mid-july. put the plans tons swan dive into the tidal basin on hold at least for now. i turn you over to wolf blitzer live from jerusalem for "the situation room." situation room." have a great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com happening now, this is "the situation room" special report. brink of war. no letup. dozens more can the ros are launched from gaza at israeli cities. i experienced the danger firsthand. >> i can hear the sirens have just gone off. we're running. israel's iron dome intercepts many of the rockets keeping casualties low. but palestinians have no such shield and israeli air strikes are taking a very heavy toll. and the new headache for president obama. furious over alleged u.s.

spying, germany kicks out the cia station chief describing u.s. actions as "stupid." i'll speak live this hour with the house intelligence committee chairman mike rogers. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in jerusalem. you're in "the situation room." the breaking news. the palestinian rocket fire is relentless and so is the israeli response. palestinians say the air strikes on hamas targets in gaza have taken 100 lives, many of them civilians. both sides they're preparing for a longer, more violent conflict. israel has thanks massed at the border and 30,000 military reservists have now been called to their units. hamas is threatening to attack israel's international airport. our correspondents are standing by with the kind of coverage only cnn can bring to you. and i'll talk with the spokesman

for hamas this hour. i'll also speak with the spokes olympian for the israeli prime minister and the former u.s. special envoy for the middle east, retired general anthony zinni. first my firsthand look at this growing conflict. at any moment here in israel, a rocket attack siren could go off. you can hear the sirens have just gone off. we're all being told to get to a shelter. so we're running >> we had to drop everything to get to safety. then an anxious wait for the all clear. before coming out to see if anyone was hurt or killed. earlier here, a rocket slammed into this gas station and a huge fire broke out still smoldering when we arrived. >> there was a rocket directly hit behind me. >> did it hit the truck. >> no, it hit there where you the see now the tractor. >> yeah. >> and, of course, because of the fire started from the truck and 11 cars were burned totally.

>> how much warning is there for the folks to run to shelter? >> maximum one minute. maximum. usually it's less. >> sirens went off in tel aviv, as well where at least one rocket was intercepted. and now is, hamas militants are vowing they plan to target ben gurian international airport. according to the israeli defense forces around 100 rockets were fired at israel today. prime minister benjamin netanyahu vowed air strikes will continue till quiet is restored. those strikes now responsible for at least 100 deaths according to palestinian authorities. this video posted online is said to show the three-story haas of the family where five people were reported killed in their sleep. others injured are rushed into ambulances. medical sources say the emergency rooms are overwhelmed and patients are being treated on the floor. in a video statement overnight, the military wing of hamas

blamed israel for starting the clash and claimed they've used only a small portion of their arsenal and could fight for weeks. adding to the danger, a threat from a new direction. overnight a rocket was fired from lebanon into israel raising the specter of a two-front war. >> i suspect this isn't a second front. you have to watch it because if it were to be, it would essentially fulfill one of israel's worse nightmares and that is hamas and hezbollah literal lili being capable of reaching the entire country with their high trajectory weapons. >> in gaza maybe 700, 800, 900 are injured. still the rockets keep firing into israel. let's go to live to our senior correspondent ben wedeman joining us from gaza city with the latest. what's the latest there, ben. >> reporter: the latest is we've seen a series of air strikes

throughout the gaza strip. we were in the northern part of the strip today going from one house after another that had been hit by these israeli air strikes. we ended up in a house in ji ballia in the northern part of the strip where a missile had hit the house and a piece of shrapnel had flown off and ripped off half the brain of a 4-year-old boy. now, the people in the house told us they had received no warning whatsoever. this really underscores a basic fundamental difference between israel and gaza even though the israelis aren't doing this knock on the roof system where they call someone in a house about to be targeted and warn them to leave, oftentimes that doesn't happen. yes, the israeli people are running to bomb shelters. here there are no shelters, no air raid sirens, no iron dome system. so people have to depend on

their five senses. when you drive around gaza, you have your eyes wide open, you're listening carefully to what's above. and we were in one town where during a life shot for cnn international, i 15u9 two apache helicopters just above the town. people just watched. nobody ran away. everybody just watched and listened. i spoke to one man in the town who said we're so used to this, we watch the missiles fired from gaza, we watch the israeli air strikes. there's nothing else we can do. we can't hide so we just watch it. wolf? >> ben, do most of the palestinians and you've been going from the north to the south throughout gaza. it's not a very big area. do most of those people you're speaking to, average palestinians support hamas firing these rockets and missiles into israel? >> well, what i've seen in the four days i've been here is that initially there was annoyance. there was anger at hamas among

many people here because of the current flare-up. not because they have any love for israel. they just didn't see the point of it all because it's obviously very disruptive. but increasingly you go around. they talk about the death toll. more than 100 people dead. over 500 people wounded. they're getting angrier and angrier. we were at one house that was completely obliterated. people were talking about i'm going to go out and get my own rocket and fire it at israel that they're just fed up with this violence. and their annoyance with hamas is being replaced by a very old anger in israel for a long history. >> ben wedeman in gaza be, be careful. we don't often get a chance to hear directly from hamas. but just awhile ago, i spoke with a top hamas official.

joining us now from bay ru, osama ham dedahamdan. you heard president mahmoud abbas call on hamas to stop the rocket fire into the israel. what will it take for hamas to stop launching rockets and missiles into israel? >> well, it needs just only one condition. that israel's stop its violation for the cease fire agreement which was agreed on in 2012 to stop the aggressions against the palestinians in gaza and west bank. the one who started the fight was israel. so them have to stop that first. >> clearly the israelis are going to continue striking in gaza if the rockets come in from hamas in gaza. is there any effort to achieve a cease-fire? >> i believe the israelis are targeting is the civilians from the first day. they believe this cause heavy

pressure on hamas because the civilians are very precious and valuable for hamas. but it's clear also that when they started that tact, they did not get net attention to the civilians. we are talking now about 70% of the casualties, mostly killed and injured people, women and children. and the other part is mostly civilians. so we believe in both ways the israelis are attacking the civilians. we want to protect our civilians and it's not our own thing to do that by acting against the israeli attacks towards the civilian people. >> you've heard the criticism of hamas not only from the israel but the united states, the europeans that hamas is launching rockets and missiles random little into israel aiming at civilian targets. what do you say to that? >> everyone knows that hamas is not aiming against the civilians. if hamas wants to aim against the civilians, it would be more

easier. all the targets which was declared by the militant wing of hamas was militant targets or semi militant targets. the one who attacked a navy base is not taking the civilians. the one who is attacking the militant airports is not attacking civilians. while on the other hand, israelis are daily every hour attacking the civilians. and this is -- >> i was down in the south not far away from the border between israel and gaza and a rocket came into a fairly populated civilian area, blew up basically a whole gas station there. it didn't look like there were any military targets nearby. >> that's true because no one is talking about the palestinian civilians. when you up this story, no one is ready to listen. but when it came to israelis, everyone is taking care and talking. i want to ask, we have 100

