighting is ongoing right now, still ongoing, am in more than 0 different locations and specialty forces are mobilized as israeli civilians are held hostage as well. just how complicated is this response from the military military? >> complicated and it could potentially stretch out for days, if not weeks. once you have a hostage situation, where militants are barricaded with israeli citizens, civilians, not just some of the troops that have reportedly been taken, it becomes very difficult for the israeli defense forces. they've got to move slowly, and precisely. they're already facing a massive employeeback of anger from -- blowback of anger from the israeli people from missing this, and for not responding quickly enough to the attacks in the south. that's what i was hearing from some former israeli and u.s. officials, that it is not just bad that they -- that they missed signs of this potentially complex attack, but that when it started happening, they didn't responds fast enough to catch the militants faster and to keep them from infiltrating some of these communities. and i think that's why you've seen the israeli prime minister call up more reservists, because they're going to have to do something pretty dramatic to respond to this, and to find all of the conspirators and how this was plotted and carried out, and that likely means a ground incursion into gaza. that means bringing a lot of active duty forces to that theater, to attack there, which means they'll need reservist troops to back-fill them and keep the rest of the country secure. >> kecolonel leighton israel is saying that the izf is preparing for a ground incursion into gaza and that quote all options are on the table. give us a sense what that looks like. >> so the most likely scenario, wolf, just like kimberly mentioned, is the ground incursion into gaza. that is going to be a really, really tough thing for the israelis to do. they have done it before. but this is urban warfare. and gaza is the most crowded place i think now on the face of the earth in terms of dense population per square mile, and given that fact, there are a lot of different things that they will have to consider. they want to go after the military targets, and in essence the hamas targets, but there are going to be situations where they will probably be collateral damage, in other words civilian casualties, and that's going to make it really tough on the israelis, not only from a military stands point, but also from a public relations stands point. the other thing of course, that they're going to do is they're going to use air power to go after these areas, there's already been some of that, that we've seen around gaza, but i think the bombing attacks are going to be more intense and they're also going to try to cut off any more hamas fighters from coming into israel itself. so that i think is what things will look like, at least for the next 24 or so hours. >> and kimberly, what is israel watching right now when it comes first to the west bank, and then up north, the border with lebanon? >> well, they're watching for basically all their other opponents. for two things. in the attacks from the iranian allies, in the so-called ring of fire, which is how israel describes the enemies that ring it. hezbollah in southern lebanon. and the militants in syria. both of whom have stockpiled rockets, missiles, hezbollah missiles are said to be more than 100,000, and they can reach most of israel. also, they will be watching, the israeli defense forces will be watching for this attack, to spark some sort of popular revolt inside the west bank. in the last two uprisings, the last two antifatas, in the '80s and '90s, the first one sparked from a car accident, two truckloads of palestinian workers were hit and killed, and that sparked off the pop la protests that then militants took advantage of the. in this case, they're trying to do it the other way around. they're staging a big splash attack and calling on others to pick up weapons and attack israelis wherever they are. the second anti-fattah came as ariel sharon, the israeli leader visited the al aqsa mosque, the temple mount, a say kraed area credit area in the old city, the hamas military leader said the latest attack is partly because of recent incursions by israeli ultra nationalists into the mosque part of the sacred area, which has made major headlines across the arab world though, and it hasn't been covered much in the west. so from their perspective, they had cause, and they're hoping other palestinians, ordinary people, will pick up that cause and attack. >> kimberly dozer and colonel cedric leighton, guys, thank you very much. we're staying on top of the breaking news. the reaction from the region, much more coming up, after a quick break. test. test. test. testing. world leaders are racking to the shocking violence in israel this morning. many calling for calm and restraighten. in the middle east, egypt, turkey and saudi arabia are calling for a stop to the escalation. while iran is expressing support for the hamas attack on ceryls. in europe, spain and italy are condemning attacks and both sides of war in ukraine are commenting. russia's deputy foreign minister calling for a cease fire and ukraine expressing support pour israel in its right to defend itself and its people. here in washington. they're strong support coming from democrats's republicans on capitol hill. in terms of support for israel. we're also getting statements so far from several republican presidential candidates, including trump, desantis expressing strong support for israel in this war against hamas now as well. to our viewers thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. i'll be back for a special edition of the situation room malaria. 5:00 p.m. eastern. stay with us for that. meantime, cnn breaking news coverage will continue right now with christiane amanpour after a very short break. c'mon, we're right there. c'mon baby. it's the only we need. go, go, go, go! ah! touchdown baby! -touchdown! are your neighbors watching the same game? yeah, my 5g home internet delays the game a bit. but you get used to it. try these. they're noise cancelling earmuffs. i stole them from an airport. it's always something with you, man. great! solid! -greek salad? exactly! don't delay the game with verizon or t-mobile 5g home internet. catch it on the xfinity 10g network. you're probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast 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