Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and Around The World. And israel warning it is punishing strikes against hamas and stronghold in gaza are just the beginning as it ratchets up its response to the attack. Israeli airstrikes have been pounding gaza and the military says more than 200 targets were hit. Benjamin netanyahu is promising israel will go after hamas, quote, like never before saying that their horrendous acts have not been seen since the time of isis. Savage attacks that hamas perpetrated against innocent israelis are mind boggling. Slau slaughtering families, Mastering Young People at a festival, scores of women, children and elderly, even holocaust survivors. Hamas has burned, bombed and executed children. They are savages. Hamas is isis. And just as the forces of civilization is united to defeat isis, the forces of civilization must support israel in gdefeatig hamas. Rockets are being launched as hamas threatens to begin killing civilian hostages if israel targets people in gaza without warning. All this as israel says it is adding additional troops along the border with lebanon. Lets go to the latest information. Joining us is i gdf spokesperso. Thank you so much for joining us. Take us through what your focus is today. Thank you, max, good morning. Here is what we know. The idf is currently conducting airstrikes against hamas targets. It is a response to the massacre that took place four days ago and we are still counting the casualties and fatalities. The strikes are being conducted against infrastructure, against the hamas command and control positions, against their Staging Grounds, and we are making sure that they cannot repeat attacks in towards israel. On the defensive side, we are making sure that the breach, the 20 or so breaches along the perimeter of sgagaza are no lon able to be breached and our forces are very strong on the ground in order to make sure that this attack, this most devastating attack, cannot be broadened beyond what they have already completed. The idf is currently operating in order to safe guard the civilians of the state of israel. What is your response to threats from hamas to kill and broadcast the deaths of hostages and how is that impacting your strategy Going Forward . Tha hamas has made the decision to go to war and they will bear the consequences. This is not acceptable to us and we need to be very clear in our messages. The situation of Killing Israelis is unacceptable. 900 israelis, more than 900, have been butchered, murdered in israel and that is something that well not accept. We will fight hamas and we will defeat hamas. In terms of the Ground Offensive, i know you probably dont want to give away sort of important intelligence around that, but having hostages within gaza, how does that change any plans you might have to go in, does it make you more wary to go in or does it change the strategy in any way . So we are currently getting preparing ourselves for what may come. There may be a need for a Ground Offensive as you highlighted. And we cant rule that out at the moment. We need to be very, very clear on our messages and on our targets against hamas. Hamas cannot use the territory of the gaza strip or the poor people of gaza as a Staging Ground to massacre israelis. That is unacceptable. Civilians being held hostage, israeli women, children, elderly, that are being held hostage are the responsibility of hamas. They need to set them free, they need to bring them to israel immediately. They are going to bear the consequence of the idea of military force. Can we just ask you about what is going on in the lebanese border. Because you have this other front now forming, havent you. We are sending clear messages to hezbollah that they dont want to get involved in what is going on the ground. Unfortunately, we had some skirmishes and fatalities on our side, but we are prepared on the border, we are prepared at sea, we are prepared in the air to defeat any enemy that tries to upset the already very fragile situation on the ground. Hezbollah is watching closely what is going on in gaza and they would be very wise to stay out of this. And a word if i could on the siege. It is very shocking to people Around The World to hear that 2 Million People are losing access to water and food, everyone medicine. Just explain your thinking on that and what does happen when civilians are affected. What is really shocking is that hundreds of terrorists storm into israel and Butchered Hundreds of israelis. That is something that cannot maintain. Hamas chose this fight. They will bear the consequences. They cannot expect as the ruling government of the gaza strip to butcher israelis and have the flow of water, electricity from israel. That is ridiculous. Nobody would expect anybody to supply these goods. Hamas have to bear the consequences of their actions. They are parading israeli women in the streets. They are showing videos of elderly people as they humiliate them in the streets of gaza. You expect us to feed them . No. Hamas needs to bear the consequences of their actions and they will. Finally to you, sir, what is your reaction when you see footage from Around The World of protests or rallies in support of the palestinian cause asking for support to israel to be dropped . Weve seen it even in cities like london. What would you say to those people . I would say that now is the time to be on the right side of history. Weve seen a lot of support from Around The World in israel. Weve seen buildings across the world being lit up in the colors of blue and white. Weve seen the leaders of the world standing on the right side of history with the people of israel that were butchered in their homes. Those minority fringe elements should be ashamed of themselves. When people are butchered in their