hello and welcome to all of you watching us in the united states, canada and all around the world. i want to get to the breaking news. at least 350 israeli deaths are confirmed and thousands more wounded over the past 24 hours as intense fighting rages between israel and hamas. israeli airstrikes reportedly have killed more than 250 people according to palestinian authorities. the idf says up to 1,000 hamas militants poured across the border early saturday and invaded nearby israeli towns. disturbing video shows civilians rounded up and one taken to gaza as hostages. here is the israeli prime

minister on saturday. >> translator: what happened today has never been seen in israel and we'll make sure it does not happen again. the entire government is behind this decision. the idf will use all its strength to destroy hamas' capabilities. we will destroy them and that mighty vengeance for this black day that they have forced on the state of israel and its citizens. >> and nic robertson is in israel with more on the horrific events of saturday. >> reporter: in the early hours of saturday, israelis woke to a sudden assault from gaza militants. the surprise attack claimed by hamas, a complex and massive operation marking a steep escalation of loss fillities. the attack began with a huge barrage of missiles fired from gaza, thousands of rockets, some making direct hits on targets across southern israel. under the cover of the ms.

stills, has made militants crossed by land, sea and air even using paragliders to cross into israel. videos from border crossing stations show that namazi fighters storming into israeli territory. a few miles away, hamas was seen driving and opening fire at civilians. the gunmen tore through the streets leaving a trail of casualties behind. the full extent of the casualties is unclear. but hundreds have been killed and more than 1,000 injured on both sides. a spokesman for the israeli defense force gave a frank assessment of the situation. >> very severe morning here in israel. combined offensive by hamas, air and land and sea. we don't talk about the numbers, but they are substantial. we're very much now focused on

saving forces, there is ongoing fighting. >> reporter: and some fighters also took israelis as hostages. israeli military says videos geolocated by cnn show militants taking captive. and a woman seen forced into the custody of hamas. israel quickly retaliated hitting multiple targets along the gaza strip. and two highrise buildings collapsed after an airstrike. the unrest continuing late into the night with both sides trading rocket fire. as we touched down at the airport outside tel aviv, air traffic was halted acs sirens wailed and travelers took cover. just got off the plane here. sirens have gone off, people are taking cover, and you can hear

the intersect missiles banging in the air. nothing incoming here, but everyone is taking cover. they have got down. a lot of concern about what will happen here this night. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has been unwavering in his message that israel is at war with hamas. now israel rushes to regroup with its allies. despite the intelligence failure that appeared to lead to the attack, it is clear that the true force of the israeli government's response is yet to come. nic robertson, cnn, israel. >> for more, let's go to becky anderson who is joining us live from tel aviv. what is the latest on what we're learning about the attack and the ongoing after math? >> reporter: yeah, i think it would be fair to say that we're in completely unchartered

territory here. and you can see that just from the reporting that you just showed from nic there. the israeli prime minister as we've been suggesting has declared war at this point. he says israel will win and i quote him, he says the enemy will pay an unprecedented price. what that war will look like and just what that price might be in terms of lives on both sides of course is as yet unclear. but i think in the hours to come, i know in the hours to come, it will become more apparent. israel has continued to target gaza. 500 strikes or more as we understand it. warning residents to get out of their homes quite where they think that they will go and what is a very, very densely populated area. it is unclear, but it is also said that it will stop electricity, fuel and goods being supplied into gaza.

so the siege that hamas speaks to so often, that palestinians speak to so often, will be swinging. and in terms of numbers, and this is important to point out, more than 350 israelis killed. and upwards of 2,000 injured. same sort of numbers on the part of the palestinians. and we're looking at 250 killed in that gaza and more than 1,000 injured. these lives lost and people injured is just absolutely awful. and then you drill down and you say what has changed here. because sadly we've seen loss of life in gaza in the past. what has changed here is the death of isreali soldiers.

