terror attacks by hamas forces against israeli civilians, men, women, children, 10:20 days ago. >> hamas will pay for its crimes against humanity. hamas will pay for slaughtering are people. and tonight, we are starting payback. we are bringing justice to this terrible despicable disgusting terrorist group. and they will pay for their crimes. and once again, not just israel will be better off afterwards, but the people of gaza will be better off without them as well. >> those comments from senior adviser to israeli prime minister netanyahu. heavy israeli pomerantz throughout the day in what appears to be an increase in coming days. hundreds of charges in a short period of. time idf is saying it's a greeting is ground operation, including a target raid in northern gaza which it calls preparations for the next stages of combat. part of the reason we do not know much is because we currently have no way at all to communicate with people on the ground in gaza, the 2 million people that live in that area. we cannot reach our own crews in gaza, the people we work with on the ground, the people we rely on to bring you news. earlier today we began the reports that the internet was down across the strip. shortly after, the largest telecommunications negatively description after the israeli strikes destroyed blast of its infrastructure. this means, as of now, there is effectively a black hole of information in gaza. there's still a lot of unanswered questions, leading up to a potential incursion one of the most unknown factors was what would become of the hostages. amos kidnapped hundreds of civilians during the october 7th attacks earlier this month. they are being held somewhere in gaza. but as a new york times reports, quote, in a sign of internal division, the defense minist yoav gallant, pointedly did not describe rescuing the hostages in his speech on thursday evening as one of israel's military objectives. today, family members of some of those hostages have rallied in washington. >> to the government of israel, and anyone else engaged in the release of the hostages, more this is urgent. and we urge you to do everything within your power to release our families. >> release them now. >> there is also the question of americans and gaza. it is believed there are 500 600 currently stuck in the territory. their fate remains unknown, particularly amid a potential land war. there was already, before tonight, a humanitarian crisis unfolding in gaza, prior to a potential -- israeli strikes of the last three weeks have obliterated homes and shelters and only a fraction of the nation this is there a like food and water is making its way across that loan border opening with egypt. there's also no fuel coming into gaza, which means institutions like hospitals are at risk of losing power entirely. today israeli defense forces accuse the largest hospital of gas, at al-shifa, of been a covert base for hamas. and idf spokesman said hamas is using the hospital and something of a command centre for its operations, the utilize an underground system of elaborate tunnels. israel has long accused hamas of operating out of civilian infrastructure in claim those entities are there for legitimate military targets. a mass denies israel's claims. nbc news has no way verifying them today. though today, al-shifa hospital held a press conference, refuting those creams, urging international community to protect its hospitals, and it's patients. speaking to reporters today, white house national security spokesman john kirby said while the u.s. has concern about the vili death toll in gaza, there has been no discussion on the myths of israeli military action. >> we're not trying redline's four is real. now we continuepport their security needs. that will continue. if you're the president say that, secretary blinken say, it and secretary austin say it. they have every right to defend thselves. they are going after hamas, a group of terrorists that killed more than1400 israelis in a single day, nor a single day. we're going to continue to support them. >> it's just not clear what the next steps are in this conflict. we're flying a bit blind here. but from what we know right now, things are already very very dire in gaza and have the potential to get much worse. joining me now live from the israel gaza border, nbc news correspondent alison barber. ellison, what have you've been seeing in your reporting tonight? >> yeah, chris, for the last four hours we have heard what i would describe is the heaviest and most sustained bombardment in northern gaza that we have heard in the close to three weeks that we have been reporting along this section of the border. you mentioned our nbc colleagues inside of gaza. they like everyone inside gaza aren't able to get messages out communicate with people. but hours ago at least one message from one of our team members did make it to london, and according to our colleagues in london, in that message they said they have been able to get just a bit of service that have been incredibly difficult, they wanted to let us know that there was no power, no communications, no service. and also they said that they were being bombarded, bombed, shelled from the air, and also by land, and they said every street is being impacted and said that people inside of gaza were taking the injured and dead in trolleys and trucks trying to get them help. palestinian red cross say they have lost all communication