Welcome to the lead, im jake tapper. And we start today of course with our world lead. And a new warning about the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in gaza. Today u. S. Secretary of state Antony Blinken returned to israel after meeting with multiple allies throughout the middle east. Trying to get a humanitarian corridor open for innocents to evacuate from gaza before israel ramps up attacks on hamas. Right now israel is pointing the civilians toward the Southern Gate into egypt, known as the Rafah Crossing which is still clowes. Video shows dozens families including babies waiting next to locked gates. A u. S. Government memo showed more than 250 u. S. Citizens in Southern Gaza waiting for the crossing to open. And earlier reports suggested that it was the Egyptian Government to open the gate when i pressed Jake Sullivan on this issue yesterday, he blamed the closure on on altogether different group. The egyptians have in fact agreed to allow americans to depart to get safe passage through the crossing. The israelis agreed to ensure that the area around there could be safe as far as they were able to do so. The question when we tried to move a group yesterday was hamas taking steps to try and stop that from happening. Trucks packed with aid for innocent civilians in gaza are lined up in egypt right now. They are waiting for the green light to go into gaza. Gaza, where shelters are overcrowded, where there are shortages of food and water and fuel. That is because within gaza, half a Million People from fled to the south from the north after israel urged civilians to evacuate and announced they were preparing for the next stages of war. Lets start with clarissa ward. Youre in ashkelon, which is north of gaza in israel. What are you seeing . Reporter well, jake, today the u. N. Is saying that essentially, quote, Time Is Running Out for the people of gaza. The situation there getting more and more desperate by the minute. It has been nine days now that there has been fno food, no medicine, no electricity, despite assurances from the idf that the water had been switched on and in the southern part of the enclave, were hearing from the Palestinian Water Authority that there is still no water. I had been in touch for the past few days with a family in the northern part of gaza. That is the area that was supposed to be evacuated. They were too fearful to leave their homes. They said they had nowhere to go. Today i have been unable to get in touch with this family at all. My messages to them are not going through. And all of this happening despite the flurry and intensification of Diplomaticive For diplomatic efforts across the Rafah Crossing. You menged they pointed the fink at hamas and they are pointing the finger at the israelis saying they are willing and ready but they need some assurances from israel that have not been forthcoming. The europeans have said that they are ready to step in with an air bridge so they have promised 79 million in aid to people of gaza. But once again, none of this aid could get to where it needs to go to. And the situation is increasingly dire. Continued strikes there. People in desperate need of medical attention. And still no sign of any change on the horizon. Last night, as we were finishing a long day, it looked positive that potentially that crossing would open in the morning. If only for a brief window to start the process of evacuating foreign nationals, the u. S. Said theyre tracking about 253 u. S. Nationals trapped inside of gaza. But still no movement and no sign as to when we might see some, jake. And today the idf updated the number people thought to be held hostage by hamas. The number is now 199. And you spoke with the son of one of those kidnapping victims today . Reporter that is right. Quite a few Family Members of the hostages have basically set up camp almost outside of the Military Headquarters in tel aviv. Theyre carrying signs. It is a form of Holding Vigil but also it is a form of protest. A lot of anger for many of the families at israelez handling of this crisis and very real concern as well about what this Ratcheting Up of the violence in gaza could portend for any possibility that their loved ones could get out safely. What you hear from people who you talked to over and over again is lets focus on prioritizing getting people out who are alive safely rather than taking vengeance for those who have already died. We spoke to one plan who is the son of vivian silver. Shes a 74yearold Peace Activist who is among those hostages. And her son, who spent all morning on the phone with her as the militants were near her house, firing bullets. They said their goodbyes and he really urged the Israeli Government to to try to be somewhat restrained in their response. He believes that this endless cycle of violence can only lead to more violence. The issue is, though, when you talk more broadly, to israeli people, the drum beat for war, the drier for vengeance, the feeling of anguish and powerlessness and a desire to do something decisively to cripple hamas once and for all, that is the dominant voice here on the streets of israel. Much more than those of the families of Hostage Members who we spoke to, jake. Clarissa ward in ash kel on, thank you very much. Plans to evacuate americans from israel are underway. This cruise ship, the rhapsody of the sea, left israel is on route to the island of cypress. It was chartered by the State