continuing breaking news coverage. i'm ayman mohyeldin in new york. it is five a.m. and gaza city. fighting between israel and hamas now enters a third day. just the last few, hours nbc news has learned that several u.s. citizens are among those dead and israel. that's according to a national security council spokesperson. the -- has said it's monitoring the situation closely and the state department is ready to provide assistance to any u.s. citizens ill in the country. ght, now 700 israelis are dead, 2300 injured. according to israeli officials. the palestinian health ministry says their death toll stands at more than 400 with at least 2300 injured. israel has confirmed that forces have taken both military and non military israeli captives. israeli media says that number is actually at 100. it includes, women, children and the elderly. earlier today, family members of some of those taken by hamas held a press conference. they shared their stories and pleaded for help. here is one woman who is 23 year old daughter was abducted saturday night. >> she said, mom, we were robbed. they shot at us. we can't drive. everybody here. there are four kids. 25, 30. everybody was shocked. they were bleeding. she was -- she said mom, help us, we don't know what to do. i'm on the phone with her. i'm saying, call me, we love you, it's okay. we are trying to find a way to take you out. -- they don't have answers, we don't have any answers. >> u.s. officials say that they are looking into reports that americans may be among those being held. a spokesperson has confirmed reports of unaccounted u.s. citizens and israel. cannot confirm that they are being held by hamas in gaza. throughout the day, retaliates continue to rain down on gaza, city turning several residential buildings into rubble. some wasn't close to the israeli border have already begun to -- fear an israeli ground invasion could be imminent. the situation escalating further on sunday. lebanon's hezbollah militant group, an ally of hamas fired dozens of rockets and shells at a disputed area along the israel border with lebanon. israel's military responded by firing back. there were no casualties as of now. as we enter the third day of violence, this much is clear, it is just the beginning. prime minister benjamin yet neo-who has warned of a, quote, long and difficult more to come. let's go live to our reporters all across the region. as well as at the white house. ali velshi, the host of msnbc velshi joins us from neighboring jordan. nbc news correspondent matt bradley is in beirut, lebanon. and d.c. correspondent aaron gilchrist is live for us at the white house. aaron, i will start with you, given some of the developments we've seen learn today about the presence of americans among those that have been killed as well as the possibility that americans are missing, how if at all that changes the american response handy american calculation going forward? have we heard any comment for the white house on how this might impact their decision-making? >> from the very beginning, the effort for the white house and the presidents matter security team has been to try to get their arms around the magnitude of the situation that's developing in israel right now. today the secretary of state anthony blinken indicated earlier this morning that they were trying to verify whether there were americans who had been killed, u.s. citizens who had been killed in israel. whether they're u.s. citizens who are held hostage there. this, evening we were able to learn from the national security council spokesperson that, indeed, several americans have died in israel. we don't have a hard number on that at that point. and that is something that the national security team is still working to develop. getting that information confirmed. reaching out to be family of the people who were impacted in israel. and then relay that information to us. as far as hostages go, we also know that the israeli ambassador to the united nations indicated earlier today that there were american hostages among those being held by the hamas. at this point, we understand from the national security council, they can confirm that there are people who are unaccounted for at this hour. as you might imagine there's still an effort to bring together our intelligence community with the israeli intelligence community. diplomatic community and military community to try to get a better understanding of the numbers of the magnitude of the deaths and the folks were injured as well as the folks were held hostage. has the situation develops, eamonn, this is something that is still very much in the early stages. >> aaron, has the administration expressed any concern about the scope of a possible israeli military operation? the operation undergoing underway in gaza still. is there any concern among the administration as to how broad that operation and how long it lasts for given some of the humanitarian concerns that we've been talking about? >> it hasn't been a point of great discussion. outside of the presidents team, we don't have realtime responses as to what they're talking about. at this point, we do know that there is faith that the israelis are going to be able to mount a strong response to the initial attack there. the u.s. is looking to support the israelis and whatever way may be necessary. the president indicated yesterday on his remarks that he was going to make sure that if the israeli people said it -- had needed help, humanitarian, help there would