civilians killed. 75 are women and children. who is talking about that and blaming israel for that? everyone is talking about israel right to protect itself. what about the right for the palestinians to protect themselves to protect their people? to live in occupied land. we are talked about occupied palestinian land. everyone knows it's occupied by the israelis. international solutions is asking israel to leave but they're not doing that. if anyone want to stop this, he has to go directly to the point. and the occupation. make an end for this occupation. you will make an end for all the problem. >> there were reports today that hamas is targeting commercial aircraft coming into ben gurian airport, israel's international airport outside of tell an veeb. are you targeting planes coming into israel? >> this it is totally false. hamas declared a message, has a

declaration telling the commercial flights not to the approach ben gurion airport. so they won't be hit by the missiles. so we are warning them because we want their safety. we want the commercial flight safety. we want the safety of the civilians and we know the israelis will not warn them because the israelis are wishing, hoping, maybe praying to have such a tragedy so they can use it against hamas. this is part of hamas where to avoid the civilians or avoid any attack or tragedy for the civilians. >> are you bracing for an israeli ground invasion of gaza? >> we are not bracing for any kind of fight. in fact, we as palestinians are seeking our rights and we hope if we can have that peacefully for more than 20 years, the

palestinians were negotiating and israel was undermining the peace process. mainly the last round of the peace negotiations and everyone knows that, mainly in the united states administration. and now, everyone knows that nettenia shoe started this military operation to cover up himself after undermining the peace process. so the palestinians are not willing to have the fight but if there was no chances to have peace, they will fight for their dignity, their freedom, their independence and their independent sovereign state which they are seeking to have in the near future. >> one final question. are you like president mahmoud abbas of the palestinian authority, ready to accept what's called a two-state solutionings? israel and palestinian? >> everyone knows there was an agreement between all the

palestinian groups in 2006 that all the palestinians have a national target to achieve a palestinian independent state on the lines of the fourth of june '67 with jerusalem as east jerusalem as a capital and the right of return for the refugees. that was a national agreement between all the palestinians. and it was at that time a good chance to achieve peace. unfortunately, no one get that chance. we hope that the palestinians can achieve their goals with a minimum kind of sacrifices with a minimum -- the minimum number of casualties but unfortunately, the israelis are doing against that, acting against that, taking over the land, killing the civilians. and they are lying every time talking that hamas is targeting the civilians while they are the side who is targeting our civilians mainly women and children. >> will you accept the two-state

solution? >>. >> we have a clear position about that. this is a decision is supposed to be made by the palestinian and independent sovereign state. there will be an elected government and this government will make the decision and all the palestinians including hamas have to respect the decision of this government. >> osama hamdan joining us from beirut, thanks very much for joining us. and coming up live, we're here in jerusalem. we'll get israel's response. i'll speaking with mark regular ga, the spokesman for benjamin netanyahu. how close is israel to sending ground troops into gaza? i'll ask him. we'll also go inside the iron dome. that's israel's hi-tech missile defense system, shooting hamas rockets right out of the sky. i saw that up close earlier today. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." we're live from jerusalem.

we're live here in jerusalem. you're looking at live pictures of jerusalem. you see a live picture of the israeli supreme court. we just heard a spokesman for hamas blame israel for this conflict. joining us the spokesman for the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. he says you started this most recent campaign and you have to stop. we would think hamas is a movement of boy scouts just interested in good deeds.

hamas is officially designated a terrorist organization by the united states, by canada, by the european union and many others. this is a brutal terrorist organization. this flowery language and kind words can't obscure that fact. >> is there a cease-fire negotiation going on right now? >> i can say the following. our goal is to bring peace and quiet to the israel's citizens they don't have the to live in fear of the rockets coming from gaza. too many rockets, hundreds over the last few weeks. it has to stop. it canning stop one way or another but it has to stop. is the egypt is, turkey, qatar, the united states involved? >> many people want to help. we can't agree to a cease-fire that hamas wants. hamas wants a band-aid. as prime minister benjamin netanyahu said, they would like to have a few minutes tonight rest and bandage their wounds

and start firing again. that's not in the cards. we want to come out of this conflict knowing for a sustained period of time the people of israel can live without the fear of rockets coming in from gazaing >> there really aren't any serious negotiations under way fur a cease-fire? >> we see. hamas continues to shoot rockets even tonight. >> they say they're going to continue doing so as long as israel pounds targets in gaza. >> that's putting the cart before the horse because it's hamas that over the last few weeks fired hundreds of rockets into israel. we didn't really respond. we responded in a way to give diplomacy a chance. we deliberately gave them time to de-escalate and they chose to keep shooting rockets. that's why the ben wedeman reported the palestinians themselves where is angry at hamas saying why have you escalated the crisis so we have this conflict. the and the palestinian people

of gaza are right. >> there have been very few casualties, no fatalities in israel. 100 palestinians are dead. many of them civilians, young kids, elderly, 700 or 800 severely injured. there seems to be a disproportionality going on. >> i'm not going to apologize there aren't israeli deaths. hamas has fired hundreds of rockets into our cities and our townships trying to kill and murder as many israeli civilians as they can. why haven't they succeeded? >> israel has invested billions in irons, air raid shelters, fortified buildings all the things because we care about the publicing to safeguard our population. secondly, the iron dome, a technological feat, a u.s.-i israeli joint venture, a very effective combat tested anti-missile system. here i'd like to take the opportunity to thank the

american people, the american administration, the congress. this iron dome system, would. it's an american-israeli joint venture. we thank you for your participation. >> are commercial aircraft flying out of ben gurion in danger? >> no, we take precautions. i've got family coming in and out in the airport. i don't think there's any serious danger. >> they're telling international flights don't go to the israel because of all the missiles going on. those flights could be in trouble. >> hamas says a lot of things. 100 israelis dead here and there. there's a lot of bravado there. the international flights in and out of the ben gurion airport are safe. >> you heard me when i pressed him, they accept the two-state solution. he was being a little bit diplomatic there. he didn't say yes but at the same time, he said if this is the will of the palestinian people at some point down the

road, they would accept that. you heard him say that. >> i wamped the whole interview. i smiled a bit. i've never seen someone be so disingenuous. he said we're not targeting civilians. no one believes that. even the hamas people don't believe that. everyone knows hamas has a history of targeting innocent civilians. you only have to read the hamas charter which has been translate flood many languages. that's what they're all about. that's why so many countries around the world have declared them a terrorist organization. >> if israel sends ground troops, armored personnel carriers into gaza, what would be the mission be? >> the mission is clear. the mission is to safeguard the israeli public. i said to you yesterday our mission is defensive. it's to protect our people. i'd ask viewers if you were living in a country in the united states or around the world and terrorists on the other side of the frontier were shooting rockets into your country, what would you demand of your government? you would demand your government

act to protect you. that's what the israeli government will deliver. >> mark, thanks very much for joining us. >> my pleasure, sir. >> we'll stay in close touch with you, as well. coming up, live from jerusalem, we'll get another palestinian perspective. ar beauty is a member of the palestinian parliament will join us live. plus the fallout from germany's extraordinarily murder expelling the cia station chief at the embassy in berlin. we have new details of a pretty strained relationship between these two allies over this developing spy scandal. stay with us. we're live from jerusalem in "the situation room."