it was confirmed 26, but higher numbers as far as the idf spokesman is concerned. and the rounding up of israeli citizens. dozens rounded up according to the idf. hamas militants are saying that they have more than 50 israelis held captive in gaza, dotted around gaza at various places. so it really complicates the idf's next moves. the nature of this incursion is remarkable. by land, sea and air. there are images that i want you to see now and i have to warn you, what you are about to see

is disturbing. but takes git is a good example brazen the attack was. this is the most surveilled and held on to border, the israeli/gaza border. israelis have had it locked down in the past to the extent that gaza residents can only come in and out at the behest of the israelis. and what you saw here was for example a music festival going on in the desert on the israeli side. as reported by those who were there at 6:30 in the morning, they heard bombings and suddenly they were attacked by militants, g gazans militants. and you see here a man and woman being taken hostage. whereabouts unknown. but the family of these people have said that they want cnn to show these images even though they are disturbing because they

hope that it will help get this woman and man released out of gaza which is where seemingly they are being held. but it just speaks to the enormity of what has happened here and what happens next frankly, kim. that is the very unanswered question at this point. >> the loss of life is appalling. pictures of those kidnappings shocking. you touched on this really difficult path forward. so that is the question. what does happen next? >> as far as israelis are concerned, they are talking about this being an unprecedented period for them. >> translator: what was before will be no more.

we will operate at full force. i ask israel citizens to remain determined and to support our security forces. >> reporter: and those israeli citizens who he is asking to remain vigilant and suggesting that israel's next moves are being considered at this point, the shock here by israelis that we've spoken to about a failure of intelligence and the sort of -- a sense of a lack of security. people being rounded up on the israeli side of the border and taken hostage into gaza is something that most israelis you would speak to here say that they could never have conceived. and the real issue now is whether this resulted in escalation. not just in gaza, but around the region. we're hearing clash, deadly clashes reported in the west bank and now we know that on the

border to the north, hezbollah claiming responsibility for attacks across the border and the united nations interim forces in lebanon have released a statement saying we're in contact with both sides to contain the situation and avoid a more serious escalation. peacekeeper remain in position and on task. and they continue to work, some, they say, from shelters for their safety. they are using miss stililes an artillery. and a military analyst will tell that you hazardous has at its means something like 100,000 to 150,000 missiles. so the idea that there is involvement, potential involvement, to the north here

by hezbollah will be a real concern to israeli forces who some are suggesting have been very focused on the possibility of an escalation to the north. and that may be why it is that israeli forces were found so sort of flat footed when it came to intelligence in gaza. kim. >> all right. we'll get an update from you in about 20 minutes. becky anderson in tel aviv, thank you so much. we want to turn now to mal malcolm. thank you for being with us. we heard from becky about israel's response so far, so i want to ask you, where is this going? for israel, what is their goal here? >> their goal has to be to defeat decisively hamas in gaza. and to rescue an d they have to

realize that it is not easy. this would essentially be house to house, street to street fighting. so israeli defense forces have their work cut out for them in this regard, but i don't see any alternative for the israelis other than going into gaza and decisively defeating hamas and essentially destroying them. >> you talk about rescuing hostages and we know that the israeli special forces have huge capabilities. but we heard from a former cia official that said essentially they won't be able to rescue them safely. do you say that view or do you think that they can actually extract them? >> we might get a few, but unfortunately i think that the cia, and i listened to the person's comments earlier, i

think he is correct. i think that probably what has happened hostages have been spread about and so it will be very difficult to get to those people to ident dentify where t are and rescue them, sadly. >> you talk about sgagaza being hugely densely populated area. just a nightmare from the military point of view. how do they go in there without inflicting huge civilian casualties? >> urban ground warfare is the toughest warfare that you can possibly imagine because of those reasons. it is narrow streets, confusing areas, and very dense. and so what idf have to do is

basically go house to house and clean out hamas from each individual building along the line of advance into gaza. and looking at the map earlier, there is only a few lines of advance into gaza from israel proper. and so it will be an incredibly tough broperation. there will be support from the air, but they will have to take all precautions to avoid civilian casualties unlike hamas who really don't care about avoiding civilian casualties. so takes cit is a challenge the. >> and they knew the military consequences. how prepared are they do you think, what do you think their capabilities are, do we even know given the scope of the operation that we just saw? it took almost everyone by surprise.