be that available. a course, we learned today that the u.s. is now offering a show of support militarily as well. the department of defense is moving the uss general fort strike group. the entire group of several thousand sailors into the eastern mediterranean. closer to israel. a show of support at this point. it's yet to be seen whether the military apparatus that's moving there is going to be engaged for any sort of use. we. no the department of defense is going to be sending additional munitions, weapons to israel to aid in whatever efforts it's decides to execute in the gaza strip. >> matt bradley, the significant developments, something security officials and american officials in the region or watching. a possibility of another front opening. today there was concern of that situation. there was an exchange of rocket fire between israel and hezbollah. give us an update on how tense the situation in southern lebanon's right now. at this hour. whether or not there are any indications that hezbollah is willing to engage israel in a confrontation at this moment. >> yeah, amen, this is something, there's been a lot of anxiety. , obviously everyone is focused on gaza and israel in this whole thing broke off on saturday morning. a lot of folks were looking to here in lebanon. they were wondering what they would do next. that anxiety was shared even then the white house. the national security adviser told arland and jen psaki earlier today about that. here's what he had to say. >> we are much more concerned about, this goes the second part of the question, what role iran and/or its proxies like hezbollah are going to play going forward? you heard in the presidents remarks yesterday, very carefully worded statement that warned against any parties hostile to israel seeking advantage in the situation. a very much goes for our concerns about the possibility of a second front. emerging from southern lebanon. >> so, why are we worried about hezbollah well, hezbollah's organization, an entity of political party, a militant group that's kind of like a mama's, it's backed by iran, as we heard john finer say. it engages in sustained and muscular attacks against israel. it has been doing so for decades. we talk about the wider region. we are trying to gauge whether or not this whole thing is going to metastasize outside of the borders of gaza and israel. hezbollah is a good indicator. we've already seen some sightings of what hezbollah is going to. do you mention, today the cross fire, the exchange of fire, over the blue. line it is the border that separates lebanon and israel. that was pretty limited. he mentioned there was artillery fire. there was guided missiles that were shot by hezbollah into the shiva forms. this is disputed area. it's partly occupied by israel. israel responded. it was with their own artillery. it kind of ended their. and that's important. you can kind of file this, ayman, under something that's remarkable for not being remarkable. this is very much between hezbollah and israel. they kind of follow a choreographed script. so, far we haven't seen any of the parties deviating from that choreographed dance. they are playing their roles. we saw this exchange of fire. no escalations beyond. that hezbollah is perfectly capable of launching missiles roll into israeli territory. the israelis are perfectly capable of launching missiles at hezbollah targets inside lebanon. neither of those things happened. instead, we saw what looked like probably no loss of life, very few injuries. little escalations. even hezbollah came out and said, that you know, this was just an act of solidarity. an expression of support for hamas. it wasn't some grand military incursion. you can kind of call this the combat equivalent of taking off a voter, a voting ballot. raising your hand. supporting it. it didn't go into a full scale war. we haven't seen it between hezbollah and any real way for nearly 20 years. when it did happen, it was blistering. it was awful. especially for residents and civilians in southern lebanon, playing a huge price. now it looks like, at least four, now both sides are going to be escalating. a man, you know, it bears repeating. that could change at anytime. it depends a lot on one around says hand on how israel reacts to the current evolving situation right now inside the strip and on the borders in israel proper. >> ali velshi, you are in jordan, particular unique country given the fact that it is one of the few countries that has a peace treaty with israel, it also is a very close american ally. a lot of security cooperation between the jordanians and the united states. also because it also has a sizable palestinian population, it has been in many ways at the front lines of what happens between israel and the palestinians over decades. what is the sentiment that you get broadly speaking from jordanians, and the street to what is happening transpired over the past 48 hours? well, as both of you know very well, lebanon and jordan are the countries that, after the partition of israel took in the largest number of refugees. so there are still places in lebanon and jordan that are camps, there are four dos camps, were few camps. they built up over the years they have streets and lights and things like that. but the majority of, the effective majority of people in jordan are palestinians. the queen of jordan is a palestinian. the majority of the working people in jordan are palestinians, many of them working in some substandard jobs, living