Atlanta alongside sara sidner in tel aviv. As we start a new hour, were following breaking news, israels Defense Minister announcing a short time ago that the idf has moved to a new phase of war against hamas. Israeli soldiers are now operating inside the gaza strip. Armored vehicles and tanks were on the move overnight, but it remains unclear if this is actually the beginning of israels anticipated major Ground Assault in gaza. Ahead of troops entering the enclave, overnight israel unleashed an onslaught of Aerial Bombardments that rocked gaza. The idf renewed its warnings for civilians in Northern Gaza to evacuate. Doctors say they treated hundreds of wounded overnight, but also there were many killed in the air strikes. The idf says the air strikes targeted 150 underground spaces and terror tunnels. They claim they killed one key hamas operative who, it says, carried out the deadly attacks on october 7th in israel. Were also watching israels border with lebanon. The idf and hezbolla
Hello again, everyone. Im Fredericka Witfield In Atlanta alongside wolf blitzer in washington. Were continuing with our special coverage of the events unfolding today on the ground in israel and gaza. The rafah Border Crossing between gaza and egypt was opened briefly this morning. 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were permitted to cross into gauze. Water, fuel and food are all running desperately low there. The United Nations is warning gazas th gazas hospitals are on the brink of collapse. The death toll there now standing at more than 4300 people according to the Palestinian Ministry of health. Meantime, Tens Of Thousands of israeli troops continue to amass along the gaza border. Today the Israeli Defense forces updating the number of hostages held by hamas in gaza to 210 people. Two american hostages, a mother and her teenage daughter are free now following their surprise release yesterday. They were visiting family at a kibbutz close to gaza when they were taken hostage by hama
Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. Im Fredericka Witfield In Atlanta alongside wolf blitzer in washington. We begin with our Special Coverage of israel and gaza. After dayswaiting, the rafah Border Crossing has opened very briefly, allowing 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to cross into gaza. Water, fuel and food are all running desperately low in gaza. The United Nations is warning gazas hospitals are on the brink of collapse. One american trapped in gaza described his situation to cnn this morning. We thought that we could stay close to the border because the State Department would work on extracting us or getting us out of gaza through some type of arrangement. Weve been here a week. Were staying in a normal singlefamily home with about two floors with 40 people sharing everything we can from food and water. The Death Toll Stands at 4,300 people according to the Palestinian Ministry of health. Tens of thousands of israeli troops continue to mass along the ga
expected handover of a second group of hostages held by hamas. sources tell cnn a dispute emerged over the amount of aid being delivered into gaza and a selection of palestinian prisoners being released by israel. israel says it expects as many as 13 hostages to be released today. several of them are believed to be children. a u.s. official says american citizens are not expected to be among those released today. as part of the deal, israel says they will release 39 mipalestinn prisoners. this marked day two of a temporary four-day truce between the two sides. wolf. thank you very much. cnn has eyes and ears on the ground covering all the late-breaking developments in this hostage exchange. i want to go to jeremy diamond, joining us from the border crossing in israel not far from gaza and egypt. jeremy, give us an update on today s expected release. reporter: by this time yesterday the 24 hostages released by hamas were well on their way to an air base in israel and then
thank you so much for joining us. i m fredericka witfield in atlanta alongside my colleague wolf blitzer in tel aviv. breaking news, we re standing by for release of a second group of hostages held by hamas. sources tell cnn that release is being delayed in part over a dispute about the number of aid trucks entering gaza. these are live pictures from the rafah border crossing in gaza where the hostages could be transported at any moment. we re also told today s group is likely to include 13 israeli citizens, several of which are expected to be children, adding to the 24 hostages released yesterday. this exchange comes a full seven weeks after the hostages were abducted from their homes. a u.s. official says american citizens are not expected to be among those released today. 39 palestinian prisoners are set to be released as well today following the release of the israeli hostages from gaza. these exchanges are part of a four-day truce, set to expire on tuesday. wolf. thank