Transcripts For CNNW CNN 20240703

Hello and welcome to our viewers, joining us here in the United States and All Around The World as we continue our breaking News Coverage of israel at war. Im Rosemary Church and we begin with new remarks from u. S. President joe biden who is warning that israel should not try to occupy gaza as an Israeli Ground occupation seems all invasion all scenes inevitable. Respond to the hamas attacks that killed 1400 feex but issued this call for restraint. I think it would be a big mistake. What happened in gaza in my view is hamas and the extreme elements of hamas dont represent all the Palestinian People. And i think that it would be a mistake to put israel to occupy gaza again. But to going in and taking out the extremist, the hezbollah, is up north but hamas down south is a necessary requirement. Do you believe that hamas must be eliminated entirely . Yes i do. But there needs to be a Palestinian Authority. There needs to be a path to a palestinian state. Those comments as Tens Of Thousands of palestinians flee south after the Israeli Military urged civilians to leave northern gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry Says that more than 2600 people have been killed and is appealing for humanitarian aid as conditions deteriorate in gaza. Deliveries have been piling up on the rafah side of gaza. U. S. Secretary of state Antony Blinken promises that it will be open but the situation at the crossing will remain fluid and unpredictability. Well, meantime, israeli troops are gathering near gaza. The last time was 2014. Nick robertson looks bat at the operation then and what is israel is planning now. Reporter close to gaza, preparations underway for a much anticipated Ground Offensive. Troops from different units training together. There is a an urgency here, they have to be ready fast. Right now this is a rehearsal if and when there is an incursion, these troops could be in front of them. Tanks, model ones right now followed by infan try and combat engineers. A combined force spearheading an incursion. If they do, major afek would be close to the front. We expect to go to war, destroy the terrorist group hamas, thats how we plan to do and thats how it will be. Reporter The Last Time the idf went into gaza targeting hamass leaders was 20 train. Ariel bernstein was 21, Special Forces one of of the first to cross the border. Were just afraid that there is something waiting for you at every corner. Reporter but his experiences then have left him questioning the tactics today. Back then he says the idf warned civilians to leave and hamas told them to stay. Just as its happening now. But some had stayed. His orders he says assume the civilians had left. Whoever you see is basically engaged in fighting, fire which any home you enter, with any kind of shape of a person that you see from afar. Reporter in many ways, israels actions are playing out, just as they have in the past, 2021 gun positions, freshly dug back in use. And in gaza the civilian death toll, according to Palestinian Health officials already higher than in 2014. And like then, israel is already facing Huge International pressure to avoid more Civilian Casualties. What we are doing is saying privately what weve said publicly which is that all Military Operations should be conducted consistent with the law of war, that civilians should be protected. The problem the idf says it faces just like 2014, hamas will be hiding among civilians. The whole situation hamas being hidden, is the responsibility is with hamas, our responsibility is to eliminate hamas entirely. If he is sent into gaza avoiding civilian deaths would be easy. Reporter do you think its possible to fight hamas without civilians getting injured . Were concerned with overthrowing the hamas regime and killing the terrorists currently in gaza. If it is difficult at the time be difficult not easy. Trooms are saying their fond farewells. Nick robertson cnn, southern israel. Cnns joins us live from london, good morning to you, claire. The death toll continues to rise in gaza as the humanitarian crisis worsens, 4900 civilians are declared dead, what is the latest on the ongoing war and of course its consequences. The i. Df saying over the weekend this is a new phase in the War Reference clearly to that much anticipated counteroffensive, nick was covering the preparation for that. They also claim that in their aerial bombardment of gaza they have killed a number of key hamas leaders keen to show that they are meeting their goals there, despite of course the heavy toll were seeing on civilians in that region. And then of course the Ground Offensive still very much complicated by the ongoing issue of these hostages. The Israel Forces to say 145 people being held by hamas. Interestingly the u. S. National security advisory, Jake Sullivan admitting that they dont know, significant concern around that. Meanwhile, outrage and alarm is growing significantly in the International