in substandard housing, so when things like this happens between israel and palestine or israel and gaza everything heats up here in jordan. for a number of reasons. one is jordan always worries about its population growth and weather can handle more refugees, it took a lot of refugees from, escapees from syria and they worry about that and their economy. it is nowhere close to as bad as things are in lebanon where matt it is, this is a much more developed and advanced and prosperous country. but, there is a lot of unrest in the streets and, as matt said, there is a lot of conflict about the countries and where they are coming down on. whether it is israel, or hamas, or both to blame for this and the street. that is where the distinction comes in. we talk about the abraham accords that jared kushner and president trump negotiated, those were trade alliances with saudi arabia and the emirates. those are not things that actually, no palestinians involved in that. there are no palestinians of the table, no help or aid or prosperity came to palestinians as a result. so it is a very, there is a level of frustration around the arab world and in particular those places that are dominated by palestinians and this is absolutely one of them. it is a topic that everyone had to talk about. if i would walk out right now, the sun is going to rise within an hour, but ordered walk out and find a form of place or something, tunes or the proprietor is palestinian. it might even be the son or daughter of a palestinian. so things are on edge here, they're very worried about, this you're right, jordan has security alliances and relations the night states, very strong ally. it also has normalized relations with israel. also, it is in charge of the area in israel where hamas essentially started this fight over. it is the mosque in a series of complicated arrangements, jordan is actually the administrator and keeper of the holiest sites in jerusalem. so they have got a hand in this, they have got a role in this thing, and there were conversations between the president and king of jordan to try to contain the situation. i will tell you as the sun gets ready to rise above gaza, israel has said that it is conducted more airstrikes in the area of julia and the beach camp. you know that gaza city is about two miles, i think, from the border, between gaza city and the border with israel is this beach camp. they have leveled a mosque, they say it is where a naval can mandate was hold up. we don't know the account come of that is, but there are reports that there are people trapped under the rubble. i only tell you that because the ground part of this war has not begun. phase three of this is not begun. phase one was fighting what happened on friday night into saturday, phase two was what has been going on today and airstrikes, phase three is the israelis going to gaza. we're not as close to that yet, but as matt says this could happen at any moment and something everyone's worried about. >> i think it will become clear as americans and israelis get a better picture of where these hostages are inside the gaza strip and what extent they're going to mount an operation here. either rescue them or try to bring hamas to the negotiating table. ali velshi, matt ramsey, thank you to the three of you for starting us off this hour. coming up i'm speaking with democratic congresswoman susan wild, a member of the house foreign affairs committee about u.s. plans to send additional military aid to israel. aid to raisel e artist. known for loving the outdoors. known for getting everyone together. no one wants to be known for cancer, but a treatment can be. keytruda is known to treat cancer. fda-approved for 16 types of cancer, including certain early-stage cancers. one of those cancers is triple-negative breast cancer. keytruda may be 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resources to the country. i'm joined now by democratic congresswoman susan wild of pennsylvania, she's a member of the house of foreign affairs committee. congresswoman, thank you so much for making time for us this evening. do you have a better sense, given what has transpired today, and us learning that american citizens were killed and the possibility that american citizens have been kidnapped and taken into gaza? do you have a sense of how that might change our calculation, our possible involvement in the situation? >> well, obviously it will change the approach to getting those citizens out of israel once that is confirmed, but i honestly don't think it's going to affect our approach over all to this because israel is obviously a very significant ally. a large number of americans actually have dual citizenship in israel and many, many people from the u.s. visit israel every year. so i'm not particularly surprised to learn that there were some americans, or known to be victims. i suspect that we're going to find out about more as time goes on, but i don't think that that will change. the calculus or strategy, because i think that we're already looking at a very aggressive strategy towards this. >> what exactly should our strategy be going forward? i know that yourself and members of congress put a statement saying our alliance with israel is -- our commitment to israel securities iran cloud, but what does that actually look like in terms of tangible policy? >> what it means is that we are going to do everything we can to make sure that we get back into session in congress, which has obviously been