hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the united states and all around the world. i'm laila harrak. it's now 8:00 a.m. in israel where that country is more than gore hours into the most serious threat to its security in modern memory. perhaps ever. you are looking now at live pictures of ashkalon as the sun comes up. it's widely expected a massive military operation will soon engulf this palestinian enclave. hamas video shows a group of militants storming the gaza border on saturday. one of the most fortified places on the border. israel confirms a significant number of israelis, including at least one soldier, have been captured by hamas militants. the image you're about to see is

deeply disturbing. it shows the motionless body of a hostage being paraded in gaza in the back of a vehicle. person's whereabouts and condition are currently unknown. the israeli military's warning palestinian civilians in gaza to leave their homes immediately because of the military reprisals to come. it's unclear, however, where 2 million civilians are supposed to flee to. vooe illinois prime minister benjamin netanyahu is vowing to find hamas militants wherever they are hiding. he says hamas is responsible for the well-being of israeli hostages and that israel will settle the score with anyone who harms them. >> translator: what happened today has never been seen in israel. and i will make sure that it does not happen again. the entire government is behind this decision. the idf will immediately use all its strength to destroy hamas'

capabilities, and we will take mighty vengeance for this black day that they have forced on the state of israel and its citizens. all the places where hamas is deployed, hiding, and operating in, we will turn it into an island of ruins. i am telling gaza's people to leave those places now, because we will take action everywhere. >> for more, nada bashir joins us live from london. where do things stand this very hour? >> reporter: look, laila, of course the focus at this current point in time for the israel defense forces or israeli government is regaining control of those areas where hamas infiltrated yesterday, and of course rescuing those who are captured, citizens, civilians, as well as soldiers, held captive and hostage within gaza. overnight and into early hours of this morning, we have seen continued exchange of rocket fire. thousands of rockets fired from gaza into israel. many of them intercepted by

israel's iron dome and fence system. some, of course, also making landfall. we have seen multiple areas hit particularly across southern israel and across tel aviv. in response, there has been fierce fighting or fires striking across gaza. we have seen fighter jets in the early hours of this morning once again targeting gaza. theivity df says some 400 targets were struck overnight by the idf in gaza. they say these are hamas positions that they are targeting, but as you mentioned, we heard that warning yesterday from idf telling citizens of gaza to evacuate these areas. this is, of course, almost impossible for palestinians living in gaza. this is a tiny enclave which has been under a land, sea, and ai r

are there any diplomatic efforts under way that we know of?

>> absolutely. we've seen statements coming out from allies on both sides who have put forward their hand to support in efforts to de-escalate tensions between the israelis and palestinians. we've seen turkey coming out to say they are in intensive talks with both sides of the conflict and are ready to help with any efforts to de-escalate the conflict. egypt, of course, a crucial player in this conflict, and has been for decades now. we've heard from the foreign minister who said he is holding talks continually with officials on both sides, particularly on the palestinian side, as well, again ready to support in efforts to de-escalate. on the u.s. side, we've heard from secretary of state antony blinken. he has been speaking to officials on the israeli side continuously, also the palestinian authority, president mahmoud abbas, as well as the king of jordan, king abdullah ii, another key player in this conflict, all in efforts to try

and de-escalate tensions before they get any worse. we are expecting that u.n. security council being to be held today. this will be the primary focus of that meeting. across the globe we have seen statements from world leaders, not only condemning the violence, but also, of course, calling for an urgent de-escalation of violence that we are seeing on both sides. >> nada bashir, thank you for that update. we'll check in with you a little later this hour. for now, thank you. we're just now receiving reports that israeli artillery has fired on positions inside lebanon. the israeli military says it was this response to a shooting from across the border. it is unclear what was fired from lebanon towards israel. it marks the first time since this crisis unfolded 24 hours ago that it has spread now beyond israel's border. i want to welcome now johan

