Transcripts For CNNW Anthony 20240703

Announcer this is cnn Breaking News. Hello and welcome, everyone. Cnn brings you unparalleled coverage. Following major, major break news. On the ground. Four hours into the most serious threat to its security in modern memory perhaps ever. Live pictures now of gaza city, dawn just starting to break behind the skyline there. It is widely expected that a massive Israeli Military operation will soon engulf this palestinian enclave. Israel confirming a significant number of israelis including at least one soldier have been captured by hamas militants. You see one of them here being bundled into a car. A young woman. Their locations and fates are currently unknown. It is a shocking and unprecedented escalation in the regions long history of conflict. Israeli forces have been Hounding Hamas targets in gaza for much of the last 24 hours or so. The Prime Minister stating unequivocally that the country was at war. And since dawn on saturday, thousands of rockets have been fired from Gaza In Rapid Salvos and in numbers never before seen in such a short period of time. In many cases, too many for the iron dome air Defense System to intercept. In retaliation the israeli leader vowing to turn gaza into, quote, an island of ruin. Have a listen. Translator what happened today has never been seen in israel, i i will make sure that it doesnt happen again. The entire government is behind this decision. The idea will immediately use all its strength to destroy hamas capabilities and we will take mighty vengeance on this black day theyve enforced on the state of israel and its citizen. All the places which hamas is deployed hiding and operating in, that weakened city, we will turn it into an island of ruins. I am telling gazas people to leave those places now because we will take action everywhere. The Prime Minister just said the Israeli Military warning palestinian citizens in gauzy to leave their residences immediately for whats to come. The thing is this is the gaza strip. Its unclear where 2 million civilians could flee to. Theyve taken control of the Police Station. Cnns nadya bashir joining me now. Are they back in control of their territory . Well, this is certainly the first priority, michael, for the Israeli Defense forces, for the Israeli Government and that has been clearly expressed. Theyve been focusing on regaining control of territories and areas that have been infiltrated by hamas fighters. As mentioned there we saw that attack yesterday in which that infiltration took place by land, air, and sea. And we have seen of course some israeli civilians and soldiers taken as hostages or Prisoners Of War as a result of that and taken back into gaza. Over the course of saturday we have seen continued gun battles in these areas where hamas fighters have entered and if infiltrated israeli territory. As you mentioned there weve seen sums of them overnight. They managed to regain control of the Police Station or theyve taken control temporarily on saturday. Some progress on that front. We heard from israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describing this as the first phase of israels response. Focusing on regaining control of those areas impacted in yesterdays attack. What will be the second response which will be their next focus in the coming hours will be a Military Response. According to Benjamin Netanyahu, they are now focusing on those offensive preparations, positioning their troops, ready for what is set to be a Military Response to the attack by hamas fighters in israel. But of course we have seen overnight continued rocket fire, both thousands of rockets being fired from gaza into israel, many them intercepted by israels iron dome, and some making Landfall Hitting Targets including where we saw targets hit in ashkelon. Weve seen multiple high rises being targed over saturday including continued rocket fire overnight from israel into gaza. As you mentioned that warning telling residents in these areas within gaza to leave their homes, to evacuate because this will continue and of course questions as to where these people can evacuate to, these palestinians because as you mention there this is an air and Land Blockade on gaza. There is very little option for these palestinians to flee. So this is going to be a difficult few hours, a difficult day ahead. As you heard from the israeli officials as well as Benjamin Netanyahu, the israeli Prime Minister, this isnt just going to be a day or two days here. He described this as a long operation ahead. Thank you. In london with the latest for us. Meanwhile, washington could announce new assistance for israel as early as sunday. Thats according to u. S. Officials who say the two countries are already talking about what kind of aid israel could use right now. The military aid was the subject of a phone call between President Joe Biden and israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on saturday. Kayla taushe has more. Reporter the white house is working around the clock to understand the scope of israels needs as it responds to these attacks, which the u. S. Is calling appalling and unprecedented. A Senior Administration official says the focus of the u. S. Is in assisting to keep the violence contained at this stage and that there are conversations happening up and down the Military Chain to deliver direct support to israel, which im told by sources Prime Minister netanyahu directly asked President Biden for in a phone call that the two leaders held on saturday. Officials have acknowledged that the lack of a speaker of the house of representatives in the u. S. And a permanent u. S. Ambassador to israel are unique challenges at this moment