Department to Ferry Americans out of israel and departed this afternoon. Sara sidner was in the northwestern coast of the israel along the mediterranean today. You spoke with several families that decided to evacuate. Tell us more. Reporter yeah. It was quite interesting, the juxtaposition of what is happening in gaza where people are trapped inside and what has happened with americans who many of whom were pretty annoyed, is probably the word to use, that it is taken a bit of a long time for them to figure out how to get out of the country. The State Department stepping in. Chartering that massive cruise ship from Royal Caribbean to take them to cypress. But as people were coming to the ship, the ship holds more than 2,000 people. There were only about 200 or 300 people that actually ended up boarding that ship. What youre seeing over and over again is almost all of the people boarding that ship were families with children. They were a few people single folks who were getting on. But for the most part it was families with children. And the real thought there is that it is the kids who they are protecting. But there is conflict among the families as they were going towards the boat, some of them discussing whether or not they should be leaving knowing that this is taking their kids to safety and even some of the children themselves didnt really feel like they should be leaving because they wanted to be here for the war effort. Let me take you listen to one familys dilemma. I dont agree with this trip. I came along because i want to be with my family. But i think we should stay in israel with our nation and with our family and i think we have to show support and if everybody picked up and left, not everybody would come back. And what are we fighting for . Were fighting for our country and a place to call home. If for some reason the borders are closed, well swim back. You feel that strongly . Yeah. Reporter so, you know, there is clearly theyre coming back. This is a country that me now live in but theyre american citizens and been here for sometime. But that 14yearold girl speaking very eloquently about how she feels. But she, of course, going with her parents because she is a minor back to the United States for a while. Every Single Family that we talked to said they would return to israel when it was a bit more safe. Jake. What happens when they get to cypress . Reporter so, it takes ten hours, so that ship is currently in the mediterranean sea. As we speak, once they get to cypress, they are on their own. They have to find ways to leave. Basically there are flights that could take them out to wherever it is they want to go, whether it be in the United States or somewhere else. But, at this point, they have left israel. They are in the waters there on their way to cypress. It should not take them too long with two or 300 people to get to where they need to go. Sara sidner in tel aviv. Thank you so much. Right now in gaza, hospitals are overfilling with patients as the need for medicine and food and water and fuel continues to grow dire. The United Nations said gaza is being strangled about the air strikes which the idf insists are aimed at hamas but palestinian Officials Say more than 2,800 people have been i killed and more than a quarter of them are children. Cnns Salma Abdulaziz has more on the worsening humanitarian crisis as thousands of palestinian try, try to flee south. Reporter this is what life looks like in places israel told families to flee towards, for their safety. Where constant bombardment has reduced homes to rubble and wiped out entire families these survived say. I lost all of my relatives. 15 people. This man said, we were not on the front line or anything. We were just sitting at home. What have we done wrong . Reporter the u. N. Warns there are no safe places. About half a Million People fled here to Southern Gaza after an Evacuation Order by the israeli military. But families, desperate for refuge, are still trapped in the war zone. The dead and injured flooding a Health Care System on the brink. Civilians are caught in the cross fire. But the death toll mounting just over a quarter of those killed are children, according to palestinian officials. And a week long siege is strangling the enclave, the u. N. Said. Amid fears food and fuel and water and medical supplies may soon run out. Some 2 Million People are cramped into this 140 square mile territory. Now many of them pushed into an even smaller corner of the enclave. About half of the population are children. There are not enough shelters to house the sheer number of civilians. And even those who do find spaces in overwhelmed schools turned refugee centers, it is little comfort to the youngest victims. There is no one to protect us, this little girl said. There is no one to come save us. How are we supposed to live . How . Answer me. Prime minister netanyahu has vowed to annihilate hamas, after a Terror Attack left 1400 killed in israel. But with hamas so deeply imbedded within gaza population, Rights Groups fears a blood bath. What were seeing right now, the direction that israel is going to, they are going in, they have said they want to destroy hamas. But their current trajectory is going to destroy gaza. Hamas does not answer to the people of gaza. No elections have been held here since the group seized power in 2007. Reporter still it is these residents that will pay the price and with the potential Ground