plesner, president of the israel democracy institute, former member of the knesset for the kadina party. prime minister netanyahu warned the war against humes will take time, and it will be hard. is the prime minister preparing the israeli people for a prolonged conflict? >> yes, it will take time. israel just experienced yesterday a horrific day. this is the israeli equivalent of our 9/11. in the early morning saturday, barbaric hamas terrorists attacked dozens of israeli villages and towns and killed mothers and kids and grandmothers and has taken dozens of them hostages. israel now needs to, first of all, defend its population and exact a very dear price from

hamas. the extremists throughout the region are observing very closely and want to understand what will transpire. and israel alongside its ally, obviously the united states, needs to demonstrate that those who kill innocent civilians, unprovoked, are going to pay a dear price for that. and of course, this will take time. hamas is perpetrating war crimes and situating all its capabilities within its own civilian population. so there will be civilian casualties in order to erode, undermine, and destroy the hamas capabilities. and it's going to be tough and long, but israelis across the spectrum are united and understand that it's absolutely essential if we want to remain strong and powerful in this region. >> strong and powerful, but you know, i mean, is it worth all

the collateral damage in terms of are you prepared to accept all the civilian casualties that come with such protracted conflict? is that acceptable? >> look, there's no other option. israelis were stormed with hundreds of terrorists attacking all of our towns and villages, brutally assassinating israelis, taking dozens of captives, including torturing young girls, young boys, grandmothers, holocaust survivors. i mean, this is a brutal attack. we were surprised, and now we have to take the initiative. we have to obviously ensure that our hostages are being released and that the hamas capabilities are eroded in a way that they won't be able to perpetrate such violent and barbaric acts for

many years. >> do israelis still have confidence in their government and in its ability to keep them safe? >> look, no doubt that now israel needs a national unity government. we had their own internal differences on cnn, speaking about our differences around israeli democracy. but israeli security and the fact that hamas, hamas has a clear goal of annihilating and destroying the state of israel. and on that, we are all united. and i wouldn't be surprised if this is also a scheme. hamas is obviously strongly supported by iran that wants to undermine the american and saudi deal in the region by leading to escalation between israel and hamas, making such a deal impossible. so this is probably with iranian support and part of a broader

vaughn scheme. this needs to be pushed back very strongly with much confidence to make it very clear that the moderate forces in the region will overcome. >> a final question. this is obviously a major, massive security challenge for israel and everyone obviously still in the thick of it. and it's too early to tell how all of this will evolve. but let's look long-term, if we can. can you envisage an alternative future, however difficult and incredibly hard things are right now? because this situation is simply unsustainable. >> yes, you're absolutely right that we have to look into -- describe a future vision, then try to work towards it. a future vision cannot include a barbaric, murderous hamas regime just on israel's backdoor. it's not somewhere on the other

side of the ocean. it's just in our backyard, a barbaric regime that has a clear, defined, explicit goal of annihilating the state of israel. and yesterday they actually tried to implement it de facto. so any future vision includes a leadership of the palestinians in gaza, about 2 million palestinians, that is not the leadership that wants to murder jews and israelis, but a leadership that has some kind of a vision of coexistence. and then of course we can live in peace together. >> coexistence. you han plesner, thanks for joining us. an israeli mother who says she was on the phone with her children when militants broke into their home kidnapped them described the terrorizing moments.

>> they were with me on the phone. by about 8:00 in the morning, they said they were starting to hear shooting, gun shooting outside. >> they heard gunshots outside? >> yes. and i started getting messages, texts from other people, saying that terrorists are walking around freely, trying to break into houses. about 8:30, they'd heard the door break. they said, someone is breaking the door, someone's breaking the door. they were scared to death. i can't even imagine what they felt. and i wasn't there to help.

i was on the phone, and i said, "just be quiet, stay quiet, stay in the security room, lock the door." but the doors don't really lock. they're not meant to. they're not meant to give a solution, because that's kind of the situation. no one thought a terrorist would walk down free. about quarter to 9:00, i heard on line, on the phone, the door break. i heard terrorists speaking in arabic to my teenagers. and the youngest saying to them, "i'm too young to go." 16 and 12. very, very hard to hear. and the phone went off, the line went off. that was the last time i heard from them. it was a very, very hard day.

many, many people from our place and other places were taken. they took babies. they took 2-year-olds, 5-year-olds, mothers. just -- innocents. they did nothing wrong, they were just sleeping in their beds. even war has rules. they just don't have any morals. it's something that you don't do. what i'm going through is nothing to what they're going through. i don't know if they eat, i don't know if they're allowed to drink, i don't know if they're together, i don't know if they're apart. i don't know if they're dressed. i don't know if they're tortured. i don't know anything. >> has anyone from the military or the government come by to say anything, to talk to any of you?