interrupted by the events of last week, and allocate additional aid, supplemental aid for israel. i was very pleased to hear today that the administration, that the pentagon has announced that we will be sending initial munitions to israel and moving more warships, including an aircraft carrier closer to israel. that is welcome news,, but we're going to have to continue to show the u.s. support for israel, and specifically congresses support as you are undoubtedly aware, there has been a lot of acrimony in congress in recent weeks and months about foreign aid, about spending in general and i think it is really important for the israeli government -- for the people of israel to know that we're going to be there for them, there won't be political games played over this. i think that is the most important thing that we in congress can do right now is to make sure that we're showing unity of purpose, unity in voting, and that we don't allow israel or what is going on there now to become a devices issue as something are in congress. >> when you look at what is happening right now in terms of the early stages of this operation, to what extent the scope and depth of it looks like when israel goes and, if it does go into gaza, as some have suggested with a ground invasion. how concerned are you about the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding there? is there any concern that israel may overextend or overreach it's and as has previously done in other operations inside gaza? >> amen, i'm always concerned about humanitarian rights. i'm on the foreign affairs committee, i'm ranking member on the subcommittee of global health and human rights. humanitarian issues are always front and center for me, but i also recognize that this is a situation that demands action by the idea. they must go in and attempt to rescue those poor hostages. i hate to tell you, but this hits home for me. i've been israel many times, my adult kids have been to israel on their own and with other young people, the slaughter of 260 young people in the desert who were attending a peace fest and many of them taken away as hostages, the idea that a holocaust survivor is among the hostages, you know, unfortunately the circumstances are such that i don't think hamas has left israel and a choice but to go in on the ground and rescue as many people as possible. do i hope that it will be with an absolute minimum of loss of civilian life? absolutely. hamas is no friend of the residents of gaza. the residents are going to be very much affected by this, it is tragic, but, at the same time, i don't think you can possibly minimize the fact that there are hostages who have been taken over the border of gaza. this was not something that was created by the israeli government. >> congresswoman susan wild, thank you so much more timely really appreciate you joining us this evening. >> thank you. >> up next we're going to break down your reporting on iran's potential role in the potential assault on israel, stay with us. us tourists that turn into scientists. tourists taking photos that are analyzed by ai. so researchers can help life underwater flourish. ♪ -dad, what's with your toenail? so researchers can help life underwater flourish. -oh, that...? i'm not sure... -it's a nail fungus infection. -...that's gross! -it's nothing, really... -it's contagious. you 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intimate role, a tactical role, and even green with this operation as early as last week. having served in the cia and knowing the intelligence of the situation, what goes into an operation like this, what is your assessment of that reporting? we have u.s. officials telling nbc news that they have not yet seen any evidence, but from your expertise how do you read it? >> well, i think this is an incredibly important moment for the intelligence services not only with israel, but also with the united states in the region. because, there is a report out there now, i believe it was in the wall street journal, that states that iran was actually not only playing a supporting role, but also was actually green let the operation, directed the operation. if that can be concerned, and right now u.s. officials are so they don't have that intelligence, but if that is something that has been corroborated both by israel and the u.s., the stakes get much higher. israel in some sense is almost compelled to act against iran, so going back to my old world in intelligence, getting these right, supporting policymakers is absolutely critical and we're also dealing with the situation in which there was a stunning terrorist attack on israel that the israeli intelligence services, both regional intelligence services seem to have some help missed, which is really quite extraordinary. >> when you think of all the intelligence agencies that are operating against the different actors here, even if, let's say for example, egypt is focused on hamas and what comes in and out of the border between gaza and egypt, even if you have the americas focused on iran and what iran does in the region, and the israelis focusing on what happened between iran and, let's say lebanon, nothing was picked up. nothing was detected in the region, at least publicly that we are aware of, that would have suggested an operation of this magnitude. how do you explain, or how do even understand, how the most fortified border, the most surveilled border, the sophisticated technology that israel deploys, was breached in a matter of