Community among aid agencies and the like around the humanitarian situation in gaza which is spiraling, the call by israel to evacuate from the north to the south heavily complicated of course by the destruction already caused by the bombardment by the siege by the lack of fuel, electricity, the water supply according to the u. S. And israel was apparently switch backed on to gaza but they were unable to confirm they were able to pump the water because of the lack of electricity. And there is a heavy focus on the health system, more than 20 hospitals were under the evacuation orders, many patients and doctors were unable to heed, because vulnerable patients werent able to move. A death sentence. Clearly, the situation at the rafah Border Crossing with egypt, Antony Blinken saying in egypt in sunday that rafah will still be clear but its uncertain whether that will happen. Rosemary. Ground incursion into gaza is imminent, President Biden added that he believes israel has to respond to the hamas attack. So what else did he have to say on this and of course any other likely u. S. Response . Reporter yes, this was a wide ranging interview he gave with 60 minutes, rosemary, interestingly on the tricky and somewhat delicate issue of the u. S. Which is the israeli siege of gaza, the u. N. Has called that illegal, and it is a difficult line for the u. S. To tread. He said he was confident israel will act under the rules of war, to have access to medicine and food and water, we know there is pressure from the u. S. Side for israel to do more here to open a humanitarian zone. It was interesting that it was the white house that announced that the water supply had been switched back on before the israelis actually said so on sunday and a second point he talked about iran saying again as we had from the u. S. , that they had no clear evidence that iran helped plan the attack on israel, though many point out that is particularly semantic, with the help iran has provided over the years and the concerns of the broader spread of this conflict in particular whit comes to hezbollah, bidens comments were dont dont dont, so clearly trying to send a message there, the u. S. Sending a more practical message, a second u. S. Strike group would be deployed to the mediterranean. Rosemary. Thank you. The president of the Palestinian Authority has condemned the militants actions. The Palestinian News Agency wafa is reporting that the policy of hamas do not represent the Palestinian People. He also called for a rejection of violence and the release of prisoners on both sides of the conflict. Comments came during a phone call with the president of venezuela. Joining me now is hasan al hasan, a Research Fellow at the middle east Study Institute of studies, hes with us from bahrain. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. In light of the horrific attacks last weekend, infrastructure with these ongoing large scale attacks and likely Ground Incursion what are the risks and costs involved for innocent civilians, given hamas knows that Tunnel System a lot better than any of the idf troops. Yes, it is in fact very difficult to imagine how israel could achieve its objective of Total Annihilation of hamas without killing many more thousands of palestinians and that is partly because of the fact that the gaza strip has been placed under a blockade for about 16 years now and so has become one of the most densely populated places in the world. Neighborhoods and buildings are tightly packed together. The Health Infrastructure is already woefully inadequate so people in gaza has a lower Life Expectancy by about ten years than most people have in israel. And so weve got about half a million palestinians taking shelter in schools run by the u. N. But even these are inadequate. And the u. N. Has warned that they are at risk of running out of water. Hospitals in gaza are also severely at risk of being overrun. And so things have been made worse by the fact that israel has also laid siege by cutting off electricity, water, fuel and food. And so this means that the humanitarian situation in gaza is already extremely precarious and asking 1. 1 Million People to move south in a place that is about the size of seattle or detroit, is not entirely feasible. And the fact is that israels strategy is not only morally and legally questionable, but i think fundamentally a bad strategy. In a sense by inflicting large amounts of Civilian Casualties in order to defeat hamas is ultimately self defeating because by Killing Palestinian at scale, pushing people to the brink of desperation, its essentially nurturing this narrative and intergenerational memory of oppression. So i think its a self defeating strategy. Your sense is it is not a goal that is achievable anyway, that hamas car cant be eradica, is that what youre saying too . It can but how . Of course is to deprive it of its causs froouing seriously a path towards pees, ending the illegal occupation and the idea for