>> no. >> no? >> well, no, but i can't really blame anyone. it was a very, very difficult day in israel. hundreds died. thousands wounded. and probably hundreds taken or kidnapped to gaza strip. we don't really know how many. it's a very, very hard day. it's going to take -- it's obviously taking time to get to all the people. to have everything reorganized in some way. >> an israeli mother speaking with our jake tapper, describing the moments that militants kidnapped her children. the u.s. vowing unwavering support for israel as the country grapples with the unprecedented surprise attack from hamas. details ahead.

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is vowing to destroy the palestinian militant group hamas after its fighters invaded israel from gaza and killed hundreds of israelis. idf says it has already struck 426 targets inside gaza, including ten towers used by hamas. and it says tens of thousands of soldiers are operating on the ground around gaza. israeli sources say up to 1,000 hamas militants breached the

barrier separating gaza from israel saturday morning and began attacking israeli towns. and the idf says fighting to get them out is still going on in eight locations. we're now seeing disturbing video of one of those attacks. you can see people here trying to escape, apparently from hamas fighters. and hear the sound of gunfire. meanwhile, washington could announce new assistance for israel as early as sunday. that's according to u.s. officials who say the two countries are already talking about what kind of aid israel needs. military aid was the subject of a phone call between president joe biden and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu who saturday. kayla tausche has more. >> reporter: the white house is working around the clock to understand the scope of israel's needs as it responds to these attacks which the u.s. is calling appalling and unprecedented. a senior administration official says the focus of the u.s. is in

assisting to keep the violence contained at this stage and there are conversations happening up and down the military chain to deliver direct support to israel, which i'm told by sources, prime minister netanyahu directly asked president biden for in a phone call that the two leaders held on saturday. officials have acknowledged that the lack of a speaker of the house of representatives in the u.s. and a permanent u.s. ambassador to israel are unique challenges at this moment, as the u.s. tries to get support in a timely and fulsome manner to israel. president biden says that support from the u.s. is rock solid and unwavering. >> united states stands with israel. we will not ever fail to have their back. we'll make sure that they have the help their citizens need and they can continue to defend themselves. in the street, in their homes, innocent people murdered, wounded. entire families taken hostage by

hamas just days after they mark one of the holiest days in the jewish calendar. it's unconscionable. when i spoke with prime minister netanyahu this morning, i told him the united states stands with the people of israel in the face of these terrorist assaults. israel has the right to defend itself and its people, full stop. >> reporter: biden did not specify the target of that particular message. u.s. officials have been clear in iran's role as a longtime sponsor of hamas. but when asked whether they believed that iran was behind the hamas attacks in recent days, the u.s. said that they could not yet draw that conclusion. much more to come on the dramatic escalation of violence in the mideast. how america's top diplomat is trying to rally international support behind israel in a time of war.

♪ israeli's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the country embarking on a long and difficult war to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of hamas. his remarks come after militants from gaza launched a surprise attack on israel saturday, hitting multiple targets. israeli officials say up to

