to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. >> wherever you are around the world, at this hour, you are watching cnn newsroom. ongoing coverage of his most war with hamas. i'm john vause, just past midnight here in atlanta, and 60 am and gaza. it is now divided into by israeli ground forces battling militants in the north. president have been forced to evacuate to safety in the south, as dawn breaks, the israeli military says gaza city is completely surrounded. in the past two hours, cnn crews report flares and explosions lighting up the night sky over northern gaza. around the city of -- not far from the water with israel. so far, 20 israeli soldiers have been killed in a military ofoffensive, whihich is focusesn locateted anand destroyingng a t tunnels networks, and eliminating explplosives and other obstacles. >> our soldiers have been operating in gaza city for the past few days, surrounding it from several directions, deepening the operation. our forces are in very significant areas of gaza city. >> on thursday, more than 20 palestinians -- were killed in israeli airstrikes according to officials with the united nations. the death toll in gaza since these really offensive began 27 days ago has now passed 9000, according to the palestinian health ministry based in the west bank, which is relying on information from hamas controlled gaza. the u.s. president has -- accuracy of those numbers, here is more on israel -- will cost international support and the secretary of state anthony blinken has been sent back to the region to discuss u.s. concerns directly with israeli officials. >> we will be talking about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize harm to men, women, and children in gaza. and, this is something that the united states is committed to. >> cnn's scott mclain is live for us this hour, covering all of this from london. so scott, right now, the israeli forces are surrounding gaza city, at least according to the idf. the israeli prime minister is saying this is the height of the battle of what will be a long war. why is the latest we know on the trip developments, and exactly where does this go from here? >> hey, good morning, john. we know the israeli troops have entered gaza from at least three places. two in the north, one in the, east and for some for the south. there are some, underground tanks on the ground as well. beyond that, it is difficult to know precisely where isley troops are. we are not think much for obvious reasons. as you pointed out, they say they now have gaza city completely surrounded. you also mention the flare-ups that we saw overnight. those images were taken from -- which is just north east, just to the northeast corner of gaza. they show the town of -- which is not as populated, not as densely populated as nearby gaza city. you can also see in that video what looks to be a smokescreen, suggesting perhaps israeli troops are moving in that area, though again it is difficult to know anything to be certain. the idf chief said yesterday, this dense urban environment requires troops to operate a professional and courageous way. but, much of the outrage from the international community is focusing on the civilian death toll inside of gaza. the palestinian red crescent says more than 3700 children alone have been killed since the outset of the war. there are some 1000, more than 1000 children that are still reported missing under the rubble. they are presumed to be dead. just for comparison sake, there are more than 500 children have died in ukraine since the outset of that conflict about a year and a half ago. now hamas political leader is -- put out a video statement yesterday. in it, he suggested a comprehensive vision to end the war. that would include a cease-fire, or prisoner exchange, and a political path to a palestinian state. but that bit about the cease-fire is a nonstarter for the israelis. they say this war ends only when hamas is completely wiped out. the americans privately have been telling the israelis that look, there is limited time to carry out this operation before the public outrage over the civilian bethel and gaza reaches a tipping point. now you have anthony blinken headed to israel, on the ground in israel already perhaps carrying that message to israel. we know the message about humanitarian aid perhaps starting to work, there have been more than 100 trucks allowed in yesterday. the question is whether the message on turning down the campaign, and really trying to minimize civilian deaths will have an impact as well, john. >> we shall see, scott, thank you. scott mclain live with the very latest reporting. thank you. for the third time in as many days, the biggest refugee camp in gaza has been hit by airstrikes. the idf says the targets were hamas leaders as well as militant group tunnels built under the camp. cnn's salma abdelaziz has the latest details, but the pills in her report are graphic. >> the victims, victimized yet again. some of the survivors of israel's bombardment took shelter here, a you and school. all to be -- desperate moments after an israeli strike nearby, shown on social media. this is one of four schools in gaza impacted by strikes in a 24-hour period, the u.n. said. in total, housing some 20,000 displaced people. many of them frightened young children. what did we do, this boy choirs, we did nothing wrong. the living conditions in these shelters are unbearable. families come here for safety. that as well is gone. >> bring me my son. bring me my son. this mother screams. it is unclear if the child is dead or alive. three straight days of airstrikes have brought horror and bloodshed. cnn has reached out to the idf for comment on the latest attacks. israel says, it is targeting hamas infrastructure in this densely populated residential area. -- and says it killed a senior hamas commander within strike on tuesday. but with scores of civilians killed, the u.n. human rights council warns what we see here are disproportionate attacks that could amount to a war crime. gazans do not understand why the world can stop this. we keep pulling out bodies, small children, women, it is a catastrophe, this man says. the countries of the wororld had any shshame, we wouldn't be in the situation. and more suffering is s all but certain. isisraeli troops are inchihing closerer. and as grounund forces backed by near cononstant air raids move towards central gaza, the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians hang in the balance. the idf has warned all residents north of the strip to leave, and ordered -- by the united nations. so many