deterrence hasnt worked for israel. The ongoing conflict is the biggest illustration of this. The same flawed conceptual Security Model that has so far failed to protect descraims. The best way to defeat hamas and destroy deterrence is by hope not through fear. But i mean honestly how can that be done though because clearly israel is responding to what was a murderous attack on its soil, killing babies, women, children. So i mean you understand whats fueling this. That doesnt necessarily you cant accept whats happening in gaza as well but i mean you can see how abhorrent that attack was and why a nation would feel that they would want to retaliate. How that is done is the question that were trying to tackle. So tell me what is the path forward with that . So we have to remember that this is not the first war between israel and hamas. And every single time israel has responded through disproportionate use of force, resulting in many, many thousands of palestinian casualties. And how has that turned out . Not very well. And so in the total absence of a viable political path this has to be a change in israels orientation towards the isr israelpalestinian issue. This means there needs to be a reckoning within israel that the overwhelming disproportionate use of force has failed to protect israel so far and without a viable pathway to a negotiated peaceful settlement that means that the palestinians dont have to live under total siege, that they can afford to get their rights under international law. Without that there will simply be no hope and future generations of palestinians who will remember how israel has responded to them. I think will simply be pushed to the brink of radicalization again and we will see further cycles of violence. So i think without a real political solution, without a Clear Pathway it will be very difficult to see how we can permanently break the cycle of violence. Yes and sadly there is no clear political pathway, right now. Has to be said though, hamas apparently spent two years preparing for last weeks attacks on israel. What was their likely goal and what were they expecting to achieve, given the leadership would have known that israel would retaliate with a force not ever witnessed before to wipe hamas off the map. So why did they do this . What was the end game . So i think the primary end game was to destroy israels invincibility narrative. The idea that even the most powerful Military Power in the region can be defeated and humiliated and hurt. So i think this was hamass first sort of psychological aim which was really to dent the idea that israel was invincible. I think the other goal is precisely the trap that israel is walk ugh into, which is to provoke an israeli over reaction. And by provoking an israeli over reaction, hamas i think is hoping to dent any International Support that israel might be able to garner. And therefore, essentially, weaken israels support within its western partners and allies. All right, hasan al hasan, thank you so much for joining us around appreciate your perspective on this issue. My pleasure. U. S. President joe biden is condemning a Stabbing Attack that killed a Palestinian American child in chicago. Seriously wounded the boys mother as well, in what Authorities Say was a hate crime. The council on americanislamic rilingses says the mother sent Text Messages to the boys father in the hospital saying zuba the familys landlord attacked her with a 95 saying you muslims must die. We have not heard from zuba and it is unclear if he has an attorney. In a statement President Biden says this horrific act has no place in america and standards against our fundamental values, as americans we must come together and reject islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. How washington is helping israel make that happen. Israels military has confirmed hamas fighters are holding at least 155 hostages. Hamas kidnapped men, Women And Children during the surprise attacks last weekend. Israel, contact, itzak, not clear where theyre being held and under what conditions. The people taken are from numerous countries worldwide. The u. S. Says its hard at work trying to secure the release of its own citizens but without military force. Theres no plans or intentions to put u. S. Troops on the ground to fight in this fight between israel and hamas. Americans . We are actively trying to find out exactly where they are. I mean shannon we dont even know how many exactly. A small handful we know but there could be more than we know. What i wont do is Rule Anything t comes to getting our hostages home. We are working on this literally hour by hour. It has no plans to sending fights to fight in israel as kremlins hadas gold reports. Reporter as of right now the United States is giving absolutely no indication that it plans to send in u. S. Military boots on the ground in any way to try to assist israel in operations in gaza or Hostage Rescue Operations. What it is doing now is a show of