>> and so do we independent ex -- understand exactly what hamas has got? maybe countries like iran have provided additional capabilities that the israelis don't know about. so it is a challenge. they are going in blind. they have technological means that can help them identify targets and potentially get an in-cite into the enemy's came abilities. >> and we heard from becky mortar attacks fired from hezbollah. what do you think the likelihood is that this could spiral into a wider regional war? >> i hate to say it, but i think the likelihood is quite lie. we're seeing attacks into northern israel. and i think there is every indication that hezbollah does

intend to enter the war properly once the idf goes into gaza. and so you could see ironically a three front war with israelis fighting in the south in gaza, fighting hezbollah in the north, and potentially panhandle forces in the west bank. and hezbollah has missiles far more advanced than what hamas has got. and they could do serious damage and inflict serious casualties on israeli people. and the potential for this war go beyond hezbollah to include iran i think is quite real. >> just a warring prospect there. appreciate your analysis malcolm davis. >> thank you. the u.s. sends a strong message of support for israel which could mean more military hardware after the surprise

attack by hamas, that is ahead. plus strong reaction from around the world including president zelenskyy after the hamas in-skurgs. stay with us .

israel has continued to carry out strikes a day after hamas militants launched a surprise attack from that area. israeli forces say they have hit more than 400 targets including ten towers and compound belonging to the hamas intelligence chief. health ministry says more than 300 people have been killed in the area. israel says always least 350 citizens have died. benjamin netanyahu is pledging to eliminate the militants saying his country faces a long and difficult war. washington could announce new assistance for israel as early as sunday. that is 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 biden and benjamin netanyahu on

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 if i recall says the focus of the u.s. is in assisting to keep the violence contained at this stage and that 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 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. but president biden says that support from the u.s. is rock solid and unwavering. >> the 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 the holiest of days in the jewish calendar. it is unconscionable. when i spoke to benjamin 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 too defend itself and its people, full stop. >> reporter: biden did not specify the target of that particular message, but u.s. officials have been clear in iran's r 's role as long time sr of hamas. but when asked whether they believe they were behind attack,

the u.s. said they could not yet draw that conclusion. kayla tausche, cnn, the white house. and presidential candidates aren't holding back as they react. ron desantis posted both israel not only has the right to defend themselves against hamas, they have the responsibility to defend themselves withkki haley group a blood thirsty terrorist organization backed by iran and determined to kill as many innocent lives as possible. mike pence says this is what happens when you have a president like joe biden who spends the last 2 1/2 years projecting weakness on the world stage. and chris christie said biden's appeasement of israel's enemies has invited this war on israel. and political newcomer ramaswamy posted that america's broken foreign policy establishment knew that they were funding hamas and went ahead with it any way. for more reaction to the

attacks, we're joined by nada bashir. there is an outpouring of support for israel but of course not from all countries. so first let's start with the regional reaction. >> reporter: across the region there are alarm bells. we heard from key players in the conflict including jordan, egypt and saudi arabia all calling for the utmost restraint on both sides of the conflict and calling for deescalation of violence and tensions. turkish foreign ministry says it stands ready to support efforts to bring an end to the violence. but as you mentioned, there has been some regional players who pointed the finger of responsibility on both israel and the international community for failing to uphold the rights

of the palestinian people. of course it is important to underscore the context here, many across territories facing daily hardships and oppression. of course this is seen by some as an example of how and why hamas is taking this action. we heard from saudi moreforeign ministry and they say the kingdom is repeating the warnings of dangers of blowing up as a result of continued occupation and depriving palestinian people of their legitimate rights. and this is a sentiment echoed by the arab league and qatar. and we've seen rallies being held in kuwait and yemen as well. >> and so that is the regional reaction. and you've been monitoring the wider international reaction. what are you seeing there? >> reporter: we know the ub security council meeting has

been set focusing on the latest flare sxwrup of violence. we heard from a spokesperson for the u.n. secretary-general who has condemned the violence and calling for deescalation. that is echoed in europe and even the european commission president and eu foreign affairs chief both reiterating, reaffirming the european union's unequivocal and unwavering support for israel in solidarity with israeli people in the face of this latest attack. and that is echoed here. take a listen. >> the uk completely condemns the terrorist acts against israel and we support israel's right to self-defense. and of course we'll be working closely with the israeli government. we're in contact with them and we'll continue to do so both to protect british nationals in israel and to try to bring peace as quickly as possible.

they should follow the advice of the defense force if they are already in israel. >> reporter: despite the fact there has been tension in the path few -- past few months particularly over the supply of weapon, we've heard message of contedemnation of the violence including president zelenskyy. >> translator: israel has the right to protect themselves from terror and it is respond for the whole world to respond to terror. no support for terrorists. wherever they aim their missiles and whomever they attack, terrorists must lose. >> of course there has been an outpouring of concern and outrage from human rights groups as well. it is important to know we've

heard from rights watchdog amnesty international calling for restraint on both sides but also calling on both sides to avoid the targeting of civilian lives. >> appreciate all of that, nada bashir. thanks so much. still ahead, much more on the fighting in israel and gaza, why the israeli prime minister says his country faces a long and difficult war. stay with us.