remain in the crossfire. where is the world this woman screams. her children are being torn between our eyes. and with the death toll mounting, pressure is growing on the u.s. and israel to stop the violence. some abilities, cnn, london. >> john spencer is a retired u.s. army -- currently chair of urban warfare studies where west point -- institute. he is also the author of a number of books including -- thank you for being with us at this hour. >> thank you for having me. >> i want you to listen to the chief of staff of the idf with a few details on the israeli ground operation ongoing and gaza. here he is. >> the forces continue to dismantle the front offense lines of hamas in northern gaza, and take control of essential areas. we continue to intensify our operation, and to advance according to plan, into the targets we have set. >> at this point, it seems israeli ground forces are not taking and holding ground. how soon we expect to see that happen, and when it, does with that make them more vulnerable as targets for the hamas militants? >> i mean, everything i'm seeing right now is a very well planned deliberate attack involving -- moving slowly, deliberately, clearing those defensive, lines bulldozers, and mind clearing equipment or they can do the first step in any large scale like this a city, gaza city the four step is to isolate it. to surround it and cut it off. the anomalies move -- i would not say they are not holding ground, their intention is to clear ground. they clear up to that point. actually a lot faster and thought they would. >> so is this pretty much all going to plan? of course the evacuation with gaza, a lot of residents following the advice, now in the south, they do seem to have a clear run at the moment? >> yes absolutely. while every civilian casualty is a travesty, by all measures of the warfare, the idf have taken extraordinary steps and effectuated 80% of that million of impossible was made in 24 hours the idf actually has taken four weeks to evacuate as much as possible, continues to call for the evacuation. you want 100 percent of civilians out of the combat area other that has never happen in the history of the world. >> anne a report will be a daunting task for israel's military has aspirations of ousting the terror group when forceful just to buy through the -- bombs and booby traps and undercut by a vast network of tunnels used by terrorist to ambush surprise troops. before israel ordered their evacuation in the middle of gaza, and the population -- was more than 500 people per 100 square meters. many have left others have stayed so deeply -- embedded hamas within civilian -- hamas infrastructure and civilian infrastructure, is it possible to destroy hamas without a painful number of civilian casualties in that many have left the area? >> absolutely not. unfortunately that is modern warfare. the spy all the laws of war that have been created since world war ii, you i can't want you to a seamless battle, not in a battle of -- nightly battle of -- where you can say there is zero civilian casualties. you do everything you can to get the civilians out, like you said that will be a long bloody destructive battle if they move forward into gaza city. it will look like the indiscriminately leveled the city, when they actually didn't. it is unfortunately the nature of warfare. even the civilian casualties we are seeing now, if we believe the reporting, as not unlike battles we have seen even supported by the u.s.. >> on tuesday, minus release horses -- in the refugee camp which is just a few miles north east of gaza city. that were killed when their armored vehicle was hit by an anti-tank missiles fired by hamas fighters. not long after that, the camp was hit by israeli airstrikes it three times. the death toll and devastation has -- israel says, the -- infrastructure, but my question is where the aztecs have been ordered with his ground offensive also in mind. i think part of the camp has now been destroyed. >> yes, i mean, personally understanding they having been to refugee camps in the west bank, and other -- these are, they have been camp since 1948. they are cities with -- absolutely i think by all measures of the law of war, if that was the target, the military target, even with the assessment of the intended damage, it could still be viewed as legal and the greatest thing that could be done is to continue to encourage civilians to leave the combat area. >> very quickly, the airstrikes have cleared out a large part of the, camp as you say it is more of a city it's cement in the blocks, corkey did -- grown up over 70 years or so. with the esoteric have been part of the clearing operation if you like for those troops to get to gaza city? >> absolutely. that is -- it seems more like an intel driven strike, where high value military targets as in a commander and his soldiers in an underground bunker -- along the post to achieve that strategic objective and destroy all military capabilities and hamas, absolutely it would. >> thank you spencer, thank you for your time, thank you very much for being with us. very appreciated. >> thank you. >> we will take a short break, when we get, back for nationals now evacuating from gaza. we will hear from an american doctor who got out and the aid group she worked for. also, crossfire on a, front fears of an escalating conflict, the latest on fighting between israel and hezbollah based in lebanon. >> welcome back. 18 minutes past the hour. the idf reports an escalation across the tax than it north, with rocket fire from hezbollah militants in lebanon. the israeli military ramping up air strikes in response. the exchange of fire is now at its highest level since the 2006 war between israel and iran-backed militant group. here's cnn's jim acosta reporting from -- >> a rocket fired from southern lebanon sets the street on fire in -- northern israel suffered under one of the biggest barrage of rocket since the start of the war. our team witnessed the iron dome missile defense system intercept to incoming rockets, though at least one other caused substantial damage. in response the israeli military fired back at what it says is the culprit, hezbollah in southern lebanon. hezbollah sits on a massive stockpile of rockets and missiles, far bigger than that of hamas. numbering more than 100,000, many have the range and accuracy to strike deep into israeli territory. including another way to tel aviv. this is one sign of how seriously israel is taking the hezbollah threat. we watch this really special forces and tank unit conduct a live fire exercise training to defend israel