force, a show of unity with these Carrier Strike groups, clear message to other groups in the region not just hamas but hezbollah, groups in syria as well as a deterrence to try to get them involved. We do know that The Americans already have on the ground a fertile team who can help in federal team who can help in hostage situation. They are assisting The Americans and Marine Expeditionary force is heading towards israel, who can help in major evacuations but also had training in hostage rescue scenarios. No indication that is where they are headed, why they would potentially be headed towards the region, but officially the support the israelis may be receiving from the u. S. Military. The u. S. Military and the Israeli Military work very, very close i together. Israeli military often call them the american brothers in arms, joint exercise in the last few months and during that exercise they made it very clear that such an exercise was a clear message to iran if you get in the way in attacking israel be careful because The Americans are there to support them. John kirby has already said they have no plans and intentions of sending u. S. Troops into the ground and Chuck Schumer in an interview with aaron burnett, said that they dont want support on the ground, they want ammunition and Carrier Strike groups off the coast to try and deter any other actors from getting involved. But even if a Hostage Rescue Operation would be attempted it would be incredibly complex, very, very difficult and the israelis will be seeking some sort of support from americans as far as logistics. Stilt to come, china takes on diplomacy, top gloaments delivering strong words to israel. After a short break. 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Israel and hezbollah fighters have been exchanging fire raising fears of a second front in the ongoing conflict. The idf says its fighter jets struck hezbollahs Military Infrastructure On Sunday and say they were responding to fire coming from lebanon. Meantime as fighting intensifies in gaza, Hundreds Of Thousands of civilians are fleeing south. The u. S. Embassy in israel said a short time ago that the rafah crossing between egypt and gaza may open for short notice at quote a limited time. The crossing has been closed since the fighting began. Wolf blitzer spoke earlier by israel herzog. We have to warn you some of the content is graphic. I think the entire humanity, you know i just gobbing back from kibitz berry, the kibitz as you know is an epitomization of pro peace place, you should know that in that kibitz they lost 10 of their numbers from young to old. I saw the most horrific scenes. I saw the scallop of the woman whose house i visited, the house totally destroyed, totally destroyed and they just cut her head off. I saw a pool of blood in that house where the fir of the children is hanging and the grandchildren hanging on the wall with the niefs and the Hatch Et Cetera which they went in. I saw the most horrific scene and bloodshed, i was thinking myself in kibitz berry, there was a fund to help their friends in gaza. For years they had been savoring to help their friends in gaza. And life was shattered for israeli nation. My nation is bleeding. My nation is in pain. My nation is in sorrow and we are faced with an extremely cruel inhumane enemy which we have to uproot with no mercy. When asked about Prime Minister netanyahus vows to eliminate hamas, his country is trying to move civilians to a safe zone and israel is not indifferent to the pain caused by palestinians. Well, china is weighing in on the war with israel and hamas. Israel has now gone beyond self defense with its actions since the hamas attack. Stephen jung joins us from the chinese capital. Stephen what more can you tell us to israels air strikes in gaza and what it plans to do . Yes roast mary that line you just mentioned from Chinese Foreign minister wong yee, an occasion of chinas hardened stance as the war in gaza worsens. More important if not more so, one word that is missing is hamas. They have not named hamas in any of their condemnations or pronouncements. That is very much reflected in their state media coverage, very much concentrating on the israeli counter attacks, after the heinous attacks launched by hamas october 7th. That finishing has not gone oven noticed by israel and its allies. Chuck schumer who is visiting the middle east, he made a point raising this issue, expressing strong disappointment, we have seen the Chinese Foreign ministry tweaking their stance by condemning violence of civilians, loss of civilian livers. Their insistence that china has nothing to gain, not just the palestinians but also iran turkey and saudi arabia, you can see they are very much focused on the palestinian cause. That is something that china has supported for decades really, for all these years they have been messaging both domestically and international as a champion of oppressed people while portraying israel as a puppet