hours? >> so, it is actually almost unfathomable to me. i served in this area, i actually worked with the palestinian, israeli, egyptian, and jordanian services during my career. i know they can do. israel, for example, they have blanketed gaza with human sources that spot with communications intercepted, to listen to conversations with sensors and drones. it is a tiny area, same thing with the egyptians who have contact with hamas. it is almost inconceivable that attack, which was a multi domain attack over, air, sea and land, 1000 operatives who have taken weeks if not months and maybe even a year of planning, how this was not picked up. there are huge questions that have to be asked. with this intelligence that came in and was discounted, it was a failure of collection, a failure of imagination of course, but there will be a commission in israel to study this. again, as someone who served in the region, it is still incredible to me that this was not picked up. it is one of the great intelligence failures that i have seen in certainly modern history. >> if we are to look ahead right now, obviously the big question is about these hostages who are inside gaza and any rescue operation is going to take place is going to be heavily dependent on the intelligence that israel, the u.s., egypt, and anyone else can gather about where these hostages, where these hostages are. give us an insight into what is happening right now in the intelligence community and whether or not there's going to be confidence in that intelligence given this failure? >> right, so i sympathize in some sense with israeli intelligence now because, remember september 12th, 2001, this is the way we felt, the americans felt that we had failed. but the israelis are gonna have to pull themselves up by their boot straps into three things. first, of course, help the israeli military and finding targets of hamas operatives into gaza. number two, as you noted, is certainly the location of hostages. there's gonna be an enormous amount of resources put into this. i think that there is announcement today by the department of defense that the u.s. will aid israel in various imaginations, i think they will on intelligence gathering. but, again, this is tough and amos as planned for this. there is obviously huge tunnel networks, safe houses, it is going to take an enormous effort to try to find and rescue these hostages, both israelis and as we now learn american hostages as well. >> i think back to what happened with the israeli soldier and the way, for, years hamas operatives were able to keep him out of sight and hidden away from israeli officials there by constantly keeping him on the move and keeping the people who know about him to very few and limited cells of operation, making it harder for intelligence to kind of -- >> mark always a pleasure, we really appreciate your insights 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to discuss this and more math dusk, vice president for -- head of the palestine israel program at the arab center in washington d.c. and steven koch, a senior fellow from middle east and africa studies at the council on foreign relations. it's great have all three of you with us. so, lots to break down here, stephen, but i thought i would start with you first and, secretary of state anthony blinken, you know, saying on his part that he believes that hamas attack was motivated by trying to thwart the ties that were being fostered between israel and saudi arabia. what do you think about that? >> i think that it makes some amount of sense, especially if you accept the argument that the iranians have had a hand here. the iranians have been very active recently in those countries that have expressed desire to normalize with israel, and hamas would not benefit from that normalization as well, but the problem with the argument is, however, that we don't have the kind of firm evidence. we have a wealth of circumstantial evidence pointing to the iranian involvement, including standard by hamas itself, but as your guest in the previous block pointed out, into the united states can really confirm that, this remains in the realm of speculation. >> use of, there has been this motion by the israeli prime minister to try to up and the idea of going out and seeking peace first with the palestinians, one of things that israeli prime minister netanyahu pride himself on with that he would go out to the arab world, make peace with arabs, and then come back and try to make a peace agreement of sorts with the palestinians, or certainly make palestinians more malleable to his vision of what a peace agreement looks like. is that equation up and just now, does that calculus before israel change? that you cannot ignore the palestinian issue or try to solve it by going around it? >> well, the one thing i would say is that the calculus as never been about making peace with arabs, it's been about making peace with arab regimes. oftentimes these are deals that were sealed with arms deals as well, but every public opinion throughout the region, including in states that have moved forward with normalization agreements with israel remain very much opposed to this and peace with autocrats rarely remains stable or reliable or representative of broader trends in the region. i think that this idea that there was a new middle east and completely changed situation throughout the region, geopolitically, is something that we have seen really exposed in the last couple of days. the idea of trying to