with their team members on the ground in gaza and they are particularly concerned that because of what appears to be just a total communications outage inside of gaza, the primary emergency line for people trying to get an ambulance, trying to get help, 10, one that is likely down or massively interrupted. israel has been very clear on what they plan to do with this war. they say their ultimate goal is to make sure hamas has no capability or to operate new guzzle moving forward, with hamas in it as an existential threat to their existence, and they say what happened on october 7th, the 1400 israeli citizens who were so brutally massacred. but we are also seeing horrific images and we have for a long time now what is happening to palestinians inside gaza. again, we are not able, really to, get in touch with any contacts that we have inside of gaza, but i can tell you yesterday, a doctor who was working with net global sent me photos from a hospital, not al she for, not the largest hospital, but a different one, and not the one the idf has no intently focused on in the last 24 hours, but a difference, mueller hospital in northern gaza. and every photo, chris, it was children. most of them under the age of five. some of them dead. so severely bloodied, just so many injuries to their bodies. and some infants being treated by patients, all of, them according to this doctor, been injured, been killed in israeli airstrikes. what is happening inside gaza and what has been happening inside gaza is a massive casualty event, to say the very least. and the bombardments that we are hearing tonight, it has been a bit of a los angeles now in the last five minutes or so, but that has not been the case throughout the night. every time you hear that boom you know there are likely civilians on the other side of it. israel has been telling people to head south, passed the river, but one spokesperson, envoy liaison for the u.n., and the u.n. services that operate inside gaza said people have been given an impossible choice because they are afraid if they leave and head south, that area is still being attacked by israeli airstrikes. leaving is entirely out of gaza is not an option for people, and for people to be told to leave and not know if or when they can come back, she described it as an impossible choice for civilians. but, again, what we have heard and seen tonight, and gaza is just back there in the distance, it is mostly dark, but we have heard constant bombardment into northern gaza. hamas's military wing, they say that their forces, their militants, we're engaging with idea forces near the city of beta noon, and that is less than some maybe six miles from where we are right now. chris? >> ellison barber, thank you so, much as usual, for your reporting. dr. matt gilbert isn't amused regency medical doctor, a member of the norwegian eight committee, emergency aid to assist in gaza. clearly trying to get aid to hospitals in gaza which we can't enter. he is treated patients in gaza during several violence including at al-shifa hospital, and he joins me now. doctor, i want to start with a basic logistical question about fuel for hospitals. not in any place where hospitals are operating they have backup generators in case the power goes down. the power went down in gaza very early in the blockade, it ran out of fuel, but there's some back up on the generators new, and where is the fuel usually come from under, quote unquote, normal conditions in gaza? >> under normal conditions there is a constant flow of both tanks and tank carriers and trucks. 4 to 500 per day to sustain a the people of gaza because of the siege and they need a constant supply of goods and fuel from the outside. these fuel carriers will bring the fuel to gaza and it is stored in tanks close to the hospitals and other places and of course in gasoline stations for cars. now after this started, the siege has been absolutely complete, and no fuel has been let in new. the storage tanks have been empty and the need for hospitals in gaza was around 75 liters per 24 hours now. you need to understand that the normal electricity supply is very fragile in gaza. the power now outages is 12 to 14 hours a day. and during the power outage, the hospitals will need to turn on the generators, and without fuel for the generators there is no electricity for the hospitals, which means that all the life support systems, ventilators, the operating room, lamps all of the sophisticated equipment in the icus, will stop working. currently there are 70 napier patients on ventilators in -- the main trauma center in gaza. >> you have worked as a physician in the hospital, and i know i'm in contact with other physicians working their. obviously they have been overwhelmed with treating people. it is also turned into a bit of a shelter as people have evacuated the north. there are folks that are camped out in the parking lot. what have you heard, and when do you last year from? them and what are the most critical needs their? now >> i heard from them yesterday, before this complete shutdown of the communications system. they repeated that they were on the brink of having to shut down the hospitals, which is, of course, a complete disaster because of the magnitude of the numbers of wounded's. so far there are 19,000, 19, 19,000 wounded in gaza. 75% are children, women, and elderly, and these are flocking to the hospitals. in addition, all the hospitals have been