as the u. S. Tries to get support in a timely and fulsome manner to israel. But President Biden says that support from the u. S. Is rock solid and unwavering. The United States stands with israel. We will not ever fail to have their back. Well make sure that they have the help their citizens need, and they can continue to defend themselves. In the street, in their homes, innocent people murdered, wounded. Entire families taken hostage by hamas. Just days after they mark the holiest of days on the jewish calender. Its unconscionable. When i spoke with Prime Minister netanyahu this morning i told him the United States stands with the people of israel in the face of these terrorist assaults. Israel has the right to defend itself and its people, full stop. Reporter while biden did not specify the target of that particular message, u. S. Officials have been clear in irans role as a longtime sponsor of hamas. But when asked whether they believe that iran was behind the hamas attacks in recent days, the u. S. Said that they could not yet draw that conclusion. Kayla taushe, cnn, the white house. And joining me now cedric leighton. Always good to see you, sir. We keep going back to this thing ive been to gaza so many times i cannot count, but its one of the most surveilled areas in the middle east. This comes Out Of The Blue in a military sense, israel blindsided. Talk about that failure and why you think that might have happened. I think this is one of the classic failures of technology. When you look at your experience when you went to gaza you saw the techniques the israelis had, the equipment, the devices they used. And we know there were other things they were doing in terms of monitoring radio traffic, telephone traffic, all those things. What hamas did, what their leadership did is apparently moved off the normal modern Communications Links we take for granted every day and went back to what you did in the 19th century, facetoface meetings. They went and used couriers instead of going in and using the telephone or cellphone. And that i think played a large role in doing this. They seemed to be very patient, hamas, in terms of how they planned this, how they carried it out. And it really i think takes us back to a point where we have to look at the fact that technological intelligence is not always the endall and be all weve gotten used to from a technology perspective. I was talking about this earlier with somebody else, israel has literally for years said it will and wanted to destroy the military capabilities of hamas. And clearly thats failed, so what are israels options now . The options are really limited, michael. And, you know, this is one of those headaches that war planners always have because its one thing to bomb something into oblivion, but its a completely different thing to take control of a society and take control of a mindset and change that mindset. This is you know, theres no way the socalled Hearts And Minds of hamas and its adherents are going to be changed in any way, shape, or form by what the israelis do. But on the other hand the israelis have to respond to what happened here. In essence theyre caught between a rock and a hard place because they really dont have any military means to change the things that brought them to this point. So what well see is, unfortunately, a continuation of this conflict but at a much higher level until and unless cooler heads prevail, and thats going to be i think a very difficult thing to achieve at this point. Given given obviously the depth of planning that went into this and it must have been a lot and probably over a long period of time, one imagines that, you know, hamas went into this knowing the possibility or even the likelihood of an Israeli Ground incursion. How prepared do you think hamas will be for that eventuality, a ground operation, and could that be why they took ohostages into gaza . I think that may be the main reason they took hostages. Prapts hamas and terrorists in the middle east have used hostages as a Bargaining Tool and policy for many, many decades. But the way in which theyve done this does reflect a degree of meticulous planning, and i think what theyre looking at is keeping those hostages so that a Ground Incursion by the israelis would have only limited success and may, you know, be a very difficult thing for the israelis to achieve. So the israelis are going to have to be meticulous if they do plan Something Like this. Its going to be hard to find where the hostages are and extraicate them forcibly. This will require more diplomacy than forceful means. Israel should definitely plan for both possibilities at this point. I guess when it comes to hostages, israels got some pretty capable Special Forces who can carry out such things and have done in the past. The thing is they would be relying on intelligence in terms of where the hostages are and so on, and we have seen this Intelligence Failure. So would that complicate hostage recovery, make it that much more perilous . It certainly could, but i think we also have to make the distinction between a strategic intelligence fail, which this seems to be, as opposed to a tactical intelligence situation. A tactical intelligence situation is one in which now things have happened, they may very well find the ways in which they can trace where hamas is. They may be able to find telltale signs of where the hostages are perhaps, you know, where they have been, and that becomes something they can use from a forensic standpoint in order to track them and potentially extricate them from gaza. Its not a done deal either way, but it is absolutely a proposition for israelis to conduct such operations. Theres no doubt about