joe biden calls for two state as the call for a cease-fire. we will look at his op-ed in the washington post. and the most powerful rocket ever built explodes minutes after blasting off. some are calling the test flights success. ♪ queerphobia reports of a large explosion at a.u. and run school in gaza and used as a shelter. one called the courage or spying. the video is graphic. the source of the blast has not been determined and no confirmed casualty figures are yet available. the israeli -- aware of the explosion but have no further comments. we will have more on this in just a moment. meanwhile, the world health organization sends a team to gaza's largest hospital on saturday. he described it as a death zone. filled with terrifying people. they said a mass grave with anybody's was right outside the entrance. inside, the choking dust and smoke, the team counted 291 patients including 32 infants, extremely critical condition. officials say patients and staff have been ordered to evacuate by the israeli military. israel denies issuing such an order. covering the release for use as our jerusalem correspondent and joins us live from soul. a team visited the hospital and we understand there are more gruesome scenes coming out of the refugee camp after the last year and another school in north gaza was also hit earlier. what more can you tell us about the events. >> layla, we will start with the hospital in the w.h.o. being able to spend an hour inside the hospital and there was heavy shelling and fighting outside in the near proximity. is described it as a death zone. it was a dire situation inside saying that there are 32 babies and extremely critical condition, two people in intensive care without ventilation and also saying that when they spoke to staff and patients, that they all said they were quite terrified for their safety and health and they pleaded for evacuation. the w.h.o. says that it is urgently developing plans to try to get the final patients out of the hospital itself, that the ministry of health has said that they believe there are five doctors remaining in the hospital with more than 120 patients obviously patients which cannot be moved at this point. it would simply be too dangerous. they say, the vast majority of the patients they saw there were from the victims of war trauma. now, when it comes to he went run school in jabal year this is a place where thousands of internally displaced people were sheltering. we understand from an road which is the human body that looks after palestinian refugees that are retrieved seeing the images that he has seen our horrifying. also seeing thousands would have been sheltering in that area. the images that we have seen most of which we are unable to air because they are just too horrific, they show many bodies lying in different rooms on two floors of the building. many of them covered in dust. now, according to the spokesperson for -- they said at this point they don't know who was responsible. they don't know what happened exactly and they are still trying to clarify casualty figures, the idf, the israeli ministry has said they are aware of the incident and they are reviewing but at this point, that is all the information they are giving us. laila? >> the hostage of families meanwhile have reached jerusalem after watching from tel aviv and are headed to mr. benjamin netanyahu's office and understand they will be meeting the government officials this coming week? what do we know. >> reporter: we have hurt more frustration for families and supporters of those being taken by hamas believing that they are not being given information and that they are not even able to speak to anybody about the situation. so will be watching that meeting later this week closely. there had been unconfirmed reports that may be hostage swap deal was imminent or was close. but that is really per mr. has said that is simply not the c case. >> translator: we are prevented from discussing details of a prisoner deal that we stand for. we want all of them back whether we do it one stage or two. we will do it in a way that will return entire families, is as clear as the sun. >> reporter: the white house also saying that a deal has not been reached yet but they are working hard to reach some kind of deal. laila? >> paula hancocks, thank you so much. and was president joe biden is once again rejecting calls for a cease-fire in gaza. he says that would give hamas an opportunity to regroup and rebuild their stockpile of weapons. he also floated his vision for gaza and the west bank wants the world is over. priscilla alvarez has the details. >> reporter: press the button on saturday released an op-ed in which he rejected calls for a cease-fire in the israel/hamas conflict and knowingly when to the issue is taking steps to issue the advances against extremists who are attacking civilians, a key area of concern for the administration. as far as disease for which the president has faced mounting criticisms mystically and abroad, he wrote the following as long as hamas clings to its ideology of destruction, a cease-fire is not peace. the president and administration officials have instead pushed for humanitarian pauses for the release of hostages held by hamas but also to get aid into gaza. the president went on to say that israel should respect humanitarian law and protect innocent civilians. the president also stressed that a two state solution is the way forward in the israel/hamas conflict. reiterating a message from earlier in the week when he said that that was the solution and he also went on to note the ongoing efforts to get hostages out of gaza who are held by hamas. but above all, the president taking that moment to remind americans that conflicts of voting both in israel and in ukraine effect u.s. national security. that has been a message that he said repeatedly including last month in a primetime address when the white house was also asking for billions inviting to support both israel and you can. that funding has not been met and the person taking robert on saturday to remind americans why these conflicts abroad are important for the united states in a key moment. priscilla alvarez, cnn, traveling with the president. i'm joined now by ron brownstein. he is an endless and senior editor for the athletic. it is good to see you. six weeks now into this world and president biden is facing a post of dilemmas. let's start with the op-ed in the washington post. how would you characterize it? and who is the intended aud audience? >> well, it is a reassertion of what has been the traditional u.s. role