turned into shelters for the homeless population, which are wandering around and gaza either because their homes have been bombed or because they have complied with the order to leave northern gaza. so the only safe now is considered to be the hospitals. as you can see, on these pictures from chief of, the hospitals are filled with patients, with relatives of the patients, and yesterday the number hiding or seeking shelter in chief a hospital was around 60,000. so it's an enormous accumulation of civilians in and around the hospital, which, of course, make the working conditions very difficult, but they have to take care of their civilians who have no other place to go. >> i'm sorry, you said 60,000 people sheltering in and around that hospital compound? >> i said 60,000, yes i did. in 2014, during the bombing, in particular on the 20th of july in 2014, we had a massive influx of refugees coming to the hospital, so i know how the conditions will be. but that was nowhere near 60,000. and even that made the operations quite difficult. and you can see in these pictures, this was actually the entrance to the emergency room in fifa. there are, like, chance, there is what is on the ground, in the corridors in the stairway's everywhere because you have to understand that, for example, at aroma all, where shifa is located, in the gaza city, it is still the only standing building complex because the rest has been virtually bombed. so this is the only place where there is light, where there is shelter, and where there is some sort of human security to the extent there is security, because the israelis have been threatening to bomb both shifa and the el capitan spittle, a few blocks from shifa and is operated by the palestinian red crescent. my colleagues are telling me that there is constant fear among patients and these refugees and themselves that the hospitals will be bombed. they have been ordered to empty the hospitals, but both the red crescent and the minister of health has refused because they had not called back -- to their patients, which was reorientate reiterated by the w.h.o.. >> israeli dense defense forces spokesperson today saying they have been ordered to leave and those calls have not been accepted and not been responded. to mads gilbert, who has practiced in the not spittle there, the largest trauma center in gaza, in gaza city. thank you so much for making time tonight. i appreciated. we scott walker is a former hostage negotiator, former counterterrorism with the united nations, and he joins me now. scott, i was watching the plaintive and agonizing entreaties by the families of the hostages today. in washington, of course, the field numerous events. in israel, as well. was there a pinprick of hope coming from the fact that four hostages have been released, dual subaru could israeli rather a daughter added to women, israeli women. can you give some context for what is happening right now, to the best of your knowledge? as best as you can draw from your experience, in terms of those negotiations? >> i think what we've seen so far demonstrates that the process that is in place's working. we have seen for hostages come out. i appreciate this over 200 being held, but it does show you that those negotiations are working and that the lies lines of communication, trust is being built between the qatar's in this case in the palestinian hamas leadership to secure the release of those hostages so far. but we are far from over with this. and there have been lots of coordination, lots of communication going back and forth between israel, qatar, and hamas. >> obviously taking hostages, the active hamas in nasa's israel were a war crime, in violation of international law, the international law that compels the unconditional release of those hostages. they're not going to do that, obviously. they have some value in negotiations. do you think there's an interplay between calculations, about ground conversions are escalations there, and the hostage negotiations? do you think those are on parallel connects, tracks, or are they connected? >> it's difficult to say, but i think it is fair to say that hamas will it be in no hurry to release that many hostages right now because they set up partners for them in terms of being human shield, for bargaining, it's satirist. and it's also fair to say that any increase in military active or activity is potentially going to increase the risk to the hostages. not just once they're being held captive, but actually the most dangerous part of negotiation is the release and recovery phase, where you logistically, physically, you have to transport the hostages to safety. >> in terms of the details of this, you have the israeli spokesperson for prime minister benjamin netanyahu comparing hamas to i.s.i.s. and they're not sees, that they seek their total destruction, that they will rid the world of hamas. at the same time there is some kind of back channel for intermediary with hamas, to try to get the hostages back. is there a cutout such that no one is talking to each other safe face to face others ago between qatari diplomats or someone like that who end up being the folks that are ferrying messages back and forth? >> well, how we are still on the ground depends on the facilities a billet-y to have those communications. one night it's in-person. we know that hamas leadership is in doha and the captain of qatar, and so those conversations will be taking