in case of invasion from the north. these are combined arms exercises is really special forces, idf special forces here. there's also two tanks involved in this and it is life fire it is a measure of the seriousness with which they are keeping their forces trained up ready to go if necessary in the north. but also given that we are within side syria here just a few miles from the lebanon border this is also a show of force to iran's proxies in the region. a show of force perhaps to this man -- leader of hezbollah. to his admires in the muslim world, he is a leader of the resistance. credited with forcing as really forces out of southern lebanon in 2000 after an 18 year occupation. to israel, he is an existential threat on his northern border. he will address his followers and the world for the first time since the october 7th hamas attacks. the question for many, will he order his forces to join in the war against israel more aggressively? >> they have the capacity to do enormous damage but i'm not certain that they really want to be on the receiving end of what israel is goingng to send their way. >> the threat of escalation extetends beyond hezbollah, yemn -based houthi rebels also backed by iran are firing long range missiles that israel from the southeast. another potential front in a war that woodsy israel surrounded. cnn, -- >> it has been 17 years since -- the militant group has spent that time training for war and digging a complicated network of tunnels beneath the territory. is really gunships and not just around gaza city, new propaganda video from hamas reveals the dangers they could soon be facing. cnn's ed lavandera has details. >> the hamas propaganda video shows its fighters emerge from underground tunnels, in what appears to be the northern outskirts of t the most populatd areas of gaza. hiding in the terrain hamas soldiers to fire away at israeli units advancing into gaza. one video shows a hamas soldier stalking an israeli tank running up next to it and placing an explosive device on the machinery, then running away. seconds later the device that needs. hamas fighter then disappears into the ground through a trap door. a political leader of hamas spoke this week about the tunnels vital role in the hamas military strategy. >> we have built the tunnels, he says, because we have no other way of protecting ourselves from being targeted and killed. these tunnels me says, are meant to protect us from the airplanes. we are fighting from inside the tunnels. while israel has unleashed thousands of airstrikes across gaza since october 7th, hamas is also trying to show off its air strike capabilities. it released this video of a munitions strike from a drone over israeli soldiers. it is not clear how many casualties inflicted on the israel defense force, several soldiers can be seen running away from the site. the israel defense forces released this mass propaganda video which captures the elaborate maze of tunnels which stretch for dozens of miles underneath gaza. we militant organization uses the tunnels to store weapons and launch airstrikes towards israel. veteran as really journalist -- has reported on hamas for decades he says the underground tunnels are known as the gaza metro. they are hiding their. they spend billions of dollars. the built houses, tunnels paths, and venues. it is a project. it is a huge project. israel says dismantling the tunnels is the only way to dismantle hamas. i'd love, into cnn, tel aviv, israel. >> the past 27 days have made it especially those lee for journalists in gaza. on thursday reporter with ballast and heavy was killed when he returned home just moments after filing and overboard. -- and 11 members of a family were all killed in an israeli airstrike according to his news organization. cnn has been unable to independently confirm the source of the explosion at his home, and there has been no comment from the idf. but his death sent shockwaves to the newsroom, and one colleague reported the story on air. >> no protection, no international protection at all. this protection gear does not protect us, not those helmets. these are just slogans we are wearing. it does not protect any journalist at all. this protection gear does not predict this. we are only wearing slogans. >> we are victims here. live on air. we lose souls one after the other, without any price. we pass as martyrs. we await our turn one after the other. >> the committee to protect journalists as at least 36 journalists have been killed since the conflict began october 7th. as we go to break here on cnn, this is the scene of gaza right now at 25 minutes past six. israeli soldiers are said to be on the ground ahead of's running as a city, what could be a massive gun operation at some point. he's really minister says, it will be a long war, and -- back in a moment. >> 29 minutes past, they are welcome back. friday causes that new york's cornell university have been canceled in a heated debate over the israel-hamas war on college campuses across the u.s.. in a statement, cornell said in recognition of the extraordinary stress the past two weeks, fight it will be a community day. police increase their presence on campus amid a growing number of threats. many aimed at the 22% of students who are jewish. 21-year-old student -- faces federal charges over a series of online posts threatening to kill and harm jewish students. in both the u.s. and europe there has been a rise in antisemitism since israel declared war on hamas. austrian attack at a jewish cemetery has brought by disturbing reminders of truly horrific chapter from the past. here's cnn's frederik pleitgen. >> valuable prayer books reduced to ashes. after an arson attack on this ceremonial hall in the jewish port of vienna's main cemetery. the last time this very hot was set on fire was almost to the day 85 years ago by the 90s on >> -- -- tells me. >> how big is the damage not, just in terms of the -- much spiritually for you and the jewish community? >> i think it takes up an aspect to times where the books were burned and it is an attack on the spiritual values of the religion and of humanity which have been here. >> a swastika on the outer wall leaves a few questions about the antisemitic nature of the attack. >> it should worry us all of the people in the free world about what is going on in the streets right now and the attacks are just the top of the what is going on. >> since hamas october 7th attack on southern israel, murdering more than 1400 people and kidnapping hundreds, and israel's military response in gaza which has also caused many casualties. antisemit