it. One thing thats been staggering about this, too the most staggering thing is infiltrations nobodys ever seen before in covering this conflict. It was the massive number of rockets fired in a short period of time. Where does hamas gaza is blockaded. I mean not much gets in or out the israelis dont know about. Where does hamas get the material to make and fuel and arm these rockets . Do we know . Yes, so theres several theories and in some cases we have concrete evidence, but the hamas forces have developed various techniques to manufacture some rockets, Reverse Engineer some others, and they get a lot of aid through several means. Most of it coming eventually it can be traced back to places like iran. In some cases theres some connection to hezbollah, in lebanon and other areas in that region. But it is something where theres been a lot of ill call it indigenous work, if you will, thats been going on in gaza by hamas itself. And theyve been pretty good at figuring out certain things, Reverse Engineering others and learning from mistakes theyve made in the past, so theyve become a fairly effective Insurgent Force. And i would characterize them has an Insurgent Force as that is more what theyre like as compared today a regular army at this point. Really appreciate you sticking around for us, cedric leighton. Colonel, thanks so much. Good to see you as always. Good to see you, too. Israels fight against hamas who invaded the country basically have stretched into the wee hours of the morning, and israel already striking back inside gaza as weve been reporting. The latest updates from the middle east coming up. Also we talked to a former ambassador of the region about what the end game is for hamas in this sudden and dramatic escalation. Well be right back. The israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the nation is facing a, quote, long and difficult war following hamas shocking attack on israel. Israel unleashing furious rocket fire overnight against gaza, and the israely military telling Gaza Civilians to evacuate residential areas. This all coming after that brazen and unprecedented assault on israel by the gazabased militant group. Israeli sources say hamas has launched thousands of rockets against israeli towns and cities including as far north as tel aviv and sent as many as a thousand fighters into israeli towns killing some 300 israeli civilians and soliers and kids napping some others. Mr. Netanyahu vowing to destroy hamas wherever its leaders and fighters hide. The former Opposition Leader is urging mr. Netanyahu to put aside their political differences and form an Emergency Government. In a statement he said Prime Minister netanyahu knows with extreme and dysfunctional security cabinet, he cant manage a war. Israel needs to be led by a professional, experienced, and responsible government. He went on, we need to put politics to one side for the sake of an Emergency Government which will manage the situation with determination and wont deal with anything else until we achieve victory over our enemies. Cnns Nic Robertson is just a few miles from the gaza border and has the latest for us. Reporter what were witnessing here, the first time that weve seen it tonight, is Israeli Heavy Armor Being transported in towards gaza. Thats the road to gaza about 2 1 2 miles, 3 kilometers that way, and these are israeli battle tanks. Ive counted at least five. There are more transporting them coming around the corner. The night has been very active. Beyond that check point there, that is the area where the Israeli Defense forces have been contesting with hamas militants who are still inside israel. Where we are, this is the area that israel controls proper. Beyond that, it is still an active military zone. These tanks are being moved into that zone. Weve heard Helicopter Gun ships attacking positions on the ground. Weve seen Special Forces moving in and out of the area around here. And weve seen a lot of missile fire coming out of gaza by hamas militants and others potentially fired out of gaza and intercepted by iron dome defensive missile systems. Iron dome has been firing up from over here. The intercept has been happening literally overhead. And that has happened on multiple occasions. Weve been hearing as well israeli jets flying towards gaza, and then weve heard explosions, heavy explosions at times, flashes on the horizon through the night. So this is a very dynamic and fluid situation. But this is the first time we are seeing heavy israeli battle armor moving towards gaza. Perhaps theres steps of future deployments. Nic robertson, israel. Joining me now the former ambassador to iraq and turkey, james jeffrey. Mr. Ambassador, really appreciate you making the time. What do you think hamas calculation was with this operation and the timing and the scale of it . First, we saw israel weakened by internal West Bank Policy and judicial reform. Secondly, its closely aligned with iran. It wants to block cooperation between israel and the United States, mostly saudi arabia. They hadnt considered how strongly israel is going to react, and that would be strong indeed. What has happened would suggest in terms of hamas capabilities, resources. And given their preparations for the attack itself, how prepared do you think they are for whats to come . Theyll be expecting whatever the response is. To be sure. First, the iron dome air Defense System actually worked very well despite many thousands of rockets. Theres been no major installations. It and very few israeli casualties. The way hamas succeeded brilliantly was this ground, air, and Sea Infantry Assault on israeli bases and israeli civilian communities near gaza with many, many hostages