Welcome to our viewers in the United States and watching Around The World to cnns continuing coverage of israel at war. Im Anderson Cooper in tel aviv. And im Kaitlan Collins in new york. Tonight, in a new interview, President Biden has just warned that israel should not try to reoccupy gaza, while adding that he does believe israel and im quoting the president now has to respond to the hamas assault that has killed 1,400 people, including, tonight, we are learning, 30 americans. All of this comes as President Biden is weighing whether to visit israel in the coming days, following an invitation by Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu. But first, we want to bring you the lathe on a number of developments unfolding here and in the region. A short time ago, the president of the Palestinian Authority issued his first public condemnation of the hamas attack. Mahmoud abbas, speaking with venezuelas president , called for an end to civilian casualties, the release of prisoners, and a rejection of violence. Also tonight, gaza is running out of water and running out of life. Those are the words those are the exact words coming from a United Nations agency, warning that the israeli blockade and air strikes are pushing civilians into an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. The u. N. Is seeking a safe corridor to provide essential supplies, such as fuel, water, food, and medicine. Palestinian Officials Say the number of People Killed has surpassed 2,600 so far, and along israels border with gaza right now, more than 300,000 soldiers, tanks, Heavy Equipment await orders. A Ground Invasion seems all but inevitable. The question, of course, is when and what will it look like. We want to begin our coverage just north of the gaza porter. Cnns Clarissa Ward is in the town of ashkalon, israel. How significant is this condemnation of the hamas attack from Palestinian AuthorityMahmoud Abbas . Reporter well, i think, anderson, that on the israeli side, it will be seen significant only in that it took nine full days to issue this condemnation. On the palestinian side, i think its fair to say that Mackhmoud Abbas has very little credibility, particularly for those palestinians who are inside gaza, from what we are hearing, abbas issued this condemnation really at the urging of Secretary Of State antony blinken. He did say that he condemns the attacks, that the hostages must be released, but certainly, on the ground here, i dont think anyone expects this to significantly move the needle, anderson. And clarissa, aide workers say that gaza has already plunged into what they call a complete catastrophe. How dire is the humanitarian situation just ten days into the war . And do we have any sense of how many people in the north may have heeded the warnings and moved to the south . Well, i just spoke to this 22yearold dentistry student, who we interviewed actually for your show on friday, yarda, she lives in northern gaza. She said that she and her family are still there in northern gaza. That they dont feel safe moving at the moment. That they dont have any place to go. Particularly, they dont have any place with electricity. And this is, i think, youre seeing, many people are moving. Many others are simply too afraid. The u. N. Has come out and said that this is a catastrophe. They have said that the world has lost its humanity. That they have had eight days now with no ability to get electricity, water, food. The idf, Israeli Defense forces did come out and say that they have turned back on the water in Southern Gaza. So far, though, that has not been confirmed by people on the ground. One of the things theyre saying that makes it difficult to gauge is that they dont have electricity to power the pumps that are needed to actually get the water out of the taps, so to speak. So rapidly escalating humanitarian crisis with no real end in sight, anderson. You know, we have seen this play out multiple times over the years. The International Community is Ratcheting Up pressure now on israel to ease the suffering of the people in gaza. What happens next . Obviously, israel seems intent on moving forward with its the next step. I mean, were definitely seeing a Ratcheting Up of the language. You heard Secretary Of State blinken say that its really important, the way israel does this. Weve heard european leaders urging for restraint. But i just want to draw your attention to a tweet from ursula vonderlon. Shes talking about russia in the context of ukraine and says, quote, cutting off men, women, children of water, electricity, and heat, these are pure acts of terror and we have to call it as such. And i think what this does, anderson, it feeds into this strong perception of a double standard. You have so much anger, so much outrage, not just from palestinians in gaza, but across the arab world and beyond that they dont feel that israels supporters and particularly the u. S. Are doing enough to really push israel to try to facilitate the opening of this humanitarian kror corridor. We did hear earlier on from israels ambassador to the u. S. That they are working on this construction of some type of humanitarian zone in Southern Gaza that would be able to potentially meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of people, but there are still so many obstacles that need to be cleared, anderson, before that can actually happen. That rafa Border Crossing with egypt so far has not been opened. There is a strong expectation that it may open tomorrow, but not for long periods of time, and not in a way that will allow for unfettered access and a huge amount of volume of aid to be allowed in, which is really whats needed at this stage, anderson. Clarissa