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tonight from the jerusalem as the air war rages on without any letup in sight. we've heard both sides tonight say they're preparing for a long fight and that could mean an israeli ground assault on gaza. but is there any chance for peace moves right now? joining us three guests. the former centcom commander, u.s. special middle east retired u.s. general anthony zinni, the expert raffi ran for ben gurion airport and by phone, mustafa barghouti, a member of the palestinian parliament. thanks to all of you for joining us. general zinni, we heard president obama suggest in that phone conversation he had yesterday with prime minister netanyahu the u.s. is ready to facilitate some sort of arrangement. does the u.s. have real leverage

right now? >> i think we certainly have leverage with the israelis. i think what you need on the other side is an organization like the arab league or at least a collection of countries that you mentioned something like egypt, jordan, turkey, maybe qatar. i think the assurances from hamas not to initiate action beyond a certain point in nene cease fire agreement would have to be given to them. i think they would have to stand behind it in some way for the israelis to accept it. and then i think on the other side, i think we would have to serve that purpose, too. i don't see that we can facilitate anything between hamas and israel. i don't think that will work. and i should have mentioned that obviously the palestinian authority should be involved in this directly, too. >> let me ask mr. barghouti, do you think there can be any kind of brokered cease fire as there was at the end of 2012 when the

egyptians got directly involved, the former government of then president mohamed morsi and got the deal done? >> well, first of all, i think the most important thing that should be done immediately to the save people's lives is to have a cease-fire as soon as possible. and egypt cannot probably play the same role it played before for its own reasons. but that doesn't mean it cannot be help hadful. but the palestinian authority and the palestinian groups in general can play an important role as a broker with hamas. and the most important decisive factor here is the ability of the united states to restrain israel's intention to initiate a ground attack because if a ground attack starts, we will see thousands of victims, mostly civilians as is the case today out of 120 palestinians killed.

more than two-thirds are women and children and they're mostly civilians. so we want to deter such a development. the united states can be decisive in convincing israel or pressuring israel not to proceed with a ground operation which will be disastrous for everybody. and through peace -- through political process should be initiated to guarantee that there will be a quick cease fire and then try to find a way to deal with the roots of the problem because the issue here is not just this most recent fight. it's the fact that there is an occupation that has been there for 47 years. the longest -- and that has transformed into a system of oppressive apartheid. >> raffi, are how vulnerable are commercial aircraft flying in and out of ben gurion airport?

>> i don't think they're vulnerable at all. actually, the threats that were made today by hamas i think are empty threats that are a part of the psychological war. but if you see the difficulties that hamas has to actually get their missiles into targets the size of tel aviv and you see the effectiveness of the protection, the anti-rocket system, the iron dome protection that is provided to the important targets in israel, then you can assume that the ben goron airport in tel aviv is just as safe as any other airport in the western world. >> general zinni, how significant is that anti-missile defense system, that so-called iron dome that has emerged over these past few years? >> well, i think it's certainly state-of-the-art. it's a point defense system. obviously the city's major

military installations, the airport are well protected as you can see. so it's been effective certainly. the odd rocket may get through or hit in spaces in between the coverage but i think you can see as a result the lack of casualties or major destruction on the israeli said. its effectiveness. >> mr. barghouti, the palestinian authority of mahmoud abbas and the hamas leadership in gaza, are they on the same page right now? we heard the president say to hamas stop the firing of these rockets into israel. >> not exactly on the same page but let's remember that one of the main goals of mr. netanyahu, the prime minister of israel, the main goal of his attack, one of the main goals is to destroy what was achieved in terms of unity between palestinians. he declared that very clearly which is a counterproductive approach because at the end of the day, only a unified

palestinian structure canning achieve real stability in this region. unfortunately, mr. netanyahu is playing tactics here. on one side he kept saying i can't make peace because he does not represent all palestinians and palestinians are zwid when and when we got unified he started to attack the unity structure. both sides are not on the same page. there are differences about you we need leadership. we need the leadership that can be responsible in making peace and can be responsible in whatever decisions it makes about our forms of struggle the. on the other hand, let me reiterate one point here about your previous questions to us. there is a very important point to note which is there is inequality here. you're talking about a very might aught military army, the israel army probably the fifth

largest in the world versus hamas which has basically primitive means in terms of comparison. that's why you see so many casualties on the palestinian side and so little on the israeli side. but what you see here is hamas is conducting some sort of psychological war while israel is conducting a real military attack. and it's true that maybe ben goron is a safe airport. i'm sure the whole sector has been totally affected in israel. >> mr. barghouti, general zinni, raffi, thanks very much. important information certainly we're getting. we'll continue to stay in touch with all three of you. coming up, we're live in jerusalem. it's a missile defense system protecting millions of israelis right now. how does the iron dome system work? we'll take a closer look at this state-of-the-art lifesaver. plus new strains on the relationship between the united states and germany. remarkable developments in a growing spy scandal.

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jerusalem. we'll have much more on the fighting between israel and hamas in a few moments. first, is the strained relationship between the united states and a close ally. we're talking about germany which expelled the top u.s. intelligence officer at the u.s. embassy in berlin over allegations of spying against germany. our white house correspondent michelle kaczynski has more on this growing controversy. michele, what are you hearing?