welcome back to all of you watching us here. i'm kim brunhuber.

this is "cnn newsroom." israeli defense forces are still fighting hamas militants in southern cities after the surprise attack. at least 350 of its citizens have been killed since the assault began on saturday. the country responded by launching a wave of strikes in gaza. it says hundreds of hamas targets have been hit including a com bound belonging to the intelligence chief. benjamin netanyahu says israel is facing a long and difficult war. here he is. >> 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's capabilities. and we'll that mighty vengeance for this black day that they have forced on the state of israel and its citizens. all of the places which hamas is deployed, hiding and operating in, we will turn it into an

island of ruins. i'm telling gaza people to leave those places now because we will take action everywhere. >> let's go to becky anderson who is joining us live from tel aviv. so we just heard from prime minister benjamin netanyahu there. i mean, he is governing over a divided nation. he has been calling for unity. are you seeing that happen? take us through the political response so far. >> reporter: yeah, he is in coalition with the most right wing government in israel's history. and it has been months now that the people of israel, many people in israel, have been calling for change. we are certainly able to report some movement on the part of opposition leaders in the past 24 hours telling netanyahu that they will put aside differences and suggest that they form an emergency narrow professional government together to manage the difficult and complex

operation ahead of us they say. reports though do suggest they are demanding the far right leaders in the coalition government be removed. that is what reports are suggesting. it is not clear how this emergency government is landing with benjamin netanyahu at present. but certainly here there is real concern from the people of israel that there was a huge failure seemingly of intelligence and today, sunday, more than 24 hours after what was a brazen attack by land, sea and air, an incursion into israeli territory, they feel that security is not being handled by an israeli government who are set up with a mandate of course to do that.

so where that suggestion from the opposition leaders will land at present as i say is as yet unclear. but that may be one move that we see in the hours to come. >> and what do you think wider implications might be, potential for escalation, possibly roadway to deescalation, but also what it might mean for going forward for normalization of relations between israel and its neighbors? >> and all of that is wrapped up together. the idea of normalization is about deescalation of violence and conflict in this region. what we are seeing at present and what sadly we may see in the hours to come is a significant

escalation at this point. this has been month of demanding the deescalation, demanding that the far right government that benjamin netanyahu leads at present, you know, ensures that it makes efforts to de escescal action on the ground that has quite frankly seen this conflict get worse and worse so the idea of deescalation at present is not something that frankly anybody is feeling particularly optimistic about. i've been reporting this morning on activity on the northern border, hezbollah, and this is a militant organization associated with iran in lebanon, which analysts say has something lk 100,000 for 150,000 missiles at its disposal, lobbing describes

and missiles into northern israel. that could be a real escalation in things here if a lid is not kept on it. and we're seeing escalation across the west bank, reports of clashes. when you look at the wider story, i think certainly what the saudis have been saying is that they want to see action on the palestinian file before they officially normalize relations with israel. my sources have been telling me in washington that the biden administration has been pushing very hard with the prime minister here to effectively

blow up the company a lirgs get rid of the far right wing who remember there are ministers in the far right wing of the government who have denied the very existence of the palestinian people. and so the report suggesting sources telling me that the biden administration is really eager to see a change in this coalition government in order to provide some sort of solution for the palestinians were the normalization plan to come off. so that looks pretty dire at present. but we look to have a change in the government, you know, the plans for normalization don't look great. but i will say there is a school of thought that suggests that with an ambassador to the panhandle people effectively here from saudi, this is perhaps the first time in a very long time that the international community and the israelis have

got a partner, you could argue, to speak to when it comes to the palestinian file, palestinian authority here, incredibly inefficient of course. we know where hamas stands as an organization. >> appreciate your analysis, becky anderson. and warplanes took aim at the military chief and video backs that up. that is ahead. stay with us.