achieve peace and stability in the region by circumventing the issue of a palestine is something that is clearly not possible, i don't think it has ever been possible, and i think that this issue now has reasserted its sensuality more than anything else. >> matt, as we understood it going into the events before this week, saudi arabia was seeking not just the security agreement with the united states,, but it was also seeking some kind of concession, not clear what that means, but some kind of concession for israel towards the palestinians. that is unlikely to happen right now for israel, they are unlikely to meet any of those demands towards the palestinians. even though we don't know what they were beforehand, but how does that make a relationship between israel and saudi arabia less attainable after this week's events? >> i think, despite the fact that mohammad bin salman really probably doesn't care all that much about the palestinians themselves, i think from the saudi government over the past few days, which was notably pro palestinian, it shows that they remain sensitive to some extent to regional public opinion and certainly saudi public opinion. but i want to say a couple of things about some of the points raised earlier. first of all, the saudi israeli normalization piece of this broader deal that the biden administration is trying to broker is going to misstate at its own pace. it is ongoing, it certainly, the events of the last few days, the horrific violence that we have seen that we are going to see carried out against gaza, it could -- but there are factors driving that between the saudi government and israel. and i think it is wrong to try to refer to this deal as saudi israeli normalization, what this is from the u.s. perspective is a saudi you s security pact that is being wrapped in a package of saudi israeli peace to try to sell it domestically to americans. the last point i would make here is that the timing of this, it doesn't have anything to do with saudi israeli normalization, there are more than enough factors and reasons within israel palestine to determine these events rather than trying to peg it, to israel saudi normalization. >> what are some of those factors, do you think? >> well, again, the blockade is over a decade old. the occupation is over 50 years old, there is certainly internal palestinian dynamics, hamas has been trying to initiate and embarrass its opponents, that they are the more legitimate voice of resistance. that is not to defend anything that hamas did as legitimate resistance, violence against civilians, certainly this horrific violence and hostage taking that we have seeing is not illegitimate form of resistance. but i think there are internal factors here, both between palestinian factions and palestinians and israelis that can do just as much to explain this as saudi israeli normalization. >> so, on one hand, stephen, a lot of people are saying certain within the israeli side that this is their 9/11 moment. i think for us as americans who lived through both 9/11 and the 20 years afterwards, the disastrous 20 years afterwards, of endless invasions in afghanistan and iraq, the return of the taliban, the rise of ices, that comparison raises a lot of questions as to what israel is about to do next. there is also from the israeli assessment no return to the status quo. they will now return back to what life was like on october 6th given what just happened, whether they can even return to this communities it what it was on october 6th. how do you think israel responds to this and how it shapes the region going forward? >> yes, well, i think in the first place given the number of casualties, the 700 plus that for the israelis, you have to go back 50 years to october 1973 war to get a number that is just about half of what the israelis are confronting right now. that was all soldiers in 1973. so this is a massive shock to israeli society. and one can expect that the government is going to respond in an extraordinarily violent way. the israeli security cabinet has already directed the idea to destroy essentially hamas, and the way they are likely to do that is through various significant operations in the gaza strip that is not going to look like the operations we have seen going back to 2014, for recently in 2021 not too long after the biden administration came to office is going to be a very significant air, land, and see operation. and land being an extraordinarily important piece of this. it is clear there is going to be very significant loss of life in the process. it may be that the number of hostages being held in gaza is going to complicate things for the israelis, but it strikes me based on their statements that the israelis will not be satisfied without destroying hamas's ability to threaten them and killing in capturing its leadership. >> what might look different if hamas is in any way engaged in a way that stephen is talking about, and i say that because of what israel has done in the past which is kill the spiritual leader of hamas, they've killed militants, leaders, military leaders, they have -- 2008 -- all the various operations in 2012 2014, 2020, one they had achieve objective against hamas. as we see now, hamas capabilities are stunning israel in the last couple of days. >> yes, you, know i think in the last two decades or so, there have been approximately 16 israeli military operations in gaza. each one of them aimed at degrading the capabilities of the palestinian militants and