ing >> both sides now trying to talk it out in private. you know, it only seems like yesterday that president obama hosted the german chancellor right here in the rose garden. he talked about the importance of this relationship even in a personal level. saying it pained him that the prior spying disclosure strained that. now there's this. just setting things back again. a public embarrassment. the cia station chief in berlin of all places capital of one of our closest, most important european allies kicked out of the country when germans uncovered what were allegedly some u.s. covert ops. the germans talking openly about the hurt, betrayal of it all. today, the german foreign minister said expelling the cia chief was the right decision. a necessary step, a fitting reaction to the break of trust. taking action was unavoidable,

he said. the u.s. has been far more quiet on the topic. no, the cia isn't tweeting about it, but today the white house offered this. >> allies with sophisticated intelligence agencies like the united states and germany understand with some degree of detail exactly what those intelligence relationships and activities entail. >> the germans say there is good contact still between top levels of both countries. the white house confirmed that conversations are going on right now in private. and that the u.s. respects germany's choices whom to allow in their country even adding glowing praise for angela merkel, an effective partner and leader who puts the best interests of her country fishes. >> the president of the united states and the chancellor of the federal republic of germany. >> back in may, obama and merkel presented a united front even on tackling this touchy touchy spying issue. remember a year ago, it came out

that the nsa spied on merkel's phone conversations. obama conciliatory. >> what i've done is taken the unprecedented step of ordering our intelligence communities to take the privacy interests of non-u.s. persons into account in everything that they do. >> pledging, he said to merkel, to also close the gaps in the ways german and u.s. intelligence operate and ensure clarity. merkel not seeming fully convinced at the time saying there's still divisions that need work. yesterday, calling apparent continued spying a waste of energy. so now this alleged spying does not involve phone tapping but does include some german citizens, one reportedly worked for the foreign intelligence services accused of slipping documents in the snowden investigation to the cia. the other allegedly worked for the german defense ministry. so far the white house says obama and merkel have not talked about this. wolf? >> michelle kaczynski, thanks

very much. michele is at the white house. let's talk about this with republican congressman mike rogers of michigan. mr. chairman, thanks very much for joining us. you know, i've done some research. there may have been a case where a nato ally expelled a cia station chief. i don't remember a time when they publicly made that kind of announcement. how big of a deal is this? >> it's a huge deal. and for those of us who value the german-american relationship, i'm very very, very concerned. but they sure seem to be spending a lot of time, wolf, worrying about what the american intelligence services are doing and their parliament is not necessarily worrying about what the german intelligence services are doing. so again, i think this is -- these are important countries with important economies both the u.s. and germany and the rest of the g-7 plus one, if you will economies,ing and it just doesn't seem like a very adult reaction to be expel the cia

chief from germany. and it's concerning and it's a political temper tantrum like i've never seen before that i think is not productive, it is jeopardizing both intelligence cooperation and relationships with beyond the intelligence relationship between america and germany. >> are you suggesting, mr. chairman, as i think you are, that the u.s. had no choice but to engage in this kind of clandestine effort because the germans themselves, their intelligence services were not doing the necessary job? >> well, a couple of things. one, i would never confirm or deny any intelligence operation by the united states government ever. that's something we would never ever do. i will tell you that i am very confident as the chairman of the intelligence committee that the german intelligence services have at least peeked over the shoulder of american

policymakers in their interests to collect intelligence for the benefits of germany. we get it. this is an adult relationship. the problem here is that they have iranian spies there. they have russian spies there. they have the whole host and panoply of countries spying in germany. i don't see them interested in throwing their chiefs out. and again, what's so concerning about this is there are times that the american intelligence services have provided information that have saved german lives because they had this convoluted rule system about what they can and can't do at the local level in germany when it comes to intelligence that we know has disrupted terrorist plots in germany. it's frustrating to those of us who believe in a broader understanding and understanding that sometimes even our allies have relationships with our adversaries that are of concern. some notion that they're going to jeopardize all of those relationships over there alleged

incident that they may or may not have all their facts right is very, very concerning to me. it seems far more political. it seems far more temper tantrum like than it does an adult conversation about very important countries engaged in very important economic and military and i think stabilization efforts around the world. >> the white house officials are suggesting the president of the united states was not actually informed of this kind of intelligence operation inside germany. if in fact it's true. shouldn't the president who is commander in chief know that the u.s. would be doing there if, in fact, it was? >> well, again, i am not going to confirm or deny any intelligence operation that the u.s. intelligence services do. again, i'm going to tell you that it's really interesting to me, i'd be glad to meet with the german parliamentarian that has the ability to understand current operations by their intelligence services that has

the ability to oversee them budget them and understand both future and proposed intelligence operations. the problem is, wolf, it doesn't exist. i'm going to encourage the germans to understand fully what the german intelligence services are doing today. and that means to u.s. personnel, it means to personnel around the world, and by the way, i don't think that's a problem. i understand it. and so again, that's why i think this is so important. do you want to the have the an adult relationship as we go forward on a very complicated world that's very dangerous and you're going to jeopardize the fact that u.s. intelligence services have provided information that have saved german lives, period, unequivocal, that's exactly what's happened. and i worry that they're taking this as a little knee jerk reaction and not knowing all the set of information that they need to understand, they being is the parliament of germany, even their executive branch, if you will, and being very candid

with the german people. i think -- >> you don't think the chancellor of germany, angela merkel, is up to speed on what's going on? >> well, i can't say. i certainly see her reaction to throw out the cia chief in germany tells me that either she doesn't or she does and has made a serious mistake here. this is something that we would expect from the russians. we would expect it from the iranians. we would expect from the north koreans. we don't expect from our allies, the germans where they know of the really important sxwrgs relationship and by the way, again, as the chairman of the intelligence committee, i feel very confident in telling you and your viewers, listen, the german intelligence services, they're engaged in espionage including against the u.s. persons. and so i'm a little surprised by this whole reaction. i think it's more political than substantive. and i would hope that they would not jeopardize this very

important relationship in the world between the u.s. and the german people on something that doesn't seem quite right to me. i mean if they have the facts and maybe they don't and if they don't, wolf, i'm saying they'd better get the facts and better get them thank you, mr. chairman, junior for joining us. coming live. more than 100 hamas rockets shot by the iron dome missile defense system. we'll take a closer look at how it works. at every ford dealership, you'll find the works! it's a complete checkup of the services your vehicle needs. so prepare your car for any road trip by taking it to an expert ford technician. because no matter your destination good maintenance helps you save at the pump. get our multi-point inspection with a synthetic blend oil change, tire rotation, brake inspection and more for $29.95 or less.