place, whether they're over the phone or in person. now >> you said at the beginning of this, something that i think surprised me little bit, which is that the release of four hostages to you, based on your experience, show that there was progress being made. do you think that that process can continue? nick >> well, i certainly hope so. there's no reason why shouldn't. it just depends on how far they can get with negotiations. just because you are negotiating with somebody with a hostage takers, it doesn't necessarily mean that agreement is going to be reached in hostages are going to be released. it takes time. there's so much going on in the background and in this context that makes it the most challenging kind of hostage situation you could come across. >> what are the kinds of new gauche eating, what are the kinds of demands, alternate prisoner releases? or things of that nature? that happened when you talk about a negotiation, a back and forth, just generally speaking. now >> it depends on the circumstances and who the hostage takers are. but in this case, they are varied. it could be a bargaining tool. it could be to try and slow down any kind of ground incursion, prisoner exchange, and also, from hamas's perspective, to demonstrate that they are still relevant to the world. we saw before october the 7th that israel were about to sign a deal with saudi, for example. i've actually seen with the scene was gradually moving on. and this is another opportunity for hamas to demonstrate to the world that they are still relevant. >> scott walker, thank you very much for sharing your expertise. >> thank you. >> much more on the developing situation in gaza, but first, is the man hunt continues for the man for the suspect in lewiston, maine. we're learning more about the lives of the people he killed, next. next ♪ i'll be there... ♪ ♪ you don't... ♪ ♪ you don't have to worry... ♪ i was stuck. unresolved depression symptoms were in my way. i needed more from my antidepressant. vraylar helped give it a lift. adding vraylar to an antidepressant... is clinically proven to help relieve overall depression symptoms... ...better than an antidepressant alone. and in vraylar clinical studies, most saw no substantial impact on weight. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. report unusual changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. report fever, stiff muscles, or confusion, as these may be life-threatening, 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team spent the day scouring the area around lewiston, maine's second largest, city sending dive teams into a river and searching from the air. law enforcement sources tell nbc news the trail the suspected shooter has gone cold. officials resciheer in place order for lewistown in nearby communities. we now know the names of all 18 of the victims who range in age from 14 to 76. they're brian mcfarland, age 41, stephelizella, age 45, peyton brewer ross, 40, author stroud, 42, jason walker, 51, michael delorean the second, 51, not just on walker, 57, robert violet 50, six lucille violet, 73, william young, 44, aaron young, 14, william bracket, 48, joshua seal 46, thomas conrad, 44, max hathaway, 45, donald warren, 55, keep mcnair, 64, and trisha asselin, 53. this is the nbc news chief justice contributor. he joins me now. what is the latest? >> they're calling in extra bodies to help in the search. federal state officials, this has been around the clock search, those have been up there are tired, they need some fill in to help out, they have a broader area to now search because time has passed, so he could be in for the locations. they are searching the river in case he is committed suicide, and his body is there, or on the banks. is he in the would it wooded area did somewhere? they don't now. and so they have to continue the search. they are treating it like he still out there, armed and dangerous, but they really just don't have an answer. >> what have they recovered? i mean, what do they have of his, physically, in terms of clues about where he might be? >> most significant is the white subaru, the one who used after the shooting, inside the car was the semiotic emmy automatic weapon, what they believe the semi automatic weapon that was used to do the shooting. they're still doing. tests they believe he had asked access to another and, gonna if under covered. they believe it may be on. him so that is something that has them concerned that he still armed, or did he kill himself somewhere in the woods. they have searched his house, and in the house they found his cell phone. he did not bring his cell phone with him, based on tracking, doing the ping search, of the cell phone towers, and they believe the phone was in the house the whole time. last but not least, they found a note in the house. it is described to us that it impart listed his financial history, he is financial accounts. it is not clear if it was any sort of suicide note. we're hearing different types of discussions among law enforcement, so the best way to describe the note, is that it is a financial statement, if you will, financial listing, and they're trying to figure out what it means that that was left behind. >> one of the places where the shooter arrived, at the bar in lewiston, ma played in a cornhole le there said that the suspect s a regular participant, appear to get along with others, and these are locations he frequented in the past. >> and