state of u. S. That is very much to say, they kind of default to this position when they feel like they lack the expertise and experience to deal with perhaps the worlds most complicated and sensitive issue and that of course is also reflected in the public reaction to israels plight in this conflict, not a lot of support sympathy for the israelis if you read chinese social media, roast mary. Stephen jung joining us live from beijing. Well be right back. Aid groups are preparing for the worst as the humanitarian crisis in the region intensifies with each day of the conflict. The Director General of the Palestinian Red Crescent says hospitals facemminent shutdowns because there is very little fuel left to run generators. Some have only enough fuel for monday and possibly some of tuesday. Water from israel has been cut off in many areas with people lining up for hours hoping to refill their bottles and canisters. This amid fears the idf may be following up a week of air strikes with a Ground Invasion of gaza much joining us now from tel aviv is Lieutenant General learner, a spokesperson for the israeli forces. Thank you so much for joining us. Good morning roast mary. Hoping to escape out of gaza into egypt now we are Hearing Rumors this border could open soon perhaps even next hour. And were also hearing a cease fire may be in effect. What are you hearing about this . Hamas its terrorist leaders and all the components of this terrorist organization, that is what the idf is doing. The issues youre asking about are more on the diplomatic side. Fighting for the idf indeed if instructions come in for a humanitarian recess we will of course implement those instructions. If the crossing is implemented today in the coming hours will israel let humanitarian aid in . Again we have to wait and see what happens. I dont want to hypothesize about ips. We are currently striking hamas, pursuing their leaders. We killed and targeted, a hamas commander in the Southern Gaza strip and indeed we are they are taking their actions to hamas to remove their threat of butchering our babies in their bedrooms ever again. Hamas has taken the gaza strip hostage and hiding behind their hostages and this is the reality. We continue to call on the people of the north of the gaza strip to evacuate towards the south. We know and have confirmed that around 600,000 or so maybe have evacuated towards the south that is actually a good sign because we contend and are determined to destroy hamas and their capability. Right and i appreciate you updating us on the military situation but i do want to return to the humanitarian situation because that is a deteriorating crisis that is happening not only in the north but now as israel asked people to evacuate and they move towards the rafah Border Crossing there is a lot of tension and frustration being felt there as people gather and hope they can get out. So it is an important question to figure out whether humanitarian aid will come in and whether some of those people who are very desperate will be able to cross that border. We dont know why egypt is holding off on that but if you could give us more detail on this issue we would very much appreciate it. Fcc roast mary the situation on the ground is dynamic. We did not start this war, we will win it and indeed the idf operates within the realm of Armed Conflict. I would like this is the humanitarian situation is of course of concern to us. And like you, we do not seek to target or harm civilians which is unlike hamas that actually do. And we are operating in accordance to the laws of Armed Conflict on the basis of distinction, Military Necessity and proportionality. The humanitarian developments on the ground are of concern to us but we are termed determined to destroy hamas, we are determined that the mastermind of the massacre and all of the institutions of hamas that have been utilized in order to conduct and organize and orchestrate the attacks against israel will never. Ever be able to do so. While i understand you are pressing on the humanitarian concern and we are indeed concerned about humanitarian issue, that is why we are calling on people evacuate, this is for your own good, get out of harms way. While hamas on the other hand, are interested in delaying that, making sure people stay in the line of fire and that serves them. We are pushing for the humanitarian issue more than hamas. Our message to the hume taken community, you need to evacuate into safer grounds, and we are encouencouraging in order to facilitate the humanitarian issue in the gaza strip. I know, we will of course facilitate that as this issue develops. Yes because of course we cannot emphasize enough the Palestinian People are not hamas. Hamas are huddled in the north the Palestinian People and i would add and i absolutely agree that Palestinian People are not hamas. Many of the people and obviously the people of gaza themselves are not our enemy. Hamas is the enemy. It is the enemy of all