ward, thanks very much. Quote, i want to read to you now, it has been a crucible and in some ways, a distraction. That is how mayor editor in chief of the Jerusalem Post describes reporting on what he calls his countrys 9 11. In a new editors note titled reporting on a pogrom, it describes his decision to work through shabbat, which he has observed his entire life. Writing, quote, while i need a break more than anything else, im also concerned. Concerned that without the frenetic activity of running a 24hour news site, putting out a daily paper, managing a newsroom and telling the world what transpired here, i may actually be left alone with my thoughts, with the firstperson accounts ive read and with the images ive seen and cant unsee and i dont know what im going to do when it hits me. Avi mayer joins us now. Thank you so much for being us. You know this region well. You were a former Idf Spokesperson years ago. Talk us through how you are covering this and what you think happens now in terms of the International Response and the effect of that on what happens in the days ahead. Well, anderson, this has been the most devastating experience of my life and i know thats certainly true of many israelis. Were a country in shock, a country in trauma. I would say a country in mourning, in many respects. You know youre here, youre seeing it yourself. And that, i think, permeates every aspect of society. It and permeates our newsroom, as well. Theres not a Single Person in israel who doesnt know a family or know someone personally who has been affected by this, whos lost a loved one, a parent, a child, a grandparent, or whose loved ones have gone missing and are pursued kidnapped in gaza and thats true in our newsroom as well. Its been an extremely difficult weekend. And i wrote that piece just before this shabbat, this past weekend. And you know, shabbat is a time when youre with friends and family and i was with my friends and their children and i have to tell you, i cant be around small children without starting to tear up. I think about the children who were massacred, who were slaughtered in their own homes just one week ago and my heart just breaks. And i think many people are having that experience here in israel today. As for how things go forward, i think many israelis are determined to see hamas brought down. They want to ensure that it never has the capacity to engage in the kinds of atrocities that were perpetrated just last week, which is why you see this Mass Mobilization of israelis in response to the governments border, as you said, 300,000 israeli troops are currently amassed on the border with gaza, waiting to just go in and do whatever they can to dismantle hamas infrastructure, dismantle its leadership, and do whatever they can to ensure that it can never do anything like this ever ag again. Ive talked to a lot of israelis who are concerned about a shift in the International Communitys sperpgs of whats going on here and potter for israel in this, which weve seen a lot of over the last week. This is what has happened in the past. There have been Ground Operations and gradually pressure builds for israel to for there to be a ceasefire. Part of that is based on the horrific images coming out of gaza. We see people, little children dead in hospitals, we know what the humanitarian catastrophe looks like in gaza. As a reporter, when you see that, what stands out to you and how should that Impact Events . Images in gaza are difficult to see. I dont think theres any decent person in the world who would see them and not feel for those who have been used as human shields, as hamas embeds itself in civilian areas to ensure that any israeli air vstrikes will inevitably cause civilian casualties. There isnt any person who doesnt watch and isnt affected by it. And at the same time as israelis, we have to call upon our government and expect them to do whatever they must to bring an end to the threat posed by hamas and ensure that they can never, ever engage in the kind of atrocities, murdering 1,300 men, women, children, elderly, babies, that they did just last week. It can never ever happen again. Yes, they hope that that humanitarian corridor can be put in place. That those who are able to escape do, in fact, do so. And are not prevented by hamas threats or road politic blocks prevent them from leaving those areas. But at the same time, many israelis feel that the israeli government, the Israeli Military just simply has to do what it has to do in order to put an end to the threat posed by hamas. Based on your experience, based on what youve seen with previous Ground Operations in gaza, and knowing clearly hamas has been preparing for this inevitable operation for, you know, we believe, the latest reporting, maybe as much as two years, planning this attack. They have clearly been expecting a Ground Operation in response to such attack. What do you think what are the lessons from past operations that you think will be applied this time from israeli forces. I think theres the sad inevitable of israeli cas casualties. That will happen anytime Ground Forces go into any area, a place like gaza, boobytrapped in every respect, webbed with tunnels that are used for Attack Purposes and violence. So unfortunately, it looks like that is a likelihood. That is something that israelis are keenly aware of. And at the same time, they acknowledge that there is really no way to ensure that hamas is sufficiently dealt a blow, is sufficiently affected in their capabilities without having some kind of ground offensive. You cant do it all from air. And if israel were to carpet bomb gaza, which it would never do, that would draw way more civilian casualties if they