taken, hundreds of people killed. That is a huge blow, and israel has given audits to the idf as per the Israeli Defense spokesman on cnn an hour ago to eliminate hamas offensive capability and eliminate hamas ability to govern in gaza. That is tantamount to destroying hamas, and that is a big agenda. Israel is going to have to go in on the ground and in a big way. Sadly, the routine seems to be, you know, flare up, albeit it this one bigger than others, then a period of quiet, and then it happens all over again. What fundamental changes if any can be brought to end that cycle . Remember relatively minor hezbollah attack out of lebanon and other iranian backed Terrorist Group in 2006 produced a massive not tactically very good but strategically effective Israeli Offensive into lebanon that has kept that front quiet now for 17 years. Thats what israel will seek. They are going to go in. I see no other alternative to them, and they are going to take down hamas as a Major Military force. We did this with the Islamic State and iraq and syria in 2015 and 2019. It is a long and bloody and tough fight. And the israelis are getting ready for it. But hamas has provoked israel in a way it hadnt been provoked since 50 years ago. Israel has said many times i think covering it for decades, theyre going to destroy hamas, theyre going to destroy their capability. You know, the gaza gaza is in syria. You know, 2 million civilians in a very small area. They havent been able to do that to hamas before now. Why would they be able to do it now . What would it take to do that . Thats a good question, very important to your viewers many of them american because this is going to involve america. Before there was an understanding unwritten with hamas and gaza, you can fire rockets at us, well do minor incursions, bomb some of your headquarters, and then it settles again. Weve seen that in 2008. We saw that again in 2014. We saw it again in 2021. But hamas broke the rules. They have asserted the ability to assault israel and attack israeli civilians in a way we have not seen since the 1948 walk. Israel has to respond. They have to take out hamas, and the israely people or the israeli state will not live in peace. I have to implore you this is not normal. Thats what netanyahu is signaling. Thats what its an unprecedented israeli response to an unprecedented hamas attack. It certainly was unprecedented, never seen anything like that before with the infiltrators roaming the streets. Ambassador james jeffrey, really appreciate you making the time. Thanks so much. Thank you very much. As weve been reporting, hamas says it is Holding Dozens of israelis following the groups Surprise Raid from gaza. Well have the latest on the militant groups unprecedented attack and israels response when we come back. The power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network. Hamas claims it has captured dozens of Israeli Citizens and soldiers in its surprise incursion, a fact confirmed by the Israeli Military. Videos have surfaced online such as this one geolocated by cnn showing an israeli woman being forcibly pushed into a vehicle and taken away. A Spokesman Says it doesnt have a firm number of possible hostages but describes it as a significant number. Families of the missing are being urged to share information including dna with police as soon as it is safe to do so. European leaders and others around the world have been reacting to the hamas attack on israel. European Commission President ursula vanderlen, she posted on x formerly known as twitter the eu mourns the victims and stands by israels right to defend itself. Meanwhile there were demonstrations of support for hamas in some parts of the middle east. Thousands of yemenese took to the streets in the capital saturday to rally. You see the palestinian flags being waved and chants of support for gaza. The scene similar in kuwait where Tens Of Thousands gathered today show their support. Cnns Sal Mu Abdel Aziz shows us how others are reacting to the situation. Reporter Un Precedented Attack by hamas on israel. Israels full war response including a declaration it was at war with hamas and a vow to exact a huge price on those responsible. Translator i have ordered reserves and we return fire in a magnitude many have not known. Reporter many allies say they stand with israel, saying it has the right to defend itself after such a large scale and brazen attack. Let me say this as clearly as i can. This is not a moment any party hostile to israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage. The world is watching. Reporter no signs now of the previous rocky relations between biden and netanyahu. That flared between the two leaders after a controversial judicial reforms in israel. Germany, france, and the u. K. Also weighing in. All three countries calling the attack an act of terror with germanys Foreign Minister Warning of the dangers of further violence. Translator hamas terror once again moved the region further away from peace. Through these terror attacks theres the incalculable danger of a large regional escalation. Reporter regional players like egypt and saudi arabia are appealing for calm, calling on both sides to stop the fighting. Before the hostilities erupted, rihad was in talks. Qatar which historically has had both financial and political ties to hamas says it solely blames israel, though some experts say qatar could possibly play a part in future efforts to deescalate the crisis. We can improve relations with israelys but they have been very supportive of islamists, and i think they want to maintain their ties and contacts with with hamas. They may come in to play a role. Reporter Lebanese Militant