and certainly in the area that joe biden culminates pull the -- politically is the leader of the western world. the secretary of state under bill clinton describing the u.s. as the indispensable nation and he is asserting the centrality of u.s. leadership both in europe in terms of repelling the assault from primary putting on ukraine and in the mideast, in terms of both working with israel and in some ways constraining the israeli government, benjamin netanyahu. it is a challenge on both political fronts. the resurgence of unilateralism and isolationism under trump who had much more transactional vision of how the was interacted with other nations and from the left, in terms of the enormous criticism that he is facing from portions of the democratic party over the birth and extent of his support for israel. >> and also for the rest of the world, watching the carnage in gaza, the use appears increasingly isolated with the israel policy rather. with respect to how this war is being conducted. do you know whether there are discussions within the white house about whether this continues to be the right approach that they should be supporting? do you see this administration conditioning its supports if there is potentially even more hardship in gaza? >> you know, president biden is trying to find a pathway here between irreconcilable -- you know, think that he has certainly given broader support to israel and affect more rope to israel than you might have seen under barack obama. but he has also been more critical of israel and more willing to exert pressure on them both publicly and privately to restrain their behavior and also to envision what comes after than you would have seen from donald trump and it is a lonely island in the fact that he is on. you know, this is an issue that as we have talked about before, generally divides as coalition. it is striking that if you look at polling offensively democrats divide about 50/50 on whether they support military aid to israel whereas republicans are predominantly in support of it and it is true with ukraine where democrats are purportedly in support of 80 to you can and most republican voters were sitting on the influence of chubb on the party opposed it. so this is something that is difficult for him. it is also in alliance with a figure in netanyahu, the democrats have historically not fully trusted for good reason. he has identified very much with the republican party in american politics and his government is one that is well to the right of what most democrats would want to see. you know, in israeli policy. joe biden is trying to read a very lonely course here and one in which he is balancing both support and constraint or restraint on israel and one that threatens to leave him, you know, with disappointed reaction on both sides. >> and all of this, you know, as we are nearing a presidential election, i mean, where is the u.s. public on all of this? >> you know, look at u.s. public, you know, it is divided and as a side, the sharpest divisions are on the democratic party and that more americans overall safety support israel and the palestinians and more americans support aid to israel, then don't but among younger wiccans, it is a different opponents. there is much more critical view of israel behavior and as i said, to some extent, i i mean, netanyahu is reaping what he has sown. he is going back to the iran deal when he openly lobbied u.s. politics to oppose the policy of barack obama, the way he interacted with trump, the way he interacted against obama in -- with matt brown me, he is not a figure that many democratic leaders have a lot of faith in. and the distrust i think you know, spilling over in terms of what we are seeing in the public reaction on this. you know. biden's approval on handling this is underwater, but it is better than his approval on many of the issues. what he needs ultimately is a resolution to the fighting and a movement toward diplomatic aftermath, whatever that is going to look like. you know, you can see in that op-ed and elsewhere, he is putting more pressure than he had before this attack on the israeli government to begin something that looks like a negotiation port aid to state solution and i suspect he will move heaven and earth to ensure that something like that begins at -- you know, whenever the active hostilities have cooled down, getting to the point is it is going to be extremely painful for him politically as it is for the public in both israel and gaza. >> always good to have your perspective. thank you so very much. >> thanks for having me. ♪ still ahead, the security of taiwan was a big topic during the aipac summit. put the future of the self-governing island is far from clear. we will have a detailed report from taipei. and voters in argentina will head to the polls in the coming hours to choose their next president. a look at what is at stake and how the two candidates could change the country's future, next on cncnn. ♪♪ ♪ u.s. president joe biden and president xi jinping had a substantial discussion about taiwan during their meeting at the apex summit last week. xi made it clear that concerns about the island were the biggest and most dangerous issue in the u.s. and china, bilateral relations. where does taiwan stand after aipac? >> reporter: to will never forget those four tense days when former house speaker nancy pelosi's visit triggered unprecedented chinese military drills widely seen as a dress rehearsal for war. more than a year later, on the streets of taipei, for some, the prospect of war feels closer than ever. >> translator: of course we are concerned that what happened to ukraine, happen to taiwan. i'm a mother, and i have kids. president joe biden and chinese president xi jinping's marathon meeting in san francisco aided talent to put her on a host of hot-button issues. especially taiwan. these most important and sensitive issue in u.s./china relations, xi was quoted in cheney state media in washington has no plan to stop selling billions of dollars in weapons to taipei. military cooperation including u.s. training of taiwanese troops at the highest level in decades. that he was formally switch diplomatic recognition from taipei to beijing in 1979. >> we maintain the agreement that there is a one china policy and that i'm not going to change that. >> reporter: as for the future of this self-governing democracy, she mixes china will realize reunification this is unstoppable. >> beijing [indistinct] >> reporter: the director of taiwan's institute for national defense and security research warns china's military