were able to go in and do it by ground. This has been the practice for many years, to ensure that Ground Troops do go in, endangering their own lives while trying to spare palestinian civilian lives and thats what israel will be doing now as well. Avi mayer, appreciate your time this evening. Thank you very much. Thank you. The United NationsSecretary General says we are on the verge of the abyss in the middle east and the white house is not ruling out sending troops to help free the americans held by hamas. I want to stay with our Special Coverage as we continue from tel aviv. Well be right back. When hamas launched its Terror Attack on israel in the early hours of october 7th, many israelis were just waking up. I spoke earlier with a man who lives on the border that was invaded that morning by a group of hamas gunman. The rest of the kibbutz tried to hide from the attackers. Heres what he told me about that day. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. When the rockets started, i believe you were out walking your dog. Explain what the next 16 or so hours was like for you and your family. Well, take the worst you can imagine, add a bit more. And then you have a bit of what i had. It was a nightmare. Nothing you can imagine and youre locked in a confined place. Some of my friends and colleagues, family, have been even few weve actually been only two of us, my spouse, myself, and the dog. About i know eight people crowded in this place or even more. Everything is locked. You see nothing outside. I should point out, you live in beeri, which was attacked by hamas very early on, on saturday morning. It was the scene of horrific brutal by hamas on the ground there. And you got your safe room and i know other members of your family got to their safe rooms, as well. But you were on a Whatsapp Group following every move that these terrorists were making, as they moved around killing people. Well, the kibbutz has an app for internal message, mainly for the daily life. It knows about whats going on in the culture, what is about health care and what about dining room, you know, things like that. Add to that, as a family, we have our own family, and each one talking to other people. You get a lot of information from a lot of place. Its in the kibbutz. Add to that that all of my friends start calling me in the middle of this chaos and i cant answer anyone, because i see on the news what is going on. Which is more than i can at the mo moment, so you sit there and you are literally blind. And just can imagine what is going on elsewhere. You get a message from one, please, somebody, go to my mothers house. Theyre breaking down the safe room door. Please, go to save my uncle. Theyre burning down his house. And smoke is coming into the and theyre going up the stairs. We hear arabic shouting outside. And you know, these kind of messages all over the kibbutz. And everybody is asking, where is the military . Where is the military . For hours and on and on, and there is no answer, from nowhere, at the moment. So you really start doubting what is going on. And at the time, you get you start getting, you know, those online videos that hamas is showing all over the media. Sometimes you can see your kibbutz there, where theyre going. And its horrific. Its terrible. So you would actually see jihadiststyle videos of hamas gunmen in your kibbutz, in your community, and in other communities, while youre in your safe room . Yes. I understand your dog was with and you were scared that the dog might bark and alert the attackers to your location. Yeah, we we were quite afraid, but for a reason we dont know why, she just kept quiet for 17 1 2 hours. Weve been to the safe room. The dog on the flight underneath us, below, just below, was barking. And on a normal day, my dog would help. Dont shout alone, i will help. But this time, she didnt, i dont know why, but that was a lifesaver, literally. Do you know how many people in your kibbutz were killed or kidnapped or wounded or are missing . We are a community of 1,200 people, give or take. More than 110 killed. And some of them kidnapped. So we get we are talking about a greater number than 110 in total. Including my sister and her husband. That are missing now. Your sister and her husband. Were they taken from they were taken from beeri . Either they are killed or in gaza, yes. We lost contact with my father about at 11 00 a. M. , and with my sister, the last time on whatsapp, last seen, 11 16 a. M. We lost contact with them. And we didnt know what happened. Later on when we rescued, i found my father and his taker alive and well, shook but alive. My father was a war prisoner in 1973 war in egypt and its like all over again for him. Lucky this time, it was only three hours that he sat and talked with his Hamas Terrorists in his house. And eventually, they let him go, because hes 93 years old and he might slow them down or because they felt pity, i dont know. But they said, were going to leave you here because youre too old. Do you have any you have no word about your sister or her husband . You havent seen any videos or anything . No. We havent seen any of it. We tried to spread the word around, if anybody seen or heard, but nothing. Wayshat is your sisters nam and her husbands name . Myana hirschowitz. Thank you for your time tonight and i hope you get word very quickly about your family. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Now, Tens Of Thousands of palestinians are trying escape air strikes and the situation in gaza city and elsewhere in the north. Coming up next, one u. S. Lawmakers efforts to get americans home from the region. Youre probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for you