factions on the ground there. each time we have seen of course that the palestinians continue to develop and those capabilities in a massive fashion in the last several days and wait as you said. they have shocked the security establishment, and our officials around the world. and so i think the lesson to take from this is that a military solution is not going to be a real fix to this. without addressing the core of this issue, the root causes here, we are going to see a recurrence of this. -- islamic jihad, said the same, thing a few months before that, and probably palestinian fighters involved in this massive operation who were not mourn in the years israel was claiming had eliminated hamas's leaders 20 years ago, 25 years ago. so they really need to be some very difficult questions asked here. i think if the united states is honest in its assessment, it needs to be asking israeli leaders as, well how do you think this can possibly be fixed by even more massive development, as was mentioned we know what we are going to see is going to involve massive destruction, massive casualties, and all of it done with american backing. that should raise a lot of serious questions for all of us. >> gentlemen, did not go anywhere, i will squeeze in a quick break. i want to get a thoughts on what america should be doing after the break. stay with us. ay with us [camera shutter sfx] introducing ned's plaque psoriasis. 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[ting] ♪♪ live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla. this october 10th and 11th, prime big deal days give prime members exclusive access to two days of big savings. which means, you're kind of a big deal. prime big deal days, october 10th and 11th. only for prime members. dove invited women who wanted their damaged hair trimmed. yes, i need a trim. i just want to be able to cut the damage. we tried dove instead. so, still need that trim? oh my gosh! i am actually shocked i don't need a haircut. don't trim daily damage. stop it with dove. >> let's continue the conversation now with stephen cook, before the break, matt, you, stuff talking about the united states and this -- spent a lot of time on capitol hill. are we likely to see anything different in terms of how the united states goes forward from here, beyond the ironclad support that we have seen already for israel security. are we likely to see anything and a long term or near midterm change in u.s. foreign policy on this? >> yes, in the near midterm, unfortunately the answer is no. i think president biden has made clear all along since the beginning of the administration and reiterated in his remorse yesterday, he is standing just with israel, they are in his where he puts, it no daylight between the u.s. and israel. certainly, supporting a country -- important in the wake of the attack that we saw over the past 48 hours. however, the united states has been engaged in trying to broker a resolution to the conflict, for many years. we are not a neutral actor here. i think partially the reason why we are here is precisely because the united states has protected israel from any consequences for decades of occupation, settlement, colonization, human rights abuses. once again that is certainly not anything hamas did at the same time, we have to acknowledge that when people find no way to achieve their goals or rights through non violence and diplomacy, they will seek other means. >> some are saying this was no doubt a tactical victory for hamas, it was able to capture israeli soldiers and reflect the psychological blow and fear and terror, but at the same time they now have achieved a strategic failure. this is really government was embattled, not necessarily one of the most liked israel governments here among american politicians, had a hard time accepting what it was doing with its so-called judicial reforms. now the international community is sympathetic to this government, is going to stand behind, it and has given a greenlight in what it wants to do in gaza. >> that is precisely what is happening. when you talk to israelis, as they have been doing over the course of the last few days, there is a closing of the ranks. there is talk of a national unity government either will or would not more likely will include the hard right. and the israelis are going to be given a lot of room to run in order to achieve their goals in the gaza strip. this has now become existential for the israelis. i think we are going to see a quantum difference in the way in which they deal with gaza now. they have said that -- so, there is a lot of political support here and in the crossfire a lot of civilians are going to get hurt. >> final thoughts to, you unfortunately would not have a lot of, time heart imagine the situation getting worse -- >> if the past is any indication, we can expect over the next several days, there will be massive casualties among palestinians in gaza. i would say that i don't think this is necessarily strategic victory or failure for anyone, because needle rock shun that things are going in is going to be devastating for all parties involved. there is no military solution to this. and if the united states was a friend to israel, in a serious, way a friend of peace of justice, that would be the first thing they would be saying. >> gentlemen, i'm so sorry we are out of time. -- what i suspect will be days and weeks ahead. you see if, matt, steven cook, thank you to 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