buildup, the biggest in a century, maybe just beginning. he says it can only be deterred by massive military power. does that need to include the help of larger militaries like the u.s., like japan? >> sure. taiwan enjoys very important location. is beijing can occupy taiwan, has become -- chinese to hawaii. and they can reach the west coast of the united states to strike the united states. >> reporter: last year, beijing fired ballistic missiles over taiwan. here in taiwan, people have lived their entire lives with the reality that china has an arsenal of missiles pointed at his eyelid that could be raining down in a matter of minutes. that is why here in taipei alone, there's an estimated 90,000 air defense shelters ready for whatever comes. with the people's liberation army surrounded the self-governing democracy, chinese state media said they were simulating a blockade. practicing a possible precursor for a full-scale invasion. jolting taiwan into a new risk filled reality. putting high-stakes diplomacy to the test. we are also watching some major development in taipei. on saturday, two opposition parties announced their joint presidential ticket. they will pose an unexpected and very credible challenge to the ruling dpp, the current vice president is a presidential candidate. he was considered issue invite many analysts until this surprised unit between these two opposition parties which notably tend to have a more pro-beijing or at least pro cooperation with regime where's the dpp has long said that you have to stand up to china with strength if you give an inch, they say they will take them out. either way, the result of next year's taiwanese presidential elections will have huge implications for taiwan and also the u.s./china relationship. will ripley, cnn, taipei. voters in argentina go to the polls sunday to pick their next president. it is a tight runoff election that could change the direction the country is heading. our reporter has the details. >> reporter: it is just a matter of hours before the polls open in buenos aires and it is closely watched around the world because it means a far right candidate who is disruptive and populist candidates against the finest and the career politicians. currently serving as argentina's finest minister and has pretty much billed his career in and out of public office. on the other side, javier's challenger has entered politics 36 months ago and before that, he was working as an commerce for the private sector. a win. he is telling from the hard part right would mean a change of momentum for conservatives worldwide. associated himself with the likes of -- in brazil and donald trump in the united states and the supposedly moved argentina to right for example proposing to completely privatize the argentinian public health sector and also support private education in the country that has always supported public education in the way this election could [indistinct] argentina for good is because he is proposing to raise the economy of argentina by getting rid of the argentina search rank and replacing the argentinian peso with the u.s. dollar. argentina is once again berglund record high inflation and struggling to repay international debtors. the plan to switch their currency from the argentinian peso to the u.s. dollars has triggered a debate among the economic think tanks. for example, it is not so hard to imagine the incident in the united states considers dollarization the best way for argentina to finally provide the reforms that the country so desperately needs. however, his opponent is not leading in the polls but has already pulled up a surprise victory in the first round of the argentinian presidential election and is here for a fight. in just a few hours, the polls open in argentina and by monday at this hour, we will know who the next president of the country will be. dueling protests over a controversial new amnesty law in spain that the prime minister, pedro sanchez, agreed to in order to win a second term in office. and is 170,000 people gathered in madrid to vent their anger over the new law, which would give amnesty to catalan separatists who tried unsuccessfully to succeed from spain six years ago and didn't do much in the northern basque city of bilbao, thousands of pro-independence protesters march in support of the deal. mr. sanchez won a majority in parliament with the support of pro-catalan parties in exchange for agreeing to the law. he says it will help to defuse tensions in the spanish region of catalonia. still ahead, some family members of hamas hostages say they feel let down by the israeli government on oct october 7th and fear they may never return to their homes that the militant group destroyed. we will hear from them next. plus, families and friends of hostages filter street in tel aviv, pushing for their release. with the israeli publisher is saying about reports that a deal has beenen reached.. ♪ ♪ welcome back to our views indian states, canada, canada, and all around the world. i'm lolla hard rock and who are watching "cnn newsroom." some family members of hostages say they feel let down by the israel defense forces slow response to the attack. survivors say they may never return to the homes that the militant group destroyed. unless the israeli government can guarantee their production. >> reporter: these are the momoments octobeber 7th when thy began to nightmare. by the time the idf arrived that afternoon, nearly one fifth of the residence would be kidn kidnapped. [indistinct] was one of the more than 70 taken. he was here in his workshop when hamas attacked at 6130 in the morning to eventually he was able to make it back to his house. he barricaded his wife and children into the bomb shelter. that was the less they saw of him. >> he made his wife swear that she would not open the door for anyone. >> reporter: jonathan is caring for his son's family, campaigning for his release. >> he is the kind of son who can complete thoughts for me. honestly, because of the other losses. >> some of the entire families actually that were murdered. their lives were intertwined with my family's life for the last 40 years. >> reporter: what is left of the community is still intertwined. most everyone together, hundreds of miles away. they have each other. but the point nightmare continues. how do think the committee is coping? does that help? >> yes. yes, and no because it is not always -- sometimes it is dragging you down. >> reporter: really? >> yeah. because people are traumatized and hurt. >> reporter: hurting his brother dameer is another one of the hos