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we're live in jerusal ruusa protected by the missile defense system known as at iron dome. the israel defense sources say it intercepted more than 100 hamas rockets since the latest conflict began a few days ago. we have a closer look at the iron dome. tom, what do you see? >> as ho smas improved the range of the misthes substantially over the past few years since it first debuted three years ago, the iron dome for israeli has been substantially improved. so so that israel is claiming a 90% success rate in neutralizing the missile threat coming out of gaza. how does it work? three steps. first of all, detection. any time any missiles rise up out of gaza and are heading up toward tel-aviv or jerusalem, high speed cameras, technically

advanced computers start tracking those missiles and looking at those missiles. figuring out how big they are, how fast they're moving, and most importantly which direction they're hiding. simultaneously the second phase kicks in. analysis and targeting. they determine they're going to the sea or wind up somewhere in a rural area with nothing else around, they don't care. if one is viewed to be a actual threat out there, then those computers release a barrage of missiles from israel. those fly up. they are guided from the ground electronically and the on board guidance take over and they blow everything apart. it was originally developed by an israeli company. it's subsidized by the u.s. to the tune of about millions of dollars. each missile costs about $62,000. while that money being spent because they want to expand the system bigger to get earlier

detection, earlier intersection and deal with bigger rockets that can be valuable for the usa and israel in terms of dealing with bigger threats. >> could be. tom, good explanation. thank you. coming up live from jerusalem israeli air strikes and the growing number of palestinian civilians in gaza where the death toll is over 100. a new front in the fighting opening up on northern israel from lebanon. we are going live to beirut. stay with us here in the "situation room." we're live in jerusalem. but i've managed. ♪ i got to be pretty good at managing my symptoms, except that managing my symptoms was all i was doing. ♪ when i finally told my doctor, he said my crohn's was not under control. ♪ he said humira is for adults like me

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happening now situation room special report. brink of war. the breaking news rockets breakthrough israel defense systems in a damaging new show of hamas fire power. the battle opening up on a second front as well. israel issues a new warning about a possible ground invasion of gaza. standby for the dangers in israel right now what it's like to race for cover as sirens blare and rockets blast. we're live in gaza where israeli air strikes are taking a terrible toll and a hamas leader is vowing to stand firm for a long and bloody battle. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolfe blitzer live from jerusalem. you're in the "situation room." israel's air defenses are

being put to the test by dozens of new rocket attacks from gaza throughout the day and night. hamas militants are naming for an a new target. the international airport here in tel-aviv. potentially that could put many more visitors to israel in danger as well as citizens. one of the rockets intercepted by the iron dome system today was heading to the tel-aviv area. we're following the breaking news in israel and gaza including the tlolooming threat an israeli-led ground war. our correspondents are standing by. they are we many in the region, they are back in washington. here is my reporting from near the gaza border. >> you can here the sirens have gone off. we're being told to get to a shelter. we're running. the israeli military said about 100 rockets or more were fired from gaza over the past 24 hours and millions of israelis race

for shelter. just like i did twice in the same day. here it goes. looks like they got another siren. just stand over here next to the wall. ten minutes. ten minutes. you can see all the sailors running over here. >> i toured the naval base near the gaza border. crews are on alert for hamas attack piers. >> there's another machine over here. >> troops here were the first to detect a brazen move by armed militants who stormed the beach from the sea. >> we saw the divers coming over. there was a group of terrorists. hamas terrorists. >> were they ready to die? >> i believe they came to die. but before they wanted to die they wanted to kill as much as they could. >> we spent much of the day near the gaza border arrive agent the brunt out ruins of a gas station

shortly after it was struck by rocket fire. igniting cars in flames and seriously injuring one man. let's take a look. you can see the damage and the destruction. these are automobiles, cars, were just here to get some gas. maybe get some maintenance. we saw evidence of the escalading conflict everywhere. if you look behind me, you see a huge, huge plume of smoke that is just come up. that's an israeli air strike on a target in northern gaza right now. >> we could hear and see israeli air strikes all day long. officials in gaza say at least 100 palestinians have been killed by israeli air strikes including more than 20 children. the leader of the hamas military wing is now warning the discourses are digging in for a long battle. and israeli prime minister netanyahu is keeping all options open including a grown invasion of gaza.

30,000 israeli troops have been called up and people across the region are on alert knowing tanks could start rolling in at any time. >> so far no israelis have been killed in the endless barrage of rocket attacks. it's a different situation in gaza right now where israeli air strikes have taken a very, very devastating toll. let's go to our senior international correspondent ben wheedman is joining us live from gaza city. what is it, ben? >> reporter: yes, our death toll estimate is about 113 at this point. there was an air raid this evening that left four or five people dead including apparently a leader from the islamic jihad military wing. it's not just military leaders militants who are being hit in gaza. it is ordinary citizens. today we went to the house, a house to the north of here where

shortly before that a 4-year-old boy had been killed when a piece of shrapnel from an israeli rocket ripped half of his head off. we've seen devastating pictures video from the hospital where his father is just absolutely devastated by his son's death. in that neighborhood we watched as a man was hurrying away with three of his children. he told me, i'm going out. i'm leaving here. i'm going to another place. because i don't want my children to die in a rocket attack as well. it's important to keep in mind here that there are no bomb shelters in gaza. there's no iron dome system to stop the israeli missions. there's no air raid sirens to warn you of trouble coming. israel does have this knock on the roof system where somebody calls up the person in the household and says leave the house. but in the case of the

4-year-old, nobody apparently received a phone call. he was just a boy playing in the street. after wards we saw other children there clearly traumatized by seeing the boy next door get his head blown off. it's a much different picture here in gaza and a disturbing one at this point. >> very disturbing, indeed. very disturbing. ben on the scene for us. be careful. israel faced attack today on a second front. a rocket was launched from lebanon that landed in northern israel. could it be a sign of a wider war in the region? let's go to beirut. what happened today? a tense morning. three rockets launched from southern lebanon into israel. then israel retaliated by launching at least 25 rockets into lebanon. no casualties were reported on

either side. it goes to show how concerned the lebanese are about not wanting to be drawn into the ever escalating conflict by the fact that the armed forces were deployed extremely quickly that southern less thbanon. they found two other launches pads aimed toward israel. they dismantled them. they don't want to see lebanon drawn into the conflict. they're doing everything they can to calm tensions now. we hear along the border that things are calm right now, but there is concern that militant groups could try something else. at this hour, nobody has claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks. and there's no indication that any well-known militant group is behind them. >> because we all remember a few years ago there was a real war in the northern part of israel involving hezbollah in lebanon and so much of israel's northern parts of israel whether other towns up there were basically evacuated because of rockets

coming in from lebanon. is there a real serious likelihood that hezbollah would align itself formally with hamas and open up a two-front war? >> right now the conventional wisdom is that hezbollah is stretched far too thin as far as their fighting in syria goes to really try to want to get involved with hamas and with the conflict that is going on there in israel right now. right now the lebanese don't think that they would get involved. their fighters are involved in syria. they're fighting alongside the syrian regime trying to retake syria for bashar al assad. they don't have the manpower to get involved. >> thank you for that update. let's now hear from the palestinian chief negotiator. he's once again joining us on the phone. northeast in the best bank city. thank you for coming in.