1,000 hamas fighters stormed into communities near gaza and captured a significant number of civilians. this video appears to be showing one woman forced into the back seats of a car with hands tied behind her back. european leaders and others around the world are reacting to the hamas attack on israel. european commission president ursula von der leyen spoke on the phone to israeli president isaac herzog, offering the eu's full support and posting the eu mourns the victims and stands by israel's right to defend itself. nada bashir is standing by in london. good to have you back with us. a message of support from the european union. what have been the regional reactions? >> reporter: we have seen across the board in the region condemnation of violence across both sides. we have seen efforts by the likes of turkey and egypt,

offers rather, to help mediate and also to de-escalate the tensions between both sides. the turkish government says it is holding intensive talks with both palestinian and israeli side. it is standing ready to help de-escalate those tensions. in egypt, a key regional player, a key player in this conflict, it has been for decades, the foreign minister there has said he is again holding talks is with both sides, speaking to the palestinian authority, and is ready to offer support when it comes to trying to de-escalate the tensions there. but of course, we have also heard some criticism, some condemnation, from regional players when it comes to israel's actions. let me read you a quick bit from this statement. "the ministry of foreign affairs holds israel solely responsible for the escalation due to its continuous violations of the rights of the palestinian people, including the recent repeated incursions into the al aqsa mosque compound under the protection of the israeli police." this continues to be a huge

concern for the international community. as you mentioned, we have had strong condemnation from eu leaders. we've heard from the eu's foreign affairs chief yusuf bear relevant, condemning the violence we have seen. we know this will be a key focus today for the u.n. security council where we are expecting to hear, of course, those condemnations of violence we have seen overnight. the continued use of rockets being launched into israeli territory as well as rockets being launched by israel into gaza. now, of course, the concern is really shifting to how this will play out on the military front. we know, of course, benjamin netanyahu has vowed to have a strong military response. he spoke of the first phase of this response from israel being focused on trying to regain and recapture control of territories infiltrated by hamas, trying to rescue those held captive by hamas, including civilians and

soldiers. but the next phase which he has said is set to begin in the coming hours will be focused on that military response. in his words, they are preparing the offensive positions at this current point in time. it is anticipated there will be a strong military response in gaza. netanyahu has also said that the israeli cabinet has now decided to cut off electricity, fuel, and other goods supplied to gaza. the aim, the goal, the intention to stifle the operations of hamas. but this is, of course, going to have a severe humanitarian consequence for those palestinians living in gaza, particularly as gaza has been under a land, air, and sea blockaded force by israel since 2007. >> a lot of uncertainty and insecurity for both israelis and people in gaza in the coming hours, days, and potentially months? >> absolutely. the focus really for the international community will be on trying to de-escalate those tensions in order to ensure this

does not get any worse. but we've heard from prime minister benjamin netanyahu describing this as a long and difficult war ahead for israel. and it is anticipated that that response will be fierce. overnight and into the early hours of this morning, we have seen israeli fighter jets continuing to strike targets in gaza. they say some 400 targets have been struck by the idf in gaza. we heard that warning yesterday from idf officials telling citizens in gaza to evacuate, but of course, that is almost impossible for many of them given the ongoing blockade. this is a tiny enclave, densely populated. so that is almost impossible for many palestinians there. but of course, we are still seeing gun battles taking place across territories in israel as well, particularly in the southern areas where we have seen intense fighting continuing overnight. israeli officials have said that, sadly, dozens of lives have already been lost. and of course, there is a huge amount of concern for those

israelis who have been held captive and taken hostage in gaza. that continues to be a priority for the israeli government. but as we continue to see these -- this exchange of rocket fire, both from within gaza into israel, many of them intercepted by israel's iron dome air defense system, but many also making landfall, hitting targets and impacting civilian casualty. we also see the response, continued targeting of areas in gaza. we saw several highrises targeted on saturday. that is expected to continue today. the death toll at this current point in time is still continuing to rise. at least 300 israelis killed, more than 200 palestinians killed. laila? >> nada bashir, thank you so much for that update. we'll check in with you a little later again. meantime, a u.s. secretary of state, antony blinken, has been speaking to counterparts in europe and also in the middle east. demanding that hamas "immediately halt its attack on israel." according to a spokesperson,

blinken reached out to foreign ministers of egypt, saudi arabia, jordan, qatar, turkey, and european allies. foreign ministers of those european countries have condemned the hamas attack. as for the qatari government, it said israel is solely responsible for the ongoing escalation due to its continuous violations of the rights of the palestinian people. michael moran is a lecturer and political risk at the core develop school of international affairs at university of denver and joins me from denver, colorado. thank you so much for staying up for us. greatly appreciate it, michael. the u.s. has been trying to pivot away from the mideast for years. and this crisis, what kind of test does it present to the biden administration? >> well, it's a pretty stern test. you know, the payback for getting deeply involved in the israeli/palestinian conflict in