decent people, an organization that feels free to butcher babies and parade women in the streets and hue minimum 88th elderly in a way and celebrate it cannot be protected, they need to be denounced and they need to be rooted out and we intend on doing so. And of course with fears this conflict could spread beyond israels borders what can you tell us about the latest exchange of fire between hezbollah and israel in the north and is lebanon now officially the second front in this war would you say that . No, i wouldnt. Id say that hezbollah is being encouraged by iran to escalate this situation in order to challenge the reality and our activities against hamas. We are following it very closely. Indeed we had throughout the course of the day yesterday several antitank missiles fired against the border including killing civilians and this is of concern. We are strong on the border. We have reinforced our troops, we have air force on call and the naval forces also prepared. So we are prepared for any eventuality on the border, we dont want that to develop into another front but we are prepared for it. We in the military say hope is not a method and that is why we are precisely distributed our forces on the ground in order to be prepared for that eventuality. Lieutenant petered learner thank you very much for joining us, we appreciate it. Thank you roast mary. And still to come, afghanistan is rocked by a series of earthquakes and aftershocks. We will be back in just a moment. When House Republicans gather Behind Closed Doors in washington monday evening, they will be in their 13th day of operating without a leader. Ohio congressman jim jordan is expected to force a floor vote on tuesday. As he tries to become the next speaker of the house. But a number of republicans are reportedly in talks to keep the vote from happening. One house member that opposes jordans speakership, he says theres roughly 230 40 votes against jordan. And 20 members there to block jordans path. Exit polls show polands populous ruling party is set to lose its majority of sundays hardfought election. The Opposition Bloc appears on course to gain control if it strikes deals with smaller parties. The results of this election is expected to have major ramifications in poland. A 6. 3 magnitude earthquake struck afghanistan sunday morning. Days after another deadly quake hit the same region. Taliban officials estimate 2,000 people were killed on that trimmer on october 8th. Most of them Women And Children. Reporter beneath crystal blue skies, the sound of Vanished Hope fills the air. Under mounds of earth lie countless bodice. There are no survivors here. Only evidence of Mother Nature leaving trauma on another country. Last saturday, a 6. 3 magnitude earthquake struck the district completely flattening 11 villages. You can see the state of my home. There is no need for words. She wasnt home when the earth violently shook for only a few seconds. When he returned, he found 13 Family Members crushed to death, including his daughters, sons and multiple grandchildren. Simple structures supported by wooden poles were the homes of villagers on these plains. Theyve been reduced to rubble. Aid agency Pent Penalties are now the new homes. This 32yearold lost two daughters when her house collapsed. The only reason she survived was because she was standing under the door frame. My children were buried under the wall, she explains. Everything is gone. Nothing remains for us. The taliban government and International Organizations estimate 2,000 people were killed across the region during saturdays earthquake. And 90 of the victims were Women And Children. Too young to wed, part of the humanitarian relief effort on the ground, says theres a clear reason for this statistic. Women and girls are forced to stay at home under taliban rule, denied the basic rights, banned from education, work and being part of society. They have been systematically stripped of their rights over the last two years. Instead of being at school and at work on a saturday, which is when they have the school week and the workweek, they were home, confined to the homes. Its a country where half the population is under house arrest. Reporter at this hospital, makeshift wards are in the courtyard to cater to the injured. Lying on a bet, 35yearold fatima, who was knocked unconscious when her home collapsed on top of her. She woke to discover, 4 months to 14 years, were all dead. Ive experienced a great deal of pain and sorrow. We lost everything in our life. Nothing remains. With the world focused on the war on israel, Aid Organizations are pleading for the International Community not to forget the Earthquake Victims in afghanistan. Children in afghanistan deserve equally for all children in the world. It doesnt mean we abandon them. We appreciate you joining us this hour. Im Rosemary Church. Ill be back with more cnn newsroom after a short break. Stay with us. 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