homes, there is no justification for those actions. That is what i say. And i would really like to point out that when we are asked why are we doing this, there can be no justification for butchering families in their bedrooms. Imagine going to sleep and waking up at 7 00 in the morning and the Terrorist Standing over you with a gun, with an ak47, and splitting your family into different rooms in the house and executing a brother or a sister. That is something that we cannot accept as moral people, as independent people, and anybody who is identifying with those terrorists, with these abominations, is on the wrong side of history. Lieutenant colonel, thank you very much for joining us this morning. Were starting to see some of the damage from israels bombardment. Two journalists have been killed in an israeli airstrike. Video has been released and it shows one of the journalists on a stretcher clearly wearing a bulletproof vest labeled press. According to the hamas controlled government media office, reporters were covering the evacuation of a residential building in gaza. And joining us here in london is elliott gotkine. What is your response to that interview, has anything shifted in terms of the rhetoric weve been hearing . Reporter not really to be honest. They wont give us any tactics as to when or if a Ground Invasion is going to happen. He said that they are preparing for what may come. And the line up until now has been, you know, all options are on the table. I think that it would probably still be quite surprising if the Ground Invasion doesnt happen. But of course there are these complications as we discussed at The Best Of Times in terms of hamas knows the streets better than Israeli Soldiers. They will put booby traps. And there is the danger of not just being killed but taken prisoner as well. And there are already civilian hostages in gaza and probably more than 100 of them which clearly complicates matters. And we heard from the envoy to the u. N. Last night saying that this will not prevent israel from doing what it has to do, but i think overall peter there reiterating the kind of line that is weve heard so far. And in terms of the blockade, the Siege Of Gaza, which was announced by the Defense Minister yesterday, no food, no fuel, no water, no electricity going into the gaza strip. And peters response was go you expect us to feed them after what they have done killing more than 900 israelis. And the challenge there in terms of optics is people may sympathize when it comes to hamas, but there are a lot of people in gaza that have nothing to do with hamas. And i think his line there which is what you would expect is that anything that happens now inside the gaza strip, anything that happens to whether it is the militants or the civilian population, is on the head of the militants. They started this. They are responsible. And not just responsibility for the reaction of israel which is what we saw last night including command and control posts, weapon Storage Facilities located in mosques, all of what were seeing in the gaza strip right now is on the head of hamas pot just because they are the militants that launched this attack, this unprecedented attack on israel, probably one of the darkest single days in israels history since it was founded in 1948, but also of course hamas controls the gaza strip. It is effectively the government of the gaza strip. So from israels perspective, the line that we just heard from peter is that this is all on the head of hamas. And any consequences, whether a lack of food or water, also on the head of hamas. He wielliott, thank you so m. For too many families, the horror is far from over. Their loved ones are being held by hamas. And they say that they will begin killing civilian hostages and broadcast it if israel targets people in gaza without any warning. Anderson cooper spoke with one suffering mother. When we met, she was scrolling online looking at hostage videos, searching for new pictures of her captured daughters. When did you learn that your daughters were missing . Translator my sister sent me a photo of my older daughter sitting on a mattress in gaza, he she saved it on her phone and posted by hamas. The writing in arabic says dress her in prayer clothes, it is better. I thought at first that it was some kind of photo shop, the arabs did. I didnt think such a thing could be possible. You didnt believe it . No. My daughter . No. How does she look to you here . Afraid. Shock. And she later saw this 30 minute hamas video live streamed on facebook. Her former husband has a leg wound and taken away. Armed gunman take his partner and son and two terrified daughters. Translator they are my whole life, those girls. She are everything i wanted all my life. This is my existence, to be a mother. It is all i wanted. Country want to be rich. Country want to be married. I didnt want anything. I wanted to be a mom. To feel close to her daughters, she wears a tiedye dress sha that she made for her. And she has given dna soomps to authorities but says shes heard nothing. She just wants her daughters and all the hostages returned. I hope my dwauts are watching t this and im sending them a hug, she says. I believe everyone will return and know that were here, the whole family together. Support being each other, cooperating, working together to get them back. Anderson cooper, cnn, tel aviv. Still to come, israels Prime Minister says recent attacks on hamas stronghold are just the beginning. Details of the devastating impact on civilians. And plus demonstrators convene in major cities worldwide to protest both sides in the Israeli Palestinian con conflict. Skyline of gaza this morning, you can see some smoke on the top right. That was an explosion more central to the picture just a few minutes ago. The