terms of being a mediator has been pretty minimal. there's been stop-start opportunities for every president to get involved. some of them -- bill clinton, for instance, kind of put a great deal of energy into it. at the end of the day, these things tend to come to naught. right now what we're seeing, i think, is absolute frustration on the part of the palestinians. hamas has taken advantage of that. and basically trying to send the message that, you cannot talk about middle east issues without paying attention to the palestinian issue. of course, we've been seeing conversations between washington, israel, and saudi arabia about the possibility of saudi arabia recognizing israel. that would be a huge breakthrough. but the saudis have been very cautious about it even before this, saying that some kind of progress in the palestinian issue needed to be made. this is hamas saying, this isn't going to happen. essentially.

hamas is kind of trying to play a trump card here and say, this is not a -- we're not going to be left out, this is something -- and you know, in some ways it hearkens back to the way the palestinian liberation organization tried to get its issue on the agenda in the '70s through these really horrible and spectacular terrorist attacks around the world. so ultimately you're seeing the result of this issue being ignored for years. israel kind of feeling like they could get away with ignoring it. and now this has come back to haunt them. >> i want to talk about that a little more. the u.s., by putting the focus on the so-called abraham accords, also trying to get this normalization deal through with saudi and israel -- while at the same time completely disengaging from the core issue, that intractable israeli/palestinian

conflict. has u.s. diplomacy failed in the region? >> well, yeah, i think there's been a, you know, assessment that -- this goes back, really, to the obama administration. every administration since george w. bush. that there's really no payback here. it's a dead end. that you can waste a lot of time and political capital trying to get these two sides to talk to each other, but at the end of the day, neither side really acts in good faith. and that each side is so divided over its own stance that it just turns out to be impossible to get them to the table. then to commit to something. you'll remember the oslo accords in the late '90s. were destroyed by a series of terrorist attacks, essentially, that just destroyed the political will on the israeli side to continue and the palestinians who had a chance to

grasp statehood at that point. just really mishandled their stance as well. so the leadership on both sides has been really self-interested, overly cautious, and not willing to take risks and stand -- and really kind of stick into it for the long run through the difficulties that are inevitable. there are going to be people who try to destroy any effort for peace here. >> well, you know, this -- we're at the beginning of this deepening crisis that is unfolding as we speak. who can broker a cease-fire? >> you know, it's interesting. it goes back to the question of whether the united states has kind of dropped the ball here. the u.s. -- u.s. influence in the middle east is drastically diminished since the iraq war and the kind of sad end of the afghan war that just essentially

looks like futility. decades of futility. especially from the standpoint of the middle east. they don't have the leverage they used to. happily, the russians are otherwise engaged. i think this kind of benefits the russians, because it takes a little bit of attention off of what they're doing in ukraine right now. but the likely mediators here -- turkey's a really good example of a country that could step in, has relations to some extent with both sides. the israelis aren't particularly happy to think that the turks would be the mediator. the chinese are inevitably going to put themselves forward because it's the way they see themselves going right now, that they are becoming a major player globally. but the problem is, there really is no player that has the credibility, the military capability, the diplomatic leverage that the u.s. had prior

to the iraq war and the distraction that that created from this issue. >> michael moran, thank you for joining us. thank you for your perspectives. >> thank you, laila. and we'll be right bac

israel seth it's conducting air strikes in gaza as it tries to end a massive incursion by hamas militants. israeli military says it has conducted more than 400 strikes, including should some that toppled multi story buildings. israeli artillery is pounding targets in lebanon after alleged shootings across the border. in the south israeli troops are trying to purchasing the remaining militants out. former israeli prime minister and opposition lead jair la peat is urging mr. netanyahu to put aside their political differences and form an emergency government. in a statement sepd, "prime minister netanyahu knows with the current extreme dysfunctional security cabinet, he cannot manage a war. israel needs to be led by a professional, experienced, and responsible government. we need to put politics to one side for the sake of an