does your president of the palestinian authority have the clout to convince hamas to stop firing rockets and missiles into israel? >> caller: that's what he's trying to do. that's what he has been in touch with secretary kerry today. he's been in touch with the prime minister. he's been in touch on the phone with the mayor of qatar. the one thing is to specify a -- so we can have a repair of the ceasefire agreement. and so far -- see what is happening there. there are more than 2,000 homes

that have been affected. more than 100 killed and 1,000 wounded. they're doing every possible event to have an end to this scene and restore the agreement reached in 2012. i don't think that the -- from the ground or missiles will get us anywhere. the only thing now is -- zero hour. so the fighting can stop. this is not a war between two armies and two navies and two air forces. this is something that we need to contain through restoration of the ceasefire and then to continue with the reconciliation and continue forward with the negotiations. because at the end of the day

what we've been witnessing by the last month is that we need peace. we need the two-state solutions. the answer to all of this is not through more violence and more of the same. it's through statesmanship through ending the conflict. it's through the two-state solution. the states to live side by side with peace. that's what we need. we need -- to stop different things this. and restore the agreement and engage in a meaningful peace process that we leave once and for all to put an end to the occupation. >> i spoke at the last hour with the spokesman for hamas. unlike you, he's not ready to

accept a two-state solution. here is the question. why did the palestinian authority decide to form the sort of coalition with hamas? >> we did not form a coalition with hamas. we formed a government with national consensus. a government program of two-state solution. two-state solution that lives side by side. so the thing is that once we go in the reconciliation when we defer we go back to -- that's on us. what we need to do now is, number one, stop the fighting and stop the fighting of violence. it's not to get us anywhere. not only the but look at the

whole region. where is iraq, where is syria. everything is getting out of hand. what we need to do is see we have a ceasefire. number two, to see that the communi community listens to obama and secretary kerry to restore the peace process in order to achieve once and for all a two-state solution. >> this is our way out. >> it looks like the peace process right now -- and i know you were involved working closely with your israeli counter parts and the secretary of state john kerry. looks like it's dead for now. is there any hope it's going to be revived? >> well, wolf, we can -- you know, right. it looks like difficult. but do you think or anybody in the world think that there is an alternative to a meaningful peace process that can achieve the two step solution?

it's time to end the conflict and the situation. how do we do it? the good offices of president obama, john kerry, the european, the u.n., the arabs. we have a initiative. we all have all the things. and the -- what we need is not more war. what we need is really an israeli government that is willing to commit to the two state solution. the most strategic offer made by saudi arabia and united nations. this is the way out.

it may sound like it's far fetched. people may hear this aren't so sure. does anyone have an alternative? is there a way out other than achieving the two state solution where the state of israel can live side by side with the state of palestinian. unfortunately up to this moment have any understanding. we accept the state of palestinian. we have two states but never at -- >> so -- >> we don't need that for the -- we know that two states and 1967. that peace process can be revived. it looks grim. as we know right now. certainly there's hope. thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. coming up from jerusalem.

we're live here. what might the ceasefire agreement look like? is it even remotely possible. we're getting new situation coming into the "situation room" right now. standby. i'll get a information on the ground invasion on gaza. the top military spokesman is standing by. we'll get the israeli military perspective when we come back. if you don't think "feed the then you don't know "aarp". our drive to end hunger has donated 29 million meals, and counting. find more real possibilities at aarp.org/possibilities. but i've managed. ♪ i got to be pretty good at managing my symptoms, except that managing my symptoms was all i was doing. ♪ when i finally told my doctor, he said my crohn's was not under control.

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yeah, citi mobile. pay the dog sitter? ask your gastroenterologist about humira. and deposit that check? citi mobile. pack your bathing suit? wearing it. niiice bank from almost anywhere with the citi mobile app. we're back live in jerusalem. reporting of the escalading conflict between israel and

hamas in gaza. we are heading down to the gaza border. we were there earlier in the day. there were a lot of rockets coming in and intercepted rockets. what is the latest there, dianna, what are you seeing? >> there were. and the rocket fire did not cease. it picked up as it tends to do as nightfalls and the early evening. we went 780 meters away from the border. extremely close. you look out through the barbed wire parameters and you almost are face-to-face with gaza. and yet this is a beautiful little oasis of calm compared to conditions in gaza. the skies are ripped up with the noise of explosion, rockets, we had an anti-tank missile come

close to us. in fact, it hit a military jeep in the military base next door injuring two idf soldiers there. and the people who live in here sent their children away to the north of israel hoping they would be safer there. the fact of the matter is, we had rockets come over from lebanon. it's questionable how long their safety there will be guaranteed. the rest are constantly going in and out of the safe houses they have to have in their homes. so it's a very strange and sort of surreal situation in the beautiful place with this quite terrifying noise ripping the air above them. and only yesterday a house was hit. that's all well and good to say that. of course, as we know, as we know from ben, you know, this is the situation. in israel there hasn't been any casualties on their side. it's scary for people, obviously. it's nothing compared to those people on the other side of the border so close who don't have

safe houses. who don't have warnings or anywhere to run. >> there have been some israeli injuries but no fatalities, at least not yet. dianna, along the border there between israel and gaza. thank you so much. stay safe over there. we're here in jerusalem. the cross border is relentless rocket fire coming in from the palestinians. air strikes going to gaza from the israelis. both sides they're prepared for a longer conflict. it could be potentially a ground war, maybe even in the coming days. let's bring in our foreign affairs reporter joining us from washington. what are you hearing there? >> the u.s. is saying it's prepared to help negotiate the ceasefire to end tcycle of violence. but the question is the timing right? with israel gearing up for a possible ground invasion and

hamas rockets reaching farther than ever before. >> we're offering assistance of the united states to try to facilitate a ceasefire we believe in the best interest of both sides. things have changed since 2012 when then secretary of state hillary clinton and former egyptian president morsi brokered the last ceasefire. gone is the sway morsi's mohammed held with hamas. now egypt's new president considers hamas a terrorist group. after the collapse of american lead peace talks in april, they acknowledge the obama administration feels frustrated with both sides. speaking in israel, a top white house official pointed the finger at israel saying the continued occupation of the palestinian territories is, quote, not only wrong but a recipe for resentment and recuring instability. >> there's a certain red sense to get involved right now the feeling is we get sucked in and get the parties to go a certain way and hit a wall.

we're not going to get involved in, you know, unless we're sure it's going to lead to positive outcome. >> palestinians say international intervention is critical. >> what we want is ceasefire. i think it's the responsibility of the international community to stop the escalation. >> but israel is in rush for the fighting to stop. israeli prime minister said he'll end the military operation only after he restores quiet in a lasting way. publicly the u.s. said it wants deescalation. officials acknowledge they are willing to give israel some time to defend hamas. >> we believe it would be useful to getting to our goal of ending the rocket fire and deescalating. i'm sure secretary kerry would be willing to do that. the moment has to be right, obviously. the u.s. is looking to -- and officials tell me they're

actively involved in trying to deescalate tensions. you remembered they helped broker the tale between the u.s. and taliban over the return of be beau burg dahl and hoping to play a similar role here. >> thank you. we're here in jerusalem. joining us now the spokesman for the israel defense forces peter learner. thank you for coming in. i want to get your thoughts on the airport right now. a lot of international flights come in. they go out. there was a threat today from hamas. the planes shouldn't come in. they could be in danger. when i was flying in the other day, i was told that the pilots are being cautioned to take new maneuvers as they come in the not old fashioned way. >> hamas has the capability of launching rockets all all of israel.