idf telling us earlier in the program that their focus today is on hamas infrastructure within gaza, Staging Grounds trying to prevent them from doing again what they did on saturday which was fire off those rockets from various positions across gaza and idf saying that they are focusing on taking all those out today. As the United Nations says Emergency Shelters in gaza are 90 capacity right now with more than 137,000 people taking cover from israeli attacks. Israels Defense Minister has given the order for a complete siege of the region, that means cutting off all utilities and aid to gaza. Ben wedeman has more on what palestinians there are enduring. And we have to warn you some of the images are graphic. Reporter moments after israeli airstrike on this refugee camp, desperate calls for help, the dead, dying and injured covered in dust and blood. Israels wrath is now unleashed upon gaza. The israelis say they hit the building without warning. They didnt ask us to evacuate, they didnt say anything. Suddenly we heard the airstrike and we ran to the building and found it had completely collapsed. Around 75,000 people have already been displaced. In this cramped strip of land along the mediterranean, 2 million palestinians are now in the crosshairs of an enemy bent on revenge for hamas Surprise Attack which left hundreds of israelis dead and thousand wounded and dozens now in hamas captivity. By evening, the death toll in gaza was approaching 700 with almost 4,000 wounded according to the Palestinian Health ministry. Monday evening this spokesman for hamas issued a grim warning, they will start executing their civilian hostages and broadcasting those executions if israel targets people in gaza without warning. Gaza and israel have gone to war many times before since hamas took control. This will not be yet another brief outbreak of attack and counterattack before a return to the status quo. Israel is amassing troops and armor on the outskirts of gaza preparing in all likelihood for a Ground Invasion on a scale not seen before. And now israels Defense Minister has ordered what he called a complete Siege Of Gaza cutting off all food, fuel and electricity. That in a place where according to the World Food Program 63 of the population was food insecure before this war began. So much has happened since saturday morning in israel and gaza and it is only the beginning. Ben wedeman, cnn, jerusalem. European union says aid payments for palestinians will not be suspended following comments from one of its officials that funds will be halted. The bloc says it is launching an urgent review of the assistance being sent to palestinians. Nada bashir is following those developments for us. A bit of an odd comment yesterday suggesting that the aid would be cut off, but the bigger debate seems to be how to get aid into help civilians without it going to hamas. Absolutely. Were talking about the eu aid package to palestinians, it is not just palestinians in gaza which is of course under the leadership of hamas, but aid in the occupied west bank and East Jerusalem and camps in neighboring countries as well. This is a significant aid package and it provides support in terms of food and education, security, in terms of water as well. So this is crucial. We talk about the situation in gaza of course particularly now following the announcement by israels Defense Minister that israel will be laying a complete siege on gaza, that means no food, no electricity, no fuel getting into gaza, this is a very small very busy enclave which has been under blockade since 2007, and that humanitarian impact will be dire. Take a listen to these comments from the u. N. Secretarygeneral antonio guterres. Im deeply distressed by todays announcement that israel will initiate a complete seizure of the gaza strip, nothing allowed in, no electricity, food or fuel. The humanitarian situation in gaza was extremely vile before these hostilities and now it will only deteriorate exponentially. Of course we have heard from European Union officials and they said that that humanitarian aid for palestinians will not be suspended, that aid will continue so long as palestinians are in need of that aid. But of course as you mentioned, there is going to be a review of that aid package. But of course there is also concern about how far this situation could De Tteriorate particularly as we anticipate an escalation of violence and well see more airstrikes being launched by the idf on gaza. This is a very difficult, complex situation. Because when we talk about the airstrikes on gaza, the Israel Defense forces say they are targeting hamas targets. But is this a small enclave that has been under blockade. There is nowhere for many of the palestinians to turn. The u. N. Refugee agency for palestinians has said that there are some 180,000 palestinians in gaza that have already been displaced following this latest escalation of violence. Many are taking shelter in u. N. Schools, but many of those schools are now at capacity. As we have seen in the past and in fact as we saw yesterday, these strikes, almost impossible to avoid civilian casualties. We saw yesterday another strike by the idf which has made impact on Refugee Camps in gaza. Weve heard from local Officials Saying that this has impacted medical facilities as well. So it is going to have a significant civilian impact and the humanitarian situation is only going to tee tearer rate as you heard there from the u. N. Secretarygeneral. Escalation at this stage appears inevitable because discussions about a potential ground incursion, the fact the hostages still remain. What is the status of the regional players that would be able to exert pressure here . There must be urgent discussions going on behind the scenes. Absolutely. Is t this is a huge concern