emergency government which will manage this situation with determination and won't deal with anything else until we achieve victory over our enemies." cnn's nic robertson has the latest. >> reporter: what we're witnessing here, the first time that we've seen it tonight, israeli heavy armor being transported in towards gaza. that's the road to gaza, about 2 1/2 miles, 3 kilometers that way. these are israeli battle tanks. i've counted at least five. there are more trucks transporting them coming around the corner. the night has been very active beyond that checkpoint, the area where the israeli defense forces have been contesting with hamas militants who are still inside israel. this is the area that israel controls proper. beyond that, it is still an active military zone. these tanks are being moved into that zone.

we've heard helicopter gunships attacking positions on the ground. we've seen special forces moving in and out of the area around here. we've seen a lot of missiles fired, coming out of gaza, by hamas militants and others potentially, fired out of gaza and intercepted by iron dome defensive missile systems. the iron dome's been firing up, the intercepts literally happening overhead. that has happened on multiple occasions. we've been hearing as well israeli jets flying towards gaza. then we've heard explosions, heavy explosions at times, flashes on the horizon through the night. so this is a very dynamic and fluid situation. but this is the first time we are seeing heavy israeli battle armor moving towards gaza. perhaps the first steps of future deployments. nic robertson, zakim, israel. >> with that, we'll be right

back.

israel's defense forces say they have launched strikes into lebanon after hezbollah targeted three israeli sites near the

border. all this as israel continues to fight off militants from gaza. earlier israeli authorities said they regained confront will a police station. israel has also carried out a wave of strikes in gaza killing at least 230 people, according to the palestinian health ministry. an israeli official says the attacks by hamas have so far killed at least 300 israelis. an american originally from new jersey who has now lived in tel aviv for years described to cnn's jake tapper what it was like when they realized they were under attack. >> i've been here nine years and it is by far the worst situation i've ever seen in my life. just this morning, as you heard, it was a jewish holiday. i'm an orthodox jew so i didn't have my phone on me. i went to the synagogue to go

pray. we were in the middle of dancing and all of a sudden, a rocket was fired and everyone yelled siren, and we all crowded on the floor. there were a bunch of little kids next to me who were border line crying, they were hysterical. and one of the fathers next to me said let's start singing. let's try to cheer up the kids a little bit. only then, we didn't understand what was going on and people started telling us, they told us the situation down south. there's a war starting. so we went home to be in our bomb shelters. and then later in the afternoon, a friend of mine came knocking on the door frantically and told me they called everybody up for reserve. so i got in my car. i drove over to the base. on the way, i saw tons of roadblockings, of checkpoints where they're searching every single car looking for terrorists. i saw thousands of reservists

lined up, trying to go back to the base. it was horrible. and then i got home only late tonight after traffic and i checked twitter. unfortunately, a lot of the stuff you see on the news is not the worst of it. on twitter, a lot of, there is video of people going around harassing in gaza. they kidnapped a 5-year-old little boy. parading a round of an almost naked woman. her corpse. she was covered in blood and they were celebrating and giving out candy and fireworks. the pictures of elderly people. i'm getting very emotional. >> rightly so. people were just shot at a bus stop. the images are absolutely horrifying. people at a peace festival that were kidnapped and shot.

>> horrible. >> i've heard people compare this to israel's 9/11 and i think people watching around the world maybe don't understand. because israel is at war quite a bit relative to other countries. but i think the targeting of civilians so specifically is what is so shocking. and the kidnapping of so many hundreds of civilians. >> it's horrible. i didn't really get, i saw in the headlines, i saw that there is war that happens in israel but this is by far worse than anything that has ever happened. there are no words to describe it. >> a number of countries around the world are lighting up some of their most famous landmarks in support of israel. in berlin, the israeli flag is now projected on the iconic bomberg gate.

italy is showing its support. the israeli flag projected. in new york, the freedom tower lit up in the blue and white of the israeli flag. i'll be back with more cnn newsroom after a short break.

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