Group hezbollah, which is backed by israels archenemy, iran, praised the attacks. Say tg was in contact with Palestinian Resistance groups both at home and abroad, adding further concerns that what began as a shocking start could spread into a wider conflict. Cnn, london. Now, one of the top questions arising from the hamas attack on israel is how did hamas Plan It Without Israel Finding Out . Well discuss what appears to be a major Intelligence Failure with the top middle east analyst in just a moment. Cmon, were right there. Cmon baby. Its 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. Theyre noise cancelling earmuffs. I stole them from an airport. Its always something with you, man. Great solid greek salad . Exactly dont delay the game with verizon or tmobile 5g Home Internet. Catch it on the xfinity 10g network. Israels Defense Force says theyre still fighting off militants who storm an izrilly town in a gaza attack on saturday. Earlier they said they regained control of a Police Station which had been seized bihamas fightersch israel has also carried out a wave of strikes in gaza killing at least 240 people according to the Palestinian Health authority. And attacks by hamas have so far killed at least 300 israelis. Joining me now is the director at the center for Middle East Policy at the brookings institution. Thanks for making the time. When you look at this attack, you have to also look at this apparent failure of intelligence to have a hint that it was coming. What do you make of that . Its a remarkable failure. Its really one thats second only to the 1973 failure when egypt and syria attack surprise israel on the yom kippur war. This is truly remarkable and will have longterm repercussions in the israeli system with israelis demanding answers both of the military but with time also from the political echelon. We dont have answers yet why this happened. Clearly there was a misunderstanding, misconception about hamas priorities, the chance it would try to do something. And we saw very far far too few soldiers, far too few Military Personnel in the arena to stop this infiltration, clearly a failure. Given the planning hamas put into the operation and the extraordinary secrecy It Entailed Keeping it quiet, how prepared then do you think they are for what israel does next . Because you imagine they wouldnt put the preparation into the attack itself without, you know, realizing what was coming. Yes, absolutely. The first strike on israel is very important. Obviously hamas knew theyd be now facing a lengthy and difficult fight. And leadership is probably now hiding deep underground. Nonetheless, its quite possible they surprise themselves with the success of their initial attack, and they may find that in some ways its apparent victory. Israel has been awakened into really being willing to take kind of a cost and pay it price that it was not in previous rounds. I would not be surprised if this a very long fight and if israels willing to incur real costs it did not in the past while entering the gaza strip. It may be much more than hamas intended to bite off. There was obviously a plan to scoop up hostages, soldiers, but also civilians. That clearly was part of the operation. Do you think that was strategic as awful as it is, and how big of a prize for hamas in that regard . Well, this was the main goal. The whole point was to capture civilians and soldiers with two purposes. The first is they can serve as Human Shields in the gaza strip now. Hamas would hope that they would stop some of the israeli strikes. And the second and very important for hamas is the Bargaining Chips in exchanges in the future for prisoners that israel holds both from hamas and islamic jihad, the Small Organization in the strip. The leader of hamas in the strip, a political leader is himself a political prisoner as many leaders in hamas. And hes vowed many times to try to release other hamas in israeli prisoners. We saw hell give back over 1,000 prisoners for one soldier. And now with dozens of israeli children and elderly hamas is probably thinking it can get much more than that. What are your fears when it comes to the to the potential regional implications, particularly if hezbollah or lebanon decides to get involved. No sign of that at the moment. I just mentioned when he was abducted in 2006 les than three weeks later we saw hezbollah and lebanon join the fight and start the second lebanon war, a very bloody war that lasted over 30 days. Theres a real danger of that happening now. Ezbola has already been pushing the envelope and testing the ground, moving what was deterrence since 2006 and the past year thats been eroding, theres a real chance they try to join in this fight. Their friends in iran would certainly like to do that in this point in time. If that were to happen we could see horrific images in lebanon and of course northern israel, but lebanon will not be spared. I truly hope for lebanons sake, israels sake theyre deterred from doing this. We already heard from President Biden today not naming hezbollah but calling on any parties hostile to israel to be very wary entering the fray. That is the number one threat here that this as horrific as it already is, and this was a truly horrific 24 hours, that this could get far worse if hezbollah joins the fight. Perhaps not the time for domestic politics, but how does this impact mr. Netanyahu and his governments, domestically but also his reemginal plans more broadly . It shifts the attention in many ways from his domestic problems, but could his various Outreach Deals with places like saudi arabia be impacted because populations of a lot of those countries if not the governments are sympathetic