they have the ability to reach anything within 200 millimeters. the airport is in that distance. they have made the claims. they have been making empty threats throughout the last four days. everything they've thrown at us has met a brick wall. >> is it still safe for commercial aircraft to take off and arrive at the airport? >> yes, absolutely. >> you have no worry abouts t t. >> there are new procedures underway? >> of course. there's a heightened sense of threat. we have to take care of the people that are coming in and flights are continuing. >> we spoke yesterday you told me 30,000 israeli reservists have been formally activated to go to the unit. what is the number now? >> around 35,000. we might see more added on to the figure. >> of the 40,000. >> of the 40,000. what is important about the force is they are enabling us to utilize the regular forces --

the regular standing forces to be prepared. they have the capability to move quickly. they have the capability to get the job done if required. this is a potential what we need to be repaired. >> what i was told the reservists are taking jobs inside israel and some of the active duty regular military personnel are moving to the border with gaza. >> that's true. the reservists are going to the northern to defend the northern border and the central command in the midst of the central command and the regular, the standing troops, they will be brought down to the potential preparedness for gaza strip. >> how close is the israel defense forces to a ground invasion of gaza? >> i think that depends a lot on what hamas does. we've voiced since day one we have no interest in sort of escalation with the gaza strip.

the terrorists are jerusalem -- you have enjoyed the run. we have to be prepared. are we days closer? it could happen. we could find ourselves there. >> it could happen soon. >> what does that mean soon? >> in the immediate future. it's not, again, it's i don't have a date that we're going. we have to be prepared. i would say we are prepared now for immediate action. >> who was responsible for those rockets that came into the northern part of israel today from lebanon? >> that's a good question. there are lots of various factions within lebanon. ultimately who is responsible. the lebanese government. they have a responsibility for everything that comes over the border. but it's a working assumption that there could be heightened threats from lebanon.

indeed we saw the rocket today. we don't know if it's symbolic. some sort of, you know, identity. identifying with gaza or something more substantial. we're watching closely what is going on. >> how worried are you there could be a two-front war right now against israel. rockets coming in from gaza. rockets coming from lebanon as well. >> we're watching it close. i think suffice to say we have to be prepared on all fronts. the middle east around us is bubbling and size ling all the time. and recent years even on a heightened manner. we have to be prepared or it could happen on the border with syria. it could happen on the border with lebanon. it we need heightened preparedness and the ability to operate swiftly. when the rockets came across or a rocket landed in the north this morning, we had an immediate response on the ground to strike back at the those potentially morsi's rockets. >> i've spoken with some israelis what their fear could

be if israel moves in with tanks, armored personnel into gaza. there's even greater civilian casualties. not only an angry reaction but from the west bank itself. they could start another end fa data you have to worry about that kind of scenario unfolding. >> i think there's a lot about conflict management in the renal. the idea is part of the tools to with so. issues. in deed today was friday. ramad ramadan we didn't have major threats. the situation is manageable to a level it doesn't pose a substantial threat. >> we've seen disturbing video. ben showed us earlier. little kids severely injured. some killed in the israeli air strikes. i know, you try to avoid civilian casualties. that's a heavily populated dense area.

already you're being criticized by some who are engaging in what they call war crimes. >> i would say to those primarily mo ohio mas -- ha mas out -- they use the weapons to safe guard the civilians. hamas uses the civilians to safe guard the weapons. that's the absurdity of the situation. when we are operating, we are taking unprecedented care in order to pinpoint those terrorists. they exploit the civilian operation. they operate from mosques. they launch rockets from parking lots of ambulances. they abuse anything and everything at hand and point the finger at israel. where is hamas' responsibility? they are holding the population of gaza as hostages to their own will and trying to inflict damage on the israeli.

there's only one party that actually cares about the civilians, the palestinian civilians and it's not hamas. >> lieutenant colonel, thank you for joining us. the spokesman for the israel defense forces. just ahead, as we continue our live coverage from jerusalem. the parallel war between israel. how they are using propaganda. who is winning the battle for hearts and mind. more special coverage coming up from "the situation room."

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with our special report. people around the world are watching the attacks and the bloodshed that is unfolding in the middle east. there's a second going on as wom well. a prop began za battle. they are stepping up their protective pitches. we are taking a cleser lo eclosk at that. >> a war is played out on social media and once again, of course, civilians are caught in the cross fire. >> hamas rockets endanger about 40% of israeli civilians. >> just part of israel's increasingly sophisticated social media strategy using sites like twitter and youtube to get its message out. propaganda is not new but here both sides at war also for the hearts and mind of their followers. the messages increasingly pointed. >> information is a critical piece of the modern battle field. we used it when we were in

combat, israelis are using it the best they can. hamas is using it. hezbollah is using it. this video shows their weapons being manufactured. in another statement posted on youtube. >> we have not started the aggression and the war. >> israel hits back. >> translator: hamas upgraded the weapons arsenal. the terrorist organization now holds about 10,000 rockets and missiles. >> israel even uses an image of the statute of liberty keeping congressional support always vital. >> looking at israel, can you imagine what america would if it was facing a similar threat. >> as hamas rockets fly against israel, and israeli air strikes pound gaza, and israeli twitter image said israel is only striking military targets. including weapons and launchers hidden among civilians.