showed the woman he was an associate. with so they're looking into whether he was angry over an apparent bait breakup or dispute that they may have had or because she frequented one of those places, that was why he picked one of those places. the other, he was having mental issues and hearing problems, hearing voices in his head, and as we know, in the bowling alley, there was some members of the deaf community there who were targeted and several myth of them were shot, so as for motive, we don't know why there. trying to piece that together. obviously until they find him, and perhaps are able to question him, but as of now, mental illness seems to be a leading theory. >> i've got to say, maybe this is naive on my part, and all cop to it, but surveillance is so comprehensive in total in the world in which we live, from video cameras just about everywhere to devices. obviously he left his self, on but there are other ways people can be tracked. it's just striking that he knew seems to have abandoned them. >> the first officers were on the scene a 90. second so when they were coming in as he was driving off in his white subaru, and then he went to the second location, but in terms of tracking, there are numerous cases where there is the rudolph case from years ago or the recent prison escape the weather is just this case of judge in maryland who was killed and were looking for his suspected shooter, and it took a week to find his body, even though he had left his car where he died in the woods. those hardworking, up in maine, still a heavenly now, if he still alive and out, there he is trained very good military training, so he knows how to hide, he knows how to shoot, he is a very dangerous marksman, and so they need to proceed with caution as they continue that search in that wide area. he could be. anywhere >> thanks again for joining us tonight. still to come, is the as the israeli government announces an escalation on attacks into gaza, a question of what war means for all parties 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everyday products, designed smarter. genius! like 2.5% cash back on purchases of $5,000 or more, so sam can make smart ideas, a brilliant reality! >> the public seems images over chase for business. make more of what's yours. the past three weeks, pasted on lamppost and held up and vigils around the world. the faces of the names of the more than 200 israeli hostages taken by hamas terrorists when they attacked southern israel and committed a mass atrocity, slaughtering men, women, children, and the elderly. recently been a number of despicable incidents of people so full of hate of jews they've actually ripped these images down, as if that could erase the humanity of the people whose images are on them. for anyone who lived through 9/11, those images bring back memories of the thousands of fliers of the missing put up all over manhattan, and the frantic days after that terrorist attack. we are so many family members left grieving. a small group of them took that grief and turned it into action. they spoke out, asking their country, our country, not to respond to the deaths of their loved ones with more violence. they founded an organization called september 11th families for peaceful tomorrows. at that time, in the wake of 9/11, supporting a nonviolent response to al-qaeda's mass murder was at the very fringes of public opinion. i remember being struck by the sheer grace, moral witness of those who had personally lost loved ones. i also thought, is many did at the time, that was not how the world works. terrorists slaughters americans, americans had to respond with force. but as the war on terror dragged on, thousands of american service members and hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed. and radicalization spiraled into i.s.i.s. and a new round of brutal wars. as all that happened, the call for peace and nonviolent solutions began to seem not just idealistic, but, in retrospect, wise. now there are israeli families who lose loved ones were murdered and kidnapped by has have somehow found down the me moral grace. in a eulogy, this is georgia one victim called on israel to, quote, not use our pain to cause the death of a pain of other people and other families. another victims son said, do not know right my father's on a military shell. but >>. ,. ,. ,,,,,. ,,,. and if hamas wanted to de-escalate, they would unconditionally release the nearly 200 hostages they took. but if you think hamas wants the spectacle of the mass death of palestinians, of children in the rubble, than it is worth asking, what will be achieved by giving them that? now the deaths of civilians in gaza buried in rubble already echoing and will echo throughout the region, further inflaming public opinion, likely drying in other states and proxies already committed to harming israel. there is a real possibility the attacks explained,-ing on israel and on u.s. soldiers who are stationed in the region. not only that, israeli soldiers will be facing enormous risk and peril. every ground invasion is happening now, as we believe it may be beginning, they will be embarking on some of the most dangerous urban warming war of, mandible with an enemy that can inflict maximum cost with minimal resources. and then, what if the campaign is successful? israeli defense >> and this time, we should listen more closely to those who are calling for peace. , who are calling for a cease-fire, particular to those still in mourning now calling for no more civilian deaths on either side of the line. e. hey david. connect with an advisor to create your personalized plan. let's find the right investments for your goals okay, great. j.p. morgan wealth management. i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up, i've got symptom relief. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. 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>> yeah, i think we are right to be worried about the original configuration. i think what is true is that for now all the potential belligerence in this conflict, of course there's some tit-for-tat fighting, some exchanges of fire across the lebanese border. i don't think hezbollah wants to escalate right now. i don't think they will escalate unless they feel like hamas is under real threat, and the idf is having a lot of success in gaza. i know iran doesn't want to alaska. light iran always wants to fight israel down to the last palestinian, last lebanese. they don't get to directly involved themselves. we, the united states, certainly don't want to get involved. we've got tens of thousands of troops in the region. economic interest in the region as well. i do think, and this is contrary to things that alarmist reporting, i do think we could contain the conflict. but a lot of that depends on israel's ambitions, and what it plans to do over the next week. >> yeah, it's striking to me that lloyd austin was very pointed, right, in that statement. this is targeted, discreet, there's been a lot of different messages being sent by different entities in the language they've used. sort of saying, like, we are ready for more, but we don't want it. here's the iranian foreign minister, again, this is incendiary, but how that message contained. he says, frankly, the american statement who are now managing thegenocide in palestine, we do not welcome the expansion of the war in the region. but i warned that the genocide in gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire. that's the uniform minister at the un general assembly. i know there's been some debate and reporting in israeli media about internal debate in that more cabinet, about maybe preemptively striking hezbollah or iranian targets. the interim debates in that more cabinet seem like they are possibly quite intense, given this is a unity government cobbled together in the aftermath of the hamas attack. >> yes, i think those disagreements are not just about what to do on the northern front with lebanon. i think they are also having an impact on what to do with gaza. this delay three-week delay when the initial expectation after october 7th was that this mass ground offensive was going to take place, we heard from israeli leaders that they wanted to reorganize, reorder the entire middle east. this is a very ambitious statement. i think there's a little bit of hesitation now, because there's so much internal stuff there on the government to get some of these hostages out. i also think that president biden, and other western leaders talking to benjamin netanyahu and his leadership team, saying, you know, give more time and space for negotiations for these hostage release effort, it's having a -- leslie, if i may, the notion that an all out ground assault would lead to a really costly operation for israeli troops on the ground, that might have perhaps led to a reassessment of what this military operation could look like ultimately. >> yeah, that's a really important point, andrew, as someone who served as a soldier and a war fighter in the region during the long war on terror, we might call it. and then as a policy maker in the u.s., government, i keep thinking about the 82 lebanon war. which of course was in response to a violent provocation by the pla with the idea that israel is saying we can't let them operate on our border and lead to 20 years of occupation, and enormous cascading consequences. >> chris, there's a lot more precedent than that. i'm thinking of the 2006 war between hezbollah and israel, where israel's political leadership but largely for domestic purposes, and the aftermath of an attack on the northern border over promised, then dramatically under delivered. i'm not surprised that it's taken israel this long to decide whether it wants to go in heavy, bear in mind, the bulk of the israeli defense forces, is comprised of conscripts and reserve forces. takes time to build them up. say that this type of terrain fighting and heavily urban, almost rubberized terrain in gaza, look, it's tough for even the u.s. marine corps. we know that from fallujah. both the battles in fallujah in 2004, it's going to be really tough for the idf, especially against a force like hamas. where, unfortunately, both sides here, both the israelis and hamas, i think that this fight me existential for them. >> hala gorani in tel aviv, andrew exum, thank you very much both for sharing your thoughts. i really preceded. it will be right back. ht back. ...makeup smearing drops user. i want another option that's not another drop. tyrvaya. it's not another drop. it's the first and only nasal spray for dry eye. tyrvaya treats the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease fast by helping your body produce its own real tears. common side effects include sneezing, cough, and throat and nose irritation. relying only on drops? 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