to palestinians. Absolutely. Netanyahu has had a very difficult ten months of domestic unrest, huge protest against his government and against a far reaching plan that they had to change the Balance Of Power between Democratic Institutions in the country, threatening israels liberal democracy. These huge demonstrations are now on pause for the first time in over 30 weeks. Theyve been canceled. Weve seen all reservists show up for duty. And in that sense the domestic unrest is put to the side for now. But this kind of day, what israel saw, the debacle in many ways, is not going to be forgotten by anyone in israel and netanyahu is in charge. And politically speaking hes in very dire straits if he has reprieve now to conduct this war which is widely supported in israel obviously. So were seeing a reprieve of the politics. Weve seen both netanyahu and leaders of the opposition talk about an Emergency National unity government, but were also seeing an israeli public extremely angered under his leadership. The main goal for netanyahu in recent months has been trying to achieve normalization on the side of saudi arabia. Thats something here in washington the Biden Administration has been very active exploring. Its of course put on hold right now. Im not sure its off the table completely. Many people have said it is. Im not completely sure. Well have to see after this war ends whether or not it has changed fundamentals in the saudis israeli relationship. It was never based on the love of the israeli love but based on the leadership in saudi arabia. It may be back. In the meantime, of course, here in the United States we have a political cycle here that may throw a wrench into that. But i would not rule that possibility out quite as quickly yet. Wartime unity for now, political fallout perhaps later. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you. Still to come on the program, a look at how the unprecedented Surprise Attack on israel unfolded. When we come back. Ing about back. Israels Prime Minister is vowing to eliminate hamas from its stronghold in gaza. Benjamin netanyahu swearing mighty vengeance, as he put it, the day after hamas militants launched a massive air, rocket, and ground assault from gaza into southern israel. Israeli Officials Say more than 1,800 people have been injured in the country. The attack taking israels military and government by complete surprise. And now theyre responding in full force. Mr. Netanyahu saying israels government has decided to block the supply of electricity, fuel, and goods into gaza where 2 Million People live. Israel vowing to step up its retaliation against hamas targets after that day of attacks. At least 300 people are dead in israel, over 200 in gaza so far. The question many people are asking is, how did israel not see this coming . With some insight, heres the former head of mossad, israels intelligence service. No, i think this is a unique attack. We have had Intelligence Failures before, and weve been surprised. It is the first time that the people from gaza have been able to penetrate into israel, deep into israel. We had no warning of any kind. And it was a total surprise that war broke out this morning. More now on how the attack unfolded from cnns tom foreman. Reporter this extraordinary series of attacks began at 6 30 in the morning when israel was asleep with this massive barrage of rockets flowing out of gaza. Note this would be the level at which their most rudimentary rockets would hit, six miles or so. Then maybe 25 miles. And their most advanced rockets that would seem to reply on probably some Technology Beyond them, iran as many intelligence people would say, would reach up here to tel aviv, about 45 miles from here. Whatever the placement of them was, there were an awful lot of them. We dont have an exact count, but it appears to be in the thousands. That would matter because that would make it easier to overwhelm israels missile Defense System, the iron dome system, and make sure that some got through even if many were stopped. More importantly, by doing this, all indications are that laid the groundwork for what came next. At 7 40, an hour and 10 minutes later, thats when armed soldiers, fighters, started coming out of gaza into israel. Some by knocking down walls and barriers here, some coming in by air with powered parachutes, some by boats going around here. This was something, again, that indicated it was a very planned attack. And soon you saw people with Rocket Launchers and rifles running in the streets. They even went and engaged Military Bases where you would think they would expect the most opposition. Gives an idea of their degree of planning and confidence as they went in to attack the israelis. And of course weve seen those videos of the towns that have been raided near that area where we had reports of people being taken hostage and other people being killed. All of it speaks to this very notion weve been hearing about from the beginning, that this represents a level of planning and execution that is far deeper than what has typically been seen before. Tom foreman there. A number of countries around the world are lighting up some of their most famous landmarks in support of israel. In bear rin the israeli flag projected on the brandenburg gate. Chancello scholz posting in solidarity with israel. Italy showing its support. The israeli flag projected onto the official residence of the Prime Minister. In new york, the spire of the Freedom Tower is lit up in blue and white of the israeli flag. Thanks for watching our Breaking News coverage, spending part of your day with me. Im michael holmes. Dont go anywhere. Rail ra harrak picks up the coverage after the break