Incursion expected. That cost is unfathomable. Selma abdulaziz. So many reasons are being given as to why aid could not get into Southern Gaza and where american citizens stuck in gaza cannot get out. What is the real story . Im going to ask a top adviser to israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu next. And then a 6yearold boy stabbed to death near chicago and his mother severely injured. The latest on the suspect behind what Authorities Say is a sicken sickening antimuslim hate crime. Stay with us. And were back with Senior Adviser to israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu mark regoff. Thanks for joining us. The New York Times is reporting that three senior israeli Officials Say that the plan is to wipe out hamass top leadership in gaza. And to invade gaza city. We havent heard what the plan is. Weve seen a lot of air strikes on gaza. You could confirm that that is the plan, to wipe out hamas as top leadership and to invade gaza city with a ground force . Jake, you of course know that im not going to go into operational details of military activities that are still ahead of us. I can only share the goal with you of the operation. Which is been stated and ill state it again, we will dismantle hamass Military Machine and take apart its political governments in gaza. We will destroy both the military wing of hamas, its Military Machine, and the terrorist capabilities and governmental activities, its governmental structure in gaza. How many people is that, do you think . I cant go into numbers. But it means that when this is over, hamas will be incapable of launching the sort of horrendous attack that they did on october 7th. They will be physically incapable of launching such an operation. So, certainly taking out hamass leadership, i understand the point of that. But the Palestinian Health ministry in gaza said 2800 palestinian have been killed an somewhere between a quarter and a third of them are children. That is not hamass leadership. Can i please offer a ward of caution. Now i know that there is real suffering in gaza. There is a war going on and innocent people are getting caught up in a very difficult situation. I dont minimize that. But you have to take with a grain of salt any information that comes out of the hamas controlled Ministry Of Health in gaza. That has to be said. It is not a democracy, there is not an independent Health Bureaucracy trying to do its best. Every doctor that you speak to and every Hospital Director that you speak to works under the gun of hamas. They are not independent. If they speak out of turn, they will pay a price. It is like speaking to a doctor in north korea or a doctor in the former soviet union. They dont have independent opinions. They have to follow the party line and if not, they face violent consequences. So those numbers, they might be true, they might not be true. Hamas, of course, has an interest in exaggerating civilian casualties. So lets assume and hamas didnt say how many were combatants of course. Right. So lets assume that you take out the hamas leadership and their ability to commit atrocities. Ambassador herzog told me yesterday that israel does not want to Reoccupy Gaza so what happens after hamas is destroyed . Who would be in charge of gaza . So, first of all, maybe almost anything would be better than hamas. I mean, if there were illusions that hamas had somehow moderated its position that the responsibility of government of being ruling over 2. 3 Million People, forces hamas to be a more rational behavior, that was proven wrong. The violence, the brutal horrific violence that we saw Onnoon October 7th showed that to be wrong. This is a hard core extremist murderist terrorist organization. And so you have to say, if it is like isis, how could it get much worse. So you have to hit it hard, and we have to we have to destroy its ability to attack us. And ive been in discussions where different contingencies have been discussed, what happens after, at this taj im not at liberty to discuss those discussions, but israel is thinking three steps ahead. The most important thing now is now is we focus on the dismantling of the political structure. There is a new report that a alleges senior officials in netanyahus office are barred from working with an Israeli DefenseMinistry Task force which is focused on preparing infrastructure near gaza. Because the Defense Task Force is led by a staunch opponent of the netanyahu judicial overhaul. Is that true . I have not read that report and im not familiar with any of that. I apologize. Youve said that israel is united right now. Very united. So far netanyahu has not been able to get Opposition Leader la pead to join the unity government. What is going on there . Shouldnt israel be as united as possible . Well weve already united by bringing in one major opposition party. And as you know, they joined a few days ago and weve now got a National Emergency government. Where mr. Gantz, who was a severe critic of Prime Minister netanyahu, stepped in and stepped in this time of crisis we have to unite to fight the common enemy and if you look at polling in israel, there is wide support for that sort of move. It must be remembered, when they crossed the border on october 7th to murder us, they went to left wing kibbutz, where people in their lives never voted for netanyahu and they went to right wing villages where everybody likes netanyahu. They didnt care if israelis w