israel said it warns palestinians to get out of the way. hamas announced in january its military wing had been banned from facebook. now it relies on this home page. showing the latest photographs of news updates from its point of view. but like for many militant groups, social media is also a recruiting tool. >> shots of weapons falling in neighborhoods being destroyed will recruit more terrorists on their side. israel and hamas have gotten savvy using social immediate why. at one point, they were in a twitter war. spokesman for both sides firing cyber darts at each other. >> who would have thought a twitter going on as a real war is going on at the same time. thank you very much. let's dig a little bit deeper. joining us is a columnist for the israeli newspaper. the author of a best selling

book. also joining us is a professor middle east analyst at the university of maryland and the brookings institution. ari, you're worried it's about to escalade. this situation right now, aren't you? >>, absolutely. israel leads attacks in unprecedented way. it shows a lot of constraint but i'm afraid if it goes on, the israeli cab cabinet might feel it has to strike. >> what would the mission be? >> right now israel is in the problem that it is perceived as weak because all the major cities are attacked. this is the equivalent al qaeda operation launching rockets from cuba, first florida, then at

philadelphia then new york and washington will hit. it's true no will kill. but the symbol. it's a violation and where from gaza will we put dismantle settlements. no check points there. no settlements. no occupation and what we get is the rockets. the israeli government was also very restrained. it did not go into use of power. so the hamas has really per voted israel in a big way. i wish i pray that my government will still be restrained in the coming days. right now they're under a lot of pressure to do something even symbolic to respond to this major hamas provocation. >> you know a lot of soldiers will be killed and injuried if there's a ground war. >> i'm deeply troubled about the israeli ground operation. i'm deeply troubled. i'm not happy about it. i hope it will not get there. but one has to see where -- if

we are to prevent the escalation something big has to be done. i was warning about the escalation days ago. i'm afraid that the international community didn't act in time. all players the region, not only israel, are really terrified of hamas's behavior. but hamas has not stopped. i fear israeli extremists and the public opinion pressure might push the government into an action that might be dangerous and counter productive. >> you know the region well. is there a way out of this really dire scenario? what ari painted? >> first of all, i don't think either hamas leadership or the israelly leadership wants escalation. i don't believe that hamas was looking for provocation, actually. i think they paid a heavy price for it two years ago. this is not something i know, you know, you look at the horrific results on the gaza side, not just the civilian but

the infrastructure. some of their leaders and the pieces they have to pick up after it's over. it's not something they're looking forward to. i guess they're moving in some ways for reconciliation from the authority. i think because the series of events that were horrific on both sides. nonetheless, right now i think the israeli, obviously there is pressure on both of them to escalade. no one wants to seem to have lost it. there's a possibility for a diplomatic effort. but let me say this. i don't, you know, whatever ari says, there is no military solution to this. what does it mean for the israelis to go in? the israeli, in the first place, left the post to occupy. occupation doesn't work. you bring in more destruction. the missiles keep coming. every time we see that there's a range of hamas missiles that seem to grow. in any case, if you have an ark

i can you could end up -- >> it's not let me ask you. let me ask ari about that. is there a way out, you think right now or is it going to escala escalade? >> let me agree with my friend. i think that the military option is a very bad one. >> military option of ground invasion. >> yes. the solution is although we must remember hamas is a religious fascist movement. it's -- depresses individuals, it expresses women, gays, christians. it's a really ugly political movement. and yet i'm into coexistence as long as they do not attack israel. the real solution is actually to demand a total demilitarization of gaza. no rockets in gaza and then let the economy prosper. let them have their own life. this is the political solution for gaza and this is what the

international community should be pursuing. but the international community did not act. it ignored the public for a long time. this is why we have the e escalation. this is a result of the political vacuum created by the collapse of the talks and we all have to take all actions possible at this late moment to prevent something which can turn into a real -- >> let me wrap it up. quickly, you agree? >> this is an impossible outcome unless you have a state. two state solution was an assumption that it would be largely demilitarized. i think it's pretty much accepted as a security arrangement. in that context it's possible. to think there would be no independence and gaza would accept the limitations they with no sovereignty and not have a military power still remain under prohamas or anybody else is not going to happen. i think, you know, the main thing we have to do in the short term is number one save lives.

have a ceasefire that ends the conflict. have diplomatic efforts to revive the negotiations. in the end without -- you know we're going to have it again every two years if not sooner. >> unfortunately. >> thank you for joining us. two of the smartest guys i know when it comes to the middle east. live in jerusalem. back in washington house republicans mocked president obama as they prepare to sue him. could the case wind up helping democrats. "the situation room" from jerusalem continueses right after this.

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we're live in jerusalem and will have more on the fighting between israel and hamas in a moment. we are getting details on the republicans plans to sue the president of the united states over his use of executive orders. here's dana bash. >> republicans are beginning the

process of suing the president. everything is political. with this tweet house republicans take mocking the president to a whoale new level. a photo of obama with a woman that says, hey, girl, i'm not interested in photo ops. it's intended to point out the president's hypocrisy. >> i'm not interested in photo ops. i'm interested in solving a problem. >> house republicans may be having fun but the congressman in charge of electing house democrats wasn't laughing saying it's tweet that says a thousand words, classless, offensive and paid for with taxpayer money. as the house republicans are taking pains to say that they

are suing him is not political but a constitutional struggle. >> it's not about republicans versus democrats. this is about the legislative branch that's being disadvantaged by the executive braj. >> for months house republicans have been work on suing the president for abusing his power, changing laws by executive order without congress. they considered everything from the environment to immigration but decided to sue on obama care. >> it impacts 80 million americans who need to understand if we are going to follow the law or get to the end anding cause chaos. >> but just four months before the mid-term elections, obamacare galvanizes conservative voters. >> when you pick the number one political issue for republicans it looks a little political. >> i have to tell you, it's the

number one issue in homes. and it is one of the top issues with women. because they have seen their access to health care cramped. >> you sue him, impeach him. really? >> democrats dismiss the suit as a transparent stunt. >> it's a political strategy and intended to rile all the republican base to go out in the mid-term election and vote. it's so transparent. >> democrats are cashing in on the suit against the president raising money from their base outraged about it and democrats insists that the g.o.p. move will hurt them in swing districts. and see this lawsuit as part of it. wolf? >> dana bash, thanks very much. from jerusalem, this region is clearly on edge. i'll share some final thoughts on the latest developments. but first a look at a

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>> since we started our partnership we have brought in more than $7600. that equates to 30,000 meals. >> who would have thought a hashtag could do so much good. >> we are bringing together art and culture and we are hoping it starts to spread across the country. that's what we realized throughout this project.

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i've been coming to the middle east for many years. this is an intense time right now. know one knows what the next venture is going to be whether the israelis are going to sent troops into gaza where there could be so much destruction and so many call useties not just palestinian but israeli as well. i was down in the southern part of israel today not far from the gaza border. i saw the rockets coming in and was at the gas station and saw the destruction of the gas station. you take a look at what is going on and you see the destroyed cars and vehicles. a israeli handicapped vehicle couldn't get out of a car and was injured in the process. israelis look at the pictures and are worried. palestinians are going through hell right now. this situation is about to get a

whole lot worse. that's it for me. i'm wolf blitzer in jerusalem. erin burnett "outfront" starts erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com crisis in the middle east, the israeli government not backing down. hamas issuing a new threat tonight. this time aimed at israel's main airport. plus a so-called call girl killer the woman charge charged with a google executive's death is linked to another death. lebron james returns home. his announcement sends shock waves around the country. let's go "outfront." and good evening, everyone i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight the crisis on the border. president obama sng