the idf says it went after the hamas intelligence chief targeting its compound and this footage was released. military officials say fighting is still under way in eight areas in the south where hamas

fighters are still present. death toll has reached at least 350 people with more than 1800 injured. hamas says it has captured dozens of israelis including some at a festival near the gaza border yesterday. one woman described what happened when the militants closed in. >> translator: suddenly out of nowhere shots coming in, they started shooting in every direction. i just drove and started moving forward to get out of the shots. out of the shots. and at some point they overtook us. we were overtaken by shooters. we got out of the vehicles and took cover. >> former head of the easy really intelligence service tells cnn there was no warning sign before saturday's tattack. he calls it a total surprise. tom foreman has more on how it all unfolded. >> reporter: the extraordinary

series of attacks began at 6:30 in the morning when israel was asleep with this massive barrage of rockets. this is where the most rudimentary rocket can would hit. the most that seem to rely on probably? technology beyond then, iran as many intelligence people would say, would reach up to tel aviv, that is about 45 miles from here. whatever the placement of them was though, there were an awful lot of them. but it appears to be in the thousands. that would matter because it would make it easier to overwhelm israel's missile defense system, the iron dome system, and make sure that some got through even if many were stopped. more importantly, by doing this, all indications are that that laid the groundwork for what came next at 7:40, an hour and ten minutes later, that is when armed soldiers, some coming in

by air, some by boats going around here. and this was something again that indicated it was a very planned attack and soon you saw people with rocket launchers and rivals running in the streets. they even went and engaged military bases where you would think they would expect the most opposition, gives an idea of their degree of planning and confidence as they went into attack the israelis and of course we've seen the videos of the towns that have been raided near that area where we had reports of people being taken hostage and other people being killed. all of it speaks to this very notion we've been hearing about from the beginning that this represents a level of planning and execution that is far deeper than what has typically been seen before. meanwhile heartbreaking stories are emerging. a couple attending a festival in

southern israel near the gaza border was kid napped during th attack. and we want to warn you the video you're about to see can be disturbing. the families of the couple wanted to release it in the hopes that it would help secure their release. the woman is taken away there on the back of a motorcycle as she plooed pleads for her. her boyfriend apprehended by several men. cnn has not independently verified the video, but here is what the kidnapped woman's roommate told erin burnett. >> very difficult when you see someone that is so close to you and you know her so much being treated like this, it is very difficult to see it. it make you like shocked and ask what did she do to get this -- like why they acted like this to her. when i spoke to her father this morning, i tried to tell him not to see it, but i didn't -- like

i didn't manage. he saw it already and it was shocking. when you hear about parents seeing their children kidnapped like this, treated like this, it is very, very difficult. this is the first time in our lifetime, israel, as young people we experience an experience like this, like we had a lot of operations but a surprise attack like this, we never have. and this magnitude and this scale, it is crazy for us. and i can say that when i heard about all of my friends that are missing from the party, we all got like super crying to get a lot of details about them, to ask people, put groups on facebook and whatsapp to get as much as we can about them and we still don't know about many of them. we're talking about a lot of people, about 500 and more that is still missing and we don't know what is going on with them. still ahead, resilience in the face of violence as fighting

rages. we'll tell you why some civilians are refusing to leave their homes. stay with us.

israel says it launched strikes into lebanon after hezbollah targeted three israeli controlled sites near the border. israeli forces have also carried out more strikes in gaza. and the idf says it struck more than 400 targets including a compound belonging to the intelligence chief. forces are still fighting hamas several areas to the south of the country. and we want to renew a message of determination and hope after the deadly attacks. also a message of appreciation for support and it is coming from former israeli prime minister and a bennett who spok earlier. >> it has been a tough kay for t -- day for citizens of israeli. the numbers are huge. what is made public of 250, but

it is higher and we have a lot of kidnapped citizens and soldiers. we have beenhave babies kidnapp gaza. we have an 80-year-old woman with seems like she hasdy m dementia kidnapped in to gaza. and so it is a hard day but israel is strong and we're striking back and we will win. but i have to admit, it has been a tough day. what i do want to say, how much we appreciate america standing behind israel so clearly. president biden standing up very clearly. and saying that you are with us. and that means a lot. we'll do the job. we never asked for american soldiers to do the job for us and defend us. we'll defend ourselves. that is fine. but still, knowing that the good people of the united states of

america stand behind the good people of israel means the world to us. so for that i want to thank you. >> and that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm kim brunhuber. i'll be back in a moment with more news. please do stay with us.